I live in Riverside, RI. I have Medicare and NHP and the day of my surgery in August 2014 my insurance called and decided they weren’t going to pay for it. Even though for a full year my doctors, surgeons and I were told by my insurance was covered. I lost all my money, and I just stopped trying. Maybe that’s what insurance companies want us trans people to do. Give us false hope, tell us they will cover it 100%, feeling relief so we then spend the money we saved originally on our own, then tell us oops we won’t cover it, and then we never ask insurance for surgery again. It took me so long to raise money and now it’s gone. The same exact thing happened to a woman from Providence named Althea Shaheen who had an article about it in The Daily Beast recently. Yet I get no recognition for it, when it happened to me first. Though I do take comfort in the fact that it happened to someone else. All hope is gone. And all thanks to RI NHP, Obama care and Medicare. I’m so done. I’m the first person in Rhode Island to change my birth certificate and state ID to male without surgery first. I changed that law, nobody else did. I got prom king at Born This Way prom. I am upset to see Jaye Watts and GLAD talking credit for my feats Options magazine. Also, I think the recent suicide of a trans girl named Leelah Alcorn should be mentioned in Options magazine. I’m happy there are new staffers at Youth Pride Inc though (Jaye Watts and Elana Rosenberg were unfit for the job). Still, I won’t go there due to there lack of resources for transgender teens. I have appealed to Options magazine to tell my story on several occasions with no avail. If it had been told, who knows what my life would have been like, if just one person had read it. I tried to commit suicide a handful of times, I’ve donated to Leelah’s final wish and the universe lost a beautiful girl. I walk on the beach shirtless, despite my moobs and keep my strength and courage, I suggest you do the same. Transgender people are banned from joining the military. Sign this petition to help get the ball rolling: https://www.change.org/petitions/united-states-military-lift-the-ban-on-transgender-people-in-the-military We need as many people as possible to support this cause in order to show the government this is an important cause. “Don’t ask don’t tell” isn’t over yet. The military still discriminates against transgender people. Don’t ask don’t tell only affected sexual orientation. Gender Dysphoria is now the classification in the DSW medical book so the military has no reason to discriminate based on the fact that a mental health diagnosis can prevent transgender people from serving in the military. Unfortunately, at this time they can prevent transgender people from serving in the United Stated military. Add transgender people the the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell. Let equal rights and safety for all transgender people be possible! Don’t ask, don’t tell needs to be repealed for all, including transgender individuals. All transgender people deserve the same rights as every other United States citizen serving the country. Be that serving openly in the military, marrying the person they love or just walking down the street without risking being beaten or killed just because we live our lives differently than thinks is the “proper” way.
Here are some articles about it: The New DADT: The Military’s Ban on Transgender Service: http://outservemag.com/2012/01/the-new-dadt-the-militarys-ban-on-transgender-service/ and http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/10/for-transgendered-soldiers-dont-ask-dont-tell-carries-on/264225/
About one in 11,000 male babies and one in 30,000 female babies are born with Dysphoria.
There are approximately 700,000 Transgender adults in the U.S., and about 15,450 service members who identify as transgender — 8,800 active, 6,650 in the National Guard and reserves, and 134,350 veterans.
About 20% of the roughly 700,000 Transgender people in the United States have been a part of the military at some point in time. Transgender folks have served in every conflict in our nation’s history.
One in five Transgender adults have served in the Armed Forces.
Nearly one in ten Transgender Veterans report having been discharged due to their gender identity.
Transgender people make up 0.6% of the 21.8 million U.S. Veterans; roughly 1 in 200.
As of December 2013, being Transgender in the U.S. military is considered a psychological disorder and is grounds for dishonorable discharge.
In 2013, the Veterans Affairs Department treated 2,567 Veterans with the diagnosis of gender dysphora with transgender-specific care, according to Ndidi Mojay, a V.A. spokeswoman. In sharp contrast, while Transgender people are prohibited from serving openly in the United States, thirteen foreign countries allow open transgender military service, in some capacity. These countries are:
Australia
Brazil
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Israel
Netherlands
New Zealand
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
United Kingdom
Uruguay
There are hundreds of reports and statistics from our allies in which transgender service has had no impact; very similar to our own experiences with the repeal of DADT.
http://defglis.com.au/guides/GenderTransition.pdf
www.hrc.org/documents/HRC-Workplace-Gender-Transition-Guidelines.pdf
www.wpath.org
www.wipeouttransphobia.com/myth-buster/
My dad always dreamed of me joining the Coast Guard. As a kid, like passing by, he’d be like “That’s the Coast Guard. They pay for school and its fun.” So, it stuck. Passing by the Coast Guard with my dad was just as important as going to a nature walk with him, because he was concerned about my future, and those times I’ll never forget. Please sign the petition to help his dream and mine for other transgender people come true. This is why we need to change this regulation. www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/for-transgender-service-members-concept-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-remains-a-reality/2014/04/26/c0597936-ccb6-11e3-93eb-6c0037dde2ad_story.html
Thank you.