Minneapolis Becomes Safe-Haven For 'Gender-Affirming Care'

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday signed an executive order protecting access to "gender-affirming healthcare."

The services are given to people suffering from gender dysphoria.

"This Executive Order solidifies Minneapolis as a safe haven for transgender and nonbinary people seeking or receiving gender-affirming health care," Frey said in a statement.

"We’re in the business of helping people, as individuals and communities. No matter who you are, or where you’re from, Minneapolis loves you and we will support you."

The order defines gender-affirming healthcare as "all services, supplies, drug therapies, and other care that an individual may receive to support and affirm the individual's gender identity, that are legal under the laws of the State of Minnesota as of the date of this Executive Order or any time thereafter."

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, gender-affirming care includes puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and "top" or "bottom" surgery.

"I am proud to support this executive order, especially in light of the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies and hate crimes we are experiencing in our country and state right now," said City Council President Andrea Jenkins.

The order won praise from some in the city's medical community, including Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, the medical director of the Gender Health program at Children’s Minnesota.

"I want to thank Mayor Frey for taking action to ensure health care professionals like myself can provide the comprehensive and compassionate care transgender and gender-diverse youth in our community deserve," Goepferd said.

"The care we provide has been supported through evidence-based research and expert opinion by every major medical society in this country, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Despite this, too often in our clinic, I hear from patients who are being attacked and discriminated against – based on their gender identities and expression."

According to the Mayo Clinic, 80 percent of patients report "significant improvement" in their gender dysphoria after hormonal therapy and surgery.

Treatment can also have significant risks, however.

"There’s going to be a price," Dr. Sundeep Khosla, head of the bone research lab at the Mayo Clinic, recently told the New York Times. "And the price is probably going to be some deficit in skeletal mass."