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transThis was in the Seattle P.I. a couple days ago.
One of the people quoted in here is a customer at the cafe I work at.
I thought I'd share it, and see what you thought ...
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/251260_hcenter08.html
About-face in care for city's transgender patients
Medical community trying to better meet their needs
Thursday, December 8, 2005
By JULIE DAVIDOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
For several years after beginning his transition from a woman to a man, Airen Lydick saw two doctors -- one who knew him as a woman and one to monitor his testosterone injections.
"I know what they need me to call myself in order to get the health care coverage that I need," said Lydick, who started injecting male hormones nearly three years ago.
He changed his driver's license to identify him as a man, but health insurance is trickier.
He worries about one day being denied coverage for ovarian or breast cancer if his official medical records list him as male.
Transgender men and women often rely on medical interventions to transform their bodies, but going to the doctor means subjecting their anatomy and lives to the close scrutiny of a stranger who's likely not well-versed in transgender medicine or culture.
"I think to a certain extent it's invisible to the field of medicine still. It's not a specialty. I'm not going to be board-certified," said Dr. Teresa Murphy, who treats low-income transgender patients at the Pike Market Medical Clinic.
But an interest in transgender medicine appears to be gaining momentum in Seattle as providers, clinics and public health officials attempt to learn more about the unique concerns of patients who don't identify with the sex of their birth.
They're requesting sensitivity trainings, calling local experts in transgender medicine for advice and figuring out details about the transgender community and its concerns.
A major one is insurance. Companies that categorize clients as only men or women can make health care a precarious and often expensive pursuit for transgender people.
Anthony Ricardi, a transgender man, saved $8,000 for chest reconstruction surgery to remove his breasts.
"I wanted to look like this in the world," said Ricardi, whose chest is now broad and flat. "I felt really uncomfortable in my body."
A doctor in San Francisco performed the surgery. Group Health Cooperative declined to pay. Although gender-identity disorder is a diagnosable psychiatric condition (as defined in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"), most insurers do not consider it a medical condition.
"There's a specific exclusion in our contract that says sexual-reassignment surgery and related services and supplies are not covered," said Holly Knighten, manager of contract compliance and training at Group Health. "We just don't consider it something that's a medical condition that we would cover."
Ricardi, a 24-year-old student at Seattle Central Community College, wants to study nursing in large part because of his experiences as a transgender patient.
Clearly stymied by his patient's ambiguous gender, a chiropractor once asked Ricardi what his genitals look like.
"It's hard to feel comfortable with a doctor who's freaked out by your body," Ricardi said.
Vanessa Grandberry heads a King County-funded program started three years ago to provide HIV and AIDS education to transgender men and women of color at the People of Color Against AIDS Network in Seattle.
"I really believe that transgender people are where gay men were 60 years ago," Grandberry said. "Some people don't seek any health care because they are ashamed or they are afraid they're going to be discriminated against."
Others, like Lydick, work out a compromise by using two physicians.
In addition to the complications and side effects associated with surgery and hormones, some small studies suggest transgender people are also at higher risk for depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and HIV and AIDS than the overall population.
Some providers are beginning to take note. "We used to speak in terms of lesbians or gay men, but now we need to include transgender people, too, in that discussion," said Martha Clay, a nurse practitioner in the breast center at Swedish Medical Center. In September, the center held a staff training session about transgender health care.
That nascent interest is fueled in part by a locally active and vocal transgender community, said Dr. Bob Wood, director of the HIV/AIDS Program at Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
"I think people in the population are pounding their shoes on the table and saying we need services, too," Wood said.
Despite a lack of accurate population estimates, some say there's evidence of a growing number of transgender men and women in Seattle.
In the past several years, members of the community say a younger, more outspoken and politically active generation has expanded what it means to be transgender. The term now encompasses a wider range of gender expression, including those who don't want to make any physical changes to their bodies. That has effectively increased the number of people who identify as transgender.
"There are a lot more trans folks that are just out and proud," said Mary Dzieweczynski, executive director of Verbena Health, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health advocacy organization in Seattle. "The stigma is wearing away."
Seattle has long been a draw for transgender men and women. The Ingersoll Gender Center, founded in 1977, was among the first non-profits in the nation designed to support people with gender-identity issues. Ingersoll offers support groups, peer counseling, referrals to licensed therapists and workshops.
Today, the Internet also links transgender people across the country with resources, support and information, including Seattle events.
About 50 people attended a recent transgender health fair -- the second annual event sponsored by Verbena. Participants came from rural Washington, Idaho and as far as Iowa.
And a growing number of non-profit agencies, clinics and specialists, including Verbena, provide counseling and health services for transgender men and women in Seattle.
When Grandberry joined the King County HIV/AIDS Planning Council in 2001, members weren't convinced there were enough transgender residents to build services around.
"We've had certain members ... that will say there's no data, there's no data so why should we be funding programs for transgender people," Grandberry said. "That attitude has changed."
In 2003, the public health department started collecting information about the local transgender community and tracking cases of HIV and AIDS.
Gay City Health Project, which has traditionally focused on gay men's health and HIV and AIDS testing, for the first time added female-to-male transgender concerns to its health pamphlets in 2003, said Fred Swanson, executive director at Gay City.
"We're thinking more broadly about the gay community and gay males," Swanson said. "It's recognizing that some gay men may not be born with penises.
"We could have different bodies and be at risk for different things for different reasons."
Lydick grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska. He was never a girly girl, but other interests and inclinations -- he liked to read and study -- stood out more among his peers than his appearance and mannerisms.
"I'm not one of those folks who says when I was 3 my mom tried to put me in a dress and I kicked her in the head," Lydick said. "I was a farm kid. There was no putting me in a dress. I wasn't supposed to be pretty."
He moved to Seattle six years ago after graduating as a philosophy major from a liberal arts college in Illinois.
Lydick pays cash for his hormones and twice-yearly visits to Murphy to monitor any side effects from the injections.
The male hormones have made his voice deeper and given him facial hair. Chewing on a croissant in a Capitol Hill coffee shop last month, his face was clean shaven except for a patch of whiskers on his chin. His hips are trimmer than they once were, his face less full.
But Lydick doesn't know what could happen to his body after a lifetime of the high-dose hormones.
"There has been no long-term testing of trans people," said Lydick, 30. "That's of concern to me."
Like many transgender people, he's familiar with nightmare stories about transgender interactions with the health care system. The film "Southern Comfort" -- a lightning rod for health concerns within the transgender community -- tells the story of a transgender man who died after doctors refused to treat him for ovarian cancer.
California recently became the only state in the country to prohibit discrimination in health policies or benefits based on gender identity.
And even well-meaning doctors avoid eye contact or give their patients the once over, searching for evidence of one sex or the other.
"Doctors are human," Lydick said. "And gender deviance is scary to many humans."
TRANSGENDER HEALTH RESOURCES
Public Health -- Seattle & King County page on transgender health: www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/transmedical.htm
Trans-Health.com:
www.trans-health.com
Ingersoll Gender Center:
www.ingersoll.org
The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association: www.hbigda.org
Verbena Health:
www.verbenahealth.org
Thank you for letting me share this!
Best wishes,
Aiden Karamanyan
One of the people quoted in here is a customer at the cafe I work at.
I thought I'd share it, and see what you thought ...
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/251260_hcenter08.html
About-face in care for city's transgender patients
Medical community trying to better meet their needs
Thursday, December 8, 2005
By JULIE DAVIDOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
For several years after beginning his transition from a woman to a man, Airen Lydick saw two doctors -- one who knew him as a woman and one to monitor his testosterone injections.
"I know what they need me to call myself in order to get the health care coverage that I need," said Lydick, who started injecting male hormones nearly three years ago.
He changed his driver's license to identify him as a man, but health insurance is trickier.
He worries about one day being denied coverage for ovarian or breast cancer if his official medical records list him as male.
Transgender men and women often rely on medical interventions to transform their bodies, but going to the doctor means subjecting their anatomy and lives to the close scrutiny of a stranger who's likely not well-versed in transgender medicine or culture.
"I think to a certain extent it's invisible to the field of medicine still. It's not a specialty. I'm not going to be board-certified," said Dr. Teresa Murphy, who treats low-income transgender patients at the Pike Market Medical Clinic.
But an interest in transgender medicine appears to be gaining momentum in Seattle as providers, clinics and public health officials attempt to learn more about the unique concerns of patients who don't identify with the sex of their birth.
They're requesting sensitivity trainings, calling local experts in transgender medicine for advice and figuring out details about the transgender community and its concerns.
A major one is insurance. Companies that categorize clients as only men or women can make health care a precarious and often expensive pursuit for transgender people.
Anthony Ricardi, a transgender man, saved $8,000 for chest reconstruction surgery to remove his breasts.
"I wanted to look like this in the world," said Ricardi, whose chest is now broad and flat. "I felt really uncomfortable in my body."
A doctor in San Francisco performed the surgery. Group Health Cooperative declined to pay. Although gender-identity disorder is a diagnosable psychiatric condition (as defined in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"), most insurers do not consider it a medical condition.
"There's a specific exclusion in our contract that says sexual-reassignment surgery and related services and supplies are not covered," said Holly Knighten, manager of contract compliance and training at Group Health. "We just don't consider it something that's a medical condition that we would cover."
Ricardi, a 24-year-old student at Seattle Central Community College, wants to study nursing in large part because of his experiences as a transgender patient.
Clearly stymied by his patient's ambiguous gender, a chiropractor once asked Ricardi what his genitals look like.
"It's hard to feel comfortable with a doctor who's freaked out by your body," Ricardi said.
Vanessa Grandberry heads a King County-funded program started three years ago to provide HIV and AIDS education to transgender men and women of color at the People of Color Against AIDS Network in Seattle.
"I really believe that transgender people are where gay men were 60 years ago," Grandberry said. "Some people don't seek any health care because they are ashamed or they are afraid they're going to be discriminated against."
Others, like Lydick, work out a compromise by using two physicians.
In addition to the complications and side effects associated with surgery and hormones, some small studies suggest transgender people are also at higher risk for depression, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and HIV and AIDS than the overall population.
Some providers are beginning to take note. "We used to speak in terms of lesbians or gay men, but now we need to include transgender people, too, in that discussion," said Martha Clay, a nurse practitioner in the breast center at Swedish Medical Center. In September, the center held a staff training session about transgender health care.
That nascent interest is fueled in part by a locally active and vocal transgender community, said Dr. Bob Wood, director of the HIV/AIDS Program at Public Health -- Seattle & King County.
"I think people in the population are pounding their shoes on the table and saying we need services, too," Wood said.
Despite a lack of accurate population estimates, some say there's evidence of a growing number of transgender men and women in Seattle.
In the past several years, members of the community say a younger, more outspoken and politically active generation has expanded what it means to be transgender. The term now encompasses a wider range of gender expression, including those who don't want to make any physical changes to their bodies. That has effectively increased the number of people who identify as transgender.
"There are a lot more trans folks that are just out and proud," said Mary Dzieweczynski, executive director of Verbena Health, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health advocacy organization in Seattle. "The stigma is wearing away."
Seattle has long been a draw for transgender men and women. The Ingersoll Gender Center, founded in 1977, was among the first non-profits in the nation designed to support people with gender-identity issues. Ingersoll offers support groups, peer counseling, referrals to licensed therapists and workshops.
Today, the Internet also links transgender people across the country with resources, support and information, including Seattle events.
About 50 people attended a recent transgender health fair -- the second annual event sponsored by Verbena. Participants came from rural Washington, Idaho and as far as Iowa.
And a growing number of non-profit agencies, clinics and specialists, including Verbena, provide counseling and health services for transgender men and women in Seattle.
When Grandberry joined the King County HIV/AIDS Planning Council in 2001, members weren't convinced there were enough transgender residents to build services around.
"We've had certain members ... that will say there's no data, there's no data so why should we be funding programs for transgender people," Grandberry said. "That attitude has changed."
In 2003, the public health department started collecting information about the local transgender community and tracking cases of HIV and AIDS.
Gay City Health Project, which has traditionally focused on gay men's health and HIV and AIDS testing, for the first time added female-to-male transgender concerns to its health pamphlets in 2003, said Fred Swanson, executive director at Gay City.
"We're thinking more broadly about the gay community and gay males," Swanson said. "It's recognizing that some gay men may not be born with penises.
"We could have different bodies and be at risk for different things for different reasons."
Lydick grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska. He was never a girly girl, but other interests and inclinations -- he liked to read and study -- stood out more among his peers than his appearance and mannerisms.
"I'm not one of those folks who says when I was 3 my mom tried to put me in a dress and I kicked her in the head," Lydick said. "I was a farm kid. There was no putting me in a dress. I wasn't supposed to be pretty."
He moved to Seattle six years ago after graduating as a philosophy major from a liberal arts college in Illinois.
Lydick pays cash for his hormones and twice-yearly visits to Murphy to monitor any side effects from the injections.
The male hormones have made his voice deeper and given him facial hair. Chewing on a croissant in a Capitol Hill coffee shop last month, his face was clean shaven except for a patch of whiskers on his chin. His hips are trimmer than they once were, his face less full.
But Lydick doesn't know what could happen to his body after a lifetime of the high-dose hormones.
"There has been no long-term testing of trans people," said Lydick, 30. "That's of concern to me."
Like many transgender people, he's familiar with nightmare stories about transgender interactions with the health care system. The film "Southern Comfort" -- a lightning rod for health concerns within the transgender community -- tells the story of a transgender man who died after doctors refused to treat him for ovarian cancer.
California recently became the only state in the country to prohibit discrimination in health policies or benefits based on gender identity.
And even well-meaning doctors avoid eye contact or give their patients the once over, searching for evidence of one sex or the other.
"Doctors are human," Lydick said. "And gender deviance is scary to many humans."
TRANSGENDER HEALTH RESOURCES
Public Health -- Seattle & King County page on transgender health: www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/transmedical.htm
Trans-Health.com:
www.trans-health.com
Ingersoll Gender Center:
www.ingersoll.org
The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association: www.hbigda.org
Verbena Health:
www.verbenahealth.org
Thank you for letting me share this!
Best wishes,
Aiden Karamanyan
