Trans News/ Issues

[Jesse]

This sounds so crazy to my brain cells but it really is true.

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Surprisingly, no.

It seems the way to go is to present as homophobic as possible. If you remember this, you pass (hardy har har), with flying colors!

[Jesse]

I would likely wait for the stampede to clear and see who the cool dude was.

Originally Posted by Tony

LOL..Never ever singing..or talking..maybe a grunt and nod if the guy next to you was foolish enough to initiate some sort of conversation.. And if I ever walk into a bathroom and hear someone singing "I feel pretty, oh so pretty" my bladder will automatically go into "we can hold this, get the f*ck outta here" mode... LOL

[o'queery]

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by dameonboy

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

[o'queery]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

You mean in the women's room, or you are having problems in the men's (this is a trans thread, so that why clarifying)?

The mens room.

Most times it is when i am out in the community that i grew up in.

Though before i had become the boy that i am i was constantly ushered out of the ladies room.

Most times I try not to really let it get to me, but today it just did.

<3

[Nadeest]

Hang in there, dameonboy. I suspect that I would have had that problem, had I lived in one place, all of my life, and also transitioned there. I moved to Texas, from Michigan, during the early part of my transition, and then, just recently, moved to Florida. The only person, here, that knew me as a male, is my mother, and she accepts me as her daughter, now. Few here realize that I have transitioned, unless I tell them.

[Nadeest]

I'm not sure if this fits under this thread or not, but I do find it interesting, and worthy of support. I know several, if not all of the authors of this book. http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazi...Book/index.php

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Nadeest

I'm not sure if this fits under this thread or not, but I do find it interesting, and worthy of support. I know several, if not all of the authors of this book. http://www.curvemag.com/Curve-Magazi...Book/index.php

I preordered this book two weeks ago. Looking forward to it!

[Yew]

I don't get static in men's rooms, but I do feel a little gut-knot going into one I am unfamiliar with. Many of my last visits to a women's room were met with double takes, weird looks etc, some women even leaving, then immediately returning and either embarrassed or hostile, informing me of the exact words on your sign...this was a continual sign that I should be in the Men's.

A couple of days ago I was going into what I thought was a general/unisex dressing room (it has always been free flowing and located between the mens and women's departments) with some two piece suits and was met at the door by a female employee who informed me "this is the women's dressing room" and blocked my entrance. I asked where the men's was and after finding it, made several trips in and out with zero problems. I guess sometimes I think the marker that is still on my ID actually means something, but this is a case of what you see is what you get, and people see me as a guy. The weird and shitty occasion where someone "she's" me can undermine my process a little and I think, Do I Really Pass As Well As I Think I Do?...mostly, yes I do, and so I have to stay true to what is inside- a guy. Sometimes stuff is just super weird. The most static I have gotten going into a men's room was in Pamplona, Spain and it was women waiting in line for the women's room who nailed me coming and going; this was pre-transition but I was still not feminine, and I suspect something about this aggression was about me being in there with 'their men", not cool at all.

Originally Posted by dameonboy

[LeftWriteFemme]

State Requiring Health Insurers To Cover Gender Transition


http://www.courant.com/news/politics...,1545137.story

[Rockinonahigh]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

State Requiring Health Insurers To Cover Gender Transition


http://www.courant.com/news/politics...,1545137.story

I wonder if this means medicare /medicaid would have to follow the same rules???

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

I wonder if this means medicare /medicaid would have to follow the same rules???

Medicaid is a state plan so I would suspect they would. Medicare is federal, so it would not be the case for them.

[Nadeest]

Yay! Now if we can get the rest of the states to do so!

[Nadeest]

Yet another attack on transgender people. Worse, the newspaper is claiming that they don't have a responsibility to check the facts, before they publish an article. http://www.transadvocate.com/toronto...ms-no-duty.htm

Note: Here is the original article, that Cristan Williams critisized.: http://www.thestar.com/life/2014/01/...allinger.html#

[Kenna]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Medicaid is a state plan so I would suspect they would. Medicare is federal, so it would not be the case for them.

Unfortunately, Dapper, I feel the need to disagree. The Medicaid Policy Writer, Medicaid Legislative Analyst and Program Manager side of me wants to help out in this situation ....Medicaid and Medicare are both Federal. The Feds (through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services -CMS) tell the states what they can and cannot do with Medicaid policy and particular programs. When the Feds make a policy change, they publish it in the Federal Register...the states review the change and have the right to "comment" using the instructions published in the Register. .. There are two different ways that the Feds can direct the states to handle coverage: As a mandated item to add to the "State Medicaid Plan" or as an optional item that the state can decide if they want to cover it or not....THEN there's also the possibility of a "State Waiver" where a state can apply to CMS (the feds) for approval to cover something that's not written in "The State Plan" ...

My suggestion is for any advocate of gender reassignment surgery to be added to MEDICAID or MEDICARE, please write in hard copy to the management of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in D.C...and also the Secretary of the federal Health and Human Services....in pleading any case for mandating coverage, it must be documented as "medically necessary".

Yes, there are Medicaid programs and services that are funded with Federal money and Medicaid programs/services/Waivers that are funded by state budget money. But the policy is driven from the feds down to the states...
if a procedure is currently NOT covered by Medicaid there are.certain legislative contacts to push it through.

I remember recently when dental care for adults has been drastically restricted because the feds and states reduced their budgets for items they decided to remove from the State Plans....
My worry is that even if Medical Necessity is proven for this surgery, several people at the federal or state level (ie. those against LGBTQ rights) will block any additions to the Medicaid or Medicare budget and policy.

[Kenna]

I'm sorry for any typos and for saying "if Medical Necessity" is proven ...I hate typing on my phone and intended to say AFTER Medical Necessity is proven ..

my hope certainly is that it becomes a covered surgery and also any therapy needed is covered ...if they cover Viagra, there are many other,services that need to be addressed. (I'm upset they cover viagra but nothing related to gender reassignment).

[Corkey]

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/...xamine-gender/

From another thread. But it fits the conversation.

[Kenna]

Originally Posted by Corkey

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2013/...xamine-gender/

From another thread. But it fits the conversation.

Thank you Corkey. I wasn't aware of this article or the wonderful statement reinforcing medical necessity because I decided to leave the Medicaid world after I discovered how my management are very dirty politicians and the worst bigots I've ever known. My old boss is the exact kind of sexist pig who would work diligently to block coverage for any sort of gender therapy or surgery.

I like the assertive statement made by Davis in this article...if they get the Medicare ban lifted, then it opens the door for Medicaid policy to be addressed.

[Kenna]

Originally Posted by Kenna

. Snipped....if they get the Medicare ban lifted, then it opens the door for Medicaid policy to be addressed.

In my distraction to deal with frozen pipes today, I neglected to clarify a few things. My apologies,
If *you* see any articles or news reports about "health insurers" being mandated by the state to cover gender surgeries, this would only apply to Insurance companies (like blue cross blue shield or Signa) or self insured agencies like an employer that has a "company health and welfare plan" (not to be confused with The Department Of Welfare or Social Services)....

sadly, any law mandating INSURERS to cover something does not apply to Medicaid (because Medicaid is "an entitlement program and not insurance") or Medicare (because Medicare is also not "insurance", its coverage identified under the Social Security Act for retired or disabled individuals).

They certainly can't make anything simple.

My boss from PA (the best supervisor I've ever had) used to say it "would take an act of god to add a covered item to Medicaid"
But the good news is, they are analyzing the MEDICARE policy, which usually ends up in the feds considering Medicaid....

[*Anya*]

Fox News, CNN Ignore Their Own Advice On Transgender Coverage
Blog ››› January 27, 2014 3:57 PM EST ››› LUKE BRINKER


Media critics on Fox News and CNN criticized a recent article that outed the inventor of a golf putter as a transgender woman. The two networks' history of problematic transgender coverage suggests that CNN and Fox could stand to take their own advice.

On January 15, the sports website Grantland published a lengthy article by Caleb Hannan about Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt, the founder of Yar Golf and inventor of a "scientifically superior" golf club. In the story, which Hannan described as "the strangest story I've ever worked on," Hannan outed "Dr. V" as a trans woman. Hannan wrote that during the course of his reporting, Vanderbilt resisted his outing of her. At the end of the article, he revealed that Vanderbilt had killed herself.

Hannan's digging into Vanderbilt's personal life -- and his problematic framing of a transgender woman's identity as "strange" - sparked fierce criticism and generated questions about the role his invasive reporting may have played in Vanderbilt's suicide. On January 26, CNN's Reliable Sources and Fox's #MediaBuzz weighed in on the controversy, with hosts and panelists on both shows agreeing that Grantland should have consulted a trans person before proceeding with the article.

On Reliable Sources, host Brian Stelter invited ESPN.com's Christina Kahrl and GLAAD's Tiq Milan to discuss the story and the ethical questions it raised:

MILAN: What journalists can take away from this is exactly what [Grantland editor-in-chief] Bill Simmons said in his letter ... to consult with LGBT organizations like GLAAD or like the National Center of Trans Equality to see how to better -- what are the best practices to deal with situations like this.

STELTER: It goes back to one of these journalistic maxims that diversity is so important to have in newsrooms. But I wonder if that's easier said than done sometimes for these places. I think you made a point, Christina, that the article was being written for an audience that could have learned a lot about the transgender community if only the research had been done.

Meanwhile, on Fox's #MediaBuzz, host Howard Kurtz dubbed Grantland's story a "media fail":

The two shows' criticism of the Grantland piece stands in stark contrast to how CNN and Fox have previously reported on transgender issues. After Army Private Chelsea Manning came out as transgender in August, both networks repeatedly misgendered her, disregarding GLAAD's Media Reference Guide, which calls on news organizations to refer to transgender people by their preferred gender pronouns.

Fox is particularly notorious for its transphobia. Host Bill O'Reilly, for instance, has advised parents to punish sons who like the color pink. In a typical display of the network's flippant attitude toward trans people, host Megyn Kelly trivialized a transgender inmate's fight for necessary medical treatment by deriding it as "a get out of male prison free card." One of Fox's most prominent transphobic faces, "Medical A Team" member Keith Ablow, has said he doesn't believe there's such a thing as being transgender.

Grantland's woefully flawed piece on Vanderbilt underscored the dangers of media ignorance about trans people. Reliable Sources and #MediaBuzz rightfully drew attention to the story's manifold problems, while highlighting the need to have the input of actual trans people when reporting on transgender issues. It's a message that both networks would benefit from heeding.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/01...transge/197771