Demographics of Transgender People and Transition-Related Healthcare Policies Across the European Union

Abstract

To most demographers and policy scholars, discussions about gender equity in health may entail consideration of various health outcomes in relation to just two population groups, males and females, or men and women. The result is that public policy debates and decisions both passively and actively promote cisnormativity, or the notion that one’s assigned sex at birth should match their gender identity. This chapter examines healthcare utilization among transgender and gender-nonconforming people and the nature of transition-related healthcare policies across 28 European countries using the first large-scale survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people conducted in 2012. My results suggest that countries with higher levels of healthcare utilization among trans individuals also reported greater health parity between “women and men,” and that countries with less inequality between “women and men” provided more expansive support for transitions. But broadly speaking, masculinizing surgeries are covered more evenly across the European Union member countries, compared to feminizing surgeries, meaning female and male body ideals impact policy decisions differently. To ensure more equitable democratic process for all, it is crucial that we pay attention to trans rights and experiences for our understanding of public policy making.