Episode 121 - Practical Advice for Managing Gender Identity in Schools with Dr. Kate Goonan

In this episode, Sasha & Stella spend time with Dr. Kate Goonan, an advisory and advocacy specialist with Genspect. Together they discuss the importance of building a strong support system for young individuals experiencing gender dysphoria. Kate shares about her approach for navigating gender dysphoria compassionately, grounded in realism, and offers clear, practical advice to parents.

Dr. Kate Goonan is board certified physician who graduated from University of California at Davis School of Medicine and completed her residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Primary Care Internal Medicine. After several years of practicing primary care and women’s health, her career focus moved to evidence-based medicine and quality improvement. 

Two years ago, she started studying the evidence base around gender dysphoria. She took a role in Genspect advising parents on how to manage their specialists, psychologists, and schools. Now fully retired, Kate continues to advise families on their strategies with schools and caregivers. She leads Genspect’s team developing model school policies and educational resources for school personnel and parents. Her goal is to apply her skills and expertise to ensuring parents and schools approach gender non-conforming children with a fully informed and open-minded approach. 

Her extensive background serves her work with Genspect well, as Dr. Goonan spent time serving as medical director overseeing medical policy and quality for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She has also authored two books on quality in health care and was appointed as a judge for the U.S. presidential award for performance excellence in business, health care, and education (Baldrige Performance Excellence Award 1999-2002). Kate grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in a family affected by another dysphoria: anorexia.

Links:

Comprehensive Gender Identity School Policy - USA 

https://genspect.org/comprehensive-gender-identity-school-policy-usa/ 

Transparency in Education Newsletter

https://transparencyineducation.net/

Dr. Goonan’s Advocacy Work w/ Genspect

https://genspect.org/advocacy 

[email protected] 

[email protected]

Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible Cases, Diaz, S., Bailey, J.M. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible Cases. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1031–1043 (2023). 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02576-9 

Please note: this episode was recorded prior to the June 2023 retraction of the above cited paper (referenced in the discussion). We discuss this paper and the context of threats for its potential retraction with one of the paper’s authors, Mike Bailey, directly in Episode 116. And we have him back again to follow up in response to the retraction announcement in a future episode (scheduled to be released mid July 2023).

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