One day, a dentist explains to Florent (the people named by their first name wished to remain anonymous), 26 years old, that “gender transition was dangerous for [ses] teeth “. It’s wrong. Another time, a physiotherapist refused to follow him because his “way of life is at odds with one’s values”then tells him about Jesus. “Sometimes I learn things about transitioning from doctors and it depresses me”he comments.
Three years ago, Florent obtained his change of marital status and therefore a new Vitale card, allowing him to no longer justify himself to health professionals. “I realized to what extent, until now, they blamed my health problems on my transition. » Transphobia, refusal of care, obvious lack of training for caregivers in welcoming transgender people, delays in the diagnosis of pathologies, scarcity of transitional care: this is the daily life of trans people in access to health .
LGBT+ associations and certain practitioners have been denouncing for years the lack of accessibility to quality primary care for trans people, while the figures on their overall state of health are staggering. Between 0.3% and 4.5% of adults are affected depending on the studies and their methodology, according to the Global Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). “When I started seeing trans patients a few years ago, I was disconcerted: although it was a young patient, the health needs were very important”testifies general practitioner Sophie Le Goff.
An American study presented in June 2023, including 66,682 trans patients seen in emergency rooms between 2006 and 2016, shows that they arrive in a much worse state of health than cisgender people (who recognize themselves in the gender assigned to them at birth): 58.2% of visits are linked to chronic illnesses for the former, compared to 19.2% of visits for the latter. “My patients did not have access to care due to non-existent or inadequate provision, or had themselves excluded themselves from the health system following discrimination or violence”continues, for her part, Sophie Le Goff.
According to a study of LGBT+ people from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2019, 36% of trans or non-binary people (identifying neither as male nor female) report having been discriminated against in France, because of their trans identity, by healthcare personnel or social services in the last twelve months.
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