what do u think about crossdressers?

[alwaysforyou]

I know this question is for the women but I have to comment. I have never found an attracation to a TV except for Kayla Coxx.

[SarahG]

I
have heard many horror stories as regards the NHS.

Whether the transactivist movement in the US should take on problems
outside of the US is perhaps something to discus.

Though I feel that many US transsexuals would be concerned about
employment, medical care, and legal protections domestically.

On the HRT matter though, with the porous borders between our two
countries I wasn't aware that obtaining HRT was a problem, though in
this instance I believe you are referring to having NHS coverage for it,
if I'm not mistaken.

In the Canadian and English systems (both of which are similar NHS systems- not identical, but alike in more ways than people realize) hrt is covered but you have to go about doing it threw the system, and whatever hoops the system has in place to get it.

I forget what it takes to get on hrt under either NHS plan, but I do know that if you started (or at any point go onto) DIY hrt, you have to stop cold turkey and stay off for- last I read 2.5 years- in order to go onto HRT via NHS.

In Canada DIY is not much of an option, unlike in the US where you can go order what you want off of a website like inhouse, have it shipped in by airmail, get threw customs no problem and arrive at your doorstep- Canadian customs is both very strict, and extremely good at blocking such prescription drugs from entering their boarders via mail.

Subsequently- unless things have changed in the last two or three years, girls in Canada can try all they want to order from a site like inhouse but getting it to actually arrive to (any) Canadian mail address is quite the feat. I believe some sites started sending hrt to Canadian addresses hidden inside toys and other cheap consumer goods but, I suspect the chances of that working are the same as any number of goods defined by the country as contraband.

I suppose if you lived close enough to the US boarder a Canadian girl could try getting an American PO box or finding a friend in the US to send packages to... and then just drive the stuff into Canada (not that I would know anything about getting stuff threw boarder checkpoints).

As to the American concerns, such as medical care, I think it would be pretty apparent that NHS would probably not work for allowing ts patients in this country to get hrt threw a health care system... at least with the current system (as messed up as it is), you have a chance to get hrt covered by your insurance by experimenting with different health insurance companies & plans... I have had three or four health insurance companies providing my health care coverage over as many years and all of them never had a problem covering hrt (in fact, due to the way some of the state laws work... I don't think any of them knew what I was taking the drugs for...).

[prediction]I would go so far as to say that if the US ever actually got universal health care, the system would not be flexible enough to deal with diy hrt and the like and it would probably be back to the days of the standardized gender clinics of the 60s-early80s.... and some people have problems with the SoC being what it is ATM- and thats assuming trans related medical care isn't turned into a political issue as some of the right & religious factions in this country would be posed to do... [/prediction]

As to the situation with Joelle, the argument being made against NHS coverage of hrt could easily be made against hrt coverage under any medical care system and was not specific to NHS systems.

In a nut shell she argued that HRT didn't work since not every patient on it is functional in society (and she would find, as examples, tgirls- in various stages of transitioning, whom were on the streets, in homeless shelters etc) and thus it was only wasting money... and then went so far as to suggesting ending all trans related medical coverage in exchange for a system which merely provides trans patients with anti anxiety prescriptions.

Personally I don't think that every trans person who has trouble in their life, has that trouble solely due to their trans status (to use a more common example, if someone is in a homeless shelter and happens to be a minority race, their race is not necessarily the reason why they ended up in a homeless shelter- people end up on the streets for any number of reasons, not all of them being related to discrimination).

If hrt access can not be a common goal among even solely ts people, I fail to see what possible goal the entire ts (specific) population could share. I know people who are also ts who, unlike me, see absolutely no problem with upholding the Littleton case....

[peggygee]

I
have heard many horror stories as regards the NHS.

Whether the transactivist movement in the US should take on problems
outside of the US is perhaps something to discus.

Though I feel that many US transsexuals would be concerned about
employment, medical care, and legal protections domestically.

On the HRT matter though, with the porous borders between our two
countries I wasn't aware that obtaining HRT was a problem, though in
this instance I believe you are referring to having NHS coverage for it,
if I'm not mistaken.

In the Canadian and English systems (both of which are similar NHS systems- not identical, but alike in more ways than people realize) hrt is covered but you have to go about doing it threw the system, and whatever hoops the system has in place to get it.

I forget what it takes to get on hrt under either NHS plan, but I do know that if you started (or at any point go onto) DIY hrt, you have to stop cold turkey and stay off for- last I read 2.5 years- in order to go onto HRT via NHS.

In Canada DIY is not much of an option, unlike in the US where you can go order what you want off of a website like inhouse, have it shipped in by airmail, get threw customs no problem and arrive at your doorstep- Canadian customs is both very strict, and extremely good at blocking such prescription drugs from entering their boarders via mail.

Subsequently- unless things have changed in the last two or three years, girls in Canada can try all they want to order from a site like inhouse but getting it to actually arrive to (any) Canadian mail address is quite the feat. I believe some sites started sending hrt to Canadian addresses hidden inside toys and other cheap consumer goods but, I suspect the chances of that working are the same as any number of goods defined by the country as contraband.

I suppose if you lived close enough to the US boarder a Canadian girl could try getting an American PO box or finding a friend in the US to send packages to... and then just drive the stuff into Canada (not that I would know anything about getting stuff threw boarder checkpoints).

As to the American concerns, such as medical care, I think it would be pretty apparent that NHS would probably not work for allowing ts patients in this country to get hrt threw a health care system... at least with the current system (as messed up as it is), you have a chance to get hrt covered by your insurance by experimenting with different health insurance companies & plans... I have had three or four health insurance companies providing my health care coverage over as many years and all of them never had a problem covering hrt (in fact, due to the way some of the state laws work... I don't think any of them knew what I was taking the drugs for...).

[prediction]I would go so far as to say that if the US ever actually got universal health care, the system would not be flexible enough to deal with diy hrt and the like and it would probably be back to the days of the standardized gender clinics of the 60s-early80s.... and some people have problems with the SoC being what it is ATM- and thats assuming trans related medical care isn't turned into a political issue as some of the right & religious factions in this country would be posed to do... [/prediction]

As to the situation with Joelle, the argument being made against NHS coverage of hrt could easily be made against hrt coverage under any medical care system and was not specific to NHS systems.

In a nut shell she argued that HRT didn't work since not every patient on it is functional in society (and she would find, as examples, tgirls- in various stages of transitioning, whom were on the streets, in homeless shelters etc) and thus it was only wasting money... and then went so far as to suggesting ending all trans related medical coverage in exchange for a system which merely provides trans patients with anti anxiety prescriptions.

Personally I don't think that every trans person who has trouble in their life, has that trouble solely due to their trans status (to use a more common example, if someone is in a homeless shelter and happens to be a minority race, their race is not necessarily the reason why they ended up in a homeless shelter- people end up on the streets for any number of reasons, not all of them being related to discrimination).

If hrt access can not be a common goal among even solely ts people, I fail to see what possible goal the entire ts (specific) population could share. I know people who are also ts who, unlike me, see absolutely no problem with upholding the Littleton case....

I was perusing my NHS information on DYI HRT, and am having a hard
time finding that 2.5 year abstinence period that you refer to.

http://www.gendertrust.org.uk/php/sh...e.php?aid=13#A

http://www.nhs.uk/

Though it appears s if a candidate would need to comply with the
Benjamin Standards Of Care and do RLT;

The Real Life Test

It is normal practice for any Gender Identity Clinic or private Consultant Psychiatrist to require a 'Real Life Test' (RLT) in which the patient lives and works full-time in the new gender role, before genital surgery is performed. The patient will change her name legally at the start of the RLT, and is expected to demonstrate her ability to work (this includes voluntary work, or higher education) and function socially as a woman.

The early stages of RLT can be stressful to some patients: much re-learning is required, she may experience rejection from family, friends and others, as well as numerous practical problems. It is important that the patient receives the maximum possible support during this time; her counsellor will probably be the main focus of support, but a co-operative and sensitive attitude on the part of GPs and practice staff is also important.

Once legal name-change has occurred, the patient should be referred to by her new name, and treated as female. The NHS has a policy of issuing new patient numbers to transsexual patients (and amending their records to show the new gender). Assistance with this administrative issue should be given (at the time of writing, the PPSA is the body responsible).


Hormone Treatment from Male To Female

Once the patient has been diagnosed as transsexual, the Consultant Psychiatrist will normally decide to initiate hormone treatment. This involves administering large doses of female sex steroids (oestrogens, usually accompanied with progestrogens) to induce the development of female secondary sexual characteristics. In a pre-operative subject this will normally be accompanied by some form of anti-androgen treatment to reduce the effect of the patient’s endogenous male sex hormones.

Of course many transwomen do not want to go through the bureucratic
hoops that you referred to, and in that instance they should opt to be
seen by a private GP, or Endocronologist. These would be out of pocket
expenses, or through priivate insurance as you mentioned.

In the United States there are many ways to do HRT, there is DYI, free
care - sliding scale, private insurance, paying out of pocket, and many
other variations on that theme.

As I have stated I have indeed heard many of the NHS horror stoies, and
there is GID reform legislation pending. http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/294
http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/294#medicfund
(You may have to wade through that, as I have misplaced the citation).
This may be interesting as well http://www.hungangels.com/board/view...r=asc&start=10
But at a minimum I will concede that NHS has a ways to go in servicing
transpeople.

Yet the fact remains that for the vast majority of transwomen in the
world (Asia, North and South America, parts of Africa) that HRT is
obtainable and affordable.

[Pajj]

Don't forget that some psychologists insist on a person maybe living as a crossdresser for a short period of time before giving the go-ahead for the sex change sequence.

[peggygee]

Here is the Reform of Service Provision of Gender Identity Disorders in
the NHS pending legislation.

Sarah, Sounds like you may want to fill out this petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/nhsgidsp/petition.html



Reform of Service Provision of Gender Identity Disorders in the NHS




View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


To: The UK Government Department of Heath
We, the Undersigned recognise an intrinsically unfair, poor, and inadequate level of service in the NHS treatment of persons suffering with Gender Identity Disorder/Gender Dysphoria.

We recognise a serious absence of the provision of care for this condition at a local level for much of the country, resulting on a reliance on Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic as a main treatment centre for a disproportionate area of the UK.

There is an overly obstructive and detrimental (to the patient) rigidity of service offered to patients with this condition, in contravention of the current international Standards of Care for the provision of treatment for people with this condition (HBIGDA 2001), which stress flexibility of approach and treatment. This often causes patients to see the unsatisfactory care that exists as an obstacle to be overcome rather than as assistance with their condition. This is incongruent with the governments aims for "Patient-Centred Care", and yet little seems to be changing, and cannot change while the NHS relies primarily on a single treatment centre (Charing Cross). "Patient Choice" appears to be another government aim which does not and cannot occur in the treatment of this condition should the current situation remain as it is.

We recognise that NHS treatment of this condition is far behind the standards set by many other countries in the western world, while the private sector of the UK offers a far better service. This effectively renders the NHS a rational and effective choice only for those without the means to obtain private treatment, and so creating a 'two-tier system'.

There is a lack of uniformity in the availability of treatment across the UK, in part because this condition is considered to be of 'low-priority' by some trusts/authorities, while the evidence clearly indicates that this condition can lead to depression (as it often does) and has been known to lead to suicide in some cases, such is the level of distress felt by sufferers. It is also apparent that many GPs and even some psychiatrists have little or no understanding of this condition, further restricting the patients access to the treatment they need and are legally entitled to.

We call for immediate and prompt investigation, and realistic assessment of the service provision for this condition, followed by effective and realistic reform to meet the current international Standards of Care and government aims for the NHS as a whole, to include recognition and assessment of the patients distresses, personal circumstances, needs, ability to make rational judgement, and choices, alongside nessecary medical criteria, and not simply ignored as they currently are.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned




View Current Signatures




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The Reform of Service Provision of Gender Identity Disorders in the NHS Petition to The UK Government Department of Heath was created by and written by Christopher Pearse (KrissPearse@Gmail.com). This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend
Send Petition to a Friend - Petition FAQ - Start a Petition - Contributions - Privacy - Media Kit - Comments and Suggestions
PetitionOnline - DesignCommunity - ArchitectureWeek - Great Buildings - Search
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nhsgidsp/petition.html
© 1999-2005 Artifice, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.

[JANIRA]

I PERSONALY DONT HATE ON THEM, LIKE SOME TS MAY DO, I REALLY GET ANNOYED WITH TS THAT MAKE FUN OF A CD, JUST COUSE THEY MAY FEEL HIGHER & MIGHTIER BECOUSE THEY ARE A TS. . I SAY TO EACH ITS OWN ! EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DO , BE , WHAT THEY WANT TO .

[peggygee]

Don't forget that some psychologists insist on a person maybe living as a crossdresser for a short period of time before giving the go-ahead for the sex change sequence.

What is the Real Life Test? (RLT)

For transsexual persons seeking Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), the
Real Life Test (also called the Real-Life Experience) is a one-year
minimum period during which they must be able to demonstrate to their
psychotherapists their ability to live and work full-time successfully in
their congruent gender. The Real Life Test is a prerequisite for sex
reassignment surgery under the Benjamin Standards of Care.

Some surgeons(particularly Thai surgeons) may forgo this requirement.

Information on crossdressers;

http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html

What are some categories or types of transgender people?

Transsexuals are transgender people who live or wish to live full time as members of the gender opposite to their birth sex. Biological females who wish to live and be recognized as men are called female-to-male (FTM) transsexuals or transsexual men. Biological males who wish to live and be recognized as women are called male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals or transsexual women. Transsexuals usually seek medical interventions, such as hormones and surgery, to make their bodies as congruent as possible with their preferred gender. The process of transitioning from one gender to the other is called sex reassignment or gender reassignment.

Cross-dressers or transvestites comprise the most numerous transgender group. Cross-dressers wear the clothing of the other sex. They vary in how completely they dress (from one article of clothing to fully cross-dressing) as well as in their motives for doing so. Some cross-dress to express cross-gender feelings or identities; others crossdress for fun, for emotional comfort, or for sexual arousal. The great majority of cross-dressers are biological males, most of whom are sexually attracted to women.

Drag queens and drag kings are, respectively, biological males and females who present part-time as members of the other sex primarily to perform or entertain. Their performances may include singing, lip-syncing, or dancing. Drag performers may or may not identify as transgender. Many drag queens and kings identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Other categories of transgender people include androgynous, bigendered, and gender queer people. Exact definitions of these terms vary from person to person, but often include a sense of blending or alternating genders. Some people who use these terms to describe themselves see traditional concepts of gender as restrictive

[whatsupwithat]

what's I didn't know you were a TS

ha! nah, although after watching a dynamite lesbian film can't say i don't think about being a woman for amoment or two. :P

[MacShreach]

This is for information only, I hope no one minds. I'm a guy.

There is no one NHS service covering the whole of the UK. There are completely separate services for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Policy for these is decided in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and soon, it is to be hoped, Belfast, respectively. This is a result of the UK's present quasi-federal construction.

This is detailed in this paper:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...?artid=1261193

which shows amongst other things that the per-capita spend is approx 20% greater in Scotland than in England.

This has led to significant differences in health policy and between the standards of service available in the four constituent countries of the UK, and so TG's who are seeking help with transition should research the standards in each country, as it may be beneficial to consider relocating to a more TG-friendly one.

Furthermore in all of the countries,individual General Practise (GP) doctors have considerable leeway in the care strategies they follow, so again, there may be a benefit in relocating to an area that is known to have TG-friendly doctors.

In figures for 2001 there were 300 mtf TG's undergoing transition through NHSScotland. This represents about 1:15000 of total population for that year.

The Scottish Executive, ie the Scottish Government, has evolved a policy of encouraging the integration of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender people into society and has published guidelines for this that can be seen here:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publicati.../01/24135313/0

Again it may be useful to research the policies extant in each of the four countries and consider a move if appropriate.

Hope that helps, ladies.

[peggygee]

This is for information only, I hope no one minds. I'm a guy.

Hope that helps, ladies.

MacShreach, this is very helpful information, you've helped me cut down
considerabley on my research time on this question.

By the by, anytime you run across any data that you feel may be useful,
please don't hesitate to PM me.

Oh, and thanks for being part of the solution.