ChangeMakers: Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd Pioneers Gender-Affirming Care For Kids

For the past 17 years, Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd has worked to change the way Minnesotans view pediatric health care for gender-nonconforming youth.

Goepferd, 45, is Children’s Minnesota’s chief education officer and medical director of the Gender Health program at the hospital. They hold a long career as a pediatrician and helped launch Children’s Minnesota’s program for gender diverse youth back in 2019.

The program was possible because of a “perfect storm” of medical professionals coming together to create a holistic approach in treatment of gender diverse youth, in response to an increase in transgender patients. Goepferd is nonbinary and uses they/them and she/her pronouns.

Although the program is a huge part of who Goepferd is, they’re also a parent, friend and sibling. Goepferd, originally from Iowa City, Iowa, has lived in Minnesota for 23 years. They live in Minneapolis, where they co-parent their two third graders and one first grader.

“My passion is wanting every human to be able to live up to their full potential, whatever that is,” said Goepferd. “And that connects to why I became a pediatrician in the first place.”

Editor's note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Who are your trans or nonbinary heroes?

The very first one that comes to mind for me is an activist named Leslie Feinberg. Leslie Feinberg was someone who when I was coming out as gay or queer in the 1990s, Leslie was very active and had written a novel called “Stone Butch Blues,” and then when I was in medical school, wrote a book called “Trans Liberation” and was doing a lot of speaking and talking about trans identities and specifically trans health care.

It was because of Leslie Feinberg that I went into and formed an interest in doing trans health care and specifically working with LGBTQ populations. So I would say Leslie Feinberg is probably the cornerstone hero for me.

Who is a rising trans or nonbinary leader in Minnesota?

The standout for me is probably Rep. Leigh Finke. She's a new representative to the legislative House, but has already had such a huge impact on Minnesotans, particularly trans, nonbinary and LGBTQ Minnesotans. But really, I think she is going to be a force for really progressive change in the state.

What's something you want everyone to know about trans or nonbinary people?

You know that US [Weekly] magazine, “Stars: They’re just like us”? I feel like, “Trans people: They’re just like us!” That's sort of what I want people to know. The other day, I was out for breakfast with my three kids and we were playing a card game at the table and I almost took a picture to post to social media: this is my trans agenda, is beating my three kids at cards. We're just living our lives just like everyone else is.

I think the unique difference that we have is that we have the ability to see and understand a lot of different perspectives. We know what it's like to struggle to be heard, we know what it's like to be marginalized because of our identities. And so I've really experienced it as a gift and a way to connect with other communities and other people, because it's given me a unique perspective on what it is to be a human being and what it is to be in community.

What are your hopes for the future of gender-affirming care?

As a physician, pediatrician and scientist, I'm always looking to provide the best possible care for the patients that I care for. When I first started doing gender-affirming care and transgender medicine, that was where we were headed in the field — really looking at, how can we improve outcomes? What's new on the horizon? Where can we invest in research?

The last two to three years has really just been protecting the basic foundation of care. We've been in this defensive mode of just protecting the health care at all costs. So what I hope for the future is that we can get out of that stance, understand that gender-affirming care is basic health care, and invest in science and research to advance this field of medicine, just like we would advance all other fields of medicine, because we all deserve the best health care possible.

SOURCE: MPR news