Dem in key Senate race said it's 'troubling' GOP wants to prevent gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth

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Democratic Senate nominee Cheri Beasley of North Carolina, the former state Supreme Court chief justice, is interviewed by Fox News

Democratic Senate nominee Cheri Beasley of North Carolina, the former state Supreme Court chief justice, is interviewed by Fox News following a visit to Jim Edwards family farm in Burnsville, North Carolina, on Oct. 12, 2022.

North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cheri Beasley previously said there is "something deeply troubling" about efforts from Republicans to limit "the ability of trans youth to have gender-affirming surgeries."

Beasley's remarks came during a November 2021 Democratic Senate candidate forum put on by the LGBTQ+ Democrats of North Carolina.

"Trans people and especially people of color face a lot of barriers around access to health care, and I know Biden reversed Trump's policies that rolled back protections for transgender people in health care," Beasley said. "We know Republicans, of course here in North Carolina, continue to launch attacks against trans people, including limiting the ability of trans youth to have gender-affirming surgeries. There's just something deeply troubling about that."

"We know that the state health care plan does not provide for trans-affirming care," she added. "This, frankly, is really a very dangerous time. Transgender adults are two times as likely than cisgender adults to have – be diagnosed by depressive disorders."

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Beasley asserted that "Transgender adults are significantly less likely to get their flu shots or go to doctor's appointments" and that "half of transgender adults report experiencing some kind of physical assault or sexual assault."

"That's deeply difficult and dangerous," she said. "We really must call out violence and stigmas for transgender women, particularly Black transgender women, and we absolutely must say her name."

North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cheri Beasley speaks during her campaign rally with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., at Harding University High School on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In addition, Beasley called for an expansion of "the ACA, and Medicaid, and Medicare, and Tricare for affirming protections for trans people, for transgender people."

"We must eliminate disparate costs for mental health care," she said, "because health care is, mental health care is health care for all of us.… You know of course the state employees are suing the state health plan for the coverage, the lack of coverage, for transition care and we must get that right."

Cheri Beasley gestures as she talks to supporters inside the Catawba County Democratic headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina, on Oct. 13, 2022. (Logan Cyrus for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Beasley's comments are in lockstep with many comments made by top officials in the Biden administration, including those from transgender Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, who said during a July 2022 interview with MSNBC that Americans must "affirm and support and empower these youth" to receive "gender affirmation treatment" in their respective states.

Levine also insisted a month earlier, in June, that "gender-affirming care is lifesaving, medically necessary, age appropriate, and a critical tool for health care providers."

Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine said during a July 2022 interview with MSNBC that Americans must "affirm and support and empower these youth" to receive "gender affirmation treatment" in their respective states. (Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP, File)

"As a pediatrician, when it comes to making sure kids are healthy and happy, I know how important care that affirms someone's true identity can be," Levine said at the time.

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Similarly, in April, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who represented the administration at the time, also claimed that "every major medical association agrees that gender-affirming health care for transgender kids is a best practice and potentially lifesaving."

Beasley will face off in the state's Nov. 8 midterm election against Republican candidate Ted Budd in an effort to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr.