Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I know I ask a lot on here, but the more I analyze American thinking, the more I realize why so many countries hate us (aside our evil imperialistic styles. No that's not sarcasm). I once read a comment on a post about European perceptions of Americans and someone commented about some people's blatant inability to discuss anything without being downright idiotic or condescending. Nonetheless, I'm here to ask: Is anyone aware of the most trans friendly countries out there? Moreso in terms of laws to protect transgender people, people open to the idea of one being transgender, etc? I know all countries have their homophobic, transphobic, racist people, but I'd like to see some other opinions. I am only fluent in English with minimal ability to speak Spanish so..that limits me. Thanks.

As far as I'm aware, some of the most accepting countries include; Canada, U.S., Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.K.

I really can't speak to laws or access to care, as I've only lived in the US and worked within these standards.

But I can speak to some interesting and perhaps telling social experiences. When I started coming out, my American friends all had questions - most of which we consider invasive and rude (Are you going to get a penis? Are you still going to date women? How can you be a man until you get all the surgeries?).

In contrast, my closest friends in Canada just accepted the fact at face value. Sure, I got some "good for you, congrats on being brave" praise, but aside from that it was basically the same as if I had said I'm gay or I'm a Christian. It kind of blew my mind at the time.

Here in Australia, trans* folk are legally protected - and it's exceptionally easy (in comparison to the US) to change your paperwork and your name without having to go through any kind of court process.  There are definitely transphobic people here - but there doesn't seem to be same kind of ignorant mob mentality about it that you find elsewhere.

I've never had issues with being American and trans. But, being from Alaska is very different from the lower 48. It's more like.... Alaska. We're pretty culturally similar to Canada but do our thing. I've never been asked rude questions. The Japanese are worse about it in my experience.

Canada is a decent place from what I hear. So is Australia and the UK. I know that there is one Scandinavian country that's pretty good but the name escapes me ATM. (I just woke up)

Well I'd say Europe, North America and Australia. Nowhere in South America unfortunately.

Canada is good. transgender people are protected by law and the government (depending on the province) even pays for certain surgeries. my top surgery is covered by my province but there are certain places you have to go through to get it funded by the government. other places are what other people have said like UK, Australia, etc.

Sweden is widely considered the best place in the world to be trans, living in Canada (Toronto) I can say that both Toronto and Ottawa are very accepting, I've heard good things about Vancouver and Montreal but the more rural areas might not be as accepting though in general Canadians are pretty good :)

Australia has pretty good protection, services and treatment systems. Helps if you live in a major metro area though. Don't think I'd want to be trans in a rural area.

Rudeness may be more of a general thing. As I believe people in the US feel that they are entitled to a certain degree of rudeness.

--Jay

It really depends on where you live in Finland. In general, the more north you go, the more narrow-minded and conservative the people gets. But that's still pretty huge generalisation, big cities are usually the best bets.
At least we have pretty damn good medical aspects for trans people, considering it's kinda-sorta mostly free of charge (gotta pay only the possible travel expenses and for surgeries the days spend in the hospital but nothing for the actual operation, and of course the hormones come from your own pocket but you can still get the price down thanks to SII).

But there's this lovely thing in the law here that states that in order to get your social security number changed (which will cause your gender marker change), you gotta be sterile. This is considered to be done with a one year of HRT but it still tramples on human rights and apparently Amnesty has been all over that lately, including several Finns.

Well, I thought I would comment in here about how things work here in Iceland.

If I remember correctly Iceland placed in 8th place this year with equal human rights and we do have a law that nothing can discriminate against anyone due to their gender identity. We can get a name change and such about 18 months after after meeting the Gender team here in Iceland and unlike a few country's in Europe we don't need to be sterile.

We pay for the hormones pretty much out of our own pocket, though other expenses are mostly covered when it comes to actual operations and what we do pay is minimum and we don't have to pay for it right away.

The down side really is the fact we have a team of doctors, therapist and such have too much power to say no to someone who is wanting to transition. We tend to call them gate keepers.

But, I think over all, there are not a lot of trans phobic crimes done here, and Iceland is actually pretty LGBTIQ friendly and has been getting more and more so in the passed few years and hopefully it will continue in that direction. :)

The Netherlands is pretty good. You are protected by law, and when diagnosed the health care system pays for hormones and surgeries. I will also get my speach therapist covered.

I heard that there are some issues in the northern countries of Europe. Or at least Norway. I had a friend living there who was FtM and married to a man. He wanted to transition, but would be denied because that would mean he's gay. According to Norway, you will not get help if you end up being gay. So yeah, their system is very outdated. I'm not sure if Finland and Sweden also have that issue.

Germany is not bad, overall, but there are some legal issues that need fixing imho.

In terms of healthcare and insurance, this is a good place to be transgender. Insurance requires that you work with a therapist before you can get HRT and SRS, but if you do, insurance will cover the cost. Insurance also covers the therapy.

Legally though, we still have to jump through many hoops. To have your name changed, you need to acquire two "expert assessments". You pay for them out of your own pocket. To get your gender markers changed, another two assessments. Because obviously only another person can confirm that you're REALLY trans, based on a two to three hour conversation :facepalm:.

Then there is the so-called "transsexual law". It is very outdated. It still includes paragraphs saying that to change your gender markers you have to have had SRS, have to be sterile, and have to get a divorce in case you're married to even change your name.

Now, these paragraphs are no longer in use after a number of rulings from our highest court, but the legislation has not been amended to this point.

The UK is good, there's legal protection, it's free to change your name (other than paying to update your passport), and after two years of changing your name and collecting proof that you're living as male/female then you can change your birth certificate and national insurance details.  It's not that big a deal though as you very rarely need a birth certificate if you've already got a passport, and they will lock your national insurance details down so that only a small handful of people in one department of that company can access the information, so you can't be outed to your employer that way.  And the big bonus is obviously that you can transition almost for free on the NHS.  It mostly just costs time, and a lot of it.  If you can't travel to the one or two GICs which have a 4-6 month wait until you get seen for the first time you could end up waiting a year or more just to have them send you a letter acknowledging your existence.  Then there's the waiting to jump through their hoops in order to get hormones and surgery.  It's not all that bad though, sometimes I think it's good to have to take your time a bit, just not too much time!  They could do with being a little more flexible for those who've been living as male for months and years already.

It's almost worth all the hoop-jumping when you've just got to pay for travel to your appointments, which varies depending on where you live (for me it comes to about £30 a time for 2 1/2 hours on the train), travel to your surgeons, and for prescriptions (£8.05 each).  If you're low income enough then you can apply to get all of those fees reimbursed to you.  We do pay for it all indirectly though with our taxes, but you'd have to pay those taxes anyway, so why not make the most of it?

On the other end of the scale, if you've got the money you can be on hormones within a month or so if you go private.  Probably not much more for top surgery either, but there's few people who have that sort of cash.

The downside is that things like binders always cost more here because they've got to be shipped overseas, and if you try and buy too many to save on shipping customs are likely to whack an import fee on it.  Same with expensive packers, and part of the reason I've never tried any reelmagik prosthetic even though I think they're amazing, I have no idea how much customs would sting me with as it's all done by percentage and they're very pricey anyway!

Quote from: aleon515 on November 19, 2014, 10:26:37 PM
Rudeness may be more of a general thing. As I believe people in the US feel that they are entitled to a certain degree of rudeness.

--Jay

Haters, gonna hate  :-*

I never thought this post would get all these responses. I know the US is definitely working toward better equality laws, but I'm curious as to the mentality of people in other countries and want to live there. I wish I was bilingual to have more options. Thanks so much!

Theres a lot of real accepting people in Australia. There's clinics dedicated to transgender and there's lots of help available. and the laws for changing your gender marker are really quite relaxed. So far nearly all the people I have confided into have been very open (despite still saying the ever so classic"maybe youre just a tomboy") and theyre quite friendly. of course there are still nasty people with closed minds. but luckily we do have plenty of laws protecting trans

Sweden is one of the worst.

I don't think Australia is so great because if I want to change my birth certificate I have to have srs, but I can get a passport without srs.

Sweden was one of the first country's to legalize the mtf ftm transition but only in 2013 the requirement to be sterilized before one can legally correct one's gender was lifted, and it is no longer part of the law.

I don't think this change applys to having a birth certificate gender change tho, I think it's the same here in Australia where srs is required to do so

I havent done too much research, but from what i found srs and infertility is not too necessarily required to change your gender marker on some things. but im doing some more research. But it could be depending on certain things, But i could be wrong.

Edit. You can change your marker without srs on your passport in Australia. But you need a letter saying you are recieving treatment for it from a registered doctor.
(here's a link to the government site) https://www.passports.gov.au/web/sexgenderapplicants.aspx

In The A.C.T There was a new thing that passed March 2014 this year for those hoping to change their gender on birth certificates without srs, again you need a letter or record you're getting medical treatment for it, and you need to have been born in the A.C.T
http://www.ors.act.gov.au/community/births_deaths_and_marriages/changes_of_sex

Quote from: BlueGemFox on November 21, 2014, 11:33:36 AM
I havent done too much research, but from what i found srs and infertility is not too necessarily required to change your gender marker on some things. but im doing some more research. But it could be depending on certain things, But i could be wrong.

Edit. You can change your marker without srs on your passport in Australia. But you need a letter saying you are recieving treatment for it from a registered doctor.
(here's a link to the government site) https://www.passports.gov.au/web/sexgenderapplicants.aspx

In The A.C.T There was a new thing that passed March 2014 this year for those hoping to change their gender on birth certificates without srs, again you need a letter or record you're getting medical treatment for it, and you need to have been born in the A.C.T
http://www.ors.act.gov.au/community/births_deaths_and_marriages/changes_of_sex

I know it's crazy isn't it, it just doesn't make sense.
damn stupid phobic politicians shouldn't be there with such a social disorder (well that's what I call such phobias) 
It really rubs me the wrong way, but things should change sooner or later.

Oops now I'm on a rant  ::)

yeah, though, I dunno how laws are dreamed up. However seeing as that law in the ACT was passed only just several months ago, Im sure it will be paving way for newer laws in favour for trans* in Australia

Hahah I dont blame you for ranting about it

Im in Uk n its wicked accepting :D

Give Free Love
Be Peaceful
Stay Outta Other's Business
;)

Does the UK have more relaxed laws?

Asside from the law side, Ive found Australia seems quite open about it all on a social level, we got our madigras and all that. I just recently found out for cairns folk, thereis this awesome LGBTI (I keep forgetting that acronym) party thats held every few months during the year by a volunteer group. Im thinking of checking it out

Most northern European countries are trans friendly: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, and such. In South of Europe, I heard that Spain is also a good country to be trans in  regards to medical care. In Eastern Europe, I think things will be more difficult the closer you get to Russia.

Some of them have laws protecting transpeople, and funding surgeries and healthcare for transpeople. In Belgium and Netherlands it is possible to change your gender without a court and without SRS. It is also free to change your name and gender. The trans* healthcare is basically free: SRS is free, hormones are free. But you pay a part of your salary each month to insurance. Not much though, about 50 to 100 euro's a month to be insured for all healthcare.

Of course, haters are everywhere, but the general consensus in Northern Europe seems to be: "Well, if it makes you happy, go for it."  ;D

Quote from: PinkCloud on November 22, 2014, 07:04:03 AM
Most northern European countries are trans friendly: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, and

sorry but this is simple not true.
while many south european countrys got there problems alot of north european countrys also got bad conditions. in Denmark for exemple its almost imposible getting permission for homone threatment if you havent already got this permission. You are to optain a certain permission (which can takes years to get) by going into  therapy. if they dont think you are "trans enough" for whatever reason then there are no way you can complain, or seach for second opinion, and you a basically banned from getting threatment anywhere in the country.

I dont get where you got your informations from, but the north are not nessesarry great, again it really depends on where you.
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Seconding NatKat.

Talking about Europe in general, even when specifically talking about north, south, east or west, is pretty huge generalization. Even if you take neighboring countries, the cultures, laws, customs, etc can be completely different.

Quote from: JourneyFromConfusion on November 19, 2014, 03:18:15 PM
I know I ask a lot on here, but the more I analyze American thinking, the more I realize why so many countries hate us (aside our evil imperialistic styles. No that's not sarcasm). I once read a comment on a post about European perceptions of Americans and someone commented about some people's blatant inability to discuss anything without being downright idiotic or condescending. Nonetheless, I'm here to ask: Is anyone aware of the most trans friendly countries out there? Moreso in terms of laws to protect transgender people, people open to the idea of one being transgender, etc? I know all countries have their homophobic, transphobic, racist people, but I'd like to see some other opinions. I am only fluent in English with minimal ability to speak Spanish so..that limits me. Thanks.

i'm not sure why you are starting up the topic saying european hates amaricans, is it a question or a statement? it just seams abit odd way of starting out, but I will answer anyway.
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I dont think theres any clear answer what country is the best. you can downloade things from like TGEU who covers europa, and look up other continents as well. however these are only plain numbers, They give you an idea but not a full picture of the country and in some ways they could even misguide you.

exemple if a country say "its legal getting threatment" but if theres no decribtion or details about it it could mean that you are forced into sterilization for doing it.
--
from my own experience and people I talk with I prefern "san-francisco" (I could also writte USA, but I think thats abit wide) Germany(berlin specific), Agentina, But these are only from what I heard of friends being there, I havent visited these area myself.

I find it difficult to say exactly what is a good place or not cause it depends on many thing such as culture and which part of the country you are as well as your position. so you cant compare it 100% and it also depends on other fact beside being trans.

So my answer might be abit wierd, but in short terms I think you should try find a few countrys who looks interesting, read something about there culture (traveling guides are a fine way to get a easy outlook) and then get in future contact with someone of the locals transpeople living there they are really the once who can give you the best informations on what its like to be trans in the country/area you are looking for. ask them of the conditions in general and for people in your situation. so if you are "pre-T ask them about how its like being pre-T there, if you are non-binary ask them about that. etc.

if this is not for a vacation but you want to live there remember to include other facts which seams important to you, exemple how easy it is to get a job/study in the country, how important it is to learn the languarge, and such things.

Quote from: Natkat on November 22, 2014, 10:42:23 AM
You are to optain a certain permission (which can takes years to get) by going into  therapy.

Doesn't that seem to be in accordance with the Standards of Care? I had to wait 2 years before I got hormones. It is not like they give it to you when you simply ask, therapy and RLE is a requirement if they follow the Standards of Care, (at least the last time I looked) ;) but with these requirements comes a diagnosis, and with a diagnosis all healthcare concerned must be paid by medical/national insurance.

What about Denmark?
http://www.scottishtrans.org/denmark-leads-europe-on-gender-recognition/

Seems Denmark is pretty progressive, just like most European a countries.

There can be problems with the therapy phase of the process. In Finland, there's been quite many FTMs who have received suspension from the therapy lately, ranging anywhere from six months to couple years, sometimes only because they can't get along with the staff doing the therapy stuff. And it's not like we can just find a new doctor or whatever, there are only two units in the whole country who are allowed to deal with gender identity things.

Quote from: PinkCloud on November 22, 2014, 12:50:42 PM
Doesn't that seem to be in accordance with the Standards of Care? I had to wait 2 years before I got hormones. It is not like they give it to you when you simply ask, therapy and RLE is a requirement if they follow the Standards of Care, (at least the last time I looked) ;) but with these requirements comes a diagnosis, and with a diagnosis all healthcare concerned must be paid by medical/national insurance.

What about Denmark?
http://www.scottishtrans.org/denmark-leads-europe-on-gender-recognition/

Seems Denmark is pretty progressive, just like most European a countries.

Did you even read what I wrotte?!

I find it very difficult to take your post seriously when you say people are "simple asking" I actually find it kinda rude to make that implyment like people are being impatient and ungratefull.
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first as mention you have to go into obsevation which is a long time, I feel your 2 years been too long even when I know some wait longer for these permissions.
I dont belive it says you have to wait so long in Standard of care as far anywhere I remember, since theres also exemples of countrys which have less of a obsevation period.

I dont think you understood the part that if people are being rejejcted then theres NO WAY to get any help.
this means alot of people go to the black market or are forced to imigrate from the country if they want any help, it also means alot of people feel forced to lie or do things they dont want to in the procces to impress the doctors and optain the permission.

about your artical
First of all. yes its true denmark made the new law which made it much more easy to change your gender legally. it put them off the old sterilization law which had been so far forcing people to not being able of getting children. its a good thing this law. However what the artical dosen't mention is the goverment around the same period are to make rules which will make the procces on getting treatment much more difficult for transgenders in the future.

Denmark is a good country in many ways, but for being trans is a pretty bad place if you want to have a easy time and theres alot of erasure of these problems specially in the english media.
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Seems I've had an extremely rough run with my treatment and general respect from other people, where I live. I am the last person to say that living here in Australia is easy and one of the better places to live, because it isn't for me at all. Mind you, I have other reasons why it is more difficult and less accommodating, like I was in foster care for example, so when I tried to start T before 18 they said no because I was in care, and now I had a heap of other documents to correct my name and marker on that most don't,  i.e court files and papers, for my guardianship order. The fact that I am on one of those seems to mean its OK to treat me like even more garbage, and being trans only adds more to that garbage. Unfortunately, the court and various other authorities involved with me believe that being trans decreases my decision making capacity and being trans was the main reason I got put on the order in the first place. I had a very hard time getting Centrelink to understand surgery isn't a requirement to correct pension cards etc, with them, anymore, even though I had the letter from my doctor, my previously changed birth certificate (which is how I chose to change my name instead of getting a name change certificate) and a specific letter of support from my gender psych at the time, they just blantantly refused to listen for months. I spent about 3 hours in Medicare doing that with them, apparently it took that long to check that the requirements had been changed on the computer, and my doctor wouldn't tell the receptionist where she works to correct my details on their computer system for months either. I had my pension stopped for a couple months cause Centrelink said I was committing identity fraud.  Once it was all corrected it was OK and well, aside from the fact that my doctor has no clue what she is doing and I have been to 4 other GPs and they simply said no, I would ask for you to do the entire gender dysphoria assessment with a psych again because I have no proof that you're actually trans. I had to do several years of therapy before treatment was even mentioned to me, because I came out really young and my mental health team said they didn't want to until I was 16. I had ongoing mental health issues as a result of being in care and having an abusive upbringing, which lead to more extensive and prolonged therapy before my regular psych referred me to the sexual health clinic, where I had to have 2 physicals and do 4 talking sessions with the psychologist there, before she referred me to an actual gender psych. I did 7 sessions with him, which were absolutely traumatising because of his obsession with biology, before he referred me to the local endo for assessment and wrote my supporting letter for T. I saw the endo 4 times for bloodwork and discussion about how he treats trans folk, but he was honestly more interested in stating he thinks being trans isn't an actual medical condition, that and his ridiculous bill lead me to finding a GP. When I found mine, she didn't want me to start for a while, and when she did start me it was a ridiculously low dose because she was concerned that T would make my mental illnesses worse. She screwed around with me for months before starting me on a negotiated standard treatment, then when that produced a T level she didn't like, she switched me, stating the drop would be easier to handle, and I've had hormonal problems ever since and haven't really gained anything from the T she switched me to. Then there is the whole situation I have with the local police abusing me because all of my ID except my birth certificate, which is my only primary ID, says male or has an M on it, so they also accuse me of identity fraud. I have written a formal complaint to the headquarters, and its been months and I have heard nothing from them. Plus the mental health system has been disregarding my mental illnesses, saying all the issues I have been dealing with are just severe dysphoria, when in fact fact they have absolutely nothing to do with my dysphoria. That and no one understands why T hasn't improved  my dysphoria at all, and being rejected by several surgeons that I spent my childhood saving money for to have surgery. This is the last place I personally want to live, and if I could move I would. Sorry about my rant

I honestly don't know as much about this as I should, and I'm enjoying reading the replies.  There's a lot that goes into how trans-friendly a place is, though.  Laws are one thing, and the only part that is likely to be pretty constant for the whole country.  The skill/knowledge of therapists and medical providers are another aspect, and the social environment is probably the most important for day-to-day life.  For bigger countries, those last two are going to vary *hugely* depending on where you are.  Some places in the US, there are no good medical or psych providers, and you can get killed just for being out.  Other places, the system is good and the culture accepting.  I understand Australia and Canada are the same way.  (For ThatAussieDude-- isn't Queensland one of the less awesome places to be in Australia? Like I said, I'm not 100% up on all of this).  But I'm lucky-- New York State is one of the better places in the US to be trans. 

I don't know anyone here in Queensland that doesn't have problems, so yeah it is one of the less great

Im in queensland and so far ive had very friendly doctors and my boss is fantastic about it. im really sorry to hear about all that though

Eh. Such is my luck and I just have to deal with it. What part of Queensland, may I ask?

I live up north, Not too far from Cairns actually, im currently looking for support groups in the area and others with similar experiences but theres not too much on the net

My guess is you have heard about the gender clinic in Cairns and Dr. Darren Russell? I live down on the Gold Coast, by the way, if you want feel free to PM me for advice

No I haven't yet actually, but i found the sexual health clinic. I have been chatting with my doctor and shes going to help me get into contact with support groups , and thanks for the offer!

No problems

This post made me curious, and I found this handy map of where you can/can't legally change your gender identity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Brazil#mediaviewer/File:World_concerning_gender_identity-expression_laws.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Brazil#mediaviewer/File:World_concerning_gender_identity-expression_laws.png)

I'm sure there are a lot of hoops and issues in a lot of countries/states even where it is legal, but at least the places where it's outright illegal are few in number.

Also, does anyone have experience with India?  I'm curious about them with their history of the hijra and the recent Supreme Court ruling of establishing a third gender.

Quote from: PinkCloud on November 22, 2014, 12:50:42 PM
Doesn't that seem to be in accordance with the Standards of Care? I had to wait 2 years before I got hormones. It is not like they give it to you when you simply ask, therapy and RLE is a requirement if they follow the Standards of Care, (at least the last time I looked) ;) but with these requirements comes a diagnosis, and with a diagnosis all healthcare concerned must be paid by medical/national insurance.

The newest Standards of Care suggest "informed consent" for hormones.  If age 18 or older and you have the ability to understand and comprehend the effects of hormones (and therefore can "give consent"), then yes, the doctor should just "give it to you when you simply ask".

Top surgery requires a letter saying you have gender dysphoria and surgery could be helpful.

Bottom for MTFs and FTMs requires one year real life experience and two letters.

Quote from: PinkCloud on November 22, 2014, 07:04:03 AM
In Eastern Europe, I think things will be more difficult the closer you get to Russia.

But if you get In Russia – everything is all right here, you'll see  ;) . We have no clear law on the TS, but this is not a problem to change gender. In the time of my transition it was the best:  we had a lot of different ways, in what order to take hormones-psychiatrist-surgery- doc. change. And I feel protected here, because people don't know anything about TS, so no one realizes I have a strange background.
Who get knew about me (e.g., employer) - watched me respectfully as a representative of another civilization and did not do harm to me. One more cultural feature: if you can work good, the employer doesn't care about your biography - they only ask your new name.  This has happened more than once with our guys and girls.

And it is unclear what will happen after the acceptance of the new ICD.
And as for the East Europe – there is very good surgery in Serbia.