State Reps. Celia Israel, Mary Gonzales Erin Zweiner, Jessica Gonzales and Julie Johnson, the Texas Legislature’s five openly LGBT members (David Taffet/Dallas Voice)
Members of the Texas Legislature’s LGBT Caucus sent a letter Alex Azar, the secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services.
“We stand in strong opposition to rescinding the anti-discrimination protections under the Health Care Rights law,” they wrote. “These protections ensure that the LGBTQ+ community and Limited English Proficiency individuals have access to quality health care as well as protect women’s access to reproductive health needs.”
They warned that enacting the proposed rule would negatively impact the LGBT community as well as women and Latinx Texans.
LGBT women are almost twice as likely as non-LGBT women not to have a personal doctor because of fear or past experiences of discrimination, they wrote.
The letter is signed by the five LGBT women serving in the Texas House of Representatives as well as 17 caucus members. Among those signers is Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) who chairs the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus. LGBT caucus founder Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint) co-chairs MALC. Locally, Rep. Chris Turner (D-Grand Prairie) also signed the letter.
On his Facebook page, Anchia wrote that anyone who would like to make a public comment on the issue should do so at ProtectTransHealth.org.
— David Taffet
