Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Weitzman
Hi Casey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up as a lesbian in the 70’s and 80’s wasn’t easy. I suffered from anxiety and depression for many years. Being LGBTQ+ was unacceptable at the time. It may come as a surprise to younger folks, but you could end up in a mental institution for being gay. Back then, there were no out role models to speak of. None of the popular daytime TV shows of the time respected the rights or the lives of my community. “Queer” was still a derogatory term, and I had never heard words like non-binary or gender non-confirming.
Then, at 22 years old, I was thrown out of my house for being gay and had to figure out where to live. I looked for roommates in the personals section of LA Weekly and at a place called Sisterhood Bookstore, a feminist book shop located in Westwood, CA. There, you could find magazines, job boards, books, and people looking for roommates—all with the understanding that this was for lesbians or feminists.
Years later, I went to school to get my Master’s Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy. I was hired by the head of (what was then called) the Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services as the Director of Foster Care. It was 1990, and I was tasked with matching foster children with same-sex couples who were looking to adopt. The work felt extremely gratifying, and I ended up choosing to work with the Transgender community shortly after. I began working with a client named Buck Angel, who did not realize he was transgender until he and I started working together. The amazing emotional transformation I witnessed in Buck as he came into himself has stuck with me for the last 30 years, and I’ve never looked back.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were many obstacles to my work, especially when I was starting out 30 years ago. Finding gender-affirming doctors and providers at the time (and even now) was an incredible struggle. I visited each office myself to chat with doctors and staff to ensure that it would be an inclusive and positive experience for my trans clientele.
Another significant challenge in this line of work is dealing with political fallout. Gender-affirming care bans and blocks are popping up in record numbers all over the country. Trying to help my clients to feel optimistic about their lives and their identity is extremely difficult, and it’s why access to gender-affirming care is so essential right now.
Something that might surprise people is that through working with trans folks, I have found further acceptance and compassion for my own identity and story. Trans individuals and the adversities they face are inspiring. We all need to listen to the trans community more and find out the best ways to support them.
As you know, we’re big fans of Gender Wellness of Los Angeles. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Now, I proudly run my counseling practice out of Sherman Oaks with an amazing team of LGBTQIA+ identified and allied individuals. Gender Wellness of Los Angeles is LA’s premier source for all things gender-affirming mental health. Though we serve the entire LGBTQIA+ community, our focus remains on the transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse population.
Some of the services our team offers include: one-on-one therapy, group counseling, couples’ counseling, and referrals to gender-affirming medical providers. On our website, www.genwell.org, we offer a multitude of free resources such as a directory of affirming LA service providers, book recommendations on gender identity, and so much more.
Me and the team are big on community involvement. This past April, Gender Wellness of Los Angeles collaborated with the LA LGBT Center’s Trans* Lounge (translounge.org) to offer a free community event called “Fast Friends”—an evening of speed ‘friending’ at the top of the LA LGBT Center in West Hollywood for trans and nonbinary adults. It was stunning. My goal for that night was for everyone to leave with one new friend. The event was a huge success, and we were immediately asked when the next one would be.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Everyone on my team works with different age groups within the trans and non-binary community. I myself work with older transgender adults, in addition to families and parents of trans children. The scope of clients we serve varies by each clinician, ranging from older children and teens, all the way up to elderly transgender folks (ages 75+).
In addition to our menu of services, Gender Wellness of Los Angeles regularly attends community events (such as LA Trans Pride), along with talks and conventions relating to care in the trans & gender-diverse community. We are all active members of WPATH (World Professional Association of Transgender Health) and have presented in their bi-yearly conferences outside of the United States.
We believe that gender identity is a spectrum, and that the wellbeing of our transgender community is essential to forward movement in greater society. Our motto, ‘We are Unerasable™’ means that no matter what happens to our LGBTQIA+ community, we will always fight to persist, exist, and thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://genwell.org
- Instagram: @genderwellnessla
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/genderwellnessoflosangeles
- Other: Tik Tok: genderwellnesslosangeles
