ATLANTA — Some Atlanta City Council members want police to de-prioritize enforcement of Georgia’s transgender children’s health law.
A federal court judge is allowing that law to stay in effect until a trial.
But a new settlement means the State of Georgia must offer gender-affirming healthcare to its own employees.
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Channel 2 Action News was there last December when Micah Rich announced he was suing the State of Georgia which employs him as an accountant.
The state employee healthcare benefit plan excluded all forms of transgender-related healthcare, which Rich and two other employees said was unconstitutional.
“Because I’m transgender, I have been denied medical treatments that my doctors and I have agreed together are necessary,” Rich said.
But in a settlement reached last week, the State of Georgia will have to include transgender healthcare as part of its health benefits package to state employees and their families.
But transgender healthcare for children remains illegal under a law passed in Georgia last year.
Rich’s attorney David Brown points out that under Georgia’s employee benefits plan, if an employee took their child out of the state for gender-affirming care, the state would have to pay for it.
“And say once again, how happy we are that transgender folks in the state can get healthcare without fear of discrimination from the state when they’re working for the state,” Brown said.
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Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari is trying to get this resolution passed.
It would direct police to make enforcing that transgender health law the lowest priority, which would basically be a green light for parents seeking care for their transgender children.
“Repeatedly, we see governments inserting themselves into the home. There are all sorts of attacks on our children. This law took away the ability of parents to determine what was best for their children,” Bakhtiari said.
The state’s Attorney General’s Office did send Channel 2 a statement saying this settlement will have no impact on the transgender children’s health law and that they will continue to fight for the health and well-being of Georgia’s children.
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