Healthcare Disparities for Trans Folks Documented
National Center for Trans Equality, Task Force report survey nearly 6,500 respondents
BY MATT TRACY
New data shows transgender
Americans are
continuing to face widespread
discrimination
in the healthcare system, underscoring
the dangers of the Trump
administration’s actions to strip
healthcare protections from queer
individuals.
The striking fi ndings were
drawn from a report conducted by
the National Center for Transgender
Equality and the National LGBTQ
Task Force, which surveyed
6,450 transgender and gender
non-conforming people.
The report revealed that nearly
one-fi fth, or 20 percent, of trans
or gender non-conforming people
have reported they were refused
care outright due to their gender
identity.
The survey also found that 28
percent of survey participants said
discrimination and disrespect forces
them to postpone medical care
when they fall sick or get injured.
On a related question, 28 percent
also said they faced harassment in
➤ BRAD HOYLMAN, from p.13
to his time in the Senate, also touted
the budgeting powers of the borough
president and highlighted his
goal of spreading that cash around
though a plan he calls Community
Board Budgeting. Under that
initiative, the borough president
would delegate funding authority
to local community boards.
Another local issue of concern
for Hoylman, who has two daughters
with husband David Sigal, is
the city’s education system — and
he’s thinking beyond the contentious
debates over school openings
and closings in the COVID
era. Hoylman also wants to focus
on another key area of education:
enrollment.
“I’ve been a public school parent
and if you’re trying to fi gure out
the enrollment process, it’s maddening,”
Hoylman explained. “Every
school has a different website;
medical offi ces or facilities, which
backs up past accounts of individuals
describing hostile treatment
from everyone ranging from front
desk staff to doctors.
The experience at the doctor’s
offi ce is often an exhausting one
for trans and gender non-conforming
individuals because of a lack
of cultural competency, the study
found.
A whopping 50 percent of respondents
said they had to teach
their doctors about trans-related
care, clearly demonstrating the
need for more comprehensive and
inclusive training of medical professionals.
“Finding doctors who will treat,
prescribe, and even look at you like
a human being rather than a thing
has been problematic,” one unnamed
survey respondent said. “I
have been denied care by doctors
and major hospitals so much that
I now use only urgent care physician
assistants, and I never reveal
my gender history.”
A majority of trans people who
responded to the survey said they
have been able to access transition
there’s nowhere to go to. So I want
to create something I’m calling the
Public School Parent Resource Advocacy
Center to help parents in
low-income communities in Manhattan
navigate this byzantine enrollment
process.”
Hoylman emphasized that even
as he takes on the race for borough
president, he is committed to continuing
his work in the Senate in
advancing LGBTQ rights — before
he leaves his current seat he wants
to win repeal of the ban on Walking
While Trans. Then, once that
is complete, he said there are new
ways to take on queer issues as
borough president.
He plans to address issues facing
LGBTQ youth and seniors, fi ght
for access to PEP and PrEP, ensure
that queer communities of color
get their fair share of city funding,
make sure trans New Yorkers
receive adequate healthcare, and
focus on helping trans people who
REUTERS/ LINDSEY WASSON
related care in some form, but
the extent of that care appears to
be limited. Though a majority of
respondents said they wanted to
complete gender confi rmation surgery,
only a minority said they had
done so.
The importance of adequate
healthcare for trans individuals is
even greater considering that 2.64
percent said they are living with
HIV, compared to 0.6 percent of the
general population. More than 15
percent of respondents who have
engaged in sex work are HIV-positive.
The survey also measured the
impact of transgender Americans’
healthcare marginalization on
their emtional well-being. More
are incarcerated.
“The number of issues that concern
the LGBTQ community have
really multiplied since COVID-19
struck and caused great stress not
just in healthcare, but in our economic
sphere and the joblessness,
poverty, and disparities in healthcare,”
Hoylman said. “Things so
many people take for granted are
still out of reach for many LGBTQ
New Yorkers.”
Hoylman acknowledged that
he is the only out gay man in the
State Senate and said he takes
“representation of our community
extremely seriously” as he vies for
a new offi ce.
He also takes comfort in knowing
that out gay State Senate candidate
Jabari Brisport, who won
his Democratic primary in Brooklyn,
is all but certain to become
the fi rst out LGBTQ person of color
elected to the New York State Legislature.
HEALTH
than 25 percent of respondents
said they have abused drugs or
alcohol in order to cope with the
discrimination they have face. And
a staggering 41 percent said they
have attempted suicide.
Release of this data coincides
with a federal court ruling on August
17 granting a preliminary injunction
that blocks, for now, the
Trump administration’s rule gutting
an Obama-era regulation banning
discrimination on the basis of
gender identity in healthcare. The
judge stressed in his ruling that
the Human Rights Campaign and
its attorneys would likely succeed
on the merits of their assertion that
the Trump rule was inconsistent
with the sex discrimination provisions
of the Affordable Care Act
and that the federal Department of
Health and Human Services was
“arbitrary and capricious” in fi nalizing
it just days ahead of the June
15 Supreme Court ruling that ensured
that discrimination against
individuals because of their gender
identity would be deemed “necessarily
discrimination because of
sex.”
“I’m not the fi rst queer person to
run for borough president; Deborah
Glick did it fi rst,” Hoylman
said, referring to his Assembly colleague’s
bid for Manhattan beep in
1997. If elected, he would be the
fi rst out queer person elected to
the offi ce.
But before he crosses that hurdle,
he has to push through a
crowded fi eld of rivals who entered
the race earlier than he did and
have already jumped out to a head
start in fundraising.
Hoylman is not necessarily concerned
about that at this point.
“Let’s be honest here,” Hoylman
said. “New Yorkers are more interested
in electing a president right
now than a borough president. So
yes, some people have raised money
and presumably some political
deals have been made in some
parts of the borough. But from
what I can see, there is still a good,
solid path to victory.”
GayCityNews.com | August 27 - September 9, 2020 13
/GayCityNews.com
