‘What Are Our Other Options?’: Year-Long Waitlists For Life-Affirming Care Put Trans Ppl At Risk

Accessing trans healthcare in Australia that’s appropriate, safe, timely and affordable is practically impossible, even in 2022. “There’s a perception that there’s something abject or extreme in changing your body that’s still pervasive in the medical community,” Melbourne resident and trans woman Angel Connolly told PEDESTRIAN.TV. “We’re so used to having people position themselves as the guarantors of our own lives and our bodies that it comes as no surprise doctors participate in that as well.” Connolly said she only felt doctors saw her as “certifiably trans” three years into her gender affirmation journey — a status of sorts she said she had to earn. “The longer you’ve been on the journey the easier it is for people to trust that you are genuine and sure. “There’s still a great deal of caution even at a trans-friendly gender clinic. There’s still a perception that the doctor needs to feel they’re satisfied that we’ve considered it enough. “I understand that, but I don’t think there’s any world where a trans person goes to a doctor [without knowing what they want]. I went through years of deliberation before I went to a doctor.”