Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust, the United Kingdom's leading charity for the disease, partnered with the LGBT Foundation to release a set of guidelines for healthcare professionals to abide by when dealing with transgender patients who come in for a screening.
The guidelines recommend that the word "vagina" be replaced by "front hole" or "bonus hole," so as not to offend those who have the body parts but do not identify as female.
The guidelines were met with outrage from many across social media.
"They are playing Upset Women Bingo," one Twitter user stated. "We don't have a 'bonus hole' ... We don’t want to be considered with reference to our 'holes' in the first place. This is despicable."
"I didn't push my five babies out of a bonus hole," another user quipped.
According to Jo's website, the guidelines were first insituted in 2020, and they are scheduled for a review in September 2023.
While the charity does acknowledge that "Trans women do not need cervical screening," it goes into great detail explaining how trans men should be treated when they come in for a screening.
Their website highlights the story of one such person who refers to themselves as Seb.
"Although changing my gender marker to Male would feel more affirming, it would also cause me to worry that I would then be treated medically incorrectly or miss out on important correspondence," Seb said. "For those of us with huge concerns around an invasive procedure it would have been comforting to have had more inviting language used."
The guidelines recommend that the word "vagina" be replaced by "front hole" or "bonus hole," so as not to offend those who have the body parts but do not identify as female.
"Using the correct language when referring to someone's gender identity is a simple and effective way to demonstrate support and recognition," the charity wrote in its guidelines, suggesting that, "If incorrect language is used without being corrected, it can cause someone to feel hurt or distressed."
Atop its glossary of terms, Jo's noted that it was "necessary to check the words or phrases your patient would prefer."
The terms "bonus hole" and "front hole" are both listed as "an alternative word for the vagina," while sex is described simply as "a label assigned at birth."
The guidelines were met with outrage from many across social media.
"They are playing Upset Women Bingo," one Twitter user stated. "We don't have a 'bonus hole' ... We don’t want to be considered with reference to our 'holes' in the first place. This is despicable."
"I didn't push my five babies out of a bonus hole," another user quipped.
According to Jo's website, the guidelines were first insituted in 2020, and they are scheduled for a review in September 2023.
While the charity does acknowledge that "Trans women do not need cervical screening," it goes into great detail explaining how trans men should be treated when they come in for a screening.
Their website highlights the story of one such person who refers to themselves as Seb.
"Although changing my gender marker to Male would feel more affirming, it would also cause me to worry that I would then be treated medically incorrectly or miss out on important correspondence," Seb said. "For those of us with huge concerns around an invasive procedure it would have been comforting to have had more inviting language used."
