Ford students organize panel on health issues within the U.S. transgender community
On Thursday, March 31, the U-M student group, OUTbreak, and the Ford School student org, Out in Public, organized a panel discussing health care access issues within the transgender community.
According to The Michigan Daily article, "Panel discusses health concerns within transgender community," Laura Jadwin-Cakmak, research director of health behavior and education at the U-M School of Public Health, pointed out that transgender individuals face unique health care issues and discrimination when their gender identity does not fit into the binary male-female system. Jadwin-Cakmak highlighted how health care problems affect the quality of life for trans people, citing the fact that 41 percent of trans people are reported to have attempted suicide.
“We get asked questions about our bodies all the time in health care settings, even when it’s unrelated to the reason why we are there,” said Elliot Popoff, project manager at the Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities.
Panelist Bré Anne Campbell, executive director of Detroit’s Trans Sistas of Color Project, emphasized the importance of hiring more transgender individuals in health settings as one potential solution to the discrimination faced.
Learn more about Out in Public and other Ford School student organizations.