It’s Much Harder And More Expensive To Get Gender-Affirming Care Than Ever Before: Report

Families of transgender youth in the South have to spend much more time and money to access gender-affirming care than they used to because of anti-trans legislation that has been passed in the last two years, according to a new report from the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Two dozen states, predominantly in the South, have passed bans on gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy and surgeries for transgender youth since 2021.

As a result, many families of transgender youth must travel hours and spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to reach out-of-state gender-affirming providers. (The Campaign for Southern Equality provides grants to families of transgender youth to help them travel and find doctors.)

Researchers found that travel times to clinics more than doubled since bans on care were passed, including from cities that previously had clinics that serviced transgender youth. These bans on care, largely passed by states with Republican supermajorities, have left more than 105,000 transgender youth living in states where they can’t access health care that most major medical associations have deemed as “medically necessary.”

The report estimates that families in Houston, Texas, for example, now have to drive 1,204 miles round trip — which takes about 18.5 hours — to seek care at a clinic. For families in Nashville, it now takes 6.4 hours and 416 miles to reach a clinic that can provide care to youth. The time it takes to reach a clinic is even longer for families who don’t live in urban areas, and for those who live even further South.

Researchers relied upon the Campaign for Southern Equality’s database on gender-affirming care providers and conducted a geospatial