Transgender

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Overview:

The Lemmy place to discuss the news and experiences of transgender people.

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Keep discussions civil.
Arguments against transgender rights will be removed.
No bigotry is allowed - including transphobia, homophobia, speciesism, racism, sexism, classism, ableism, castism, or xenophobia.

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Supporting Transgender and Gender Expansive People (www.psychologytoday.com)

submitted 4 months ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/transgender@lemmy.blahaj.zone

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[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Trans people don’t suffer for being trans—they suffer from how the world treats them.

I mean, that's not true for a lot of us ... even if you imagine a world that has no anti-trans bias and where gender-affirming care is provided early, and all trans people know they are trans early enough to avoid going through the wrong puberty, there are still cases where trans people will suffer because they are trans, e.g. gender affirming surgeries like vaginoplasty will involve suffering, etc.

Unlike being gay, being trans can't be fully depathologized (or ... at least fully removed from a medical context - whether we see it as "pathology" or not), many (most?) of us rely on gender-affirming medical care. Personally I'm not sure this means we have to hold onto the stigma associated with a pathology, and I understand nuance is difficult for messaging, but, still ...

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm glad I didn't have to be the one to say that.

I get what they meant but it was definitely poorly expressed.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

There is a real need to depathologize trans folks, especially as the anti-trans movement uses it against us ("they're just mentally ill!") and as clinicians are beginning to be more educated about trans care. However, the depathologizing approach activists took in the gay rights movement only works for some trans people (namely those who won't ever need or want to medically transition), and worse, it opens the door for insurance companies to deny gender-affirming care, and they absolutely are doing that.

For example, recently my speech language pathologist explained how major insurance companies are refusing to refund her for claims with trans patients because they consider it a mental health issue now and it's not medical enough, that it's more akin to coaching than a medical service. She has decided to no longer accept insurance as a result because she can't afford to keep fighting insurance companies over the claims they won't pay out.

We need the medical care, so we need to be careful about messaging that undermines that.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely.

This is the kind of thing I point to when someone objects to the motto that trans rights are human rights.

The fact that it's even an issue that trans people are being denied vital services because it's "mental health" is an indicator that everyone is getting shafted on those grounds, and it's just that most obvious with trans people because that's where the forefront of the fight is.

Everything trans people are wanting is the basic equality we're all supposed to have.

I'm sorry you're getting shafted, btw. I don't want to just use your personal experience as an example without acknowledging that it really sucks that it happened to you in particular as well as the community in general.

I hope you're finding alternative sources for that, without too much difficulty.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 months ago

Yeah, trans rights are human rights - I also think it's helpful to realize that you don't choose to be trans (unlike how it is commonly perceived by Christians and bigots), that anyone could be trans - your child could be trans, etc. However, I don't think anyone objecting to the motto is likely to listen or be moved by evidence, lol. It's a bit silly to even need a motto like this, we don't have to talk about diabetics rights or how denying access to insulin is discriminatory, etc. The fact this is the conversation happening in some sense shows the situation is dire for trans people.

And thank you, but my SLP was sharing this just as I was graduating. She said I was one of her most successful clients and that I didn't need her services anymore (which I hardly believed, my voice dysphoria is strong, yet my voice passes in all contexts anyway).

My bigger problem is that the state I live in illegally denied me gender-affirming care under my insurance plan, so I have to pay for a separate health insurance plan just to get access to care. There is a lawsuit about this, but it hasn't had much movement, they're just sitting on it. In other states with similar lawsuits, the state was found to be in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. But the way this country is going, who knows what will happen.

Thanks for being so supportive 💕

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago

Just gonna use this as an opportunity to drop a little reminder

Y'all trans folks are loved. It isn't just me, there are people in this world that don't just accept you, we love you, and are happy you're here with us. You make the world better for everyone, even if way too many people don't see it.

[–] oftheair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 months ago

We uh.... gender expansive? 🤔