InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I am the Duck of Doom!"

Phoenix (凤凰) (spacelogic) wrote,
@ 2009-10-21 21:51:00

Current mood:

hopeful

today a smile
I went -- if that's the right word -- to Gavin Newsom's online town hall meeting today. (Refresher for non-Californians, i. e. the majority of you: Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco who illegally married same-sex couples in 2001 and successfully fought the Supreme Court over it, made San Francisco the first and only city in the US to provide universal healthcare, housed thousands of homeless people, prevented statewide budget cuts from affecting San Francisco schools, and is currently running for Governor.) At this point that guy is carrying my hopes for the state. He comes up with strategies to solve unsolvable problems and they get results, and he's not afraid to gamble his career on the chance of making a change for the better. We need leaders like that.

Then I read about Dr. Marci Bowers, who's using her experience providing SRS (she is herself trans) to help victims of female genital mutilation get functional, normal-looking genitals -- for free, since US health insurance doesn't cover "cosmetic" procedures. And I've got a partly-written email to her I'm trying to complete telling her how wonderful I think she is for doing that, because that kind of healing goes so far beyond just the physical, but I can't come up with words.

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	beccastareyes 2009-10-22 12:38 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, those are awesome. Especially about the woman helping victims of FGM with free surgery to repair things. Though WTFCOSMETIC? From what I've read, the idea of FGM is to deliberately damage things so that sex and childbirth and so on were much more difficult and painful. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	spacelogic 2009-10-22 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	My sister says in the US, all surgeries that restore functionality of some kind to injured body parts are classified as cosmetic. I am not an evil insurance agent, but it would make sense, since it would probably be tough to classify -- there aren't a lot that make such a huge, significant change, so it'd probably be lumped in with more superficial repair jobs. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	beccastareyes 2009-10-22 01:01 pm UTC (link)
	sighs I'd think 'make something work after it is hurt' should be something paid for by insurance. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	spacelogic 2009-10-22 01:06 pm UTC (link)
	Well, yeah, but this is America.... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	beccastareyes 2009-10-22 01:28 pm UTC (link)
	I feel the need to resort to profanity here to express my disgust. (Reply to this) (Parent)

ardath_rekha
2009-10-22 07:01 pm UTC (link)

It's insane stuff. I need breast-reduction surgery for health reasons but I can't afford it on my (nonexistent student) income. My insurance policy won't cover it, either, because any kind of breast surgery other than the removal of cancerous tissue is classified as "cosmetic." This includes post-cancer-operation reconstructive surgery. They'll pay to slice your boob off, but not to leave you looking and feeling human when that's done.

And I have one of the better policies out there.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	beccastareyes 2009-10-22 07:25 pm UTC (link)
	I've had two friends have to have breast reduction surgery, so I've heard second-hand how much of a relief it is afterward. Good grief. Just... no words that won't involve me degenerating into a screaming fit at people. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	strangerian 2009-10-25 08:57 pm UTC (link)
	Hello, I'm with you on rooting for Gavin Newsom. Saw your B5 posts, and hope it's okay if I friend you? I've been a B5 fan since around 1994, when a friend showed me one scene from the current 2nd-season episode. (The scene contained Ivanova, which helped.) She was very smug about lending me the first season tapes right away... (Reply to this) (Thread)

	spacelogic 2009-10-25 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	Sure thing! Pleased to meet you. :-) (Reply to this) (Parent)