Minnesota queer legislators, advocates band together to protect gender-affirming care

Reid Forgrave, Star Tribune on Jan 6, 2026

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A flurry of federal actions in President Donald Trump’s second term has transgender Minnesotans wondering whether they will continue to exist in public life.

Rollbacks on the liberties of transgender people have been a hallmark of Trump 2.0 since day one, when Trump issued an executive order declaring that the policy of the United States is to recognize two genders. It reached a crescendo last month when the administration proposed federally defunding hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for minors.

“Make no mistake: These are not actions in isolation,” said Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, which advocates for LGBTQ+ Minnesotans. “They are part of a broad and coordinated effort to diminish LGBTQ people’s ability to fully participate in public life.”

Several transgender and nonbinary state legislators — including Rep. Leigh Finke, the first openly transgender member of the Minnesota legislature — joined medical providers and trans advocates at the State Capitol Jan. 6 to rally support for Minnesota’s protections of transgender people.

“Attacks on trans health care are not about science, they’re not about protecting patients, and they’re certainly not about the law,” Megan Peterson, executive director of the Minnesota-based advocacy organization Gender Justice. “They’re about politics — raw and cynical politics. Every major medical association agrees on the evidence supporting gender-affirming care. So when politicians step in to override doctors, patients, parents and judges, that’s not governance. That’s ideological control."

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for youth.

The next day, the Trump administration’s top health officials proposed rules to prohibit Medicaid funds from covering gender-affirming care for minors and revoke Medicare and Medicaid dollars from hospitals that provide it.

Medicaid and Medicare accounted for nearly 45% of all spending on hospital care in 2023, according to KFF, a health policy nonprofit.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit as part of a coalition of 20 states, calling the plan unlawful and arbitrary and asking the courts to block its enforcement.

The state GOP has been especially vocal on banning transgender athletes from girls sports, with every GOP gubernatorial candidate staking out that position. And when Gov. Tim Walz floated a special session for gun-control legislation after August’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, Republicans said one of their priorities during a special session would be to repeal or amend laws on gender-affirming care.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has referred to “so-called gender-affirming care” for minors as “malpractice” and “junk science.” But the American Medical Association backs gender-affirming care and also supports public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria.

And this week, the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services referred Children’s Minnesota and its Gender Health Program for federal investigation because of extensive billing for hormone therapy.

“I tend to call that an eradication policy, transgender eradication,” Finke said. “(But) we are part of the human fabric. We are part of a full, loving experience of both gender and humanity and should be embraced and loved. But if you can’t get there, you should just leave us alone.”

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