Why Your Trans Friend is Freaking Out
COVID-19 is impacting everything. That includes your trans friend’s surgery.
I don’t normally post content warnings, as I try to make it clear early in my story what I’ll cover so that people can avoid content they don’t want to read. But I’m going to make an exception here: COVID-19 is stressful. Having our medical care delayed is stressful. And reading about this may be more stressful than beneficial. If you’re dealing with possibly delayed surgeries or procedures, I’d suggest something other than continuing reading. This article isn’t for you. It’s for the people who say you’re overreacting.
So, for the person who thinks their friend is overreacting to their surgery being delayed, this is for you.
We know COVID-19 kills people. We know it causes serious illness. We know that keeping as many people alive as possible is a priority. To do this, we need every hospital bed, every nurse, every doctor, every ventilator, and even mundane things like surgical gowns and face masks to be reserved for imminent emergencies.
Our surgeries are life-saving. But they aren’t as immediate as medical procedures to keep someone breathing. If a person doesn’t have air, they might die within a few minutes. Water, a few days. Food, a few weeks. Not having a gender-affirming surgery? We don’t know, but we know that there are…
