[AtLast]

Originally Posted by theoddz

I have to applaud the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center for their official policy of treating Transgender Veteran patients with the same kindness, care, interest and respect they would render to non-trans Veteran patients. In their policy, which I'll provide a link to the complete text of below, they state:

"Nationwide, there is a VA prohibition against providing gender revision surgery or sex reassignment surgery (SRS). However, VA Boston Healthcare System has a number of transgender patients seeking ‘usual and customary’ treatment. Some transsexual patients have completed or are en-route to full transition from one gender to another. This transition often takes years for a patient to fully complete; some never fully complete the
transition. Moreover, other transgender individuals prefer to live outside the traditional boundaries of gender which may not necessitate surgical interventions or other elements of transition. Thus, VA Boston Healthcare System cares for transgender patients who present at multiple points on this transition continuum, including individuals who are not seeking SRS. Therefore, transition status cannot be a prerequisite for providing appropriate healthcare."

I'm a very proud employee of the VA Health Care System, here in Las Vegas, and I've recently been appointed to the position of Fair Practices Coordinator in my local union (AFGE). It is my own personal mission, in this capacity, to bring about a similar policy in my own VA system that would provide and require fair treatment all transgender patients and employees. This really needs to be implemented as a nationwide VA policy, and I think it will be, eventually.

I'm proud of the VA health care system, as a whole. I'm very thankful that the United States is the only country in the world that honors its military Veterans with our own government-provided health care system and benefits. I receive most, if not all, of my own health care from the VA, and as a post-transition Transman, I'm happy to say that I've always received fair, compassionate, top-notch treatment in the VA health care system for any condition I've had, not just my service connected medical problems. I wish every American had access to such a system, but as a proud Veteran, I'm very happy to have such a benefit that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Here's the link to the Boston VA's complete policy on the treatment of Trangendered Veteran patients:

http://www.tavausa.org/Management%20...ients_7.08.pdf

Pretty damned cool, yes??

~Theo~

So glad to see that something is happening to challenge the Indianna hospital mentality! Also, I get upset with the lack of regard for our military overall- watched a special not too long ago in which one person with loved ones deployed to Iraq & Afghanistan (for several deployments!) said we are going to war and the rest of the country is going to the mall. How true, how sad!

When I look at what citizens did in everyday life to back our military during WWII and compare it to what it is like today, it makes me sick. Frankly, if we had to make big changes in our everyday lives while engaged in war, we might have a better informed society that took an interest in politics and policies that bring us to war engagement. Perhaps, things such as Bush's lies would not have been acted upon putting troops in harms way in Iraq.