Globally speaking some three issues are of great important for trans people to have the possibility for a better life, in accordane to their human rights. These are:
- Legal gender recognition
- Availability of health care
- Legal protection against hate crimes and discrimination
At the 2010 Congenid conference in Barcelona I co-authored the health standards paragraph for trans health. This is meant as a draft for a global trans health policy. Based on total depathologisation of trans identities it clearly states the need for availability and insurance covered trans health care. No one should be left without the possibility to seek medical assistance for gender reasssignment. This is a human rights question.
Using this argument I contacted the Dutch ministry of Health to convince them the Netherlands should plead with the WHO ICD-11 Committee for depathologisation of trans identities, the removal of “Gender Identity Disorder” and reclassification in a different, non-pathological way. Several options can be thought of for this,.
In the Trangender Europe (TGEU) argumentation project”.. And Others” I developed the health care paragraph, giving arguments of trans inclusive health care to activists for policy makers. I have given several talks on this basis (Dublin, Malmö 2010)
Many countries have no possibility for trans people to obtain the trans specific health care deemed necessary to live more comfortable with oneself. Where there is trans specific health care often it is not satisfactory. By stimulating the availability of better information and by advocating for a non pathologising approach we hope to change this. The change process is a great opportunity for cooperation in advocacy.
Big parts of trans negativity and prejudice in health care (as elsewhere) is due to ignorance. Through my experience in European cooperation in developing argumentation for better health carer access for trans people I can help developing a more trans friendly health care and health policy that is trans inclusive.
Together with Transman.nl and in consultation with GATE and TGEU I am now working on an international advocacy project on transgender health care. Through a process of adult education and exchanging ideas we will build an international project aiming for improving trans communities’ capacity in argumenting for good treatment and respectful, non-obligatory, medical interventions based on informed consent. In this proces we want to also enter in a dialogue with national health care and human rights authorities and organizations to raise their awareness on this issue. The project will take place from 2013.