[/b]

You will not have equal access to proper medical and psychiatric care in the United States if you are transsexual and poor. This is a direct result of the hypocrisy in how medical care is rationed in the USA. The two tear system of medical and psychiatric care; one the rich and the other for the poor, which is especially true in regards to psychiatric care available in the United States will deprive you, and force you to live the rest of your life in the gender of your birth.

Further, one can easily assume, in most cases, that if you seek publicly funded psychiatric care, in the United States, as a transsexual, you will be misdiagnosed with some other mental illness. I kid you not; all one needs to do to confirm what I say is truth, is to simply think about the atrocities that American Publicly funded psychiatric hospitals are infamous for. 

The blatant tranphobic public financing of medical care in regards to treatment of gender dysphoria is painfully obvious. The glaring and blatant inconsistency in how American society and government define gender dysphoria as a medical illness, but refuses to publicly fund access to adequate medical and psychiatric care in its Medicare- Medicaid programs and even through private medical insurance is just beyond belief.

Plastic reconstructive surgery is only available to the moderately wealthy and very rich in the United States, and to a lesser extent, to those with traumatic medical injuries, but by no means is available to the poor that are transsexual, even though gender dysphoria is recognized as a legitimate medical issue. How can they get away with this!!!!!!


Godiva

This is the case in many countries of the world, particularly third world nations where access to health care is non-existent.

I agree it is very sad. Those who need surgery to feel comfortable in their own bodies, but have little money will either never get it, or spend a lifetime saving up, while others with 'legitimate' medical conditions get treatment. The US does not care for her own citizens.

Posted on: July 05, 2007, 07:37:38 PM

---

Quote from: Fer on July 05, 2007, 07:34:17 PM
This is the case in many countries of the world, particularly third world nations where access to health care is non-existent.

That's just it. In a country such as the US, you'd think the medical care would be phenomenal, but instead only the well-off can afford access to treatment. It makes me sick.

At least we have the NHS here

Quote from: Godiva on July 05, 2007, 07:30:34 PM

If you are transsexual and poor in the United States you are doomed!!!!

[/b]

You will not have equal access to proper medical and psychiatric care in the United States if you are transsexual and poor. This is a direct result of the hypocrisy in how medical care is rationed in the USA. The two tear system of medical and psychiatric care; one the rich and the other for the poor, which is especially true in regards to psychiatric care available in the United States will deprive you, and force you to live the rest of your life in the gender of your birth.

Further, one can easily assume, in most cases, that if you seek publicly funded psychiatric care, in the United States, as a transsexual, you will be misdiagnosed with some other mental illness. I kid you not; all one needs to do to confirm what I say is truth, is to simply think about the atrocities that American Publicly funded psychiatric hospitals are infamous for. 

The blatant tranphobic public financing of medical care in regards to treatment of gender dysphoria is painfully obvious. The glaring and blatant inconsistency in how American society and government define gender dysphoria as a medical illness, but refuses to publicly fund access to adequate medical and psychiatric care in its Medicare- Medicaid programs and even through private medical insurance is just beyond belief.

Plastic reconstructive surgery is only available to the moderately wealthy and very rich in the United States, and to a lesser extent, to those with traumatic medical injuries, but by no means is available to the poor that are transsexual, even though gender dysphoria is recognized as a legitimate medical issue. How can they get away with this!!!!!!


Godiva

I should...just leave this alone.

I am too tired.

Quote from: Godiva on July 05, 2007, 07:30:34 PM
Plastic reconstructive surgery is only available to the moderately wealthy and very rich in the United States, and to a lesser extent, to those with traumatic medical injuries, but by no means is available to the poor that are transsexual, even though gender dysphoria is recognized as a legitimate medical issue. How can they get away with this!!!!!!

If they "just" get away with it in the UK where we have a state funded health system, free at the point of use, which 95% of the population use ... then sorry but the US position is hardly a surprise !

Moral I guess is, if you're TS get an education, get medium wealthy so that you can self finance gender treatment in your mid / late 20's early 30's.

After all we're only looking at the cost of a really really basic new car for GRS, something that 50% of the UK population will repeat buy during their lives ... or a decent middle bracket car, (BMW, small Mercedes) for full FFS.

In the meantime persue state funded treatment .... after all you don't need surgery to be a woman, the important thing is to "live as a woman" .... if you know who you are you shouldn't even need any form of therapy to get on with your life !

Laura x

:: sigh ::

I understand the sentiment, but the attitude has got to go kids. If you are just venting, than
rant away. I am a champion ranter, But when the rant is over the work starts.

I have a quote at the bottom of my posts that I got from some stupid movie, but it makes sense. Cry tomorrow, because we have work to do today.

The reality of life is that for the majority of us, it sucks. It bites. It blows. I have women friends that are a published author (twice), independently wealthy (makes living investing in the stock market), and a triage nurse, who will retire at fifty with a mil in the bank, and her half million dollar home is paid off.

But they are the exceptions! The majority of us are working class and lucky to pay our rent on time. The majority of people in this community are white, middle to upper class, and elitest.
So don't compare your self to this group, because it gives you a skewed view of the world.

Instead, learn to accept the fact that you will spend all of your time and most of your energy to get the same place they do with 10% of your effort. But they will never know what it means to be an average person either, living on the edge. That is where wisdom comes from.
Some of them worked their way up, but not like you will. Especially if you are young, and dealing with the steep increase in SRS prices because demand is skyrocketing.

Surgeons are not your friend. They are greedy bastards like most other medical professionals that like to give the illusion of caring about you. But what they like is your $$$, not you.

Here is what my challenge is to you. Take that anger and angst you feel about being neglected in your needs -- take that resentment you might feel toward those better off than you -- and focus, focus, focus on what you really want. If you are negative, you will attract negative energy to you like bee's to blossoms. Take all of that energy and direct it toward showing people what you are made of, and who you are. It doesn't matter if you really don't care what anyone else thinks. Use that as motivation to get where you need to be in life.

Life is like this. You are predator, or you are prey. Some people might feel that is not the case, but they are wrong. I am older than dirt, and I know better. Don't prey on those below you, find a way to tap into those above you. That might not make sense to you now, but if you focus on that agenda, I guarantee that it will in short order.

In short, have your cry, and then get really pissed about it. Than pick your self up, and go thru, over, or around whatever obstacle you need to overcome to get to point "B."

I feel badly for you, but nobody can help you if you don't at least try to help yourself.

Capeesh?

Rant over.

I can see your points Laura and Thundra, but while you and I are fortunate enough to afford our surgeries, many are not. The US is behind. Programs such as the NHS in the UK and whatever the system is called in Canada may have their faults, but having to wait a few years for treatment is far better than getting no treatment at all because you don't have the money.
HRT and SRS should not be elective, should not be a privilege like cosmetic surgery is, it should be a necessity. In many cases it has been life-saving. It's time the US got on the ball with this.

well, yea duh! why do you think most poor ts girls engage in prostitution?  it's their only way out. tsk tsk tsk

Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 11:06:53 PM
well, yea duh! why do you think most poor ts girls engage in prostitution?  it's their only way out. tsk tsk tsk

I knew one once. She was also physically disabled (transsexual female). She did it to feed her two year old baby boy. What a beautiful baby. He had such a big beautiful smile and laugh. She once gave me a big girl hug before I surgically transitioned that I have never forgotten. But I think I will never forget that beaufiul child growing up in desparation and poverty in America. I guess he and she can just decide to stop being poor and get out there and earn enough money to feed the baby and pay for the sex change!
Godiva

Quote from: Godiva on July 06, 2007, 02:02:08 AM

Quote from: Katia on July 05, 2007, 11:06:53 PM
well, yea duh! why do you think most poor ts girls engage in prostitution?  it's their only way out. tsk tsk tsk

I knew one once. She was also physically disabled (transsexual female). She did it to feed her two year old baby boy. What a beautiful baby. He had such a big beautiful smile and laugh. She once gave me a big girl hug before I surgically transitioned that I have never forgotten. But I think I will never forget that beaufiul child growing up in desparation and poverty in America. I guess he and she can just decide to stop being poor and get out there and earn enough money to feed the baby and pay for the sex change!
Godiva

What a sad story   I hope the baby is okay.

Quote from: Laura Eva B on July 05, 2007, 08:03:47 PM

If they "just" get away with it in the UK where we have a state funded health system, free at the point of use, which 95% of the population use ... then sorry but the US position is hardly a surprise !

Moral I guess is, if you're TS get an education, get medium wealthy so that you can self finance gender treatment in your mid / late 20's early 30's.

After all we're only looking at the cost of a really really basic new car for GRS, something that 50% of the UK population will repeat buy during their lives ... or a decent middle bracket car, (BMW, small Mercedes) for full FFS.

In the meantime persue state funded treatment .... after all you don't need surgery to be a woman, the important thing is to "live as a woman" .... if you know who you are you shouldn't even need any form of therapy to get on with your life !

Laura x

THE U.K  NHS system does not usually support or pay for the treatment of Gender Dysphoria. I was diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria in early 2000, I was sent by my PCT to a NHS GIC clinic in London in 2001. I attended the clinic for over 6 years and in that time no treatment was ever facilitated. I had to go private in 2003 to start on hormones and any other treatment I have had since then I have had to pay for it. In the meantime my PCT were still paying the NHS GIC to do nothing..

in that time hundreds of other TS's transitioned in the uk perfectly fine, were you FT? did you demand HRT? what was their reason for denying it?

I and many others successfully get treatment through the NHS perfectly fine, these days it's just a few problem PCT's and one rather ->-bleeped-<-e GIC (Sheffield)

I agree that the state of American health care sucks and has huge problems, and I think you could just as easily say "You will not have equal access to proper medical and psychiatric care in the United States if you are poor," period.  I don't know that transsexuals are the only category of people to whom that applies; in fact, I'm sure it's not.  (Anybody seen Sicko?)   

But, that said, as one who arguably falls into the category of TS and poor (poor being a hugely relative concept--I have very limited income, but I long ago stopped feeling poor, and many people are much worse off than me, I'm well aware of  that), I refuse to feel "doomed." 

That's an attitude that will kill you, for sure, and immobilize you into hopelessness and despair. 

I am determined to find a way to start HRT within the next few months, even if I have to pay for every penny myself (and I may very well have to), and yes, surgery may be a way down the road because of financial limitations, but on the other hand the cost of surgery is less than the cost of lots of luxuries that many people take for granted); there are people who spend more on vacations, and cars, and freakin' huge televisions, than it would cost for me to have top surgery, and I just refuse to see it as something that is permanently unattainable to me.

The need for me to get this stuff going is motivating me hugely to save money on the one hand (tiny bits at a time, but it adds up!), and to find ways (like looking for a better, full-time job and getting off of disability) to increase my income on the other.  I sort of feel that time wasted sitting around feeling sorry for myself because I'm not rich and don't have fabulous health insurance is simply time I don't have.

I've also heard (from people who've done it) that in some large cities (San Francisco, for example) there are clinics where you can get at least hormone treatment very cheaply, or free, if you don't have money.

I think you have to be determined, and creative, and resourceful, and very highly motivated, but my point is that if you take that attitude of "Damn, this won't be easy, nobody's going to hand it to me on a plate, so I'm doomed!" you just might be.  Pffffffft to that. 

No, not everyone can simply just "choose to stop being poor" but realistically, for many of us in America it is possible to begin making (even small) choices in our lives that will eventually make things better and more things possible.  You can choose to channel your energy into the positive goal of overcoming whatever your particular adversity is, even if it's a long slow process. 

Or, you can choose to be doomed.  Whatever that means.  I'm not doomed until I take my last breath, and maybe not even then.  I'll just be back to take another shot at things later.    

Quote from: Laura Eva B on July 05, 2007, 08:03:47 PM
Moral I guess is, if you're TS get an education, get medium wealthy so that you can self finance gender treatment in your mid / late 20's early 30's.

Ya, and if I'd married a rich husband all my problems would be solved.

Well, in regards to the 'go out and get an education'
I just got accepted into an MBA program.

Jessica

Quote from: Rob on July 06, 2007, 08:37:44 AM
I agree that the state of American health care sucks and has huge problems, and I think you could just as easily say "You will not have equal access to proper medical and psychiatric care in the United States if you are poor," period.  I don't know that transsexuals are the only category of people to whom that applies; in fact, I'm sure it's not.  (Anybody seen Sicko?)   

No, not everyone can simply just "choose to stop being poor" but realistically, for many of us in America it is possible to begin making (even small) choices in our lives that will eventually make things better and more things possible.  You can choose to channel your energy into the positive goal of overcoming whatever your particular adversity is, even if it's a long slow process. 

Or, you can choose to be doomed. 

"Sicko" is not yet on release yet here in UK but I read a huge interview with Michael Moore that was in itself an expose of the US health system. 

In the country with the most advanced healthcare in the world, the best doctors and hospitals, which spends more on health provision than any other developed nation, its ludricous that even the middle classes struggle, find it hard to pay premiums, feel disenfranchised.  Medicare an Mediaid is a joke.  The money is creamed off by the insurance companies, the pharmacutical industry, the health technology providers, and not least the beauraucrats and medics .... only the rich and those in good jobs with occupational health cover benefit !

And even most insurers are reluctant to include GID as a "covered" condition ... if its in their smallprint then its in the contract and its their right to do so.

But if you feel doomed and give up because it seems a goal too distant, you might as well jump under that train right now !

Most of the world still sees USA as a land of opportunity, from impoverished Mexicans to European professionals.  With motivation and time the opportunity to get what one wants is surely attainable, and what bigger motivation than the "need to transition" ... and transitioning costs are "modest"

OK you may challenge my "Lauranomics", but HRT is cheap ($3-4 / day), in the UK private psychiatric care leading to referral costs about $800 / year, laser beard removal typically $1000 -1500, GRS at $10 - 20k is what I paid for a modest used car, only FFS seems seriously pricey.

You either work towards being able to afford this or give up ... no choice really !

Laura x

Quote from: Godiva on July 05, 2007, 07:30:34 PM

If you are transsexual and poor in the United States you are doomed!!!!

[/b]

You will not have equal access to proper medical and psychiatric care in the United States if you are transsexual and poor. This is a direct result of the hypocrisy in how medical care is rationed in the USA. The two tear system of medical and psychiatric care; one the rich and the other for the poor, which is especially true in regards to psychiatric care available in the United States will deprive you, and force you to live the rest of your life in the gender of your birth.

Further, one can easily assume, in most cases, that if you seek publicly funded psychiatric care, in the United States, as a transsexual, you will be misdiagnosed with some other mental illness. I kid you not; all one needs to do to confirm what I say is truth, is to simply think about the atrocities that American Publicly funded psychiatric hospitals are infamous for. 

The blatant tranphobic public financing of medical care in regards to treatment of gender dysphoria is painfully obvious. The glaring and blatant inconsistency in how American society and government define gender dysphoria as a medical illness, but refuses to publicly fund access to adequate medical and psychiatric care in its Medicare- Medicaid programs and even through private medical insurance is just beyond belief.

Plastic reconstructive surgery is only available to the moderately wealthy and very rich in the United States, and to a lesser extent, to those with traumatic medical injuries, but by no means is available to the poor that are transsexual, even though gender dysphoria is recognized as a legitimate medical issue. How can they get away with this!!!!!!


Godiva

As much as you may rant and rave in big cities this is not really the case.  Most GLBT centers provide extremely inexpensive medical care to TS.  In fact queer people have probably the closest thing to socialized medicine in North America through a system of big city clinics such as Howard Brown and Whitman Walker.  These places do both HRT and Psychological Counseling. 

Also in many states, including conservative states like Virginia, Medicaid actually pays for TS services.  I know several TS who are on Medicaid in Virginia.  SRS for them is even covered, something that is not covered for me on regular insurance.   

As much as you may rant and rave I know for a fact that you have better luck getting TS in the US being poor, than under the NHS system in the UK. 

Of course if you are poor and living in a rural area you may have worse luck.  But before you go on a rant about how bad it is, it may be better off to come from a position where you have an actual understanding.

As much as the US healthcare system sucks, especially for TS, realize that it is not as bad as you are making it out to be.  It is best to come from a well informed place than to rant endlessly.  Yes, its bad, but that does not mean transitioning for poor people is impossible.  On the contrary, there are people of all income levels who transition.  Its just easier if you have money.  The fact is most TS in the US are pretty poor, and they do in fact transition.

You're basically screwed if you are poor in USA, trans or not. The divide between the ultra rich and everyone else keeps getting larger.

zythyra

QuoteI can see your points Laura and Thundra, but while you and I are fortunate enough to afford our surgeries, many are not. The US is behind. Programs such as the NHS in the UK and whatever the system is called in Canada may have their faults, but having to wait a few years for treatment is far better than getting no treatment at all because you don't have the money.
HRT and SRS should not be elective, should not be a privilege like cosmetic surgery is, it should be a necessity. In many cases it has been life-saving. It's time the US got on the ball with this.

Whoa!  Hold on a minute here Cochese, before I blow my top. Let's go back a minute.

I totally agree with what YOU are saying. Laura and I have butted heads on this point more than once as I recall.

QuoteMoral I guess is, if you're TS get an education, get medium wealthy so that you can self finance gender treatment in your mid / late 20's early 30's.

After all we're only looking at the cost of a really really basic new car for GRS, something that 50% of the UK population will repeat buy during their lives ... or a decent middle bracket car, (BMW, small Mercedes) for full FFS.

In the meantime persue state funded treatment .... after all you don't need surgery to be a woman, the important thing is to "live as a woman" .... if you know who you are you shouldn't even need any form of therapy to get on with your life !

To me, that POV is total BS, especially the last paragraph. Not everyone is obsessed with gender role, or gender presentation. Many of us here do not even wish to fit into that binary role-playing system. For many people, especially for people I have known in the f2m community, they don't give a flying leap about how they appear to other people, they just want to get their chest, and sometimes bottom fixed. It's strictly access to medical intervention for a physical defect they want repaired. Same is true for many m2f's. Just fix my body is what I have heard over and over in the younger set.

This whole bloody game of linking behaviour modification to obtain medical intervention is ridiculous, outdated, based on an old model, and needs to friggin' go, like yesterday!

So, I agree with the rant that started this thread. You are #%&@*&! And you will continue to be #%&@*&, because society is #%&@*& up!  That is a given.

The only question is, what are you going to do about it? Get depressed and mired in your own angst, or get pissed off and move forward. It's OK to get down once in a while, and it's OK, to cry and feel sorry for yourself, but ultimately, only you can pull you forward over and around obstacles to a better place.

If you go back and read the original line, the post said "in the US."  It did not say, in the UK.
I don't give a rat's ass about how much better/easier/superior things are across the pond. In this thread, we are talking about how #%&@*& up things are here for these kids NOW!  And telling someone to be patient and wait until they are middle-aged and educated sounds nice until you take into account how much demand is going up, and that means so will prices.

If we are going to talk about practicality, than let's focus on what can be done to help these kids get out of their situation and into a better place. Trying to use the social services where applicable is a good idea, but most places in the US are still hostile toward anything viewed as queer. The only thing that I have seen work for these kids, is work, work, work, and then work some more. Sure, they take classes. But the majority of the successful one's I have met that did not have Mommy or Daddy paying for everything worked their asses off to get enough money.

Here is what these people need to hear. If you want to get to point "B," you are going to have to put away all of the spare time, hobbies, toys, and bad habits. You will have to network like a maniac, and probably work 2 or three jobs for at least two to three years, depending on your level of surgical need. It's worse for m2f, because generally, most guys only have top surgery. DONE!

Life ain't fair or easy. But, it is never hopeless unless you give up. Or, you can go the other route and wait to have surgery until you are even older than me -- and I am older than dirt.