If a transgender student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison wanted to start hormone therapy, they’d have to do more than talk with their doctor. They’re also required to get written consent from a therapist or mental health counselor.
But now, the university is working to change that.
University Health Services is switching to an informed consent model for transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary students. That means students won’t have to get written consent or go through the campus’ Gender Identity Consultation to receive hormones. Instead, they’ll be able to work directly with their doctor.
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Shannon Juniper Neimeko is a UHS associate counselor with a trans-health focus. She said the change will hopefully be implemented in May.
Juniper Neimeko has been working on this since last August. It started with a presentation to leadership at UHS before getting approval from both the clinic’s medical and mental health departments. She said the change is about eliminating barriers.
“What we’re noticing here, and what we’re trying to pay attention to and work to resolve, is that trans health care has different requirements for access than care for cis(gender) folks,” she said. “So, you know, you might go to your provider and ask for a prescription for birth control or another medication. They don’t send you to a mental health provider.”
UW-Madison has been using the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care.
Katherine Charek Briggs, assistant director of the LGBT Campus Center, has been working hand-in-hand with Juniper Neimeko on making this change.
Charek Briggs said they consulted with the University of Pennsylvania, which has an informed consent model. Other institutions have been using this model for at least 10 to 15 years, said Charek Briggs.
“You’ll find that the centers that have been doing an informed consent practice … tend to be queer and trans led,” Charek Briggs said. “So Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago, Callen-Lorde in New York. Other places that, you know, when a community is serving its own needs it has fewer barriers, right. Because it’s not, there isn’t anything based on fear or bias showing up in the medical practice.”
Charek Briggs added that this change should have happened a long time ago.
“We’re just normalizing trans care with this move,” Charek Briggs said.
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