10 Ways Your LGBTQ+ ERG Can Support Trans Healthcare Access

For many trans and gender-diverse people, getting the healthcare we need isn't as simple as finding a provider and making an appointment. Cost, insurance exclusions, provider shortages, travel, long waitlists, discrimination, and other barriers can make even routine care difficult to access. And while employee resource groups (ERGs) can't solve all of those challenges on their own, they can make a meaningful difference.

Your LGBTQ+ ERG can help colleagues better understand the barriers trans people face, strengthen support within your own workplace, and mobilize coworkers to support trans people in your broader community.

Here are 10 ways to get started.

1. Host an educational lunch & learn

Create an opportunity for colleagues to better understand what gender-affirming healthcare actually is, why people seek it, and the barriers that can make it difficult to access.

Consider inviting a trans speaker, healthcare provider, educator, or nonprofit organization to lead a conversation. Depending on your audience, you might focus on gender-affirming care 101, common misconceptions about trans experiences, navigating insurance, healthcare disparities, or practical ways allies can help.

Point of Pride can help: Our team offers virtual educational sessions for companies and ERGs on inclusion, healthcare access, allyship, and more.

2. Launch an employee fundraising campaign

Turn education into tangible support by organizing a workplace fundraiser for an organization expanding access to gender-affirming care.

Your campaign doesn't have to be complicated. Set a collective fundraising goal, create a team giving page, or encourage employees to make gifts through your company's workplace giving platform.

You can also connect the campaign to a meaningful moment on the calendar, such as Pride Month, Transgender Day of Visibility, or Trans Awareness Month—or organize it simply because the need exists year-round!

If your employer offers matching gifts, remind colleagues to submit their donations for a match. A $25 employee gift can suddenly become $50 in support. Learn more about corporate gift matching

3. Volunteer together

Giving money isn't the only way to make an impact. Create an opportunity for your ERG to give its time.

Depending on the organizations you partner with, employees might write letters of encouragement, organize donated supplies for a local LGBTQ+ center, provide professional skills, or participate in other group volunteer opportunities. Point of Pride's letter-writing program, for example, invites volunteers to write affirming notes that are included in packages sent to trans people receiving gender-affirming garments and other support.

If your company uses Benevity or another employee engagement platform, employees may also be able to log their volunteer hours—and some employers even provide volunteer rewards or grants based on hours served. Learn more about volunteerism grants

4. Review your company's health benefits

Supporting trans healthcare access can start inside your own workplace.

Partner with your HR, People, or Benefits team to better understand what your company's health plans actually cover for transgender employees. Look beyond whether a plan simply says it covers “gender-affirming care.”

Consider the entire experience: Are there knowledgeable providers in-network? Are mental health services accessible? Are there unnecessary authorization requirements? Are employees supported if they need to travel for care? Does paid leave adequately accommodate recovery from gender-affirming surgery?

You might also look at parental and family-building benefits, employee assistance programs, transition-related workplace policies, and processes for updating names and gender markers.

Your ERG doesn't need to be the benefits expert, but together you can ask the questions that reveal where gaps may exist.

5. Share trustworthy educational resources

You don't need to organize an event every time you want to educate or engage colleagues.

Use your ERG's Slack or Teams channel, internal newsletter, or email list to periodically share trustworthy resources about trans health, trans joy, and other topics. Maybe you're sharing an explainer about gender-affirming care, a podcast episode, research about barriers to care, a webinar, or even a first-person story (with permission!)

A steady rhythm of accessible information can be especially valuable for colleagues who want to be supportive but aren't sure where to begin.

6. Center trans voices

Whenever you're talking about trans people's healthcare and lived experiences, make sure trans people are part of the conversation. Invite trans employees, community leaders, healthcare advocates, or nonprofit professionals to share their expertise and perspectives.

(But be thoughtful about how you ask. No trans employee should feel obligated to disclose personal healthcare experiences, educate coworkers, or become the spokesperson for an entire community. Participation should always be voluntary, and external speakers and experts should be compensated when appropriate.)

7. Host a book, podcast, or documentary discussion

Choose a book, documentary, podcast episode, article, or other piece of media that explores transgender experiences, healthcare, history, or advocacy, and invite colleagues to discuss it together. This can be an especially approachable way to engage coworkers who might not attend a formal training.

Give participants a few questions to consider beforehand: What did you learn? What surprised you? What barriers did you notice? How did healthcare access—or the lack of it—affect the people in the story? What could individuals, employers, or institutions have done differently?

The goal isn't to become an expert after one discussion, but rather to encourage your colleagues to engage with curiosity, reflection, and continued learning.

8. Share stories about what healthcare access makes possible

Stats and data can help us understand the scale of healthcare inequity, but it's through stories where we really understand what that inequity means in someone's everyday life.

With permission, share stories from trans people who have navigated barriers to healthcare, as well as those whose lives have changed for the better when care became accessible.

Importantly, these stories don't always need to center hardship. Healthcare access can mean finally feeling comfortable in a favorite outfit. Showing up more confidently at work. Looking in the mirror and recognizing yourself.

Sharing stories of trans joy and possibility can remind colleagues what we're ultimately working toward: not simply access to medical services, but the opportunity for people to live more authentically and joyfully as themselves.

9. Ask company leadership to multiply employees' impact

If employees are already eager to support trans healthcare access, invite company leadership to meet that enthusiasm. Ask your company to offer a special donation match, provide a corporate grant to complement your ERG's fundraising campaign, sponsor an educational event, or otherwise recognize volunteer participation with charitable rewards.

You can make the case internally by showing the momentum employees have already created. For example: “Our ERG raised $2,500 from 40 employees. Would the company consider matching it?”

Leadership support can turn a grassroots ERG effort into something much bigger!

10. Amplify trusted organizations doing the work

Share the meaningful work of trans-led and trans-serving organizations with your colleagues using whatever internal communication channels you like. Let folks in your workplace know what the organizations do, who they serve, and the different ways employees can get involved, whether that's donating, volunteering, attending an event, sharing a resource, or simply learning more.

Point of Pride's Resource Library is a growing database of organizations and resources that you might consider sharing with your networks.

Small actions can add up to meaningful change

Every educational conversation can help replace misinformation with understanding. Every improvement to workplace benefits can make care easier to access. Every volunteer hour and donation can help an organization serve another person. This is important work, so thank you for your role in helping create a world where more trans people can access the healthcare and support they need to thrive!