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Once a week, I sit down with a small medical bag full of bandaids, alcohol wipes, and syringes in order to give myself my hormone replacement therapy shot. My prescription is for testosterone cypionate, a yellow-tinged oil that comes in small glass vials from the pharmacy. Giving yourself a shot in general is no easy feat, much less giving yourself a shot every week. But this weekly injection has relieved my gender dysphoria, made a happy life seem possible to me for the first time, and even strengthened my relationship with God. 

Healthcare for transgender people is not rocket science, despite the protests of the uninformed. Transgender healthcare consists of practices and procedures that were originally invented and continue to be used for treatment of other conditions experienced by cisgender people, who by the numbers actually receive more gender affirming care than transgender people. Hormone therapy may be the most well-known treatment for gender dysphoria experienced by trans folks, but cisgender people also regularly pursue procedures and treatments to address a number of gender related issues.  

Meanwhile, our healthcare is often misrepresented or politically manipulated, particularly by those who want to restrict or stigmatize access. Even before President Trump took office this January and began issuing executive orders designed to undermine the identity of transgender people and restrict or remove our access to healthcare (and legal documentation), the medical process of transition has never been easy. There have always been barriers, such as needing multiple approval letters from different medical professionals or fighting with insurance companies about authorizing coverage. 

Unfortunately, barriers like these are the norm. Transgender people often face obstacles such as stigma, bureaucratic hurdles, or outright discrimination in medical settings. It can often be a dehumanizing experience. Early in my own journey, before I had gone through the legal name change process, it was very upsetting to attend doctor’s visits where the wrong name was called in the lobby and even have the wrong pronouns used about me by hospital staff. Such negative experiences can cause transgender people additional issues, such as delayed care, anxiety about seeking medical help, or create a lack of trust in the healthcare system. 

Catholic social justice, which inherently includes healthcare, teaches us to prioritize the needs of the poor and vulnerable, upholding the dignity of every human life and promoting solidarity with those facing injustice. Truly living out Catholic social teaching means examining how perceptions and social attitudes affect not only our own views of transgender people but also the impact on healthcare policies and even medical professionals’ willingness to provide care. 

I am a transgender man and a member of the body of Christ. Finding competent healthcare providers has positively impacted my mental health and overall well-being. Compassionate care has improved my own sense of peace and self-worth and helped me in my journey of embodying my authentic self. I know that God created me for a purpose, and I believe that part of that purpose is living out my LGBTQ identity in a way that can show Catholics that we can be spiritual, holy people too. My access to the healthcare I need should not be restricted based on the biases and fears of those who fail to provide substantive evidence of their claims.

In the political realm, conservatives have relentlessly used attacks on transgender healthcare as a key strategy in state and federal campaigns (while failing to improve affordability or access to healthcare across the board). By appealing to fundamentalist ethics and trying to drum up a moral panic, they misrepresent transgender healthcare as frightening, experimental, or dangerous. During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump falsely claimed that children are undergoing transgender surgery during the school day. Now that he is president, his executive orders, based on untruths, are causing even greater harm by making an already complex process for the trans community even more fraught with uncertainty and fear.

Meanwhile, the Church teaches care and compassion for all people, emphasizing the unique dignity of each individual, yet there is a gap between these teachings and the way Catholics often act towards LGBTQ people. In response to Trump’s inaugural executive orders, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out in defense of immigrants but failed to stand up for transgender people and their rights—especially the right to access healthcare. A more compassionate Catholic response would have been to advocate for policies that protect these rights, ensuring that we have access to life-saving treatments like hormone therapy and gender-affirming care.

This troubling disparity between the call for compassion and the reality of exclusion is not just an abstract difference of opinion. It becomes a social concern because prejudice and discrimination in public life follow such an omission of compassion. Legal attempts to legislate away the existence of transgender people and remove access to life-saving treatments for gender dysphoria are rampant now in the U.S. If we want to be a church fully rooted in the Christ-like values of compassion, dignity, and respect of all people–including the call to love one’s neighbor, provide support to the marginalized, and act with justice and empathy–the attitudes of our leaders need to change substantially. 

Our Church’s commitment to care and compassion should not be passive ideals but a call to action, demanding that we advocate for the healthcare rights of marginalized people—transgender individuals included. It’s time for the Church to walk the talk by supporting trans people—not just in word, but in action. Catholics should not only speak out but also lobby for policy changes that secure access to life-saving treatments, offer pastoral care that affirms gender identity, and publicly support the rights of transgender individuals in healthcare settings.

—Maxwell Kuzma (he/him), February 11, 2025