More transgender health care options on Long Island, though anxiety rises in LGBTQ community

When Amy Levins and her son walked into the Center for Transgender Care in New Hyde Park about a year ago, they both wept with relief.

“The space felt safe immediately,” said Levins, a lawyer who lives in East Northport. “There was just a palpable feeling that we were in the right spot.”

It wasn’t just the rainbow flag decorations or the welcoming staff, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ community. There were gender-neutral bathrooms. Levins’ son, 19, was immediately asked by staffers which pronouns they should use to address him.

“It was very respectful,” said Levins, who appreciated that her son was treated with “dignity and compassion.”

Finding acceptance and respect has been a constant struggle, made more difficult because of the current political and social climate across the United States, members of the transgender community said. Hundreds of pieces of legislation have been introduced that will make it more difficult or even impossible for transgender youth to receive medical and mental health care.

Other proposed bills hamper or prohibit updating gender information on important records such as driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Books with LGBTQ characters are being removed from libraries and classrooms.

“There’s a lot of anxiety,” said Dr. David Rosenthal, founding medical director at the center. “People are afraid … are they going to be able to live the life that they need to live?”

Transgender health care, from checkups to surgery

At the same time, members of the transgender community on Long Island now have more local options for health care and services specifically designed for them, when in the past they often had to travel to New York City. 

Rosenthal said the path to health and wellness starts with gender-affirming care — medical care for individuals who do not identify as the same sex from birth. It's a broad spectrum of services that covers everything from annual checkups, cancer screenings and mental health services to hormone therapy and surgery to help with their transition.

"We need to provide it all through an informed lens to understand the unique needs of transgender individuals,” said Rosenthal, who works out of the Northwell Health Physician Partners LGBTQ Transgender Program. “Just like we can provide even better health care using the same resources we have for individuals of certain cultural and ethnic communities by making sure that we understand their cultural and ethnic needs, this is providing needs for a community in the same way.”

Rosenthal said transitioning is an individual journey for his patients.

“For a lot of people, the first steps may be cutting their hair or going to shop in the boys department instead of the girls department, having someone call you Johnny instead of Jamie or using different pronouns,” he said. “These are very, very real parts of transition and they provide a huge amount of support for a young person.”

Patients looking to transition with the help of hormone therapy or surgery will be referred to specialists who work with the center.

Patients under age 18 need parental consent for treatment, and also need mental health clearance from a mental health provider. Adult patients can consent on their own to treatment, and mental health resources are often required, based on the situation, according to the center.

Kerry Thomas, 38, of East Northport, said 20 years ago when he transitioned there were little or no medical services for the transgender community on Long Island.

“I medically transitioned 20 years ago,” said Thomas, a patient and vice chair of the center's client advisory board. “I don't think most people realize how challenging it was to access any basic care 20 years ago.”

Thomas started taking hormones when he was 18 and later had surgery. But he also found that even going to get a rash looked at or broken bone treated could be problematic because at that time his identification did not match his male gender identity.

“There's a whole host of issues about access to care that aren't directly medical,” he said. “I'm so glad to see the progress for access to care for the community. That's critical. It's going to save lives.”

Missing cancer screenings, primary care visits

Everyone should have primary care doctors they feel comfortable with, be able to identify as who they are, who their partners might be and what their needs are, said Dr. Allison Eliscu, medical director of the Adolescent LGBTQ+ Care Program at Stony Brook Medicine.

“Sometimes when I am meeting a new patient who had a negative experience before, you can see the anxiety on their face and in their eyes,” she said. “I talk to them and set them at ease saying, ‘Yes, you can be who you are. I can help you. I’m not going to judge you.’ You can see their bodies relax.”

People may be skipping important primary care services and cancer screenings because they want to avoid uncomfortable conversations with medical professionals.

"I hadn't had a primary care doctor in a while that I felt comfortable with until I came here," said Naomi Moskowitz, a member of the Center for Transgender Care's client advisory board. "I just wanted to go to a doctor where I'm not going to get weird questions … somebody who sees the whole me makes me feel like I am getting better health care."

Moskowitz, 40, said she grew up on Long Island in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that had very strict gender roles. She was in an arranged marriage by the time she was 19 and divorced 10 years later, with three children. She came out as gay but said she and her partner, who are raising their four children in Nassau County, identify as gender-fluid.

While she is happy to have the center near her home, Moskowitz said going out with her partner for a romantic dinner on Long Island still drew uncomfortable stares and attention because of how they dress. And she worries about taking her family to visit relatives in Florida — where a slate of laws regarded by advocates as anti-LGBTQ were signed in May. One mandates bathrooms in public buildings can only be used by people based on their sex from birth and not gender identity.

"I know I feel more comfortable in masculine clothing, but why do we even have to attach gender to clothing?" she said.

Growing demand for transgender services

Rosenthal said the center has about 3,000 patients and that the demand for services on Long Island has been growing.

“I think just like individuals used to be more afraid to come out as being gay, and now they're more comfortable in society doing that, people are more comfortable coming out with their true gender identity now than they were before,” he said.

As an operations manager, Sundeep Boparai's job is making sure things run smoothly. But he knows his presence, as a gay man and member of the Sikh community, also helps put new patients at ease.

"It starts a whole dialogue of a conversation and they're like, 'Wait, if his mother supported him and it brought him to this point,' the light bulb goes off and it's like, 'I can do that for my child,' " he said.

Boparai said even in the harsh political climate against the LGBTQ community, he has seen hope in patients coming into the center.

"When I was growing up, I never saw so many parents, like how we see today," he said. "There's a lot of supportive parents for transgender, gender nonconforming kids."

Levins said she hopes more people understand that gender-affirming care really means life-affirming and life-changing care for young transgender people, many of whom have struggled with depression.

Her son had surgery in May and is “doing well in every way,” she said.

“I can't imagine what his life would've been like if he didn't have that available to him and if he had to live in the body that he knew wasn't right for him,” she said. “If you get the right care, you’re really able to live your best life.”

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.