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Transsexual Criticises Media “Bigots”
73 year old transsexual Vicki Harvey has lashed out at the public after being
denied her sex change surgery, blaming “bigoted correspondents” to the
Taranaki Daily News using her case as a “political weapon”.
If approved as a suitable candidate for sex change surgery, her $30,000
operation would have been funded by the public health system. After
assessment, she has been declined public funded surgery.
Earlier this month Harvey made international news as a human interest story,
where she praised her community and announced the government would fund her
surgery. The story, however, became the subject for fierce political debate
and criticism of the government. Opposition parties used her case as an
example of the Labour government funding “unjustified” and “frivolous”
procedures. National Party spokesman Paul Hutchison announced “Most New
Zealanders will be appalled that scarce health dollars are being spent on sex
change operations while people line up for hip, hernia and gall bladder
surgery.”
Now Vicki Harvey has written to the Taranaki Daily News who originally ran
her story, saying “I can only hope that you and your bigoted correspondents
have not driven some young persons who are struggling to accept themselves to
attempt to end their lives on account of your using what I was lead to
believe to be a human interest item as a political weapon.”
Ref: Taranaki Daily News (k)
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