For their service and sacrifice, warm words of thanks from a grateful nation are more than warranted, but they are not nearly enough. We also owe our veterans the care they were promised and the benefits they have earned. We have a sacred trust to those who wear the uniform of the United States of America. It's a commitment that begins in enlistment and it must never end.~President Barack Obama, April 9, 2009
When asked about when the policy [toward the proper treatment of transgender veterans] would be released, a White House advisor said, "Soon." For those transgender veterans who keep facing discrimination from the VA on a daily bases, "Soon" is not good enough.It seems odd that a President who has said over and over again that ALL of our veterans should receive the care they sacrificed for has decided that "All" didn't include transgender veterans.
~Monica Helms, President, Transgender American Veterans Association, March 27, 2011
The president of the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA), Monica Helms, has released another video regarding transgender veterans -- this one about a waited for regulatory policy from the Veterans Administration (VA) and the Obama Administration on the medical treatment of eligible, disabled transgender veterans at VA medical facilities. Many transgender veterans are aware that the proposed regulatory policy -- a policy that will functionally create a standard of care for disabled transgender veterans -- has been in the pipeline for approval for over a year.
A transcript of the video:
Hello, my name is Monica Helms and I am the President of the Transgender American Veterans Association. Today, we will talk about the discrimination transgender and transsexual veterans face in VA medical facilities.For the longest time, transgender veterans have been aware that if they needed the VA as their primary health care, they risked being treated badly, even if they spent 20 or more years serving our country. In some cases, they have been denied ALL services from the VA and turned away.
In 2008, the Transgender American Veterans Association conducted a survey and 827 transgender and transsexual veterans participated. Twenty-nine percent of those who took the survey (240 veterans) were using the VA when they took that survey. A full 10% of the sample was turned away from a VA medical facility at least once for being transgender. These are veterans who were essentially told that their service to our country meant nothing because of what they did AFTER they were discharged.
Other transgender veterans reported intrapersonal discrimination from doctors, nurses and non-medical staff members. This included using incorrect pronouns on purpose, not using the person's legal name and referring to them in derogatory words. One trans man said in the survey, "I was told by a religious clerk that I should just go away because I was an insult to the brave real men who were there for treatment."
[More of the transcript below the fold.]
Transcript for the video "The VA Still Discriminates Against Trans Veterans" (continued):
One Male-to-Female respondent noted, "I am asked about my genitals and my plans for SRS regardless of whether or not it has relevance to my treatment."Many doctors and nurses were constantly singling out and stigmatizing their transgender patients. Illustrating this, one Male-to-Female respondent recounted the following experience: "A nurse pulled my partner out in the hall of the VA Hospital where I was an in-patient and said, 'You know that really is a man, don't you'?"
Also, transgender veterans are much more likely to be denied surgeries, such as hysterectomies, mastectomies, and orchiectomies, even if they are found to be medically necessary for the patient.
Doctors continually violated their Hippocratic Oath - do no harm - by denying these medically necessary surgeries and other medical services simply because the veteran was transgender. Others violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) by telling other patients and non-essential personnel about the transgender veteran's transitioning status.
Because of the TAVA survey in 2008, the VA began creating a draft of a new policy toward the proper treatment of transgender veterans. In the early 2009, the VA then sent this draft to various VA medical facilities to have their transgender veterans review it. They didn't contact TAVA or the National Center for Transgender Equality for their opinion.
However, the VA made several revisions and in July of 2009, they told us it would be out "SOON."
Months came and went, and over and over, the VA kept telling us that they would release the policy "soon." In that time, NCTE and TAVA contacted people who worked for the VA, the VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Senators, Representatives, Legislative Aids and even sent a letter to President Obama. Nothing happened.
After a year and a half, we received news that the policy was moving forward. But, it still never came out. When asked about when the policy would be released, a White House advisor said, "Soon." For those transgender veterans who keep facing discrimination from the VA on a daily bases, "Soon" is not good enough.
It seems odd that a President who has said over and over again that ALL of our veterans should receive the care they sacrificed for has decided that "All" didn't include transgender veterans. Here's what he said one time:
April 9, 2009:For their service and sacrifice, warm words of thanks from a grateful nation are more than warranted, but they are not nearly enough. We also owe our veterans the care they were promised and the benefits they have earned. We have a sacred trust to those who wear the uniform of the United States of America. It's a commitment that begins in enlistment and it must never end.
And, then another:
May 5, 2010:But, we are forever mindful that our obligation to our troops don't end on the battlefield. Just as we have a responsibility to train and equip them when we send them into harms way, we have a responsibility to take care of them when they come home.
And, even this:
July10, 2010:Just as we have a solemn responsibility to train and equip our troops before we send them into harms way, we have a solemn responsibility to provide our veterans the care and benefits they earned when they come home. That's our sacred trust with all who have served and it doesn't end when their tour of duty does.
He mentions "Sacred Trust" and "Solemn Responsibility." It seems that when it comes to its transgender veterans, the country doesn't live up to these words. Why?
Is the President thinking we are not patriotic enough to be treated respectfully by the VA? In the recent survey just released by NCTE and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force called "Injustice at Every Turn," they found that 20% of the 6,450 transgender and gender non-conforming study participants had served in the military, compared to only 10% of the general population of the US. Is this patriotic enough for you, Mr. President?
Every day this policy sits on ice, another transgender veteran gets discriminated against or harassed at a VA medical facility. TAVA has received dozens of E-mails over the last 20 months from frustrated transgender veterans with horror stories on how badly they have been treated by the VA. There is no excuse for this kind of treatment for ANY veteran, no matter what direction their lives took after they got out. If any American volunteers to protect this country and the people in it, then they deserve the best from our government. No exceptions. Let's hope the President gets the message, and he gets it SOON. Thank you.
This video is about the issue that has been the foundation of the Transgender American Veterans Association, the discrimination and harassment transgender and transsexual veterans face at VA medical facilities. In this, we show some examples of what people faced and point out that President Obama says ALL veterans should receive good service in the VA because they served this country. The video also covers a draft of a good policy toward trans veterans that the VA has been sitting on for the last 20 months. We need to be treated with the same respect all other veterans get from the Obama Administration.
Monica Helms and I have discussed the real possibility of TAVA and GetEQUAL jointly engaging in direct action to push the issue if we don't see the policy released within the next several weeks, and we both now are preparing for the possibility that the planned policy won't be released "soon." We're hopeful it will be, and preparing for if it isn't.
Transgender veterans deserve the care they were promised and the benefits they have earned. The lack of standardized, appropriate healthcare treatment for American transgender veterans by the VA accomplishes real harm, and the harm can be minimized with the release of the regulatory policy that still has not been released by the Obama Administration.
The Obama Administration really needs to understand exactly how important this issue is to transgender veterans -- We take this issue very, very seriously.
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