Heeey everyone. I found this site awhile ago but haven't been active yet :/ thought to start with this looong post about how things are done here in the cold North. Now this is a repost which I wrote to tgboards time ago, but since this forum looks way more active I thought.. why not.. I know that this is mostly US based board too, but I think it may be interesting to hear how things are done far away from the States.. May be.. I don't know? You decide

(Side note, I'm not native english-speaker so try not to bash me if I use wrong terms. they differ a lot in Finnish and English.. + we don't have different he/she! our language is unisex ).

First I'm afraid that I've to start with basics as our healthcare system is fairly different than yours. Finland has both public and private healthcare sectors. Public side is which every Finnish person (or anyone permanently living here) is entitled to and is mostly covered either fully, or at least 60-80% (depending of the operations) by the state. Public sector does every operation that relates to persons health and well-being, but doesn't do plastic surgeries for example, as they are categorized as cosmetic operations only. Public side also has longer queue's (they prioritize, life threatening situations n:o 1 obviously, those in great pain come after, and all the rest have to wait.) and their priority is generally get persons up to their feet again as fast as possible so.. how do I put this.. They do good job, but due to long queue's they tend to be more fast than gentle All the "major" operations are generally done in this side too, and ambulances take people to public hospitals always. So not like you'd carry any insurance cards with you, it's always the same address if something happens. So, we don't have health insurances at all like in the States, but it's all government funded system.

Private sector, on the other hand, is where one pays after leaving the clinic. The state does not cover any costs from using private healthcare, (some companies however have deals with clinics so their employees can use private sector free of charge. "Healthcare benefit"). Private sector does plastic surgery, cosmetic dentist operations, as well as any normal operations with better equipment and more.. "patient friendly" attitude as they need to be nice for patients to get them coming back instead of going for public side next time private side is considered to be expensive here, and all the "major" operations are done in public side anyways so private clinics don't even have equipments for treating cancer or doing major surgeries. They are clinics where you can go if you can walk on your own, get slightly better treatment than in public side and pay the bill when leaving.

So if one breaks an arm, public side is generally way to go as they do good job and with those situations one passes the queue's fairly fast due to higher priority. If sick, I personally like to go to private clinic so I don't have to queue for 4 hours before getting into the doctor, simple visit like this doesn't cost that much (30-40usd maybe) and they'll take better care solving the cause of sickness and prescribing the right meds whereas public side tends to give the same antibiotics and ibuprofein painkillers for everything. Dentist operations I also get done in private sector as I'm afraid of those and public dentists have priority in speed, not in patients psychological well being during the operation private side also has better equipment in this field, laser drills for example.

So.. with this system explained I can finally get into the point. I'm MtF trans something, and in the very beginning of the realizations and the process for getting better and leaving this confusion and depression behind. So the long road we have to walk in this country begins with going to a doctor. Public or private side, there is no difference (except that private side costs for the patient). In before it is highly recommended to print out a part of our law which, roughly translated reads "If a person feels that he/she might have symptoms of GID, he/she must be sent to specialists in either Helsinki University Central Hospital or Tampere University Central Hospital for further evaluation ASAP." These are the two places in the whole Finland where we have trans* people specialized staff (actually a whole hospital wing in both places existing solely for us ^^). In addition, one should print "info sheet for doctors" from our LGBT organization website which contains additional information such as that this is not a form of mental illness and by law they are not even allowed to send me anywhere else than either HUCH or TUCH (HUCH for me, it's closer ).

Printing the documents before-hand is highly recommended as no regular doctor usually knows what to do with our cases, where to send us or when. Without them, the most common case I've heard is that people have been sent to mental clinics to see shrinks who in turn refer them to T/HUSC, which is just another delay in the process. But with the papers, it's fairly simple. They read all the addresses, the law, the fact that the regular doctor is not allowed to do anything else but to send us immediately to specialists. Fast and easy, my doctor thanked me for bringing the info sheet with me as he said that he would've had no clue what to do with me otherwise.

With the letters from regular doctor, one waits for his/hers first appointment in either HUCH or TUCH. First appointment was.. well.. introductions and scheduling more appointments, usually 2-3 times/month. This is the point where I am currently, I've my letters and was in the first meeting but I had to drop out for a while due to mental stress and will be going back when I've other aspects of my life (like a new apartment :roll:) fixed. Therapy can include bringing in your parents/friends/partner/whatever to make it easier for them to deal with changes if one wishes to, but not if patient does not want.

Usually after 6 months of running in the clinic it's possible to get the diagnosis which is needed to start HRT. In before that one has been running in 2 different specialized psychiatrists, one psychotherapist (I don't even know the difference between these) and one doctor who takes MRI scans, EEG brainwave scan and other similar physical tests. The system is created to both give patient time to think that it's what he/she really wants, and "to search for other factors that might cause GID-like symptoms and verify the diagnosis" (don't ask me what those other factors might be, but..) If the doctors do not approve starting HRT, treatment and therapy continues with different ways depending of the case. Eg, for someone who's body for some reason can't tolerate hormonal changes at that moment, those problems are treated before HRT can begin.

All the visits are covered by public healthcare as are the traveling costs if living further away from Helsinki or Tampere.

Boom. If lucky, immediately after 6 months one finds "Confirmed GID" diagnosis papers from his/her hand and is sent to "woman's disease and birth hospital" for prescription to hormones. During HRT, the visits in T/HUCH clinic decrease and one runs now in woman's clinic for blood testing and checkups. I've heard that this is the address for FtM persons as well, since woman's clinic apparently is the only place here doing hormone checkups and having staff specialized to that.

Hormones are generally covered by the public healthcare system, with these regulations:
- Estrogen/testosterone is fully covered by the state, only 3€ / package is paid by the patient (processing/handling costs for pharmacy as they usually have to order these drugs from elsewhere, it's not in shelf regularly. The drugs themselves are free.)
- Anti-androgens are 35% covered

While on HRT, one can also get various other treatments required for the process such as hair removal (maximum of 7 visits in laser are covered by the state. Beyond that one pays additional visits him/herself) and voice therapy (I don't know (yet) how many visits are free for patient, but know a person who ran there for around 4-6 months so at least some). FtM persons can also opt for breast removal surgery in this point, which is also covered by the system.

Changing name to match the correct gender requires person being diagnosed GID and having started HRT. It is usually done while starting our "real life test". This requires once again approval from psychiatrists in T/HUCH trans* staff, and usually there is no problems. Possible problems that may prevent one from changing name would be that he/she hasn't decided to live in chosen gender yet in public, has started to regret the treatment and so on. So anyone who really knows what he/she is doing and wants to push on does not have problems with this. Changing name costs something like 10-20€ if I recall right. (+ new credit cards, driving license, passport and such).

Our "Real Life Test" starts at this point as well when the hormones take effect and person feels confident going full-time (or when hormone effect is so radical that problems start to occur when trying to present as "wrong" gender). This generally means the time where person goes living full-time and "integrates back to society" as a member of his/hers chosen gender with assistance if required, throwing away the wrong gender, changes names from bank accounts, insurance companies, whatever there is and so on. During RLT, therapists are visited to report how one is doing and so on. There is no real requirements for this such as "one has to find a job" or "one has to dress in certain way". Rather it is only living life as one wants to. It lasts for a couple of months, depending of person and the troubles he/she encounters and is "passed" when therapists are convinced that you can survive in the society in your desired gender.

RLT is slightly criticized here as for some who've gone full-time earlier it's just another waiting period before other things can start to happen. Tho therapists and hospital staff are convinced it is useful and generally they don't think it harms anyone. The two things it delays are SRS and change of social security number from which the former can be done overseas if rich and impatient. Changing social security number (below) however requires "passing" the RLT.

Changing the letter M to F (or otherway around) in legal documents as well as changing the social security number which is unique identifier for every finnish citizen and constructs differently for females and males, requires going through the whole system described above. Yes, one will have for example female name and letter "M" in passport simultaneously for a while as name changes before the sex and social security number. For changing these two things to match the correct gender, following criteria must be filled:
- Approval of the H/TUCH trans* clinic
- Proof of permanent infertility. 12 months of HRT is enough to meet this criteria because well.. that's what it does in a long run. (we also have progress of removing this criteria completely as it is degrading).
- "Real Life Test" completed.
- Name changed before
- Again new paperwork for a new passport, possible drivers license, ID card, credit cards (if not changed when one changed his/her name. CC's don't have M/F identifier but full name printed on them) and so on.

At this point, one is finally identified as a chosen gender by the government. There will be no traces of past life others than police can ever find out about if one wishes so. With legal documents changed, therapy usually ends.

After being legally recognized as a member of his/her correct gender, one can apply for SRS queue in Finland, which is also covered by the public healthcare system. Queue here is considered to be long (usually more than 6 months) and is done only in Helsinki. Being part of the public healthcare, SRS is free (some fees from staying in the hospital for recovery must be paid, but I recall the total cost for the patient was something like 200-500€). I don't know about the quality of SRS done here but it should be OK from what I've heard of. Some people still go to Thailand for getting SRS earlier or for even better quality. Public healthcare system does not cover the costs if person decides to fly oversees for his/her treatment. The six month waiting for SRS is what they are aiming at now. When the SRS became covered by the public healthcare at 2003 they didn't expect to see so many people in queue as there "suddenly" were, and at first years I've heard one had to wait significantly longer period if unlucky. Now the queue is somewhat unwinded and the doctors have gained more experience in doing such operations, so it's going much smoother. (considering the fact that there's only one hospital in whole country doing these operations and for "free" in patients point of view, 6 months is definitely not a long wait.)

FFS is considered as cosmetic operation and is not done in Finland as part of the public system nor its costs are covered by it (if done at all, I've never heard even a private clinic doing FFS here either, so Thailand is the address for that.) However those cosmetic operations that make the difference between the genders are covered by the state:

"shaving" of the adam's apple and possible vocal cord surgery is free for the patient.

Breast implants may be covered by the public healthcare system if "person's natural breast growth is clearly deficient to fulfill female characteristics" but since usually HRT affects breast growth even a little, it's rare to have this done inside the public system here.

Long Story Short (fastest possible way);
6 months of therapy -> HRT 12 months -> legal document changes. Name change in somewhere between the latter two. SRS adds 6-12 more months if done in here. 0 if done oversees.

In reality, some delays may occur since one may need to wait for being sent from one clinic to another and so on. The typical time for the whole process without SRS is closer to 2-2.5 years, but for lucky ones 1,5.

So yeah, that was my explanation of how things are done in the Cold North.

<3 Sara

EDIT: I hope this was the right subforum to post this, if not, please move where it belongs ^^

Thank you Sara!  We have several other Finns on the site.

When you wrote in your intro you were from the cold north, I thought you meant Canada!!

Quote from: Jamie D on September 27, 2013, 04:55:41 AM
Thank you Sara!  We have several other Finns on the site.

When you wrote in your intro you were from the cold north, I thought you meant Canada!!

Owh I may've forgot to specify in the intro.. It was quite late here when I wrote it so not wondering I forgot to mention things

+1

Sara, this was a very well written essay, thank you!  I always enjoy learning how people do things in different countries.  It seems to me that both of our countries (I'm from USA) have been making some progress but still have a way to go in treating us trans people with dignity.  Proof of infertility? Why!?!  It may be something that happens from HRT anyway, but I agree with you that it is degrading.  What if future advances allow transplants of entire reproductive systems? 

I'm glad I found this thread and that you signed up at Susan's!

~ Mara ~

Quote from: Marissa on September 27, 2013, 05:17:53 PM
+1

Sara, this was a very well written essay, thank you!  I always enjoy learning how people do things in different countries.  It seems to me that both of our countries (I'm from USA) have been making some progress but still have a way to go in treating us trans people with dignity.  Proof of infertility? Why!?!  It may be something that happens from HRT anyway, but I agree with you that it is degrading.  What if future advances allow transplants of entire reproductive systems? 

I'm glad I found this thread and that you signed up at Susan's!

~ Mara ~

Thank you and I agree that there is still a lot room for improvements in every system I've read about.. But moving towards right direction anyways. our parliament announced that they will partially rewrite the law about GID patients here at this autumn/winter.. we don't yet know what changes there will be but have high hopes for getting rid of the infertility criteria as Sweden removed it from their law at the beginning of this year and it'd be logical for our politicians to follow their example.

The biggest +++ in our system in my opinions is the law that forces regular doctors to send "any person who feels he/she might be having symptoms of GID" to a specialist.. even if it's not always followed here (because not many general doctors know about it) it's still good to have.

A change that is currently taking place in the USA is that the diagnosis Gender Identity Disorder (GID) has been removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5th edition, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association followed in the states.  Instead, it has been replaced with Gender Dysphoria.  The reason is to remove the stigma of trans people being labeled as having a disorder. 

According to Jack Drescher, a member of the committee that made the changes, ""All psychiatric diagnoses occur within a cultural context. We know there is a whole community of people out there who are not seeking medical attention and live between the two binary categories. We wanted to send the message that the therapist's job isn't to pathologize."*

I think it's a good change to remove the word "disorder."  That word gives too much ammunition to 'haters' who use it to claim that all trans people are mentally ill. Gender Dysphoria describes a response to a painful situation, not a mental disease.

As for the Finnish law that doctors must send trans people to a specialist, could it be something that is helpful at first, but in time, as the medical community becomes more enlightened, becomes a burden to people by forcing them to see a specialist? I can't help but make a comparison with the US military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy that was initially beneficial to homosexual people but was also onerous, and finally repealed.

edit: fixed typo

* Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/07/23/dsm-replaces-gender-identity-disorder-gender-dysphoria

Quote from: Marissa on September 28, 2013, 06:21:02 PM
A change that is currently taking place in the USA is that the diagnosis Gender Identity Disorder (GID) has been removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 5th edition, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association followed in the states.  Instead, it has been replaced with Gender Dysphoria.  The reason is to remove the stigma of trans people being labeled as having a disorder. 

According to Jack Drescher, a member of the committee that made the changes, ""All psychiatric diagnoses occur within a cultural context. We know there is a whole community of people out there who are not seeking medical attention and live between the two binary categories. We wanted to send the message that the therapist's job isn't to pathologize."*

I think it's a good change to remove the word "disorder."  That word gives too much ammunition to 'haters' who use it to claim that all trans people are mentally ill. Gender Dysphoria describes a response to a painful situation, not a mental disease.

As for the Finnish law that doctors must send trans people to a specialist, could it be something that is helpful at first, but in time, as the medical community becomes more enlightened, becomes a burden to people by forcing them to see a specialist? I can't help but make a comparison with the US military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy that was initially beneficial to homosexual people but was also onerous, and finally repealed.

edit: fixed typo

* Source: http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/07/23/dsm-replaces-gender-identity-disorder-gender-dysphoria

I've read about the changes in DSM, it's quite big thing here too in its own way as it tends to affect our diagnosis system as well.. We follow ICD classifications instead of DSM but they tend to walk hand-in-hand quite a lot. (ICD F64.0 transsexualism http://www.genderpsychology.org/transsexual/icd_10.html if you're interested). DSM-5 is laughed at a bit here though, as it (correct me if I'm wrong) made a lot of "normal" emotions to become mental illnesses, like grieving = depression according to DSM-5? But good that it had some good changes in it too.

I don't think our law would become similar to "Don't ask don't tell" policy, as it only prevents our cases to be sent to general psychiatrists etc. Like.. in our healthcare, regular doctors are just "gatekeepers" to every specialist.. If you're depressed, you first go to regular doctor who evaluates your situation and sends you to shrink. If alcoholist, regular doctor sends you to rehab clinic. If having pneumonia, regular doctor sends you to X-rays and lung disease specialist.. So regular doctors in our system don't do much, they evaluate the situation and send you onwards to where you get "best treatment" unless it's just something like.. common cold they're dealing with.. And I think it's good to have the law that they are not allowed to send GID (GD now then? ) patients to general shrinks or try to deal with them in any other way, as they often don't even know that there exists specialists for GD patients too.

We can't just go to any doctors ourselves like in US where (according to my knowledge) one can just surf on the web and search for shrink's phone number and book an appointment with him directly.. It's all done via general doctors who send one to where they think one belongs. So even if I know there exists a whole hospital wing for GD patients, I can't call them and just walk in.. I've to go to general doctor first and explain that I feel like I should go there, and he then gives me "referral" to there it's a bit complicated in a way, but simple on the other hand since there is just one place where you've to go no matter what healthcare you want and they'll guide you onwards from there.

You are clearly better informed regarding DSM-5 than I.  I only read up briefly on the GID to GD change.  Too bad it has other laughable changes. :/

Thanks for  explaining further about the healthcare  system there.  I was interpreting that law based on a different system.  In a way, you are right about the US system; one can just call a specialist and make an appointment in most cases if one has the money to pay for it, but for it to be paid by insurance (which can vary quite a bit from one company to the next), a referral may be required.  Often (always?) there is an exception to the referral requirement for mental health providers, so your example is valid. 

Talk about complicated! The process varies a lot based on the rules dictated by each for-profit insurance company, and which of their plans one has. Even publicly funded healthcare (e.g. Medicaid) tends to differ from one state to the next. 

Quote from: Marissa on September 28, 2013, 08:48:30 PM
You are clearly better informed regarding DSM-5 than I.  I only read up briefly on the GID to GD change.  Too bad it has other laughable changes. :/

Thanks for  explaining further about the healthcare  system there.  I was interpreting that law based on a different system.  In a way, you are right about the US system; one can just call a specialist and make an appointment in most cases if one has the money to pay for it, but for it to be paid by insurance (which can vary quite a bit from one company to the next), a referral may be required.  Often (always?) there is an exception to the referral requirement for mental health providers, so your example is valid. 

Talk about complicated! The process varies a lot based on the rules dictated by each for-profit insurance company, and which of their plans one has. Even publicly funded healthcare (e.g. Medicaid) tends to differ from one state to the next. 

I'd be so lost with US healthcare system used to this model where I don't have to think about healthcare at all basically, it just is there. but I guess both systems have their good and bad sides, our bad sides are long queue's, not always top-of-the-line equipment (apart from really important devices, they usually are the best due to state's funding but as said, they have to prioritize where they use that money) and constant lack of employees in public healthcare (it is very stressful job here as big hospitals have to be open 24/7, wages aren't that good and sadly some people treat the staff like crap, whining about queue's and not appreciating the fact that it's "free" for the patient after all. ) as well as high prices in private clinics since there isn't so many clients for them, they do have top of the line equipment due to competition too though and those machines don't come cheap so I understand they've to keep their prices high to cover the costs and to make profit at the same time.

EDIT: typo

Thought to continue this thread since I found that someone had posted to me in tgboards about the subject and it made me sad that I hadn't noticed it on time... While I try to remember come here and read comments I quite often miss a lot of stuff and I thought this to be important if someone ever is insane enough to travel to this cold and forsaken land, so here goes; "If you think/are about to come to Finland" info package from my point of view ^^

QuoteI was wondering if you had any particular advice for a trans individual visiting Finland?

For example, the friend of mine who I will be staying with has spoken often of sauna's, which I understand to be seen as quite natural and common, but is something I find quite daunting.

D'owh I didn't notice this until now well I hope you had a great time here! Answering late anyways just in case someone else is in the same kind of situation.

Any particular advice? Well as long as you have a common sense I can't think much.. Basics I think apply in every country; don't go get wasted alone in the downtown, at nightfall don't walk alone through dark parks we have (most of the parks in Helsinki central area don't have streetlights and are the most typical place for getting robbed, trans or not).. If you get into an argument with someone and it seems to heat up dangerously, just walk away and try to get into place where there is other people.. Oh and don't - ever - cut in any queue during night, like.. there is lots of people every night lining up for taxi or fast food stalls.. Those are by the statistics the most dangerous places in the whole country most of the people waiting for taxi in the middle of the night are extremely drunk and pissed off for having to queue so cutting in to those can end up very badly.

No seriously, violence is quite rare and if following common sense there should not be any problems.. Even for trans* folks Most people who dislike us or even have something against us usually express it in other ways like being even more grumpy than normally or talking behind our back (which foreigners don't have to worry about cause they don't understand a word ! Lucky) and so on..

Trans* related "don't" advises I've difficulties to think of.. Generally as long as you carry on with your businesses whatever you have and ignore what is going on around you, you will be left alone. During nights, some may shout something, some may come and try to speak to you but just shrug it off with "I don't understand Finnish" and keep on walking. Police/security is really effective here and if you find yourself from any distress, one loud scream/shout will bring authorities to the place within a few minutes and often is enough to scare the persons causing the distress away. Emergency number is 112, and they speak English. 911 works also (it's redirected to 112 when you're inside our borders).

We don't have any bathroom rules/laws and generally you go to the side you feel you belong to. If you're dressed en femme, I suggest womens' side as even if you don't "pass" you'll far less likely hear comments on that side than on the men's room. Uhm.. What else.. Public transport can be slightly anxious experience during nights as well, since trains are usually pretty much empty after midnight and the few persons you will find there are either drunk or as scared as you are. If you feel uneasy, go sit far away from the others. Train crew also includes security personnel so in case something happens you will be quite safe very fast, so nightly train journeys just feels much more frightening than they really are. Avoid drunken people is really the only advise I can come up with. If you don't count those there shouldn't be anything that could threaten you since everyone else just slide by, ignorant and minding of their own business, no matter what you look like.

That's the "Don't" part there I think.. The "Do" part would include things like.. If you land on Helsinki and got to travel somewhere else within the country, there is two way to travel; 1) is our state railway system, called "VR" which operates every train in this country (don't have multiple companies here, VR is the only one if you want to travel by train). Tickets can be purchased from the internet, airport, any larger train station or from train personnel inside the train. (cash or credit cards. Debit card doesn't work inside train). Community rail inside Helsinki also accepts mobile phone ticket bought with SMS message.
Second option is via bus which is generally cheaper but takes longer, Buses are operated by numerous companies but all the long distance routes depart from the same terminal in Helsinki downtown (Kamppi) and tickets don't have to be purchased in advance, just walk there, find your bus, pay for the driver (cash only).

If you arrive here during summertime and have a chance to visit on what we call mökki, eg. "summer cabins" I really suggest you to go. These are small cabins families own and are usually located on lakeside or on islands, they often have wood heating and drinking water comes from wells but electricity is common nowadays. I've been told that our cabins differ a lot from at least central european style, and it can be a nice experience. Almost every family have one.

Sauna, which was mentioned is really popular here, (who wouldn't enjoy sitting in a closed room with 80C/175F temperature <3 alright, maybe we're a bit weird ).. But yeah it's our tradition and especially outside Helsinki where people have bigger apartments they usually do have a sauna and you are most likely to be encouraged to try it because most of the folks here see it quite hilarious when foreigners wonder what's the thing about it - and at the same time most of us just sincerely recommend trying it since to us it's about the most relaxing thing we know of. While most of us go to a sauna completely naked, it's totally alright to use a swimming wear or wrap a towel around you if you don't like that. Mind you though, sauna is a place here where all the traditional society rules stop existing, being naked there, even as a trans person, nobody really cares. Sometimes the turns are divided like "men go first and after they're done it's womens' turn", this is usually done especially if there is guests visiting as we tend to think they'd find it more comfortable that way... Other, more common way is that there is no divided turns and everyone just go in at the same time.. it's pretty much a "genderless" place if you can say it that way while in, nobody really thinks you as a girl or guy or whatever and it's even rude here to make any statement inside sauna which would be related to persons' gender/sex/you get it. It can be put into way that "everyone are equal inside sauna" as well. And it's totally alright not to go too, though some may insist jokingly, no-one will *really* get hurt if you don't want to

Enough of that, I'm sure you got the point if you're planning to stay in Helsinki, a few places you might want to check out would be DTM nightclub (if you're into partying), it's our biggest LGBT bar/club and while originally it carried a bit of a label 'cause of being a "gay bar" it's grown to be very accepted part of the city nowadays... So it's not like a.. typical LGBT place but more like a place where anyone is welcome to have a great night without worrying about being different.. It has gained popularity among non-lgbt folks as well and hence the attitude among many has changed during the last few years and now most of the folks see it as just another nightclub but with extremely accepting atmosphere where the staff doesn't allow any discrimination towards anyone..

For those who like sightseeing, the "in my opinion" nicest places here would be "Suomenlinna" sea fortress, a really old island fortress near the coast of Helsinki, costs like 2 euros to take a boat there and many, especially during summer, think it as a great picnic place. Lots of grass, old walls and watchtowers with old cannons still in their places and things like that. City district called "Kruunuhaka" near the downtown would be our "old town" part; Helsinki doesn't really have specific old town like many other european cities, but Kruunuhaka is probably the oldest and coolest looking district here. There is also tens of very nice café's there and an old harbor which I tend to visit quite often during summers.. just to sit on a dock and watch the sea Umm.. Shopping places; there is a couple of shopping centers in downtown, all of them around the central railway station so easy to find. These include "Kamppi shopping center" which is currently the largest one, "Forum shopping center" and "Sokos shopping center" next to it, "Stockmann" slightly away from the immediate center point but nearby anyways. In addition to these, pretty much all the stores are built around the central railway station or Kamppi metro station (distance between these two is around.. 0.3 miles / 500 meters). The biggest and the best shoe shop is located slightly away from the shopping centers (ask any staff person from the shopping centers and they will give you directions) and is called "Kenkämarski" they also are used to deal with trans* individuals and you will be served just like any other person no matter what you look like.

Unlike many other countries, here the bigger the place, usually the cheaper the goods. I've visited Denmark and Germany where the biggest shopping centers were also the most expensive ones, but here it's other way around.. Bigger stores try to push smaller ones off the markets by lowering their prices so low that smaller ones can't compete with them. This results to that most of the smaller shops sell hand made stuff, slightly different stuff, "hard to find" stuff and compete against the bigger ones in quality and selection rather than prices. Only exception to this is Stockmann which is like.. luxury store and generally keeps really high prices in about everything.

Hotel personnel, store cashiers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, security guards, all those are usually kind and helpful as they usually have seen trans* folks during their career so don't have to be scared about shopping or things like that If you get lost or need assistance with anything, security guards and police that patrol all over the city are the best pick to ask for help.. Most of them talk even a little English and if not, they always know someone who does. Asking help from strangers can prove difficult as many simply.. walk away.. or find it hard for them to talk with strangers because of shyness or something.

Oh and don't hesitate send private messages to me if you have questions that require answer within a short notice. I haven't been on forums for a while but PM's go to my email and therefore make my phone to do weird sounds and dance on my table so I can't really miss them

All the best for ye all <3
- Sara

Great post Sara, I am of Finnish/Norwegian extraction and found your comments very interesting and informative. I feel as if I just had a mini tour of Finland.

Quote from: Sara W on September 26, 2013, 07:21:37 PM
- Proof of permanent infertility. 12 months of HRT is enough to meet this criteria because well.. that's what it does in a long run. (we also have progress of removing this criteria completely as it is degrading).

And today we had the news. Not certain that the law will pass though, but anyways;

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"Ministry proposes rights for people going through gender "correction"* process to have children."

"Finland may abandon the requirement which states that transperson must provide proof of infertility in order to get his/her treatment completed. The proposed change is included in the reform of translaw, which is currently being prepared by the working group of Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Many human rights organizations have notified Finland about the need for changes in our translaw, for example the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has recommended Finland to stop requiring proofs of individuals incapability for reproduction. In current situation, however, person going through the gender 'correction' process will give up these possibilities due to hormone replacement that causes infertility, but that may not be the case in the future.

- Translaw is quite old and it contains many reformation needs, comments the Chairman of the working group, Dr. Helena Vorma from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

In addition the working group wants to get rid of the requirement that currently states that the person going through gender 'correction' process can't be married or in a registered relationship** unless his/her partner gives his/her approval for the correction process. Other possible changes will be explored during the following months.

Working group was set up by Minister of Health and Social Services, Susanna Huovinen (social democratic party) during this years' September, and it will continue its work to the next autumn. The proposed law will be left on table in early winter 2014."

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*Direct translation, so I may owe you a few explanations about the terms used since "translaw" and "correcting" may sound.. rude.. for english speaking folks, but they ain't rude here. We talk about the whole process as "sukupuolen korjaus prosessi" - "gender correction/fix/repair process", which was changed in the beginning of 2000 and it's currently written like that in our doctor manuals, law, everywhere. In before, people used to call it "sukupuolen vaihdos prosessi", which translates directly to "gender change process" but it caused a huge stigma and didn't really explain the things going on since.. change? duh, no. Correction? much better. Some old folks still refer to the old term like "She was the one who got her gender changed?" which to me sounds degrading, probably sounds like that to you too, but the media and majority of people have grasped the new term quite well. We also, while talking about the subject, just cruelly add "trans" in front of many other things like "translaki" = "translaw" and it ain't considered rude here either although I'm personally well aware that it leaves many other groups "outside" the terminology, but we don't unfortunately have translations for queer for example. It's just queer here too, but since it's an English word stuck in our language it's not used in official, legal texts and such, so "trans" here is the umbrella term, bit like transgender in English.

Funny difference is that "transgender" = "transsukupuolinen" (literal translation) which here is the word for transsexual, so you may relate to my confusion when I first entered English forums and read about all these lovely terms that are complete opposites in our language

** mark was left to "registered relationship" since it may sounds weird, even creepy, as well. Basically what that term is, is our current state of gay marriage. Back in 2002, when we first started to talk about rights for same-sex couples getting married, church opposed it quite much, said they wouldn't perform weddings for same-sex couples and demanded that marriage should be left for "traditional couples" only. It is possible here to get married without belonging to the church too, since our church only marries christian couples anyways and many, for example I, aren't part of said church so we won't have possibility to get married in church anyways. The alternative is "civil marriage" (lit. translation) which is performed in a small, ascetic building specially built for that purpose, and instead of having priest present, there is some.. other guy who reads the vows without those religious parts. Afterwards the couple usually continues to celebrate some place they have rented for the party, but church doors are closed.

Sooo with this system, our parliament didn't want to change the situation in 2002, it is written into our law that "marriage will be performed in a church - or in case couples' religious preferences, as a civil weddings." so if they'd have written a law allowing same-sex couples to get married, they'd have forced the church to accept those couples' as well and you may guess how much they liked the idea. So instead they came up with this brilliant concept of "registered relationship" which is legally exactly the same than marriage, they've all the same rights (except adoption ), and same duties than married, "traditional" couples... Of course, the name of that isn't quite as appealing and it raised looots of arguments but in general it was thought to be quite liberal back in 2002.

Now the winds are changing though and we have gay marriage on the table again so I hope that we get rid of that, once again degrading term of "registered relationship" soon please. Even our church is a bit more accepting nowadays, many priests have publicly announced that they'd have no problems performing same-sex weddings and criticized too that it's just ridiculous and racist to have these two legal entities for the "same procedure".

EDIT: Would it be translaw after all? or trans Act? I just remembered that you call those smaller chapters in lawbook Acts am I right? o.O

Hi after a long long time again

I found my way back to the forums while surfing around in the internet on all the trans* related sites I've in bookmarks and thought that I'd write a lil after a long period of inactivity

First of all, I can proudly announce that our little country up north finally took a step forward again and the law to legalize same-sex marriages was passed 28. November after many years of fighting for it. (due to our legislation system being tad slow, the law is not yet active but it's passed, and it'll come active in near future). This was made finally possible by the citizens' initiative system we have, it is possible here for the people themselves to suggest any legislation for the parliament after getting 50,000 names to back up the initiative. Parliament received the initiative for making the same-sex marriage legal during last summer, with over 150,000 signatures in it and was thus forced to process it. After hearing lots and lots of statements both from those that were in favor and against the suggested initiative, it was finally passed to the whole parliament for voting.

The vote results for the first round ended with 105-92 in favor, and in the second round 101-90 in favor, so it was quite a close one, and it sparked a lot of outrage especially within the religious communities we have here. However, at the evening of the first voting day, the Head of our largest church, archbishop Kari Mäkinen also stepped into the discussion with the following message I found was very touching;

"I know how much this day means for the Rainbow families, their close-ones and to many others. I feel happiness in my heart and I will rejoice with them.

The ongoing discussion has also rattled the Church in a positive way. To me it looks like our sides have turned around; Society is preaching about ethics to us, preaching in a way that does not defend any institution or principles but people. That is the kind of a preach the Church needs in the modern times.

We are in the same situation with our close sister-churches in Northern countries: Our view about marriage needs throughout inspection. Personally I think that there is room for re-evaluation. That will happen from the principles of the Church itself.

The decision of the parliament was made by tight vote. There are many who are now disappointed and feel worried. That is understandable. Their experiences and feelings should be respected and their fears should be heard now and in the future alike, both inside the Church and in the whole society. However, for them I want to say: In my opinion, nobody's marriage is going to lose its meaning. Church and our faith is not threatened and the human dignity of any person is not going to decrease, quite the opposite.

I wish and I pray, that this discussion has opened, and will open people's eyes to see the diversity and riches the God has blessed us with.

I thank warmly the people who stood behind the bill that was passed today, as well as those that have participated the discussion on behalf, and against, with different ways, motives and principles."

Above was translated by me from the post Mäkinen wrote into social media and may contain some spelling mistakes but oh well, I think the main point is clear. He has also commented afterwards that he still stands behind his words, even though the religious community didn't find his message as touching and wonderful as I did.

Now as much that has lifted the mood here in these matters, unfortunately, the second law I've mentioned in earlier posts (about the trans* people treatment, removing the degrading sterility requirements and such) is still being processed by the parliament, and at the moment it looks like they are trying to slide the responsibility to process that legislation to the next parliament as we have elections coming up shortly after New Year. The current government is playing delay -game with the trans* treatment law by burying it beneath "more pressing matters" with heavy resistance from the conservative parties. In worst case, this means that by delaying the processing of the bill until the next elections, they get to leave it on table for the next parliament, which can vote if they even want to process this bill that was left by the previous MP's, and with really bad luck, they will decide to ignore it completely. Time will tell.

Sara,

  Thanks for the tour of your Finland. The only thing I had in the past I had anything to do with Finland was that I repaired Nokia cellphones for 15 years for an electronics retailer. We were sent to the Nokia USA headquarters for more training on repairing these phones and found out that Nokia was a Finnish company founded in a town in Finland of the same name. We were pouring over the schematics on one of the models in the class and found an acronymn "MUUMI" on the main processor chip in that model. We of course pronounced it "MUMMY"" but was corrected by the instructor as "MUU-MI". He then said that it was a Finnish acronym for that chip, but the word it produced was a children's cartoon character.
  I like the music from Jean Sibelius, espercially Finlandia and The Swan of Tuonela. These are played with the regular stuff on my local classical radio station.

Joelene