American Medical Association to support LGBT paid parental leave and better treatment of trans prisoners
Demonstrators lay roses on a rainbow flag as they protest over an alleged crackdown on gay men in Chechnya outside the Russian Embassy in London on June 2, 2017.
The American Medical Association has introduced a policy to support trans people in prison as well as LGBT+ parents.
The US’ largest association of physicians will advocate for better protections for transgender people in detention, and LGBT-inclusive family leave policies, reported Human Rights Watch.
The US, which has one of the worst maternity policies in the world, offers just twelve unpaid weeks of leave for new parents.
Doctors in the US are about to get a lot more LGBT-friendly (Getty)
However, when some same-sex couples have tried to access this leave, employers have denied the parents this right because they did not consider the babies of the non-biological parent to be “family”.
Physicians will now advocate for a redefinition of the world “family”, working with a “blood or affinity” model cited in a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, which states that same-sex relationships can be included in a more up to date definition of family.
The move hopes to boost the rights of trans prisoners as well as LGBT parents who desire parenting leave.
The AMA will now advocate for trans people in detention to be placed in facilities in accordance with their gender identity and that those facilities not amount to solitary confinement, reported Human Rights Watch.
Conditions for trans prisoners in the UK and the US are deplorable (Getty)
Assignation to the gender-appropriate prison is woefully out of date in the US.
A trans woman received a six-figure sum after being raped in a men’s prison.
The prisoner made history as the first trans woman to receive a six-figure settlement in New York after she was raped in a men’s prison.
The AMA hopes to help trans prisoners (Getty)
LeslieAnn Manning was awarded what her lawyers say is a historic $100,000 in damages following a sexual abuse lawsuit that concluded earlier this year.
After she was raped, she was placed in solitary confinement, with just an hour a day outside of her cell.
“Psychological trauma of being locked in a cell for 23 hours a day is pretty traumatic,” Manning told Broadly in a statement released through her lawyers.
