American doctor offers free surgery for trans military personnel following Trump ban
(Getty)
A former Navy surgeon has announced that she will waive the fee for trans military personnel who are seeking surgery.
Dr Christine McGinn, who is trans herself, has said that any trans people scheduled for surgery with her will not have to pay the fees if the government refuses to.
Trans ex-Navy surgeon: Cost of losing trained service people is "exponentially larger than just taking care of them" https://t.co/4JmaQUS6lg
— CNN (@CNN) July 29, 2017
Dr McGinn’s comments come after President Trump announced that the US military would not be accepting trans troops and blamed the cost.
Talking on CNN, Dr McGinn pledged to “take care” of trans veterans.
“If the commander-in-chief won’t take care of our veterans, our veterans will.
“I will do surgery for free on the number of people that I have already lined up for surgery.”
The doctor, who was previously nominated for the Navy’s flight surgeon of the year award, explained that the policy – which is not yet official – was obviously transphobic.
“It’s obvious discrimination,” she said. “I think any fifth-grader could see that.”
She went on to explain that Trump’s excuse of cost was not a good enough reason to ban trans military personnel.
“I think it’s being twisted and spun to make it seem like it would be more than it is.
“I think the cost of getting rid of very well specialised, trained military service people is exponentially larger than just taking care of them,” she said.
She added that in her own experience of operating on trans troops, they were back to work within a matter of weeks, meaning that there isn’t a massive loss in work time either.
“Most of my patients are back to work in six weeks, sometimes two weeks.
“I think that this is getting inflated to make it a little more political,” she added.
