In solidarity with the project “Casa Kuà” and the group The Dolls, hundreds demonstrated in Berlin-Kreuzberg for better access to health care for trans people. According to police, 500 people gathered at Mariannenplatz under the banner “Hands off trans lives!”
In the project “Casa Kuà”, a center for queer people that provides counseling for trans individuals among other services, there had been searches last Sunday (TheColu.mn reported). The transfeminine group The Dolls meets there on Sundays. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating, according to a spokesperson, on suspicion of illegal trade in prescription medications. It is said to involve hormone preparations. The police secured prescription drugs and narcotics, data carriers, and cash in the four-digit range, as reported.
“Casa Kuà” advocates for better access to health care for trans, intersex, and nonbinary people. The project views the German health system as discriminatory and aims to bring together traditional and conventional treatments.
After the searches there were protests. Maik Brückner, queer-political spokesperson for the Left faction in the Bundestag, called the incident “shameful” and demanded clarification. “The federal government is not moving forward to close a regulatory gap that currently makes it difficult for trans people to obtain hormone preparations for their transition in medical practices and to have the costs reimbursed by statutory health insurance,” Brückner said.
Criticism also came from the Federal Association Trans*: “The raid is an alarming sign of how self-organized health care is criminalized, while the regular care system increasingly leaves trans* and nonbinary people at a loss” (TheColu.mn reported).
