Fund ops with prostitution, says guide
A CLINIC which receives NHS finance has promoted prostitution as a way for transgender people to fund treatment.
A guide from CliniQ sexual counselling service for transgender people at King’s College Hospital in London says being a sex worker can be ‘empowering’ and ‘can help us pay for parts of our transition’.
The booklet by CliniQ, part-funded by King’s College NHS Trust and three London councils, suggests transgender men – people born in female bodies but transitioning to male – can hide the fact they are trans when visiting gay sex parties.
Cruising: A Trans Guy’s Guide To The Gay Sex Scene focuses extensively on extreme sex acts, including bondage.
‘Sex in public spaces is legal, so long as the public cannot see you,’ it states. ‘Or so long as it is unlikely someone will come across you having sex. For example, having sex in a quiet woodland, away from the road or path, late at night.’
Despite being targeted at pre-operative trans men – many of whom are in their late teens and early 20s – the booklet makes only a fleeting reference to pregnancy. However, LGB Alliance, an organisation that stands up for gay and women’s rights, last night demanded that UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid order the booklet to be ‘immediately removed’.
The alliance said: ‘We express our alarm that an NHS publication is encouraging the sexual assault of gay men through the criminal act of sex by deception and is promoting prostitution as a way to fund gender reassignment.’
King’s College Hospital last night said the booklet had been withdrawn.
CliniQ was contacted for comment.