“‘It starts with a small portion of the trans health care, and then it later progresses to other areas of our community, where they’re slowly taking away rights,’ said  Kiala Emmons, a service navigator at METRO who helps direct patients toward the services they need, or refers them to partner specialists and surgeons.

She said discrimination can cause trans people not to seek care at all. Discrimination includes doctors refusing to use the correct pronouns or referring to a patient by their birth name, often referred to as a ‘dead name’ in the trans community. … [Emmons] said that it’s particularly important for transgender people to be their own patient advocates for care, and to reach out to organizations like METRO or Florida Trans Proud that keep lists of trans-friendly medical providers.”