The Good Doctor: Angela Kade Goepferd, MD
January 12, 2023•Susan Swavely
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| Angela Kade Goepferd, MD |
This year, the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on LGBT Health and Wellness presented Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd (they/she) the Ellen Perrin Award for Excellence in LGBTQ+ Health and Wellness on October 10th, 2022, in Anaheim, California. Minnesotans can be proud to call one of their own a pioneer in the field of health for LGBTQ+ kids, specifically trans and gender-diverse children, who, historically, have been left out of most of the conversations surrounding their own wellbeing. Dr. Goepferd is the founder and medical director of the Children’s Minnesota Gender Health program (CMGHP), which is proudly the largest pediatric program serving queer youth in the area. CMGHP offers complete care for trans and gender-diverse children, taking into account both their physical and mental health.
Dr. Goepferd’s rise to this position did not come easily. In their own words, “As a queer and non-binary pediatrician, the path has not been easy for me to become a physician, to become a leader, to claim my expertise and my space at the table. I have learned that silence helps no one.” Dr. Goepferd faced intense homophobia and transphobia in her studies, both by other students and superiors—sometimes even receiving physical hate mail in their medical school locker, having supervising doctors use anti-gay slurs, and having peers call for the erasure of LGBTQ+ people and identities. Dr. Goepferd did not let ignorance or hate stop them then, and they surely don’t let it stop them now either.
The revolutionary truth about kids and gender identity
Angela Kade Goepferd | TEDxMinneapolis
Angela Kade Goepferd | TEDxMinneapolis
Dr. Goepferd is fighting harder than ever for the rights of the LGBTQ community, especially when “public policy attacks their rights, like it did throughout 2021.” Oppressive bathroom bills, forcing children to play on sports teams that don’t align with their gender identities, and many more examples probably come right to mind when thinking of transphobia in the United States, and Dr. Goepferd has spent her entire life fighting for the voices of those who are being silenced. “[Dr. Goepferd] co-authored the Star Tribune op-ed ‘Anti-trans legislation is inhumane’ to explain the harmful consequences transgender youth experience from legislation that penalizes transgender athletes for participating in school sports if they play on a team that aligns with their gender identity.”
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