The thing is I don't think Alison grasps it, or really the long term implications of this. Trust me this would hurt us more than anything else, and I am not about to stick up for anybody who does SRS for kicks or as a "body mod". It suggests they are using a surgery that we have fought long and hard to get recognized as medically necessary and are FINALLY gaining some leeway on, and devaluing it.
This "body mod" attitude was EXACTLY why the standards of care were even created, these are the exact people WHO SHOULDN'T get this surgery.
Also the BA for breast cancer survivors is a poor example. Breast cancer survivors have not had one of the worst histories of civil rights in this country and were at least taken seriously from the start. We on the other hand are constantly devalued. Its a poor example and ignores a fundamental societal position that we are in. The only way that we are going to gain any insurance coverage is to prove this is medically necessary, people who identify as male (and I am sorry if you were born male, identify as male, and live as male you are NOT transgender) should not have ANY access to SRS. If one opens the doors to body modification, one CLOSES the doors to years of hard fought battles with insurance providers, and slams the door shut that was just beginning to open.
The SoC were set up so we could one day get insurance coverage. SRS should be strictly for those who are transsexual and those born intersex, and it ends there, if SRS was available to anybody else one runs the risk of infringing on our rights.
There are PLENTLY of surgeries which are only performed on those with a diagnosed medical condition. We are not trampling on any rights of people who IDENTIFY AS MALE. Rather we are making sure that we keep our ground for hard fought battles regarding a surgery that is medically necessary for us. The minute it becomes "elective" or a "body mod" for anybody, is the minute we lose access to any possibility of this being covered for insurance.
The truth is those of us who oppose this have a much deeper understanding of the implications. The door is only open to TS and IS individuals for a REASON, and this surgery needs to STAY that way. The minute we open that door, the damage regarding society and medical insurance may be too much to repair. Individual rights and choice only matter when it does not do untold amount of damage to a group on a societal and medical basis that blocks any future advancement. Sorry...by doing this they are stepping on TS and IS peoples toes in a big way. This is not hypocrisy, it is the reality that our individual rights for this surgery and it being respected as a legitimate medical procedure that is seen as medically necessary, trumpets a persons desire for an elective body modification that has NOTHING to do with a medical condition. I could go beyond the medical implications, because the societal ones are even worse.
There is a reason why surgeons keep this as a TS and IS only surgery. Its for good reason. They know the ethical, medical, insurance and societal issues this creates the minute this becomes an ellective surgery that somebody who does not have a medical justification gets it. The long term issues that this present is astonishing. Thats the problem Alison, you do not grasp AT ALL the problems this would create.