2022 SGM Health Symposium: Transgender Policies, Care Practices, and Wellbeing, 3/21/2022-3/22/2022

“We need to continue to advocate strongly for the most vulnerable in our community,” said Admiral Rachel Levine, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, during opening remarks for the symposium.

The two day conference was hosted by the Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Health Program and co-sponsored by Polis. Experts from around the country discussed such topics as: the intersection of race and being transgender or non-binary in the US; teens transitioning; participation in sports; effects of recent legislative decisions; queer experiences of neurodiversity; aging as a transgender or gender expansive person; and pushing the boundaries of SGM health.

Co-director of the Duke SGM Health Program, Professor Kate Whetten remarked, “Even within the communities who support transgender and gender-diverse people, there is incredible disagreement about what we should be doing…We’re creating a space where people who have quite different beliefs can come together and express their differences, why they have them and what would convince them to believe differently.”

During closing remarks, Duke University Provost Sally Kornbluth stated, “We live in a society where it’s become too easy to dismiss people we disagree with, or those who challenge our beliefs and assumptions. But that’s not how progress happens. We have to be as willing to hear others’ perspectives as we are to advocate for our own.”

Click here to read Duke Today’s article on the conference, “Care, Understanding, and Agreement: Seeking a path forward in sexual and gender minority health.”

Also read Duke’s Global Health Institute’s article and panel highlights, “Charting a Path for Transgender Health and Policy.”