Dear UCSF Community,
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects all Americans from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is a resounding affirmation of our belief that there is no place for discrimination of any kind in our society.
June is Pride Month and even as we celebrate this victory for equality and dignity in the workplace, we also strongly denounce the Trump administration’s action on Friday to repeal protections for transgender patients against discrimination when seeking health care. This is directly at odds with UCSF’s core commitment to providing unbiased, equitable, and welcoming patient care for all, including transgender and non-binary people, and all LGBTQ individuals.
In California, where state laws prohibit many forms of LGBTQ discrimination, the impact of the rollback will largely have no impact. In 28 other states, however, the repeal of this protection will leave transgender individuals exposed to discrimination in health care.
At UCSF, we must continue pursuing our decades-long work of championing equity and the rights of all members of the LGBTQ community. Klint Jaramillo, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center is working to support and raise the visibility of the LGBTQ community through advocacy, education, training and, recently, by championing a pronouns campaign to increase awareness about using everyone's correct gender...
Dear Colleagues,
The past weeks have exposed, in undeniable ways, a problem that has been festering in this country – the unjust treatment of people of color.
We are all feeling pain and anger in different ways. Some of you have spent a lifetime taking daily precautions in order to safely navigate society in ways a white person never has to consider.
For others, who don’t ever worry about getting pulled over by police when simply out driving – and how to respond - or ways to shop without aggravating suspicions of a store manager, the recent deaths of black people jogging outside, sleeping in their homes, and now, under a policeman’s knee, are exposing horrendous gaps in how people of color are treated in our country.
Racism and injustice are pervasive problems that require societal solutions that start with each of us. At UCSF Health, we must accelerate our work to reduce health disparities, and the inequities in our own culture that have been brought to light in recent engagement surveys.
There are actions we can take that are in our immediate control. As a start, I ask everyone at UCSF Health to join me in doing three things: listen, learn and lead.
I have been reaching out to colleagues to ask them how they are doing. Please respect that everyone may be processing events differently. Use your best judgement to let colleagues and teams know you are there for conversation and support. Race and ethnicity can be difficult topics to discuss, and it may be uncomfortable, which is precisely the reason it is so important for us to do. We may use the wrong words at times. But if the outreach comes from a place of genuine compassion and concern, we can listen to...