Trans North Dakota doctor is opening gender-affirming clinic for LGBTQ+ people ... trends now
A trans doctor who is based in North Dakota is opening a clinic to provide a gender-affirming clinic for all LGBTQ+ people regardless of age as state legislators push a bill banning the practice for minors in the state.
In an interview with the Grand Forks Herald Dr. Mayson Bedient, who identifies as a trans person and uses he/they pronouns: 'A couple of the patients that I've met have been really excited that I'm a transgender provider.
'I’ve been there myself, so it's kind of exciting for them to have somebody who really understands it,' he added.
North Dakota lawmakers will consider other bills this session that would obstruct transgender and non-binary people from using their preferred pronouns, criminalize doctors providing gender-affirming care, deter transgender youth from joining school sports teams, penalize drag-show performers, and more.
Dr. Mayson Bedient, who identifies as a trans person and uses he/they pronouns: 'A couple of the patients that I've met have been really excited that I'm a transgender provider'
According to Bedient, a native of rural New York who went to medical school in West Virginia, as a result of some of the proposed legislation, physicians would be made to answer to services that he provided in the past.
He said: 'As a doctor, it’s tough to hear that these legislators think they know better than I do how to take care of people.'
He also said that thanks to laws such as the ones being pushed by Republicans in his state, good doctors are being pushed away from North Dakota.
Bedient continued: 'It’s hard … as a transgender person, particularly, to go through this year after year, cycle after cycle, and hear the things that are said.'
Bedient is an all-ages family medicine doctor based in Fargo who opened a practice at a clinic named Essentia Health in December that will focus on gender-affirming care. The doctor said in his interview that he wants to provide care for everybody.
He has provided gender-affirming care, such as mental health medications, organizing surgical consults, and administering hormone therapy.
Since setting up their practice, Bedient has hired several staff members who support his vision.
He told the Herald: 'Gender-affirming treatment is not something you’re going to find everywhere. There’s just a lot of doctors who aren’t comfortable with it or don’t practice it.'
