More Spoons Nutrition | S04E02

Van (they | elle) is a queer, non binary, trans, Egytpian, Jewish, Latine, autistic individual with dynamic disabilities and many more historically excluded identities. With a passion for social justice, they are dually licensed as both a Marriage & Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. You can learn more from Van and support their work: Van is the founder of No More Gatekeeping, a national initiative that connects trans and non binary individuals with providers who engage in a one time letter and assessment. They also authored Exploring My Identity(ies) (2020) and produced the documentary Do Something: Trans & Non Binary Identities (2021). Van also organizes the Do Something: Identity(ies) Conference which happens on November 13, 2026. See the amazing selection of conference materials and register here: https://dosomethingidentities.org/conference-2026/

Justice joins the QueerCME podcast to discuss his work in connecting community in healing circles.Justice has been doing social justice work for over 30 years, he has helped trained my clinical team at QueerDoc and the folx at Fenway Health. You can learn more from Justice by checking out his writing on Medium or having him do a training with your team. His next circle is virtual on November 7, 2026. Meeting People Where They Are: Building Healthier Relationships Within Ourselves and With Each Other is an interactive training exploring how our identities, lived experiences, and trauma shape the ways we relate to ourselves and one another. Through reflection, conversation, and practical tools, participants will explore conflict, accountability, boundaries, and the 4 I’s of Liberation—Identity, Inclusion, Integrity, and Imagination. Together, we will practice moving with greater compassion, curiosity, and awareness as we build healthier relationships and strengthen our capacity for personal and collective transformation. You can register here: https://forms.gle/EE5DDEKtnzd1CeRx9  In addition to his community based work, he does movement based, fitness training through Fitness 4 All Bodies. You can order the book he helped edit, "Deconstructing the Fitness-Industrial Complex: How to Resist, Disrupt, and Reclaim What It Means to Be Fit in American Culture" a collection of perspectives from QTBIPOC, fat, and disabled trainers, bodyworkers, and coaches on reimagining fitness for all bodies.Justice's Instagram

Join me with king yaa. king yaa is a liberatory coach and trauma care practitioner working at the intersections of reproductive justice, disability justice, and gender liberation. With over 15 years of experience, they support queer, trans, and nonbinary communities — especially Black and racialized transmasculine and queer masculine-identified people — through decolonized, trauma-informed, and body-centered approaches to care. Their work helps providers, educators, and care practitioners expand their frameworks of gender, sexuality, and access beyond inclusion toward affirmation and liberation. Through offerings such as Birthing Beyond the Binary and Queer & Trans Reproductive Loss Support Training, king yaa equips healthcare professionals to unlearn white body supremacy, dismantle bias, and build practices that honor the full spectrum of queer and trans embodiment. Their mission is to transform how care is given and received — so that all bodies experience dignity, belonging, and the freedom to exist without fear or compromise.Find king yaa at https://www.kingyaa.co.za/ https://www.instagram.com/queerbirthworker/

🔊 Episode Description In this episode, we sit down with licensed psychologist Dr. Luke R. Allen to explore groundbreaking research showing that access to gender affirming medical care — including hormone therapy — is associated with clinically meaningful reductions in suicidal ideation among transgender and gender diverse adolescents and young adults. Dr. Allen walks us through his study’s findings, discusses the implications for clinical practice, and shares insight on what this evidence means for providers who want to deliver affirming, life-saving care.  🧠 About Dr. Luke R. Allen, PhD Dr. Luke R. Allen (he/him) is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience in research, clinical practice, and advocacy related to transgender and gender diverse health. He provides telehealth services across multiple states and specializes in supporting transgender and nonbinary youth, young adults, and their families with mental health, gender identity, and life affirming care. He is a Certified World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care Version 8 Member and Mentor and brings decades of training, scholarship, and clinical experience to both therapeutic work and scientific inquiry. (Luke R. Allen, PhD) Dr. Allen’s approach emphasizes autonomy, dignity, and collaborative care — helping clients pursue meaningful lives on their own terms. His work bridges evidence, ethics, and community needs, with scholarly contributions that help shape our understanding of best practices in gender-affirming treatment. (Luke R. Allen, PhD) Read more about Dr. Allen: https://lukeallenphd.com/about-me (Luke R. Allen, PhD) 📚 Study Summary: Changes in Suicidality Among Transgender Adolescents Following Hormone Therapy: An Extended Study Published in The Journal of Pediatrics, this study tracked 432 transgender and gender-diverse adolescents and young adults who began hormone therapy and completed standardized suicide screening measures both before and after treatment. Over an average of nearly two years of follow-up, the researchers observed significant declines in suicidal ideation and related behavior following initiation of hormone therapy — a finding consistent across age groups and assigned sex at birth. These results extend earlier smaller studies and provide robust clinical evidence that timely access to gender affirming care can play a protective role in mental health outcomes for trans youth. (ScienceDirect) 📄 Read the study here:https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(25)00424-X/abstract (jpeds.com)  

In this episode, Dr. Bex Canner, a retired family medicine physician with years of experience practicing in Aotearoa (New Zealand), joins us to unpack the shifting legal and cultural landscape of puberty blockers for trans youth. Dr. Canner reflects on how New Zealand once seemed poised to expand gender affirming care—but now faces growing misinformation, fear-based rhetoric, and policy uncertainty. Together, we name the harm of anti-trans narratives like “mutilation” and ground listeners in what puberty blockers actually are: safe, evidence-based care that gives trans and gender diverse youth time to explore who they are. If you’ve ever wondered what’s really happening with trans healthcare in New Zealand, this episode offers nuance, clarity, and global solidarity.Here's the link for the Counting Ourselves survey mentioned.

Join me and Mel Jones of More Spoons Nutrition to learn more about the role of dietitians in gender affirming care.  Mel and I also shared these resources during the pod: Sabrina String's Fearing the Black Body Da'Shaun Harrison's The Belly of the Beast Dalai Knisey's Decolonizing Wellness The Association for Size Diversity and Health FedUp Collective Nutrition Guidance for Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals

What happens when you combine optical science, high fashion, and radical body autonomy? You get Briar Brodwell (he/him), LDO, ABOC, NCLEC—Licensed Dispensing Optician, queer community icon, and gender affirming eyewear stylist. In this episode, we zoom in on a lesser-talked-about aspect of gender expression: eyewear—and how something as “small” as a pair of glasses can become a transformative, affirming tool in a trans or gender diverse person’s life. Briar brings nine years of optical expertise and six years of joy-filled service at Eye Eye, Seattle’s chic and celebrated optometry and optical shops. But this isn’t just about frames and lenses. Briar weaves his lived experience as a trans man with a fierce commitment to patient advocacy and Tikkun Olam—repairing the world—to revolutionize how we view ourselves and each other. From first-time gender affirming glasses to navigating gendered healthcare spaces with integrity, Briar shares practical insights, compassionate stories, and the healing power of seeing—and being seen—as our truest selves. Visit Eye Eye in Seattle or online!  See the Opticians Association of Washington online here.

Join Dr. Crystal Beal and trans tech scholar Dr. Os Keyes for a juicy deep dive into the lesser-known history of trans health clinics—from bureaucratic drama to unethical experiments masked as care. We unpack how embedding research into clinical delivery has sometimes led to violations of autonomy, consent, and trust—and what today’s clinicians can learn from these cautionary tales. Come for the history, stay for the hot takes and ethical tea. 🫖   Find the video with captions on QueerCME's YouTube

In this episode, Dr. Crystal Beal and Nicole Gress of Undead Voice dive into what referring clinicians need to know about voice transition. Nicole breaks down the three key influences on voice and shares the five foundational pillars of gender-affirming voice care. A must-listen for providers supporting transgender and gender diverse patients in their voice journey.   Nicole Gress, MS, CCC-SLP (they/she) is a licensed speech-language pathologist, trans voice expert, and the founder of Undead Voice, the leading voice transition training company for trans and gender diverse (TGD) people. With over 12 years of experience in trans voice, Nicole developed a non-medicalized, community-centered approach that supports individuals in aligning their voice with their identity—without requiring insurance, referrals, or diagnosis. Their program, Undead Voice Lab, has helped over 100,000 people in 20+ countries and is increasingly recognized by healthcare providers as a vital resource, especially as access to traditional gender-affirming services becomes more limited. Nicole’s work centers accessibility, autonomy, and long-term support. To date, Undead Voice has distributed over $600,000 in scholarships to expand care to those who need it most. Nicole also serves on the TGX+ Initiative Committee for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, is Co-Chair of the Small Business Committee for GSBA, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Global Trans Equity Project. Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@undead.voice Instagram - https://instagram.com/undead.voice Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/undeadvoice Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/undeadvoice.bsky.social Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolegress

In the QueerCME podcast episode featuring Dr. Colt St. Amand (he/they), a clinical psychologist, family medicine physician, and trans man, he introduced his new educational initiative, the Gender Affirmative Supportive Surgery Evaluation Tool (Gender ASSET). Gender ASSET is a comprehensive, 12.5-hour, CE-certified course designed to equip clinicians with skills to write affirming referral letters for patients seeking gender affirming surgeries. Dr. St. Amand collaborated with another community expert to create this tool, aiming to streamline the often complex process of referrals and ensure that letters genuinely support transgender and gender diverse individuals’ surgical needs. This course offers critical insights and training for clinicians, emphasizing affirming care that respects individual autonomy and reduces gatekeeping barriers. Dr. St. Amand also discussed the importance of empathy and understanding in this process, highlighting that affirming care can significantly impact patient outcomes and their trust in healthcare providers.