Image description: a series of tumblr messages reading:
“Hello! I’m Marta and I’m a student of 2nd year Celtic Studies in Poland :)
I’m a part of a student project that is investigating the existence of Welsh-language fanfiction/fandom spaces and what are its members’ relations with the Welsh language.
We are currently conducting surveys on Welsh language fanfiction readers and we need to have a pilot survey to make sure it all runs smoothly. However, there are very few Welsh language fanfiction readers already, and we cannot count in the respondents from the pilot to our final study, for the sake of research.
Which is why we are looking to run the pilot on Irish-language fanfiction readers, and I hope you would be interested, as I’ve seen you post about Irish fic :)
It should take a maximum of 20 minutes, but most likely less. The questions are anonymous and mostly concern your relationship with fanfiction and language. Would you be willing to take part?”
End description.]
Marta reached out to me recently about their survey which sounds fascinating. So if any of you feel that you fit what they are looking for, please contact @estullefavric as soon as possible.
Trans healthcare in Ireland is…non-existent. Most trans people I know have gotten hormones privately through Gender GP, which I believe is based in the UK, rather than going through the HSE. There is no one who can perform top surgery in Ireland – people I know have gone to Poland, England, Spain and Sweden instead. This obviously makes the already costly experience more expensive as they now also have to pay for transport and accommodation.
The waiting lists for care with the HSE are long. Years long. I think the latest estimate is about five years before being seen for the first time and the appointment is notoriously invasive. This article by Lilith Ferreyra-Carroll in GCN last October explains the scene at the moment quite well. She can also be found on twitterat trasinscneach. This article on Pink News from January this year is less dense than the previous one and offers some more up to date statistics.
Transhealthcareirelandnow is an Instagram page that shares up to date statements and news about the way trans healthcare is at the moment.
Small Trans Library are both a lending library and a community resource run by donations, based in both Dublin, Glasgow and Cardiff. (Can be found on Instagram at TransLibDub, TransLibGla and TransLibWales)
In other news, the census which is held on April the 3rd this year, has said that if you fail to indicate a gender (by ticking both boxes), you will randomly be assigned one. The Irish Examiner and GCN have good articles with more information but unfortunately I cannot link them.
Citizens Information website is a good place to learn about getting a Gender Recognition Certificate and changing your name by deed poll (among other things obviously). Their articles are clear and concise, and kept up to date.
Too late information: my census person told me to tick both male & female, and that would be understood to mean non-binary. A friend in another area was told the same.
I also added a bit about my non-binariness to the text that will be public in 100 years.
I am shocked at the lack of top surgery. I know people who have gone to eg Thailand for bottom surgery, but surely we have mastectomies here?
I’m not sure but even if we do, a double mastectomy and chest masculinisation surgery aren’t the same especially if it’s something like keyhole or periareolar. They presumably originated the same but over time evolved to fit their respective purposes better. There did used to be one top surgeon I believe but she retired a few years ago. I heard recently that there was a new top surgeon in Galway City but I don’t know anything more and neither did the person who told me, so that could be incorrect. Over the past few years I have been surprised by several medical things that required people to travel to England because the services just aren’t available in Ireland.
Forget trans issues for one moment - there are still many issues faced by same gender couples about their children. Marriage was only one step for same gender couples. There is so much more that needs to be addressed.
I’m not sure of the specifics because I think there was a change recently but last time I was reading about it, say if two women had a child and one carried the baby she would be the only one listed as a parent. The second mother would have to adopt her own child simply because she didn’t fit anywhere into the mother-father binary the law allowed. Things like that shouldn’t be allowed. I understand the importance of noting biological parents but in cases like that and with surrogacy the intended parents should also be vital information to know. I have no issue with listing biological parents, sperm donor, surrogate mothers etc but if a child is brought into this world because a couple wanted that child, then both of those parents should be listed on the birth cert. Even if one (or both) aren’t biologically related.
(Please note that this may not be up to date as the piece I am remembering was from several years ago, but I believe there are still problems arising regarding same gender couples with kids, whatever configuration was involved.)
[Image description: tumblr tags reading ‘#like we pay ourselves on the back for legalising same sex marriage 7 years ago, #and then problems like this exist, #like yeah the acronym is lgbTq, #yes are we more progressive compared to other countries?, #yeah, #but that does not mean we can sit back, #for tauting that we are ‘progressive’, #we are slow slow to actually inact actual progress in all walks of life’. End ID]
[image description: tumblr tags, reading ‘#i heard that trans people going through the hse can be denied hormone treatment if they’re adhd/autistic, #which would directly affect a friend of mine whose autistic and transmasc’. /End ID]
I have heard the same. Nonbinary people also have issues from what I’ve heard. And considering most trans people I know are neurodivergent and/or nonbinary, myself included, that isn’t what we’d call ideal.
This has been going around again and I wanted to add an important article posted by the Socialist Party two days ago. You can read it at the link above but I’m going to also add it under a read more.
The dire state of trans healthcare in Ireland
June 13, 2022. By Ollie Bell
Despite Ireland winning many gains for the LGBTQ+ community such as Marriage Equality and the Gender Recognition Act in 2015, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights isn’t over. Currently the trans community is facing the ever-growing crisis of the trans healthcare system in Ireland.
No services for young people
For transgender youth, sometimes puberty blockers are given at the start of puberty to temporarily suppress puberty, though this is very uncommon. They are used to just give a young person some time to solidify their gender and decrease any gender dysphoria they may have. Not a lot of trans youth are given the option to go on puberty blockers so most trans youth have to wait until they’re 18 to get HRT. This is due to medical transphobia which believes trans youth are confused or going through a phase, lack of family support and the misinformation spread by transphobes and trans-exclusionary radical feminists about the ‘dangers’ of puberty blockers. This is despite the fact that puberty blockers are given to cisgender children who start puberty abnormally early, yet the same fear mongering is absent.
The Gender Identity adolescent clinic in Crumlin Hospital is no longer running as of January 2021. Young trans people are still being referred to this clinic despite it no longer operating. From the age of 17 onwards they can be referred to the adult clinic in Loughlinstown. The waiting list for Loughlinstown is 6-10 years.
There are currently two endocrinologists in Ireland that can prescribe HRT to trans people. They both require trans people to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and get a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The Loughlinstown clinic operates under a psychotic model of care despite the WHO declassfying being transgender as a mental disorder in 2019, and this model of care going against international best practices as put forth by World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).
Outdated, damaging models
Once a trans person gets their first appointment in Loughlinstown, they go through a three-hour long process with an eight-minute break. They’re asked invasive, personal questions about their family, childhood, relationships and any trauma they may have gone through. These questions are often highly sexualised. Trans people are asked about their porn habits, sexual history, their thoughts during oral sex and if wearing certain clothes turns them on. These questions are based on the outdated and debunked idea that trans people, especially trans women, are fetishists who are turned on by presenting as their preferred gender.
There’s no recognition of non-binary trans people, forcing many to pretend they’re trans men or trans women in order to access HRT. Patients have been denied access to HRT for multiple reasons such as having a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or a personality disorder, if they refuse to answer any of the questions or if they don’t bring a family member with them.
The dehumanising treatment and long waiting lists force many trans people to find other alternatives to seeking HRT. For those who can afford it, private services like GenderGP are available, but quite expensive. Other trans people buy hormones online and admistrate it themselves under no medical supervision. There are no public options for gender-affirming surgeries, forcing many trans people to set up fundraisers to cover the costs of surgery and travelling abroad.
A proper Public Health Service
How did it get this bad? Well, the state of trans healthcare in Ireland can’t be detached from the crumbling HSE that’s had its funding stripped away over many years. Long waiting lists are just characteristic of the Irish healthcare system. Along with this is the fear from medical professionals of trans people regretting transitioning and detransiting if an informed consent model is put in place. Detransition rates are low, and in any case often not because a person realises they’re not trans. Lack of family support, threats of violence and medical issues are some of the biggest reasons.
It’s clear that the National Gender Service won’t be fixed by more funding or staff. Rather the NGS and the model of care it uses should be abolished in favour of a GP-led, consent-based model which empowers trans people to take agency over their bodies and provides them with all the care and treatments they need as part of a free, quality public health system.
