Asst HHS Secretary Says: ‘Let’s Declare a Summer of Pride’
The No 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is celebrating Pride this year by suggesting that Pride celebrations be extended for the entire season.
She also defended the gender-affirming care, which is under assault today across the country.
Dr Rachel Levine, a top official at HHS, wished the LGBTQ community a “Happy Pride” by suggesting that Pride last longer than just one month.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.
In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as “Gay Pride Day.” In major cities across the nation the day soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events.
And now Dr Levine — the highest-ranking transgender American ever to win Senate confirmation — wants to make Pride even longer than that.
“My name is Admiral Rachel Levine, and I have the honor of being the assistant secretary for health at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Happy Pride. Happy Pride Month. And actually let's declare it a ‘Summer of Pride,’” she said. “Happy summer of pride.”
More seriously, Dr Levine stood behind available access to gender-affirming care for transgender Americans, such as puberty blockers for children and hormone replacement and surgeries for older transgender folks.
Such care is often being blocked today by a wave of laws being passed in Republican-led states.
“You know, it's -- it's so -- it's such an important issue for our youth and adults. As you said some of these laws are actually extending into adulthood,” Dr Levine said. “You know, we often say the gender affirming care is health care. Gender affirming care is mental health care.”
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