'I felt so trapped'

Edmonton Sun, Canada
Sun, April 12, 2009

'I felt so trapped'
Transgendered individuals to launch lawsuit to get surgery funding reinstated
By CLARA HO, SUN MEDIA

Sarah King lost jobs, friends, relatives and, most devastatingly,
custody of her daughter when she made the decision to transition from
a male to a female.

But like many other transgendered individuals, it was a decision King
needed to make in order to survive.

And for many, the transition cannot be done without gender reassignment surgery.

Now the 33-year-old self-employed businesswoman is spearheading a
class-action lawsuit against the Alberta government after it announced
it would no longer fund gender reassignment surgeries to save about
$700,000 in its budget.

"By delisting gender reassignment surgery, the government is
performing capital punishment or execution on that person," King said.

She cited examples of transgendered individuals hurting themselves
because of their gender identity disorder.

King said she will go to court on Wednesday in the hope of obtaining
an injunction that will force the province to approve funding for
everyone on a gender reassignment surgery waiting list and then
eventually relist funding.

King and other members of the local transgendered community are in
talks with the same law firm that represented Delwin Vriend, a gay
teacher who took his case to the Supreme Court when he was fired from
his job for his sexual orientation.

The landmark case forced the province to protect gays in its human
rights legislation more than 10 years ago.

Currently, more than 16 people are represented in the lawsuit -- and
that number continues to grow by the day, said King, who was recently
notified that funding for her own gender reassignment surgery,
scheduled for January, had been cancelled.

Dominic Scaia is one of those individuals fighting to have the funding
reinstated.

"Somebody stole our hope away," said the 26-year-old.

Scaia moved from British Columbia to Alberta two years ago to have all
the necessary surgeries to fully transition from a female to a male.

When he was living as "Donna" years ago, Scaia said he was deeply
depressed, very self-destructive, and promiscuous, and was taking
drugs and cutting himself.

A friend helped him realize that if he didn't transition, he would
eventually harm himself. He immediately started taking the necessary
steps to become a male.

He saw a psychiatrist, took hormones, lived as a man for two years,
and obtained funding approval from the province to have chest surgery,
scheduled for November.

Now he's unsure if that approval still stands.

"I bawled my eyes out," he said when he heard the funding had been
cut. "I felt so trapped."

CLARA.HO@SUNMEDIA.CA
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