Trans Rights, Healthcare and IDs: Key Takeaways from Emergency Town Hall Hosted By LGBTQ+ Advocates

Over 900 attendees packed ACLU, Equality Michigan Action Network gathering

Published: February 6, 2025 | Last Updated: February 7, 2025

More than 900 attendees joined a virtual town hall Feb. 5 to learn how recent presidential executive orders and Michigan legislative moves could impact the state's LGBTQ+ community. The session, led by Emme Zanotti, director of advocacy and civic engagement at Equality Michigan Action Network, and Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's LGBTQ+ Project, outlined both Michigan's recent legislative progress and potential challenges ahead.

"We decided to put this call on the calendar, not because we have all the answers today," Zanotti explained. "But we felt it was really important that as partners in this work, Equality Michigan Action Network and the ACLU of Michigan come together to, at the very least, make sure we have a conversation about what we do know so far."

Michigan's legislative progress, current challenges

The past two years saw significant advances in LGBTQ+ rights in Michigan under a Democratic majority in both chambers. That majority ended after the November election, creating new challenges for the community. While the state Senate maintains what advocates call a "pro-LGBTQ equality majority," the changed dynamics in the House have already led to concerning legislative proposals.

"It's no surprise that the new majority in the Michigan House, the first pieces of legislation that they've introduced in the past two weeks are bills that would ban transgender students from being able to play school sports in Michigan and would prevent them from being able to access restrooms and locker rooms," Kaplan noted. These pieces of legislation are not expected to pass the Senate or be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but are alarming, nonetheless.

Despite these challenges, recent LGBTQ+ achievements remain significant. The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act was expanded to include protections based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. This landmark legislation prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, utilities, academic institutions and healthcare.

"For the first time in Michigan's history, we had a majority of folks in both chambers who were willing to champion, support, advocate for and vote yes on policies that directly and explicitly benefited the LGBTQ+ community in Michigan," Zanotti noted. These protections, she emphasized, "will provide us some insulation and give us some tools to fight back" against federal challenges.

Other recent achievements include:

Restrictions on conversion therapy for minors
Prohibition of the LGBTQ+ panic defense in courts
Modernization of the legal name change process, removing burdensome requirements
Removal of surgical requirements for birth certificate gender marker changes
Decriminalization of surrogacy agreements
Enhancement of legal parentage pathways for families using surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology
Addition of sexual orientation and gender identity to hate crimes laws

Michigan also maintains one of the country's most comprehensive Medicaid policies for gender-affirming care. As Kaplan explained, "All medically necessary care that is verified through what your doctor says and what medical experts say has to be covered under Michigan's Medicaid program."

However, Zanotti emphasized that maintaining these protections requires continued vigilance. "We have no prohibitions in our state laws on gender-affirming care,” she explained. “We see these things in some of our neighboring states, but not here. There's no state-level explicit anti-trans policies in the state of Michigan right now. And I think we have to continue to work really hard to keep it that way and keep those protections in place."

Presidential executive orders and their impact

Recent presidential executive orders have created significant uncertainty and challenges for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly several orders affecting transgender individuals. Kaplan emphasized that while executive orders are policy directives, not laws, and cannot override existing state laws or court decisions, their impact is already being felt across Michigan.

"Their plan is to throw as much things daily, sometimes more than once daily, at everybody," Kaplan explained. "We've seen this flood of executive orders, one after another, this relentless pummeling, particularly of the transgender community. That's their purpose. They want to throw so much against the wall that we all feel overwhelmed."

Federal identity documents: The administration will no longer process applications to amend passport gender markers, including the "X" marker for nonbinary individuals. The State Department has frozen all pending applications, leaving many in limbo. "People are understandably worried," Kaplan noted. "[People are saying], 'They have my documents. I don't have a passport. How do I travel abroad?'"

For now, there isn’t a clear answer to the question of whether trans people should travel abroad — we must await further instruction and see how the situation unfolds. According to official directives, existing federal identity documents are still valid even when gender markers have been changed or when an X marker is present, but some travelers are exercising caution, fearful they may not be permitted to re-enter the country with these documents.

Healthcare restrictions: Any healthcare facilities providing gender-affirming care risk losing federal funding, even if not using federal funds for that specific care, according to a Trump executive order. This has led some Michigan providers to preemptively restrict services, including Corewell Health, which recently announced it is preemptively complying with Trump's executive order by limiting gender-affirming care for minor patients — minors seeking new treatment will not been treated at Corewell, while those already receiving hormone therapy will be allowed to continue. "We're seeing a number of gender-affirming care programs stopping their services, interrupting people's care or saying we're not going to take new patients, canceling patients' appointments," Kaplan reported. However, he emphasized that such actions might violate Michigan's civil rights laws.

So far, healthcare facilities in Michigan seem to still be providing care to existing patients, though some may be restricting care for new patients. This situation is evolving rapidly and varies by location — for patients receiving care, it’s important to contact providers directly to determine whether their care will be impacted.

Education impact: Schools supporting transgender students' social transition, including use of preferred names, pronouns and facilities access, face threats of federal funding withdrawal. The most recent order specifically targets transgender athletes' participation in school sports, even at the collegiate level. Again, because executive orders are not laws, any schools complying with the orders are doing so preemptively. Courts need to weigh in on the orders to determine their constitutionality. As Zanotti pointed out, "The easiest way that these things will take immediate effect is if we let them. We should push back on every fabric of our society and not let anyone get away with bowing down here."

Looking ahead

Both leaders emphasized the importance of community engagement and resilience. "We can't stop, can't slow down," Zanotti urged. "We will keep slogging through this and we'll get out of it eventually."

They encouraged community members to:

Support local LGBTQ+ organizations and community centers
Engage with elected officials regularly
Document and report discrimination
Build stronger local support networks
Stay informed about upcoming elections

The 2026 Michigan election will be particularly crucial, with races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state and legislative majorities potentially affecting the future of LGBTQ+ rights in the state. Kaplan stressed the importance of remaining engaged: "We're going to fight against this in every way that we can. We might not always be successful in terms of legal challenges, and there could very well be harm done. But we are not going to stand for this because this is not who we are as a country."