As a passing trans man with a lot of medical issues, I feel this.
Ive seen it all. Doctors that refused to treat me. "Trans broken arm syndrome." A nurse telling me Ill be going to Hell. (Would have cut more if I was in any way religious) Ive had staff breaking HIPAA, talking openly about my trans-ness in busy waiting rooms and in the cinical setting. Ive had times where doctors didnt believe I was AFAB, and one clueless one who was doing an intake assessment and asked me if I was experiencing any discomfort in my testicles. (I had already informed him of my trans status) Ive also had a similar thing happen as in OPs comic, where the office thought there was a glitch in my files and fought me over it!
I came out 15 years ago and have graced many doctors offices and medical related settings in that time. But still, the vast majority of the people whove had me under their care have been great, and its gotten better with time since things have become a little more progressive in my area. Most of the stuff I encountered in the past was due to ignorance and less outright bigotry, and Ive been able to largely avoid it for some time by sticking with offices that are not faith-based, which is where most of these interactions happened.
Its even worse. This wasnt a regular medical doc. He was a psychiatrist.
He sprinkled it in between other questions about side effects from meds I was on. Best guess is that he thought I was pre-op, pre-HRT MTF, or he didnt have a clue what transgender was....he was on the cusp of retirement and may have never had a patient like me.
Unfortunately I had to keep seeing him because my insurance at the time only covered that office. He didnt ask me that question again and he never pried further which was fine by me.
I have a much better doc now who is open minded and professional.
It was the fact I had just told him I was a trans man, and he asked me anyway. Was one of my tamer examples but I shared it to show that doctors can be clueless when it comes to dealing with transgender patients.
Sometimes I ask 60 year old women if they’re on birth control, sometimes it’s not personal, just autopilot (for anyone wondering it’s when I’m trying to rule out a pulmonary embolism and going through the risk factors). As a healthcare professional I’d rather ask a dumb question than not ask a question I should have asked and miss crucial details
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u/SplicerGonClean Jul 31 '26
As a passing trans man with a lot of medical issues, I feel this.
Ive seen it all. Doctors that refused to treat me. "Trans broken arm syndrome." A nurse telling me Ill be going to Hell. (Would have cut more if I was in any way religious) Ive had staff breaking HIPAA, talking openly about my trans-ness in busy waiting rooms and in the cinical setting. Ive had times where doctors didnt believe I was AFAB, and one clueless one who was doing an intake assessment and asked me if I was experiencing any discomfort in my testicles. (I had already informed him of my trans status) Ive also had a similar thing happen as in OPs comic, where the office thought there was a glitch in my files and fought me over it!
I came out 15 years ago and have graced many doctors offices and medical related settings in that time. But still, the vast majority of the people whove had me under their care have been great, and its gotten better with time since things have become a little more progressive in my area. Most of the stuff I encountered in the past was due to ignorance and less outright bigotry, and Ive been able to largely avoid it for some time by sticking with offices that are not faith-based, which is where most of these interactions happened.