Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine wants to extend Pride Month to a "Summer of Pride."
"Happy Pride! Happy Pride Month, and actually — let’s declare it a summer of Pride. Happy Summer of Pride," Levine said in a video posted on the official HHS Instagram account.
Levine, who is currently the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the U.S. government, doubled down on the move to declare this summer a "Summer of Pride" on Twitter, writing that HHS will be "celebrating" Pride "all summer long."
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"Today officially marks the 1st Day of Summer. All summer long we will be celebrating the "Summer of Pride," "I see it as an opportunity for change in our communities, states & nation. It will take us all, but together we can create a wave of change," Levin wrote. "Let the 'Summer of Pride' begin!"
To kick off the "Summer of Pride," the HHS announced a digital series that will be posted to their Instagram and will seemingly feature unstructured interviews between Levine and LGBTQ+ advocates. In the first video posted to the page Wednesday, Levine spoke with transgender activist Ryan Cassata about the "challenges" transgender individuals face in several states and why they believe it is "more difficult than ever" to identify as transgender.
During a discussion about sex-reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies for "youth and adults," Levine compared procedures that medically change the genders of minors to "suicide prevention care."
"We often say that gender-affirming care is health care, gender-affirming care is mental healthcare, and gender-affirming care is literally suicide prevention care," Levine said.
Levine transitioned from male to female in 2011, was previously married to Martha Peaslee-Levine and the pair share a son and daughter, according to the National Women's History Museum. The couple divorced in 2013.
Levine has openly advocated for "gender-affirming care" and previously pledged the "highest support" of the Biden administration to ensure minors have access to hormone treatments and sex change surgeries in states across the country.
Republican lawmakers have fiercely pushed back on the effort, demanding the HHS reveal the evidence the agency relies on to encourage medical providers to perform "gender-affirming care" – like hormone therapies and irreversible sex-change surgeries – on minors with gender dysphoria.
During the discussion with Cassata, Levine praised President Biden for his support and for speaking "so eloquently" on the issue during the White House's Pride event earlier this month. The event garnered negative attention after trans activists filmed themselves flaunting their breasts at the White House, causing an uproar on social media and from GOP lawmakers. The illicit incident was later condemned by the White House.
