Update! Kansas City Social Workers and allied community members! The resolution passed! Kansas City is a sanctuary city for gender affirming care.

Dear City Council committee members,

We are writing to you today as concerned social workers and allied community members. Many of us have served both Transgender and nonbinary youth and adults as social workers, many of us know and love someone who is Transgender or nonbinary and some of us are Transgender or nonbinary.

We do not wish to speak for our Transgender and nonbinary community. Rather, we wish to acknowledge, as social work professionals, the ethics that define our work and our obligation to advocate for Kansas City to become a sanctuary city for gender affirming care. Our Code of Ethics as Social Workers calls us to value Social Justice and challenge social injustice. To quote the Code of Ethics directly, “Social Workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services and resources…and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.” The removal of gender affirming care is absolutely an injustice to not only our Transgender and nonbinary community, but our community at large when our right to self determination and participation in our own medical care is taken from us. Thus, we must preserve and protect the self determination of Transgender and nonbinary folks to make informed and safe decisions in conjunction with trained medical professionals and clinicians.

As Social Workers, we are frontline witnesses to the pediatric mental health crisis facing our community and country. From that position, we see that Transgender and nonbinary youth are at the highest risk of suicide. And, because of the pervasiveness of systemic racism, a disproportionately higher rate of suicide risk is seen among Black and Native/Indigenous Transgender and nonbinary youth. Even more alarming is the fact that data collected on mental health relies upon self-reporting, so the existing stigma and inequitable access to mental health care are likely causing a gross underestimate of the number of incidents of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation for Transgender and nonbinary youth of color. These missing pieces of data perpetuate the erasure of Transgender and nonbinary people of color’s intersecting identities and lived experiences.

As legislations further encroach upon access to safe healthcare, these rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts are likely going to increase. Removing the right to gender affirming care is a lethal addition to an already arduous path to living an equitable and authentic life as a Transgender or nonbinary person.

Furthermore, the impact of losing gender affirming care will be felt in our schools, our community mental health centers, our hospitals, our psychiatric treatment centers and our non profit agencies working to improve the lives of children, adults and families. By protecting access to gender affirming care in our community, we can help lessen the burden and strain on an already buckling medical and community mental health system and work towards dismantling racism.

Seeking this opportunity for Kansas City to become a sanctuary city for gender affirming care is fundamental to our ethical code as social workers and an absolute must for our city. We, Kansas City Social Workers and allied community members, ask you today to hear our demand that you use your power and privilege to protect our Transgender and nonbinary community and ultimately our entire community by making Kansas City a sanctuary city for gender affirming care. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Kansas City Social Workers & allied community members