Taking Action to Sustain Care in Challenging Times: Supporting our TGNB Clients and Communities
We are in a time of significant legislative challenge focused on Iowa citizens who are transgender/non-binary (TGNB). Recent changes to Iowa law include, amongst several actions, prohibiting youth who are TGNB from accessing gender affirming medical care. This creates challenges for psychologists who work with youth who are TGNB and their family and friends.
As a gay, cis-gender psychologist with a long history of working with people who are TGNB and their communities, I have had the privilege to deepen my understanding about the challenges people who are TGNB must manage and emotionally attend to, while also just moving forward with daily life. State laws that then negatively impact youth who are TGNB make this “lifting” of daily life infinitely more challenging. People of color who are TGNB may experience even heavier burden and may more strongly feel the impact of these laws.