As mental health providers, we recently asked a group of transgender youth what they wanted their doctors to know, and they had a powerful message: “If I am depressed or anxious, it’s likely not because I have issues with my gender identity, but because everyone else does.”
As psychiatrists, we’ve entered a new era of understanding for transgender people. Being transgender is not a mental illness. Peoples’ gender diversity isn’t what’s dangerous; our attempts to change them are. And we urgently need legislation to protect them. We need to outlaw conversion efforts for transgender people nationwide.