Homophobia and Discrimination on

<strong>Homophobia</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Discrimination</strong> on Grounds of Sexual Orientation <strong>and</strong> Gender Identity in the EU Member States
126
per cent) or lesbian (20 per cent) respondents. Transgender people were also more
likely to have sleeping problems. 450
Fourteen percent of the respondents in the Scottish study on transgender experiences
rated NHS general medical practitioners as ‘very poor’ or ‘extremely poor’. Forty-six per
cent rated the service to be ‘very good’ or ‘extremely good’. Lack of knowledge on the
part of doctors <strong>and</strong> often unsurpassable technical problems to change gender markers
on records (resulting in a lack of privacy) were the biggest points of concern. 451
Insurance companies refuse applications from transgender people on a regular basis.
There is anecdotal evidence of a transgender person in Belgium who was exempted
from private health insurance to cover hospitalisation costs <strong>and</strong> in the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s of
insurance companies that have refused to provide life insurance to transgender
applicants, resulting in difficulties to finance a mortgage.
Suicide
Thirty percent of the transgender respondents of the EuroStudy 452 reported at least one
suicide attempt as an adult. Half of the transgender participants in a different Swedish
study reported having considered suicide at least once in their life <strong>and</strong> 21 per cent had
acted on this consideration. 453 Similarly, in the United Kingdom study ‘Engendered
Penalties’, 34.4 per cent of the respondents reported attempting suicide at least once as
an adult. 454
Good practices: A roundtable discussion revealed that in Belgium, the University of Gent
has created a focused medical centre for transgender people led by surgeons <strong>and</strong>
therapists, but not psychiatrists. The team of doctors works from the premise that
transsexualism is simply a reality for some people. They provide psychiatric services to
transgender people who present mental health problems due to stigma, anxiety <strong>and</strong>
other related concerns. 455
450 Statens Folkshälsoinstitut (2005) Homosexuellas, bisexuellas och transpersoners hälsosituation,
Återrapportering av regeringsuppdrag att undersöka och analysera hälsosituationen bl<strong>and</strong> hbt-personer,
Östersund: FHI
451 Scottish Transgender Alliance (2008) Transgender Experiences in Scotl<strong>and</strong> - Research Summary,
Edinburgh: Equality Network, p. 15
452 Whittle, S, Turner, L, Combs, R, Rhodes, S (2008) Transgender EuroStudy: Legal Survey <strong>and</strong> Focus on
the Transgender Experience of Health Care, Brussels: ILGA-Europe, p. 49
453 Statens Folkshälsoinstitut (2005) Homosexuellas, bisexuellas och transpersoners hälsosituation,
Återrapportering av regeringsuppdrag att undersöka och analysera hälsosituationen bl<strong>and</strong> hbt-personer,
Östersund: FHI, p. 21f
454 Whittle, S, Turner, L, Al-Alami M (2007) Engendered Penalties: Transgender <strong>and</strong> Transsexual People’s
Experiences of Inequality <strong>and</strong> <strong>Discrimination</strong>, Wetherby: The Equalities Review, p. 78
455 Information provided by Transgender Europe at consultative roundtable on combating homophobia <strong>and</strong>
transphobia in the EU, June 2008, Copenhagen.