About a two months ago, our President, Joe Biden, made national history. On January 19, 2021, he nominated Rachel Levine as his assistant secretary of health. Levine was the first openly transgender individual appointed by the U.S Senate. Levine is the highest ranked transgender official in the U.S government. In past elections, many individuals of the LGBTQ community have been declined roles, but are now included under Biden’s policies. Although she is a highly qualified individual, many Americans judged her and were very discriminating towards her identity. Multiple public examples, such as mocking individuals who cross dress and calling Levine “sir” on a radio show are inhumane and rude, regardless of your political stance.
Dr. Rachel Levine at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Meeting in May 2020
As Biden said, “Dr. Rachel Levine will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their ZIP code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability — and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond” (Biden, 2021).
As we know, the LGBTQ and transgender communities have faced discrimination for a while. This example of Rachel Levine contributes to a larger systemic injustice, effecting the identity of a large community of individually globally. Within the political system, we see that individuals are being discriminated against due to their physical appearance and identity, regardless of their knowledge. Despite the hate, Levine is proud of “the work we have done as an administration to address health equity, and the work I have done personally to raise awareness about LGBTQ equity issues” (Rubinkam, 2021).
Statistics of health care injustice within the transgender community
In addition, the health care system does not advocate for fair treatment of the LGBTQ community, specifically abortions and HIV treatment. The health care system fails to educate doctors on transgender patients, which unintentionally results in inadequate care. Additionally, many transgender individuals have issues changing their name and sexual orientation for medical documentation, which results in legality issues within the healthcare system (Baker et. al, 2013).
This issue can be related to the topic of “otherness”, which was introduced to us by de Beauvoir. De Beauvoir uses the terms “One- Other” to describe societal norms of those misrepresented in society. In this case, transgender individuals are viewed as “other” in our political, health, and legal systems. Levine is clearly viewed as “other” in the political system and other transgender individuals are similarly viewed as “other” in the healthcare system. These “other” individuals face injustices daily, in comparison to “one” in the system.
For this wrong to be righted, our entire society would have to adopt a more accepting and open-minded mindset. Our political and health care systems would also have to treat these individuals equally and not restrain them of their rights or care. Although transphobia is evident in our country, we are moving in the right direction and making progress in inclusivity for all individuals.
Works Cited:
Frost, Kellan Baker and Christopher. “Addressing Gay and Transgender and HIV/AIDS Issues in Health Care Reform.” Center for American Progress, 22 Mar. 2013, www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/news/2013/03/22/57845/addressing-gay-and-transgender-and-hivaids-issues-in-health-care-reform/.
Rubinkam, Michael. “Biden Picks Rachel Levine, Who Drew Credit and Criticism for Handling of Pa.’s COVID-19 Crisis, as Assistant Health Secretary.” Mcall.com, The Morning Call, 19 Jan. 2021, www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-dr-rachel-levine-chosen-as-assistant-health-secretary-20210119-pr6jvc6fsbhiljgzigcswr47eu-story.html.
Samantha Schmidt, John Wagner. “Biden Selects Transgender Doctor Rachel Levine as Assistant Health Secretary.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Jan. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/19/rachel-levine-transgender-biden-hhs-pick/.
Hi Lindsay, I really enjoyed reading you showcase post. Your post was incredibly informative and I really think you did a great job with your visual aides. Thanks to your post, I will be educating myself more about Dr. Rachel Levine’s treatment by those in the media. Treatment of the LGBTQ community is currently a very important system injustice to discuss, so wonderful job.
Thank you!
Hey Lindsey! I am so glad you decided to present this issue. Transgender individuals are so often mocked and disregarded in society and I was so moved by Biden’s choice to appoint Dr. Rachel Levine was progressive and a great step to inclusion. Thank you for your entry!
Thank you for this post! It is exciting to see many minority groups being represented in our government for the first time, marking a major step towards more acceptance. It is also powerful that an openly transgender individual is a secretary of health due to the extreme injustice transgender individuals have experienced in the healthcare system. Hopefully we see more representation like this in the future and more acceptance for transgender individuals and the LGBTQ+ community in our society.