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Tennessee's transgender care exclusions are discriminatory... lawsuit alleges

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Jessica_Rose:
Tennessee's transgender care exclusions are discriminatory, a federal lawsuit alleges

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tennessee-s-transgender-care-exclusions-are-discriminatory-a-federal-lawsuit-alleges/ar-AA1bGBsX?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds&cvid=1faa78047fb34b5d89673c3bd352d3d0&ei=13

Story by By KIMBERLEE KRUESI, Associated Press (25 May 2023)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's decision to exclude gender-affirming care for its employees is unconstitutional and discriminatory, according to a federal lawsuit brought by two people who were denied such services while working for the state.

Attorneys representing Gerda Zinner, 30, and Story VanNess, 38, say the two were denied even though their medical teams deemed the services medically necessary. Zinner still works for the state as an academic adviser but VanNess has since left her position as a special education teacher after unsuccessfully appealing her case.

“Tennessee’s public employee health benefits program has unlawfully deprived plaintiffs of coverage for essential medical services because of the plaintiffs’ sex and because they are transgender,” stated the 50-page complaint filed Tuesday.

Zinner “feels that her life is on hold” because she now must live with “unmet healthcare needs,” her lawyers wrote. Meanwhile, VanNess' attorneys said she spent all her savings to pay for her treatments.

A program now in place in Tennessee — serving nearly 290,000 teachers, state and local employees, lawmakers and their dependents — provides counseling and psychological treatment for gender dysphoria but does not cover treatment “for, or related to, sex transformations."

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