Public accommodation laws and gender panic in clinical settings

Abstract

Public accommodation laws (PALs) are used to address discrimination against minorities. There is broad discussion about using such laws to either protect or prohibit access to sex-segregated spaces for transgender people. Health care facilities are subject to PALs, which affect rooming assignments and access to sex-segregated environments. Around the time that a Massachusetts transgender PAL went into effect in October 2016, the first author (EB) facilitated 18 professional trainings at 5 health care facilities in greater Boston. During these trainings, staff repeatedly brought up 2 areas of moral concern reflecting public conversations about transgender rights: risk posed by the presence of transwomen in sex-segregated spaces and feelings of unpreparedness for dealing with anti-trans bias. This article discusses the role of education in responding to gender panic in inpatient settings.