In July of 2018, Skyler Jay, the trans man who featured on the second season of Netflix’s Queer Eye, against the University System of Georgia (USG).
According to the , Jay, a former USG employee, was claiming the university's healthcare guidelines were discriminatory against him and other trans members of staff, after the 32-year-old was denied coverage for gender-affirming surgery.
And this week, the 32-year-old won some hard-fought change.
According to , the USG has agreed to end its exclusionary policy and will now provide trans-inclusive coverage to all employees.
Jay will also receive $100,000 in compensation, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, despite a judge dismissing his complaint against insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield.
“Given the administration and the politics facing the transgender community, we’re unfortunately losing a lot of battles right now. At the end of the day, there is so much more work to be done, but this is a huge move,” Jay told .
Jay said that he was motivated to fight for change after appearing on Queer Eye and being inundated with messages of support and stories of similar healthcare-related struggles.
“I’ve had so many people from this state contact me since Queer Eye to say, ‘I can’t be out but what can I do to help you,’ or that ‘I need this for my child because we have to pay for my child’s hormones out of pocket,’ and countless other messages,” he said.
“These messages from other people are the biggest reasons why I was unwilling to budge about the removal of these exclusions.”
