Florida Restricts Doctors From Providing Gender Treatments to Minors
Gender dysphoria, which literally means “disorders of sexual identity,” has its roots in the medical field. It is a controversial area of medicine, one that has many critics but remains highly contested. In a recent case, a Tennessee man was denied a diagnosis of gender dysphoria because the doctor who performed the diagnosis and treatment had to be approved by the Tennessee State Medical Board and a physician-patient privilege law.
The man was the victim of child abuse and rape as a result of sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle. He sought treatment from a doctor in Tennessee who specialized in gender issues. As per the Tennessee Medical Board, the doctor was not to provide treatment for sexual trauma until six months after the doctor or his staff are no longer treating the patient. The man was denied treatment for his gender issues. It took him almost three years from the date his first appointment with the doctor to obtain treatment for the gender issues.
Another doctor did provide treatment for the man, on the condition that his own treatment was a condition to his treatment. This doctor was also denied gender treatment because Tennessee law prohibits doctors from acting as “gatekeepers” to a patient’s medical care.
This is but one example of how laws are being used to discriminate against transgender people. A recent story in the Chicago Tribune details how a transgender woman was denied insurance from an insurance provider because she was being harassed for using the wrong pronouns for a medical condition. This denial to a transgender person is a form of gender discrimination. Transgender people are discriminated against in every area of their lives. And it is common for those who would be protected from this discrimination to be denied treatment.
What is important about all of these stories is just how common they are. In the case of Tennessee, a transgender man from a family of doctors could have the “right” to receive gender treatment, but he was denied that right
