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Alberta transsexuals are stepping up their fight for government-paid sex-change operations.
Members of the community will be at the Alberta legislature today for question period. Tomorrow, they'll march to Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission offices in Edmonton and Calgary to file numerous complaints because the government is delisting sex-change operations, also known as gender reassignment surgery.
Officials announced in last week's budget the province will save $700,000 annually by no longer paying for the operations.
"It's devastating to live in a gender you can't associate with," said campaign co-ordinator Michelle Drinkell, who was born a man and says she's been approved by the government to have a sex change but isn't sure if it will now be covered.
Drinkell is taking hormones, paying for hair-removal laser treatment and working with a voice coach in her process of trying to become a full-fledged woman - all of which has cost her "thousands of dollars."
"The $700,000 is a very small amount compared to the total value of the $13-billion health-care budget," she said.
Continuing to fund the operations "works out to 19 cents per Albertan per year. It's nothing more than a teardrop in the ocean."
Transsexuals and supporters are planning to show up at the legislature about 12:30 p.m, then take in question period when the three official parties square off about 1:45 p.m.
They plan to file official complaints tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Calgary and Edmonton offices of the human rights commission arguing sex-change operations are medically necessary.
Drinkell says they're buoyed by results from Ontario where a human rights challenge forced the government to re-list the operations.
Drinkell plans to have a sex change done even if she has to pay for it herself. She said she's been taking hormones for about two and a half years and now lives as a woman.
Delisting the operation will have profound psychiatric effects on people who've been diagnosed as needing a sex change, she says.
The suicide rate among transsexuals is already about triple the rate of the non-transsexual Canadian population, she said.
Edmonton transsexual Cynthia Paish, 36, said her life and the lives of others are in limbo because of the funding cancellation. Her sex change surgery to become a woman was scheduled for August 24 but has now been cancelled, she said.
Paish worked 12 years as a car audio installer but is now studying esthetics. She's not 100% sure her operation will still be covered but tries to be optimistic.
"It makes me really mad," said Paish, who is paying $100 a month for hormone therapy on her own and plans to show up at the legislature. "They're basically playing with people's lives. You really are trapped in the wrong body."
Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell said delisting sex-change operations was a way to save the province money.
"The minister has acknowledged he's had to make some tough decisions and this is one of them," said Tuckwell.
"He needed to find some additional funds to support some initiatives for seniors' continuing care and $41 million was put into that strategy," he said.
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Alberta transsexuals are stepping up their fight for government-paid sex-change operations.
Members of the community will be at the Alberta legislature today for question period. Tomorrow, they'll march to Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission offices in Edmonton and Calgary to file numerous complaints because the government is delisting sex-change operations, also known as gender reassignment surgery.
Officials announced in last week's budget the province will save $700,000 annually by no longer paying for the operations.
"It's devastating to live in a gender you can't associate with," said campaign co-ordinator Michelle Drinkell, who was born a man and says she's been approved by the government to have a sex change but isn't sure if it will now be covered.
Drinkell is taking hormones, paying for hair-removal laser treatment and working with a voice coach in her process of trying to become a full-fledged woman - all of which has cost her "thousands of dollars."
"The $700,000 is a very small amount compared to the total value of the $13-billion health-care budget," she said.
Continuing to fund the operations "works out to 19 cents per Albertan per year. It's nothing more than a teardrop in the ocean."
Transsexuals and supporters are planning to show up at the legislature about 12:30 p.m, then take in question period when the three official parties square off about 1:45 p.m.
They plan to file official complaints tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Calgary and Edmonton offices of the human rights commission arguing sex-change operations are medically necessary.
Drinkell says they're buoyed by results from Ontario where a human rights challenge forced the government to re-list the operations.
Drinkell plans to have a sex change done even if she has to pay for it herself. She said she's been taking hormones for about two and a half years and now lives as a woman.
Delisting the operation will have profound psychiatric effects on people who've been diagnosed as needing a sex change, she says.
The suicide rate among transsexuals is already about triple the rate of the non-transsexual Canadian population, she said.
Edmonton transsexual Cynthia Paish, 36, said her life and the lives of others are in limbo because of the funding cancellation. Her sex change surgery to become a woman was scheduled for August 24 but has now been cancelled, she said.
Paish worked 12 years as a car audio installer but is now studying esthetics. She's not 100% sure her operation will still be covered but tries to be optimistic.
"It makes me really mad," said Paish, who is paying $100 a month for hormone therapy on her own and plans to show up at the legislature. "They're basically playing with people's lives. You really are trapped in the wrong body."
Health ministry spokesman John Tuckwell said delisting sex-change operations was a way to save the province money.
"The minister has acknowledged he's had to make some tough decisions and this is one of them," said Tuckwell.
"He needed to find some additional funds to support some initiatives for seniors' continuing care and $41 million was put into that strategy," he said.
[email protected]
link
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