Universities are now covering transgender surgeries on their insurance plans, often without any meaningful debate. Rep. Diane Black criticized Vanderbilt University’s decision in a statement:
University officials say the decision “will make the campus a more inclusive environment for students who previously had gone without necessary care,” The Tennessean reported.
Cynthia Cyrus, vice provost for learning and residential affairs, said the decision “was relatively non-controversial on our side” and that there “was maybe a two-paragraph conversation, not deeply debated in any way.”
The coverage “came out of feeling limited in our ability to take full and complete care of our transgender students” and “really came out of our frustration,” Dr. Louise Hanson, director of the university’s student health center, told The Tennessean.
Because some students couldn’t afford gender reassignment surgery, which Black describes as “medically unnecessary procedures,” Hanson said it became about “the haves and the have-nots.”
Not all doctors agree.
Yale University also decided to cover reassignment surgeries, despite the disagreement from university doctors.
Vanderbilt has joined other politically correct schools with its pronoun variations. Pronouns were added to create “a community that is welcoming and inclusive to individuals of all gender identities and expressions.”
The Tennessean also spoke with Rj Robles, who is transgender, and had “culture shock” after coming from the University of Illinois-Chicago because Vanderbilt did not yet cover reassignment surgery.
Having the school insurance pay for one’s reassignment surgery makes Robles “really proud of the Vanderbilt community for stepping up, for being on the side of its transgender students. It finally feels like we’re being celebrated, valued, respected, heard and seen,” he said.
