Comments (3)

By Rebecca, July 19, 2011 6:05 pm

Slashdot.org, a geek-focused site (“News for nerds, stuff that matters.”) recently had a poll on prescription medication use. I posted the following:

I’m taking estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone blockers as part of hormone replacement therapy, along with anti-anxiety meds due to longstanding anxiety issues.

Going slightly off topic, one of the things that frustrated me during the debates about healthcare in the ’08 election was how folks (I particularly remember McCain) would talk about the free market. If insurance companies won’t insure you (due to preexisting conditions) the free market kinda fails for that consumer, doesn’t it? Whether or not a business shouldbe required to take a customer – which is what banning preexisting condition refusals would mean – is a different question, but don’t pretend the ‘free market’ can automatically solve everything for everyone.

More broadly speaking, the healthcare debate following Obama’s election once again frustrated me due to its language. Lets be honest: I and others like me who have preexisting, chronic conditions don’t need insurance, to insure us against catastrophe, we need assurance, assurance we’ll have help paying for medication and treatment we can’t always afford. Because yeah, from an insurance company’s point of view, I’m a shitty costumer. They know they’re gonna have to pay out, $X, monthly, for the rest of my life. If I were running an insurance company, I sure wouldn’t want trans clients (or clients with cancer, or diabetes, or any other chronic condition). Where’s the money in that?

What I would have liked to see the debate be about instead was what type of medical care, as a society, do we want to provide to people who can’t afford it? What do we do with them? Who – at the end of the day – pays for their treatment? That would at least be an honest discussion about values, instead of a veiled discussion about false rhetoric.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that responses to the first paragraph (about my being trans) vastly outweighed responses to the other three (about health care). What did surprise me was that the majority of the posts were respectful and I (GASP!) actually changed someone’s opinion! Some highlights:

Continue reading 'A civil discussion about gender on Slashdot?!'»

Comments (5)

By Rebecca, January 13, 2010 1:12 am

There was a recent discussion over at Slashdot about airport scanners. Specifically, the scanners that can show something close to a naked image when used correctly. During the discussion, someone said:

I’m so sick and tired of people saying “if you have nothing to hide why whine?” or “you must have a small penis if you’re so concerned with body scanners”.
It’s just none of their damn business and we’ve given the terrorists EXACTLY what they wanted, mass paranoia and giving up our freedoms for “the war on terrorism”.

To which I replied…

Continue reading 'Airport scanners and trans people'»

Comments (15)

By Rebecca, May 31, 2009 11:17 am

I’m just stirring up trouble lately! A friend of mine has  a blog that I follow, as he often posts amusing or interesting videos and links. Earlier this weekend he posted the clip from Ace Ventura which parodies The Crying Game, after ace discovers the woman he’s been involved with is “really” a man.

I called him out on it, and now he’s calling me sanctimonious.

Continue reading 'The transphobic, cissexist people in our lives'»