Just now, A4TE's legal team walked into court to advocate for Dr. Gennifer Herley, a trans woman seeking gender-affirming facial surgery. Aetna Life Insurance Company (Aetna) covers similar surgeries for cisgender patients but will not cover them for trans people. (1/3)
![A4TE logo in purple on the right hand side
Text reads:
[Washington, D.C.] – Yesterday, Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) Executive Director, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, was quoted out of context in a New York Times story, and he released the following statement:
“Yesterday, New York Times ran an article in which I was quoted as saying, ‘We have to make it OK for someone to change their minds,’ and ‘We cannot vilify them for not being on our side. No one wants to join that team.’ Because my quotes were taken out of context, I’d like to clarify what I meant. Those statements were regarding how to persuade every day, undecided people in the public, not people who have already taken actions to oppose our equality.
“Extreme right politicians targeting the trans community is the reason we’re having this conversation at all. So, I want to ensure that no one misinterprets our message to the community: A4TE’s approach has not changed. We will continue confronting the institutions making the rules and we will be at Capitol Hill and in the courts fighting to change the rules to build power for trans people.
“Trans people doing the best they can to live with respect and dignity are not the enemy. We are angry because extremists would like to ban us from bathrooms and control the decisions we make with our doctors. Make no mistake about who the opposition is here. We’re gearing up for the fight of our lives against the incoming administration, and we are not backing off.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ivb62ux4pkwamrwjjk5l4psj/bafkreib53nrt3taoaydqqxoyl2ex62upayksevvinuxp6gg36n47yfnqsi)
