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trans rights

Trans woman details the cost of being trans in heartfelt video.

Being transgender in America isn't easy, especially given the current political climate around trans rights. But it seems that people forget it's not just policies that make it difficult to be trans, as the cost of transitioning can be astronomically out of reach for some individuals.

No matter how badly a person wants to do more than socially transition, medical transitions are not typically covered by insurance. So any medical procedures someone has to affirm their gender can cost thousands and thousands of dollars out of pocket. Even socially transitioning can come with a hefty price tag.

One trans woman, Jory, who goes by Alluring Skull on TikTok, is setting the record straight on the cost for trans people to "pass" in society. Jory recently saved enough money to get facial feminization surgery, which can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000. This surgery helps to soften the facial features of trans women who went through testosterone-driven puberty.

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Identity

Trans doctor says major insurance companies are refusing to pay her after legal name change

"As long as they're denying my claims for my services on that ground, they can do that to any trans healthcare provider of any type."

Courtesy of Dr. Tiffany Najberg

Insurance companies can withhold pay for trans doctors and one doctor is fighting back.

Insurance companies can be a frustrating maze for consumers and for providers. It's not uncommon to call the number on the back of your insurance card and get a different answer every time you call with the same question. But for Dr. Tiffany Najberg, the fight with the insurance companies is a bit more personal.

Najberg is a transgender woman who has run into a multitude of problems in the insurance claims world—not as a patient, but as a provider. After changing her name legally and updating all of the required information on official websites, including the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare and the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System, two websites insurance companies look at to verify providers' credentials and ability to practice, her claims have been denied.

In the beginning of this year-long saga, Najberg was receiving checks, but the checks were in her dead name and couldn't be cashed. After going several rounds with the insurance companies, the checks stopped coming and the insurance companies started denying her claims altogether. Of course, this prompted even more questions and frustration since Najberg updated the insurance companies with her legal name as required.

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Image collage via Wikicommons

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a new plan to combat homelessness amongst the transgender community

Home is somewhere to lay your head down at night without worry that someone will steal all of your worldly possessions. Home is where people start families and make lifelong memories. Having a place to go home to every night is safety. Safety from the elements and safety from other people who may mean you harm.

And there's almost nothing more quintessentially American than owning a home. Yet, the reality is America does poorly with keeping people housed. Homelessness is a growing problem across the country, especially with the lack of affordable housing and wages that don’t always meet the minimum basic needs.

And the rates of homelessness among transgender people are higher than average with 8% of trans adults experiencing homelessness compared to 1% of cisgender straight adults, according to UCLA School of Law Williams Institute.

To help remedy the problem in her city, the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, announced a plan to allocate $6.5 million toward an initiative to end homelessness of transgender people in the city.

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Twitter. Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash.

It gets better.

As trans children face bullying, violence and a potential loss to healthcare rights, the world might seem like a hostile and lonely place.

However, several trans adults, now thriving in their post-formative years, have taken to Twitter to offer solidarity and hope.

Kicked off by Axios Chief Technology Correspondent Ina Fried, the Letters 4 Trans Kids hashtag recognizes that “it’s been a rough time for trans and nonbinary youth,” and offers to show support by “posting a message of encouragement to these amazing young people.”

Hundreds did.

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