4/27/13

Tufts Joins at Least 37 Other US Universities By Including Transgender Healthcare


There is a wide range of insurance policies offered to trans people in academia. Some cover just staff, some include students too. Some policies only cover HRT while some cover limited SRS surgical procedures. Some cover all transitional costs from a2Z. It's a wide array of possibilities. But all have one thing in common. They value us so much as individuals they are making the effort to cover us to some extent. That says a lot.

Source Boston.com "Tufts University has adopted a new healthcare plan that includes benefits for transgender students, making Tufts the 37th university or college in the country to offer health insurance of this kind, according to university officials."

"Michelle Bowdler, the senior director of health and wellness services at Tufts, said that these benefits will include coverage of hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgeries."

“These are needs that are absolutely a medical necessity,” she said Friday in a phone interview with Katherine Landergan at Boston.com.

Thanks to HRC for compiling this list.

Employee Health Plans: transgender-inclusive coverage
Some colleges and universities with employee plans that provide minimum or better transgender-inclusive coverage including at least some transition-related surgeries (15 TOTAL):

•American University
•City University of New York (CUNY)
•Harvard University
•University of California Berkeley
•University of California Davis
•University of California Irvine
•University of California Los Angeles
•University of California Merced
•University of California Riverside
•University of California San Diego
•University of California San Francisco
•University of California Santa Barbara
•University of California Santa Cruz
•University of Michigan
•Yale University

Student Health Plans: transgender-inclusive coverage
Colleges and universities with student health plans that provide minimum or better transgender-inclusive coverage including at least some transition-related surgeries.

•California Institute of Technology (Fall 2010)
•Cornell University (Fall 2011)
•Emerson College (Fall 2007)
•Emory University (Summer 2010)
•Harvard University (2010, 2012)
•New York University
•Portland State University (Fall 2008)
•Stanford University (Fall 2010)
•The University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo)
•University of California Berkeley
•University of California Davis
•University of California Irvine
•University of California Los Angeles
•University of California Riverside
•University of California San Diego
•University of California San Francisco
•University of California Santa Barbara
•University of California Santa Cruz
•University of Connecticut (Fall 2010)
•University of Michigan (Fall 2007 - all students; Jan 2006 Grad Student Employees)
•University of Pennsylvania (Fall 2010)
•University of Vermont
•University of Washington (Fall 2008; updated 2011)
•Washington University in St. Louis covers surgical services only, and not hormone therapy.

Student Health Plans: limited coverage
This is a partial list of colleges and universities with student health plans that provide much more limited access to needed health care: hormone therapy but not medically necessary surgical procedures related to sex reassignment.

•American University
•Bridgewater State University
•Ithaca College
•Lewis and Clark
•Massachusetts Institute of Technology
•Ohio State University
•Pennsylvania State University
•Princeton University
•Reed College
•Suffolk University
•University of Chicago
•University of New Hampshire
•University of Oregon
•University of Southern California
•University of Wisconsin, Madison
•Vassar College
•Yale University

More detailed yet confusing data can be found at the HRC White Paper



A First! Transgender Actress Gets Lead In A Major Film, "Boy Meets Girl"

There are far too few films with a romantic lead who is transgender. There even fewer, if any at all, movies that appeal to cisgender audiences that features a female transgender romantic lead. That's about to change.

From the director: "BOY MEETS GIRL is a tender, human, sex-positive romantic comedy that explores what it means to be “real”: to live and love authentically to the truth of one’s heart, regardless of the sex or small town you’re born into. Our story focuses on Ricky, a beautiful twenty-one year old transgendered girl living in Virginia with dreams of becoming a fashion designer in New York. Bringing Ricky to life is our sparkling lead actress, Michelle Hendley of Columbia, Missouri, whom I was enormously lucky to discover in a nationwide search for a trans actress."



Michelle will be supported by an amazing cast, including lead actor Michael Welch (Joan of Arcadia; Twilight films), New York indie film and stage actress Alexandra Turshen, and a tremendous crew and production team. My two producing partners Elisa Pugliese, who has produced a number of independent feature films, such as Nanette Burstein's award-winning documentary American Teen, and August (starring Josh Hartnett, Adam Scott, Rip Torn and David Bowie) and Bruce Edward, who teamed up with me on my last film After Fall, Winter and my recent TV series Eric Schaeffer–Life Coach, will lend their wisdom, skill, and tremendous work ethic to the project.

The project is currently raising funds on Indiegogo.com

Huge thanks go's out to Queerty for their amazing article. For the record, I'm not overly concerned about "sexual orientation" Faux pas.