Last month I wrote a post about the state of transgender health in the NHS in Leeds. However, I realise that the post, written from the perspective of a cisgender ally, misses out the most important aspect of all: the transgender perspective. I hence asked on the LUU LGBT Society’s group page for said perspective, which kind of confirmed what I thought: that the doctors at the student medical practice are really accepting of a person’s trans status, but it’s lagging in some areas: the lack of publicity and literature in the student practice, a lack of support groups, and a perceived slowness in the NHS (although that may just be the NHS’s inertia, and not just limited to transgender health).
That said, other than the lack of awareness of these issues, I’m left with a slightly higher opinion of how Leeds treats trans people. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I don’t shut up about LGBT issues, and, of the people I know (although, given the circles I associate with, this may be skewed), nearly all of them are trans-positive. Especially the university’s LGBT society, who are absolutely brilliant. I did go back to the GP the other day, though, and there isn’t any literature I could find on gender issues, but, again, it may just be inertia. I hope that, even with the NHS changes coming through, that trans people will get better treatment (as it does needs to improved), and not worse over time. I personally think it will.
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