When Inova opened its Pride Clinic in Falls Church last year, an official hailed the new center as an inclusive space where LGBTQ+ patients would be welcomed at the door with the questions, “What are your pronouns?
How do you prefer to be addressed?” But that was not at all my experience when I visited the emergency room of an Inova hospital just a few miles away.
At Inova Alexandria Hospital, intake forms listed only two boxes — M or F — for me to be able to disclose my gender. I did not know how to answer.
I am transgender. I am non-binary. On forms and in life, it is very hard when you can’t find a box that fits you to be able to say who you are.