There is nothing wrong with us

This legislative session has been a low point for Iowa history. It marks a savage, unrelenting desire for decision-makers to grab power and control over our most vulnerable community members- transgender youth. Regardless of advice from medical professionals, transgender youth, and their parents, last week our governor signed into law bills that prohibit a federally protected class of people (yes, Title 9 has been interpreted to cover the rights of transgender students) from gaining access to lifesaving medical treatment and denied them use of a fundamental need- the bathroom. Indeed, if the bar were any lower for human care and decency among Iowa lawmakers, they would trip over it.

But I want to step away from the rage and disgust I feel at the passing of these bills and the incredibly harmful process that required our youth to testify at the state capital, relive the trauma of daily bullying and watch their parents beg for lifesaving medical care. Instead, I have a request for our medical community.

First, thank you for continuing to provide much-needed care for our community for as long as you can. Now I call on you, as medical professionals suddenly at ground zero of the attack on transgender youth, to lead the charge to change the mental health diagnosis of “Gender Dysphoria” to something more akin to the lived experience of the transgender community, something like, ‘Gender Expansum’ or ‘Gender Libertas’ (there’s some Latin for you, docs). Right now, in order to gain access to health care, transgender people have to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder. But if we’re going to fix this system, why not go for broke? We need to stop treating our transgender community as if there is something wrong with us. Remove the requirement for a mental health diagnosis and allow us to have the medical interventions we need.

Denmark did it in 2016. They no longer treat transgender people as “mentally ill” and separated them from any association with words like “problem” and “dysphoria.” They simply created a medical code for their health care system that triggers transgender medical care. But we don’t even have to look beyond our borders for this type of change in our medical care and culture. In 1973, ‘homosexuality’ was declassified as a mental illness. In a 2017 Scientific American article, University of San Francisco human rights scholar Richard Johnson notes, “Although gay people certainly knew they were not sick … the move did have an effect. It has allowed the gay population in the U.S. an opportunity to pursue life on their own terms.” Isn’t that what we all deserve?

Why do I bring this up now in Iowa? Because as I write this, and you read this, there are hundreds of young Iowans who are afraid to go to school. Passing these bills has emboldened bullies and made them think that this is the Iowa way of dealing with difference. I have spent this legislative session and more recently this past week, listening to our youth and their parents describe the horror and heartbreak of living through this moment. You who are Iowan parents, educators and medical professionals will be at the epicenter of the damage this legislation will cause and are uniquely positioned to be at the vanguard of the change we need. Words matter. We need to shift this culture away from seeing us mentally ill with delusions about our gender to seeing us as the bright, powerful, and beautiful humans we are.

V Fixmer-Oraiz (they/them) is a Johnson County Supervisor.