the LGBT community is something I tried to focus on. I think that is the civil rights issue of our time. – Eric Holder, Attorney General, farewell speech, April 25, 2015
Just a few blocks from the White House, The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) (@TransEquality) celebrated its 12th year in existence.
In what I do, both at Kaiser Permanente in health care, and in spaces like this, I usually meet people who don’t fully recognize how much their work has impacted other humans, so I like to assist in the recognition 🙂 .
The room was filled with people whose work has changed saved many lives, all over the world. I know, I’ve seen their work in use all over the world.
And the kids. The kids. Some of the young adults in attendance were just born when NCTE was. Here they were, with more confidence and life success than most teenagers, because they were able to have the family and other support to be who they are.
And by the way, the medical literature confirms that they can be this healthy and well with appropriate health care and support (link to paper, I’ll be posting on it separately).
It’s yet another lesson about the power of the parent-child bond. I’ve written about this previously for patients and families in general – when health care attempts to get in between a parent and a child, the winner is not health care. So why even try, just practice love.
Rooms like this are now full, and it definitely does feel that this is the epicenter of the civil rights movement. Try it yourself and see.
In the meantime, congratulations to the National Center for Transgender Equality for life, health, and happiness.