In just a few years, half of all states passed bans on trans health care for kids

We don’t trust people under 21 with alcohol that affects them for a few hours. Letting kids make life altering decisions is irresponsible.

If they ain’t hurting anyone

See, that's the sticky point that people keep trying to ignore in favour of screaming BIGOT as loudly as they can every time someone raises concerns about it.

I agree, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we see the opposite happen in real time. Conservatism won't just go away. It seems to be on course to take over everything pretty soon. If you're anyone that the right doesn't like, I would seriously start thinking about how to get out of here soon.

imagine what you could do if you were a president with total immunity for your "official" acts.

edit: this was a conservative decision, pussies; i didn't come up with it. go downvote the supreme court.

Terf Island: we already fucked off so hard we aren't even in the EU anymore. That's the maximum amount of fuck off we can manage

Kids under 18 aren't legally able to start hormone therapy or get surgery. The most they can get is puberty blockers and therapy. Ppl who complain about Trans kids changing their mind are full of shit. Everything a minor receives as Trans health care is reasonable, safe, and reversible

Puberty itself is full of irreversible changes. Having puberty blockers available to trans youth is important to prevent their bodies from making changes they don’t want, and is reversible later.

Yeah, you basically nailed it. Trans healthcare for minors , if such a term would need defining would be the reduction of of permanent changes brought on by puberty. Generally, adults who started taking puberty blockers as a kid can either stop taking them later and have a (very likely mostly) normal puberty, or they can start pursuing more permanent changes, like hormone therapy.

A good chunk of the 'debate' is trying to separate normal people into 'not trans' and 'lesser.' What we want is really just comprehensive healthcare- same rules for everyone.

To your last point: trans-affirming surgeries have a vastly lower regret rate than most cosmetic surgeries, which is a very good reason to allow trans adults to choose to pursue them. The people passing these laws want a lower class. at no point does "protect trans children" ever come up in earnest.

That's what I was wondering too and maybe there needs to be more information on what exactly trans care for kids is all about. I honestly have no clue.

Yes, it absolutely happens. That's one reason they're passing laws to stop it

So most of these bills ban pretty much all medical interventions for anyone under 18. Puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, surgery, the whole nine. Some go further and are trying to ban it for anyone under 26. You could theoretically still get counseling but you wouldn't be able to actually do anything.

And yeah sure, on its face that might seem reasonable. Wouldn't want impulsive teens rushing into big irreversible medical changes on a whim right? But those safeguards already exist. You can't just walk into a gender clinic as a 10 year old boy, say the magic words "I'm actually a girl," and walk out with an appointment for bottom surgery and a prescription for titty skittles. It takes long term counseling, social transition steps like trying out a new name and pronouns, wearing clothing that aligns with your gender, etc.

In reality that hypothetical 10 year old boy walking into the clinic is going to get extensive counseling. From that counseling he might try out using a different name, she/her pronouns, or dressing in more feminine clothing. She then might get prescribed puberty blockers here to make sure she has time to do all of this and be sure of herself without being forced into male puberty. A few years go by and last statistics I saw something like 2% of people at this point say, "No I think I actually am a boy," and they go through that slightly delayed puberty. But almost all progress to HRT and later surgery.

Do some people later truly regret their transitions and try to go back? Of course they do. But realistically, transition already has basically the lowest regret rate of any medical procedure out there. A higher percentage of people regret getting something like a hip or knee replacement surgery than regret transition.

Puberty already forces your body through permanent changes that can range from easy, to nearly impossible to reverse. That's why puberty blockers are so important. Imagine if as a young cis boy through some rare medical issue you start going through female puberty. But you're a boy! You know you are. You've got a penis and everything.

But now you're growing breasts. Like big enough that you can't really hide them. Big enough that they get in the way, they're heavy, and you have to wear a bra otherwise they hurt like hell. The other boys in your grade stare at you or bully you because you're a boy but you've got bigger tits than a lot of the girls in your grade. Soon everyone starts mistaking you for a girl. Guys start hitting on you even though you're a guy and you're attracted to girls. A lot of the girls aren't interested in you because they're attracted to more... Traditional looking guys. You get told that you should just accept it. After all you look just like a girl. But you're not a girl damnit. You're a boy. This wasn't supposed to happen. Now imagine they tell you they can't do anything about it until you turn 18... Or maybe 26. Sounds terrible right?

Sure, that seems reasonable to keep away from minors. Like, I couldn't commit to whether or not I was a "music person" at that age;

People need to understand that not receiving hormone treatment is also a commitment to a gender—one that you don't identify with. From that perspective, it's plain stupid to deny children the treatment they need.

To stay with your example, let's say you are 14, interested in music, but you hate sports. You might not be able to commit to being a "music person" at that age, but it would still be the obvious choice to further explore your interest in music rather than forcing yourself into being sports person instead.

And sure, there are blockers to delay some developments, but I feel like a lot of people don't recognize that this is not a choice between A and nothing, but between A and B, and one path permanently locks you out of the other.