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Unit 7 Government Blog: A Discussion on LGBTQ Healthcare and Acceptance - Directory

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By clicking on the underlined parts of text, you can quickly travel to a specific post :-)

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Post 1 - Introducing the Issue

Post 2 - Historical Timeline

Post 3 - Why the Issue is Important to Me

Post 4 - What is Currently Being Done, The Opposition, Interest Groups

Post 5 - My Solution

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Thank you for reading through my blog! And happy pride month!

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Works cited page / websites used in my research can be found below the cut!

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Works Cited

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My solution to the topic of healthcare and acceptance for the LGBTQ community is to put most of our focus on the healthcare itself first. There are enough laws and activism groups to offer their support with the ongoing struggle against homophobia / transphobia; the biggest concern should be placed on making medical care and procedures much more affordable and accessible.

This starts with lowering the prices, or offering support plans to facilitate more people getting the help they need. HRT should be offered at cheaper prices, with or without insurance, to ensure that queer individuals can receive the medication they need during their transition. HRT is one of the most common parts of the trans experience; a lot of the community prioritizes it over surgeries, since it can naturally help a lot more physical changes occur in the body. (e.g. changing of face shape, voice lowering, breast development) The lowering of prices also extends to actual surgeries, which will naturally cost a bit more due to how in depth they are, but should still be more accessible.

To help with the prices, we need to build more facilities for or specializing in gender affirming surgeries. With more surgeons and doctors to offer their services, specialists wouldn’t have to charge such high prices.

The expansion of affirmative surgery locations would naturally reduce waitlists as well. Queer individuals would have a much easier time finding a surgeon that fit their needs and getting an appointment, rather than having to wait in the long line to get into one of the few well known offices throughout California.

All of these suggestions could be made possible through monetary government support. By reducing the money put into things like military and defense, and instead put into helping minorities, we could fund a wave of change and help for the LGBTQ community.

So for now, the community needs to keep protesting and standing up for the rights and equality they deserve. With time comes change and, if we all come together to fight for these issues, we will one day be able to see the fruits of our labor. Contacting California and U.S. representatives is a critical part of our protest; by taking these topics directly to government officials, we take one step closer to having some actual change made in our state.

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So what’s being done about this all in California?

Not much strictly in healthcare; prices are still high and waitlists are long. However, we should most definitely be thankful for how accessible HRT and affirming surgeries have become. As mentioned before, California is one of the most popular states for individuals looking for surgeries outside of their own state.

As for LGBTQ protection in general, there’s actually a good amount of protection offered from California law. For queer workers, they are protected against discrimination and violence, and are entitled to their privacy regarding being asked about their biological sex, assigned gender, or sexual orientation. Though these may seem like inherent rights, there are many people that would take advantage of queer people not having them. Violence and harassment is rampant with homophobes, so it’s important that there protections in place for LGBTQ individuals. Employers and their healthcare services are also required by California law to help cover medical expenses for gender affirming actions (such as HRT or surgeries).

Some notable protections include:

Sexual Orientation Change Efforts SB 1172: This policy prohibits mental health professionals from using conversion therapy as a means to “change” an individual’s sexual or gender orientation.

School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266): This policy allows transgender individuals to participate in sex-segregated activities based on their gender identity, not their biological sex. (I.E. a female to male transgender person playing a sport in the same group as biologically male people.)

California Gender Recognition Act (Senate Bill 179): This law allows non-binary, transgender, and intersex people to change their sex to “x” or “nb” on official documents like birth certificates or driver’s licenses.

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The opposition to LGBTQ movements and protection is well known for being very vocal. Most everyone who opposes these topics can simply be called homophobic and / or transphobic. (Of course there might be some that are not, but these people generally lead the charge)

A large argument against more accessible healthcare is a fear for the youth of America. The opposition often makes claims that it’s brainwashing or mutilation to allow children to access these sorts of services. However, these claims are mainly rooted in misinformation. Children are not allowed many of these services, and a very large percentage of the LGBTQ community agree it should stay that way. Children can be given hormone blockers if they exhibit signs of doubt or confusion regarding their identity at a young age, but these have been proven to be harmless and reversible. Things that cause more permanent change like HRT or affirming surgeries are only provided to older teens and adults, after months to years of therapy and countless appointments to decide if treatment is in fact the correct decision. The process is a lot longer and in depth than the opposition seems to think, which leads to a lot of their claims just seeming like misguided aggression towards the minority.

The people that oppose queer healthcare often want all of these services to be completely illegal for people under 18, and even after that many don’t want it to be available at all. This is innately harmful, as a lack of affirming care often leads to the development of things like depression and suicidal ideation in individuals suffering from dysphoria. It is extremely dangerous to refuse to let queer individuals receive the external help they need to feel more comfortable in their own bodies.

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Two notable interest groups that help the LGBTQ community include:

Equality California: This group advocates for LGBTQ civil rights and social justice, striving to elevate queer voices and create a safer, more accepting world.

GSA Network: This group focuses on queer youth; they help bring acceptance to schools and create spaces where LGBTQ community members can feel at home.

Equality California is located in Los Angeles with other offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Las Vegas, NV. For questions or information, they can be contacted via their website or through their representative, Jorge Reyes Salinas at press@eqca.org.

GSA Network is located in San Francisco. For questions or information, they can be contacted through their statewide email, california@gsanetwork.org. They also have other contacts for different regions of California, which can be found on their website.

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I chose to talk about this issue for multiple reasons; it affects both me and people I personally know, and I believe the LGBTQ community deserves much better. Regardless of my own orientation, it is crucial for this community to be seen and treated as actual people, rather than a source of political conflict. Our lives are not just a controversy—we are real people who deserve the same treatment as others, as well as accessible help to foster happiness and comfort in our own bodies.

As mentioned in my first post, I am personally affected by the high costs and long waits that come with queer healthcare. Currently I’m on testosterone and am waiting for my first consultation with a surgeon for top surgery. I made this appointment last year and my date is near the early part of December. Despite how long that might seem, I still got incredibly lucky with the wait. I know some people that have had to wait years more than me, and like I’ve previously mentioned, these waits are only for a consultation.

Aside from the financial aspect of this all, there’s a lot of societal struggles that come alongside transitioning. Be it negativity from family members, homophobia and / or transphobia out in public, or discrimination in the media field, there’s most always something for queer individuals to have to deal with.

I want to help protest for more attention being put on issues regarding the LGBTQ community, especially the more medical side of our struggles. We all deserve to feel comfortable with ourselves without insanely expensive hormones and / or medical procedures or the sense of public shame that can come from being queer.

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Firstly, let’s establish a timeline of some important milestones in queer history. We have to address the good, the bad, and the ugly if we want a proper understanding of the struggles this community goes through.

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December 10, 1924: The Society of Human Rights is founded in Chicago by Henry Gerber. This was the first gay rights organization to ever be proper conceived. They soon shut down due to political pressure, but it was a great first step nonetheless.

April of 1952: Homosexuality is officially listed as a sociopathic personality disorder in a publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This added fuel to the fire that is homophobia, and opened the doors for further harsh treatment of queer individuals.

April 27, 1953: Executive Order 10450 is signed by President Eisenhower to ban homosexuals from working in federal government or any other private contractors. And they were labeled as a security risk.

January 1, 1962: Illinois becomes the first US state to decriminalize homosexuality. This was the first sign of progress and acceptance for the LGBTQ community.

August 1966: After transgender customers are manhandled by police officers, a riot ensues near a coffee shop and leads to the establishment of the national Transsexual Counseling Unit. This was one of the first activist groups targeted towards helping transgender individuals.

June 28, 1969: The Stonewall Riots begin after police raid of a popular gay bar. These riots are what properly started and propelled the modern movement of LGBTQ rights and activism.

December 15, 1973: homosexuality is removed from the list of mental illness. This proved that the queer community was becoming more excepted, though they still had a lot of rights they had to continue fighting for.

July 3, 1981: The first records of AIDS are published, and the name of the disease is coined by Bruce Voeller. This is the start of the AIDS epidemic, which then led to more acceptance and care given to the LGBTQ community, more specifically gay men, and their sexual health.

March 10, 1987: the AIDS advocacy group act up is formed in response to the epidemic. This is what helps lead to more accessible healthcare given to queer individuals, and paves the way towards advocating for more openness and education, being put towards the sexual health of all individuals.

June 26, 2015: same-sex marriage is legalized in all 50 states. This was a huge step towards global acceptance for the queer community.

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These historical events act as both steps towards progress and inspiration for the current and further generations of LGBTQ people. We can reflect on the suffering of the past, and turn it into passion to protest for better. It is important to remember our roots and the hard work our predecessors have already put in for the community’s collective happiness.

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Throughout recent history, healthcare for queer individuals has evolved exponentially. From AIDS care to hormone replacement therapy and gender affirming surgeries.

However, there are still many issues with our current system. Getting the correct healthcare is hard in and of itself, not to mention how expensive treatments can be. There is also the societal struggle that comes with needing these services. Finding therapists and doctors to help can take months or years for some people, and that’s only to get the process started.

California specifically has been a safe haven of sorts for the LGBTQ community; there are a lot of aid programs and services like affirmative surgeries have become more accepted. However, this has caused California to face an influx of queer people who come from other states seeking the help they can’t get back home. While it’s great California can be a beacon of hope for these people, a lot of clinics for hormone replacement therapy (hereafter HRT) and gender affirming surgeries are often overworked. An example of this would be the waitlist times for masculinizing chest surgery (hereafter top surgery), it can take years just to get a consultation, and even longer for an actual surgery date. This leads to transgender individuals having increased dysphoria, as they have to live with their current body for much longer than they should. Another issue is the cost of all this healthcare. Both HRT and affirming surgeries are very expensive and often hard to get insurance to cover. A personal example of this would be the price of my testosterone shots; without insurance, a single shot could cost upwards of 800 dollars. To have the hormones work affectively I take them every week, and will likely be on them for the rest of my life. That’s around $3200 per month. I am extremely lucky to have good insurance, but we need to think of all the people that don’t have those expenses covered. That is an absolutely ridiculous price for weekly shots, all to feel a bit better in our own skin. There should be much better alternatives and programs to help distribute these services without the high prices.

My goal with this project is to advocate for increased attention put towards queer healthcare and the LGBTQ members that are currently suffering from high prices, long waitlists, and social injustices that come along with it.