Queer Students in Healthcare at IU was founded last spring to advocate for LGBTQ+ health. Now they have a host of new challenges to deal with after an executive action from President Donald Trump concerning gender-affirming healthcare.
“I noticed a big disparity in LGBTQ+ healthcare, especially marked by a lot of current polices within the U.S. government,” Co-Founder and President Gabrielle Wheeler said. “I wanted to be able to create a change here at IU that helped support the health of LGBTQ+ patients, both in policy and clinical care.”
In April 2023, Indiana passed Senate Enrolled Act 480, prohibiting physicians or other practitioners from providing gender-affirming care to anyone under the age of 18. In addition to surgical procedures, this law bans puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy for minors, placing significant barriers to accessing gender-affirming care for young people in Indiana. Reef Snodgrass, advocacy chair for Queer Students in Healthcare, was in high school when SEA 480 was passed.
“I was 17 years old when Indiana banned gender affirming care for minors and I was running my high school's Gender-Sexuality Alliance,” Snodgrass said. “I had to talk to students about the different resources they had, what they should avoid saying legally, withdraws of previous medication and things like that.”
On Jan. 28, Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19. The order covers puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, surgical procedures and also directs federal insurance programs to exclude these practices from their coverage. However, on Feb. 11, U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson temporally blocked the order. District Judge Lauren King reinforced the suspension.
As advocacy chair, Snodgrass’s responsibility centers around planning events to educate and uplift members during these ongoing challenges. For example, Snodgrass plans to host a movie night about queer healthcare and experience as well as write letters to high school GSAs to support and give them advice.
Queer Students in Healthcare at IU also hosts bi-weekly general body meetings, luncheons and other events open to anyone wishing to join the organization.
“We usually have one of our chairs, like wellness, advocacy, diversity or volunteer plan some kind of activity or interactive event that people can participate in,” Volunteer Chair Rene Shields said.
Additionally, the organization is exploring the possibility of creating a conference of their own after the IU School of Medicine canceled its LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference. The cancellation came after recent government actions against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at both the state and federal levels.
Snodgrass explained they are planning on collaborating with Queer Student Union and the LGBTQ+ Culture Center to make this conference happen in the future.
These events have helped members, like Snodgrass, navigate their time throughout IU.
“Having a community that organized and does positive things together is really important and helpful, especially in communities that are being targeted right now,” Snodgrass said.
As one of the founders, Wheeler has seen this organization grow in both size and influence. Its growth has allowed the group to expand its initiatives, host larger events and potentially collaborate with other organizations across campus.
“From the beginning, we had maybe five people show up to our first couple of meetings, but that number has continued to grow throughout the couple of semesters on campus,” Wheeler said. “I am really looking forward to building that broader LGBTQ+ community between us and other clubs.”
