Dear John,

I hope this email finds you well.

It has been a challenging week as the relentless and escalating attacks on transgender and nonbinary youth have continued. This week the governor of Texas directed state officials to open child abuse investigations into families simply because they want to provide access to gender-affirming care for their children.

But in the face of these attacks, Williams Institute research was ready to support sound public policy and inform public discussion. With a state legislative session heating up that could be the worst on record for LGBTQI+ people, I am asking for your support ([link removed]) to continue our important work.

During the State of the Union on Tuesday, President Biden re-stated his historic pledge to protect transgender youth: “The onslaught of state laws targeting transgender Americans and their families is wrong. As I said last year, especially to our younger transgender Americans, I will always have your back as your President, so you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.”

The next day, he turned that pledge into policy, with the Department of Health and Human Services issuing new guidance ([link removed]) to state child welfare agencies that makes clear that states should use their child welfare systems to advance safety and support for LGBTQI+ youth, including gender-affirming care. The research section of the guidance begins with an extensive discussion of our groundbreaking 2014 study on the over-representation of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care led by Rabbi Barbara Zacky Senior Scholar of Policy Bianca D.M. Wilson. The guidance concludes that Bianca’s study “underscores the need for child welfare agencies to work with families of LGBTQI+ children and youth”—not against them as Texas is preparing to do.

Making the world a safer place for transgender and gender nonbinary youth will not only take changing policies but changing hearts and minds. An essay ([link removed]) in today’s New York Times movingly weaves the author’s personal story with Williams Institute research to convey the very real harm of denying or delaying gender-affirming care. What amplifies the story, showing that it is the experience of not one but thousands, is another landmark study ([link removed]) by the Williams Institute that found at least 1.2 million Americans identify as nonbinary.

As we face a tidal wave of anti-LGBTQI+ legislation this year, much of it focused on transgender and gender nonbinary youth, the Williams Institute stands ready to continue producing groundbreaking research that changes policies and minds, letting every LGBTQI+ person, young and old, know that they are not alone.

Thank you for supporting ([link removed]) our work. We couldn’t do it without you.

Take care,
Brad

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