By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Physicians attending the 20th International Symposium of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, held in Chicago Sept. 5-8, attended a presentation by Howard Brown Health Center Sept. 8 about the health facility’s resources for its transgender clients.

Lois Bates, transgender program manager for Howard Brown, said the program has long adhered to a principle of providing comprehensive medical services for transgender patients.

“A lot of (facilities) would just have ‘trans health day,’ and all the transgendered patients came on that day. Howard Brown has made sure that that its services were more well-rounded than that,” Bates said.

She added that transgenders have medical needs going beyond their transitioning process.

“They also need general medical care. Before you can take hormones or get surgery, you have to be healthy,” Bates said.

Howard Brown long ago developed protocols that transgenders in its primary care program must adhere to before they transition, Bates said, insuring that they are physically and psychologically equipped to begin.

She added that Howard Brown serves transgender patients in a variety of age ranges. The average age in the discussion group for transgenders Bates runs is 54-years-old.

“I even have one person who is 82, and a few in their 60s and 70s,” she added. “You’re working with folks who need generational care.”

One of the most complicated aspects of offering services to transgenders in that age range, Bates said, is “trying to get them connected. Many don’t have documentation or family support, so connecting folks with services (they require) is difficult.”

She added that older transgenders unable to connect sometimes have to transition back when their resources become limited.

“One of the main projects in our program on aging is a center for the aging community” that would be a central location for those resources, Bates said.

“The City of Chicago already has a direct focus on the aging community (and) that gives us a heads-up on the work we do,” Bates added.

Conversely, transgenders are often beginning their transition at younger ages, and these clients also require additional levels of support, which Bates said most receive through Broadway Youth Center.

“Most who transition young face a number of challenges from peers and family,” Bates said, pointing to a study by the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network that reported that about 90 percent of trans teens are at some point targeted for violence.

“BYC provides support, information and education—in short, it provides options.” Besides drop-in services for homeless youth, Bates said, BYC also helps its clients receive HIV and STD testing, as well as birth control.

For more information on Howard Brown Health Center and its serevices for transgenders, call (773) 388-1600 or visit www.howardbrown.org.