VA’s Center for Minority Veterans (CMV) partnered with PrideVA, VA’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group, to host 36 LGBTQ+ Veterans, families, caregivers and survivors for a fireside chat in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility at Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, DC.
Hosting the chat, I sat down with CMV’s Executive Director James Albino and the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Admiral Rachel L. Levine, for a riveting conversation on visibility.
Admiral Levine is a pediatrician, former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Pennsylvania Physician General, and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Penn State. Admiral Levine is the first out transgender four-star officer in any of the country’s eight uniformed services.
The chat highlighted Admiral Levine’s storied career and how she became interested in medicine, coming from a long line of lawyers.
“I went to my parents and said, ‘You know what? I think I might like to go into theater,’ and they said, ‘You know you can do anything, you don’t have to go into law school, you could go to medical school, or you could go to business school.’”
Admiral Levine said this was their way of persuading her that maybe theater wasn’t the avenue they envisioned. And then she spoke about getting a text from someone late at night and reading in the morning, “Would you be interested in a position in the Biden Administration?” to which she replied, “Well, yea.”
Admiral Levine then discussed the importance of having supportive and affirming medical staff and just how they can make a difference for any patient coming into that facility, which puts the onus back on medical providers to create space.
“Transgender medicine is medical care; transgender medicine is mental health care, and it can be literally suicide prevention care,” she affirmed. That chat includes her tips on how to talk to Veterans when they come in, as well as how to get them to be open about their lives to best know how to support them and their medical needs.
In closing, she spoke about how HHS views health equity: “Health equity is foundational; it is fundamental to everything that we’re doing. So, for every grant, for every notice of funding, for every program, for every regulation—we have to include Health Equity.”
CMV and PrideVA believe that through events like this we can help educate one another and build a more inclusive society and safe space in which all Veterans feel welcomed and respected. By showcasing the importance of visibility and having a seat at the table, we can ensure that VA is representing the beautiful diversity of those we support.
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Fascinating! Thank you for sharing. I am so very proud to be a veteran and that our LGTBQIA+ community can serve as themselves and be recognized. It’s about damn time!
Fun, now approve surgical care and stop killing trans veterans with your 8+ years long, foot dragging negligence and apathy.
And our taxpayers pay for this. How sad!
Admiral Levine is fascinating! Great panel. Thank you for sharing this. I am so proud to be a veteran. After 248 years, this country recognizes the LGTBQIA+ community, allowing everyone who takes the oath to serve an opportunity to be themselves and access to equality in health care and benefits so richly deserved.