A pharmacist refused to fill a hormone prescription for a transgender woman at a CVS in the suburbs of Phoenix.

Hilde Hall was excited to begin her first round of hormone replacement therapy. She went straight to the pharmacy after receiving the prescription from her doctor in April. But her hopes were quickly shattered when the pharmacist refused to fill the prescription.

As a transgender individual, her decision to undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is personal and intimate.

Transgender persons have a multitude of ways to transition, which means to make physical changes to ones body to reflect their gender identity. This can be in the form of clothing, HRT, or surgery if they can afford it. In Hall’s case, hormone replacement is one of such options.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) posted Hill’s blog post about the encounter on its website.

“I was finally going to start seeing my body reflect my gender identity and the woman I’ve always known myself to be,” she said.

The pharmacist not only refused to fill the prescription, but he refused to give the prescription back to her. The disturbance in the routine humiliated Hill in front of other customers.

“He just kept asking, loudly and in front of other CVS staff and customers, why I was given the prescriptions,” she said about the encounter.

Hill said she felt like he was trying to out her as transgender in front of other people, strangers. She held back tears, frozen in her distress.

She attempted the call the CVS customer service line but was unable to get through to lodge a complaint about what happened. That’s when she went to the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy.

Hill immediately contacted her doctor’s office where they called the prescription in to a Walgreens pharmacy instead. She was able to pick it up, no questions asked.

CVS issued a statement that the pharmacist violated its company policies and no longer works for the drugstore chain, which holds a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index.

CVS indicated the actions of the pharmacist, “does not reflect our values or our commitment to inclusion, nondiscrimination and the delivery of outstanding patient care.”

Hall secured an assurance from CVS that the company does not condone discrimination against transgender individuals, or anyone else.

Hill is grateful for the support from family and friends to walk her through after the disturbance. She indicated in her post that not every transgender person has a good social support system.

She concluded by saying, “No healthcare worker should rely on personal beliefs to reject decisions made by doctors and their transgender patients about medically necessary care.”