My name is Mary Ann Thomas and I am writing as an ICU nurse to oppose HB 105/SB 96.
In my work, I see how important social acceptance and support is for the mental health of my patients, which is inseparable from physical health. Those who have had less support throughout their lives, especially their childhoods, are more susceptible to substance abuse, depression and suicide ideation, which puts people in my ICU for self-inflicted shootings and injuries, organ failure and frostbite from homelessness. This bill is harmful as a public health issue and will endanger young people not only while they are in school, but for decades to come.
As a queer and trans child of immigrants who did not have support from my parents around my gender and sexuality, I did not envision a future for myself and assumed I, like so many others, would die young. One of the main reasons I’ve been alive long enough to be a nurse for more than 10 years has been because of the support I received in school, through sex education, gay-straight alliance, library programming and books. This bill is dangerous for people who do not have supportive families.
I urge you to oppose HB 105/SB 96 and protect the health and futures of young people so that they can imagine expansive futures for themselves.
— Mary Ann Thomas
Anchorage
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