This piece was written in mid-1994, as I was preparing for my gender confirmation surgery.
I have been told that my surgery was "unnecessary."
I was not told this by my psychologist, who must decide if I am properly transsexual and treat me for the ravages that many years of self-denial, parental neglect, and cultural terrorism have wrought.
I was not told this by my medical doctor, who must decide if I'm in the proper physical and mental condition to undergo hormone therapy and who must supervise this therapy.
I was not told this by the psychologist who must eventually have to decide if surgery is the proper course of action.
I was not told this by the surgeon who will eventually have to decide if I am physically and mentally ready for surgery, decide whether or not such surgery is proper for me, and then perform the surgery if it is proper and I am ready.
I was not told it was "unnecessary" by any of these people. I was told it was "unnecessary" by an insurance company.
No one at the insurance company has met me in person. I was not interviewed prior to this decision being made. It is a generic decision, applicable toward all transsexual people by all insurance companies. To the insurance company I am merely Patient Account #92078100 and transsexual, and as such I have no rights. No further explanation need be given.
It seems to me, from an admittedly biased viewpoint, that if any of these people listed above has the right to decide on the "necessity" of my surgery, it is not the insurance agent and it should not be done unilaterally.
It is my place to accept myself for who I am, to begin the journey. It is the place of the psychologist to verify my condition and walk beside me down the path. It is the place of the doctor to help me negotiate the hormone therapy, to show me the route. It is the place of the psychologists to be society's representatives in decided my fate, to be the gatekeepers. It is the place of the surgeon to help me across the threshold into my new existence. It is the place of the insurance company to use the money I have paid them to pick up the tab for the trip.
It seems to me that people that have been denied coverage for some medical treatment by insurance companies have been paying premiums to those companies under false pretenses. Perhaps they should be repaid the money that the insurance company received during the years the clients mistakenly thought they were really insured.