The Gender Doula is Eli Lawliet, Ph.D. (he/him)
My work and life is supported by the land of the Gabrieliño-Tongva, Chumash, and Kizh people, who came from this land, who have stewarded this land for 4500 years, and who have never ceded this land to colonizers. As a settler in this place, I personally benefit from ongoing and violent land theft, and acknowledge my complicity in this violence. I write this land acknowledgment as a small part of my commitment to rematriation of this land to the Gabrieliño-Tongva, Chumash, and Kizh people and to honor their resilience, their deep relationship to this land, and their elders, past, present, and emerging. Learn more about the Gabrieliño-Tongva people and donate money to their tribe.
I was in my early twenties before I learned (from a library book) that trans was something one could be. My passion for the trans community was born in that moment, but several years of self-exploration and struggle passed before I chose to start hormones and pursued surgery. Since that pivotal moment in the library, I have worn many hats, including professional cook, writer/editor, manager, tutor, teacher, student, researcher, and public speaker. My drive to serve my community is a throughline that connects these experiences.
With a B.A. in Gender Studies at UCLA and a PhD from UC Berkeley, I have about ten years of experience researching transgender people and healthcare through the lenses of public health, policy, law, sociology, and history. Originally, I wanted to use research to change the many policies that constrain and harm trans people in America. However, I realized that I could serve my community better through direct support.
The Gender Doula was born when I heard Erica Livingston, a full spectrum birth doula, on a podcast. Erica said that there should be a doula for every threshold of life, and it felt like I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. At first I didn’t believe that this was a viable path for me, but a year later, I was part of the mentorship program created by Birdsong, the bi-coastal doula collective owned by Erica and her partner Laura Interlandi.
Gender doula work is just one name for the work of supporting gender expansive folks where they are at. While this work itself is not new, there is no specific career path or certification for a gender doula. I have drawn on my unique combination of formal education, informal education, research, and life experience to support those who come to me, and hope to eventually mentor and train others in this beautiful and fulfilling work.
Anti-Racism Statement
Perhaps first and foremost in this moment, Free Palestine. I will not work with any entity that supports Zionism and the ongoing genocide and land theft of the Palestinian people.
As a white person living in the United States, I have inherited tremendous unearned privilege, and have been indoctrinated into a system where I benefit both directly and indirectly from an established, violent racial hierarchy. While I fully renounce white supremacy and all of its elements, I also know that by living in this nation—built on the twin genocides of its Indigenous inhabitants and people stolen from their homes in Africa and enslaved—I have absorbed the values and the violence of this system. Therefore, I take seriously my responsibility to unlearn the tenets of that system, and to rebuild my understanding of the world in conversation with the multiplicity of historically marginalized viewpoints.
I also recognize that I may cause harm as a result of my racial privilege and the power dynamics that it creates. I commit to accountability for any harm that I have caused in the past, or that I cause going forward. I am committed to listening to anyone who I have harmed, to being accountable to them and, if necessary, to community for that harm, and to doing whatever is necessary to make amends and move forward in right relationship after harms are addressed.
In addition, I commit to uplift, support, and give reparations to communities harmed by white supremacy. While I aim to do this through, for example, using my platform to highlight queer and trans Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, I also give monthly to organizations that specifically support the thriving of Black trans people as well as the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy. Over time, as my business grows, I hope to give a stable percentage of my earnings to a variety of organizations that support Black and Indigenous trans people. There are other material steps I take to support marginalized members of my community, and I am happy to discuss this in detail with anyone who would like to know more.
I have benefitted tremendously from the teaching of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, especially the teachings of women and trans people. I give special recognition and thanks to the work of Miss Major, adrienne maree brown, Alice Walker, Octavia Butler, Audre Lord, bell hooks, James Baldwin, Tricia Hersey, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Lama Rod Owens, Da’Shaun Harrison, Shira Hassan, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.
Teachers & Trainings
(Note: Below I list my formal education as well as classes I have taken and teachers I have worked under who inform my work and perspective and whose ideas undergird my own.)
University of California, Los Angeles | B.A. in Gender Studies, Minor in LGBTQ Studies (2017)
University of California, Berkeley | PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy (2022)
SEEN Doula Mentorship with Birdsong - Erica Livingston & Laura Interlandi (2019-20)
HELD Doula Mentorship with Birdsong - Erica Livingston & Laura Interlandi (2020-21)
Moonbeaming (2019), Protection Magic (2022), and Clear Channels (2023) with Sarah Faith Gottesdiener
Tarot for the Wild Soul with Lindsay Mack [and multiple additional tarot trainings] (2018, 2019, 2020)
Embodiment Basics with Prentis Hemphill (2021)
Voice of the Spirit Doll (Basic and Advanced) with Julia Inglis (2021)
By Star and by Sea Tarot Journey with Julia Inglis (2022)
Marketing for Weirdos with Bear Hebert (2022)
Breathwork Facillitation Certification with Breath Liberation Society (Chauna Bryant) (2023 -2025)
The Gender Doula Supports
As one part of an ongoing commitment to justice and to wealth redistribution, The Gender Doula supports groups, companies, and individuals who uplift and contribute to the healing, joy, and well-being of Black and Indigenous trans people.
Currently Supporting:
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (monthly ongoing donation)
Acorn Center for Restoration and Freedom (monthly ongoing donation)
ProjectQ (monthly ongoing donation)
Black Trans Lives Thrive (monthly ongoing donation)
Trans Lifeline (monthly ongoing donation)