Ministry's shameless endorsement of transgender medical discrimination

LETTER | Let us start with some commonly accepted facts before I elaborate in detail. Most of Malaysia’s transgenders are born as who they are and act effeminate since young. They are given slurs in school, rejected by their parents, start to take hormones illegally without medical supervision, then become involved in the sex industry after leaving school as the last resort for earning their living.

This not by choice by forced onto them by social discrimination. Thereafter, they are bullied by the police, further discriminated against by society due to their social status and lack of financial resources, knowledge and courage to fight for their rights.

Both the top and second man in the Health Ministry are professionals and medical men. And may I ask their opinion on how important gender recognition is from a medical perspective? Are children who show all signs of gender dysphoria - rejected for who they are - able to develop a healthy personality? And with such rejection, anxiety and depression? 

Are they able to strive in their early education even if some of them are born talented? Whose fault is it then? An innocent child’s fault to be born as a transgender?

Would you allow them a systemic diagnosis and then refer them to an endocrinologist for hormonal treatment? My recent personal experiences which triggered me to write this open letter show that a diagnosis, perhaps yes, but with a lot of attempts in between for conversion therapy and with your medical teams (both psychiatrists and general practitioners) openly rejecting the request for hormonal treatment.

Without access to such basic healthcare as a transgender, isn't the Health Ministry a culprit in indirectly forcing them to go underground for illegal hormonal treatment? And without proper administration of the hormones, they are exposed to a much higher risk of cancer, heart disease and other adverse medical conditions. 

And on top of all that, being rejected for much-needed health insurance. I personally experienced outright rejection by a few big insurance companies.

Next, I will like to mention an e-mail I sent to you, Dr Lee Boon Chai, on Jan 24  The letter listed the chronology of persecution I faced at the Penang General Hospital. The e-mail also enquired about the Heath Ministry’s standpoint on official gender recognition. 

I made multiple calls and sent WhatsApp messages to two of your secretaries, a senior secretary of your minister and a few staffs in your office. One of your secretaries told me it is a policy matter, then kept mum and refused to answer my calls thereafter. 

Further, despite a complaint of persecution and consequential anxiety, a staff member of your Corporate Communications Department insisted she had the right to address me as "Mr Kho" and denied me my right to know who is the attending officer for my case.

Kindly answer, deputy minister of health, minister of health and the Health Ministry. Are you professional medical men? Or a rubber stamp for your political masters who have openly expressed that LGBTI (which includes transgenders) shall not be allowed in Malaysia.

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