Sex Change Policy Being Considered By Yale
Yale students that want sex change operations could soon be covered by their student health plans.
The Ivy League school is considering adding gender reassignment surgery to its student plan, following in the footsteps of Brown, Penn, Harvard, and Cornell universities.
Yale is still reviewing policies related to the procedure for its 11,848 students, but gender reassignment surgery coverage has already been added to health plans that cover the school’s faculty.
Karen Peart, Yale spokeswoman, told FOX News, “The benefit is offered to faculty and staff, and is being considered for students … Cost would vary depending on treatment.”
Dr. Paul Genecin, director of University Health Services, told the Yale Daily News that an “increasing interest” in covering the surgery among Ivy League schools has had a “small number” of students at Yale express interest.
Michelle Morgan, a student graduating in 2015, made a request on behalf of her female-to-male transgender partner.
She said that it was unfair that Yale wasn’t offering the coverage to students, adding further that the existing policy only is only extended to married couples.
“Yale’s slowness on this issue is a problem from the perspective of history … When history looks back on gender-confirming surgeries and coverage, Yale should strive to be on the cutting edge and not defensive side of that history,” Morgan said.
Maria Trumpler, LGBTQ Resource Center Director, said that she has been trying to get the sex change coverage added for six years, adding that it’s something that both school policy and student lives depend on.
“It is a medical necessity, that has been Yale’s position, so the medical necessity … and creating a campus in which trans people are fully included and live up to our nondiscrimination policy,” Trumpler said.
According to the American Medical Association, gender identity disorder is a serious medical condition that can be characterized by a persistent discomfort with one’s sexual identity. Those affected could suffer severe depression and even be at risk of suicide.
The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group, said that nearly 25 percent of Fortune 100 companies now include sex change operations on their insurance plans.
