Pause for Perspective Hosts ‘Queering Healthcare’ Discussion, Spotlighting Challenges Faced by Queer and Transpersons
Hyderabad: As part of the pride month celebrations, Pause for Perspective, a mental health practitioners’ collective, held a discussion on ‘Queering Healthcare’.
It was a generative conversation around queer trans experiences in the medical system. The participants including queer healthcare professionals, activists, and people with shared experiences, explored varied challenges faced by queer and transpersons while accessing gender affirmative medical or surgical care or mental healthcare.
The session was moderated by Dr Rachana Chollangi, a mental health practitioner at Pause for Perspective. Vimal, a transman who works as a Helpline Coordinator at QTC was one of the panelists.
The session explored the devaluation of queer bodies in healthcare - being asked to strip to check for genital functionality and congruence to their identity, surgeries violating babies at birth, and inaccessibility of safe hormone replacement therapy and gender-affirming care.
Vimal shed light on challenges faced by transpersons while accessing medical care. “People who want to transition are perceived as mentally ill. Doctors, surgeons and healthcare practitioners often claim to be "queer and trans affirmative" but turn out to be queerphobic and transphobic instead.
They would refuse to even touch their patients, describing trans bodies as ‘impure’—a notion deeply rooted in casteism. Where are the trans folks supposed to go?” they said.
Vimal further explained how inability to access proper care pushes transpersons to the brink of suicide. “Doctors pass derogatory comments while diagnosing trans patients. Trans folks feel ashamed to get even the most basic medical help and support because of the invasive nature of questions posed to them by doctors,” they said.
Vimal pointed out that the medication referred for a cisgender person may have a different impact on a transperson due to the HRT and that must be kept in mind while prescribing.
Further challenges like family refusing to accept their children for being queer, administrative challenges of getting a gender identification certificate and social discrimination and violence were also discussed.
