Controversy emerged as the city council in Charlotte City, North Carolina, pushed for the approval of an ordinance that aims to provide a wider protections for the LGBT community. In an article entitled Governor Wants Transgender Restroom Rule Blocked which was recently published in ABC News, Governor Pat McCrory expressed his disappointment when the city council voted for the revision of the existing non-discrimination city ordinance. The proposed revision included an order where people were explicitly allowed to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The governor’s argument against the city council’s decision is in it, being an extremely radical idea that goes against the basic societal standard. House Speaker Timothy Moore shares the same sentiment as McCrocy and suggested that the ordinance is against common sense and the observance of public safety, further adding that most people would feel uncomfortable in having to share the restroom with people of different anatomy. This article sums up the difficulties that are faced by the LGBT community in terms of their right to be treated with respect and dignity. It appears that while efforts were exerted to eliminate discrimination against the LGBT community, there are complications that remain to be considered in the process
In another article entitled The High Cost of Being Transgender, the author talked over the difficulties of transgender people who cannot afford the prohibitive cost of a transition or re-assignment surgery. While there are some, such as Caitlyn Jenner, who were able to almost completely change their anatomy from male to female, many Transgenders went over their transition without the surgery. There are those who were not comfortable at the thought of the operation, but most of them cite the prohibitive cost of surgery as the main obstacle to the change. The cost of gender re-assignment varies, but it is quoted at about $140,450 and $124,400 for male to female and female to male respectively. The surgical expenses are often paid by the patient because most insurance policies do not cover the cost of re-assignment operations. One of the difficulties faced by people who transition without undergoing surgery is that they remain as a transgender to the general public, which makes them more susceptible to discrimination and harassment, in addition to suffering from mental and emotional issues.
The most common predicament of transgender people who wanted to transition is associated with the high cost of sex reassignment surgery. In the article entitled Trangender Woman Feels ‘Complete’ Thanks to Obamacare, plans to transition through surgery were usually put off because of the prohibitive cost of sex reassignment operation. However, transgenders saw hope with the new law that prohibits the discrimination of people from availing coverage for their transition surgery. It has always been difficult for transgenders to secure employment that offer insurance, and availing of private insurance market plans are also costly. Moreover, some insurance companies deny insurance policies to people who are known to have a gender identity disorder. The inability to access health insurance policies inhibits the availment of treatments such as surgical operations and counseling that are needed for their complete transition. The support provided by health insurance and the medical community is needed for transgenders to live normal lives. Accordingly, many low-income transgenders will benefit from the Affordable Care Act, with many of them who believed that the law is finally on their side. Nevertheless, there are still a few obstacles faced by the transgender people such as the conservative groups who were opposed to the use of government funds for their surgeries, the limited number of doctors in the transgender care and the strict conditions set by insurance companies.
A. Claims and counterclaims
In the article entitled, The Latest: Governor Wants Transgernder Restroom Rule Blocked, the main claim is that the transgenders should not be discriminated upon and their treatment with dignity and respect. Thus, the Charlotte city council voted for the expansion of their protection by the passage of a law that allows them to use bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. The counterclaim, on the hand other hand, is the House speaker’s suggestion that the passage of the law contradicts common sense and it creates public safety concern. The claim and the counterclaim were presented thoroughly, with the former offered first in the introduction.
The claim in the second article, The High Cost of Being Transgender, is that there are many people who were suffering from being transgenders, and they continue to suffer unless they can avail themselves of the costly re-assignment surgery. The counterclaim, however, is that sex reassignment has minimal costs and it can provide benefits for both the employer and the employees. In addition to that, there is the Affordable Care Act that was aimed at eliminating discrimination in availing health insurance policies.
The main claim in the third article, Transgender Woman Feels Complete Thanks to Obamacare, is that the passage of federal laws such as the Affordable Care Act provides relief to many transgender people who cannot afford the prohibitive costs of transition treatment and surgery. The counterclaims is the statement offered by the Family Research Council in Washington, where they suggested that the taxpayers money should not be used to pay for the transgenders’ reassignment operations. The claim and the counterclaim was not easy to locate, but the article format such as the introduction helped in locating the ideas.
B. Strengths and limitations of the claims
First Article: The strength of the claim about the passage of law that protects the transgenders from discrimination is the supporting statement that people should be treated with dignity and respect, in addition to the advocacy of the city council of expanding the protection of the LGBT community. The weakness, on the other hand, is that the city council forgot to consider the right of other people, especially those who were not comfortable to use the bathrooms with people of the opposite anatomy.
Second Article: The strength of this claim lies in the narrative about the difficulties of a transgender who cannot afford the prohibitive costs of surgery. In the article, it was stated that despite the assistance provided by the Affordable Care Act, there are insurance companies that do not include the cost of reassignment operation in their coverage. It was also stated that it is also costly for the transgenders not to transition due to associated mental issues and violence towards them. The limitation of the main claim is the existence of federal laws that prohibit health insurance companies to discriminate against transgender people, which makes the reader think that help is available to them in their predicament.
Third Article. The strength of the claim is the support given by the government and insurance regulators who advocate that equality must be observed in treating transgender and other patients. This is supported by a statement about the Medicare program where the ban on sex reassignment surgery was lifted in early 2014. The limitation of the claim in this article is the presence of some obstacles in the observance of transgenders’ rights to in availing insurance coverage on reassignment operations. It was also noted that while the law pushes for support to the transgenders, there are many insurance companies that set strict rules which prohibits the automatic approval of benefits.
C. Audience knowledge level, concerns
Article 1. A reader’s reaction to this article may vary. For those who are more accepting of the rights of the LGBT community, they may agree that the move of the city council to pass a law that allows people to use the public bathrooms according to the gender identity may not be a problem. However, as pointed by the House speaker, it may not be acceptable for others, because of the possibility of courting public safety concerns. There are people who may suggest that the House speaker and Governor McCrocy are acting on their bias opinion, but as leaders of the community, it is their prerogative to be concerned about such issues and to observe precautions in passing and approving laws that affects the citizenry.
Article 2. Just as the transitioning of Caitlyn Jenner from a male to a female, the idea of sex reassignment is also controversial. It is not only about the ethical consideration that is associated with it, but also of the cost that is required for an individual to achieve a complete transition. Some people might think that it is not right to use the government fund to support the desire of any individual to change his or her anatomy. Moreover, some people have fear about the danger of undergoing a critical surgery such as sex reassignment.
Article 3. The need to treat transgender patients in an equal manner as other patients was emphasized in one part of this article. However, not all people might agree with this suggestion; while the LGBT community is an accepted part of the society, still, there are many people who do not agree about a person changing their anatomy. For the conservative or religious group, sex reassignment is an issue that defies the Christian teaching.
Works Cited
Gorman, Anna. "Obamacare Offers Relief for Transgender People .com." CNN. N.p., 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/26/health/obamacare-transgender-surgery/>.
Jackson, Alyssa. "The High Cost of Being Transgender”. CNN. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/31/health/transgender-costs-irpt/>.
"The Latest: Governor Wants Transgender Restroom Rule Blocked." ABC News. N.p., 2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-house-speaker-supports-charlotte-vote-override-37134204>.
