Transgender Activism UK

[tesseract49]

Hi . I have started a new activism group for transgender people like myself. I have created a Facebook page for it, which I could link (if I am allowed to do that). People living in the UK have to wait up to two years just to get an appointment at a GIC. During this time, you will not receive any support what so ever. You can't receive gender therapy, medications of any kind even if you have male-pattern baldness which is easily stopped by finasteride, cosmetic procedures. Even counselling seems difficult to obtain and few counsellors are trained in gender dysphoria. We living in an ignorant country in which the only people who can provide any support, whether it be mental, emotional, medical etc are only to be found in specific places called Gender Identity Clinics (GICs). Many transgender people can end up killing themselves, self-harming. Many turn to self-medicating. Some of us, like myself, are unemployed and are unable to work because of our parents finding out and throwing us out when we have no where else to live. I myself, have had to obtain private prescriptions for my medication on an online website which can only provide certain medications and can;t provide therapy or counselling. You can't get proper dosages unless you have blood tests and you have to fund these yourself. I pleaded with GPs to give me just one blood test on the NHS and they refused multiple times. In order to get them done I must pay a fortune for them and travel far away from home to get to a clinic that will do them, which due to my disability makes it almost impossible. I want other transwomen awaiting treatment in the UK to join me in my activism organisation to press the government for political change on the way the NHS handles it's patients. If necessary, there should be a system where you could at least pay a small amount of money to cover the costs. In the UK, you can either pay full price (an absolute fortune), or get it for free and wait years with no support at all. There is no in between where you can receive subsidised private care in which you would have to pay a percentage of the costs. Thank you for listening and I hope to receive some positive responses by people who realise that the system is flawed.

[Elis]

I live in the UK as well and am also frustrated and angry with the system. I'm going private so I don't have to wait a year for Charing Cross. I know in my life time it'll be much easier for trans people to get HRT than it is now, but the NHS is screwed up generally so there's not much that can be done. Btw, I've included a link to the current gic waiting times to not dishearten any trans people from the UK reading this. I hope it goes well for you

https://db.tt/7r64QQzL

[tesseract49]

Thanks. I am glad that you understand. Bear in mind though that most people can't afford private treatment, especially when they are unemployed in a risky situation with a non-understanding family.

[HughE]

I agree, the system here is absolutely diabolical. Although I'm not looking to go on full female HRT myself, I suffer from hypogonadism (chronic below normal male testosterone production). I've had no joy whatsoever getting treatment for it on the NHS though, and I'm currently self medicating. This is despite the fact that, if left untreated, hypogonadism leads to all sorts of health problems as you get older (including osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes and heart disease), as well as completely destroying your quality of life. This seems to be a really common thing among other people I've chatted to who have hypogonadism and are living in the UK. The NHS appear to have an unofficial policy of refusing to diagnose or treat it (I guess, since it mainly affects older people, they've decided to save money by letting them die instead).

[tesseract49]

Hi . I couldn't agree more. It seems that whenever you hace a condition where you need hormones to funxtion properly, the NHS isn't interested in helping, even though it ruins our lives. They seriously need reform. Peiple tell me that the NHS is almost dead at the moment anyway but sometging coypd at least be done about it. Xxx