This letter and petition is on behalf of several groups of LGBTQIA+ supporters and allies within the Dane Country area. We are writing to share our concern about UW Madison’s Department of Pediatrics consideration of chair candidate Dr. Stephen Skapek.  As you likely know, Dr. Skapek is currently Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UW Southwestern. In this leadership role, he contributed to the disbanding of the Gender Education and Care Interdisciplinary Support (GENECIS) program. This valuable clinical program provided care for gender diverse youth. Dr. Skapek’s decision was directly in conflict with the UT-Southwestern non-discrimination policy, and led to the dissolution of a program that had been recognized for its multidisciplinary support of gender diverse youth. Dr. Skapek was named in a letter of concern by the national Endocrine Society as this decision went against all available scientific and medical evidence, as well as policies by national and international medical groups that provide consensus around best practices for gender care. 

This pediatrician and leader’s failure to support his patients resulted in blocked access to medical care for transgender youth.  We, as parents, advocates and community members, are concerned about access to care for youth in our community. We are concerned that Dr. Skapek’s track record in this area is evidence that he would not be able to serve as a diversity-centered and equity-focused leader in pediatrics in this community. 

We ask you to consider the communities of youth that your department of pediatrics serves, and the importance and value that our diverse LGBTQIA+ youth bring to Wisconsin and beyond. The leader sets the tone, and so elevating Dr Skapek as a leader sets the tone that support for LGBTQIA+ communities is accepted when convenient, and discarded when under pressure. We ask you, as a leader in our medical community, to do better in supporting our diverse communities and the youth within them. We ask you to identify a leader who will support all youth, including the LGBTQIA+ and diverse youth, who are important and necessary for our communities to grow and thrive.