Robert Eads was visiting friends in the late 1990s when he woke up in a pool of blood. His terrified hosts quickly began calling hospitals, clinics, and private physicians, explaining that Robert was a partially-transitioned female-to-male transsexual and demanding an immediate appointment.
The request was repeatedly rebuffed. By the time Eads found physicians willing to diagnose and treat him at an Augusta, Georgia teaching hospital -- a three-hour drive from his home in rural Taccoa, Georgia -- his ovarian cancer was so advanced that nothing could be done to save his life. He died in 1999, at age 53.
His friends were outraged but knew that Eads’ experience was not anomalous. While transsexual identity is rare -- the American Psychological Association estimates that two to three percent of men periodically cross dress but that only one in 10,000 biological males and one in 30,000 biological females transition to a different gender -- their health needs are largely unmet.
Indeed, members of the transmasculine community understand that the line separating them from Eads is frighteningly narrow. Most, like him, have undergone radical mastectomies to better present themselves as male. Furthermore, like him, most have neither the money nor the inclination to have their female genitalia removed. This means that they need to see a physician for routine, annual Pap smears, STD testing, and gynecological exams.
Taking Urgent Medical Action
As a tribute to Eads, a group of friends decided to mark his passing by surveying Georgia’s medical personnel to ascertain who was willing to treat transexuals. Within short order, the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlantarose to the challenge. Starting in 2000, they began examining transmen attending the annual Southern Comfort Conference, an international confab that has brought transpeople and their partners together for a weekend of workshops, partying, and camaraderie since 1990.
By offering low cost gynecological exams during Southern Comfort, organizers felt that they were not just paying tribute to Eads, but were encouraging participants to take better care of themselves. In the eight years since the program began, it has grown from a once-a-year offering to a year-round program called the Trans Health Initiative of the Feminist Women’s Health Center. Since opening in June 2008, more than 200 transmen have been served by the initiative.
Patients are enticed not only by the Trans Health Initiative’s compassionate and non-judgmental approach to medical care, but also by the program’s sliding fee scale which enables them to access a host of discounted services, from a Human Papilloma screening for $69 to extensive lab work starting at $26. Those with health insurance can sometimes have their lab work paid for -- if the tests are not transition-related. Nonetheless, clinic staff report that many patients opt to pay for treatment out of pocket, fearing that their privacy will be breached if their insurance company is contacted.
The decision to extend healthcare to the transgender community was a not a difficult one for Feminist Women’s Health Center staff. Since opening in 1977, the clinic has been in the vanguard, offering abortions up to 24 weeks and serving survivors of domestic abuse, gang violence, incest, rape, and other types of assault.
“The Feminist Women’s Health Center has a long history of providing services to folks who seem to fall through the cracks,” says Executive Director Nancy Boothe. “There are people out there who are denied respectful, quality-driven healthcare because they refuse to walk around in a body that doesn’t fit well with who they are. Specifically, transmen with female sex organs have been shamed away from even the most routine, preventative, gynecological healthcare.”
A perusal of transsexual websites and blogs bears this out. Transmen and women describe being derided as freaks, and write of being called fiends and sickos by medical professionals. Several report being asked to leave medical facilities despite high fevers, acute respiratory distress, or other symptoms because their presence would disturb other patients. Regardless of whether their illnesses correlate with their transgender identity, they speak of rampant discrimination as the rule, and compassionate care as the exception.
Hearing such stories affirmed the FWHC’s commitment to treating transsexuals. “When the organizers of Southern Comfort came to us and said, ‘Listen, we’d like to make gynecological care and pap smears available,’ we set out to create services,” Executive Director Boothe says. “But first, we had people come and talk to us about trans health so that we could sensitize and educate ourselves.”
Boothe reports that staff immediately saw the provision of services to transgender patients as part of their mission -- to promote reproductive justice and aid marginalized communities. “When we learned about guys getting illegal drugs on the street or online, avoiding established health protocols, we realized that people will get the right bodies any way they can. Right away we knew it was a safety issue and agreed to provide space for care,” she says.
Creating a Welcoming Environment for Transmen
Jac Camp runs the FWHC’s Trans Health Initiative and admits that the idea of seeing transmen at a women’s health center initially raised the hackles of some Atlanta-area feminists. “They were confused over how wanting to present as male could be feminist,” he begins. “But I think the most feminist thing you can do is give people control over their own bodies, empowering them to make the decisions that are right for them. The mandate of feminist healthcare is to support people in times of need, whether they’re facing a crisis pregnancy or a gender transition.”
A self-identified transman, Camp describes the Initiative’s growth and charts its incremental expansion. The first Robert Eads Clinic, he says, drew just seven Southern Comfort conferees; the next year 12 came, and as the idea caught on, more and more transmen filed in for blood work, prescriptions, HIV and STI screenings, and gynecological exams. “Transpeople hesitate to get healthcare when they perceive they’re not welcome,” he says. “Once people learned that a transman was involved in the project, people understood that they were being encouraged to come in.” At this point, he continues, transsexuals from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Virginia flock to the clinic throughout the year. “Some patients drive as much as seven hours each way,” he says, “which tells you that things are pretty bleak in the parts of the country where they live.”
This dearth of services underscores Camp’s enthusiasm for the Trans Health Initiative. “Patients tell us we’re the only medical facility in five states where staff are friendly and where they can get testosterone prescriptions [to enhance masculinization] without having to explain themselves. In addition, I think our work literally saves lives.” Since early detection of cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancer increases survival rates, Camp sees preventative care as essential. “Teaching people to care for their bodies, even when they don’t identify with particular body parts, is key,” he says.
Mail to a friendCOMMENTS
- There Are No Comments Yet
