2 questions

[Guest MissErika]

Has any of you tried to claim GID as a disability?

Do you have to pay copays for any va appointments related to GID or being trans?

Thanks ladies,

Erika

[Guest Donna Jean]

Has any of you tried to claim GID as a disability?

Do you have to pay copays for any va appointments related to GID or being trans?

Thanks ladies,

Erika

No, I was to far along before I got into the VA to claim GID as a disability ...

I know some girls that have co-pay for their HRT.....

But, mine is covered 100%....(I am a non-wounded combat veteran)...

They cover all my HRT ......Blood work ...and anything else that needs attention...

And in a few weeks I'll be seeing a doctor there that is a post-op transwoman, herself.....

Have a look at this site, Hon..

http://www.tavausa.org/about.html

Huggs

Dee Jay

[Guest MissErika]

Thanks DJ, I wish that I could find someone who's actually applied for disability for GID.

I am not going to be a combat veteran, but I am wondering if the new va directive

Will require a copay or not. Either way its still cheap.

Thanks again.

[Guest Gina9223]

>Your VA co-pays are dependant upon your income. (this won't change and in fact co-pays will be going up)

>Federal law excludes GID for any disability for all programs. (this isn't going to change any time soon and IMO GID shouldn't be a classified as a dissability)

[Drea]

I would ask the question, in what way is it disabling?

Like with many claims that GID causes, it isn't the GID per se, but the other conditions that frequently may be present with GID that are more disabling. For example extreme social anxiety can keep one from seeking out work.

[Guest MissErika]

I'm not saying that it is disabling. The military defines a disability as anything that would make finding a job more difficult, or cause you to not be able to do some jobs. If you are in the middle of transition, I can bet that some employers will know and not want to hire you based on that alone. I don't know about you, but I don't have the money or time to fight with a company over why they wouldn't hire me. All I could really do is look for another job. It would only be a temporary disability, while in transition.

Anyways not trying to start a fight

Erika

[Drea]

Okay, I was just asking.

I know folks who have gotten themselves on long term disability as a result of being trans however they did so by finding a cooperative therapist and using the secondary symptoms as the reason. To my knowledge none of them have progressed any further.

I can bet that some employers will know and not want to hire you based on that alone. I don't know about you, but I don't have the money or time to fight with a company over why they wouldn't hire me.

Yes and that can happen post-transition as well. It seems to me that trying to fight with a company that doesn't want to hire you is kind of futile to begin with. Like would you really want to work there if they don't want you?

Having been on the hiring side, hiring an employee is always a process that is more art than science and requires more judgment. Having the appropriate degrees can open the door but doesn't mean one is the right candidate for a job.

As someone who has no degree there are certain challenges I face. Those challenges in my opinion are bigger than the trans issue.

There is a natural tendency to try and avoid the employment issue. It is an important one in transition as being able to support oneself often factors into ones self esteem.

[Carolyn Marie]

I have been on the hiring side of the interview table many times. Once I did have a candidate who was trans, and I knew she was, although it never came up during the interview, and was not an issue of discussion among the interview board. We didn't hire her, because she was not the best qualified. Did she feel that her trans status was an issue? I can never know, but I would not be surprised if she did.

That is going to be a commonplace feeling among transfolk job seekers - that any and every rejection is due to them being trans. The fact is, as Drea mentioned, there are many factors that go into a hiring decision, and one of them for me has always been, a gut feeling that the person fit. It is not usually the most important factor, but when you've done hundreds of interviews, you get a feel for who is going to work and who isn't.

HUGS

Carolyn Marie

[Guest MissErika]

Hey girls,

I'm not saying all employers will discriminate, but I know that some will. More than likely I will never actually know which ones will. I am just trying to make sure that I will have the ability to support my family once I exit

Remember, just because you don't discriminate when hiring doesn't mean the next guy

Is going to be just like you.

I don't have a degree, I will be working on a degree in film when I get out. However

I am not going to start school right away because I won't be able to get in my program

Until next fall, and the mgib doesn't support you while you are not at school.

I have a family of 4 and just getting any minimum wage job isn't going to support

Them.

I'm sorry for my random words, I'm jnust spouting thoughts as they come to me.

Erika

[Guest Michellewhois]

I'm not saying that it is disabling. The military defines a disability as anything that would make finding a job more difficult, or cause you to not be able to do some jobs.

Erika

I had to giggle at this statement. The military has a really weird way of wording things especially about disabilities. I know, because I lost the tip of my right index finger in an industrial accident, just as I was applying for entry. I had to explain to the recruiter and the MEPS doc that it wasn't a disabling condition if for no other reason than I use my middle finger (Yes that expression finger to pull a trigger). I was advised by the MEPS personnel that if accepted to active duty, the military would show it in my records and if I wanted, I could claim it was aggravated during my service time when I got out. We had a good giggle when I said that I would claim it if I could word the claim as "Not being all there!".

[Guest Maggie_O]

I would ask the question, in what way is it disabling?

Like with many claims that GID causes, it isn't the GID per se, but the other conditions that frequently may be present with GID that are more disabling. For example extreme social anxiety can keep one from seeking out work.

I don't think GID is, itself, a disability except that it could be argued. GID could be so called because the disability is being trapped in the wrong body - seriously - from which one needs to be liberated to be "normal". Also, one could argue that the denial of any services to aid GID military members when they served caused emotional disabilities which would dovetail nicely with your comments.