To: Pat Murphy
Thanks for your coverage on the San Francisco Sentinel- I have been out of town and out of the loop on vacation, but I wanted to write in to explain why transgender people cared/care so much about the TG benefits legislation that Mark Leno sponsored and to educate people about how profoundly the TG legislation affected healthcare for all TG people. People think it is just about surgery. I feel that I have been negligent in not educating people. I read some of the pieces on the Sentinel and realized that I bear some responsibility in educating people to understand that it wasn’t just about surgery and it wasn’t just about city employees, although that would have been enough reason to support the legislation.

The legislation has profoundly changed health care coverage beyond city employees and was a shot across the bow to insurance companies that discriminate against us by excluding anything that is related to our transgender status from coverage. Currently there is state-wide legislation, AB 1586, that would prohibit discrimination in health care based on gender identity.

Healthcare coverage is a life or death issue for all TG people. Doctors and health care providers ignore us or stigmatize us. Someone I know came into an ER room and had an infection from giving himself hormone shots. His leg was super inflamed and the doctor told him that since it was related to his TG status, he wasn’t covered under health insurance. Give insurance companies an inch and they will take a mile or two, eh?

If you really want to see a brilliant documentary that talks about the health care issue and chronicles a TG persons life, watch the much praised documentary Southern Comfort. It is about a transgender man (Female to Male) who dies from cancer as a result of discriminatory health care treatment.

Anyway, the legislation was a life or death issue for the TG community. I have had health insurance, but until recently, my doctors were horrible. For years I avoided going to the doctor despite the fact that I had health care. Yes. Even in San Francisco the medical community needs training. So you can just about imagine what it is like outside of San Francisco.

When we sat in those chambers on that fateful day waiting for the vote, the lives of many transgender people hung in the balance. I suspect every moment of that fateful day is burned in our memories in a way that non-transgender people will probably not understand.

I can only speak for myself when I say that my willingness to stand up for myself as a transgender person and for the rights of other transgender people is evolving. I have not always been perfect and I should do a better job of holding people accountable for actions that are harmful to the transgender community. But right now I can say that it was incredibly important that Mark Leno and many others stood up for us on that day. And I truly hope that I will get better at advocating for the rights of transgender people. And I hope you all do too.