Alberta has decided that the $700 000 they were spending on gender reassignment surgery per year was putting them back too much. The provincial government has cut funding of the surgery completely out of the budget, which was released on April 7.
From xtra.ca (don’t read the comments):
The Alberta government delisted funding for gender reassignment surgery this week, and trans activists are quickly organizing to push for the program’s reinstatement.
In Tuesday’s budget, the province announced it was cutting the GRS program to save $700,000 a year. Alberta plans to spend $12.9 billion on healthcare in 2009, according to figures released this week. The GRS program funded surgeries for between 10 and 20 people a year.
The decision to end the GRS program comes just weeks after the province said it would add sexual orientation but not gender identity to the province’s human rights legislation.
From the Edmonton Sun (seriously, of the few articles about this, the Sun is being remotely respectful):
The Alberta government politicians insist that their decision wasn’t based on morality. They say they had to “delist” the service in order to save about $700,000 in the provincial budget.
[..]
Warneke, who runs the transgender clinic at Grey Nuns Hospital, was not consulted or even notified that the funding would be cut.
Up to now, he’s approved 16 people a year for the surgery, which is usually performed in Montreal.
Alberta Health has said anyone who has had their funding approval will still get the surgery, but Warneke said at least 16 of his patients have been caught in a limbo where he’s approved them but the government hadn’t yet green-lighted the funding.
Many of the other articles I’ve found seem to be highlighting that coverage of chiropractic care has been cut (and then SRS as a ‘o well you know’ comment). This move by the provincial government is both ridiculous and transphobic. Just last year, Ontario activists went through a similar battle. Trans people face high rates of unemployment and unemployment because of discrimination. These aren’t elective surgeries. They are costly for an individual, and already difficult to get approved for. I’m sure the Alberta government’s budget is to their liking, helping people out in these tough economic times, but I’m pretty sure in this case “people” doesn’t include trans people.
There is a facebook group that is currently active if those of us not living in Alberta and would like to help (though if you don’t have Facebook, I dunno what to tell you). Several people have begun the process of filing human rights complaints with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. There is also a petition you can sign.
