Having gender variance classified as a mental disorder and relying on that for health insurance coverage is a bit of false logic. Most insurance companies in the U.S. exclude treatments for Gender Identity Disorder, but there hormonal imbalances are covered for all kinds of conditions that are not related to GID. People who need to have medical support to manage their gender variance can and should be able to access competent medical care through health insurance, but for the most part right now a GID diagnosis must be avoided if coverage is expected. There are transgender health advocates working to address this issue systemically, both from the activist side as well as from the health care provider side. Thanks, by the way, for your generally excellent responses to the questions raised about this sorely neglected and unfortunately too long obscured topic.
It's Not as Simple as Pink or Blue
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Debra Rosenberg: If you just think about the last century in America, ideas about what men and women can or should do has changed dramatically. Women now work outside the home, wear pants, vote—even fight in the army. And men can be nurturers who stay at home with the kids and have dinner waiting. Our Founding Fathers had long hair and men with earrings weren't unheard of—trends that went away before coming back recently. Those things are all about gender roles, not biological sex, of course. But they do show that our notion of what's acceptable is always on the move.
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Soutfield, MI: Are there anti-discrimination laws that will allow transgendered people to transition at the workplace without fear of being ostracized or worse being fired from their position?
Debra Rosenberg: Yes. A number of states have anti-discrimination laws that include gender identity or expression as a category that cannot be discriminated against. There's an effort underway now to add gender identity to the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. But that act has had trouble passing in previous years even without gender identity on board.
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Seattle, WA: Why is it that no one ever mentions bigenderism when speaking of these issues, or has anyone even heard that term?
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