Source: CNN
In order for a transgender person to receive medical care that aligns with their self-identity, they must be labeled with a mental disorder. Though being transgender is not actually a mental illness, it was classified as such until recent years. So why do transgender individuals have to fight for health care?
When it comes to getting a surgery to remove body parts that are identified with one gender or the other, people who are transgender have to do a lot of “convincing” to care providers that the surgery is not for cosmetic purposes.
While being transgender is not a mental illness, other terms have been used to pathologize gender non-conformity, reports CNN, which has further stigmatized being transgender and has made access to proper care a difficult task.
In order to assess the “medical necessity” of a surgery for a transgender person, care providers have created their own guidelines, which some argue are arbitrary, which take into consideration the “cost-effectiveness” of such procedures.
Read Full Story: CNN