In 2003, a story published in the
Vancouver Sun of Canada caught my
attention. Titled “Court
Orders Surgery Costs” it was where the
Human Rights Tribunal of British Columbia found
the provincial government discriminated against
a transsexual man, Louis Waters, by refusing to
pay the cost of completing his
gender-reassignment surgery. I’ve always
wondered what the human story was behind the
report, and here it is by Louis Waters.
I had a very troubled life, convinced by the
time I was four that something was wrong with
the way everyone responded to me. I tried to
blend in but found I could not, always knowing
something about me just didn’t fit in. As a
small child, for Christmas or birthdays I wanted
trucks and guns and holsters like the cowboys on
TV, but instead they gave me dolls! I wanted
neat blue jean coveralls, I received a dress!
What was wrong with everyone? Could they not see
that my physical parts did not match my
mind?
When I was seventeen I tried to commit
suicide by slashing my wrists. I was put into a
mental institute and diagnosed as a transsexual
— now it is called gender dysphoria —
back then it was simply called
transexualism.
I felt so all alone, different, weird but I
was also extremely happy and relieved. Finally
they and I knew what was wrong with me! I was
told if I was accepted into a new program run by
the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, I could get my body
fixed and be the boy that I always saw myself
as.
I was accepted into one of the first large
gender study programs. I was interviewed,
tested, and finally voted upon: first as to
whether I was a transsexual and second, whether
they would accept me for treatment. Talk about
pressure: one black ball and my life could be
finished!
As I recall, I saw a psychiatrist, a
psychologist, a behaviorist, the program
coordinator, as well as all the regular doctors,
surgeons, nurses and admin staff.
The questions seemed never ending, and then I
had to line up for photos to see if
trans-gendered people have similar
appearances.
By the time it was finished I was a wreck,
especially when they concluded all this
diagnostic treatment with a “We will let
you know our decision by mail!”
When the long awaited letter arrived I was
overjoyed to find out not only had they all
agreed I was transsexual, but also it was
recommended I start my transition
immediately!
In 1985 I had absolutely no idea it would
take me a very long twenty-one more years to
fight for my life.
It took me a few more years to pull my self
together and comply with all the requirements of
cross dressing and working and living full time
as a man. My female breasts were, at that time,
my biggest problem to conceal — at a 38D
the bindings and elastic bandages were an
absolute nightmare. To this day I still have a
hard time breathing deeply. The compression
necessary to flatten them down made light weight
clothing an non option in the summer, and as a
truck driver the heat sometimes would be
unbearable.
I was approved for surgeries and I was on my
way! My first surgeries were to remove my female
appendages, as well as all female internal
parts. Having been diagnosed while I was
committed to a mental institute meant that the
medical establishment took charge of my case, so
they were directed and set all of this up for
me. The surgeries were totally approved and paid
for by my insurance health care provider, and at
no time were money or charges mentioned to me at
all. I was approved for phalloplasty — the
making of my penis!
First they arranged for my double mastectomy
(definitely not chest contouring) in Ontario,
Canada, and then a hysterectomy and oophorectomy
in British Columbia, Canada.
I was informed by my health provider there
was nowhere in the province, or in fact anywhere
in Canada that I could have the phalloplasty
done. So, I went ahead and had the surgeries
they did provide, then began the wait until
phalloplasty surgery would be available. In the
meantime, although my documentation marriage and
everything was in the male gender, I still had
female looking genitals.
After many years, I discovered through my
endocrinologist that the surgeries were, and had
been available for some time, it was just that
they were very expensive and health plans
didn’t want to pay.
I was shocked! This meant then that MSP was
removing all female parts and leaving us half
finished on purpose. To me this is
experimentation of the worst sort. The stress
and mental anguish I went through stopped me
from most normal activities such as having a
job, avoiding anywhere that required a toilet
or, heaven forbid, the possibility of being
arrested or searched.
I spent the next few years just settling down
with my new woman and adjusting to a totally
different life style. By 1987 I tried to finish
my surgeries but was told funding had been cut
and that my health insurance provider was no
longer funding phalloplasty surgeries. This at
least enabled me to have my birth certificate
changed to my new gender, as I had all the
surgeries that were available so how could they
demand what was not available.
I immediately asked for my wife’s hand
in marriage and was legally married in June
1988. By 1994 my wife informed me that her
biological clock was ticking and that she wanted
to adopt children. We adopted a brother and
sister, 18 months and 3 years of age. This kept
our life quite full, but also made it very
important to me to finish what I had started
many years before. All the while my years were
going by and I was beginning to understand how
the term “you can’t fight
government“ came about.
We have a small island home that we lease
from a local native Indian band, and being part
aboriginal descent, I was delighted to learn how
to sustain ourselves on fish and meat that we
gather for ourselves. I developed my love of
nature and spiritualism that has no listing of F
or M anywhere on a piece of paper. When I am
here on this piece of sanctuary I have been
blessed with I carry no ID, I wear no watch. I
bought a chain saw and began to make lumber and
build my own home.
The next part of the battle came about when I
wrote to my local government ombudsman. They
confirmed that once MSP had approved and paid
for part of my surgeries, they had an obligation
to finish and pay for those surgeries. So, in
1994 I started to proceed with my long awaited
phalloplasty, and was referred to California by
the Vancouver Gender Clinic, in British
Columbia, Canada.
In 1995, I began my phalloplasty surgery In
Palo Alto, California, with Dr. Donald Laub.
With eleven procedures done at the same time, my
surgery was fraught with complications and
infections. An original price quote of roughly
$47,000 quickly turned into the $60,000 range
fast.
Upon presenting the paid surgery and medical
bills to MSP, I was shocked to learn that they
felt they would be able to pay me a total of
only around $4,000 for completion of my surgery!
This resulted in a difference of about $56,000,
not even counting transportation, hotels, meals,
bandages, dressings and medications.
It devastated my wife and me as we had
totally expected they would be reasonable, once
they realized the actual costs of these
surgeries.
They initially approved of the surgeries, and
required I submit my receipts for their review.
And then, after all was said and done, they
would only cover and pay for an amount that
would have been charged in British Columbia.
Because they don’t do any of these
surgeries here in British Columbia, they really
had nothing on which to base their figures, so I
foolishly believed they would realize how far
out of line they were.
We had incurred terrible debt on our credit
cards and had no recourse for other funding. It
took me many years, several lawyers, and even,
after the fact, the closing of the Vancouver
Gender Clinic before my long and hard won
human rights case found MSP guilty of
discrimination by the Human Rights Tribunal
of British Columbia.
After years of preparation, I fought MSP in
the human rights arena in 2003 based on
discrimination. They were funding male-to-female
surgeries fully at a rate of 25 male-to-female
patients per year, but even to this day have
paid for only 2 female-to-male surgeries —
I am one of them.
I won my case and today have finished all my
surgeries, and am a whole man. My wish however,
that I could have changed the laws here, and
everywhere to help more fellows receive the
surgeries that would help them fit in with their
dreams and aspirations to just be who they
are.
That fight is for all of you to take up. Help
each other succeed in changing a system built on
corruption and manipulation. You can get what
you need, I did and so can you!
Today I live happy and content with my wife
and two children; I conduct spiritual journeys
by canoe and campout, and I have fulfilled my
life’s dream of just being the man I was
meant to be. It has taken me almost thirty years
and around $150,000, but today I am whole and
finally at peace.
http://www.gwaiiecotours.com/
The original judgement by the Tribunal is
available online at http://www.bchrt.bc.ca/decisions/2003/pdf/waters_v_bc_medical_services_plan_2003_bchrt_13.pdf
