A Letter to Transgender and Nonbinary Communities

I’m sure you can agree that now more than ever, during a pandemic, when many have lost employer-sponsored insurance, we should do everything possible to expand access to healthcare. So we are deeply upset by the federal government’s announcement last week that they won’t protect transgender and nonbinary people from healthcare discrimination.   

While this week’s Supreme Court ruling extending workplace protections to queer and transgender employees is cause for celebration (and it is our hope that this will soon extend to healthcare protections) the fact remains that transgender and nonbinary individuals’ right to access affirming healthcare remains unsecured in many parts of the country. 

For that reason we wanted to reach out to reiterate the Nurx commitment to providing sensitive, informed care for transgender and nonbinary patients in need of birth control, STI testing and treatment, PrEP, and herpes treatment. (Although Nurx doesn’t currently provide gender-affirming hormone therapy, we hope to be able to offer this important aspect of healthcare in the future.)

Many of the doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants on our medical team have deep expertise in caring for transgender and nonbinary people, and telehealth allows us to reach patients who may not be able to access affirming care in their communities. 

“As a transgender and nonbinary person I know how hard it can be to access birth control and STI testing. I’ve put up with awkward waiting rooms at ‘women’s health clinics,’ nurses and doctors calling me by the wrong name and pronouns, and confused pharmacists who don’t want to dispense birth control to someone with ‘male’ on their ID,” says Miles Harris, a Family Nurse Practitioner at Nurx. “Nurx is a great way to skip all that, and get the healthcare you need (and deserve) without the stress and anxiety of in-person visits.”  

Nurx was founded on the belief that you deserve the ability to access expert, compassionate healthcare on your terms, and we are working every day to make good on that goal, for everybody and every body. Thank you for your trust. We see you. And you are always welcome here. 

About the Author

Jessica Horwitz, MSN FNP-C, is VP of Clinical Services at Nurx. A passionate leader and clinician, Jessica leads the multidisciplinary clinical teams at Nurx: medical, nursing and clinical development, leveraging her expertise in growing and scaling clinical teams, improving access to care for those most vulnerable, and implementing novel modalities of healthcare delivery. She possesses varied clinical experience taking care of people across the lifespan, specialized expertise in HIV treatment and prevention, and a commitment to providing comprehensive and affirming sexual health services. Jessica is a recognized leader and speaker on these topics at the local and international level.

This blog pro­vides infor­ma­tion about telemed­i­cine, health and related sub­jects. The blog content and any linked materials herein are not intended to be, and should not be con­strued as a substitute for, med­ical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment. Any reader or per­son with a med­ical con­cern should con­sult with an appropriately-licensed physi­cian or other healthcare provider. This blog is provided purely for informational purposes. The views expressed herein are not sponsored by and do not represent the opinions of Nurx™.