The Oregon Health Plan will add medical coverage for low-income transgender people early this year, including gender reassignment surgery, hormone therapy and puberty suppression. The state estimates that the "utilization rate" in the health plan will consist of 175 people in any 12-month period. The total cost of adding all treatments is expected to be less than $150,000 annually.

Basic Rights Oregon will host a workshop Jan. 26, 6:30 p.m., to discuss the changes. Panelists will teach participants how to access covered services.

OPB's Kristian Foden-Vencil profiled one woman who says the new coverage gives her confidence that she will be able to afford hormones even if she loses her job.



Washington County Cooperative Library Services will lead the formation of Oregon's first library chapter devoted to Spanish-language materials and services. The REFORMA Chapter will promote development of language-specific services and collections and promoting hiring of more bilingual and bi-cultural library professionals. Washington County will serve as the administrative hub for the Oregon chapter, but meetings also will be held around the state. Dana Tims has the story.



The Skanner News is looking for nominations for The Drum Major for Justice and the John Jackson awards. The winners will be announced at the paper's 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015, from 8:30 am —10:30 a.m. at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Junior Blvd., in Portland. Nominees can be individuals as well as organizations.

Black LGBT people in the U.S. are more likely to live in states that don't prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation, according to a new report from the Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA School of Law.



Willamette Week has the story of Wesley Murph, a 40-year-old Sabin resident, who used his Christmas tree to urge the Boy Scouts of America to end its policy banning gay leaders. Last week, Murph hauled his Christmas tree to his driveway for recycling by a local Boy Scouts troop. On it, he attached a note: "My name is Xavier. And I'm a gay Christmas tree."



The Portland Commission on Disability and the Portland Human Rights Commission are looking for community members with mental health expertise to serve on an advisory board that will oversee Portland's settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement calls for reform to Portland Police Bureau policies and training, particularly related to interactions with people who have or are perceived to have mental illness.





-- Casey Parks

cparks@oregonian.com

@caseyparks