Advocates for Trans Equality

Even with the political backlash and record number of anti-trans bills, we are winning! Thanks to LAUGHING GULL FOUNDATION for shouting out A4TE and our recent legal victories.

Executive Director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen joins LGBTQ Nation and a panel of prominent LGBTQ+ leaders as they discuss the current state of the LGBTQ+ movement, the stakes of the upcoming election, and the future of LGBTQ+ rights. This non-partisan roundtable, moderated by Alex Berg, dives deep into key issues facing our community, with an eye toward 2025 and beyond.?

What a night to celebrate our partners and clients! Thank you to everyone who joined us at this year’s Pro Bono Recognition Dinner, and congratulations to our 2024 pro bono honorees! #PBRD2024

One second. The ink is finally dry. The merger between NCTE and TLDEF is final, and Advocates for Trans Equality is official. Okay, now back to changing the world. https://lnkd.in/egACuiVu

We're hiring! If you're a litigator passionate about advocating for trans and nonbinary communities, please consider joining our team. https://buff.ly/4gOhwmi #hiring #TransLaw

This evening, A4TE will proudly recognize our extraordinary pro bono partners whose unwavering dedication to trans rights has been instrumental in both TLDEF’s final year and A4TE’s groundbreaking first year. Join us as we celebrate our shared accomplishments, honor their pivotal contributions, and chart an ambitious course for the future as we continue to grow and thrive together. #PBRD2024

Nearly 2,000 people joined the Gender Liberation March on Saturday in DC to advocate for bodily autonomy. At a time when state legislatures across the country are passing laws severely restricting abortion and gender-affirming care, the goal of the march was to demonstrate the connections between the fights for transgender rights and reproductive justice. Advocates for Transgender Equality was one of many organizations present alongside trans activists including Elliot Page, Miss Major, Chase Strangio of ACLU, and Raquel Willis. As march organizers and speakers pointed out, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v Wade (Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health) has been used by states to justify restrictions on bodily autonomy that go far beyond abortion, leaving many people without access to life-saving healthcare.

Congratulations to my Advocates for Trans Equality colleagues Gabriel Arkles, Ezra Cukor, Sydney Duncan, and Fiadh McKenna for filing today's class action lawsuit against Aetna for its denial to cover medically necessary, transition-related procedures for transgender people. We're incredibly grateful to co-counsel this matter with our colleagues at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. Here's to making sure both public and private health insurance cover what is medically necessary for all its policy holders regardless of gender identity or gender expression. #Trans #TransEquality #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #TransHealth #HealthEquity #CivilRights #ProBono

A4TE has filed a class-action lawsuit against Aetna on behalf of three transgender women and others like them who were denied coverage for medically necessary gender-affirming facial reconstruction procedures. Gender-affirming facial surgeries are essential medical treatments for gender dysphoria, a serious medical condition that arises from the incongruence between a person's gender identity and their physical sex characteristics. As A4TE's Co-Interim Legal Director Gabriel Arkles stated, "Aetna’s refusal to cover gender-affirming healthcare, despite the medical necessity, forces trans women and nonbinary people into a position where they must continue to suffer or, if they can, take on the financial burden of paying for their healthcare out of pocket."