Beyond Barriers: Ethics and Critical Perspectives on Reimagining Gender-Affirming Care in Times of Crisis

LGBT+ Studies Scholar in Residence — Linda Wesp, assistant professor in the UWM School of Nursing — will give a keynote address on “Beyond Barriers: Ethics and Critical Perspectives on Reimagining Gender-Affirming Care in Times of Crisis.”

At a moment of both progress and precarity, gender-affirming care is expanding even as it comes under attack. While institutions retreat, clinicians continue to uphold their ethical commitments in creative ways. This keynote offers critical perspectives on reimagining care beyond traditional structures, and considers how resilience and resistance can sustain ethical practice in times of crisis.

Wesp’s research and scholarship focuses on health equity and improved quality of life for marginalized populations through participatory and community-driven interventions, especially LGBTQIA+ people and populations affected by HIV/AIDS. Wesp has been providing clinical care for LGBTQIA+ populations since 2002 and is a eertified HIV specialist and nationally known expert in transgender health care.

Wesp is co-editor of the recently published book “Clinicians Guide to LGBTQIA+ Care” and has authored various guidelines and protocols for gender-affirming clinical care. She also conducted the Wisconsin HIV/AIDS Oral History Project, housed at the UWM Libraries Digital Collections.