Verde Gil Jiménez:

I take advantage of the network and communication technologies to share through this channel some issues that concern male trans boys in Cuba in relation to the different gender reassignment surgeries and the accompaniment of CENESEX. From now on, my greatest respect to all of you and my fervent commitment to collaborate towards a more inclusive society, prepared to face new social paradigms.

Although it has become clear on the basis of clinical studies the importance of waiting a minimum period of two years in hormonation (hormone replacement) to proceed with the operations (mastectomy, hysterectomy and phalloplasty), it is important that if the CENESEX questions and evaluates from the beginning the needs that the trans subject has to modify his body, this should not be a mere scientific protocol, Once the will and intention to perform any kind of surgery has been defined and confirmed, specialized attention (according to the personal characteristics of each trans child) will be provided to encourage reflection, evaluation, rectification, confirmation, information, updating, emotional and psychological support, and VIAVILIZATION in this area. It is also important to provide guidance on the body of surgeons available, the quality of the operations, the risks and potential of each procedure based on national experience. Also provide guidance on alternatives and other methods (such as metoidioplasty which I have not heard of in CENESEX but exists), prospective visions of science, alternatives (such as genital prostheses), among many other aspects that we could continue to break down. This is without ignoring the trajectory at the country level up to the present time, since we cannot deny that our contextual framework is very different from that of other countries, to a large extent because of the hostile policy of US imperialism, and it goes without saying that this is the case. But it should be clear that this lack of information about (which should be avoided, as well as the blockade), generates a lot of insecurity and fear among us trans kids that “it won’t happen because it doesn’t really urge them or worry them. Therefore, we suspect that “THAT WHAT YOU WANT” will have to be prolonged unnecessarily for longer than expected and in an atmosphere of expectation that is neither optimal nor reliable. This translates, for us, into MORE YEARS OF LIFE DEALING WITH DYSFORIA. And it should be clear that desperation comes from before starting any treatment. We are not in a waiting queue, the trans that is a year older, a day older than me, even if he has started the hormone later, I know that he is a trans that deserves and needs before enjoying his free body. Because it is not easy to bear that life goes away with a physiognomy/phenotype/aspect/gender that afflicts and martyrizes to a greater or lesser extent. WE WAIT FOR LIFE ITSELF, WE WAIT FROM NON-LIFE, FROM NEVER HAVING BEEN ABLE TO.

With all due respect to those involved, I refer to my personal experience to say that: in the psychology consultations, surgical operations have never been discussed and when I have asked certain professionals directly (psychologist and nurse) they have not been able to give satisfactory answers to my doubts. It is always “don’t worry, it can take more than two years, look at the case of Liam (Durán Cardona)”. I think, these are not fair words, valid arguments, nor easy to bear. And they even make us feel bad for “keeping an eye on this, which is OUR HEALTH! The ineptitude of these professionals allows that the same thing can digress, ratify, contradict, deny, hope that overwhelmingly (without pretending it, I do not allege that they are evildoers) emotionally crumble a weak subject in need of REAL, SYSTEMATIC AND HUMANISTIC support.

The neglect of CENESEX regarding these concerns and the scarce data provided to us (we need reliable and national sources, because in the net the veracity is more and more indiscernible) provoke a feeling of DESAMPARATION that is terrible and that hits us psychologically. If a health professional is clear that a patient needs an operation (complex), why don’t they generate constant dialogues about it and provide a follow-up that seriously pressures the necessary structures so that they work FOR THEIR HEALTH? Let’s recognize the deficiencies and difficulties that our country has, let’s be grateful CUBANS, but not for that reason let’s justify what sometimes is only lack of interest or bureaucratic oxidation.

I think that the Cuban trans kids who choose to modify our body with surgeries deserve to dialogue with transparency and harmony about these processes in multiple spaces coordinated by CENESEX, to talk about the risks, advantages, implications and even to value international cooperative alternatives in case the national context is not prosperous. Well, seen from a humanist approach: negligence would also result in leaving behind (for contextual reasons) an issue that affects and distresses us and that by ourselves we would not be able to manage in any way.