MACON, Ga. —
This week, another lawsuit was filed by transgender people in Georgia, arguing that they're getting discriminated against over health care coverage. This one is filed by a Bibb County school employee and two other people.
62 pages of a lawsuit argue Georgia's state benefit plan is breaking federal law, violating the U.S. Constitution, Title VII and Title IX, two federal anti- discrimination laws.
Benjamin Johnson is one of three people filing the suit, claiming they're being denied trans-inclusive health care.
"I feel like in this area, not enough people step up. Maybe in the broader areas like Atlanta and stuff like that, but especially in more rural areas and overall, it’s just not fair," he explained.
Benjamin Johnson was assigned female at birth.
In 2017, a therapist diagnosed him with gender dysphoria, and in 2020, he transitioned and now presents as man.
He sought top surgery, and he says that’s when he found his health care was a problem.
"When I saw them and went through all that, they're like, 'Well, I got denied,' and I went back and looked and it had the sexual reassignment or any procedures with that was an exclusion,” Johnson said.
David Brown is Johnson’s lawyer and legal director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. He also represented Houston County Sheriff's Sergeant Anna Lange who filed a similar suit in Houston and won.
Johnson's lawsuit argues that state government is telling transgender persons, and the public that they don’t deserve equal treatment.
"It takes that health care coverage away from people when they need it because they're transgender, so even the exact same kinds of medical care that everybody might need is covered except for those people needing it for that purpose, then the plan just takes that coverage away," Brown explained.
Brown says they're asking for an injunction, and they want a court order declaring the exclusion unconstitutional and illegal, and they want compensation. Other transgender people like Lange have won court fights before, and I asked Brown how he feels changes can become permanent.
"Most employers have realize it’s bad for business, it's wrong, and that it's illegal and so I think all that it’s going to take is one final push for some of the holdouts,” Brown said.
Johnson is a media specialist for Bibb County Schools.
The district says they are aware of the issues raised by Johnson but have not been served with the lawsuit. They categorically deny they have discriminated against him in any fashion.