Caring for the Transgender Patient: It Is More Than Using the Right Pronouns!

Trans individuals often face stigma and discrimination in their daily lives. Ideally, the health care setting should be a safe haven wherein they can be who they are – but is it always so? Unfortunately, the answer is still not a clear and resounding yes! Why are transgender patients stigmatized by society? The answer resides in how people are socialized to understand and enact gender. According to the Harvard Business Review, gendered behavior is learned. From a young age, boys and girls are encouraged to display stereotypically gendered behaviors and discouraged from displaying non-normative ones. My (KS) kindergartener was amazed that her male classmate's favorite color was pink. There is no biological predilection toward color, yet there is a designation as to what is socially acceptable. Moreover, children pick up on subtle signals from their parents and others who enforce gender stereotypes. For example, when donning female garments during dress...