Gov. Matt Meyer signed an executive order protecting gender-affirming care and providers in the state Friday morning.
Meyer signed the executive order just two days after the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee ruling that said state bans on gender-affirming care for minors are constitutional.
Meyer said Delaware will not honor subpoenas or extradition requests from other states that try to criminalize gender-affirming care.
“We're making it clear if you are providing or receiving care that is legal in Delaware, you are protected,” Meyer said. “No state agency, no state agency will help any out of state efforts to punish providers or patients for care that complies with our laws."
Meyer called the protections put in place a “legal firewall” that allows doctors to do their jobs without fear.
State Rep. DeShanna Neal said they’re glad Meyer signed the order at CAMP Rehoboth to show folks in Kent and Sussex Counties that the state has their backs.
“I think we needed this. We needed a win…” Neal said. “Having this executive order signed – I hope – sends a message that while you might be trying to eradicate trans people, Delaware will take them. And Delaware will keep them safe and make sure they have a place to find their voice, be seen, be heard and be loved.”
Meyer said he didn’t come up with the idea to sign the order at CAMP Rehoboth, but he decided to do so.
“People, certainly across the Mid-Atlantic and more and more in the country and the world know if you come to Rehoboth, this is a place where you will be welcome no matter who you are, no matter who you love, no matter what your gender identity is,” Meyer said. “That's something we're proud of, and CAMP Rehoboth has been on the front lines of that transformation.”
Vice chair of Delaware’s LGBTQ+ Commission Vienna Cavazos cited the Trump administration’s cuts to LGBTQ+ services on the 988 suicide hotline as just one example of hostile treatment toward queer people.
“Families like mine are having to leave their lifelong homes where they've settled down,” Cavazos said. “They've made roots. They've had friends, families for years, some decades, because their government has decided that they don't want them here. And enshrining it here in Delaware shows that we're open, we're welcome for people, we're here for people, and unlike our colleagues in other states, we're going to protect human rights.”
Neal said queer people need this support from all directions.
“One of the hardest things is recognizing that not everyone's going to love your children as much as you,” Neal said. “So I try very hard to love all your children.”
Cavazos said this move is a bold and necessary step for the state.
“Delaware, we are choosing a different path,” Cavazos said. We are choosing a path that is grounded in compassion and in science.”
Meyer stressed that political opinions should not invade physicians’ workplace.
“My wife is an emergency room physician,” Meyer said. “It's really important to her that people in professions like mine don't go around telling her what medicine should be prescribed, what treatment options they should review. That should be based on what the health science dictates and based on what the patient [and] their family’s wants and needs are.”
House Bill 205 made it through the Delaware House Tuesday and is in the Senate Judiciary Committee now. If approved, it will codify protections for medical providers statewide, including those offering gender-affirming care.
