The lack of Gender Affirming healthcare for Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming people in the city is a huge barrier to equality.
As there is no Gender Identity Clinic in Hull, people have to travel across the country for care which can range from therapy, to the prescribing of hormone therapy, to surgery- all of this care is life saving, preventing and reducing rates of self-harm and suicide amongst Trans+ people. The closest of these Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) is in Leeds, of course “close” is relative, with Leeds being 63 miles away this also raises issues of accessibility for disabled people who struggle with long distance travel, and a pay wall for those who cant afford the travel expenses to get there.
Then there are the waiting times for Leeds GIC (which is comparable to the rest of the GIC’s in the UK.
There are currently 5246 people on their standard waiting list and there are currently 166 people on their priority waiting list waiting to be seen.
Leeds GIC are currently booking appointments for people who were referred in approximately April 2019 and this waiting time is updated every two months; making the current waiting time for an appointment for life saving gender affirming care five years.
Thats five years of waiting to start the two year period of therapy and treatment to be able to legally transition (for binary trans people who are legally recognised, non binary people are not recognised in law). Five years of waiting and battling self hatred, self harm, potential for suicide, and not recognising yourself when you look in the mirror.
That is why Hull Pledge is calling for a Gender Identity Clinic to be established in Kingston upon Hull. For a long time we have been seeing a significant number of improvements to healthcare facilities and the creation of new healthcare facilities, but Trans+ healthcare has taken a back seat.
Hull Pledge is asking all those with a seat at the decision making table to take this issue to board meetings, to council debates, to parliament, and get the funding and permissions required to set this up.
All people have the right to access healthcare, and gender affirming healthcare saves lives.
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