Target Audience

Healthcare professionals.

Educational Need

There is a critical need for healthcare providers, educators, and community members to understand the historical context of gender-affirming care and its evolution within various legal, social, and political landscapes. Many healthcare systems and professionals lack comprehensive knowledge of the resilience and contributions of past providers and recipients of gender-affirming care, limiting their ability to offer informed and affirming support. Additionally, current frameworks for gender-affirming care often focus solely on medical interventions, neglecting holistic approaches that prioritize joy, celebration, and the overall well-being of transgender and nonbinary individuals.

Furthermore, with increasing legislative and societal challenges surrounding LGBTQIA+ healthcare, there is an urgent need for strategies that promote community care, rest, sustainability, and resilience. Many providers, advocates, and individuals seeking care experience burnout and fear due to restrictive policies and hostile environments. This educational session aims to address these gaps by equipping participants with historical knowledge, affirming care frameworks, and community-based strategies that ensure gender-affirming care is not only accessible but also empowering and sustainable.

Description

This session explores the historical context of gender-affirming care, examining how medical professionals and communities have provided and received care across diverse legal, social, and political landscapes. By reflecting on the past, we can gain valuable insights into the resilience and wisdom of those who navigated gender-affirming care in different eras. Participants will engage with tools and frameworks that support gender-affirming care and center the joy, celebration, and thriving of transgender and nonbinary individuals. Additionally, this session will highlight strategies for fostering community care, rest, sustainability, and wellness, particularly during times of heightened fear and uncertainty surrounding LGBTQIA+ healthcare. Through discussion and shared learning, attendees will leave with practical approaches to sustaining themselves and their communities in the ongoing pursuit of equitable and affirming care.

Learning Objectives

1. Review the historical context of the gender-affirming care provision and what we can learn from our past as a medical field and from our ancestors who provided and received gender-affirming care in various legal, social, and political landscapes.
2. Use tools and frameworks for providing and receiving gender-affirming care that include and center joy, celebration, and thriving of trans and nonbinary people.
3. Share and discuss strategies for community care, rest, sustainability, and wellness during times of extraordinary fear related to LGBTQIA+ healthcare.

Speakers

Will Cole, PhD, MPH, MA, PMP (he/they)

Dr. Cole is a researcher and educator specializing in socio-structural influences on health and the development of social and behavioral interventions. Utilizing implementation science approaches, Dr. Cole ensures that evidence-based interventions effectively reach populations most in need. Their work has focused extensively on sexual and reproductive health, particularly in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS among sex workers. These men have sex with men, transgender populations, and other sexual and gender minorities.

Currently, Dr. Cole’s research centers on the health and well-being of transgender and gender-diverse individuals. In addition to their research, they teach courses on global LGBTQ health and the adaptation of health programs to serve LGBTQ populations better.

Dr. Cole earned a PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2013, an MPH from Yale University School of Public Health in 2009, and an MA from Yale University in the same year. They completed their undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, earning a BA in 2001.

Cass Dallas, LICSW (they/he)

Cassidy Dallas, often known as "Cass," is a social worker, therapist, and educator specializing in working with LGBTQIA+ individuals and their loved ones. Using the pronouns they/them and he/him, Cass also has extensive experience supporting neurodivergent individuals, including those who are autistic and those with ADHD. As someone who is queer, transgender, nonbinary, and neurodivergent, Cass draws upon personal lived experiences to help others build lives filled with joy, connection, and meaning through deep personal transformation.

Cass uniquely creates a safe and welcoming space for clients, allowing them to share sensitive and meaningful aspects of themselves that contribute to their healing. Many who have struggled to open up have found comfort in Cass’s presence, often feeling safe enough to express thoughts and emotions they have never shared aloud. Known for their warmth and ability to help others feel at ease, Cass fosters deep relationships built on trust and understanding. As a therapist, Cass takes great pride in witnessing clients “bloom” into their authentic selves. Seeing individuals grow in confidence, empowerment, and emotional well-being is an honor that is difficult to put into words. Their therapeutic approach is radically inclusive and trauma-informed, balancing evidence-based care with an individualized, client-centered approach.

Cass earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Public Health from the State University of New York at Albany and a Master of Social Work focusing on Clinical Mental Health from Boston College. Their clinical training includes an internship at Harvard University's Massachusetts Mental Health Center and a Harvard Vanguard Behavioral Health fellowship. As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, Cass has worked in inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient mental health settings.

In addition to clinical work, Cass has been actively involved in crisis intervention and suicide prevention, volunteering for multiple hotlines and serving in a leadership role at a national suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQIA+ youth. Their advocacy and education efforts have included serving as Director of Community Outreach for the Transgender Community of New England and providing consultation, training, and public speaking engagements at behavioral health startups, clinics, and conferences focused on mental health and suicide prevention.