Dear USPATH colleagues,

I hope you’re doing well and had a celebratory PRIDE month. Thank you to everyone who shared their moments of PRIDE on Doc Matters this month. If you haven’t already, stop by DocMatters to share your joy as we continue celebrate over 50 years of PRIDE!

Like you, we are paying close attention to the ramifications of recent Supreme Court decisions and the statements made by government officials regarding the medically-necessary, evidence-based care of transgender youth. Germane to these matters, I want to make you aware that at the start of July, The Integrity Project at Yale Law School authored a report that takes an expert, evidence-based approach to discussing key issues at stake in current legal battles to preserve access to health care for transgender youth. The new report provides an evidence-based critique of a recent independent review in the U.K., known as the “Cass Review,” that has become central to U.S. litigation. This critical report was authored by a team of international scientists, including USPATH President-Elect Dr. Jo Olson-Kennedy. I encourage our membership to share this latest report with their colleagues to ensure everyone understands the evidence supporting the full complement of services for transgender youth.

Similarly, we appreciate the following clarification from the White House regarding their support of the full complement of services for transgender:

“We continue to fight state and national bans on gender-affirming care, which represents a continuum of care, and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors — not politicians — in these decisions. Gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults, and we believe they should be. Above all, families should have the freedom to make the medical decisions that they and their doctors determine are best for them – which is why we oppose attempts to limit healthcare for transgender individuals in the courts or through legislation.”

This makes clear the administration has not changed its position on access to healthcare for transgender people. Based on a robust body of research, every leading professional medical organization in the U.S., representing millions of health care professionals across the country, endorses gender-affirming care for transgender youth. It is delivered in an age-appropriate, safe, and evidence-informed manner consistent with these many decades of medical research. USPATH appreciates this statement from the current administration.

Also, earlier this month, our Executive Director, Blaine Vella, shared in a DocMatters post briefs from private plaintiffs and United States responding to the State of Alabama's motion for summary judgment. Both briefs spend a significant amount of time supporting WPATH and the Standards of Care:

"As for Defendants' criticism of WPATH, the full evidence speaks for itself. Defendants cherry-pick pieces of quotes and stitch together others, cite one individual's offhand comment to conjecture on the state of mind of a global organization, and launch character attacks on individuals who are without motive to do anything beyond provide the best, most appropriate healthcare for their patients. The evidence Defendants cite thus does not support their narrative."

These briefs are public, and you are free to share them.

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

1. We reviewed recent donations to USPATH, and thank our PRIDE month donors. If you haven’t already, please consider donating.
2. Our Student and Trainee Special Interest Group (SIG) has begun meeting regularly and formed an online forum. Those interested in joining can also email uspath@PROTECTED.
3. Our Research Committee has approved their charter. Opportunities to get involved will be sent in a separate communication 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.
5. The Board joined a letter to provide input to the Federal Evidence Agenda on Disability Equity. The letter makes clear that LGBTQI+ people living with disabilities exist and efforts to advance equity should be inclusive of diverse communities and efforts to improve data collection should include improved disability measures and sexual orientation and gender identity measures.

As always, 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.

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.

And while Pride is a month-long celebration, it should not end July 1. Be sure to take time to enjoy this month and to then carry your efforts forward to the rest of the year.  

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):

Report Addresses Key Issues in Legal Battles over Gender-Affirming Health Care. https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/report-addresses-key-issues-legal-battles-over-gender-affirming-health-care

State-Level Bans on the Care of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth in the United States: Implications for Ethics and Advocacy. By Meredithe McNamara et al. https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(24)00285-3/abstract

Transgender healthcare: metabolic outcomes and cardiovascular risk. By Dorte Glintborg et al. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00125-024-06212-6

The Role of Family Support in Moderating Mental Health Outcomes for LGBTQ+ Youth in Primary Care. By Joseph DelFerro et al. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2820609

Further Considerations on Gender-Affirming Care—Reply. By Blake Cavve et al. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2820611

Transgender Women With Suppressed Testosterone Display Lower Burden of Coronary Disease Than Matched Cisgender Men. By Jordan E. Lake et al. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11223995/

Gender Minority Medicine, An Issue of Physician Assistant Clinics. Ed. Diane Bruesow. https://shop.elsevier.com/books/gender-minority-medicine-an-issue-of-physician-assistant-clinics/bruessow/978-0-443-12995-7

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. https://www.transpridepgh.org/

If you would like to have your event considered for advertising in future newsletters, please email USPATH@PROTECTED