The latest subject in the transgender movement in Canada appears to be whether provinces should be forced to pay for facial surgeries for men who want to look more feminine. The argument is these men feel more affirmed if their appearance can “pass” as female. An Ontario man who identifies as a woman lost his appeal in an Ontario court to undergo taxpayer-funded facial feminization surgery, which would cost roughly between $15,000 and $30,000. The facial surgery softens masculine features, and is a look that cannot be achieved through merely taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The patient, who goes by MF due to a publication ban, suffers from severe gender dysphoria, the National Post reported. He wishes to “affirm” the dysphoria by undergoing surgery that would remove his Adam’s apple in a “tracheal shave” and shrink his forehead in a “brow reduction.” . Last September, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) denied MF’s request for the public insurer to pay for the surgery, which would take place in a facial feminization specialist clinic in Montreal, or if necessary, another clinic in Ontario. OHIP only covers surgeries the province deems “medically necessary” — however, “gender reassignment surgeries,” or genital restructuring surgery, are eligible. OHIP argued the service MF seeks isn’t under the Schedule of Benefits and is therefore not eligible. MF appealed to Ontario’s Health Services Appeal and Review Board, and the decision was upheld. MF in court documents reviewed by the National Post complained his gender dysphoria is intensifying with age, and the way his face looks is “causing severe daily distress.”He “hates being visibly transgender,” the documents state, arguing the surgery is necessary to relieve the psychological disorder, despite being on HRT for more than a year. Due to male puberty, he has “certain facial characteristics that are associated with males.”MF argued if genital surgery can be funded by OHIP, which is more expensive, nearing the $100,000 mark, then it should cover his facial surgery too. He said genital reassignment surgery “reinforces outdated beliefs about there being only one way to transition and that many transgender people do not want genital surgery.”The only two regions in Canada one can go for publicly funded facial feminization surgery are Yukon and Prince Edward Island. “It is often easier, medically, for trans men to achieve changes that will result in passing,” said Halifax Dr. Sarah Fraser, per the National Post, adding that to “pass” means “to be able to fit into society recognizable as one’s gender identity, instead of being perceived as the sex assigned at birth.”“But for trans women, that can be a lot more difficult, especially in the case of this person (in Ontario) who has a prominent Adam’s apple.”Facial feminization surgery “is just as important as genital surgery. It’s your face that you’re presenting to the world when you’re getting a job and when you’re out and interacting with the public on a day-to-day basis.”
