Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility

Calgary Herald - AB, Canada
Liepert expands sex-change coverage eligibility
By Trish Audette, edmontonjournal.com

April 14, 2009



EDMONTON € ’· Health Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday nearly twice as
many people will be eligible for government-funded gender reassignment
surgeries before the province stops paying for the service to save
money.

Last week, when the government announced cutting the program would
save roughly $700,000 a year, Liepert said the 26 people already on
the list to get the surgery would still be funded. On Tuesday, he
added roughly 20 people who have already begun paying for their own
hormonal medication in preparation for gender reassignment.

€ ’³It would not be right for us to now say, € ’±Well, you€ ’²ve spent all this
money, we€ ’²re now going to change the rules,€ ’² € ’´ Liepert said. € ’³It seems
to me to be unfair to have someone believe that a certain surgery was
going to take place, dug into their pockets for hormonal drugs that
were prescribed by the medical community, and somehow we don€ ’²t follow
through on it.€ ’´

The minister said he made the decision to expand the list of people
being funded based on media reports over the weekend that highlighted
the concerns of people on waiting lists who cannot afford procedures
that run as high as $80,000. With about three dozen people who support
the transgendered community or are waiting for gender reassignment
surgeries watching from the gallery, Liepert side-stepped questions of
human rights during Tuesday afternoon€ ’²s question period at the
legislature.

Last May, a 10-year battle to reinstate public funding for gender
reassignment surgeries came to a close in Ontario, when that
province€ ’²s human rights commission found the decision to cut the
program discriminatory. Liepert and Premier Ed Stelmach emphasized
cutting funding for sex change surgeries comes down to a line-by-line
analysis of the budget.

€ ’³We€ ’²re just saying the taxpayers will be no longer funding this
particular surgery,€ ’´ Stelmach said. € ’³If you€ ’²re speculating on the fact
that some people may challenge the government decision under (the)
Alberta Human Rights Commission, then we€ ’²ll see what happens.€ ’´

Members of the transgendered community are expected to file human
rights complaints in Calgary and Edmonton today. Edmonton-Centre
Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman said the province has set itself up for
the kind of long-haul legal wrangling Ontario experienced.

€ ’³It was a very long battle and a very, very expensive battle, and one
that I would hope this government would be smart enough not to get
involved in,€ ’´ she said. € ’³And they just walked right into it.€ ’´

Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Rachel Notley suggested the government
€ ’³back up, calm down, (and) do the right thing.€ ’´

€ ’³This is a black eye for this government if they actively try to stop
these folks from getting the services they need.€ ’´

The Journal learned Monday Alberta€ ’²s handling of the issue has even
drawn the attention of daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Jamie-Lynn Garvin, a 47-year-old who has been living as a woman for
the last two years while waiting for her gender reassignment
operation, has become the face of the debate in the last week. She
told her story to media outlets and spoke to her MLA, St. Albert
Conservative Ken Allred, who now has questions about the plan to
delist funding. On Tuesday, Allred asked Liepert whether he was aware
the surgeries are funded by other provinces.

€ ’³We could get into a long debate about what is funded in other
provinces and what is funded in Alberta,€ ’´ Liepert answered.

Garvin said the news Liepert would be expanding funding to those still
on the waiting list was € ’³fantastic€ ’´ € ’· if it pans out.

€ ’³I€ ’²m not 18 years old. I€ ’²ve been around the block more than once, and
I€ ’²ve heard a lot of things come out of politicians€ ’² mouths,€ ’´ she said.
€ ’³It€ ’²s a $40,000 announcement for me, if it€ ’²s true. (But) there€ ’²s a lot
of things that can happen between what he just said and when it comes
down to what Alberta Health finally tell us.€ ’´

taudette@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Cutting+change+coverage+necessary+says+Alberta+health+minister/1495792/story.html

Sex change funding cut may take heavy toll

Edmonton Sun, Canada
April 11, 2009

Sex change funding cut may take heavy toll

By MICHAEL PLATT

For Michelle Ann Duff, it wasn't a choice. Sex-change surgery was a
decision between an early grave or a new life as a woman.

"I had two choices: number one was to make a gender change, and number
two was to jump in front of a subway car," said Duff, 69.

The Ontario woman faced a much bigger leap of lifestyles than for the
relatively few Canadians who undergo the life-altering switch every
year.

In 1985, as the soon-to-be "she" boarded a plane to Belgium for a date
with a sex-change specialist, Michael Duff was a world-acclaimed
motorcycle racing star, Canada's own record-setting grand-prix hero.

Retired and with three children from two marriages, Duff abandoned the
uber-macho world of pistons and leather to start a new life as a
woman.

"I hate that overused cliche, a woman trapped in man's body, but
that's basically it," said Duff. "It's been shown time-and-time again
that the only way to connect for a person with gender dysphoria is to
make the outside the same as the way they feel inside."

Gender dysphoria is a recognized psychological condition which causes
distress and depression. In Alberta, the condition is considered
serious enough to qualify victims for sex-change surgery, paid for by
the province for the past decade. Or, at least, it was.

On Tuesday, while hiking the price of beer and cigarettes, the
province also yanked funding for transgender surgery, supposedly to
cut $700,000 a year out of a $13-billion purse. Petty doesn't begin to
describe the few pennies saved by cutting funding to the 10 to 20
Albertans who undergo the surgery each year.

Already, there's talk of a human rights complaint -Ontario faced a
similar challenge and lost in 2008 - but those awaiting their turn for
change are devastated.

"I've been on hormones for two years and dressing as a female, and
then they do this - how is this even possible?" said Paris, a Calgary
male-to-female gender converter, who asked her name be changed to
avoid recognition. "I've been waiting to get on the waiting list - now
I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

Those who have started the surgery, which can take more than one
operation, will have their change covered by Alberta Health. But those
like Paris, who are still functionally of their birth gender, are out
of luck.

"It's not the same as getting a boob-job," said Paris, who describes
the change as essential to a person's identity, unlike cosmetic
surgery.

A Facebook group, Reinstate Gender Reassignment Surgery Funding in
Alberta, already has in excess of 300 members, and a campaign has
started a letter of complaint, along with 19 cents, to the province.
That 19 cents represents the per-Albertan cost for funding the
surgery, highlighting the pittance at stake, cash-wise.

On the human front, the cost could be incalculable: the Facebook group
already contains messages from despondent patients hoping to undergo
surgery, which they can't afford without funding.

"My chest surgery date is coming up in November, and if it's not
covered at that time.. I will not be able to pay for it myself ... so
I'll have to go without ...which will most likely result in me feeling
hopeless and suicidal," wrote Dominic Scaia.

Kristopher Wells, a researcher at the University of Alberta, said the
province is facing a serious legal battle, which will end up costing
far more than $700,000.

"They made this cut without understanding the personal and legal
implications," said Wells. "A human rights complaint will be filed -
that's the talk in the community at this point."

MICHAEL.PLATT@SUNMEDIA.CA
Copyright € ¦© 2009, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Comment/2009/04/11/9081746-sun.html

For a mere $700,000 taken from a $13-billion health budget the

Calgary Sun, Canada
Thu, April 9, 2009

For a mere $700,000 taken from a $13-billion health budget the
province is risking a very costly human-rights complaint

By MICHAEL PLATT

For Michelle Ann Duff, it wasn't a choice between changing a few body
parts through surgery, or learning to live with what she was born
with.

For Duff, sex-change surgery was a decision between an early grave, or
a new life as a woman.

"I had two choices -- number one was to make a gender change, and
number two was to jump in front of a subway car," said Duff.

For the 69-year-old Ontario woman, changing genders was a much bigger
leap of lifestyles than for the relatively few Canadians who undergo
the life-altering switch on an operating table every year.

In 1985, as the soon-to-be "she" boarded a plane to Belgium for a date
with a sex-change specialist, Michael Duff was a world-acclaimed
motorcycle racing star, Canada's own record-setting grand-prix hero.

Retired from racing, and with three children to support from two
marriages, Duff abandoned the uber-macho world of Castrol oil, pistons
and leather to start a new life as a woman.

"I hate that overused cliche, a woman trapped in man's body, but
that's basically it," said Duff, speaking from her home out east.

"It's been shown time-and-time again that the only way to connect for
a person with gender dysphoria is to make the outside the same as the
way they feel inside."

Gender dysphoria is a recognized psychological condition which causes
distress and depression, because the victim is miserable with the sex
they were born with.

In Alberta, the condition is considered serious enough to qualify
victims for sex-change surgery, paid for by the province for the past
decade.

Or at least it was.

On Tuesday, while hiking the price of beer and cigarettes, the
province's budget also yanked funding for transgender surgery,
supposedly to cut $700,000 a year out of a $13-billion purse.

Petty doesn't begin to describe the few pennies saved by cutting
funding to the 10 to 20 Albertans who underwent the $20,000-to-$70,000
surgery each year.

Already, there's talk of a human-rights complaint -- Ontario faced a
similar challenge and lost in 2008 -- but those who have been awaiting
their turn for change are devastated.

"I've been on hormones for two years and dressing as a female, and
then they do this -- how is this even possible?" said Paris, a Calgary
male-to-female gender converter, who asked her name be changed to
avoid recognition.

"I've been waiting to get on the waiting list -- now I have no idea
what I'm supposed to do."

Those who have started the surgery, which can take more than one
operation, will have their change covered by Alberta Health, but those
like Paris, who are still functionally of their birth gender, are out
of luck.

"It's not the same as getting a boob-job," said Paris, who describes
the change as essential to a person's identity, unlike cosmetic
surgery.

A Facebook group, Reinstate Gender Reassignment Surgery Funding in
Alberta, already has in excess of 300 members, and a campaign has
started to send a letter of complaint, along with 19 cents, to the
province.

That 19 cents represents the per-Albertan cost for funding the
surgery, highlighting the pittance at stake, cash-wise.

On the human front, the cost could be incalculable: The Facebook group
already contains messages from despondent patients hoping to undergo
surgery, which they can't afford without funding.

"My chest surgery date is coming up in November, and if it's not
covered at that time.. I will not be able to pay for it myself.. so
I'll have to go without.. which will most likely result in me feeling
hopeless and suicidal," wrote Dominic Scaia, who gave reporters
permission to quote him.

Kristopher Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority
Studies at the University of Alberta, said the province is facing a
serious legal battle, which will end up costing far more than
$700,000.

"They made this cut without understanding the personal and legal
implications," said Wells.

"A human-rights complaint will be filed -- that's the talk in the
community at this point."

Copyright © 2008, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Platt_Michael/2009/04/09/9063411-sun.php

Alberta Transgender Resources: http://www.albertatrans.org/

By now, many of you have heard the bad news that funding for Gender Reassignment Surgery is being delisted in this year's budget. We do have a few enquiries out there right now to take scope of what all might be affected, and narrow down what our best options are. I can't promise anything at this stage, other than that we will find a way to fight this.

Keep in mind that the American Medical Association restated the necessity of GRS this past fall, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission ordered funding reinstated in that Province last spring. There is reason to keep hope.

For the time being, if people could send me a private email to let me know who is in the queue for 2009-2010 (this year), and who expects that they likely would receive funding for surgery in this or the following year. If you know of someone I might not be aware of or have contact information for, please forward this note to them and have them contact me (if email is not an option, let me know and we'll find an alternative). If you are aware of any independent efforts, please let me know so that we can possibly combine efforts.

I may be contacting some people in coming days about possible involvement, depending on what our best options are. If you don't hear anything on action on the issue in the next while, don't panic about that -- we might be taking a strategy in which confidentiality may be necessary. It does not mean that we've given up.

But it is most of all important: DON'T LOSE HOPE. There is reason to hold on.

VUEPOINT: COLD CALCULATION

Week of April 9, 2009, Issue #703

FRONT
VUEPOINT: COLD CALCULATION
Scott Harris / scott@vueweekly.com

In the grand scheme of a wholly unremarkable $36 billion dollar
budget, the somewhat meagre sum of about $700 000 hardly seems like a
nit worth picking, but the decision by the province to end coverage
for new gender reassignment surgeries—more commonly known as
sex-change operations—just seems so mean-spirited that it deserves
comment.

On one level, the move seems like a simple case of cold calculation:
staring down at the barrel of a multi-year, multi-billion dollar
deficit—and still needing to find $215 million to cut this fiscal year
and $2 billion to cut in the next—there was no doubt a whole lot of
stone-turning going on in government buildings. From a political
standpoint, cutting a tiny program that 99.99 per cent of Albertans
will never use, which only directly benefits a handful of members of
the transgender community—not exactly one of the Tories’ key
constituencies—and is for a procedure that most Albertans either don’t
understand or are openly hostile about, makes good political sense.

On the other hand, when considering the lives of Albertans who will be
impacted by the decision, it seems less like cold calculation and more
simply cold. Until now the province has covered up to 16 gender
reassignment surgeries annually, surgeries which cost tens of
thousands of dollars (male-to-female surgeries costing in the range of
$16 000 - $20 000, and female-to-male surgeries costing roughly twice
that for “bottom surgery” and additional amounts for related
mastectomy and hysterectomy). When those costs are “socialized” it’s a
drop in the bucket (actually, a very small percentage of a drop), but
when the cost is borne by individuals, it becomes a much more daunting
sum.

It’s impossible for me as a straight male to imagine the emotional
tumult, discrimination and violence faced by individuals who don’t fit
into society’s tidy conceptions of sex and gender, but it’s not hard
to see that adding a major financial barrier to a recognized necessary
medical procedure that is already rife with hurdles has the very real
potential to literally destroy people’s lives. The move says a lot
about the government, and their willingness to save a few bucks at the
expense of one of the most marginalized groups in Alberta. It’s an
ugly way to make a budget and a sad way to run a province. V

Protecting Trans-identified Persons Right to Full Health Care

Folks:

The provincial budget will cut funding for sex reassignment surgery for our Trans sisters and brothers. No doubt, the Tories feel this is an easy cut to make. Below is a copy of a letter to Ron Liepert, Minister of Health and Wellness. Copies of this letter are also being sent to Iris Evans, Lindsay Blackett, Brian Mason and David Swann. I urge you to also write letters. This is a very unjust cut.

God bless you.

-- Wayne
Hate is not a Christian Value. Encouraging fear is not a traditional Value.

THE LETTER:

I am very distressed to hear that sexual reassignment surgery will be delisted from paid Alberta Health Care Services. While I recognize that budget cuts are necessary at a time of revenue shortfalls, I believe it is imperative the government not target the most vulnerable groups in society for those cuts.

It is a sad fact that Trans-identified or Transgendered persons are one of the most misunderstood groups in our society— often even misunderstood by others in the larger LGBT community. As a result of this lack of understanding, there is a misconception that seeking to change gender is a frivolous choice or that the need or desire to change genders can be corrected by counseling or psychological help. It is true that our understanding of gender identity is very limited, but this does not mean the concerns and needs of Trans-identified people can be considered frivolous or unimportant. Nor does it mean that gender reassignment surgery can be considered an elective or unnecessary choice. I might note that persons seeking this surgical proceedure must undergo an extremely rigourous screening proceedure by appropriate medical and psychological professionals before it is approved.

I believe that government in a just and caring society will act to protect the least powerful and most vulnerable in our society, rather than make them the first and easy targets for spending and service cuts. I respectfully urge you and your colleagues to review this decision immediately and restore full funding for Trans-identified persons requiring sexual reassignment surgery.

The Cracked Crystal Ball II, Canada

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Transsexuals In Alberta To Bear The Brunt of Liepert's Mendacity

Apparently, in Alberta, being a transsexual also means that it's your
fault that the "Health Superboard" is in the hole to the tune of a
little over $1 billion dollars for fiscal 2008.

Calgary Herald
:

Today's budget also eliminates "gender reassignment" surgery,
meaning it will no longer pay for Albertans to have sex change
operations, saving the system about $700,000 a year.

The government hasn't simply reduced the number of procedures that
they pay for, or the proportion that they will pay. No, in this case,
they have axed it outright. This puts a lot of people into really
awkward straights. Not all transsexuals have the kind of professional
income that would allow them to pay that cost out of their own pocket
- in fact relatively few do.

Similarly, I have to wonder at the long term costs of yanking funding
for chiropractic care. Who is going to be most affected by this?
Seniors, who are not only on fixed incomes, but for whom chiropractic
care is often a vital relief from chronic back problems.

Then we find Liepert bragging about this:

The province's superboard received a modest increase in funding of
about $550 million, bringing its budget to $7.7 billion.

"We are maintaining our spending from last year and are also able
to give Alberta Health Services an increase," said Health Minister Ron
Liepert, in a statement.

Think about this, while cutting $700,000 (less than 1% of the Health
"Superboard" budget), the Alberta government brags about adding
funding. Typical Conservative policy - when times get tough, attack
the people who can do the least about it.

Posted by MgS at 4/07/2009 05:02:00 PM

Labels: Alberta, Health Care, Liepert, Mental Health, Transsexuals

http://crystalgaze2.blogspot.com/2009/04/transsexuals-in-alberta-to-bear-brunt.html

A Sad Day In Alberta's Trans Community

Budget cuts chiropractic funding, defers medical projects
By Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldApril 7, 2009 4:01 PM

Alberta's health budget defers several medical projects including nursing homes, while cutting funding for chiropractic patients and sex change operations.

The province's 2009-10 budget, released today, provides $13 billion to the health system, but axes subsidies for chiropractic care that were previously worth $200 annually per patient.

Today's budget also eliminates "gender reassignment" surgery, meaning it will no longer pay for Albertans to have sex change operations, saving the system about $700,000 a year.

The province's superboard received a modest increase in funding of about $550 million, bringing its budget to $7.7 billion.

"We are maintaining our spending from last year and are also able to give Alberta Health Services an increase," said Health Minister Ron Liepert, in a statement.

Captial spending on new and renovated health facilties, however, will decline signfiicantly, to $369 million this year compared to $979 million last year.

The province's health capital plan shows several projects are on hold, including several rural long term care facilties and a north Calgary diagnostic clinic.

mlang@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Books On Transgenderism

Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism (Paperback)
by Pat Califia (Author), Patrick Califia-Rice (Author)

The TRANSSEXUAL PHENOMENON by Harry Benjamin, M.D.