Dear Colleagues,

I write you today on this International Transgender Day Of Visibility. A day where trans, non-binary, and gender expansive people, including myself, celebrate our identities, accomplishments, and achievements, while at the same time highlighting the struggles and discrimination we face in our daily lives. While we continue to look to a future with expanded civil rights, recognitions, and protections, we also find ourselves deep in the trenches in the fight against efforts in the Statehouses of Texas, Idaho, and elsewhere to push us to the margins of society. And some of us who work in the field of trans and gender affirming medicine, regardless of our identities, now find ourselves facing criminal penalties, including proposed felony prison time, for providing medically necessary care to trans and gender expansive youth. Making it through a challenging and busy workday with these politicized shadows looming above bring added stress and distraction to what is already often demanding work. I wish to encourage you all to take care of yourselves and find space to self-soothe and maintain your resiliency in your work and in this fight.

As you may have noticed, there was no President's Note in February, as I and my colleagues on the USPATH Board and the professional Veritas staff have been elbows deep in our efforts to address many of these ongoing issues. We released a strongly worded statement on the situation in Texas and are analyzing the situation in Idaho. We've had countless meetings and interviews with reporters to attempt to provide a rational and measured response to these dangerous actions. We have also moved forward our efforts to create a task force to examine quality assurance in the assessment of trans and gender expansive youth, and hope to have the task force assembled by this May.

We continue to work as hard as possible to keep the day-to-day activities and growth of USPATH on track as well. Recently, a call for committee membership was distributed, and there has been a brisk response. I am so glad that our members are eager to become more involved in USPATH activities. As part of our promise to center diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racist principles in all that we do, we collected detailed race, ethnicity, and SOGI demographic data as part of our committee application process. Having access to these data will allow us to better understand who is participating, who is not at the table, and where to focus our efforts. We pledge to continue to "bake in" such efforts into all that we do, rather than keeping these efforts sequestered in a self-contained "diversity" initiative.

As we move into Spring, with the days getting longer and the air a bit warmer, I hope everyone is able to take a brief pause, enjoy some sunshine and fresh air, and a bit of self care. You all deserve it.

With gratitude,

Maddie

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Maddie Deutsch, MD, MPH

Medical Director, UCSF Gender Affirming Health Program

Associate Professor of Clinical Family & Community Medicine
University of California - San Francisco

President, US Professional Association for Transgender Health