David Locke examines gender-identity & discrimination in healthcare
- In all medical decision-making, the preferred gender identity of the patient must be accepted and respected.
More profoundly personal even than sexual orientation, there is perhaps no more fundamental right than to be able to determine one’s own gender, and the view that this is a simple issue of genetics has been considered regressive for some years.
It is incontrovertibly true to say that many individuals and institutions have failed to keep pace with the rapid evolution in the understanding of gender identity. It is equally accurate to acknowledge that there is no small degree of controversy around the subject, which has led, among other well-publicised episodes, to the “non-platforming” of the feminist writer Germaine Greer (for pondering whether a person who was non-biologically female could ever become “female”) and a boycott of the entire state of North Carolina by Bruce Springsteen (in support of transgender rights).
Perhaps above all institutions, the NHS cannot be slow to embrace and adapt to these issues. If individuals are fearful of seeking medical treatment because of concerns that their gender
