Eating Disorder Treatment Often Excludes Transgender People

Bee, a transgender, genderqueer person living in Portland, Oregon, once worked as a therapist serving trans, nonbinary, and intersex clients with eating disorders (EDs).

Now, they’re back in recovery from their own ED.

Bee, 36, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 14 and entered recovery for the first time as a teen. They identified as recovered by their 20s, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they said, they experienced “a full-blown relapse.”

Bee said their trans identity influences their ED, as it does for many people. Yet, they said that frontline ED treatment modalities often exclude, erase, or even harm trans folks in recovery.

Bee, a transgender, genderqueer person living in Portland, Oregon, once worked as a therapist serving trans, nonbinary, and intersex clients with eating disorders (EDs). Now, they’re back in recovery from their own ED. Bee, 36, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 14 and entered recovery for the first time as…

Bee, a transgender, genderqueer person living in Portland, Oregon, once worked as a therapist serving trans, nonbinary, and intersex clients with eating disorders (EDs). Now, they’re back in recovery from their own ED. Bee, 36, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at 14 and entered recovery for the first time as…