Double negative confused me for a second and I was sad. Opposes the ban! Want gender affirming care available. Excellent.
Oh I missed that entirely. Sloppy writing, it should be arranged “opposes bans on gender affirming care”.
Same! “Supports care” would have been an easier concept, though a little different from “opposes ban” I guess…
I find it quite common (and confusing) for certain news types like policy, eg “party A reverses the disapproval to oppose the once-unacceptable ban”
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Removed, transphobia.
I made the TERRIBLE decision to learn an instrument. Idk how I can ever live with myself.
What’s that you say? It doesn’t actually impact anything I do as an adult?
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If a kid has a heart condition and they have to have a risky surgery, the doctors ask the parents. Because the child is not old enough to understand the implications of these things.
I see gender dysphoria as a similar thing. The suicide rate is very high for these individuals so some form of treatment is essential if you care about your child. It’s the same as if they had a heart issue with like a 40% risk of dying. It’s life or death.
The transitioning process works best if it happens before puberty. When a child goes through puberty, the sexual hormones start pumping and that permanently changes many parts of the body. Literally the shape and size of bones will change.
If you catch gender dysphoria before puberty, the end result of the transition will be much more effective than doing it at 18 or 20. By that point there’s no going back from puberty.
So essentially - the child isn’t making a decision. The parents are making an informed medical decision based on a diagnosis by a medical professional.
I really don’t see this as any different than any other medical issue. The difference is this is unusual and many people think emotionally.
That’s what I can’t fathom. This is such a big boost for children’s mental health. It heavily reduces their depression and suicide risk. They’re happier.
Maybe this is controversial, but if a parent isn’t willing to do that for their kid, I believe it’s neglect and endangerment. They aren’t fit to be a parent, and the state should intervene. We don’t let parents with batshit religious beliefs deny their children lifesaving treatment. We shouldn’t let parents deny their children treatment that would vastly improve their mental health and reduce their suicide risk.
I would want more research before mandating it as if it were lifesaving operations. But yeah, I agree in a general sense.
I think a lot of people that disagree would change their minds if they had a child with gender dysphoria. A lot of conservatives believe the parents are manipulating the child or seeing things that aren’t there.
But I’ve seen it before. I met a little boy maybe 8 or 9 years old in a very religious conservative household some years back. It was the neighbor of a family friend. Nobody manipulated him into saying stuff like “I’m a girl in a boy’s body”. Or trying to sneak makeup or dresses. They tried to pray it out of him. But it was persistent, year after year he would day these things.
I think the same thing with a lot of anti-gay people having a gay son or whatever. Once you meet someone like that it sort of becomes real and makes you realize “oh wow maybe I’m wrong”
I changed my mind after meeting that family and seeing the boy. I used to think differently on this.
It takes a strong and wise person to admit they were wrong and change their mind for the better. I applaud you for that. Given how prevalent calling things gay was when I was a teenager, I think a lot of people changed their minds for the better when they realized their friends and family were gay. And then some realized they were also gay, funny enough.
I agree that we need more time before we institute any sort of policy or mandating, but I do think we should eventually do that.
It’s interesting, I think a lot of conservative beliefs come down to the idea that children cannot be autonomous people with their own beliefs. They don’t believe that a child can have an independent thought, and that whatever they say is indoctrination from parents or school. It says a lot about their worldview.
If someone fully believes in the independence of children to form their own thoughts and beliefs and opinions, I don’t see how they could support any sort of anti LGBT ban.
Man I have to disagree on the heart example. One means death if it’s not ‘treated’ and the other is a life choice.
Of course pre-hormones is a great time to start but for external / appearance reasons. Do we not force body types on kids enough? It’s shallow thinking and reinforces the worst parts of society.
I do understand the urge to just dive into it but it’s not as clean cut as just “push pause.” There are known risks, unknown long term effects, and a lack of sufficient testing on how it affects brain development. We need to stop rushing into shit just because it’s easy or highlights how virtuous we are.
Suicide rates for trans is almost 50%
I’m assuming a couple of things here in my logic
A) transitioning is an effective treatment for gender dysphoria and significantly lowers the suicide rate for these people
B) there is a medically accurate way to diagnosis gender dysphoria
So you say “one is death if not treated but the other is a life choice”
The trans thing is life or death too. If you have a child and they are displaying these types of behaviors (wanting to play with dolls as a boy, saying they are a girl, trying to wear dresses, etc) then you have a kid that is very very likely to kill themselves and have other mental health problems
Getting medical treatment ASAP is the logical thing to do
I know it’s still relatively new and can potentially be harmful to the child if not diagnosed properly. I also understand there are some crazy parents out there who project their BS onto their kids.
But I think as a parent I would want the best for my kid so I would do whatever it takes to make sure they have the best quality of life and just chance at life in general.
If they are going to transition, they will pass much better if they do it pre-puberty. By the time they’re in high school they would probably look imperceptibly like the opposite sex.
I would only want it done after rigorous tests by medical professional that absolutely rules out weirdo parents
I have no idea what your point might be, but I’m fairly sure it’s as stupid as everything else you wrote.
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And if the therapy aligns with their physical gender? No treatment for a girl who goes through puberty too young? Nothing for a girl of 17 who is worried because she hadn’t started “developing” or gotten her period? Nothing for a boy who isn’t going through male puberty, or starts it at 5? Intersex kids who are mis-assigned at birth and panic as adolescents?
Yes the therapies are not without risk, but doing nothing is also not without risk. The only reason doctors will prescribe puberty blockers is if the kids are suffering, otherwise the “care” that is getting outlawed is counseling. I have a trans kid and the doctor prescribed counseling but they can’t get it because the clinics aren’t allowed to “treat” the transgendered now.
And if the therapy aligns with their physical gender? No treatment for a girl who goes through puberty too young? Nothing for a girl of 17 who is worried because she hadn’t started “developing” or gotten her period? Nothing for a boy who isn’t going through male puberty, or starts it at 5? Intersex kids who are mis-assigned at birth and panic as adolescents?
This is EXACTLY the point I’m making. Should we shove steroids into the boy and estrogen into the girl? Push up and padded bras in lieu of boob jobs? Are we in such a hurry to cram drugs down someone’s throat that we can’t let them develop and then make a decision on their own when they are capable of? My original statement is just that. We can’t say one is right when the other isn’t. Provide emotional support and education? Absolutely. Provide drugs and potentially life changing side effects on “proven” yet not thoroughly tested treatments? No. It’s my opinion, sure, but my reasoning is sound.
Yes the therapies are not without risk, but doing nothing is also not without risk. The only reason doctors will prescribe puberty blockers is if the kids are suffering, otherwise the “care” that is getting outlawed is counseling. I have a trans kid and the doctor prescribed counseling but they can’t get it because the clinics aren’t allowed to “treat” the transgendered now.
This is a complex topic. Absolutely counseling should be available and it’s positively evil that someone would block that. I don’t disagree. Many doctors are simply a walking prescription book and will provide what is asked for… so I will typically discount when someone uses doctor prescription as an argument. Kudos to that doctor, though- I respect that.
A great deal of that suffering is from lack in of emotional support. I know it’s common to solve this with drugs but let’s ease off the gas a bit.
In almost all cases the point is to keep things reversible. The problem is puberty. Once the hormone cascades hit, it’s far harder to transition. At the same time, fully transitioning is not something many children are equipped to cope with.
Luckily there is a 3rd option. Puberty can be delayed without permanent issues. This gives the patient and doctors time to figure out what to do long term. If they were confused, they stop the drugs, and puberty happens normally. If they truly want to transition, they are in a far better position to change than if they experienced puberty as the “wrong” gender.
By delaying the changes, it allows time for them to process what they want. It also lets them experience living as the other gender, in a reversible manner.
This is the first half that everyone wants to champion but reality is that drugs of any kind - treatments of any kind - have side effects and lasting effects.
Hitting pause as everyone so eloquently puts it does actually have effects outside of underdeveloped sexual organs. It’s not a magic bullet.
I’m not against someone being who they want to be but do so after the age of consent when your development is slowing down. It’s safer.
As far as what children are equipped to deal with: That age range is for discovering their identity. Hitting pause is a disservice to that cause. Yes the physical changes are a real thing - but those changes aren’t all sexual either and are affected by the drugs we’re shoving onto these kids.
If anything the current culture is forcing them to make a decision on “take these drugs now or you won’t be perfect.” Fuck that. Pushing a decision on them like that, regardless of our intent, is no better than denying who they are (or who they may become) outright.
I may not advocate for changing children when they are developing but once they have more time to be certain of who they want to become - I’m all for it.
We have been using puberty blockers for a long time. They were around when I was prepubescent. They’re established medicine, and doctors deem whatever the side effects are to be worth helping the children’s mental and physical health.
All medicine is like this. Very little medication has no side effects at all. Yet we give children medicine all the time. Because it does more good than harm.
Who decides if it does more good than harm? Medical professionals. Not laymen on the Internet.
