[intro music]
Hello!
today I'm talking about a very serious topic within the trans community
and it actually is really serious, I don't know why I intro'd it like that
but I'm talking about transphobic medical professionals
So if you are trans, you have had experiences with this, probably.
If you are not trans and are wondering what this video is about,
you are going to learn about how inappropriate medical professionals are towards us,
and if you are not trans and don't know about these experiences,
I want you to keep an open mind.
Yes, some of the questions that these doctors ask, they need to ask it,
but you need to understand that it is the tone and the curiosity
vibe that you get from the doctor that is inappropriate.
So let's just wheel it back because this is confusing for everybody right now.
So the reason why I'm making this video is because I have had very horrible experiences with doctors
and I'm just gonna- doctors and nurses at this point
in my transition.
before I transitioned, I mean we all have weird experiences because people are rude
but this is different
it's on a different level because we are trans
and because these doctors and nurses know our trans status
and treat us differently based on whatever reason we're at the hospital
or clinic for
so the first experience that I'm going to talk about is six- five years ago
I had a very horrible bladder infection because I refused to use public bathrooms
and I held in my pee for a very, very, very long time
as in all day
because I was too scared to use the bathroom because blah blah that old story
so because of this I developed a very bad bladder infection
which left me to be catheterized for two months
and that wasn't one catheter, it was multiple and it hurt a lot
anyways this is- I don't even want to go into that it's very, very traumatic
but the first time that I went in there I had three nurses and doctors all around me
asking me all these really, really inappropriate questions
at this time I was about seven months on T
and I did not- I was kind of in that androgynous...
like- "are you...male?"
"or...?"
and then they would look at my documents and be like "oh okay"
but I had some facial hair- it was very confusing for everybody, honestly
anyways, the issues that I had were
the nurses would ask me very inappropriate questions about
bottom surgery
now I understand if you're gonna catheterize me you need to know if I've had bottom surgery
but if you look at my file I had specifically said I have not had bottom surgery
at which they were reading literally right in front of them
and it's just that angle and the way that they asked
it's like
"so...like have you had bottom surgery?"
and it's not like "alright so do you have any surgeries that you need to report"
or anything like that
it was just very inappropriate
and I felt very violated on my own privacy
even though it was necessary to know, there was a different way to ask
and this is probably my favourite one
somebody in my file
because I went to the hosiptal seven times within that two months
because I had so many issues and complications
somebody in my file wrote that I was MTF
so a doctor comes in and says
so do you still have your penis?
I'm sorry? What?
can you just like back it up for one second
can you imagine if I was a trans woman and somebody asked me
do you still have your penis?
excuse me?
there is a much, much better way to actually ask that question
I just- I can't even go into a full-blown analysis
and discussion about how inappropriate that is
because I just- I can only
I'm gonna leave that one to you
because I'm sure you can
it's- whatever, I don't even want to- it's traumatic
honestly that entire experience was horrible
fast forward to a couple of years
I don't want to go through every single experience right now
but I had a psychiatrist
who was very inappropriate to me
and I told her that I was having issues
trans-related issues and she said
"well I don't deal with that"
so she gave me a referral to another clinic
cool, I get it, you don't know how to handle maybe specific trans issues about bottom dysphoria
or anything like that
and yes, bless her for referring me to the clinic
because I really enjoyed being at that clinic
but no, I don't deal with that
excuse me?
what the fuck?
excuse me?
"I don't deal with that?"
way to make me feel like a freak
anyways, I was actually part of a news article
and radio thing on this specific case
because it was just really ridiculous
about all these questions that these doctors were asking
that "I don't deal with that"
and I'm not just being dramatic and saying it like
"oh that's not what she said"
that's literally how she said it "I don't deal with that"
minou
look at me
what do you think?
minou is just like
please
anyways, so these are my stories
there are more stories that I have
but those are probably the two of the worst ones
I have friends who have gone in for ear infections
and they've literally asked
"have you had bot-"
no, sorry
"have you had THE surgery?"
and it's just like maybe you need to know if I've had A surgery
but you definitely don't need to know what's in my pants if I have an ear infection
there's a lot more things
anyways
the point is: it's very inappropriate
and I can understand how cis people who don't
have this affect their lives can be like
"but doctors need to ask those questions"
because I have had a conversation with somebody who is in med school
who got so defensive about doctors asking these questions
"no, no they need to ask those questions"
and I tried to be like "oh no"
but you know, somebody's going in for an ear infection
you don't need to know their whole history of if they've had bottom surgery
and what their genitals look like
you don't need to know
it's really just a curiosity thing
and that's where it
that's where the line is
the second it goes from "oh this is medically necessary to know in order for me to help you
and this will benefit my knowledge of your body in order for me to help you heal and be a productive member of society"
that, okay
then there's the line that's crossed where
"oh I kind of need to know this information, but I'm really more curious about it
so have you had the surgery?"
I don't understand the fascination about our genitals
can you- I literally do not want you to tell me what your dick looks like
or what your tiddies look like
I don't even want to...whatever, anyways
the point that I'm trying to make
is that there is a line that is being crossed
and it is a violation of our privacy
and it is unfair because we are such a marginalized population
that a lot of us don't speak up about these things
I don't speak up about these things
I would now if anything happened to me now
I would be like "you have literally no right to know that"
it did happen when I had top surgery
I asked the person because I was having issues with
I don't know, I was having muscle issues
and it was a new doctor, I had never seen her before
and she asked me if I've had the surgery
and I said "well I had top surgery and that's all we're focusing on right now so that's all you need to know"
but it's intimidating because doctors and nurses are people of authority, right?
and it's very scary to have to
not call them out but
almost
yeah!
because they hold the key to your cure
and it's terrifying to be like
"hey you don't actually need to know those questions and you're
invalidating my...
no, invading my privacy and I don't feel comfortable at all"
it's not fun to say that to somebody who is about to give you a prescription for
I don't know, anti-depressants
[French accent] anti-dépressions
anti-depression meds or anti-anxiety meds
or acne meds, or anything like that that you need in order to live your life
it's terrifying
I'm just saying, it's just horrible
and I can't even explain the anxiety that comes with thinking about going to the doctor because of this
I have many friends who refuse to go to the doctor
especially clinics and hospitals
if they don't know that there is a doctor there that they can specifically see
that has seen trans patients and is okay with trans patients
and respects trans people
sometimes I'm scared
I go to the same clinic all the time because I know that they have my file and my information
and they've never, ever been rude about me being trans
or ever really asked questions about it
it's always been about something else
actually, one of the doctors came in from that specific clinic
which, bless, is like literally
maybe thirty second walk from my house
he comes in, and he's like "alright so what medication are you on?"
I'm like "oh, I'm on [?]"
that's what I was on, injections or something
I was like "oh, I'm on testosterone"
he's like "this young? Wow, have you had your thyroid checked?"
I'm like- uh "your thyroid checked? Why- What are you taking testosterone for?"
I was like "oh, because I'm trans"
he's like "oh, well that's a good reason!"
that is a positive experience, okay?
it wasn't bad, I liked that
you need to know what medication I'm on, I'm not gonna withhold
I'm on testosterone, I'm not gonna hide that I'm trans from you
unless it- you know, if I'm going in there for an ear infection
anyways, we talked about this
but the point is that I am sometimes scared to go to the doctor
because I don't want to deal with it
and this brings me to my next point
and this is probably one of the most important points is
sexual health education surrounding trans people
there is nothing
if you check online, yeah, maybe there's a couple of resources
you'll hit a Google search, you'll maybe get fifty results
not all of them are complete, most of them are from trans people themselves
which is fine, I'm not saying that because you're not a doctor you don't know all this information
but it would be very nice if there were pamphlets available at the clinic
maybe specify it like 'LGBT health' and then there would ACTUALLY be a trans section in there
and not just "oh, gay men are at high risk of getting HIV, blah blah blah"
"oh, lesbians can also get HIV, blah blah blah"
and then where are the trans people?
how about you talk about how trans people are dying in huge numbers because they're at risk of HIV
and they're con- contacting?
contracting?
they're getting HIV in very high numbers that NOBODY is talking about
especially trans women of colour, that's for another video
oh my god, I am going on a tangent right now but I'm just saying
sexual health is not talked about in this community and outside this community for this community
and this is a huge issue because
if I think that I have an STI and I want to go to a doctor
holy shit, even me, being so active in the community
online, and doing all these things and calling people out as much as I can
like "hey, you shouldn't be doing that"
about all these different things
I, right now thinking about even doing that gives me so much anxiety
if I thought that I had chlamydia or anything like that and I needed to go to a doctor
and they needed to inspect me
it was a clinic, I couldn't get an appointment with my actual doctor at Concordia
because it takes like a month to get an appointment but I need it now
the thought of that is just beyond stressful
to have a stranger, even at the clinic
even at the clinic that I go to that I'm okay with
I still- I can't, because
we don't know, and they don't know
a lot of doctors don't learn about trans health
and even though we know all about all these sexually transmitted infections and diseases
and HIV transmission and all these different things
for trans people, when we read these things they're not targeted at us
so we 1) sometimes don't even think that can affect us
I have seen posts in some of these trans groups where people literally are completely blind
to the fact that they can get an STI
even if they sleep with women, if they sleep with men
unprotected, protected
people just have no idea because this sexual health stuff is not targeted at us
this video turned into a sexual health thing and not a doctor thing but whatever
this is where the big issue lies, and I hate it and we need more sensitivity training for doctors
so even one class, take one hour out of the entire program that you're in
just to have a trans person or somebody who is very knowledgeable about trans things
who is also a power of authority, because usually people listen to that more
and talk about "hey, so there are patients who are trans and just because they are a very small percent
of the population doesn't mean they don't need medical help"
and if you
just the thing is that if you're nice to trans people, the word spreads within the community
and you're gonna have more trans people come to your practice
it's ridiculous
I have seen so many posts online, even in Montreal
"does anybody know of a doctor in the Montreal area who is okay with trans people
who is also knowledgeable about STIs in the community"
or anything like that
it's ridiculous, I see these posts all the time
even in the in the FTM Montreal group I see this all the time
I see this in the other FTM groups from all over the America
"the America"- jesus, the United States
I can't talk today, I'm just...yeah
1) we need more sexual health information for the trans community
I know that there are resources out there but people don't know about these resources
maybe I should just make a sex ed. for trans men video
because we are at risk just like anybody else, of getting all these things
and we need to be aware of them
and even if you use a packer, even if you use a
what am I...what's the word I'm looking for?
oh my god, whatever
if you're using some- oh my god I can't think of the word right now
but a peen to have sex with someone- jesus
you are still at risk
there are so many things that people don't know about
there's things that I even don't know about that I should know about more
although I think I am pretty knowledgeable about some of these topics
because I am trying to talk about them right now
we just need things that are targeted more at us
I know that they exist, I am very aware, I have seen these things that exist
but there are so many people who don't know that they exist
and we need people to know
anyways
so the point of this video is that we need more sexual health information for trans people
we need doctors to have sensitivity training, and we need to
be able to stick up for ourselves when something goes w-
when something happens inappropriately in a doctor's office I guess
if it is safe to do so
and 4) if you are a cis person watching this to PLEASE listen to your trans friends
when they tell you there's a horrible doctor experience, don't be like
"well they have to ask you those questions"
no, obviously we're telling you for a reason because there is trauma related to it
just listen
listen
even if the doctor had to ask those questions, it could still be traumatic
if someone is very, very, very bottom dysphoric and the doctor asks them about bottom surgery
and he has to answer that question because it's about
I don't know, getting a test or something like that around there
and he has to say no, it could still make him very dysphoric
thinking about not having bottom surgery when he really wants bottom surgery
yeah, so that's it
anyways
more information...let's do that
let me know what you think
am I completely off-base? What are your experiences (if they're not too traumatic)?
also, trigger warning
probably should have done that during the video because this is pretty traumatic for some people
but if you have any horrible doctor stories and you are okay to share them
or you think that they're funny, or anything like that
please share them in the comments, and we'll talk about that
and let me know what you think
alright, well, have a great week
bye!
[outro music]