Name: Sylvie Malamet
Social Justice Group: Trans Rights: Gender Affirming Care (B)
Date of Fieldwork: January 27, 2025
Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):The Fight For Gender-Affirming Health Care Documentary
What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:
Alex, my citizen action project partner, and I watched a documentary called The Fight For Gender-Affirming Health Care which was a recorded meeting of five people, most of which are trans, talking about gender affirming care. Arielle Duhaime-Ross is the moderator of the interview.
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Arielle starts the interview by asking what gender affirming care is, and what types of things fall under its category? Dr. Goepferd, a pediatrician, answered by saying when someone goes to a gender health program, they’re looking for a supportive place where youth and their parents can talk to medical and mental health professionals who specialize in that care. I learned that something most people get confused about is that it often requires no medical treatment at all. Gender-affirming care, at its core, is about supporting where the young person and their parents are at, and there are other non-medical treatments, like shapewear, voice therapy, or helping to affirm someone’s physical appearance with haircuts, clothes, and names and pronouns.
The documentary also included two video clips of two different kids who had gotten gender affirming care. The second clip is about a teenage boy who was struggling to find access to treatment, because he lived in Texas where there wasn’t very good trans medical care, So he, and his mother, drove away each time, just to get better access. They could barely afford to though, so it was a huge struggle, but the mom knew she had to because Drew, the kid, was very suicidal before he got treatment. Drew’s mom, Brandi, said, “I’d say, like, a month to two months in, I started seeing that kid come back, come out of his shell, talk to us more, laugh… It was like, that’s it. This has been the answer all along. Why would anybody want to take that away from him? Why? And take that right away as a parent?” Those two clips show just how important gender affirming care really is.
Most gender affirming care is also used on cis people. Dr. Goepferd explains how some non cis people go through puberty too early, which can be harmful to their bodies, so doctors use the exact same medications to pause their puberty until they’re of an age to continue. And so doctors and medical professionals have been using puberty-suppressing medications in kids who are not trans for thirty to forty years. In fact, it is the most common reason to use puberty suppressing medications. Another way that gender affirming care is used in non-trans people is estrogen and testosterone. They are both used in cisgender people as well, especially when that person has lower to no levels of that hormone being produced in their body. These medications are used on cisgender people, so it is a hundred percent discrimination to not let trans people use it, simply because of their gender identity.
Finally, Arielle asks Arli to wrap up with ways to help make a difference. She lists a few main things that you have to do to help. That list is, use your voice; make sure to speak up about the things that you believe in, pay attention to what’s happening in your state and country, sign action alerts when they come along, contact your representatives, follow your local trans-led organizations, and on a more personal level, speak up with your friends and family.
