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mwelsh@tamu.edu, storn@tamus.edu, mplank@tamus.edu, mhernandez@tamus.edu, jgraham@tamus.edu, rbrooks@tamus.edu, jbellinger@tamus.edu, dbaggett@tamus.edu, ralbritton@tamus.edu, bmahomes@tamus.edu, jsharp@tamus.edu, fahrenwald@tamu.edu, r-darnell@tamu.edu

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Subject

Concern About University Health Services

Howdy,

It has come to my attention that on August 1st, 2024 Texas A&M University Health Services (UHS) will no longer provide gender-affirming care. I am writing to urge you to reverse this decision.

YOUR THOUGHTS, INPUT, CONCERN, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

This takes effect on August 1st, 2024, which is only a month away, leaving students an inadequate amount of time to find other providers. This news comes after a legislative session with over 60 bills attacking transgender people, the closing of our Pride Center, and the West Texas A&M Drag Ban. The transgender community has been under siege with multiple bills being passed within the past years to limit or halt gender-affirming care and because of this it has become very difficult to access. The university claims to support the mental and physical health of students, yet removes access to treatments that have been statistically and scientifically proven to improve the quality of life for transgender people. In addition, this is a student clinic, meant to provide students with medical care at a lower cost. Removing access to basic medical care, especially within such a short timeframe as to make transgender students unable to find new providers before being without care, adds to the difficult financial challenges that many students face with today's rising cost of tuition and living and further indicates that transgender Aggies are intended to be second-class students at Texas A&M. Without any further information on why this change was made and adequate consideration of the harm this does to transgender Aggies, I have no choice but to assume this is just another attempt to silence the transgender and queer community. I do not support this. I encourage you to do what is best for our Aggie community and reverse this decision.

Thanks and Gig’ Em,

YOUR NAME HERE