Dear USPATH colleagues,

I hope you’re doing well and have taken time for yourself and your loved ones.

While it has not yet made it across the pond, an important new awareness week has arrived on the calendar: this past week (May 6-12) was Trans+ History Week—a week to learn and celebrate the millennia-old history of transgender, non-binary, gender diverse, and intersex people. I personally took this time to reacquaint myself with the history of medicine, including its uneven and ongoing evolution from pathology to affirmation. I think it’s helpful to understand our history to ensure we do not revisit past mistakes in how we care for and work with transgender people. A few recommended readings are below.   

As has become my life of late, I recently returned from an interesting conference: the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in Bergen, Norway. This relatively new gathering of researchers has gone from having little to no content regarding transgender health to having three dedicated sessions and nearly a dozen posters from doctoral candidates. Several sessions specifically focused on the importance of community-based participatory research and trans-led research. It’s heartening to see the next generation of researchers understand the importance of working with trans communities and supporting trans-led research.

Our Board remains engaged in a number of initiatives to ensure the latest developments in medical care and research regarding transgender people are put into context. As such, I continue to speak with journalists regarding the inadequacies of the Cass Report. The Cass Report is unfortunately not the only recent example of the intentional and harmful misinterpretation of transgender health research, and I welcome additional input from our members on how they are addressing these issues.

During our May USPATH board we covered several items that I would like to highlight:

1. The USPATH webpage has been updated to include a donations option to support the USPATH Initiatives Fund, which helps further our mission to promote transgender and gender diverse health in the United States through evidence-based care, education, research, and public policy. This fund also supports scholarships to assist students, trainees, and scholars to attend USPATH conferences.
2. Our newly appointed Chair of the Student and Trainee Special Interest Group (SIG), Helen Bassett, is hitting the ground running. For students and trainees interested in getting involved, please contact uspath@PROTECTED
3. Our Research Committee continues to work with our Policies and Procedures team to finalize their charter. More details will be available in the coming weeks.
4. Our Board continues to work with Whitman-Walker Institute to finalize a survey of our membership on several issues. You will receive separate email invitations to complete future surveys.

As a reminder, while we do our best to monitor and respond to every issue related to transgender health, we are not omniscient. As such, we appreciate any USPATH member sending us local or national issues that warrant USPATH consideration.

Similarly, if you have the opportunity to respond to misinformation/disinformation, take it and be equipped with the facts. As a reminder, our colleagues at the Protecting Affirming Care for Trans Youth (PACT) Coalition can assist with writing op-eds and letters to the editor, as well as preparing for speaking with journalists. Please feel free to reach out to Sara Mar at smar@PROTECTED with requests for information or other assistance.

Lastly, May 17^th is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, & Biphobia; take this opportunity to raise awareness of the issues facing transgender people, in healthcare and in every facet of life.

In Solidarity,

Carl G Streed, Jr., MD, MPH, FACP, FAHA

President, US Professional Association for Transgender Health

What we’re reading lately (in no particular order):

In the Shadow of Diagnosis: Psychiatric Power and Queer Life. By Regina Kunzel. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo212129044.html

Female Husbands: A Trans History. By Jen Manion. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/female-husbands/4BC8AE77B6EAF6055BD1DA64035509B3

A Short History of Trans Misogyny. By Jules Gill-Peterson. https://www.versobooks.com/products/3054-a-short-history-of-trans-misogyny

The Fall of the Nation's First Gender-Affirming Surgery Clinic. By Walker J. Magrath. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M22-1480

A Thematic Analysis of Disinformation in Gender-Affirming Healthcare Bans in the United States. By Meredithe McNamara et al. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953624003873

Authorized Service by Transgender U.S. Service Members (2016-2021). By Christina M. Roberts et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38722241/

Caregiver perspectives on receiving gender-affirming care with their transgender and gender diverse adolescents via telemedicine. By Nicole F. Kahn et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38721330/

Transgender people in clinical trials of drugs and biologics: An analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov from 2007 to 2023. By Zachary Schonrock et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38710989/

Direct and vicarious exposure to healthcare discrimination and erasure among transgender and gender independent individuals: Testing the indirect effect of mistrust in healthcare on utilization behaviors. By Kyle Mason et al. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953624002508?via%3Dihub

Telemedicine-Based Provision of Adolescent Gender-Affirming Medical Care to Promote Equitable Access. By Nicole Khan et al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38597959/

Conferences we’re looking forward to (in order by date):

9th National LGBTQ Health Conference, Atlanta, GA, August 15 – 17, 2024. https://lgbtqhealthconf2024.dryfta.com/

Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference, Philadelphia, PA, September 5 – 7, 2024. https://mailchi.mp/c43edfc51bde/ptwc-2022-sign-up

WPATH 28^th Scientific Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal, September 25 – 30, 2024. https://www.wpath.org/WPATH-28th-Scientific-Symposium

GLMA's 42^nd Annual Conference on LGBTQ+ Health, Charlotte, NC, September 30 – October 2, 2024. https://www.glma.org/conference.php

TransPride YOUniting Health & Wellness Conference, Virtual, November 7 – 9, 2024. (Abstracts and Workshops being accepted) https://www.transpridepgh.org/