Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Celebrities
Celebrity transgender women no more represent all transgender woman than actresses and models represent all women. They don't represent them in how they look or behave, what they say or with their experience. Transgender women are as diverse as all women in every aspect of being women, but more importantly they're all women and the word transgender is just a label the media uses to separate, even denigrate or demean them as women.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
A Better Word
Instead of the word "passing" to describe how someone can live as their chosen gender and no one know their history, meaning their transition, I ran across a better word, "blending", meaning to just be like everyone else and no one cares to ask let alone wonder or know about their transition. A better word, to be lost among the many.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
WTF
Why do people think transpeople have some mental issue, or worse some mental problem(s), simply because they've chosen to become who they know they are, to make the body match the mind, to be whole as a person in the gender they know they are?
It escapes me the stupidity of people who think transpeople have some comorbidity issues, otherwise, they wouldn't be "screwed up" and want to change the sex to match their gender. Many problems transpeople face aren't internal, within themselves, but external, from their family, friends and everything else in their life.
It escapes me they don't see transpeople as just normal people with normal problems with their own unique experience, which happens to be the unfortunate situation of their birth sex. And if they have any other mental conditions or issues it's not related and common to other people.
It escapes me they don't see the flaws in their view about transpeople on this and will just assume their view is reality, and all the arguments against them does nothing to change their mind. Go figure, maybe they're the one with the mental issues and problems.
It escapes me the stupidity of people who think transpeople have some comorbidity issues, otherwise, they wouldn't be "screwed up" and want to change the sex to match their gender. Many problems transpeople face aren't internal, within themselves, but external, from their family, friends and everything else in their life.
It escapes me they don't see transpeople as just normal people with normal problems with their own unique experience, which happens to be the unfortunate situation of their birth sex. And if they have any other mental conditions or issues it's not related and common to other people.
It escapes me they don't see the flaws in their view about transpeople on this and will just assume their view is reality, and all the arguments against them does nothing to change their mind. Go figure, maybe they're the one with the mental issues and problems.
Finally
Finally the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is considering requiring, or at least prohibiting explicit exclusion (the current practice with all policies under the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHB), coverage for transition care including Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS).
This, noted here, follows the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decision recently to include transition care in Medicare plans. Currently it's neither excluded or included, unlike the FEHB where it's excluded.
This means before (Medicare) or after (FEHB) January 1, 2015 patients undergoing transition with either Medicare or FEHB can have as much as 60-80% of their costs covered, especially the major costs of SRS, which can run $12-15,000 overseas or $20-25,000 in the US.
It's likely any coverage will be for US surgeons but there isn't a lack of them, only the waiting time varys from a few months to 6-9 months depending on the surgeon. But as with some health coverage, patients may still have to pay (always full payment up front with SRS) and get reimbursed.
Some surgeons are in some state or local government health plans because their clinic is in the state which makes coverage through the insurance company. Companies which cover it usually do so through riders with their employees health plans and pays direct for the employee minus other costs such as travel, lodging, etc.
This is good news for active or retired federal government employees and those on Medicare. Currently some coverage is defaulted in the health plans, such as drugs, therapy and etc because they're not sex/gender specific than specific to transitioning people.
But it took four years after President Obama endorsed a letter to OPM on LGBT issues which instructed OPM to act on the health insurance coverage. And a good number of patients under FEHB have either paid out of pocket or delayed finishing their transition because of the time for this decision.
At least OPM got there, and so in the 2015 policies people under the FEHB will not see the words, "Sex transformation services and surgery excluded" in the plan coverage brochure and an explanation of the coverage based on the status of the provider (preferred, general or other).
This, noted here, follows the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decision recently to include transition care in Medicare plans. Currently it's neither excluded or included, unlike the FEHB where it's excluded.
This means before (Medicare) or after (FEHB) January 1, 2015 patients undergoing transition with either Medicare or FEHB can have as much as 60-80% of their costs covered, especially the major costs of SRS, which can run $12-15,000 overseas or $20-25,000 in the US.
It's likely any coverage will be for US surgeons but there isn't a lack of them, only the waiting time varys from a few months to 6-9 months depending on the surgeon. But as with some health coverage, patients may still have to pay (always full payment up front with SRS) and get reimbursed.
Some surgeons are in some state or local government health plans because their clinic is in the state which makes coverage through the insurance company. Companies which cover it usually do so through riders with their employees health plans and pays direct for the employee minus other costs such as travel, lodging, etc.
This is good news for active or retired federal government employees and those on Medicare. Currently some coverage is defaulted in the health plans, such as drugs, therapy and etc because they're not sex/gender specific than specific to transitioning people.
But it took four years after President Obama endorsed a letter to OPM on LGBT issues which instructed OPM to act on the health insurance coverage. And a good number of patients under FEHB have either paid out of pocket or delayed finishing their transition because of the time for this decision.
At least OPM got there, and so in the 2015 policies people under the FEHB will not see the words, "Sex transformation services and surgery excluded" in the plan coverage brochure and an explanation of the coverage based on the status of the provider (preferred, general or other).
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Not Always
When people who have transitioned talk to those who are considering or in therapy to start their transition or who are in their transition, these people always tell you to go ahead, don't hesitate, come out, go public, be fulltime, and take charge of who you are and your life.
It's often the advice Nike gives, "Just do it", something you expect from the one minute manager expert. These people are usually the ones who often passed as women before or during their transition, who didn't need cosmetic facial surgery, who didn't need very much facial or body hair removal and for whom hormones had an extraordinary change to their face and body.
In short they easily and readily passed. Or if not, they found or had the money to get cosmetic facial surgery and/or breast augmentation surgery. In other words, once they decided they went full speed through their transition through their Sex Reassignment Surgery and got on with their life.
And so they can hand out that advice like candy, they did it so everyone else should do the same, or as some often say, "You're not a true transwoman.", meaning they're the ones who subvertly decide who's true and right or not.
They will always tell their story of hardships and challenges, and how they overcame them or got through them to transition. They'll will always talk about well they were seen and accepted as women, forgetting how easily they passed.
This is often true of those who become public figures or celebrities as transgender women, accepting that word as who they are, but then always arguing they're also just women, like other women, except their experience is different.
They argue they're trying to change the public perception and image of "transgender" women, meaning calling anyone who is transitioning or has transitioned is transgender by definition, theirs and the public's, even if the woman doesn't want the label.
They either forget or disregard those who don't follow their path and advice. And unfortunate for those who can't and have to live with the stereotype these women set and the stigma of how they fail. These women argue against stereotypes while being one themselves.
Not all women transition like they do, and in fact, most don't, taking longer because of work, family, money, health, fitness, time and other reasons or factors. Some take a long time to or don't even transition because they're more afraid they'll be worse off and not accepted if they do transition, and to them, life of quiet desparation is better than a life of public isolation.
We forget that at the heart of this is someone's own gender identity inside the physical body genetics, time, experience and circumstance gave them, and that along with the realities of the transition, especially the cost, overshadows everything anyone else can say about them.
To all those public transgender women, I say to your words and advice, not always. And don't speak for anyone else and especially all transwomen, just speak for yourself.
It's often the advice Nike gives, "Just do it", something you expect from the one minute manager expert. These people are usually the ones who often passed as women before or during their transition, who didn't need cosmetic facial surgery, who didn't need very much facial or body hair removal and for whom hormones had an extraordinary change to their face and body.
In short they easily and readily passed. Or if not, they found or had the money to get cosmetic facial surgery and/or breast augmentation surgery. In other words, once they decided they went full speed through their transition through their Sex Reassignment Surgery and got on with their life.
And so they can hand out that advice like candy, they did it so everyone else should do the same, or as some often say, "You're not a true transwoman.", meaning they're the ones who subvertly decide who's true and right or not.
They will always tell their story of hardships and challenges, and how they overcame them or got through them to transition. They'll will always talk about well they were seen and accepted as women, forgetting how easily they passed.
This is often true of those who become public figures or celebrities as transgender women, accepting that word as who they are, but then always arguing they're also just women, like other women, except their experience is different.
They argue they're trying to change the public perception and image of "transgender" women, meaning calling anyone who is transitioning or has transitioned is transgender by definition, theirs and the public's, even if the woman doesn't want the label.
They either forget or disregard those who don't follow their path and advice. And unfortunate for those who can't and have to live with the stereotype these women set and the stigma of how they fail. These women argue against stereotypes while being one themselves.
Not all women transition like they do, and in fact, most don't, taking longer because of work, family, money, health, fitness, time and other reasons or factors. Some take a long time to or don't even transition because they're more afraid they'll be worse off and not accepted if they do transition, and to them, life of quiet desparation is better than a life of public isolation.
We forget that at the heart of this is someone's own gender identity inside the physical body genetics, time, experience and circumstance gave them, and that along with the realities of the transition, especially the cost, overshadows everything anyone else can say about them.
To all those public transgender women, I say to your words and advice, not always. And don't speak for anyone else and especially all transwomen, just speak for yourself.
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