Should Minnesota fund families relocating for transgender medicine? Lawmakers weigh aid.

A group of lawmakers wants to use state money to help families of LGBT children who have relocated to Minnesota, particularly those from states that restrict gender-affirming treatments for minors.

Last year, Minnesota enacted legislation that blocks other states from taking action against parents in Minnesota who help their children access medicine like puberty-blocking hormones, widely known as gender-affirming care.

The move to establish the state as a “trans refuge” came as many other states, including some of Minnesota’s neighbors, banned the treatments, spurring some families to relocate.

Now, a bill sponsored by Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, the state’s first transgender woman lawmaker, would give Minneapolis LGBT nonprofit PFund Foundation$1 million to help the newcomers. The funding is for LGBTQ+ families in general, though most of the discussion has centered around transgender people.

Nineteen states have a youth ban for hormone replacements and surgeries aimed at addressing gender dysphoria — where a person’s body’s sex characteristics do not match their gender identity. In some of those states, providing treatment to anyone under 18 could be a felony.

Groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association oppose interference with treatments. Conservatives, religious groups and other critics say minors are too young to make informed choices about such treatments.

First hearing

Finke’s bill got its first hearing last week in the House Workforce Development Committee, where Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, DFL-Roseville, said it would help attract workers to Minnesota and support families who have uprooted their lives to get away from restrictive policies.

“If you are not close friends or family with someone who has a child who is trans, I think a lot of folks don’t realize how dire it is in this country right now,” she said. “I think anything we can do to help support those people and make sure that they have the tools that they need to be successful when they get to Minnesota is critically important.”

It’s not entirely clear how many people have come to Minnesota for access to transgender medicine, or for other LGBT protections the state enacted last year like a ban on therapy to change the sexual orientation or gender identity for minors.

But PFund Executive Director Aaron Zimmerman said his group has identified around 150 individuals and families who have moved to Minnesota since the refuge bill was passed last year, and off that number, 89% have relocated for better access to gender-affirming care.

“We’ve seen firsthand that people from all across the country are moving here to seek safety refuge and a better life for themselves and their children,” he told the House Workforce Development Committee.

Before the “trans refuge” bill was enacted last year, providers of transgender medicine already had long queues of patients, said Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, director of Gender Health at Children’s Minnesota, a frequent testifier on transgender issues at the Capitol.

What would $1 million pay for

If the state gives $1 million to PFund, the nonprofit would use the money to help support the state’s “gender-affirming care workforce” by giving money to health care facilities that help transgender patients.

PFund expects funds to allow the hiring of seven specialists who could help provide services like medication and counseling to about 250 patients each month over the next two years. Advocates say that could attract more gender health specialists to Minnesota.

Past funding for health care, the bill also would help newcomers get established in the workforce, Zimmerman said.

“Funds from this bill will be used to provide wrap-around services that help individuals get job ready, create pathways out of poverty and address the many disparities that prevent LGBTQ+ people from achieving economic security,” said Zimmerman, who noted PFund is well positioned to do the work as it is an established nonprofit that has monitored new arrivals.

House Republicans raised questions about the bill’s appropriation of $1 million in state money for a narrow group of people when the state has broader public health and workforce needs. Rep. Dave Baker, R-Willmar, called it “quite an interesting bill” and said he had a hard time understanding why it was before the Workforce Development Committee when it pertained to medical support.

He also noted that last year’s “trans refuge” bill is still a new policy, the implications of which are yet to be fully seen by the state.

“A million dollars is a lot of money,” said Baker. “The ink isn’t even dry off last year’s bill to do a lot of things that Minnesotans are still kind of getting their head around.”

The money will go far for the more than 100 families and individuals who have moved to the state, argued Finke, who said the bill directly pertains to the workforce as it addresses preparing newcomers for employment in a new state.

What’s next?

If the Minnesota Legislature approves $1 million for PFund to help LGBT newcomers, it’ll likely happen as part of a broader workforce bill expected to pass later this spring.

The House Workforce Development Committee last week moved to hold the bill over for inclusion in a broader omnibus bill — typical of how Minnesota passes a lot of its legislation.

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