Attention Legislators: Gender Transitions Are Not One-Size-Fits-All
For Narratively, March 2017
In 2015, New York enacted a law that requires Medicaid, along with private insurance companies in the state, to cover hormone therapy for trans individuals over the age of eighteen, as well as gender reassignment surgery for individuals eighteen or older. While the law was hailed as revolutionary for the transgender community, some trans women took issue with the fact that the law prioritized gender reassignment surgery, while leaving out procedures such as breast augmentation and facial feminization, which are deemed cosmetic. For many transgender people, the ultimate step in transitioning is not reproductive organ surgery.
In July 2016, a federal judge ruled it unlawful for New York Medicaid to ban cosmetic procedures that are medically necessary for the treatment of gender dysphoria. That means transgender individuals in New York, like Monique Fontaine, can now make the medical changes necessary to align their appearance with their gender identity. Fontaine says she has wanted breasts her entire life. “It’s something that completes me as a woman in my mind more so than I was before and also in society’s mind,” says Fontaine. “As trans women, we have to be the epitome of femininity,” she says.
For Narratively, March 2017
In 2015, New York enacted a law that requires Medicaid, along with private insurance companies in the state, to cover hormone therapy for trans individuals over the age of eighteen, as well as gender reassignment surgery for individuals eighteen or older. While the law was hailed as revolutionary for the transgender community, some trans women took issue with the fact that the law prioritized gender reassignment surgery, while leaving out procedures such as breast augmentation and facial feminization, which are deemed cosmetic. For many transgender people, the ultimate step in transitioning is not reproductive organ surgery.
In July 2016, a federal judge ruled it unlawful for New York Medicaid to ban cosmetic procedures that are medically necessary for the treatment of gender dysphoria. That means transgender individuals in New York, like Monique Fontaine, can now make the medical changes necessary to align their appearance with their gender identity. Fontaine says she has wanted breasts her entire life. “It’s something that completes me as a woman in my mind more so than I was before and also in society’s mind,” says Fontaine. “As trans women, we have to be the epitome of femininity,” she says.
