5:00PM 4/12/2009
As Alberta dives into a recession many things had to be cut from the
provincial budget. That includes cutting funding for gender
reassignment surgeries for Albertans with Gender Identity Disorder.
The move saves about $700,000 in the provincial budget.
Edmontonian Sarah King, 33, is meeting with lawyers this week to file
a lawsuit against the Alberta Government. Her own surgery was
scheduled for next January, but without funding she won't be able to
afford the procedure she says is way more than just cosmetic. "Without
the surgery, we're caught in transition, we're caught as abnormal
people in society. We're discriminated against. People have lost jobs,
they have been disowned by family, they have lost friends. The surgery
is so important, that without it, people could die. It's called
suicide."
King hopes to get an injunction that would force the government to
fund gender reassignment. She says about 20 people have joined the
class-action lawsuit, and more sign up every day.
The Government of Alberta plans to spend $36.4 billion in the 2009
budget. King says the $700,000 needed to fund gender reassignment is
petty change in comparison.
Meanwhile, King is urging all Albertans to support and sign a petition
to re-list Sex Reassignment Surgery Funding in Alberta
. (jg,ly,blb)
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