Transgender people and nursing: Ethical reflections between care and invisibility

This theoretical-reflective essay addresses ethics in nursing care for transgender people, emphasizing the tension between the care provided and the institutional invisibilities that perpetuate the exclusion of this population in the healthcare system. Based on universal principles of human rights and contemporary philosophical concepts, such as Axel Honneth's ethics of recognition and Judith Butler's performative theory of gender, the text problematizes professional practice in the face of the specific demands and vulnerabilities of transgender people. Structural invisibility, sustained and reinforced by cisnormativity norms and the absence of specific content in professional training, represents an ethical barrier to ensuring humanized and inclusive care. The study highlights that the denial of gender identity, the incorrect use of the chosen name, and the perpetuation of prejudices constitute ethical and human rights violations, aggravating suffering and health inequalities. The proposed reflection also emphasizes the responsibility of nursing professionals to transcend technique and take a critical, ethical, and political stance that recognizes others in their uniqueness and promotes care practices that respect diversity. The essay advocates the adoption of an ethic of recognition as the foundation for transforming care into a space of welcome, justice, and redress for structural inequalities. Finally, the text reaffirms the importance of transforming invisibilities into visibilities, and that nursing should position itself as an active agent in promoting equity and the rights of the transgender population, ensuring care that legitimizes, values, and respects their identities and histories.