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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
REAFFIRMING COOK COUNTY'S SUPPORT FOR YOUTH'S ACCESS TO GENDER AFFIRMING CARE AFTER UNITED STATES V. SKRMETTI
WHEREAS, gender dysphoria is a feeling of distress that describes when a person's gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth and is a diagnosis included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) published by the American Psychiatric Association; and
WHEREAS, the diagnosis was created to help people with gender dysphoria get access to the healthcare and treatment that they need; and
WHEREAS, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), notes that gender identity can run anywhere along a continuum that includes man, woman, a combination of those, neither of those, and/or is fluid; and
WHEREAS, for the majority of transgender and/or nonbinary individuals, gender dysphoria is only alleviated through medical interventions; and
WHEREAS, gender-affirming care, as defined by the World Health Organization, encompasses a range of social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions "designed to support and affirm an individual's gender identity" when it conflicts with the gender they were assigned at birth; and
WHEREAS, the interventions help transgender people align various aspects of their lives - emotional, interpersonal, and biological - with their gender identity; and
WHEREAS, for children, the timing of the interventions is based on several factors, including cognitive and physical development as well as parental consent; and
WHEREAS, according to the Williams Institute, there are about 300,000 people between the ages of 13 and 17 and 1.3 million adults who identify as transgender in the U.S; and
WHEREAS, according to the Office of Population Affairs, the majority of gender-affirming care options available to youth are reversible and include social affirmations, puberty blockers, and/or hormone replacement therapies; and
WHEREAS, social affirmations include adopting gender-affir...
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