Founder and Chairperson, Physician and Healthcare Executive | Telehealth, SDoH, Virtual Care
As a pediatrician, I’m raising my voice in support of the nearly 30,000 transgender & gender-diverse teens of Texas and their families. I want to echo the powerful message of my colleague, Dr. Scott Hadland, who wrote these vital thoughts: You are seen. You are loved. And, you are not alone in this fight. It's crucial to understand: What’s happening in Texas isn't just a Texas problem. It's a national issue. Injustice and discrimination against LGBTQ+, transgender, and gender-diverse teens touch us all. It’s our collective duty to call it out and work for change. Let's start a dialogue, raise awareness, and take action. For our teens, for our families, for our future. Because every teen deserves to feel safe, respected, and loved. #lgbtq #healthcare #transgenderrights
Pediatrician · Chief of Adolescent Medicine · Mass General Hospital & Harvard Med School
To the nearly 30,000 transgender & gender-diverse teens of Texas & your families, know this: You are loved. People all across this country see you, care about you, & are standing up for you. As a pediatrician, I want to respond to 2 news stories out of Texas: 1. Legislature voted yesterday to ban gender-affirming care for teens 2. Adolescent medicine docs were pushed out of Dell Children's Hospital in Austin for providing care Gender-affirming care is not merely hormones & surgeries despite how lawmakers frame it. It is broader support: a safe space to ask questions, be welcomed & be affirmed, be cared for holistically. Banning gender-affirming care has a chilling effect, shutting down ALL of these components of care. So in Austin, when Adolescent Med docs were pushed out of Dell Children's Hospital, thousands of families were left without a place to go, to be respected (rather than rejected), to ask questions. Many, many major professional medical organizations who have reviewed the science recommend that teens & families receive gender-affirming care, and all oppose bans of the type soon to be enacted by Texas. Not all teens & families receive medical or surgical care. In fact, most don’t. If they do, it’s a family-centered decision, often made with a team of interdisciplinary healthcare professionals and with teen assent & parental consent — a highly personalized, informed decision. The take-home is that gender-affirming care is highly individualized, family-centered, & occurs amid careful, thoughtful, caring medical practice. These decisions should be made in a clinic, & not in a state legislature amid fear-mongering, fire-stoking politicking. As for my colleagues in Adolescent Medicine at Dell Children's who were pushed out… Adolescent Med docs do the things that many pediatricians / family docs find challenging, caring for: - eating disorders - addiction - mental health (depression, anxiety, trauma) - menstrual problems - weight management - STIs, reproductive health We are who you want if your teen is working through their gender identity or sexual orientation. We provide comprehensive, developmentally responsive care for a range of conditions. We spend more time with patients (30-60 min, often). Adolescent Med docs always do what’s right for teens & families. So when Adolescent Med docs got pushed out of practice in Austin, understand that thousands of teens & families lost trusted clinicians caring for a range of conditions, & that there will be few, if any, other places where they can receive that same high-quality care. People may respond to this thread & say: Well, that’s what you get for living in Texas. No. LGBTQ people live everywhere, & many live in Texas. That is their home. We have a duty to call out injustice & discrimination against LGB, transgender, & gender-diverse teens & families everywhere. What’s happening in Texas affects everyone, everywhere, and must be stopped. #lgbtq #healthcare #transgenderrights
