These people are poorly informed and it shows. Even some who are relatively well informed, who call themselves Liberal and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community have run away with the stories they've encountered about 'child surgeries' and 'forced puberty blockers'. All terribly over amplified, I might add. Of minors, parents should always be the last line of defense and have the last word on gender identity issues, and I would bet my house any real instances of this are very rare. Surgery before the age of 18 is very rare, and requires a long, long road of mental health support, hormonal meds and years of living as their desired gender, not to mention gobs of money before it would or could be performed by an actual, respected gender reassignment surgeon. Yet a 14 year old can marry in some states, and be forced to carry a child, married or not! As always, the portion of government who don't want to even speak or hear of gay or trans (or even drag shows!) are more than eager to push themselves into this arena. Consider how well legislation based on race has turned out.
I say leave it to the experts: doctors, psychologists, parents and their children. Seriously, the government in 'bedrooms' AGAIN? Gender disphoria is not a 'decision', it's not a 'whim'- it's a torturous life no one would ever 'choose'. And the same people who can't get past their own racist idealogy because they're afraid of what isn't them, are the same tired bigots who can't accept LGBTQ folk (who again, aren't just like them) - and horrors, sometimes are undetectable! Yet have been living right under their noses SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME. Meaning somehow these folks haven't really evolved AT ALL since...EVER. And their reactions, their speech, their comments, merely reflect that. And evolution is required to survive, as the last 40 million+ years of man has shown.
Thank you for this column. I follow you on Twitter but I like having a longer missive about this. I have met wonderful trans men and women. I support them with love.
These people are poorly informed and it shows. Even some who are relatively well informed, who call themselves Liberal and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community have run away with the stories they've encountered about 'child surgeries' and 'forced puberty blockers'. All terribly over amplified, I might add. Of minors, parents should always be the last line of defense and have the last word on gender identity issues, and I would bet my house any real instances of this are very rare. Surgery before the age of 18 is very rare, and requires a long, long road of mental health support, hormonal meds and years of living as their desired gender, not to mention gobs of money before it would or could be performed by an actual, respected gender reassignment surgeon. Yet a 14 year old can marry in some states, and be forced to carry a child, married or not! As always, the portion of government who don't want to even speak or hear of gay or trans (or even drag shows!) are more than eager to push themselves into this arena. Consider how well legislation based on race has turned out.
I say leave it to the experts: doctors, psychologists, parents and their children. Seriously, the government in 'bedrooms' AGAIN? Gender disphoria is not a 'decision', it's not a 'whim'- it's a torturous life no one would ever 'choose'. And the same people who can't get past their own racist idealogy because they're afraid of what isn't them, are the same tired bigots who can't accept LGBTQ folk (who again, aren't just like them) - and horrors, sometimes are undetectable! Yet have been living right under their noses SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME. Meaning somehow these folks haven't really evolved AT ALL since...EVER. And their reactions, their speech, their comments, merely reflect that. And evolution is required to survive, as the last 40 million+ years of man has shown.
Thank you for this column. I follow you on Twitter but I like having a longer missive about this. I have met wonderful trans men and women. I support them with love.