My name is Ryan Rasdall, I am an attorney at Mintz [working] in the healthcare group. I graduated from Northeastern University at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Law school was chaos, and then there was the pandemic. Now I’m trying to catch up on life.

[I’ve been] genuinely inspired by Dru [Levasseur, the Bar’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] and all the other attorneys [who have come before me]. I never saw myself in that role [of an attorney] because it had never been reflected back to me. It was a mix of Dru and others telling me I could do it.

I actually [just] did a training… for health care providers across the country about where the laws stand, what the impact is. [It was] geared toward the providers – yes, these laws are harming trans people, but they’re also criminalizing providers. Leading up to that was really heavy – I had to read up on the bills.

Laws are a reflection of what we value in our society, and it continues to feel like trans people aren’t valued… I [also] walk through the world as a black person, and I don’t feel valued that way either. If you don’t feel valued, it’s hard to bring your full self to work.

I feel very privileged. I live in Massachusetts. I live in a liberal state and work for a supportive law firm, I have a supportive family. But I follow a lot of social justice news, and it’s exhausting. It’s all targeting health care that’s life saving. It’s draining.

In the black queer community, there’s often so much of a struggle with mental health. I feel like I have to be “on” and represent the community wherever I am. It’s heavy in that sense.

We need non-LGBTQ people, cis people, straight people. We need to see the support, whether it’s openly appreciating and loving us, speaking out, [or] challenging not just the bills but any hateful rhetoric. The bills allow for the hateful rhetoric and misinformation to continue.

Members who are not in our community, it’s more powerful when they are the ones who can put up a shield when our shields are worn. 

I think people [need to] understand the attacks on trans people a) aren’t new and b) are intertwined with other movements. Bodily autonomy is for everyone. Roe falling really impacted abortion rights, racial justice issues, these are not separate issues.