Post submitted by Ianthe Metzger, Former Press Secretary, State & Local 

HRC will host transgender young people, parents, medical professionals and other youth-serving professionals at the groundbreaking Community In Action: Caring For Our Transgender Children and Youth Conference in Cincinnati on Saturday.  

Co-sponsored by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the day-long conference will feature a keynote address by Gavin Grimm, the inspiring transgender teenager who took his fight to use the boy’s restroom in his Virginia school all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Cincinnati City Councilmember Chris Seelbach, the city’s first openly LGBTQ council member and a tireless advocate for LGBTQ equality, will also speak during the conference.

“We’re excited to partner with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for this first-of-its-kind conference for transgender young people, their families, social workers and medical professionals, and to hear from inspiring leaders like Gavin Grimm and Chris Seelbach,” said Ellen Kahn, Director of HRC’s Children Youth and Families Program. “Whether at home, at school or at their doctor's office, every person has the right to feel safe and to be treated with dignity and respect. We are confident that participants will leave the conference inspired to renew their commitment to addressing the disparities transgender young people face every day.”

Saturday’s conference will offer an array of professional workshops, discussions and presentations on best practices for working with transgender youth, as well as information on opportunities for increased advocacy and support of transgender young people.

Speaker Gavin Grimm made history after suing his school district over its discriminatory policy that barred him from using the boy’s restroom, alleging that the district violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. His case was scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, but was sent back to a lower court after the Trump administration withdrew the Obama Administration’s policy guidance clarifying protections for transgender students. Grimm has since graduated from high school, but he continues to be an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ equality.

Councilmember Seelbach was instrumental in the passage of the city’s ban on the discredited and dangerous practice of “conversion therapy” on LGBTQ youth. Under his leadership, Cincinnati has also received a perfect 100-point score on HRC’s Municipal Equality Index, the only nationwide rating system of LGBTQ inclusion in municipal law, policy and services. There is no state law in Ohio outlawing “conversion therapy,” and no statewide LGBTQ non-discrimination protections in employment, housing, or places of public accommodation. There is also currently no mechanism for transgender Ohioans to change the gender marker on their birth certificates.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center earned the “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” distinction in HRC’s 2017 Health Equality Index (HEI), an annual survey that promotes and encourages inclusive care for LGBTQ people in healthcare facilities across the U.S. A record 590 healthcare facilities actively participated in the HEI 2017 survey, with 303 of the respondents (51 percent) scoring 100 and achieving the coveted  “Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality” distinction.