To quote Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, we’ve come a long, long way together. There is still a long way to go, though.
“We’ve come a long, long way together
Through the hard times and the good
I have to celebrate you, baby
I have to praise you like I should”
This year, Pride month celebrates 50 years of Pride in the UK. At that first Pride march in 1972, around 2,000 people joined the call for gay people to have the same rights as heterosexuals. This was in response to the 1969 Stonewall Riots, which police harassment at New York’s Stonewall Inn sparked. The Stonewall Inn was a bar with a thriving gay, lesbian and transgender customer base.
Love is Love
Half a century on and most of us appreciate that love is love and that everyone’s equal. However, despite plenty of progress in developing acceptance and understanding, it’s truly shocking how long some recognition took to come about. Gay News started in the 1970s. Volunteers set up Switchboard, the UK-based support and information helpline. Other firsts included the first trans conference and the first gay and lesbian Trades Union Congress. Maureen Colquhoun, Britain’s first openly lesbian MP won her seat.
The 1980s brought further, albeit steady, progress. More LGBTQ+ people came out and demanded fair rights and equal treatment. Chris Smith became the first openly gay MP.
Outdated Attitudes; Unbelievable Beliefs
However, despite such progress, 1988 saw the introduction of Section 28, which banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality and effectively stopped any discussion around LGBTQ+ issues in schools. Unbelievably, it took until the 1990s for the World Health Organisation to recognise that being gay was not, in fact, a mental illness.
Classification as a mental illness is inconceivable enough, but horrifyingly, as recently as the 1960s, gay men risked imprisonment and castration. The court convicted war hero and computer genius, Alan Turing, for ‘gross indecency’ in 1952. Only in 1967 were these draconian laws updated, and subsequently, the age of consent for sexual relations between men lowered from 21 to 18. There should be no doubt about the need for Pride, but such recent history makes the need abundantly clear.
Moving in the Right Direction
Fortunately, the turn of the century brought a raft of positive legislation. The Government allowed LGB people to serve in the armed forces and the age of consent was lowered to 16. Same-sex couples could apply to adopt. Section 28 was abolished. Same-sex couples now have the same rights as married couples, and trans people can acquire updated birth certificates. Discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation is now outlawed. And so it should be, but there is still work to be done.
Still Work to Be Done
To most of us, it’s unimaginable. However, until relatively recently, being gay – even once it was decriminalised – brought a stigma. Life would’ve been hard for gay people, facing judgment, suspicion, and ignorance. Hiding their feelings, suppressing their true selves, and all too often suffering discrimination, even abuse or assault. Is it any wonder that mental health problems were so prevalent in those communities and that tragically, suicide rates were so high?
Born in the Wrong Body
How much harder must life be for trans people? They not only have to cope with their feelings and with trying to ascertain who they are but try to get family and friends to accept and understand. That’s before considering any hormonal intervention, let alone surgery. All that AND the stresses and strains of life generally – especially for adolescents and young adults, for whom making their way in the world is already challenging.
Because of this, A L Medical is committed to working with transgender people. This work will very much depend upon where each individual is on their journey – just like everything we do here, it’s ALL about the individual.
After completing rigorous training and stringent examination, we plan to offer services of feminisation and masculinisation along with all our other wellness treatments. Our patients can be assured of a safe, supportive, medical setting. Here, there is SO much to consider and to get absolutely right, whether that’s the continual hormonal change or different anatomical considerations. And we will ensure that we do. Everyone will be consulted and where appropriate treated with absolute respect and consideration, with the utmost care for their physical and mental health.
Making Life Better
Once a patient comes to see us, they’ve probably gone through many years of soul-searching and looking for answers. Patients MUST be over 18. Before any masculinisation or feminisation treatment can commence, an individual must undergo extensive psychological assessment. They must have a medical diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria and present evidence of living full-time as their acquired gender for two years. That includes working, socialising, any sports activities – everything. This is never, EVER a decision taken lightly.
Hormone treatment affects the so-called secondary sexual characteristics – such as breast size, muscle mass and body hair. Hormones control what doctors call secondary sexual characteristics, including the presence and prevalence of body hair, muscle mass, and breast size.
What Is Hormonal Therapy?
Those born as female, transitioning to male, take androgens, the male hormones, which contribute to a traditionally more masculine appearance. These hormones will:
- Deepen the voice
- Enhance muscles
- Increase physical strength
- Encourage facial and body hair growth
- Enlarge the clitoris
Female hormones help to make biological men appear more feminine. Female hormones will:
- Diminish muscle mass
- Decrease strength
- Alter body fat distribution
- Increases breast tissue
- Reduces body and facial hair
- Lowers testosterone levels
Once hormone treatment begins, physical changes occur quite quickly. Some in as little as a month, though it could take up to years to see the full effect. For example, a biological male who transitions to female, could expect A-cup (sometimes fuller) breasts to develop within two to three years. Crucially, hormone therapy does more than change outward appearance. Hormone therapy can significantly and swiftly alleviate the feelings associated with gender dysphoria.
Be Who You Are
Individuals will often make other aesthetic changes such as hair styling, cutting or growing and painting the nails and dressing the way they want. Nonetheless, non-surgical interventions are required to truly feminise or masculinise facial features, along with breast augmentation and gender reassignment surgery. It is with the non-surgical side we at A L Medical can really help make a difference in trans people’s lives.
We can focus on skin improvement with skin care, in-clinic treatments such as HydraFacial and micro-needling, or referral for facial hair management with laser or IPL. Many trans people will choose to augment their face, perhaps with Dermal Fillers or the newly launched Allergan HarmonyCa (a calcium hydroxyapatite and cross-linked hyaluronate gel).
Be Proud and Be Happy
As with all our patients and clients, we work closely together to achieve the desired wellness results. With some, such as our trans patients there are many extra considerations, but the ultimate aim is always the same. To feel better; to feel WELL. Just to be proud of who you are and happy in your skin. And isn’t that what Pride is all about? If we at A L Medical can help in any way, just holler. Loud and proud!
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