Bobbie Lea Bennett

Bobbie Lea Bennett (March 31, 1947 – July 18, 2019) was an American disability and transgender rights activist. In 1978, she drove from San Diego, California to Baltimore, Maryland to demand that Medicare honor its agreement to reimburse payment for her sex reassignment surgery; her successful claim brought visibility to efforts to secure rights for transgender people.

Personal life

Bobbie Lea Bennett was born March 31, 1947. She used a wheelchair due to osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disease.

In 1981, her family was in the news as her sister acted as a surrogate to bear Bennett's child.

Fight for Medicare coverage

To qualify for sex reassignment surgery, the Gender Identity Clinic in Galveston, Texas required Bennett to live as a woman for four years to determine whether she was a suitable candidate. Bennett had been told that the cost of her surgeries would be covered by Medicare under the disability benefits program of Social Security, but after the surgery, her claims were denied without explanation. Transition, a magazine dedicated to transgender rights, reported in June 1978 that Medicare offices had been flooded with phone calls opposing taxpayer funding for sex reassignment surgery.

Other activism work and death Bennett was the founder of the St. Tammany Organization for the Handicapped. The play follows a 12-year-old girl who travels across the U.S. after being denied access to a wheelchair, meeting disability rights leaders throughout history.