Seattle schools provide free gender affirming care through on-campus health centers

SEATTLE — The biggest school district in Washington is offering gender affirming care to students at no cost through two independent health centers on campus.

Seattle Public Schools confirmed it's one of many services students can receive from professionals at two independent health centers.

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Other services include wellness physicals and counseling. The two centers are located inside a middle school and high school.

Conservative parental rights advocacy group "Parents Defending Education" based in Virginia believes that schools are not the right place for gender affirming care.

"Schools aren't parents and schools aren't doctors offices," said Alex Nester of Parents Defending Education, "This is something that should be happening at an actual doctor's office, not a school."

KOMO News reached out to Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and they said they don't supervise or provide this type of health care service, but that they operate in space provided by SPS.

In a statement, SPS also said "these clinics provide students with access to comprehensive primary care and behavioral health services." SPS said access to these services enables the early intervention, prevention, and treatment of health-related barriers to learning with the goal of promoting school attendance and improved academic performance. SPS added that school-based health centers follow all applicable laws and regulations.

Dr. Matt Logalbo, Medical Director at Country Doctor Community Health Centers said in a statement that his center operates the school-based centers. Logalbo said the health centers provide comprehensive medical and mental health care while promoting health and educational growth by increasing access to care at school at no cost.

The Centers services include immunizations, sports physicals, well-child visits, sick visits, dental evaluations and referrals, 'as well as gender affirming health care'.

"Our school-based health centers operate in accordance with Washington state law, which requires parental and legal guardian notification and consent for most health care services for minors under the age of 18. Gender-affirming care is no different...the centers adhere to state law governing the provision of gender-affirming care to minors, including seeking and receiving the consent of parents or legal guardians," wrote Logalbo in a statement provided to KOMO News.

"I wish I had that as a child, because as a child I was confused and scared. I went inward and kept secrets from my family and I felt so much shame about my identity, "said Jesse Alalwai.

Alalawi, a trans woman works for Peer Seattle, a non-profit that provides peer emotional support and development services to the LGBTQ community.

Alalawi waited until she was an adult to transition, 13 years ago. She supports school-based health centers and said it would have been something she would have taken advantage of if it was available.

"I think it's a great thing especially for a marginalized community where access to care (healthcare) is really hard," said Alalawi. "When people hear gender affirming care they are now associating it only with surgery. I think people don't realize a large percentage of trans people don't have surgery."

Alalawi said feeling societal shame kept her silent and it was costly.

"Societal pressures made me feel who I was, wasn't okay. I developed mental health issues, an eating disorder, I developed addiction," Alalawi said among other things.

Alalawi thinks part of the struggle for so many parents of a trans youth is often the unknown.

"It's the same fear that my mom had when I came out as trans was the fear that my child is going to struggle,"said Alalawi. "And no parent wants their child to have a hard life."