Recently, a nonprofit known as MyTransHealth, which connects patients with trans-friendly lawyers, and medical, mental, and dental health care, prompted transgender patients to tweet about their #TransHealthFails. Ironically, the promo was a success: Trans patients tweeted up a storm, exposing the horrific realities of medical care gone awry. "The current state of health care for trans people is downright terrible and failing our community every step of the way," says Amelia Gapin, a transgender woman and co-founder of MyTransHealth.
Advocates agree that medical and mental health care has a long way to go — and you'll agree too, once you get a load of the shit you have to deal with when you're a transgender patient:
1. You're humiliated in the waiting room.
Many trans patients, before changing their legal birth names, go by names that fit the gender they identify with. But some doctors insist on keeping the patients' legal names on medical records.
When a nurse or receptionist gets a hold of the paperwork and yells out "Julia!" to call a trans man with a full beard, it exposes him to the whole room. This can be embarrassing and unsafe, because it opens him up to violence, aggression, hate crimes, and queer bashing, explains M. Victoria Albina, a registered nurse practitioner at One Medical Group, a national primary care clinic. (She classifies herself as queer and has been out for 24 years.)
Another thing: You never know how a receptionist will react if your voice, name, or appearance doesn't match the sex listed in your medical records, and it's huge source of anxiety for many patients.
Clinics don't necessarily educate their receptionists and nurses on how to make transgender patients feel most comfortable. "There's a lot of cultural competency that's not taught," Albina says.
2. Office staffers disregard your gender.
Whether you're seeking medical or mental health care, you usually have to disclose your sex when you make an appointment and again when you're filling out forms. But people who are just starting to transition may not know whether to share their birth gender or their gender identity — and many medical personnel don't bother making that distinction. "Doctors don't understand that being misgendered is exhausting and negates who you are," Albina says.
While it does matter if a transgender man's birth gender was female because it can sometimes help guide a patient's treatment, it's important to differentiate between gender (how you identify yourself) and sex (what sexual organs you have), and respect proper pronouns. That goes for interactions that take place in front of the patient and in conversations among office staff, in paperwork, and in emails.
3. Doctors refuse to treat you.
Finding a doctor can be a tough task for anyone, but it's extra scary when you're trans. "We've heard stories about doctors suggesting that trans patients simply go to church more," says Gapin.
The risks are compounded in emergency rooms, where trans patients can be denied basic health care because the gender they put forth IRL doesn't match the sex listed on their insurance. If you consider yourself a transgender woman and you're not extremely feminine, sometimes just proving your identity can be a struggle, Gapin says.
