Saturday, April 23, 2011

First Transgender e-Bulletin from Lynn Featherstone


Lynn Featherstone, a LibDem MP is the current Minister for Equalities in the coalition government, While an oppositoin MP Lynn had always been a great champion of Trans Rights, regularly promoting bills and amendments on behalf of the Trans Community, so iit is not surprising that we are now seeing a very positive approach to trans rights.

The first Transgender eBulletin was published this month including a link to a Transgender Survey which I do strongly encourage you to complete if you are trans or if you work with trans people. As far as I am aware this is the first government run survey, although Press for Change conducted a huge survey as part of the 2007 Discrimination Law Review and the Scottish Transgender Alliance have undertaken some recent research in regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

This latest survey is very comprehensive and is a real opportunity to feedback to government the state of play in supporting trans people, especially in regard to medical treatment which frankly leaves a lot to be desired.

I am helping Claire Eastwood from Trans Yorkshire who is actively campaigning to make sure that the new Health Bill specifically includes provision to allow trans people to have choice when it comes to surgery. At present Leeds GIC is offering only access to Tim Terry as a surgeon, and any choice is then subject to an exceptional treatment appeal to the PCT.

Charing Cross appears not to accept patients from outside their "catchment", so the only way to access Phil Thomas and James Bellringer is to go privately. This is where the system get stupid. The cost of using Phil Thomas privately is cheaper than going through the NHS, yet PCTs are refusing because it is private treatment, even though the surgeons are the primary NHS surgeons in the south.

We have a meeting with my MP, Diana Johnson in May to try to get her support for an amendment to the Health Bill to make choice a statutory requirement. In the meantime the Government Equalities Office survey is another very useful means of influencing government and given Lynn Featherstone's history of support for trans issues, I am hopeful that she will respond poisitively to the results of this survey.

2 comments:

Benjamin Raji said...

May be you can better explain what you mean when you said being a 'transgender' has helped you to understand the way men and women communicate? A few years ago at Borough of Manhattan Community college, a professor of physical education conducted a physical eduaction class that only comprised of varieties os romantic fantasies. gives millions of people enduring ways to communicate with opposite sex than being a transgender I believe.

In fact the aim of the course was to teach students how to be physically being in great shape...

I am trying to equate your ascertions with the decision of my professor to teach me how to communicate with a woman through techniques of encounters. The only thing most students took away from that class was the appraisal of my professor that she must be an awesome romantic partner.

In my own opinion, you just wanted to see what it would be like to be transgender and not to understand communication, would you agree?

A musician is a best communicator because, he/she appeals to both spectrum of people with unparrallel admiration and respect because, his/her song communicates and entertains at the same time. I hope you would agree that your blog is academically brilliant but very misleading hence it does not teach anyone to understand communication.

Rather, you probably admire the emotional gratification you are deriving. I would rather communicate through a universal language that everyone can identify with; which is music. The majority of people who read this blog except the transgenders, would undoubtedly disagree with you.

Benjamin Raji<
www.goshencitrus.com>

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