Amoeblog

FREE SEX-CHANGE OPERATIONS IN BRAZIL RAISES QUESTION

WHEN, IF EVER, WILL THE US FOLLOW SUIT?
In compliance with a court order, Brazil’s public health system just announced in the past few days that it will begin providing free sex-change operations . This move came after federal prosecutors from Rio Grande do Sul state had argued that sexual reassignment surgery is covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right.  On August 15th Brazil's 4th Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling that “from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide.”

According to the Brazilian Health Ministry the government has no intention of appealing this  ruling by a panel of federal judges giving the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face fines of $5,000 a day.  As far as who qualifies for the free sex-change operations the Health Ministry in Brazil said it would be up to local health officials to decide who qualifies for the surgery and what priority it will be given compared with other operations within the public health system. It did state however that  patients must be at least 21 years old and "diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years."

This commendable move by the Brazilian Health Ministry and its government raises the obvious question: When will the US Government implement such a practice here in the United States?  Or rather will it ever do such a thing?  My guess is  probably never or at least not in a long time - based on two main factors: A)  the screwed-up health system already in place in this country which is far from free for anything and B)  the predominant backward attitudes towards sexuality here in the States. Can you imagine the uproar if some US Congress member were to put forward such a proposal?  Media figures like Bill O'Reilly would have a field day as they would undoubtedly spin it into pure sensationalist hysteria about how the hard-working American's tax money would be ripped off from them for sexually deviant purposes.  Ultimately it would result in a lot of discussion, or rather dispute and argument,  but little in concrete, positive and compassionate advances. 

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Posted by Billyjam on August 18, 2007 at 07:10pm | Comments (1)

(In which Job needs coffee, please.)

I am not alone.

I wrote the above sentence then leaned to my right, peering into what once was my kitchen and is now something resembling Dresden after the bombing.

And so it goes.

How this guy has managed to cram a huge ladder into a kitchen so small I barely have room for the second Pop Tart included in the packet, is proof that he is no amateur. (This is what I tell myself, hoping for the best.)

Sonically, I am hidden deep inside my iPod, which just made a seamless transition from Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross’ duet album (titled, mysteriously enough, “Diana & Marvin”) to that inescapable Amy Winehouse record. Every once in a while, on average twice a decade, I find myself enjoying the same album as the rest of the country. Such is the case with “Back to Black”. It makes for boring copy though; I mean, do we really need to hear anymore talk about it?

The answer is “no”, and thankfully there’s a workman in my kitchen providing us with stories.

Last week, amidst my well-documented Vicodin haze (I’m feeling much better these days, thank you), I walked home from Amoeba, as I always do (unless Patti Smith is performing), for lunch.

Whereas normally I am greeted by the meows of my “cat”* I instead walked into a scene from “Brazil”.



Ruling out the possibility of a suicide bomber (I realize they go through a lot of training, but I live on the fourth floor of my building) I found, amongst the sea of bric-a-brac, cleaning supplies and dishware - normally so organized in my kitchen - a lone man doing to my sink and walls what I imagine Jeffery Dahmer would do to a dinner guest.

And I’ll say this about myself: I really am polite. Even when faced with an un-announced stranger tearing my home apart, I start with a simple hand-wave and “Hi,” – waiting for the appropriate social cues from the other person to indicate we can proceed to a conversation. Perhaps about the weather, last night’s game, or maybe why he’s mistaken my kitchen for a newly discovered Egyptian tomb.

Posted by Job O Brother on May 8, 2007 at 11:31am | Comments (1)