PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday announced two LGBTQ-leaning bans on state support for so-called conversion therapy and allowing transgender state employees to receive gender-affirming medical care under insurance plans. issued a presidential decree.
Hobbes made the announcement from the offices of a nonprofit in central Phoenix focused on supporting LGBTQ youth.
Under this administrative measure, state agencies will promote so-called conversion therapy, the scientifically discredited practice of using therapy to “convert” LGBTQ people to heterosexual or traditional gender expectations. or prohibited from using the funds to facilitate.
Also, state employee health insurance plans no longer list gender reassignment surgery as an exclusion. A ban on such reporting was enacted in 2017.
This change affects former and current state and public university employees.
The order effectively settles an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2019 by Dr. Russell Toomey, a transgender, University of Arizona professor seeking coverage for “medically necessary” surgery. ACLU attorneys representing Toomey announced Tuesday that they will file a motion to settle the lawsuit.
One of Hobbes’ orders also states that state officials cannot cooperate in civil or criminal cases in states where gender-affirming medicine is illegal.
