Chicago trans and LGBTQ+ community take to streets to protest gender-affirming care ban
"It was like my depression was magically cured after struggling with it my entire life - going to therapy, being on other medications," they said. "Gender-affirming care is what made me happy."
When the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors on Wednesday, McCreight said they were unsurprised, but sad and angry nonetheless.
McCreight, 37, joined about 200 others who braved the Saturday afternoon heat to protest the court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti. Demonstrators started the 12:30 p.m. rally in Federal Plaza in the Loop to the tunes of Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club" and Nipsey Hussle's "FDT" from loudspeakers. Under the blistering sun, protesters demanded equal rights for trans and gender-nonconforming people.
They pointed to the importance of gender-affirming care in helping trans youth who face higher rates of mental health issues, including depression and suicide.
"We need to show up for our youth," said Asher McMaher, executive director of Trans Up Front Illinois and one of the protest's organizers. "Because they deserve to be the incredible human beings that they're meant to be, and we need every single one of them to grow up."
Advocates blasted the court's decision in the Skrmetti case, where families and a doctor challenged Tennessee's ban on puberty blockers and hormones to help minors transition. They argued the law deprived them of their constitutional right to equal protection under the law, but the state contended it was necessary to protect children.
For Keerthi Nan, a trans Chicago schoolteacher, the decision "further dehumanized" young trans and gender-diverse people.
"It sucks to be a trans adult right now," Nan told the crowd. "But it is so much harder, so much scarier, to be a trans kid, a trans adolescent in this moment."
Nan added that though Illinois and Chicago appear to be safe places for trans youth, they still hear Chicago Public School students calling their peers slurs for gay and trans people. They called on protesters to raise continued attention for trans rights.
"Show up to the school board meeting," she said. "Show up when people aren't watching. Fight like our students' futures depend on it because they do."
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat and the only openly lesbian member of the Illinois House, also called for more action from the broader LGBTQ+ community. She said not only were trans rights and abortion rights at risk - other liberties for LGBTQ+ people could also be in danger.
"You don't get to take your wedding cake and go home, boys," Kelly said. "They are not just coming for trans kids."
At the rally, the parents of trans children stressed the importance of accepting their kids for their identities. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who has two children who have received gender-affirming care, said letting his kids lead their treatment in consultation with medical professionals wasn't "hard" nor "emotionally complicated."
"At no moment in that process did it make a bit of sense for a politician to insert themselves," he said.
After speeches from trans and LGBTQ+ rights' advocates and local politicians, protesters marched for about a half hour, circling downtown, from Dearborn Street to Michigan Avenue and Adams Street to Washington Street.
The crowd chanted slogans including "Health care is a human right" and "Trans rights are human rights" for about half an hour as it moved. Onlookers on the sidewalks stopped to cheer, clap and record the march.
McCreight said they felt "reinvigorated" by the event.
"You're seeing your rights being stripped away and wondering, 'Am I going to lose access to my health care next as an adult, the thing that I know has literally saved my life?'" they said. "But I come out here and I know that people aren't going to give up, and honestly, I feel like we're going to eventually win."
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