Today is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

And in case you think "It's 2009, do we really need to acknowledge this stuff?", just ask GLBTQ folks in Moscow. Or the parents of two boys, in two separate incidents, who committed suicide because of ongoing homophobic school bullying. In a year that may have seen Justice for Angie,
there is still so much work to do.

Who Pays?

Mmmm... recession. It seems we can speak of nothing else these days. With good reason, of course.

Recession talk leads to the next big "C" word. (Not C-U-Next-Tuesday, you dirty kids) but cuts. Job cuts, budget cuts, tax cuts, etc. Everything is cut. It's a scissor fest these days. And without any real critical analysis, it would appear that the cuts are not discriminatory. Sure, they are in terms of class, because let's face it: It's Jim, Bob and Jane who are making the cars that are losing their jobs and not Robert So-and-So who runs the joint.

But the evil "c" word is also becoming a way to really conveniently "do away" with things that folks weren't too happy with to begin with.

Exhibit A: We've got Women's Studies at Guelph that has been chopped due to "budget constraints". Ahh yes, that other evil "c" word. This would seem like just another run-of-the-mill, aww-shucks cut if it weren't for the fact that "Cutting the Women's Studies program will save *less than 0.17%* of the University's predicted $46 million shortfall. And yet Women's Studies is the only program in the university that's slated to be cut." This was written in a petition to save the program; the program has now officially been cut.

You gonna tell me that this isn't just a wee bit suspicious? I'm not saying this is a full on witch hunt but when cuts are needed and the first thing to do is Women's Studies, which represents such a measly part of the total budget, one's gotta start asking questions.

Exhibit B: Oh Alberta! The land of bounty! Or not. Seems they're hurting in the Health Care department so they are making cuts, too. Massive cuts, it seems. Although there have only been two major cuts announced and they are *drumroll please*

Chiropractor services: Which will save them 53 million a year

and

"Sex Change Surgeries": Which will save them 700,000$ a year.

"The latter move has become particularly controversial. " No shit, CBC.ca 53 million vs. less than one million. Hmm...

I get that these will be two of many cuts but once again, you gotta start thinking this through. It's no coincidence that when the axe comes down, things like Women's Studies and sex re-assignment surgery are seen as disposable and easy to chop.

Women's Studies is chronically underfunded everywhere and in the case of Guelph, represents peanuts in terms of financing. Sex re-assignment surgery in Alberta, with only 26 people currently undergoing it and 20 people on a waiting list, represents such small numbers in terms of people and in terms of money, but represents so much to the livelihood of trans people that it makes no sense to see it go at this point. Unless there's a hidden agenda at play here.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I call bullshit on both the University of Guelph and the province of Alberta.

Private Parts, Public Matters

Genitalia in all its glory has been all the rage in the news as of late. Get your mind out of the gutter folks because these are medical concerns we’re talking about here and not sexy times.

First things first, the Ontario government has announced that they will now be paying for sex reassigned surgery (SRS) or “sex change operations” as the laypeople call ‘em. The procedures used to be covered but good o’l Mike Harris got rid of that a decade or so ago. But now, they’re back! And they’re covered.

According to reports, there are only a dozen or so SRS performed every year in this province. These surgeries are also at the end of a long list of procedures, examinations and testing that is performed on a person before they are allowed to proceed with SRS.

I think it’s no surprise that I support this 100%. And if I didn’t support it, then I certainly would have after reading the long list of hate filled comments on both the CBC, Globe and Mail and Citizen websites. One look at these comment pages indicates why access to SRS is so incredibly important. Transphobia is alive and well folks, and so why would anyone choose such a route unless it was what they truly needed?

People have been lamenting the already strained Health Care system and how this is only adding to the strain, and “why not reinstate my optometrist coverage or reduce wait times?!” they cry (usually anonymously under pseudonyms like “CanuckWithAnOpinion”, but I digress).

A loved one of mine is on a long waiting list for much needed cancer surgery and hey, yours truly wears glasses. So I know what it’s like to live in a shabby system. I can’t even imagine how parents of autistic children or low-income families survive in this system. It’s broken and it needs fixing.

But SRS isn’t going to affect those people. Not just any Dr. can perform SRS and there are few specialists in Canada who can. Therefore, your cancer doctor isn’t going to be taken away from your chemo treatments to perform SRS. Furthermore, according to the government itself, there are only a dozen or so procedures a year, as I mentioned earlier, for a total cost of 200,000$ a year. 200 000 a year. Total. Not for each person but in total.

Now think of those who are unable to access SRS and who desperately need it. They are stuck in low-income positions, are depressed and most often, commit suicide. Not to mention the high rates of violence committed against them. Measure those costs to the welfare state and then get back to me.

And for the love of Pete, can news reports refrain from shouting out “SEX CHANGE OPERATIONS NOW PAID FOR”. Its archaic terminology and sensationalist as hell, which only furthers the transphobia.

Part Two: In-Vitro Fertilization, should it be paid for, too?