Dr. Diane Ehrensaft Delivers 2018 Bill Smith Memorial Lecture

Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, an associate professor of Pediatrics at UCSF and a developmental and clinical psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area, delivered the 2018 Bill Smith Memorial Lecture on January 30, speaking on legal, social, and medical issues related to transgender and gender expansive children.

The Bill Smith Memorial Lecture honors the memory of Bill Smith '98, who died in 2001. While at King Hall, Smith was the president of the Lambda Law Students, won the Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award, and worked on behalf of LGBT and disability rights. Upon graduation, he practiced employment and family law. This year’s memorial lecture included remarks from Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shama Mesiwala ’98, and Dean Kevin R. Johnson, both of whom shared fond memories of Smith.

“I knew Bill Smith, and like so many others, I remember him as a very special person,” Dean Johnson said. “He was sincere and very kind. He had a wonderful sense of humor and an enthusiasm for life that touched everyone he came into contact with. He was always optimistic about his own prospects and about life in general. He was also always optimistic about the prospects for positive social change.”

Dr. Ehrensaft’s presentation focused on the need for families, educators, and lawyers to support transgender and gender expansive children. Such children tend to thrive when their parents and schools are supportive of their gender choices, but often suffer from problems including depression and suicidal ideation when discriminated against or rejected, she said.

California law protects students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity or gender expression and requires health insurance companies to cover transgender care. Unfortunately, it is often necessary for families to seek help from an attorney before school districts and insurers will comply, Ehrensaft said.

“You have to really get after them,” said Ehrensaft. “We’re calling in lawyers consistently, and this is happening every day, all over California.”