San Fran. Poised to Pay for Sex Changes

S A N  F R A N C I S C O, April 22 -- San Francisco is prepared to make historyby becoming the only city to pay for employees’ sex changes — amove some say is long overdue in ending discriminatory practicesagainst transsexuals.

“It really is a civil rights issue,” said Marcus Arana, atransgender San Francisco Human Rights Commission discriminationinvestigator. “We have an insurance issued that will pay for ahysterectomy in Mary but not in Marcus, and will pay for hormonetherapy in Mary but not in Marcus.”

After a five-year fight in the city’s Health Service System, thegender-switching benefits earned approval last week from a citycommittee and will go before the full Board of Supervisors onMonday.

San Francisco apparently would be the only governmental body inthe nation to make sex-change benefits available. The state ofMinnesota offered such benefits, but the program was phased out in1998. The issue was discussed in Oregon, but a commission decidedagainst it in 1999.

Public Support, E-Mailed Opposition

Several supporters have publicly endorsed the measure, and noone has spoken against it. Opposition has come only in e-mails andphone calls from people living outside San Francisco, mainly Texas,said Board Supervisor Mark Leno, founder of the Transgender CivilRights Implementation Task Force.

The term transgender covers a broad range of categoriesincluding cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals and peopleborn with characteristics of both sexes.

“We have transgender people living and working among us,” Lenosaid. “They deserve the same dignity and respect as every othercitizen. One way is to make sure the city provides equal benefitsfor equal work.”

On average, male-to-female surgery costs about $37,000, whilefemale-to-male surgery runs about $77,000.

The coverage extends to hormone treatment and medical matterssuch as mastectomies or breast cancer. It will not cover cosmeticprocedures and can only be used after a doctor deems treatmentmedically necessary. Employees first must go through an extensivemedical review process that takes up to six months.