TransItional

It was in May 2023, when I was already pondering how lucky, in a way, my wife and I were to live in Finland. Not just in Finland but in Europe. Not because of political instability, but because of legislation issues.

What we Europeans don’t really see in the news are the issues that happen in the USA, or elsewhere in the world, as those news are more or less dubbed as “regional” and are not viewed as important internationally. This leads to very peculiar situation; we, here in Europe, might be thinking that everything is fine and dandy over the pond when it comes to LGBTQ rights, but thankfully we have other means to get the truth. Social media platforms like TikTok, which has proven their worth broadcasting the unwanted truths.

Since the Trump administration took power for thr second time, hundreds of proposed bills around the USA have targeted the rights, the human rights, of the LGBTQ people, especially of the transpeople. We are not talking about the rights to use toilets but rights to receive medical care, hormone treatment therapies, and even rights for exist as who you are.

Let’s turn this issue into another point of view; there are doctors and nurses who are very vocal for their right not to treat a LGBTQ person, as it goes against their values or faith. And this is something that really heckles me personally. When you choose an occupation in the health care field, it is mandatory for you to take care of a patient, whomever they are, and from whichever walk of life they come from. You do not get the right to pick and choose.

Except… that you can. According to American Medical Association’s Principles of Medical Ethics states just that:

The physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical care.

On the other hand, life in nursing is much more strict. We are demanded to give out nursing care to all of our patients, regardless of their background.

The right to fair and equal treatment in health care requires that nurses provide fair and equal treatment to all patients.

So maybe that is why we nurses are generally much more empathetic people. And when we, nurses, cross paths with people who are in need of care, we take it in our stride to stand by them and stand for them. We are the advocates of our patients, and this aspect of our work usually comes to the forefront in those situations that are difficult. Maybe this aspect is the reason why I refuse to understand my American colleagues and the doctors, who refuse to treat LGBTQ patients based on their personal values.

This above mentioned kind of thinking is a dangerous path. What if there is a nurse or a few who refuse to take care of LGBTQ people at a ward. How can they then deal with a colleague who might be gay? Ostracise them? Try to badmouth them to get them sacked? Sour the whole work community over their personal issues towards a colleague? And what about situations that need open communication to save a patient’s life? Would they go as far as to let a patient die just to make their LGBTQ minority colleague, whom they abhor, look bad?

Nursing is an occupation where every one of us needs to be able to trust our colleagues in all situations. So, what happens if our work community doesn’t support diversity after all? Does that mean that some of us would have to crawl back into that closet that we have spent years to try to get out from? Don’t we have the right to be exactly who we are, without a fear of retaliation?

This wouldn’t happen. Right? Because many companies have implemented diversity plans and brought them to action, protecting minority people and their rights. Surely that is enough! But is it? Are these plans and their implementations monitored everywhere or anywhere?

I used the USA as an example because of the diversity of states with their own legislation policies. Coupled with that, they have the federal laws that bind the whole country together. It is a bit like the EU; some of the laws affect the whole of the union, but each nation within the union have their own laws. Which can, in turn, create situations when moving from one country to another.

Finland, for instance, has been really homogenous for decades, maybe even centuries. And it shows; sectors like health care has had to undergo a very steep learning curve just to accommodate foreign nurses into the workforce. Compare it to countries like the UK, where diversity is normal due to the history of the British Empire.

Even if the learning has been done by gritting teeth, and moaning about language skills, there still is that requirement for a certain level of trust between colleagues. Trust that the other person knows what they are doing, and trust that everyone dares to bring out their diversity and expertise to the team.

This doesn’t happen overnight. And to assist this sharing to happen, we all must do our part – the part that no diversity plan can dictate.

I used to think that gay people were a vulnerable minority, but my view has changed. It is not the gays, but the trans people who need our strength to support them. Not because they are not strong themselves, but because in many countries the powers-who-be seem to be hellbent on slamming our trans-siblings with archaic laws, meant to crush their bodies, identities, and minds. We, as humanity, need to stand up and defend our sisters and brothers, and stop these backward steps that the lawmakers are taking.