Rainbow Law Center

MCGE/Rainbow Law Center decries Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy change

IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                   
March 25, 2009

DETROIT -- The Michigan Coalition for Gender Equality expressed deep disappointment today regarding changes to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) policies that will eliminate reimbursements for gender reassignment surgeries for new customers. This change was approved by Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation without any opportunity for public comment or input. 

The Michigan Coalition for Gender Equality (MCGE) includes Affirmations, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Michigan Equality, Michigan Project for Informed Public Policy, Transgender Detroit, Triangle Foundation, the Rainbow Law Center, and the National Association of Social Workers’ Michigan Chapter.  

“We are concerned that BCBSM underestimates the profound impact of these medically necessary procedures,” said Andre Wilson of MCGE. “Gender reassignment surgeries can be a critical part of the transition process and these new exclusions will place many transgender individuals and their families at real risk.”   

The American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, and World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) have called for coverage by public and private insurers of all medically necessary procedures for the treatment of gender dysphoria or transsexualism, including gender reassignment surgeries. Treatment delays or denials for such services often lead to more serious and expensive health problems, states the AMA, which has also called exclusions of transgender-related services discriminatory. WPATH affirms that gender reassignment surgeries are “cost-effective, not cost-prohibitive” and can be “essential to achieving well-being for the transsexual patient.”

“Many people are unaware of the distress accompanying gender dysphoria and of the damage caused by insurance exclusions,” said Maxine Thome Executive Director of NASW Michigan. “Research shows the effectiveness of treatment, and Social Workers see the difference firsthand.  Access to services brings dramatic improvements in health status, as well as increased employability and social acceptance.” 

MCGE members learned of the BCBSM changes from the Detroit Free Press which reported, “The changes do not affect 170,000 customers already in individual Blue Cross plans or with Blue Cross insurance through their employer. But they will affect thousands losing insurance as employers drop coverage or lay off staff.” 

“Excluding medically necessary gender reassignment surgeries endangers patients' health which strains the entire health care system, driving costs up for everyone,” said Jay Kaplan of the ACLU of Michigan.  “We urge both BCBSM and the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation to reconsider this benefit change.” 

Creating Change and the City of Detroit

As Mary and Denise prepare to attend the 20th anniversary of Creating Change to be held in Detroit this week, it is with great excitement that we read the following announcement from Triangle (full disclosure, Denise was just named to Triangle Foundation's Board of Trustees):

Detroit City Council Welcomes Creating Change, Supports Transgender Rights On February 5, the Detroit City Council passed a two-part resolution opposing discrimination against transgender individuals and welcoming the National Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality, Creating Change. Creating Change is bringing more than 2,000 LGBT and allied activists to the Renaissance Center Feb. 6-10. Triangle Foundation, the state's leading anti-violence and advocacy organization, and the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Project, have worked closely with City Council to include gender identity and expression in the city's anti-discrimination ordinances. "I can't think of a better time for City Council to pass this resolution than the eve of Creating Change," said Sean Kosofsky, director of policy for Triangle. "We will continue working with the ACLU to help Council translate this resolution into an ordinance that will protect Detroit's transgender residents, workers and visitors - like the ones coming this week for Creating Change." “We applaud the City Council’s passage of a resolution welcoming the Creative Change Conference and its statement that it opposes gender identity or expression discrimination," said Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the LGBT Project. "When it passed its human rights ordinance prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in 1978, the City of Detroit demonstrated that it was a leader among major United States cities in its commitment to diversity and equal opportunity. It’s only appropriate that 30 years later, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has chosen the City of Detroit as its host for the Creating Change Conference,  where LGBT activists and allies from around the country will convene to work towards full equality and opportunity for LGBT people." Please forward widely. If you have received this message from a friend, you can sign up to receive important news and Action Alerts from Triangle Foundation here. Like what you're reading? Support Triangle Foundation's work on behalf of equality for every member of our community with a donation here. Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. Tell-a-friend! If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Triangle Foundation. This message was sent to [email protected]. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Triangle Foundation, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line).

Govenor Granholm steps up

Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed an executive directive banning discrimination in state employment based on "gender identity or expression." The directive protects nearly 50,000 state employees in Michigan's Executive branch, which encompasses 95% of all state employees. 

The Directive will protect not only transgender workers, but any state employee who faces discrimination because they do not conform to traditional gender norms in their behavior and/or appearance. This includes unfair treatment of state employees based on masculinity or femininity.

"This just shows that the State of Michigan is moving in the right direction in regards to state employees," said Michelle Fox-Phillips, executive director of Transgender Detroit. "Our sincere thanks to Triangle Foundation for their hard work [on this issue] over the years."

"We applaud Governor Granholm's executive directive prohibiting discrimination in state employment on the basis of gender identity/expression," said Kara S. Suffredini, state legislative director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "During her second inaugural address, the governor spoke about the 'Next Michigan,' one of 'transformation and opportunity.' Today's directive brings Michigan one step closer to that vision." 

"Triangle Foundation is very proud of our advocacy for this essential change in state policy, and we applaud the willingness by the Governor to make it so," said Sean Kosofsky, Director of Policy for Triangle Foundation. "We are confident that our Governor's example will help to bring about fair and inclusive employment practices in the private sector, as well as help move the state legislature to finally amend the state's civil rights law, the Elliott-Larsen Act, to fully protect against discrimination based on both gender identity and sexual orientation. The legislature has blocked fairness for far too long."

Day of Remembrance

In the three years that I blogged over at Life, Law, Gender, I never accepted an invitation to host a "review" of other blogs (or blawgs). And, so, in accepting this one I have to confess to not knowing how to do it, or what to do. Plus, I don't read blogs much anymore. And so, instead, I will simply offer this post on the day's subject.  To see what a blawg review is supposed to look like, I suggest you check out Jillian's post (or check our previous blawg reviews, all linked to here), or even better, check out Jen's Blawg Review on last year's TDOR (possibly one of the best reviews, ever).

[UPDATE] Although the following are not legal blogs, you might find them interesting.  I was particularly moved by Julie Serano's analysis of the charge of "deceit" and the role it plays in the murder of many trans-people.  I also thought Robert's post about remembering ourselves was noteworthy.  In it, he asks, are we doing enough to support and love one another so that we can turn this violence around?

November 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this date and its significance, I urge you to check out the Remembering Our Dead website.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was first held to honor Rita Hester, who was murdered on November 28th, 1998. This marks the 9th year of international vigils and the 6th year of vigils in Ann Arbor. TDOR publicly mourns and honors the lives of those who might otherwise be forgotten. It allows us to connect again to those who are gone and raises public awareness of violence against people who transgress the normative boundaries of gender identity or expression.

This past Sunday, at the University of Michigan, I had the privilege of coordinating and hosting this year's ritual of memory.  I called it "Connections" in an attempt to remind us that we are all connected and even death does not end that.  You may download the program (in PDF form) here. Download TDOR2007Program.pdf Approximately 50 people turned out for the memorial service. It was an extremely moving evening.  Rainbow Law Center was very proud to join the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project (WRAP) and the University's office of LGBT Affairs in co-sponsoring the evening.

During the evening, we were privileged to hear from many voices. It would do them no justice for me to here try and recreate the beauty and eloquence of their words and emotions. Instead, I offer only my own meager musings.

Nakia Ladelle Baker died in January in Tennessee as a result of blunt force trauma to the head. Keittirat Longnawa was beaten by nine youths in Thailand, who then slit her throat. In March, Moira Donaire was stabbed five times by a street vendor in Chile. The body of Michelle Carrasco was discovered in a pit in Chile, her face unrecognisable.

Ruby Rodriguez was found naked and strangled to death in the street in San Francisco. Erica Keel was repeatedly run over by a car in Pennsylvania. Bret T. Turner died from multiple stab wounds in Wisconsin. Victoria Arellano was refused HIV related medications in California. Oscar Mosqueda from Florida was shot. Maribelle Reyes from Texas was turned away from HIV treatment centres because she was transgender. In July an unidentified cross dressing male was found dead with gunshot wounds to the chest and lower back.

Once again, we gather to remember. Once again, our hearts and eyes fill as we read the names of those who didn’t survive the year. Once again it is time to mourn.

But my good friend, Andre, reminded me that it is much more than that.  It is also a time to reconnect with these souls. And, in that connection, find our own inner strength to again recommit ourselves to the end of this madness.

And, perhaps, just perhaps, it is time to reflect on how far we’ve come.

I’ve long believed that it is easier to draw strength for what lies ahead not by looking at the enormity of that task, but rather by looking at the distance one has already traveled. I have traveled this road for many years now, and I’d like to offer my perspective on that journey.

In 1995, I was among a small group of out transgender people who lobbied on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for transgender inclusion in two bills that were then under consideration in Congress: the Hate Crimes Act, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  It was the first national Transgender Lobby Day and we had to educate our legislators about what the word “transgender” even meant.

Although all of us are, I’m sure, enormously disappointed with the failure of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to get passed in the House with transgender inclusion, I think we should – especially on this day – not overlook the other major legislation that passed and did include gender identity.

This year, the Hate Crimes Act, renamed the Matthew Sheppard Act passed both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate. This bill included gender identity as one of the affected classes. And, I don’t know about you, but I have to tell you that I was deeply moved to hear the respectful tones by which our inclusion in these bills were debated on the floor of the House of Representatives, from people who, a dozen years ago could not even tell you the meaning of the word 'transgender'.

When I began this work, when Gwen Smith first started documenting the horror, we were losing two people a month to anti-transgender violence in this country alone. That rate continued unabated for many years. This year, we remember 11 victims of hate here in the US. That’s 11 too many. But, it’s a dramatic reduction from where we started. Perhaps our voices have help to reduce the carnage. We have come far. We still have so far to go.

I would like to end with a reminder of the work yet to do. I have to say how profoundly saddened I was to read about Ian Guarr Benson’s suicide this month. We have at least two known victims of suicide this year. Of course, we know there are many more that we never hear about. It is a rare transperson who has not considered suicide at least once in her or his life. All of us in this room understand that the suicide of a trans person arises from the same societal-based fear and hatred that led to the murders of those we remember tonight. But, there is one important distinction. The desire to live is the single strongest motivator in the human animal. To overcome that desire to take one’s own life bespeaks a pain no one should have to bear. And so, in closing, I offer a poem to this year’s victims of suicide:

Unlike some, to me death was a gift:
No longer to live pointlessly in pain.
Choosing death, I might have on my own
Let loose the darkness gathered in my heart
Except that luck has seen the matter through.

How simple, then, to let one's fortunes drift
Away from one, nor care for loss or gain
Remember me as one who, not alone
Relinquished well my moorings, to depart
Yet not without a backward glance towards you.