eBar.com – by Cynthia Laird
San Francisco transgender pioneer Claire Leigh Skiffington died June 11 at Pioneer House, a retirement facility in Sacramento, following a lengthy struggle with cancer. She was 62.
The former health department employee was an early advocate of the city providing health benefits for its transgender workers, something that finally happened in 2001 when such legislation was approved by the Board of Supervisors.
Ms. Skiffington had been ill for quite some time, and had moved to Pioneer House, which has a skilled nursing facility. While she was well cared for at the facility, according to family members, Ms. Skiffington’s death has already brought calls for an investigation of the Ombudsman Services of Northern California for the discriminatory treatment one of its employees allegedly exhibited toward Ms. Skiffington in the final hours of her life.