League speaker to address Transgender Youth Medical Care

“Transgender Youth Medical Care in Tennessee: Past, Present and Future” is the topic of the Lunch with the League meeting of the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Feb. 4. 

Bean Chapman, a policy analyst and committee chair for Knox, Anderson and Blount counties for the Tennessee Equality Project, will address this topic at noon at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The public is invited to attend the lunch and lecture between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. All are welcome to bring their lunch or purchase a boxed lunch for a nominal fee. Coffee and tea will be served. 

Chapman presented the background for the talk. “In 2023, Tennessee was one of 19 states to pass an anti-trans healthcare law, SB1, prohibiting access to gender-affirming medical care for any of the state’s estimated 3,000 transgender minors. This law had immediate effects for those already receiving or seeking gender-affirming care. 

“After passing through the U.S. District for Middle Tennessee and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2023, the state of Tennessee defended SB1 in the Supreme Court of the United States, hearing U.S. v. Skrmetti on Dec. 4, 2024.”

Chapman stated they will discuss gender-affirming medical care and the impact of SB1 on transgender youth in Tennessee, share personal experience at the Supreme Court hearing and predict what lies ahead for transgender medical care in Tennessee.

Chapman, who has a transgender child, has said that denying transgender teens access to treatments like puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries is harmful to them, potentially increasing their likelihood to commit suicide.

As a nine-year policy advocate, Chapman has led multiple nonprofit organizations and partnered with elected officials, agencies, coalitions, public and private schools, businesses, faith communities and families. Chapman is a two-time graduate of the University of Tennessee with master of public health policy and master of science degrees and more than 25 years of experience in leadership, research, analysis and instruction.

Lunch with the League welcomes League members and nonmembers alike to this informative presentation. The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is a nonpartisan political organization for women and men. It encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.