Southern Illinois LGBTQ center sees influx of trans youth as families flee state bans

CARBONDALE, Ill. (KBSI) — As more states pass laws banning gender-affirming care for minors, some families are making a life-changing decision — leaving their home states in search of safety and support.

The Rainbow Café LGBTQ Center in downtown Carbondale has become a lifeline for transgender youth. Though it sits in a conservative region of the otherwise blue state, it offers resources that are out of reach in many surrounding states.

“We have a lot of people who move from out of state,” community center manager Niky Navarro-Gamboa said.

According to Navarro-Gamboa, the center has seen a growing number of families relocating to southern Illinois in response to new legal restrictions on gender-affirming care for youth — like the Tennessee ban upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, Wednesday.

She recently met a family who just moved to the area and introduced them to local LGBTQ youth groups and community support.

“I think that having those conversations with them is really affirming,” Navarro-Gamboa said, “just to assure them that they’re not alone and that it can be a better environment than what they’ve come from.”

The Rainbow Café provides youth with access to community resources and mental health support, including information about The Trevor Project, a national organization focused on LGBTQ mental health and suicide prevention.

Frederick Siglar, the youth program coordinator and qualified mental health professional, said trans youth face higher risks when living in hostile environments.

“It’s The Trevor Project that came out with numbers saying that trans youth are at a significantly higher risk of attempting suicide and even completing suicide, when they live in areas that are not friendly to trans individuals,” he said.

He emphasized that much of the public discourse around gender-affirming care is based on misinformation.

“Some youth can get started on puberty blockers, which means their puberty is just delayed. It can be reversed at any time that they discontinue the puberty blockers,” Siglar explained.

He said delaying development gives kids space and time to better understand their gender-identity.

Navarro-Gamboa echoed the sentiment, calling these bans harmful and shortsighted.

“All my life I grew up in school and hearing the adults in my church and in my community saying, kids are the future – and kids are our future,” she said, “and it’s all kids. It’s not just the ones the Supreme Court or the local courts deem worthy.”

Navarro-Gamboa said all kids are worthy to be happy, loved, and healthy.

“Taking away their access to any form of health care is a direct violation of that,” she said.

As the legal landscape changes, organizations like Rainbow Café say they’re committed to remaining a safe haven for youth who need it most.