Celebrating Dr. Rachel Levine's appointment to Assistant Health Secretary!

I'm a queer transgender woman, a neighborhood organizer for Reclaim Philadelphia, and it's not often that a news story about trans people makes me feel hopeful. The appointment of Dr. Rachel Levine has me reliving my experiences at Penn State, trying to teach physicians and nurses what it would mean to take care of me. I was frequently expected to be the expert of my own medical care. I sought to change that, and eventually connected with Dr. Levine.

Together, we worked with the LGBT student center to give advice to the Student Health Clinic on trans inclusive medical treatment, including hormone therapy, which made the clinic a much more accessible place for trans students.

Dr. Levine's appointment to assistant health secretary is a huge deal, as transgender patients report devastatingly high incidents of medical discrimination and outright refusal*, including myself, at the very same student health clinic. Having a trans voice in the cabinet is a step forward in making sure all people are treated equitably in medical settings, but we are still far from that medical treatment being accessible to all trans folk. I encourage Dr. Levine and the Biden administration to treat healthcare as the majority of the trans community knows it is: a human right.

*50% received inadequate/uninformed care, and 19% were refused care, according to National Transgender Discrimination Survey