Iowa State University has agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by a transgender employee for $28,000 after she was denied coverage for transition-related care under her employee health insurance plan.
Elyn Fritz-Waters, a former assistant scientist at the university, was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2016, and, on the advice of her primary care provider, was advised to undergo gender confirmation surgery to help treat her dysphoria.
Yet even though the care was deemed medically necessary, Fritz-Waters was still denied coverage due to an insurance exclusion that specifically prohibits coverage for transition-related care.
Fritz-Waters filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, alleging that the insurance exclusion was discriminatory because it denied her equal access to health care benefits based on her sex and gender identity. She later resigned from her post at the university in February 2017.
The Civil Rights Commission agreed with Fritz-Waters’ claims, and granted her “right-to-sue” status later that year, at which point she filed a lawsuit against the university.
Last Wednesday, the Iowa Appeal Board approved a $27,500 settlement in the case. The university will pay $25,000, and the state government will pick up the remainder of the tab. The state of Iowa did not admit wrongdoing or legal violation as part of the settlement.
After Fritz-Waters filed suit, the Iowa Board of Regents decided to expand insurance coverage to include transition-related care for transgender individuals, Annette Hacker, a university spokeswoman, told the Des Moines Register.
Fights over transgender health care have taken center-stage in recent years. In 2016, an Iowa transgender man was allowed to receive gender confirmation surgery under Medicaid due to a processing error, even though the state continued to refuse to allow other Medicaid recipients to receive coverage for transition-related procedures. Earlier this year, an Iowa jury awarded a transgender man $120,000 for discrimination he faced on the job — including the denial of insurance coverage — due to his gender identity.
In 2017, two transgender women sued the state, arguing that the Medicaid exclusion was discriminatory and unconstitutional. A federal judge ruled in favor of the two women, finding that transition-related procedures deemed medically necessary can be covered by Medicaid. Last week, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law containing a provision that allows local governments and agencies to refuse to use public dollars to pay for surgery, hormones, or other treatments.
After removing all references to transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument website earlier this year, the National Park Service has now scrubbed mentions of bisexual people as well.
As first reported by transgender journalist Erin Reed on her Erin in the Morning Substack, the change occurred on July 10, when the homepage was updated to read, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living authentically as a gay or lesbian person was illegal."
Subsequent pages, including the site's "History and Culture" section, were also altered to remove broader LGBTQ references. One now reads: "Stonewall was a milestone for gay and lesbian civil rights," whereas it previously noted that living "openly as a member of the Stonewall comunity was a violation of law."
A new Williams Institute report shows LGBTQ adults are more likely to rely on food assistance -- and could be disproportionately harmed by Republican-led efforts to slash SNAP funding.
A new report from the Williams Institute, an LGBTQ-focused think tank at UCLA School of Law, finds that 15% of LGBTQ adults -- nearly 2.1 million people -- received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in the past year.
The report arrives as Congress prepares to pass legislation backed by President Donald Trump that would make his 2017 tax cuts permanent. In exchange -- particularly for high-income earners and corporations -- the Republican-backed bill proposes significant cuts to domestic social safety net programs.
When J. Ahmir "Ricky" Vines was in elementary school, growing up with a single mom, he would get in trouble with his teachers for scribbling lyrics during class. Eventually, realizing that his lyrical prowess could earn him some extra money, he began selling lyrics to local rappers in his town and stashing the extra cash in a shoebox.
"There's a big underground music culture in North Carolina," says the Winston-Salem native. "I would sell these lyrics to these older kids and these young rapper guys around the city."
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.