Why are MEN being offered Cervical Cancer Screening...

[Beansonapost]

What is going on in this country?

If you are registered as a female with your GP you are being offered screenings...even if you don't possess the organ.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/14/women-identify-men-not-offered-routine-nhs-breast-cancer-screening/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/623309/Transgender_cross_programme_screening_leaflet.pdf

I do identify as cisgender, despite all stereotypes imposed on me. I'm a cisgender woman, and a fairly nonfeminine lesbian.

My gender is as it was assigned when I was born.

You're not derailing, you're talking to me.

@stitchglitched sorry, welcome to the thread, we've been really good so far! To clarify: transgender women are women, and transgender men are men. They may need some different health services, but that changes nothing.

Cis people do not get to speak for trans people. I am cisgender.

I am trans, given I am a-gender. Every single transsexual person I know prefers transsexual as they do not want to be lumped in with drag queens and transvestites in an umbrella term as they feel they are not anything like crossdressers or drag queens. I can see where they are coming from.

I do apologise - I shouldn't have assumed.

No worries. Its a bit of a minefield at the moment, anything to do with this topic.

Sorry for getting defensive too. Just terf is such a horrible term and is almost never used to actually mean what people say it means. I am described as a terf but am fairly sure I am not a radical feminist. My husband was described as a terf for telling a transwoman he is straight so no he didn't want to shag them. Fairly sure my husband is not a radical feminist

What is your definition of a woman please condepetie?

"Transmen will lose out with this. Transwomen also if they are registered as female so will not get reminders for prostate checks and such."

I agree! There should be some procedure for this. Transmen who still have a cervix won't get their smear test reminder, and transwomen won't get their prostate check reminder. Isn't that what this thread is about?

@Vicxy I understand. We have the opposite in regards to trans people! I think our politics may be quite different, as I'm also supportive of drag and transvestites who don't identify as women - it's a complicated topic and I think a lot of lines get crossed. I use terf for people who are trans-exclusionary - i.e. transphobic - but if the definition of transgender is as wide as your diagram is, that gets a bit muddy.

@stitchglitched Anyone who identifies as female, who lives or wants to live as a woman.

@derangedmermaid

your friend clearly has mental health problems. Glad they've found a solution!

BUT what does that have to do with cancer screenings? and making sure no one misses out on the appropriate "letter". Human Biology.

@beansonapost That poster spoke about a friend who has had serious gender issues. It's fucking horrific that you feel the solution is "ah, stay male but here's some pills and more hospitalisation!"

This thread has been one of the most trans-supportive threads I've ever seen on this website. It has nothing to do with letters from the NHS. But that poster shared something close to them that obviously means a lot. The least you can do is be respectful.

Yeah. She was born a boy and felt so disgusted by her very male existence that she was driven to suicide. Bullied horrendously for being different. Parents useless and then abusing.

Then some lovely doctors assessed her, educated her about being able to get gender assignment treatment and poof, three years, no depression or suicidal tendencies. Huge support network and a feeling of acceptance.

But obviously the overuse of ink is the important thing here, right?

Mental health...

I never said anything about what treatment they were offered. I said I'm happy they found a solution. @condepetie and I'm pretty sure the made clear what that solution was/is. Don't jump the gun and make assertions.

And I was respectful!

And this thread is about letters... albeit derailed now!!!

Nobody cares about ink, people care that individuals might be missing out on vital screening because the 'transwomen are women' mantra ignores the reality of biology and the fact that your prostrate and cervix don't give a crap what your 'gender identity' is.

condepetie, you can identify as cis all you like, but stop speaking for all women. I don't identify with any gender. I am a woman, born female, and I reject you calling me cis. It's misogynistic, as you well know.

In my opinion medical forms should do away with gender. It's entirely irrelevant to most medical treatment. Instead have a box with "biological sex" to tick.

By the way, what do you mean by "wants to live as a woman"? Wants to wear dresses and makeup, and beat the shit out of women on a rugby field? Or something else?

@derangedmermaid

What does that have to do with him receiving a letter for a cervical screening, when he should be getting one for a prostate exam?

However he feels about himself, he cannot escape basic biological and physiological FACTS.

But obviously the overuse of ink is the important thing here, right?

Definitely not. The most important thing in this is that people who are male get the sex specific cancer checks that they should be having, and people who are female do too. Which means that no person who has a prostate should be down as a female, as they are not female, and no person who is female should be down as male.

I know its only reminders, but if I am honest I do forget about my smear fairly regularly. I pretty much rely on that letter to get the checks need. I cannot be the only one.

Basically coming back again to..biology/sex is important in some areas of life.

@condepetie

The fact that the poster is awake at 2am arguing that extra cervical scan letters will be the downfall of the NHS says a lot about her ability for reasonable thought.

I'm so fucking proud that there is a support network for those who feel they have to live a lie. It sickens me to my very core that there are those who, otherwise completely unaffected by LBQT+ will go as far as to nitpick the price of printer ink over a life lived happily.

Anyway. Enough of the emotion.
People without cervixes won't make appointments for a smear. End of. Not many women WITH cervixes will schedule a smear. Worry about them innit?

@beansonapost So what's the solution for a person with such severe gender dysphoria that they try to kill themselves? I am making assertions, because you were not remotely respectful - "mental health problems" is not a fucking diagnosis and hospitalisation in a secure unit is not a solution.

They can do what they like to cope with their gender dysphoria; no-one is saying they can't.

What they shouldn't be allowed to do is to assert that they have changed SEX (they can change gender all they like) because changing biological sex is impossible, and filling in a medical form with the incorrect biological SEX is dangerous.

@derangedmermaid I'm very glad that your friend has a strong support network and friends like you who will have her side.

@Maryz This confuses me - you say you don't identify with a gender, but in the same sentence you say you're a woman, born female. So you identify as a woman, born female. That's literally what it means. If someone, in an anonymous context, asked "what gender are you?" you would say "female" or "a woman". You self- identify as female. You are cisgender. It's the opposite of transgender. Reject it all you like, but it's not misogynistic - it applies to men too! It has roots in Latin. Scientific terms use it in the exact same way.

Not many women WITH cervixes will schedule a smear.

I sincerely hope this is not true. I know some chose not to which I ghuess is up to them..but 'not many' female people go for their smear checks?!

Not my monkey, not my circus. I cannot offer solutions to topics I am not versed in.@condepetie the person who mentioned it highlighted the solution that was found.

And yes @derangedmermaid I'm up breastfeeding . Something only a woman can do. And ink concerns are my main focus here! Just the ink! 📝

Also, I know of at least two pubs full of men who refuse point blank to have prostate exam because of the gay connotations, so don't even start that shite. My dad wouldn't even take pain suppositories for a slipped disk.
My mum gets smear reminders and doesn't have a cervix anymore.

I have regular smears to do with endo and I don't think I've had a reminder ever.

Seeing as a woman under 25 showing symptoms of cervical cancer will still be refused a smear test because of her age (happened to me, had to fight for one at both 17 and 21) anyway, I think the fight for awareness streams far further than the postcode lottery of reminder letters and one would assume someone adopting a different gender would be more likely to be up to date with their doctor than most.

@Maryz also, I never said I spoke for all women. I speak for myself. I am a cisgender woman who supports trans women (and all trans and nb/agender people).

@Beansonapost

I couldn't breastfeed...

Fuck. I'm a man... Knew it

@Vicxy it's true. It's been reported that smear tests are down in the last few years - and me, personally, I put it off for nearly 4 years due to anxiety. (came back all clear, but afterwards I was even more anxious due to the impending results - what if it's bad news?!) It's very, very common. No one likes it, so it's easy to say... next year!