White Bird Clinic Stands in Solidarity with the Transgender Community
White Bird Clinic stands in solidarity with our transgender/gender diverse clients, co-workers, and community members in affirming the validity of their existence and right to personally define and express their identities.
We resist any statement claiming that gender is a biological or immutable condition determined by genitalia. Both categories of sex and gender are infinitely diverse and complex in their expressions and cannot be limited to a binary system. To dictate how an individual personally identifies stands in direct conflict with our humanistic values of self-determination, freedom of expression, and valuing of diversity.
To our transgender/gender diverse clients, co-workers, and community members:
We see you in your diversity and complexity, we affirm your existence and your right to safety. We see the pain and harm created by statements that attempt to erase your existence. We will not stand idly by while those in power fan the flames of injustice, violence, and bigotry.
We are committed to providing accessible, safe, and affirming services to transgender and gender nonconforming people free from discrimination and in congruence with the recommendations of several highly regarded professional organizations:
- American Medical Association
- American Nurses Association
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American Psychological Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- National Association of Social Workers
- World Professional Association for Transgender Health
- OHSU Transgender Health Program
…..And many others, who recognize gender is expansive beyond a binary and is not determined by one’s genitalia and sex assigned at birth.
White Bird Clinic will stand true to our mission statement in continuing to enable all people to gain control of their social, emotional, and physical well-being. We recognize the innumerable harms that systemic injustice and marginalization have on an individual’s mental health, and we are committed to seeking progressive change—on an individual, community, and national level—to make health and well-being accessible to the most vulnerable populations.
To be truly committed to our mission, we recognize the need to speak out when those on a national level attempt to undermine the well-being, personal safety, and mental health of transgender and gender non-conforming people. We are proud of our clients, co-workers, and community members who are bravely authentic in their gender identities. In doing so, you are helping us all break free from restrictive gender norms and social categories that harm every one of us, in varying ways.
In gratitude, we will continue to speak up, serve our community, and fight for personal freedom. Until the Revolution!
Authored by the White Bird Clinic Queer Affinity Group