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LGBTQIA+ 21h
Just realized the reason why the stereotype of your local they/them barista exist is probably because trans people are forced to choose between working a high paying job with shit insurance coverage or at Starbucks to get gender affirming care
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Anonymous 21h

i mean also it’s that many trans people don’t even have the option of working a “high paying job with shit insurance” due to employment discrimination. but yeah, many trans people work at starbucks specifically because they offer health insurance to part-time employees and cover gender-affirming care. there are also trans people who have to stay deliberately below the poverty line to maintain medicaid eligibility because in some progressive states that’s the only way they can access care.

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Anonymous 21h

I’ve been thinking a lot about forced poverty. It’s hitting me that if I don’t finish my transition by the time I graduate college (while I have good insurance), I may be put in this situation where I have to choose between working somewhere good (but with no coverage of healthcare) or working a shit minimum wage job at Starbucks, because they have some of the best gender affirming care coverage in the country

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Anonymous 20h

graduating from an ivy and can’t find a single good job with healthcare coverage LOL

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Anonymous replying to -> OP 21h

And atp I’m seriously considering it too, which honestly terrifies me. I’m privileged enough to be graduating from an Ivy, but because I’m trans and need this healthcare, I may end up stuck in this cycle of poverty for the next several years

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Anonymous replying to -> #1 21h

This is so true. I work as a care coordinator for trans people getting surgeries and so many of my clients literally had to lose their jobs or go homeless in order to get on Medicaid so their care could be covered. Others face issues with maintaining employment because of the time needed for medical leave as well. It really is a huge issue

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 10h

I graduate next semester but things are a lot more complex than just finding a good job. I’m in between stages of bottom surgery and there is only one surgeon in the US that can operate on me (there’s only one surgeon that does DIEP phalloplasty). That means I’m tied down to living in that state until I finish surgery. I may literally have to give up my dreams of higher education just so I can continue to get care (otherwise it would be ~5 yrs to get surgery).

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Anonymous replying to -> #2 10h

It’s not just above coverage, esp when it comes to surgery. You have to factor things in like location. A lot harder to go to grad school or get a good job with good coverage when you are limited to a single state. (Remember, for each stage of bottom surgery, you’re expected to live 90 minutes away from the hospital for 2-4 week’s. If you don’t live in the area, it can take thousands [years] to save up for).

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