I love Erin’s posts and reporting. The attack on trans rights and health was planned and coordinated by religious conservatives who felt they lost the culture war on gay acceptance and same sex marriage so they decided to jump quickly on the trans issue with lots of money. Their first attempt failed because they went after the idea of trans people itself. So then they changed to the old “protect the children” play book with the entire focus on protecting little cis girls but they never mention the trans boys that cis boys need to be protected from. See how patristical it is? It is all about males needing to protect the little womans. They don’t care about trans kids, they don’t care about female sports. It is about not letting trans kids transition with puberty blockers and the correct hormones as then the kids will grow up as they are fitting the societal view of what men and women look like. That scares the straight cis male religious guys because they are terrified they will be attracted to a trans woman. Imagine the horror if trans people moved freely in society not raising any question of their gender because they conformed to how society sees each gender. That sounds like a grand thing to me, but it terrifies these fanatical religious grifters that want to control how everyone lives to please their god. They make up untrue and scary what ifs, what if a man uses the letting trans people use the bathroom of their gender ID to go into a girls … notice they phrase it girls not womans because that make people more protective from the start, and they harm a little girl, your little girl? Well nothing stops a man from doing that now! Predators don’t need permission and won’t wait for it. And that has happened where a straight cis male dragged a little girl into the male bathroom and raped her while his friend watched. There was a famous court case on it. Look it up if you want. Want to know what has not happened, a trans woman going into the female’s bathroom and assaulting a female. Sorry. The right has tried hard to make one happen, but each claim of a trans person in a locker room or bathroom acting inappropriate has been debunked and disproven. This is all a made up scandal and crisis by people who can not accept the society progressing beyond the old traditional binary they grew up with and they think their holy books claim must be as their god insists on it. Weird how it is always how their god insists on what they already believe or promote. Handy that. So many people can not move past the idea that if it dangles you MUST be a boy regardless of how you feel and if it is an inny you must be a girl regardless of anything else idea. They can not seem to grasp personal feelings, needs, or medial science. Hugs
The bill would establish the Affirming Health Care Trust Fund, administered by the State Treasurer, to support clinics and providers outside the reach of federal funding threats.
Vermont Bill Would Create State Trust Fund For Private Trans Youth Care Clinics As Trump Threatens Hospital Funding
The bill would establish the Affirming Health Care Trust Fund, administered by the State Treasurer, to support clinics and providers outside the reach of federal funding threats.
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
Across the United States, gender-affirming care has come under sustained attack in Republican-led states and from the Trump administration. For transgender youth, those attacks have been especially severe, with roughly half of U.S. states now banning such care outright. At the federal level, the administration has waged an intense pressure campaign against hospitals, threatening funding and prompting many systems to drop their care programs altogether. That campaign has now escalated further, with the federal government moving to threaten hospitals’ entire Medicaid and Medicare funding if they continue providing transgender youth care. In response, some states and cities are beginning to fight back by establishing their own funding mechanisms for trans healthcare. The latest example comes from Vermont, where lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a trust fund for gender-affirming care designed to be entirely insulated from federal funding threats.
H.576, introduced by Representatives Daisy Berbeco, Tiffany Bluemle, and Troy Headrick, would establish the Affirming Health Care Trust Fund. Administered by the State Treasurer, the fund would provide direct monetary support to healthcare providers and nonprofits offering gender-affirming care in Vermont. It would cover costs for patients who would otherwise go without treatment, fund the establishment of Vermont-based clinics, and pay for malpractice and liability insurance for clinicians who continue offering care. The bill is part of an increasing movement towards private clinics as a mechanism to survive federal threats.
The bill also includes provisions designed to protect patient information from both federal pressure and out-of-state threats, going further than the recent “refuge” or “shield” laws passed in several blue states to protect transgender youth care. It explicitly bars the board and other state actors from disclosing patient-identifiable data, the identities of providers, or the identities of award recipients to the federal government. This is a significant protection given the wave of abusive legislation and attempts to subpoena transgender healthcare records nationwide. While federal preemption may ultimately be litigated, these provisions give clinics a stronger legal footing to resist such demands—particularly as similar subpoenas have been repeatedly quashed in recent court cases.
The bill comes as families scramble to locate alternatives to hospital systems that are abandoning them. With more than 20 hospitals closing their doors to transgender youth care out of fear and preemptive compliance with the Trump administration, many families have been forced to seek alternatives. Just this week, major hospital systems across Colorado, for example, have stopped providing care. Groups like the Trans Youth Emergency Project say they have the capacity to refer displaced patients to private clinics, and in many places those clinics do exist and are absorbing demand. But as hospital-based programs continue to shut down and demand rises, those private providers will need sustained support—and more clinics will need to be created. Bills like this are a targeted way to do exactly that.
If this bill passes, Vermont would be the latest state to protect care in this way—but it would not be the only one. Massachusetts passed a similar measure last year, allocating $1 million toward transgender youth care clinics, though that funding has already come under criticism as insufficient to meet statewide need in the wake of major clinic closures. In New York City, newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani has pledged $65 million for transgender healthcare. If that funding is realized, it would position New York City as a major hub for private clinics capable of absorbing demand created by hospital closures across the country. This strategy could prove to be a critical backstop for private providers that are already emerging—and that are likely to come under increasing strain in the years ahead.
The bill allows funding from state appropriations, private donations, grants, and—importantly—federal funds under a future administration that is protective of transgender healthcare. It would take effect immediately upon passage, with the board required to convene by August 1, 2026. There are still hurdles ahead: the bill must advance through committee, pass both chambers, and ultimately receive meaningful funding to function as intended. But its introduction alone signals something important. At a moment when hospitals are retreating and families are being forced into crisis planning, Vermont lawmakers are putting forward a concrete framework to protect access to care rather than surrender it. For Vermonters who want to see their state take a clear stand, residents can find and contact their legislators through the Vermont General Assembly website to make clear where they stand on protecting transgender healthcare.
Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber.
Pedro Pascal has once again stood for trans rights (Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)
Our lord and saviour Pedro Pascal has showed his trans-ally credentials in public once again.
Speaking at the premiere of his latest film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Pascal said the trans community filled him with inspiration.
Pascal, whose sister Lux is trans, has long been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and in recent months has been vocal in his support of trans people, catching heat from certain people for calling gender-critical author JK Rowling’s actions those of a “heinous loser”.
On the red carpet in Berlin, he said: “It’s important to protect people, especially those simply asking for the right to exist in bodies that belong to them and in the world that they never asked to be brought into.
Pedro Pascal has once again spoken out for the trans community at the premier of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. On the red carpet for the film in Berlin, Pascal was asked why it’s so important to stand up for the trans community, to which he responded: “It’s important to stand up for those who are simply asking for the right to exist.” This isn’t the first time Pedro Pascal has stood up for the trans community. Earlier this year he trolled transphobes in his Instagram comments, he regularly shows support for his trans sister, Lux Pascal, and has most recently spoken out multiple times against JK Rowling. #pedropascal#jkrowling#fantasticfour#transcommunity#transrights#lgbtqia
Pedro Pascal has once again spoken out for the trans community at the premier of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
On the red carpet for the film in Berlin, Pascal was asked why it’s so important to stand up for the trans community, to which he responded: “It’s important to stand up for those who are simply asking for the right to exist.”
This isn’t the first time Pedro Pascal has stood up for the trans community. Earlier this year he trolled transphobes in his Instagram comments, he regularly shows support for his trans sister, Lux Pascal, and has most recently spoken out multiple times against JK Rowling.
Earlier this year, Pascal wore a Protect The Dolls t-shirt, in support of trans rights, at the Thunderbolts* premiere in London.
“Dolls” is term used mainly by the LGBTQ+ community to describe transgender women. Its roots lie in ballroom culture.
Pascal’s wardrobe choice came just days after the UK Supreme Court handed down an 88-page judgement deeming the legal definition of the words “sex” and “woman” in the 2010 Equality Act referred to “biological sex” and “biological women”, thus excluding transgender people.
The ruling was the culmination of legal action by gender-critical group For Women Scotland, who were backed in their case by Harry Potter author Rowling to the tune of £70,000 (more than $95,000).
After the verdict was announced, Rowling, well-known for her gender-critical views, posted a photo on social media of herself celebrating with a cigar and a cocktail. “I love it when a plan comes together,” she wrote, before revealing that her husband has dubbed the announcement date TERF VE Day.
In response to a viral video post by writer Tariq Ra’ouf, in which Rowling’s celebration was branded “serious Voldemort villain sh*t, Pascal wrote: “Awful, disgusting sh*t is exactly right. Heinous loser behaviour.”
Pedro Pascal is a long-time supporter of trans rights. (Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Following his comment, which was widely praised by LGBTQ+ people, but criticised by the anti-trans brigade, Pascal told Vanity Fair that he was wondering if it had been the right thing to do in terms of helping the transgender community.
He felt like “that kid [who] got sent to the principal’s office a lot for behavioural issues in public schools in Texas, feeling scared and thinking: what’d I do?”
The star, who will be seen reprising his Fantastic Four Reed Richards role in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, went on to say: “The one thing I agonised over a little bit was: am I helping? Am I f**king helping? It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance so that something can actually happen and people will actually be protected.
“I want to protect the people I love. But it goes beyond that, bullies make me f**king sick.”
Rowling responded to Pascal’s comment by saying: “Can’t say I feel very shut down but keep at it, Pedro. God loves a trier.”
Wow oh wow! This is a great video and a must watch video if you support trans people. I wouldn’t have expected a man of the Christian faith to come out for trans people but never would have expected them to do this that strongly and seriously. I watched it twice to be sure I heard what I did. After I post this I will watch it again. I am not even sure how to post this in the labels. Hugs and loves. This is why I really like this Christian man. Hugs
This is the comment I left on this post. I wonder if he will reply. Hugs
Hello Rev. I had only commented once before where I asked you if a caring loving atheist such as myself could find a place in your god’s paradise. You welcomed me and told me I did not have to believe in the supernatural but live a decent life helping others as I could, which I had said I did, you replied I was totally accepted by your god. I was honestly surprised by your answer. Since then I have followed your channel and often posted it to my blog. Most of my readers are not religious but all are caring wonderful people of different faiths, sexual orientations, and some are trans. But all have found wisdom in your videos. I thank you for this one. The trans community and trans kids are under heavy attack in the US. I suspect because it undermines the cis straight majority that has long ruled the US, but also driven by religious people who feel this allowing their children to be who they wee born to be, LGBTQ+ is an affront to their god they will be held to account for. Thank you, Hugs. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 