From The Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/10/trans-scandal-doctor-richard-curtis-transdocfail
Anger over attacks on Richard Curtis led to the #TransDocFail hashtag on Twitter that has united the trans community
Jane Fae
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 January 2013
Has your doctor ever laughed in your face during an appointment? Denied that your condition exists? Or simply told you that you’re too ugly to merit treatment?
Outrageous? Yes, but also, pretty much par for the course if you happen to be trans. You must expect a world of abuse and humiliation to attend even the simplest of interactions with the medical profession, whether trans-related or not. As for making a complaint, few will risk it: most are cowed into silence by the tacit threat that rocking the boat could lead to a termination of their desperately needed treatment.
Of course, there’s little new to this. Wherever there is power imbalance between patients and professionals who control access to resource, there is a risk of an unhealthy relationship developing. From benign paternalism to outright bullying and belittlement, the pattern is repeated time and time again – with women, disabled people and those with mental illness frequently on the receiving end.
Now, however, a wholly unexpected explosion of angry tweets – several thousand in the last 48 hours – may have blown the lid off this issue once and for all. The story began, unpromisingly enough, with a Guardian article revealing that Dr Richard Curtis, one of the few medical practitioners providing support for gender re-assignment outside the NHS, was being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) in respect of a number of complaints made about his practice. This touched a raw nerve, in all sorts of ways. Since Curtis offers private treatment, his services are not available to all; nor can he offer the full range of support provided by the NHS. However, as the main – perhaps only – alternative in town, his continuing practice offers a different perspective to the NHS pathway, which is widely regarded as slow, controlling and unsympathetic.
With new commissioning structures about to come into being, fears are heightened that the entirety of trans provision is about to be forced into a one-size-fits-all straitjacket. In such circumstances, “patient choice” evokes but hollow laughter.
Trans anger focused on two aspects of the story: the fact that Curtis, an individual who for all his failings is widely seen as something of a hero of the community, should be coming under attack by the medical establishment; and the fact that, with so much medical abuse of trans folk going on, the news agenda should light yet again on an angle that is positively damaging.
Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/10/trans-scandal-doctor-richard-curtis-transdocfail
