My Position on the Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Individuals
Written by Jose Pinal, LMFT | Date 05/14/2023
As a provider who has based my work around sexual healthcare and education, I feel that it's important for new patients to be clear on my position regarding the rights of transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) individuals.
Please see my statement as both a clarification of my own beliefs and a call to action to uphold the dignity of our TGE allies.
On behalf of Liberate Via Therapy, I want to formally state my personal and professional position on the rights of transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) individuals. It is my belief that transgender and gender-expansive individuals have the right to access sexual education and quality healthcare. These individuals also possess the same right as cisgender individuals to live with dignity. In order for this dignity to be upheld, governing bodies and states cannot be permitted to design laws meant to discriminate and further oppress TGE individuals. While the breadth of discrimination is wide, I will name a ban on the education of gender identity and attacks on acceptance of TGE individuals in classrooms as major threats standing in opposition of TGE rights.
As a mental healthcare provider, I can tell you that the consequences of discrimination and suppression of TGE individuals can create dire circumstances. Limiting the rights and dignity of TGE individuals has the reverberating effect of limiting access to care. As a result, this community is at increased risk for depression, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide. As a Latinx cisgender individual, I come from a place of both privilege and understanding when it comes to my allyship with TGE individuals. I believe it is my professional and ethical duty to advocate for TGE individuals as much as possible.
My Call to Action
As part of my statement on my position on the rights of transgender and gender-expansive individuals, I also want to affirm my belief that TGE individuals have always existed. Affirming the rights of TGE people is not an attack on cisgender people, womanhood, manhood, femininity, or masculinity. It is simply a recognition of the fact that TGE individuals are entitled to the same rights, dignity, and safety as cisgender individuals. What's more, they have a desire to exist without the denial of these rights that runs deep into the core of their humanity. In recognizing these rights and desires, we uphold the dignity of all people.
In order to affirm TGE individuals, I feel that it's important to identify the forces that are driving the erasure of TGE people. Both historically and presently, white supremacy, patriarchy, religious movements, and other social drivers have created a hostile "othering" of TGE people.
I feel that it's important to end my statement with a call to action to all cisgender individuals to uphold the dignity of TGE people by using their preferred pronouns and name, having conversations with those close to you about supporting TGE individuals, and simply making a personal commitment to view society through a dignity-first lens. This call to action is not an accusation. It is an invitation to play a role in dismantling the patriarchy by working towards positioning yourself as an ally.
