Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tory MLA questions delisting of sex changes

Tory MLA questions delisting of sex changes

St. Albert's Allred plans to introduce transgendered constituent to legislature today
By Jodie Sinnema and Ben Gelinas, The Edmonton JournalApril 14, 2009 6:32 AMBe the first to post a comment



Members of Alberta's transgendered community who gather in the legislature gallery today to protest funding cuts may receive some encouragement from an unexpected source -- a Tory backbencher.

St. Albert MLA Ken Allred said he plans to introduce a transgendered constituent in the house today and has his own questions about why his government has cut funding for gender reassignment surgery.

The health-care costs the province might incur may outweigh the $700,000 the government hopes to save annually, said Allred, who wants to see a cost-benefit analysis.

Jamie-Lynn Garvin, who was on the waiting list for gender reassignment surgery, said she was encouraged after meeting with Allred to discuss the issue.

"He can see the medical need for it now," said Garvin, whom Allred plans to introduce in the legislature today. "He didn't understand who we are."

Allred admits he didn't know much about transgender issues before he spoke with Garvin. "I guess I didn't have much of an opinion before I spoke with her. She has certainly broadened my perspective.

"I don't know the total reasons why they have cut it. It sounds economic. I guess I have a few concerns that by saving a few dollars in one place, we might be causing more spending in another.

"These people go through a lot of psychological and medical problems as a result of their trauma."

Garvin was a boy in Allred's scout troop back in the 1970s.

"I guess, according to her, that we always told our scouts not to be afraid of anything and stand up to a challenge," Allred said. "To bring the problem out into the open, she's a very courageous woman."

More than 30 people are expected to attend question period today to push the government to reverse the funding cut. About 10 people plan to file human rights complaints en masse Wednesday morning, and some are exploring the possibility of a class-action lawsuit.

"It's important to show people that we are far different from the assumptions that are made quite often," said Mercedes Allen, a Calgarian who was scheduled to have a sex-change operation in August before Alberta Health and Wellness stopped paying for the $18,000 to $70,000 procedures as part of its 2009 budget. "People expect us to be fringe and rabble and such, and that's not the case. Many of us are professional people and I think the public needs to see that."

Allen said the group heading to the legislature wants to show government that the surgery is not cosmetic but a medical necessity for those who believe they were born in the wrong body and gender.

"One thing that is positive is seeing how many people are stepping up to the plate and speaking and putting on a good face to the community," said Allen, 40. She hopes launching a human rights complaint won't be necessary if the government reinstates $700,000 in annual funding.

"We would rather not see the human rights issues go ahead, because then it becomes an expensive legal issue and a lot of us have seen that happen with the Delwin Vriend case," Allen said, referring to the landmark gay rights case that ended with a Supreme Court decision stating Alberta wasn't protecting gays from discrimination. "I'm an Albertan and a taxpayer, too. I would rather not go down that route."

A similar human rights complaint in Ontario forced the government to reinstate funding for the surgery 10 years after the province delisted it.

Sarah King, who was scheduled to fly to Montreal next January to discuss surgery options, said she was contacted through e-mail by the Oprah Winfrey show when it got word Alberta was cutting funding. A message from Harpo Studios in Chicago said the show wasn't doing a story now, but would contact her for an interview if it does a segment on the issue in the future.

"There stands to be a lot of people who stand to lose a lot financially with the delisting," said King, who is meeting with lawyers to discuss filing a class-action lawsuit against the Alberta government. Even if the government decides to change its budget decision, King said she still wants to file a injunction preventing the government from ever delisting the service again.

Kris Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, said some people think the government delisted the surgery as a way to test the ground for further delisting -- and have been surprised by the negative, vocal response.

"A lot of people are speculating that this is part of the government's Machiavellian plan to throw this particular issue out there as a smokescreen, one they knew would be controversial and will detract attention from other cuts," Wells said. "There are some who believe this is just one tactic by the current government to start a wholesale initiative for delisting health-care services. Now when it's targeting one vulnerable community and the other communities don't speak out, which will be next?"

Laurie Blakeman, Liberal MLA for Edmonton Centre, said she thinks the decision to cut the program funding was based on ideology and not on the need to tighten belts.

"They just don't like and support this community so they're just going to punish them," said Blakeman.

"If there is any one thing that can make a difference, it's that kind of effort from the community to pressure the government, because it does seem to be the one thing they respond to, that real push-back from the public on a given issue."

jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

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