Trans Universe

In 2001, I joined a Yahoo Group by the name of TSVets, which still exists to this day. This is a group that is opened to all transsexuals who have served our country in the military. The list has a variety of veterans from all branches of the service, all the modern wars, different ranks, different income levels and different levels of surgical status. Some are completely healthy, while others are disabled or have PTSD. In short, they are no different than the rest of America’s veterans.

As time went on, I realized that even though transgender veterans did all the same things in the military as their non-trans veterans counterparts did, the Veterans Administration medical facilities did not treat them equally as they did all the other veterans. We know today that the VA has a dismal record when it comes to how they treat all veterans. Transgender veterans would just like to be treated equally as crappy as everyone else.

I did not like what I heard on the TSVets list about the treatment some transgender veterans received at the VA and I discussed it with my friend Angela Brightfeather, an Army veteran and activist from North Carolina. At the time, we both served on the Activism Committee of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC.) She saw this as an important issue to undertake, which later led to the creation of the VA Committee in NTAC. As we dug deeper into the issues, we realized that the problems were not something a committee could handle, so we formed the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA) in January, 2003, a national 501 (c) 3 organization.  

This article is not to go over the history and accomplishments of TAVA. This article is to show how the rest of the transgender community can benefit from its veteran members and to show that by fighting to help transgender veterans, we will help all of the transgender community.

There are hundreds of stories where transgender people have been treated badly when lobbying politicians, or by the staff members of politicians. But, many transgender veterans have seen a complete reversal of attitude when they announced that they were also veterans. This is something both Angela and I knew from the very beginning, when we first started working on this issue. They can give us all the grief they want for being a transgender person, but no politician wants to be known as disrespecting veterans, regardless of who they are. That’s a line none dare cross, because they don’t want that kind of bad PR.

Once in the politician’s office, playing the veteran card can get a lot accomplished, especially after the VA scandal of 2007. In regards to employment discrimination, I have said things like, “I spent eight years in the Navy, patrolling underwater in a submarine, protecting this country and the rights of the people in this country. I am now being told that I don’t get to have those same rights. Why?” I’ve put some politicians on the spot . . . at least those who have a heart. Yes, it’s rare, but some actually do have a heart.

There are a variety of issues facing transgender veterans in the VA medical facilities. An extensive survey is now underway by TAVA that is already revealing some startling facts. So far, we are seeing that nearly 6% of those who have taken the survey and have used the VA have been turned away from a VA facility for being transgender. The survey is also showing that 16% have been discriminated or disrespected by people at the VA, including doctors and nurses.

The VA has just two words in their policy that they used to justify their poor treatment of transgender veterans. They are, “Gender Alteration.” The VA will not treat anything they consider having to do with “Gender Alteration.” Since this is a rather vague term, then various facilities can interpret it to mean anything they want. This is why some transgender veterans get decent treatment, while others do not.

Those of us working for better treatment of transgender veterans in the VA see another benefit that can help the rest of the community. Getting the VA to officially adapt the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) policies and procedures could go a long way to help convince various companies to cover transgender health issues in their insurance. It makes it a lot easier to convince your company to cover transgender health issues if you can point to the VA and say, “See, the government feels this is important.” Part of the plan to convince the VA to drop the words “Gender Alteration” is to use companies who already cover transgender health well as examples.There are a few places in the country where the VA does a good job in helping the transgender veterans get the best coverage they can offer. These are examples that rest of the VA facilities should copy. We just hope that the VA doesn’t decide to use the worse facilities as models for treating transgender veterans. That’s a fear we have had since starting TAVA five years ago.The biggest issue we will have to face maybe one that the future TAVA board members will get to tackle. That is getting the VA to cover Sex/Gender Reassignment Surgery (SRS or GRS.) For Male-to-Females, that would entail genital surgery. For Female-to-Males, this could either be top surgery, a hysterectomy, or both. In this current political climate, it has been hard to get Congress to protect transgender people from employment discrimination or add them to hate crimes legislation. How hard do you think it would be to convince the government to pay for surgery?When it comes to having the VA cover SRS/GRS, there are differences of opinion within the transgender veteran community. Some want the VA to cover the cost of the surgery and want TAVA to advocate for that along with all of the other issues transgender veterans face. Others feel that we should work to resolve all the other issues first before taking on this one. This is a prime example where incrementalism is warranted. I have not seen very many transgender veterans who don’t want the VA to pay for surgery, but we tend to disagree on how to reach that goal.

Over the last few years, we have seen a major increase in how the transgender community honors its military veterans. We can be a useful tool in opening doors for the community, convince the need for health care coverage for transgender people and to show that we are a community who needs to be covered in all forms of federal and state legislation. After all, there have been transgender people in every war this country fought. It is about time this country finally recognizes us for our dedication in securing the freedoms we all hold so dearly. I hope I live to see that day.