Athens-Clarke County Commissioners faced backlash from local LGBTQ activists at last night’s meeting after county staff recommended not to supply federal funds for gender affirming care.
Hours after a bill banning gender affirming care for trans youth passed both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly, Danielle Bonanno, President of the Athens Pride + Queer Collective (APQC), asked commissioners to allocate funds to the Queer Collective and their partner, Athens Nurses Clinic, to provide gender affirming care to Athenians. That funding would come from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) -- federal funds distributed by local governments.
While 15 percent of the federal grant must go towards public services, including care for special populations like those with mental illnesses or substance abuse issues, the LGBTQ community is not listed as a special population. Former Queer Collective President Cameron Harrelson said that gender affirming care can protect queer individuals from experiencing a mental health crisis.
Many commissioners seemed to side with Bonanno and Harrelson and agreed to consider a commission defined option which would include the Queer Collective as a recipient of federal funds. District 8’s Carol Myers said that the federal grant could protect the trans community from conservative-led bans on queer rights.
Commissioners plan to discuss a commission defined option in the coming few weeks.
