Image Source: PinkNews, Literary Hub
Elliot Page and Lilly Wachowski along with dozens of trans advocates have filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation law.
Elliot Page and Lilly Wachowski have joined a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that is fighting against House Bill 1570 that prevents doctors and medical officials from giving the necessary medical treatment to trans youth and referring them to gender-affirming care. The bill is called, “Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act" and this legislation applies even to the people who have already begun these treatments.
According to Pink News, House Bill 1570 was passed on 29th March by the senate which made Arkansas the first state to ban puberty blockers and hormone treatment for trans youth. Rep. Robin Lundstrum and Sen. Alan Clark proposed the bill as they contradict the science of gender identity, falsely posting trans and non-binary identities as a ‘choice’.
Robin Lundstrum said during a House panel, "Those kids are precious. Some of them may choose to be transgender when they're older. That's OK, that's their choice. But when they're under 18, they need to grow up first. That's a big decision, there's no going back." Although the bill has not been put into effect after the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit was filed on the behalf of four families of trans youth and two doctors in May.
After the bill was passed the celebrities and the trans advocates reacted with fury and in a video recorded for the American Civil Liberties Union, Laverne Cox said, “It’s exhausting. I encourage us to look at this in the context of years-long attempts to stigmatize and further marginalize trans people and have that stigma codified into law. This is not new. We’ve seen bathroom bills, we’ve seen other bills in previous years, and now we see bills like HB 1570, which would criminalize doctors providing healthcare – medically necessary health care – to children.”
Schitt’s Creek creator and actor Dan Levy also reacted with fury and said, “This is f**king abhorren.” Jameela Jamil branded the bill as ‘horrific’ and said, “Just like banning abortion won’t stop abortions. It will just stop SAFE transitioning. It will also cost more lives than we can fathom. This is so disgusting and inhumane. Trans lives matter. Trans health matters. Trans kids matter.” Writer Raquel Wills also shared, “Transphobes don’t just strip trans women of being women and trans men of being men… as you can see in Arkansas and states across the country, they strip trans children of being children, and essentially, they strip all trans people of simply being people. As hard as it is and as many stumbles will come, we have to continue to be a threat to that power, to the binary. I truly find my reserve of energy in knowing that we’re not the first generations of folk to dream of something better and we won’t be the last one as long as we fight.”
Recently, the American Civil Liberties Union brief was filed alongside several others from trans youth, medical groups, international groups, a coalition of 21 states, and bioethicists. Elliot Page who has now joined/signed the lawsuit against the anti-trans law shared that he felt infinitely more creative after he had top surgery as he did not have to live with the ‘discomfort’ of that ‘aspect’ of his body. Elliot further explained, “I couldn’t believe the amount of energy I had, ideas, how my imagination flourished because the constant discomfort and pain around that aspect of my body was gone.”
Matrix director, Lilly Wachowski also said, that her "films at their core try to center love and connectivity" and that she is "proud to have lifted up" queer and transgender voices "in front of as well as behind the camera." Adding more she said, “When I started living as my true self, I would sometimes catch short sharp glimpses of my reflection in windows and cars as I'd walk along or ride my bike. It would make my heart skip a beat. The silhouette of my shadow on the ground cast by the afternoon sun was exhilarating and life affirming. If no one else did, the Sun saw me as I am."
Lilly Wachowski came out as trans woman in 2016. Image Source: Entertainment Tonight
In 2016, Lilly announced that she is a transgender woman and said in a statement to the Chicago LGBT newspaper Windy City Times, “Being transgender is not easy… I am one of the lucky ones. Having the support of my family and the means to afford doctors and therapists has given me the chance to actually survive this process. Transgender people without support, means and privilege do not have this luxury. And many do not survive.”
Jazz Jennings who documented her transition on TLC’s ‘I am Jazz’ since 2015 also participated and shared that receiving gender-affirming treatment when she began puberty and later receiving hormones helped her lead a happy childhood. "I never looked masculine. I developed alongside my peers as a female teenager. I was able to lead a happy childhood because I was able to live as the girl I knew I was”, she said.
The bill has been condemned by LGBT+ rights organizations including the Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign wrote on Twitter, “Denying trans people healthcare is denying trans people the right to be themselves. That is not and will never be OK.”
