The resolution calls on the federal government to preserve and expand programs that support the health and well-being of two-spirit and LGBTQ+ Native Americans. Tribes and tribal organizations are navigating how to uphold their sovereignty without jeopardizing the relationships and resources that support their communities, said Jessica Leston, the owner of the Raven Collective, a Native public health consulting group, and a member of the Ketchikan Indian Community.<\/p>\n
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Two Spirit Conference attendees carry the Western Shoshone Nation flag during an awareness walk. The slanted stripes at the top represent males, the diamonds at the bottom represent females, and the horizontal lines represent the Milky Way, ancestors, and the afterlife, says Jeremiah Jones, a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone.
\n (Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n
In January, Trump signed an executive order recognizing only two sexes<\/a> \u2014 male and female \u2014 and another to terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion<\/a> programs within the federal government.<\/p>\n An Indian Health Service website<\/a> describing two-spirit people was removed this year but restored following a court order. The page now has a disclaimer at the top that declares any information on it \u201cpromoting gender ideology\u201d is \u201cdisconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Next:<\/p>\n Read Next: Two-spirit is not a sexual orientation but refers to people of a \u201cculturally and spiritually distinct gender exclusively recognized by Native American Nations,\u201d according to a definition created by two-spirit elders in 2021. According to two-spirit leaders, people who did not fit into the Western binary of male and female have lived in their communities since before colonization.<\/p>\n Already, tribal citizens and leaders say some people have had trouble accessing gender-affirming care in recent months, with some community members being denied hormone treatments or having their medications delayed, even in places where gender-affirming care remains legal. Panic has spread, and tribal citizens have considered leaving the country.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/li>\n (Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \u201cThere is a chilling effect,\u201d said Itai Jeffries, who is trans, nonbinary, and two-spirit, of the Occaneechi people from North Carolina, and a consultant for the Raven Collective.<\/p>\n Mendez said he requested hormone treatment at his local Indian Health Service clinic at the end of June and was told by his provider that the facility has had trouble receiving the treatment for patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lenny Hayes, a two-spirit citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota, said the Indian Health Service clinic on the reservation also isn\u2019t dispensing hormone treatment, though it is legal for people 18 and older. Hayes is the owner and operator of Tate Topa Consulting and provides educational training on two-spirit and LGTBQ+ Native Americans and Alaska Natives.<\/p>\n Read Next:<\/p>\n Read Next: The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution in 2015<\/a> to encourage the creation of policies to protect two-spirit and LGBTQ+ communities. And the organization adopted a resolution<\/a> in 2021 to support providing gender-affirming care in Indian Health Service, tribal, and urban facilities.<\/p>\n The National Indian Health Board\u2019s resolution cites homophobia and transphobia as contributing to higher rates of truancy, incarceration, self-harm, attempted suicide, and suicide among two-spirit young people. The board also lists health disparities among the broader Native LGBTQ+ population, including increased risks of anxiety, depression, and suicide.<\/p>\n Two-spirit and LGBTQ+ Native American and Alaska Native young people are particularly vulnerable to depression, suicidality<\/a>, and sexual exploitation. In Minnesota, a 2019 state survey<\/a> found that two-spirit and LGBTQ+ Native American and Alaska Native students had the highest rates of those ages 15-19 who responded \u201cyes\u201d to having traded sex or sexual activity for money, food, drugs, alcohol, or shelter.<\/p>\n Tribal leaders are also concerned that Medicaid cuts recently approved in Trump\u2019s budget law will undercut efforts to expand testing and treatment for HIV infection in Native American communities.<\/p>\n The rates of HIV diagnosis among Native American and Alaska Native gay and bisexual men increased 11%<\/a> from 2018 to 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n Despite this increase, Native American and Alaska Native gay and bisexual men are among the groups with the least access to HIV tests outside of health care settings, such as community-based organizations, mobile testing units, and shelters.<\/p>\n As tribes respond to state and federal regulations of two-spirit and LGBTQ+ people, organizations and communities are focused on providing information and resources to protect those in Indian Country, even from the president.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will never, ever wipe out our identity, no matter what he does,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF<\/a> \u2014 the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published 2025-07-25 04:00 4:00 July 25, 2025 am ELKO, Nev. \u2014 At the Two Spirit Conference in northern…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":92615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-92614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114916475800904571","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n Native leaders fear for queer Indigenous youth as Trump slashes LGBTQ+ rights
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\n The Two Spirit Conference agenda included speakers who talked about the trauma that two-spirit individuals may endure and how to create healing. Other activities included a fashion show that highlighted local Native American designers.<\/p>\n
\n Colleen Couchum, a member of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, created this skirt that was gifted to a speaker.<\/p>\n\n
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\n How a failed anti-trans bill in South Dakota changed everything for Indigenous queer people
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Myk Mendez, who organized the Two Spirit Conference in Elko, Nevada, says he did it because he wanted to give community members a chance to learn about the history of two-spirit people and to preserve their traditions.
\n (Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez\/KFF Health News)<\/p>\n