decision, the Supreme Court this week ruled against Colorado's ban on conversion therapy for and transgender youth over concerns.

It violates the First Amendment rights of mental health providers.

The controversial practice has been criticized by medical professionals and those in the LGBTQ+ community with critics calling it abusive and ineffective.

The ruling came during yesterday's trans day of visibility marking what many call an anti LGBTQ+ attack on a day dedicated to celebrating that community.

Here to discuss issues facing trans people in Chicago and beyond are Shannon Lynn Parker, CEO of the Quality, Illinois after Muck founder and executive director of Trans upfront, Illinois and Silas Leslie advocacy and community engagement manager and special projects trainer and data analyst at Chicago Therapy.

Collective.

You're a busy person.

Thank you all for joining us.

We appreciate it.

So, you know, Silas, we just mentioned this ruling yesterday.

Do you think the Supreme Court's move could make it more difficult for people and the LGBTQ+ community were seeking mental health treatment.

Absolutely.

I think it opens store ways >> denigrate and take away, you standards of care.

>> For a folks looking to have mental health care.

I think generally there is a need for more affirming affordable mental health care for the LGBTQ community.

And I this decision just largely and currently makes it more difficult to find safe care, putting barriers into place for people who really need it.

You know, Shannon, according to the ACLU in in Twenty-twenty 6 alone, there have been some 500 anti LGBTQ+ bills introduced around the country at the state level.

>> Kansas, for example, recently passed a bill voiding driver's license licenses of a gender marker doesn't match someone's birth certificate.

Even if these bills don't become law, what kind of an effect do they have on trans folks around the U.S.

coordinate attacks?

You know, these are demoralizing.

They are demoralized bills that are being proposed.

That absolutely diminish the humanity.

>> And the lived realities of trans people.

goal to expose them to the general public.

Those cause harm and put them in immediate threat of danger and in harm's way.

>> And I want to get to that later on because that is a huge issue.

You know, Asher, as we mentioned yesterday, was international trends day of visibility.

What's the significance of that celebration?

You know, visibility, especially this year really every year is incredibly important because >> we are able to come together as a community and celebrate who we are and be visible for people who can't.

are so many people around the country right now who are scared to be out and who they are.

And we want to come together to remember that no matter what's happening, they can't take our community for mask.

They can take our joy for mass and now we are here celebrate every person regardless of what that means to them and where they are in their lives and that there are people here fighting for them.

And you mentioned people who, you know, may not feel comfortable may not feel like they're in a place where they're seen.

>> You know, according to UCLA is Williams Institute, there's more than 382,000 trans youth living in 29 states with a restrictive law or policy.

That's more than half of all trans young people in the country.

lot of them come to a more welcoming place like Illinois.

What kind of work does your organization do to support that?

Maybe connect them with things like gender, affirming care?

Yeah, absolutely.

So our organization, search trends, individuals, ages for the 25 in their support of says systems without any financial barriers we founded.

>> The gender affirming current immigration system so people can come to us and get matched with mental health medical surge, a call.

We just solidified our partnership with elevated access.

We can provide free flights and transportation to people to get them out of the red states, whether it's temporarily to access care or permanently to move into the state.

And we just started the gender affirming care fund that we can actually cover the costs of medical care.

We know right now, especially with these coordinated attacks by this administration, were moving into a time in which this care is becoming a privilege to pay out of pocket.

And we want to make sure that no one's left behind.

You know, Shannon, even though many trans people feel more welcome in places like Illinois because of laws aimed at protecting them.

>> Certainly no place is immune from challenges.

What are some of the issues you see facing transit Illinoisans are trans Chicagoans.

>> Not being a batch state is not enough.

Right, that that should be a we see systems capitulate.

Ing.

Way before they have to write.

We're so fortunate to have a supporter governor and support of attorney general who has said emphatically do not stop providing gender affirming care, particularly for minors, but yet a state.

We have institutions who are going to head of that order and doing so which is causing a great deal of harm and it for a lot of the folks who rely on those safety nets for care.

Yeah.

I mean, how about that silence that, you know?

>> Even if you are, you know, someone who's already receiving this care, you're it, you know, in immediate danger of losing it, seeing those organizations pulled back from their commitments cannot have an effect on folks and make them feel a bit less secure.

Absolutely.

I think, you know, things like this have a chilling effect.

>> briefly impact the ability for folks to get that care and feel secure that, you know, there is a safe space that there is a safe place left in the country.

And and folks rolling back hair in places like Chicago just really reinforce that.

We are in a time.

That is incredibly it's incredibly dangerous to be trance.

Your organization is working with state Senator Mike Simons on a measure that would remove lgbtqia plus identity as a symptom of mental illness.

Why is that significant?

Yeah, bill SB 594.

>> modifies the or it amends the definition of mental illness to explicitly exclude LGBTQ identity.

This is critical in a time political zeitgeist around trans folks at using language like trans insanity, translate se.

And this is a very dangerous time and we're seeing this put college isolation of LGBTQ identity and bills like this, especially in light of that conversion therapy ban decision from the Supreme Court.

These protections, the shield laws in Illinois are especially necessary.

And you mentioned earlier some of the threats that folks face 2024 sometimes reported on research out of Florida state that found law enforcement agencies, many of them not tracking homicides of trans people, 300 beach in about a 10 year period.

>> With only a 14% clearance rate, many of them black and Latinx women are enough people paying attention to this threat.

They're not paying attention.

They are nowhere of the threat as well.

When information goes unreported.

That's less education.

Opportunities for the public to be made aware when it comes to the plight and the experiences of trans folks.

I used to work a Cook County Department of Corrections and I've seen firsthand the harms from the system, but also history of abuse that lead folks to being justice involved in the first place.

So again, it is a vicious, cyclical cycle transpo, particularly black and burned trans women experience Asher for people who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable or maybe even hostile to the trans community.

What do you hope they take away from conversations like this?

You know, I have the privilege of traveling the state.

All the time and meeting people.

>> And for me, I'm always about a really good conversation.

I want to hear.

What misinformation they've been can what conversation can we have people every person is expert on who they are.

When I got to sit down with people, even those who are hostile my goal is always for them learn a little bit more to learn that each person just wants to live their life and who they are.

These kids just want to go to school and learn, you know, go to work without having to worry about harassment or about losing their job.

You know, we're all just individuals living lives in the most authentic way that we can.