Although they shouldn’t have done, scientific facts have “become political”, says gender-affirming-care surgeon Dr Angela Rodriguez about LGBTQ+ lives.
The lesbian founder of Art Surgical, a care centre in San Francisco specialising in procedures for the trans and non-binary community, told PinkNews following Donald Trump’s triumph in the presidential election that she wished politicians would listen to her patients’ stories.
She is now calling for “more dialogue and less policies”, adding: “We need to see people as human.”
In April, in response to Trump’s “Defending Women” executive order, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that gender dysphoria would no longer be classified as a disability protected under federal law. A month earlier, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) revealed plans to remove care, including hormone therapy, for transgender vets with gender dysphoria.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins said: “I mean no disrespect to anyone, but VA should not be focused on helping veterans’ attempt to change their sex.”
‘Gender-affirming treatments increase wellbeing’
Rodriguez went on to say: “It’s sad, because we should talk about the things that are a consensus, and it’s obvious that mental health is a priority in this country. We’ve had a mental-health crisis everywhere.”
She described the “scientific fact” of gender dysphoria as “when an individual’s gender identity is not in line with their sex assigned at birth, and this causes significant distress”.
Gender dysphoria is something she deals with daily. “I’ve met countless individuals in my practice [who] are veterans and a lot of them have had to provide for themselves and do surgeries and treatments on their own because they were in a military at a time where it wasn’t recognised, and it looks like we’re [returning] to these times.”
Rodriguez referred to Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ executive orders as worrisome, saying: “It’s been proven over and over that gender-affirming treatments increase the wellbeing of the person, decrease gender dysphoria and improve mental-health outcomes in general.”
One of many studies supporting the benefits of gender-affirming care showed that trans men have a better quality of life after starting treatment and feel much happier when their appearance more closely resembles their gender identity.
‘It’s not valid’
Rodriguez also condemned Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which banned Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care and prevents plans under the Affordable Care Act treating it as an essential health benefit.
“It’s not valid to completely strip away the care from a vulnerable population,” she continued. “We will continue taking in patients here for as long as we can. Hang in there and we’ll get through this.”
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