San Francisco plans to provide transgender surgeries

A reporter takes a photograph of personal possessions of the late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk during the grand opening of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Museum on January 12, 2011, in San Francisco, California. The country's first gay history museum opened in San Francisco's Castro district today and features hundreds of items including Harvey Milk's megaphone, documents, a collection of sex toys and multimedia presentations. / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco is preparing to become the first U.S. city to provide and cover the cost of sex reassignment surgeries for uninsured transgender residents.

The city's Health Commission voted Tuesday to create a comprehensive program for treating transgender people experiencing mental distress because of the mismatch between their bodies and their gender identities. The vote was announced Thursday.

The idea came out of conversations between public health officials and transgender rights advocates who wanted mastectomies, genital reconstructions and other surgeries covered under San Francisco's universal health care program.

Public Health Director Barbara Garcia says the new transgender health initiative probably won't be running until late next year.

Her department needs to study how many people it would serve, how much it would cost and who would perform the surgeries.

In May, the country of Argentina became the first to give adults the options of sex-change surgery or hormone therapy as part of their public or private health care plans under a gender rights law.

[tjl456]

What the hell is this country coming to????????

[BigMykul]

Oh please Vasirr;
As serious as heart disease? Are you actually trying to equate something as serious as heart disease, with someone who feels out of place because they were born with an outie instead of an inie (or vice-vera)?

[goodbyeplanetearth]

While i understand where Vasirr is coming from, it isn't so much that heart disease and being transgender are EQUIVALENT, but they are both legitimate medical conditions, and can be life threatening if left untreated. It's true that being transgender won't necessarily kill you immediately, but if left untreated it will kill you over time. Heart disease, in many cases can be prevented through making health-conscious lifestyle choices, avoiding unhealthy food, abstaining from alcohol and cigarettes. Gender Dysphoria, on the other hand, is unavoidable. It is a condition that people are born with, and the only approved treatment, based on all of the research that has been conducted, is hormone replacement therapy and/or gender reassignment surgery. No two medical conditions are equivalent. But every human being deserves access to medical care, according to their own needs, and not according to the prejudices of those who wish to remain ignorant of that which they know nothing about. God Bless America and good night to intolerance.

[magnumdr]

OK this is one of the dumbest things that I have ever heard of before. And if they think that they made a mistake can they switch back? How lame can some people be!

[walkthetalk]

And they wonder why they are broke!

[taxed01]

Checking the logistics here - So if you are a man and want to be a woman the taxpayers will pay for the operation. So you have the operation. Then you change your mind and want to be a man again. Will the taxpayers pay to have it put back on? Do you get your old one back or somebody else's?

[goodbyeplanetearth]

sorry to inform you, but less than 1% of people who have gender reassignment surgery chose to go back to their original gender. have a nice day.

[recarterjr]

This works, actually, now that Obama's been reelected. When these idiots come to Washington, seeking financial cover for their lunacy, the coffers will be open.

[OnTheRoad01]

Are they also going to cover the full cost of cancer treatments? How about by pass surgery for heart attack victims? We are truly becoming a sick and twisted country!!!!!

[kainos2]

Not to mention that the hormone therapy used for gender "reassignment" often CAUSES the heart attacks you mention.

[Vasirr]

Transgenderism is just as dangerous as heart disease, and I hope one day you have a life threatening illness, and are treated with the same oppression transgender people have to face every day of their lives. I hope someday you have a child, and that kid is transgender. Maybe they'll kill themself because they have a horrible parent like you. If this were about gays and their unimportant marriage issues, you would be glad. I sincerely hope your kind gets wiped off of the face of the earth. Good day, bigot.