A-Infos (en) France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - Trans people, forgotten about confinement (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]

Even though many LGBTI associations continue to offer a helpline for people in distress, the solidarities are broken during confinement. 
Once again, trans people are among the victims of these state measures. Not taken into account in the government's calculations, their 
possible specific needs are silent, invisible. An overview of the situation. ---- Complicated access to care ---- The health system being 
saturated with the COVID-19 crisis, access to medical care was reserved for priority needs. Obviously, the question of what is and is not a 
priority is left to people who have little interest in the needs of gender minorities. Several trans people who are on hormone therapy 
testify that their medical consultations either at the start of the hormonal transition (consultations are compulsory to have access to 
prescriptions), or for prescription refills for hormones, are not considered a priority, do not thus not giving them access to the 
treatments they need. Other trans people do not make a hormonal transition, but nevertheless suffer from a lack of access to care simply by 
being trans. It is even more complicated when it comes to finding nurses to give injections when people making a hormonal transition have 
not learned or cannot do it alone. Obviously, the various gender reassertion operations, being considered non-vital, have been postponed 
until further notice. However, these operations often make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to gender dysphoria, and no 
device has been put in place to overcome these specific needs. have been postponed until further notice. However, these operations often 
make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to gender dysphoria, and no device has been put in place to overcome these specific 
needs. have been postponed until further notice. However, these operations often make it possible to respond to the difficulties linked to 
gender dysphoria, and no device has been put in place to overcome these specific needs.

Physical and mental health threatened
Transphobia and social exclusion often lead to difficult life paths, many trans people need psychological or psychiatric support. Very 
regularly, moreover, trans people are forcibly psychiatrized, and this violent and infantilizing process is often the only way for them to 
have access to psychological support. However, confinement leads to a break in psychiatric care which affects much more than trans people 
alone, but which has a direct impact on the latter. This monitoring may be all the more necessary since confinement sometimes leads, as we 
mentioned above, to difficulties in accessing hormones. However, a hormonal upheaval by stopping treatment can greatly worsen the feeling of 
confinement. Even more serious,

Non-institutional responses to the needs of trans people are also difficult
In times of crisis, several trans solidarity networks make it possible to partially escape the authoritarian care path to which trans people 
are subjected in order to access the hormonal treatments they need. Thus, there are shares of testosterone or estrogens, making it possible 
to avoid the filing or the authoritarianism of doctors who can decide who is legitimate or not to access these treatments. Other means also 
exist, such as the supply of hormones via the darknet. These solidarities and these divisions are obviously broken by confinement, leaving 
several people prey to their dysphoria or their discomfort. However, the accessories (binders, packs, etc.) that could help manage this 
dysphoria are also difficult to access. Most are made abroad, mostly in the USA,

It is therefore absolutely necessary to hear and understand the specific needs of trans people, and to allow the emergence of solidarity 
that responds, at least partially, to these needs. The verticality of the health system deprives trans people of the care they need for 
their well-being and undermines the self-management initiatives of already vulnerable communities. Thinking of local, self-managed 
solidarity is absolutely essential. We also point out that certain associations such as Acceptess-T or Espace Santé Trans are organizing to 
provide part of this support.

Antipatriarchy Commission, May 9, 2020.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Les-personnes-trans-oubliees-du-confinement
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en