Transgender Patient Cries Discrimination

22-year old Shay O'Reilly is calling discrimination on the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after being rejected twice due to his "condition," as it was allegedly called.


O'Reilly attempted to see the doctors at UIHC twice for a hormone imbalance and was turned away. He believes that he was turned away from the clinic because he is transgender.

Transgender is a term for people that identify with a different gender than the one with which they were born.

O'Reilly visited UIHC after the Emma Goldman clinic discovered he had a hormone imbalance and he could possibly have some lifelong problems as a result. He was turned away and only able to be treated when he contacted the director of the clinic about the situation.

On May 3, he filed a discrimination case against the clinic because of the treatment the first two times he visited. He states that he wants to make sure that the situation never happens again with other individuals seeking care.

Tom Moore, the spokesman for UI, has stated that there is already quite a bit being done to ensure that this does not happen again. Programs are being started in order to inform employees about transgender patients so they will know about treatment and not be tempted to turn patients away.

This is not the first time this has happened at the University of Iowa. A transgender UI student was also turned away, but the issue was quickly resolved by the director at the time.

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