Green Mountain State Update
Affirming health care
Vermont lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at protecting access to gender-affirming health care amid escalating federal funding threats. House Bill H.576, introduced Jan. 6, would create an Affirming Health Care Trust Fund to help offset potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare tied to the provision of gender-affirming services.
Sponsored by Reps. Daisy Berbeco of Winooski, Tiffany Bluemle of Burlington, and Troy Headrick of Burlington, the bill responds to actions by the Trump administration to withhold federal funds from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to transgender youth—moves that have led more than 20 hospital systems nationwide to discontinue services.
The proposed fund, administered by the Vermont State Treasurer, would support clinics, providers and nonprofits operating outside federal funding streams, help cover patient costs, establish new in-state clinics, and provide malpractice and liability coverage for clinicians. It includes strong patient privacy protections and explicitly excludes conversion therapy.
If enacted, the fund would launch immediately, with an oversight board convening by Aug. 1, 2026.
Standing up to bullying
Vermont students and advocates are calling for major reforms to the state’s Harassment, Hazing and Bullying (HHB) policies as new data show high rates of mistreatment in schools, according to a report by Vermont Public.
A 2023 statewide survey found that one in five Vermont students had been bullied in the past 30 days. The rate rose to 30 percent for students of color and 40 percent for LGBTQ students.
Although school districts have been required to follow a model HHB policy for more than a decade, students say the system often fails to protect victims. High school student Harmony Bell Devoe told state officials that racist remarks made toward her were not handled in a way that addressed the harm or educated the offender.
Devoe is part of Narratives for Change, a student coalition pushing for prevention training, mandatory staff intervention, and restorative practices. Alyssa Chen of the Education Justice Coalition of Vermont said students are often retraumatized by investigation processes that lack transparency and support, sometimes forcing them to leave their schools.
Courtney O’Brien, interim director of the Agency of Education’s Safe and Healthy Schools program, said the state is preparing system-wide reforms, including expanded training and a new agency division focused on student well-being. Officials say changes could take 12 to 18 months.
Parents like Caroline Elander, whose daughter experienced racial bullying and sexual harassment, say the current system is not working and must change.
Remembering Stan Baker
Stan Baker, a longtime Vermont civil rights advocate and one of the plaintiffs in the landmark 1997 lawsuit that led to the legalization of civil unions for same-sex couples in the state, has died of a heart attack, according to the Burlington Free Press. He was 79.
Baker, who was widely known in Vermont for both his advocacy and his quiet community service, died last summer while visiting Louisville, Kentucky, with his husband, Peter Harrigan. The couple was attending a Barbie collectors’ convention, part of what Harrigan described as “one of the many communities that he participated in and loved.”
“Stan has always been there for others,” former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman said in a social media post. “He was a kind and thoughtful soul who just brought a peaceful energy into whatever space he was in.”
In addition to his role in the lawsuit that paved the way for Vermont’s 2000 civil unions law, Baker worked for decades as a private practice clinician, serving children, adults, and families. He also held a leadership role in the Episcopal Church, serving as an archdeacon for the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont.
Baker and Harrigan, who married in 2014, were also well known outside legal and religious circles as devoted Barbie collectors and were featured in filmmaker Eva Sollberger’s “Stuck in Vermont” documentary series.
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