A gun is pressed to your head and you are offered this Sophie’s choice A. you have your genitals removed, or B. you are tortured, face probable rape, and possible murder. There is no option C... how can anyone make that choice? Yet that is exactly the choice I face.
I am a peaceful activist in America which means I face a near constant likelihood of arrest, in fact the police went on my local Fox nightly news to threaten me with arrest adding in the report that I had not broken any law. I have not been arrested nor charged with anything yet thankfully and I am not in any way a criminal but as an occupier I was processed as a “potential terrorist” by DHS making my odds of arrest and detention more likely. This is disturbing on its own but for me it has the added complication that I am transgender and pre-op.
I am legally female. My drivers license has an “F' on it. I have piles of documentation from doctors and therapists saying I am female. I need SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) which is part of the treatment for the medical condition I have. SRS is not required to legally change my gender in Massachusetts, and I have already chemically transitioned. The scary part for me is that if I am arrested despite my physical appearance and legal gender I would be put in a men's facility. (the picture is of me) How do you think I’d do?
SRS isn't covered by my insurance who claim it's “cosmetic” and “optional” I disagree fully of course with that assessment for me SRS is a completely necessary procedure that would put my mind, body, and legal gender all in the same category. SRS would also mean if I am arrested as threatened I would be in held in a women's jail. I cannot afford SRS on my own.
Recently as part of the process towards getting SRS I spoke with my therapist who works with the transgender program at my health care provider's office (my healthcare provider is part of a well thought of transgender program). I was told that my insurance would probably cover the removal of my genitals. If I was to have my genitals removed and I am arrested I would probably be put in a woman’s facility but I would never have either type of genitals again... or I could keep my genitals and face any detention in a men's facility which would mean either I'd be in protective custody (solitary 23.5 hours/day lock down) or I'd be in general population and highly vulnerable to rape and murder. I live in constant fear of arrest due to my peaceful protesting and my medical condition that could easily lead to my torture- and it is torture- lock down for 23.5 hours and solitary confinement &/or rape and violence.
How can the state of Massachusetts consider me legally female yet decide to place me in a men's jail? How can a Healthcare provider and Health insurance claim that having genitals isn't medically necessary? The implications of these two issues goes far beyond just me or even just transgender people. That the state of Ma will house people in a prison that doesn't match their legal gender and doesn't match what gender their doctors say they are it is a cause of concern for everyone. That a healthcare provider and insurance both believe that it is medically acceptable to remove someone's genitalia and leave them with no genitals while claiming that any reconstruction is not medically necessary should concern everyone. If you get hurt or have an infection/ illness that damages your genitalia are you going to face what I did? Will you too be told that your genitals will be removed without any reconstructive surgery?
There is a simple solution- it's time to cover SRS in medically necessary cases as specified by medical professionals (and maybe we should stop arresting peaceful protesters for exercising their constitutionally protected rights). Massachusetts department of corrections should listen to doctors diagnosis of gender. It's time to make sure that everyone is protected by a healthcare and health insurance system that regards genitals as medically necessary. I'm tired of living in terror.
I am a peaceful activist in America which means I face a near constant likelihood of arrest, in fact the police went on my local Fox nightly news to threaten me with arrest adding in the report that I had not broken any law. I have not been arrested nor charged with anything yet thankfully and I am not in any way a criminal but as an occupier I was processed as a “potential terrorist” by DHS making my odds of arrest and detention more likely. This is disturbing on its own but for me it has the added complication that I am transgender and pre-op.
I am legally female. My drivers license has an “F' on it. I have piles of documentation from doctors and therapists saying I am female. I need SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) which is part of the treatment for the medical condition I have. SRS is not required to legally change my gender in Massachusetts, and I have already chemically transitioned. The scary part for me is that if I am arrested despite my physical appearance and legal gender I would be put in a men's facility. (the picture is of me) How do you think I’d do?
SRS isn't covered by my insurance who claim it's “cosmetic” and “optional” I disagree fully of course with that assessment for me SRS is a completely necessary procedure that would put my mind, body, and legal gender all in the same category. SRS would also mean if I am arrested as threatened I would be in held in a women's jail. I cannot afford SRS on my own.
Recently as part of the process towards getting SRS I spoke with my therapist who works with the transgender program at my health care provider's office (my healthcare provider is part of a well thought of transgender program). I was told that my insurance would probably cover the removal of my genitals. If I was to have my genitals removed and I am arrested I would probably be put in a woman’s facility but I would never have either type of genitals again... or I could keep my genitals and face any detention in a men's facility which would mean either I'd be in protective custody (solitary 23.5 hours/day lock down) or I'd be in general population and highly vulnerable to rape and murder. I live in constant fear of arrest due to my peaceful protesting and my medical condition that could easily lead to my torture- and it is torture- lock down for 23.5 hours and solitary confinement &/or rape and violence.
How can the state of Massachusetts consider me legally female yet decide to place me in a men's jail? How can a Healthcare provider and Health insurance claim that having genitals isn't medically necessary? The implications of these two issues goes far beyond just me or even just transgender people. That the state of Ma will house people in a prison that doesn't match their legal gender and doesn't match what gender their doctors say they are it is a cause of concern for everyone. That a healthcare provider and insurance both believe that it is medically acceptable to remove someone's genitalia and leave them with no genitals while claiming that any reconstruction is not medically necessary should concern everyone. If you get hurt or have an infection/ illness that damages your genitalia are you going to face what I did? Will you too be told that your genitals will be removed without any reconstructive surgery?
There is a simple solution- it's time to cover SRS in medically necessary cases as specified by medical professionals (and maybe we should stop arresting peaceful protesters for exercising their constitutionally protected rights). Massachusetts department of corrections should listen to doctors diagnosis of gender. It's time to make sure that everyone is protected by a healthcare and health insurance system that regards genitals as medically necessary. I'm tired of living in terror.
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