Perspectives on Telehealth and the Transgender Community

Telehealth, and telemedicine, has been an innovative tool that has helped the patient-physician relationship. Telehealth has allowed for healthcare to become accessible to rural and underserved populations. Telehealth has reduced these barriers that transgender individuals face when seeking gender-affirming care. Tennessee legislation has fought to obtain medical records of those who seek abortions and gender-affirming care outside of the state. With the ban of gender-affirming care of minors in Tennessee, telehealth is now being used as a tool for legislators to prosecute the transgender individuals. Weaponizing telehealth creates a distrust within the healthcare community, including social workers, with treating transgender patients. This article discusses the implications of Tennessee laws, the professional violations of ethics, and advocates for transgender healthcare.