Bradbury-Sullivan joins a federal lawsuit filed against the Trump administration to restore non-discrimination health protections for LGBTQ people

Bradbury-Sullivan joins a federal lawsuit filed against the Trump administration to restore non-discrimination health protections for LGBTQ people

By Brittany Sweeney

June 23, 2020

A Lehigh Valley LGBTQ center joined a federal lawsuit filed Monday against the Trump administration to restore non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people under the Affordable Care Act, Brittany Sweeney reports.

The Allentown-based Bradbury-Sullivan LGBTQ community center is one of a handful of plaintiffs across the country suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over a rule that would take away non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to healthcare and health insurance.

Adrian Shanker is the center’s executive director:  

“We cannot ever assume that care will be offered equitably without these protections. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines health equity as the attainment of the highest quality of health for all people. Health equity is a dream not yet realized.”

Moravian College professor Liz Kleintop, who identifies as a trans-gender woman, lives in Bethlehem. She says stopping the rule put in place by the Trump Administration would be one step closer to equality for all.

“Offering a health insurance plan that covers all of their health needs, really is something that takes away a barrier to people coming out in the workplace and when that barrier comes away, that’s part of removing the bias and the fears that transgender people, that we have, when we make these decisions to come out at work, a lot of people do not.”

The Department of Health and Human Services published the health care discrimination rule earlier this month. It’s scheduled to go into effect on August 18th. 

Watch Brittany’s PBS39 News Tonight Report.