Rachel Levine is the US government’s highest-ranking trans official. She has acknowledged the difficulties faced by LGBTQ+ youth in the state. She has pointed out the political attacks on LGBTQ+ communities and emphasized the importance of gender-affirming care for trans youth.

She made a shocking statement: “I want to say this very, very clearly: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans are committing suicide at a rate that should shock our conscience.”

She is a trained paediatrician who stated that 52% of trans and non-binary young people contemplated suicide in 2020, magnifying the mental health crisis occurring among LGBTQ+ youth. She also stated that gender-affirming care is medical care. It is suicide prevention care it improves the quality of life and saves lives.

Alabama state lawmakers last month illegalized gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender people 18 or younger, threatening medical providers and parents with prison time and fines. The US justice department has joined efforts to strike that law down as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Iowa also passed a law in March that bans trans girls and women from participating in high school and college athletics, despite arguments that the bill was discriminatory, too, and addressed a manufactured problem.

Many LGBTQ+ youth are surrendering to deaths rather than coping with the lifelong harassment they face. Each day is a fight for them. We need to have vigilant gender-affirming care and make sure it reaches everyone needed. This is important to ensure that the country is safe for all people. Representation does matter but more than that equally everyone should be protected and no one should be let down.