This Is A Pretty Extreme Measure...

[Guest amie]

but I'm not one to talk, I guess?

Anyone who's ever thought in absolute terms over this whole thing should rilly steer clear from judgement here.

I'll shut up now and let everyone form thier own thought on this one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/notting...ire/8045268.stm

[Sally]

It is a difficult thing to understand here in the good old US of A where Health care is up to the wealth or lack thereof the individual - the entire concept of nationalized medicine escapes us so that part is difficult for us.

As to the hunger strike, that is the long time favorite protest of political prisoners to draw attention the their causes - she feels like a political prisoner in her male body.

Gandhi was the on with the world's most famous and successful hunger strike - it took England out of India - non-violent protest that do not hurt anyone else.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest amie]

It is a difficult thing to understand here in the good old US of A where Health care is up to the wealth or lack thereof the individual - the entire concept of nationalized medicine escapes us so that part is difficult for us.

As to the hunger strike, that is the long time favorite protest of political prisoners to draw attention the their causes - she feels like a political prisoner in her male body.

Gandhi was the on with the world's most famous and successful hunger strike - it took England out of India - non-violent protest that do not hurt anyone else.

Love ya,

Sally

Yeah.

I'll say this, if she is to pull this off it would be because she lives in a socialist society.

Personaly, and despite the fact I can relate to her pain, I feel we cannot allow people to feel they can post this type of threat with the thought of reward being likely.

This would create a ridiculous snowball effect of people eventually threatening with suicide for far less troubling matters than the one we deal with.

[Sally]

It is certainly not an approach that I would take - as a matter of fact, I think its breakfast time!

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest amie]

It is certainly not an approach that I would take - as a matter of fact, I think its breakfast time!

Love ya,

Sally

Hey Sally!

I hope I caught yu in time?

Make yourself a fried-egg w/cheese sandwhich for breakfast. That's what I did this morning.

Don't forget to toast the bread!

lol

[Guest Elizabeth K]

I don't advocate suicide - I donno if a hunger strike would qualify as in the United States they can consider such as a mental disorder, institutionalize you and begin a program of force-feeding (Louisiana for sure) - BUT a hunger strike does become newsworthy, usually.

I was prepared for anything when I pushed the play button, and almost aborted when an ad appeared - but hung on.

What I say was a beautiful transwoman stating her case. I wish everyone could see her. What a terrible injustice to keep this person from assuming her place in society!

PLEASE LOOK AT THIS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/notting...ire/8045268.stm

Lizzy

[Guest amie]

I don't advocate suicide - I donno if a hunger strike would qualify as in the United States they can consider such as a mental disorder, institutionalize you and begin a program of force-feeding (Louisiana for sure) - BUT a hunger strike does become newsworthy, usually.

I was prepared for anything when I pushed the play button, and almost aborted when an ad appeared - but hung on.

What I say was a beautiful transwoman stating her case. I wish everyone could see her. What a terrible injustice to keep this person from assuming her place in society!

PLEASE LOOK AT THIS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/notting...ire/8045268.stm

Lizzy

Hey Lizzy, I've clicked on it twice now and it's comin' up, "Page not found."

Yu might wanna dig it up again?

Be good. C-yu!

[Guest Jeannine Bean]

but I'm not one to talk, I guess?

Anyone who's ever thought in absolute terms over this whole thing should rilly steer clear from judgement here.

I'll shut up now and let everyone form thier own thought on this one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/notting...ire/8045268.stm

Yea, being from the U.S., the whole concept of having money and not getting something, or not having money and getting something, whether I think one should have a right to that thing or not... it's really different from my perspective. Doubly so in Asia.

Bottom line, I say good for her if she gets what she wants. It's a world of jackels and I always wished I could be more ruthless, though I suspect she has a different set of internal justifications.

LOL, maybe I am a bit cynical :-)

Peace to her though, I really hope she gets her wish.

Jeannine

[Guest julia_d]

The classic mistake in the UK

If they see you have any money they assume you have more and will withhold treatment which everybody is legally entitled to on those financial grounds alone. Once you start down the self diagnosed private road you almost fix your path in stone.. The NHS want to see a proper diagnosis from a proper expert. Where I live if I was to present myself at CX that would be the end of it.. because every region has it's own path... stepping outside it and into private medicine is a choice people have, but once you pay to go private it's hard luck and unless something is life threatening the NHS won't just come along and pick up the pieces.

This woman is going about this in completely the wrong way.. It's simple to get HRT .. but there is a necessity to get a diagnosis from an approved gender specialist. Then your GP writes you a prescription for HRT .. That doesn't have anything to do with the PCT .. They have to approve funding for surgical procedures and in very rare cases will help towards pre-surgical hair removal... but not usually. They have proper policy documents and procedures in place. These take some finding, but it is a fact that every PCT is legally obliged to fund treatment when told to do so by a gp and a consultant.

I remember asking my gp for HRT.. and he just told me to wait for the diagnosis from the specialist. As soon as that letter came back my hormones were prescribed and have never been questioned since. I was very aware that in those interviews there was a lot of not mentioned psychological evaluation going on.. a lot of note taking.. and it took the specialist 5 minutes to diagnose my problem.. of course he had access to my entire medical history. Gender dysphoria is seen in the UK as a purely medical condition, but they do have to filter out the people with the mental disorders so they don't go mutilating people who are really attention seeking or playing some other game.

Sorry.. In my opinion she is a nutter and trying to jump the queue.. they aren't going to fund the things the PCT fund without the minimum 2 years RLT and a proven history of gender problems... Just saying "I am a woman" and then going on hunger strike and talking to the media because they don't instantly believe you isn't on.. it harms the case for the rest of us seeking to transition in the state funded system where we have to jump through the right hoops at the right time.. Many drop out, because it is a way of attention seeking. There are also those who are trying to hide from something. I have met people who thought it would be a good way to avoid going to a mans prison because they knew that eventually they would get caught doing whatever it is they were up to... and yet more who are on some sort of mutilation fetish kick... You can't just take things on face value.. and making all this fuss in the full media spotlight just confirms to the haters out there that we are all mental patients who should be locked up, not women with a genetic illness which can be treated and with a good result. I think the post-op suicide rate for the UK when the NHS path has been followed shows very clearly how careful the consultants are to get the diagnosis right...

[Guest nova]

I'll admit i don't know about the health care system in the UK, but in San Francisco, a lot of stuff is low or no cost, such as therapy and hormones for transpeople. I just have to wonder if there are other options she is overlooking... maybe there's some ulterior political/social motive or method to her hunger strike. But it is sad. Even the AMA--in their Resolution: 122, (Removing Financial Barriers to Care for Transgender Patients)--recognizes that ". . . GID, if left untreated, can result in clinically significant psychological distress, dysfunction, debilitating depression and, for some people without access to approproate medical care and treatment, suicidality and death . . ."