If you believe in universal health care then you have absolutely no excuse not to cover transition-related expenses as well because access to hormonal and surgical transition are controlled by (cis) medical professionals, and in order for them to be safely administered should be observed by someone who knows what to look for and what tests to do, meaning that transition-related care is medical in nature, whether or not people are self-medicating, and whether or not there’s medical gatekeeping involved.
Whether or not you personally believe dysphoria is or should be considered a medical condition, the fact is that a lot of the time, medical transition is the way we choose to cope with it. A lot of us need access to transition or our mental health suffers. A lot of us need access to transition or we die.
Even for those without dysphoria (social or physical), transition-related care should be covered if wanted because, while one could technically make an argument that transition for non-dysphoric people can be considered elective (in that there is no mental distress ‘pressuring’ them into medical transition), in the end it’s still other people deciding whether or not someone who wants to transition is ‘too cis’ to be allowed, and that’s still gatekeeping, and that will be abused to bar other people from transitioning, the same way it is now.
Transition-related care, or transition at all, should never be pushed on anyone, and people should be informed of all their options to reduce dysphoria/increase euphoria that doesn’t involve medical transition in the least, because for some people those are the better options, while still being comfortable knowing that they always have the option of medical transition should they so choose, rather than fearing being blacklisted from it and unable to access it later on because of their decision to go another route. This way, no one is dealing with the fear of being barred access and can choose what’s best for them, instead of struggling for medical transition because they know that if they don’t adhere perfectly to the narrative, medical transition will no longer be an option if they decide they really need it.
This doesn’t mean that medical transition should be a last resort; truly, for a lot of us, it’s really what’s best, and there’s no question. However, not being in panic mode and struggling against a system thrilled to bar you for whatever reason is always going to lead to happier, less-traumatized people. And this isn’t some radfem ‘but are you really sure uwu maybe you should think critically about why you want to uwu,’ this is “We’re not all the same and we aren’t necessarily looking for the same things, and how you live your best life should be a decision you make without fearing a completely unnecessarily fabricated consequence.”
Cis people should be allowed access to transition-related care as well, because cis people can and do consider themselves cis and still struggle with gender dysphoria, or even just wanting to present and celebrate their gender in a non-conforming manner. GNC cis folks exist and they should be allowed to present however they want.
For instance, if a trans man can be content without bottom surgery and actually prefer it that way, then there’s no reason that a cis man can’t actively want bottom surgery. They’re both men, and saying that they can’t both want the same thing because one of them is inherently ~different~ is cissexist and reeks of biological essentialism.
On the other side of the coin, detransition should also be covered, but not pushed. No matter what one’s reasons for detransition, whether because transitioning made their dysphoria worse, or they realized they’re cis, or because they just want to present differenly for whatever reason, or whatever, should be covered for the exact same reasons outlined above.
If you don’t support universal health care then I guess this doesn’t apply to you because this isn’t a 101 class on why my politics are better than yours, this is at best a 301 class, so just keep scrolling.
Anyway that’s my hot take for the day. I welcome comments and questions and polite/reasonable disagreement; this isn’t a discourse post, though; it’s a post that welcomes reasonable discussion, at most (it’s mostly just a rant, to be quite honest).