LGBTQ+ Perspectives on UBI: Healthcare
Image credit - Sharon McCutcheon
When we think of LGBTQ+ people, we might think of Pride; of people living their truth, out and proud. 24% of respondents to the UK government’s LGBT National Survey in 2017 however felt unable to live openly even at home. Outwardly it may seem like a person’s physical safety remains intact when they stay in the closet, hidden from plain sight. But the mental anguish of a person struggling with issues of sexuality and gender identity, ranging from depression to gender dysphoria, is only worsened by the hiding of their identity. Not only are they tormented by this inner secret, unsure of how others might react or terrified as they know it won’t be positive, it also makes it harder to access the targeted mental and physical healthcare they need. Even for those who live openly there are many structural barriers to accessing healthcare. For a group of people at a higher than average risk of poor mental health, this is unacceptable. Of course, there’s a lot to unpack here, and by no means to I suggest that I have the solution. It is my belief though, that a UBI would go far to ease the pain.
In the UK, we are blessed with the NHS. We have de jure access to many services for free, for both our physical and mental health. The NHS runs Gender Identity Clinics (GICs), offers counselling services, and GPs can technically prescribe hormones and blockers to trans patients. It all sounds great on the surface. When you look closer, however, issues begin to arise. A whopping 80% of trans respondents to the government’s survey said that accessing GICs had not been easy, with 68% citing long waiting lists. Accessing Gender Identity services is essential to the mental wellbeing of trans and gender-nonconforming people. One article in The Guardian told the story of a young trans woman who began to lose her hair at the stress of not receiving any treatment, worsening her gender dysphoria and kickstarting a perpetual cycle only preventable by hormone blockers or hormone replacement therapy (HRT). She was refused this ‘bridging’ treatment because many GPs, although they are allowed to, do not feel confident prescribing hormones before a patient has been seen by a GIC. Prescriptions for these hormones can only be given by GPs if a patient is suicidal or at risk of self-harm.
With 24% of LGBTQ+ people accessing mental health services in the twelve months leading up to the survey, and about 28% of those who had accessed or tried to access these services saying it had not been easy, it’s clear to see that public healthcare, at least the way in which it is currently structured, is not always an easy option. Barriers to accessing mental health services can be detrimental to wellbeing, especially considering over half (52%) of LGBT people said they’d experienced depression in 2018. Private healthcare is sometimes the only option. But for those who can’t afford it, it isn’t even an option. Their only choice is to wait, which could lead them to self-harm or even suicide. I personally required mental health treatment and was told that the waiting list was twelve weeks on the NHS. Through a combination of my own privilege as someone who lives with their parents and had some money saved up, and my luck at finding a charity which provided relatively cheap counselling, I was able to get the help I needed. There are many LGBTQ+ people not as fortunate as myself. They are living paycheck to paycheck, and cannot afford private counselling.
Now think about the cost of medically transitioning. GenderGP puts the cost of hormone-blocking injections at around £100 per month and hormones at £10 per month, and fees for private gender confirmation surgery can range from £10,000 to £100,000 according to trans support network TransUnite. It is clear that a Universal Basic Income would go a long way in ensuring that LGBTQ+ people quickly get the healthcare they need, and with much less financial pressure than they might otherwise have been under.
The ‘Poverty: It's a sin - a roundtable on UBI and the LGBTQ+ community’ is Today (28th February 2021) at 16:00hrs GMT.
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a regular and unconditional payment given to everyone in society regardless of their income, wealth or work.
It guarantees a basic level of financial security for everyone, and makes sure nobody in society falls through the cracks. But how would a UBI help the LGBTQ+ community specifically, both in the UK and around the world?
Join UBI Lab LGBTQ+ for an informal roundtable discussion. After a short introduction to the basics of UBI, we'll be the important question. Free, all welcome. To register - Book HERE
More about the author
David Rozental-Devis - @blinkx2100
David (they/them) is a final year undergraduate student of Politics with Human Rights at the University of Essex. Since February 2019 they have been an advocate for UBI, founding the UK Yang Gang and International Yang Gang groups in support of ex US Presidential Candidate and current New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, for whom UBI is a core piece of his campaigns.
Interested in joining a UK-based advocacy group, David joined the UBI Lab Network in August 2020, joining UBI Lab Youth and Co-Founding UBI Lab LGBTQ+ that same month. As someone interested primarily in human rights, and more specifically LGBTQ+ Rights worldwide, David sees UBI as having potential to be a central part of the global LGBTQ+ Rights movement.