Dr. George Danias
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My name is doctor George Dania.
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So I use they them pronouns, and I'm a resident physician in psychiatry working in the New York City public hospital system.
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I'm also a proud member and delegate for CIR, the Resident Union.
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Thank you to the Committee of Women and Gender Equity and Council Member Lewis.
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I'm here testifying in support of the resolutions meant to protect gender affirming care for New York City's patients.
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I've I came to the city for my residency program for many reasons, but one of them was because New York is known as a beacon of gender affirming care, and I wanted to work somewhere that made this essential care available to my patients.
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So when Trump was elected and a close friend who is trans told me that he thought he was told me he was considering leaving the country, I told him that we were in New York City.
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I thought we should be fine here because the city is a haven for queer and trans people.
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But NYU's recent decision to halt gender affirming care for youth defied what I thought I knew about my city.
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Right now, it feels like my friend was right.
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So it is very personal to me when I implore the city council to pass these resolutions protecting gender affirming care and helping to ensure that New York can continue to be the city we me, the city we thought it was.
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Study after study show that gender affirming care not only improves the well-being of trans youth, but saves lives.
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We know that trans youth who are able to receive this treatment have decreased depression, anxiety, and lower odds of suicidality.
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This is a core part of the standard of care.
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I just came out of a stint of working in an inpatient psychiatric unit where a lot of my patients were trans.
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When I'm with my patients, I'm providing the best care possible.
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Aspects of my work almost feel disingenuous when I know they might not be able to continue to have access to the treatments they rely on.
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What I want as a physician is to be part of a system that could help my patients in all the ways they need.
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We're already working inside of a profit driven medical system in The US.
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The last thing that hospital workers want or their patients need is to navigate
