UK National Health Service Apologizes After Woman Complains About "Transgender" Nurse For Pap Smear

christiannews.net

LONDON — The National Health Service (NHS) of the U.K. has issued an apology after a woman contacted them to complain that after she requested a female nurse for her pap smear, a man who identified as a woman arrived to handle the procedure.

A pap smear is a routine test that is performed on adult women every 3-5 years, depending on age, and involves the collection of cell samples in the cervix to test for cervical cancer.

The woman, who spoke with The Sunday Times and requested to maintain her anonymity, said that she had requested that a female nurse handle the intimate procedure this past September, but became “embarrassed and distressed” when the nurse who greeted her had a deep voice and facial stubble.

The woman says that she told the nurse that there must have been a mistake, but he replied, “My gender is not male. I’m a transsexual.”

“[It is] weird where somebody says to you, ‘My gender is not male’ and you think, ‘Well, what does that even mean? You are clearly a man,'” she recalled to the outlet. “[The nurse] had an obviously male appearance … close-cropped hair, a male facial appearance and voice, [a] large number of tattoos and facial stubble.”

She decided not to go forward with the procedure, and instead lodged a complaint with the NHS. The woman remarked that the situation was uncomfortable enough for a “40-something” woman such as herself, and that she could imagine it would have been even worse if it were her teenage daughter instead.

“People who are not comfortable about this are presented as bigots and this is kind of how I was made to feel about it,” she lamented.