Translated material
Hippocratic refusal
Transgender people who decided to make the transition are very vulnerable. The ambiguity of appearance during the transition is noticeable to others. Anyone can call, offend, even beat. It is especially difficult to hide the inconsistency of gender identity and biological sex at a doctor's appointment
Dasha
(The name of the heroine is changed)
“P *** p, or what? I went from here to x **! ” - ordered the therapist Dasha.
This happened at a reception at the clinic, where the girl came with a cough, a runny nose and a temperature of 39.
But first, Dasha called the insurance company to make an appointment with the doctor. The insurance staff could not understand why she was recorded in a female voice in the male name. The registry arose the same questions. The administrator was indignant when a long -haired girl handed out a passport in which there was a photo of a man with a short haircut: “Of course, I warned that I was a transgender person and I have been living in a female gender role for a long time, I look and behaved accordingly. But they thought I was pretending. ”
Dasha was bad, the time was pulled in the registry, and only when she cursed, she was allowed to go to the doctor. “I went in, gave the card to the doctor and began to describe my condition. The doctor wondered: whose card, why is I at the reception, if a completely different person is indicated in the map? I again explained that I was a transsexual woman, specially expressed in this medical term, I thought that the doctors are more understandable. ”
Dasha And then the doctor began to insult Dasha: “He behaved like a gopnik on the street - the word“ p *** p ”sounded in each phrase. He said that I am a pervert, that they have to kill such. ” Due to temperature, Dasha did not immediately realize what was happening. But there was no strength to answer - the girl simply left the office.
Dasha, a working programmer in an IT company, had to take a week's vacation at his own expense.
The VHI policy paid by the employer was useless. I was afraid to complain about the insurance girlA year before this case, Dasha tried to get permission to transgender transition. But not a single endocrinologist, to whom she turned to, issued the necessary documents. This was in 2014, when the deputy Vitaly Milonov proposed to call for the managers of the registry offices for registration of marriage with a transgender woman. According to Dasha, the doctors also behaved wary. Four years later, the situation almost did not change.
A year after the incident with the therapist, Dasha needed to take tests for sexually transmitted diseases - she was not sure of the health of her partner. In order to avoid misunderstandings due to documents, she turned to the anonymous cabinet of the skin and venereological dispensary and paid for the inspection of three thousand rubles: “It was necessary to take a more intimate analysis than a blood test. I believed that experienced venereologists should be normal for transgender people. I tried to explain to the doctor in advance that I was a transgender girl in the process of transition and that he is not yet completed. I immediately asked if he had questions. He replied that everything was fine. But it was evident in the face that he did not quite understand what it was about. ”
The doctor asked Dasha to undress. The girl took off her linen and raised her skirt.
“B ** di, what is this x ** nya? A pervert, or what? B ** d, p ***** Owls divorced, ”the doctor reacted.
“I explained to you what's what,” Dasha tried to object.
Dasha photo: Maria Gelman for TDThe doctor continued to swear and went to Dasha. “The man was a small complexion, and at first I was sure that he would not do anything to me. But he was approaching too quickly and decisively. It was evident that the person was inadequate. I politely asked him to move away. She herself instinctively retreated and realized that I was clogging into the corner. He swung, I pushed him slightly. From this he became furious and swung stronger. Then I just hit him in the groin and ran away. I had to do this, because I know many cases when people on the street were broken by their faces even for a simple rainbow scarf. I was shaking. I calmed down for a long time - I took a vacation for two weeks, tried not to contact anyone and not be among people. After I went to another specialist - there were no questions there. ”
Dasha was looking for a way to leave Russia - she thought about a political shelter, sent a resume to foreign companies - and she was offered a job. Now the girl lives in a small European country and works in one of the main international IT companies.
The family doctor reacted to her status with curiosity and in three days collected information about who better to contact hormones. “In Russia, too, doctors sometimes helped - mainly endocrinologists. Perhaps they have professional interest or just more knowledge. Although one therapist received me normally when I was at the beginning of the transition, then it was not even clear what gender I was. But there are doctors who humiliate at best, but at the worst ... Therefore, there is a list of doctors who do not go to the transfer. ”
Frank
Frank and his partner Daniil (also a transgender man) walked around the city on a June evening. White nights were approaching - it was too late, but it was not dark yet. The guys went to the embankment through the underground passage. A drunken company was moving towards. The guys tried to get around her - they were squeezed to the opposite wall so that they would not be touched. One of the company came up and pulled Daniil by the ear.
"I asked:" What are you doing? " - recalls Frank. - They began to insult us, yell: “You are p **** s! You have holes!” I said that grabbing people on the street is abnormally. Then the second ran up: “Yes, I will kill you now!” And splashed beer in my face. The first went around me from the back and hit me on the back of the head. He took a folding chair from somewhere, began to beat me on the head and broke me about me. At this time, the second fell Daniel to the floor and scored his feet, beat in his face.
In addition to the two, that we were attacked, there were four more people with them - all were drunk. Among them are two women and a small child. Women tried to take the attackers, but they did not listen. I managed to tear out a chair and hit the offender in response. He did not even react - he was too drunk. When Daniel began to scream and call for help, the men heard his voice and said: “Are we beaten by women or what?” We barely fought off them, and their friends took them.
We were both on hormonal therapy, but not for long. Appearance (female. - Note TD ) did not have time to change a lot. We looked more androgyno. We had shirts with a short sleeve, nothing provocative. We did not make no noise, did not attract attention, did not even talk. After that, my anxiety developed: I am constantly afraid that they would attack me like that time, for nothing. ”
Frank photo: Maria Gelman for TDDaniil then broke his eyes and torn his cheek - he was all in the blood, could not rise and saw nothing. Frank called an ambulance. They were taken to the hospital.
“The doctor put six seams on Daniel’s cheek. But he said: “They beat you right, because you don’t have to call yourself in a male gender.” Then we both have not yet changed the documents (from female to male. - approx. TD ). It was evident that both were on therapy. I was very angry and said: “I am also a transgender, how can you say such things?”
After I sat in the lobby and waited for me to call me. I had a large hematoma on my forehead, the neck was damaged, the clothes are all in the blood. My head was dizzy, I hardly stood on my feet. When we were brought, I just reached the sofa in the waiting room and lay down. But they did not call me and did not even record. I think because the first patient turned out to be a transgender, they disdain to contact another one. As a result, I did not receive help from the doctors. ”
At that time, the guys lived with Grandfather Frank - his only relatives. Grandmother accepts and supports Frank's decision. And the young man does not talk about his grandfather about his transgender - he protects his nerves.
When the guys returned from the hospital, Frank got worse. But again he did not dare to call an ambulance. All this time, my grandmother looked after the guys because they almost did not get up. When Frank became better, his grandmother sent him to the emergency room. They made an X -ray: “Doctors gave a conclusion and prescribed treatment. Except for this case, I have not been seeking medical help for two years, because I have encountered transfobia even with doctors from paid clinics. ”
Max
Max caught a cold in August - laid his ears. In the clinic, the ENT immediately looked at him askance. The experience of hormonal therapy was small, the documents also remained in the female name.
Max photo: Maria Gelman for TD“At first glance at my doctor’s card, I reacted negatively to me. I turned to a passport [female] gender and “you”. When the turn of the standard issue came up-whether I take any drugs constantly-I told which. I see no reason to lie if it is clear that I am taking hormones. She increased the tone: “Who allowed you? Let the one who allowed this disgrace is treating you, because it is all from hormones. Let your fashion psychologists do this.” She stated that she had no idea what to do with me, because she was not taught to treat perverts. And in general, I have all health problems due to the fact that I went against God. She said that “all these European trends” are to blame. And she didn’t even inspect me. What could I say? What was sitting on a pot at a year and a half and dreamed of European trends? I already told my parents that I was not a girl, but a boy. ”
At that time, Max worked as a 2D artist in a company developing a game-specially mastered this demanded profession in order to earn an expensive operation-correction. But with each cold, I had to take offs at their own expense. Even when Max changed the documents and no one would suspect his original floor, he was afraid to go to the doctors.
Irma
Irma went to the neuropsychiatric dispensary of a small city. She needed to be examined in order to receive a certificate with a diagnosis of “transsexualism” necessary for the legal transition. In accordance with the floor in the passport, IRMU was put in the male department. But she was lucky: “The head physician of the hospital and the head of the department turned out to be correct people. They understood that the situation is non -standard, so they allocated me a separate ward. I am grateful to them because it was a department for the most severe patients. In the next department of neurosis, people went to the sanatorium. And they didn’t let anyone out of ours. ”
Irma photo: Maria Gelman for TDIrma was preparing to make a transition. And she only likes her girls. When she talked with the psychologist of the department, she tried to hide it. I was afraid, because I heard many stories about refusals to issue a certificate in peripheral dispensaries precisely because of homosexuality. The psychologist ate it Irma, but the doctors understood her and reassured her. But it was hard to communicate with the nurses: “They discussed me loudly behind me. I am not offended by them, because they probably have not seen such and are not as well educated as doctors. ”
The Irma helped out just a nurseA week later, the girl fell ill with a tooth - swelling appeared, the gum was inflamed. Irma decided to ask for help in the local dental office-because of the strict rules of the dispensary, she could not contact the clinic beyond its borders.
She waited for the line in the office, sat in a chair and warned the doctor that she was very painful. The doctor examined the tooth and began to drill him without anesthesia: “It was unbearably painful, and I asked anesthetic. The dentist said that I came up with and there is nothing wrong. When she pressed on the tooth, I involuntarily clung to a chair and screamed. She threw back the tools and said: “I didn’t get these n **** aces to treat these n ****.” She left and left me with this hole. This was the only dentist for the entire dispensary. I survived thanks to the nurse. She gave an ointment for the tooth and anesthetic, which I used the next three weeks. "
Irma wanted to go beyond the territory and cure the tooth, but the doctors said that it was impossible to go out - only write a complaint. Then the dentist would have to treat the tooth. But for Irma, the situation was hopeless - a negative attitude towards her would only aggravate a complaint.
The remaining weeks Irma almost did not sleep. Anesthetic dulled pain, but did not completely relieve. In three weeks, the cheek was so swollen that the face ceased to be symmetrical. “As soon as I left the dispensary, I turned to a normal dentist. I was removed an inflamed tooth, opened the gum. The doctor regretted that I came to him too late and that it was likely to fall out of nearby teeth. ” Soon it happened.
It was not possible to quickly correct the situation, because at that moment the girl could not find a job.
Irma photo: Maria Gelman for TDIrma is an installer: engaged in automobile electronics and installed in cars of the security and satellite surveillance systems. In interviews, she was told: “We will call you back,” but they did not call back. At that time, Irma did not even always have enough money for food, and sometimes I had to spend the night in the parks. Relatives and acquaintances turned away from her at the beginning of the transgender transition - there was absolutely no one to help her. There was no more money for expensive bridges and prostheses. Because of this, the girl sank on the left of the lower jaw-her face remained asymmetric. When Irma found a job and was finally able to come to the doctor, she was told that dental treatment would no longer correct changes in her face.
***
“I often communicate with transgender people, and many of them are afraid to consult doctors. The results of online surveys that we conduct are also said about the same, ”says Diana Kurdyash, an employee of the legal assistance project to transgender people. - Before the change of documents, the situation is especially unpleasant: for example, a transgender woman can be put in a hospital in a male ward. Or generally refuse medical care.
But with new documents, everything is not always all right-it is not known how doctors will respond to a camming out. It happens that they ask inappropriate questions, mock, behave incorrectly. For a transgender person who is especially in need of medical care, this is a lot of stress. Therefore, many turn only when there is no other way out. Transgender activists work with this problem and gradually change the situation: for example, the St. Petersburg initiative group “T-action” conducts trainings for doctors (mainly endocrinologists) for the correct treatment of transgender people. Our project also carries out work with doctors that outstanding certificates necessary to change documents.
And there is certain progress - especially in private clinics, as well as among young specialists.
Unfortunately, in many state medical institutions, the attitude to transgender people is still negative, so activists have a lot of work to do. ”
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