#Gender-affirming Care

[sleepycatten]

Getting gender-affirming care from NHS England as a trans person can be like

Patient: I'm trans. I'd like gender-affirming healthcare please. NHS: No. Patient: WTF? NHS: Come back in a month. If you're still trans, we'll consider it. Patient: WTAF? NHS: Urgh. Fine. I'll refer you to a gender identity clinic. Patient: How long will that take? NHS: I dunno. Maybe 2-5 years for a first appointment, depending on which clinic you're referred to. Patient: WTF? Can't you give me healthcare now? At least HRT? NHS: Fuck no! We're not qualified for that! Patient: But you do it all the time for cis people. NHS: That's entirely different and no, I won't explain why. Patient: Urgh. Fine. If I get care from a private clinic, will you at least agree to work with them on a shared care basis? NHS: Hell no! Patient: Not even if I choose a clinic where the folks running it also still work for the NHS? NHS: No. Patient: WTF? I'll just turn to DIY HRT then. NHS: No! Don't do that! My sudden deep knowledge of HRT tells me that this will be unsafe! Patient: Then give me an alternative! NHS: No.

[xiaq]

It is absolutely wild to me how Republican news outlets and politicians try to sensationalize things that don't even exist. Yet these fabricated issues are having serious disastrous effects on real-life people's health and safety. B was just talking to one of his old "friends" and he was trying to convince us to donate to the campaign of a governor whose platform rests primarily on anti-trans legislation. And B was like...no?? Are you aware of his platform? And this guy says, with absolute confidence, that this governor's platform is about protecting kids. Because it's ok if an adult wants to mutilate their body, but we shouldn't be allowing doctors to surgically change children's bodies. Which is why gender-affirming care should be illegal.

The mental gymnastics. Except he genuinely thought that "gender-affirming care" was synonymous with "surgical intervention." Gender-affirming care for a 10-year-old is therapy and support and letting them wear the clothes and use the pronouns/name they want. Gender-affirming care for a teenager might also include blockers and/or hormone therapy (or not! I've only known one person who started hormones before they turned 18, and I specifically worked with queer kids when I was a professor/teacher). For some people, gender-affirming care is solely external and doesn't involve physical intervention at all. And it is so, extremely, rare for someone to receive surgery as part of gender-affirming care when they are a minor. Yet this is what so many people seem to think gender-affirming care means. Surgery.

This is not an accident. This is targeted and malicious. This is misdirection by people who know better trying to sway the opinions of people who don't. Listen. I don't know what my point is, here. I just needed to vent. I guess it just goes to show that, now more than ever, if you're going to get into a debate with someone, make sure you understand what they mean when they use certain terminology or you're certain to get nowhere. Because this man was so confident he knew what he was talking about until we did a quick vocabulary backtrack. And when confronted with the fact that maybe he hadn't, actually, been fed the truth, he suddenly had a lot less to say. Ugh.

[autisticadvocacy]

ASAN strongly believes that all transgender people should have access to gender-affirming care, and we are deeply troubled by any use of autism as a justification for transphobic efforts that would create barriers to care.

[eternal-echoes]

Other countries should learn the lessons from the UK (and from Sweden and Finland). First, there is insufficient evidence to justify the general clinical use of puberty suppression or cross-sex hormone use in youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Second, a treatment regimen that focuses exclusively on gender dysphoria, ignoring co-occurring mental health conditions, will not provide optimal care for young people. The shut-down of GIDS is not merely a restructuring move in response to the clinic’s failed operations—it ’s a move away from the “gender-affirming” intervention care model, and toward whole-person-affirming care that is rooted in developmental psychology.

Link to full article

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A Nebraska Republican state senator who voted for a combined anti-trans and anti-abortion bill that passed by one vote in the legislature has admitted that she didn’t pay attention to the issue.

State Senator Christy Armendariz represents the 18th District in the state.

Writing for New York magazine, journalist Lila Shapiro said that the Senator “led me to a bench in an empty hallway” to say that she “found it puzzling that a reporter from New York would come all the way to Nebraska to cover this affair.”

“I don’t watch the news or get the newspaper,” she told the magazine. “Is there anything going on I should be aware of?”

The writer told Ms. Armendariz that other states have passed other similar bills restricting trans and women’s reproductive rights and that an appeals court on the federal level in the Nebraska circuit had ruled that one of them was unconstitutional.

“So is it a big widespread thing?” she asked the writer, adding that regular Nebraska residents were unaware of the issue.

“I knocked doors for a year, and nobody brought this up,” the Senator said, adding that she wished that the legislation had never been brought to the floor.

For three months, a group of lawmakers in the state ground nearly all legislative business in the state to a halt, grabbing the nation’s attention with a remarkable filibuster to stifle a bill that would end gender-affirming care for young transgender people.

Late Tuesday 16 May, Republican lawmakers broke through, advancing a bill that not only bans gender-affirming care for trans people under 19 years old but also tacks on an amendment to outlaw abortion after roughly 10 weeks of pregnancy and hands the state’s GOP-appointed medical officer the authority to set the rules for affirming care for trans youth.

Hundreds of protesters filled the capital in Lincoln, standing outside the doors and in the gallery above lawmakers while chanting “one more vote to save our lives”; only one Senator would have had to defect from supporters of the bill to kill the legislation.

The vote – on the 78th day of a 90-day session – followed a series of manoeuvres that opponents argued were bending and breaking the rules of the state legislature to hammer through the legislation and avert the filibuster, which would allow opponents to occupy their allotted time to speak the bill to death.

“What you are attempting to do today is the lowest of the absolute lows,” state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, who spearheaded the filibuster, told Republican lawmakers.

“You literally have to cheat at every moment of this debate in every possible way … You are allowing it to happen,” she added. “You do literally have blood on your hands, and if you vote for it, you will have buckets.”

State Senator Megan Hunt, the first openly LGBT+ member of the state legislature and the mother of a trans child, lambasted lawmakers for their “escape routes” from the capitol to avoid facing protesters.

“If you can’t go out and face them, you are not worthy,” she said. “Your legacy is filth.”

Protesters surrounded the state capitol chambers in Lincoln again on 19 May, chanting “keep your bans off our bodies” and “save our lives” as lawmakers made their final round of votes on the bill, which passed 33-15. The bill reached the exact number of votes needed to pass.

Republican Governor Jim Pillen signed it into law on Monday.

“We are working to inspire Nebraskans to get in the game so that abortion is simply unthinkable in the state of Nebraska,” Mr. Pillen said, according to WOWT.

He called the legislation “the most significant win for [the] social conservative agenda that over a generation has seen in Nebraska. I think that’s something we need to clap and shout about.”

At a show in Nebraska hours after the vote on Friday night, the artist Lizzo lambasted the legislation from the stage. “It really breaks my heart that there are young people growing up in a world that doesn’t protect them,” she said.

“Don’t let anyone tell you who you are. ... These laws are not real. You are what’s real, and you deserve to be protected,” she said.

“Hat tip to Senator Armendariz, who says she doesn’t know anything about the issue, doesn’t pay attention to current events, and wishes the bill she voted for hadn’t been introduced. It passed by 1 vote,” wrote Ari Kohen, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

“These are the people who devoted an entire legislative session to taking away people’s rights in the face of massive opposition from experts and ordinary citizens. They openly admit that none of their constituents mentioned this issue to them and they don’t know much about it,” he added. “We have a handful of legislators who care enough to listen and learn. And then we have the majority, who seem not to know or care what they’re doing as long as it feels right to them and they have the votes to do it. Awful.”

The Independent has requested comment from Ms. Armendariz.

[zinniajones]

Florida Adult Trans Care Ban SB 254, June 3, 2023 interim update

(from www.floridaban.com)

INTERIM UPDATE, June 3, 2023:

Rainbow Progress Fund provides a firsthand account of the joint Boards of Medicine committee hearing on June 1, including false and eugenicist claims by Board member Patrick Hunter (a member of the anti-trans Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Catholic Medical Association) that transitioning "lowers IQ" of trans people.

The committee failed to advance any of the necessary informed consent forms, mandated by SB 254, that are needed by MDs and DOs before they can resume providing new prescriptions. This means that until these forms become available, MDs and DOs cannot prescribe their established trans patients any new change in dosage of their current medication, or add any new medication to their existing HRT regimen.

Simone Chriss of Southern Legal Counsel, a nonprofit currently bringing litigation against SB 254 and its adult care restrictions, explains the current effective policy and status of prescribing restrictions on MDs/DOs as of June 3, 2023:

“While no draft consent forms have been released yet, the Boards are expected to file an emergency rule soon that will provide clarification about continuation of care for patients while the informed consent forms are being developed. The Boards’ discussions over the past two days indicated that, as we’d shared previously, physicians can continue prescribing to patients who provided informed consent and were first prescribed prior to May 17th. The emergency rule should provide guidance on whether and how new prescriptions and adjustments to medications can be prescribed prior to the adoption of informed consent forms. No emergency rule language has been posted yet on the Florida Administrative Register.”

Rainbow Progress Fund explains the unacceptable medical danger of the current situation for trans patients: "Those currently on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will not be able to adjust their medication until the new consent forms are finalized. This delay poses potential risks to patients whose hormone levels may require immediate attention."

To be clear, even when these forms become available, this does not and will not change SB 254's statutory ban on NPs and APRNs prescribing gender-affirming care. As 80% of trans adults on HRT in Florida receive their prescriptions via an NP or APRN, the effects of SB 254 have permanently disrupted the established prescriptions and ongoing medical treatment of thousands of trans adults across the state. SB 254 continuously jeopardizes the trans community's health and must still be mitigated in its entirety.

No other state has ever imposed SB 254's novel and selective restrictions on NPs and APRNs, who have prescribing authority just as doctors and physicians can prescribe medication. NPs and APRNs in all other states - and in Florida until SB 254 was enacted this May - have always been able to prescribe all gender-affirming hormone therapy, including schedule III medications like testosterone. "NPs have the prescriptive authority to prescribe controlled substances in all fifty states." (Zhang & Patel, 2022) There has never been any reason for this unique new restriction on NPs alone, prohibiting gender-affirming prescriptions alone, other than Florida's intentional targeting of the ongoing medically necessary treatment of almost all trans adults in the state.

The committee concluded that their next meeting will occur in three weeks, on June 23 at an undetermined location or video call, to continue considering the required adult consent forms. This is completely unacceptable. The Boards must issue the mandated informed consent forms immediately in order to restore the ability of MDs and DOs to freely manage and prescribe any new or changed medically necessary treatment for their trans patients, even as this is itself utterly insufficient to mitigate the overwhelming danger to health and life caused by SB 254.

None of this is over until SB 254 is completely reversed.

We will continue to provide updates as we confirm any further policy actions by the Boards and their impacts on trans patients and our providers. The policy chart below will be updated to incorporate this information when it becomes available. Thank you to the trans community of Florida for closely monitoring this situation and assisting us, and to our allies here and abroad. The world will see that we are not alone and you are a part of making that happen. Your strength and unstoppable spirit in an unimaginable situation is what will ensure we survive. As long as Florida exists, Transgender Florida will be a fact. (Zinnia Jones, June 3, 2023)

Please support Florida's local gender clinics and their nurse practitioners as they work to survive this crisis and continue providing care to trans Floridians: https://spektrum.health/DONATE/

[the-semicolonoscopy]

Holy shit, Ohio's republican governor just vetoed a bill that would have banned gender-affirming health care! I'm stunned. And so, so grateful. Wow!

[intelligentchristianlady]

In Case You Haven't Heard

The Attorneys General of Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah want to be able to access out-of-state medical records of state residents who have gone out of state for medical care — not just for abortion, but also for gender-affirming care. (x)

You know what to do in November 2024.

[gwydionmisha]

Have something you want to tell your Congress Critters? If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

[spaceasianmillennial]

Is there any way of reporting/monitoring cultist wellness/healing circle group that's spreading Qanon, transphobic misinformation?

WARNING: Transphobic, homophobic disinformation below.

I'm sad to say that some loved ones tumbled down the rabbit hole. This is a free newsletter belonging to a "Niki Skye" of "Ascension Portal." She's been spewing Qanon theories about child trafficking and the evils of gender-affirming care.

And she uses free yoga/meditation/healing has a gateway into these kind of teachings.

How the HELL do you monitor/report those groups? I know there isn't an easy answer because wellness/healing circles can be influential groups.

[afragmentcastadrift]

Nebraska lawmakers pass 12-week abortion ban, restrictions on gender-affirmin : NPR

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Tjeerd Royaards, NRC Handelsblad  :: [Scott Horton]

* * * *

The confluence of neo-Nazi ideology and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

         I have written frequently and at length about the need to fight anti-LGBTQ legislation. Opposing such legislation is the right thing to do from a moral and human decency perspective but it is also necessary to prevent the spread of vile ideas that harken back to the tactics of the Nazis. The “purification” programs of the Nazis began with discrimination against disabled children and gay men. Once normalized in those niches, the pursuit of an “Aryan race” soon turned to the persecution of Jews, Slavs, Roma, Blacks, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others.

         A wave of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ legislation is sweeping through red states. The latest bills seek to ban adults from obtaining gender-affirming medical treatment. See Austin-American Statesman, Texas Senate advances more gender-affirming care restrictions. Candidly, the restrictions have been proliferating so quickly it has been difficult to keep up with the developments.

         The second reason for standing against discrimination directed at transgender and LGBTQ people is to prevent the spread of the underlying animus to other groups. Rachel Maddow highlighted the connection between anti-transgender legislation and the neo-Nazi movement in her Monday program. See Rachel Maddow Blog, Anti-trans neo-Nazis find common cause with state Republicans. I urge you to watch Rachel Maddow’s report if you have not seen it.

         As Maddow notes, when neo-Nazis show up in support of GOP-proposed legislation to discriminate against transgender people, that should give Republicans pause. It does not. Republicans are comfortable proposing legislation against transgender and LGBTQ people that is adopted and amplified by neo-Nazis.

         I recognize that not everyone is personally comfortable taking a stand on transgender and LGBTQ issues. Society and cultural norms are decidedly different today than they were fifty years ago, and that difference might be jarring to some. But this issue will affect your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—as well as your family, friends, and co-workers. And it will not merely be those of future generations who are transgender or LGBTQ who are threatened. As with the Nazis, once it is acceptable to discriminate against smaller groups, other groups are next. We can’t let that happen. Speak out now to condemn the growing movement in red states to stigmatize and punish transgender and LGBTQ people.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[dikleyt]

If anything, it's child abuse not to give your kid gender-affirming care when they need it

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

New data has revealed the staggering pressure LGBTQ+ Americans are under following the wave of homophobic and transphobic legislation that has swept US states.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBTQ+ nonprofit organization, revealed in data analysis published on Wednesday (16 August) that almost 80% of LGBTQ+ adults feel less safe amid the rise in right-wing laws across the US.

For trans and non-binary adults, this number is significantly higher, with more than nine in 10 (94%) feeling unsafe in the US.

Results were pulled from a Community Marketing Insight (CMI) survey as part of its 17th annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, which HRC co-sponsored.

Questions were based upon the 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in more than 40 states across the US since the beginning of 2023, more than 80 of which have been signed into law.

21 states in the country have enacted laws banning gender-affirming care for trans youth under the false pretence that under-18s are being put through surgeries, despite no medical organisation anywhere allowing children to undergo them.

43% of LGBTQ+ adults report that gender-affirming care bans have impacted the physical and/or mental well-being of themselves, their friends and family.

Meanwhile, over 80% of trans and non-binary adults report the same.

“Just two months after HRC declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people, this survey reveals that the current climate of hostility and fear is only growing worse,” HRC president Kelley Robinson said in a statement.

“Gender-affirming care bans are taking a detrimental toll on the physical and mental health of LGBTQ+ Americans,” she continued.

“Extremist, anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and their allies are waging a dangerous and cruel misinformation campaign that seeks to stigmatise not only gender-affirming care but transgender and non-binary people as well.”

“The rhetoric and misinformation is having a virtually universal impact on LGBTQ+ people, and further plunging us into a state of emergency that’s threatening the health and safety of every LGBTQ+ person.”

FEAR OF SAFETY SIGNIFICANTLY WORSE IN FLORIDA, DATA REVEALS

The report also revealed that LGBTQ+ people in Florida are more likely to feel anxious about their own safety following Governor Ron DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ attacks.

Nearly 80% of trans and non-binary adults living in Florida have said that gender-affirming care bans impact their physical or mental health, while almost 90% have either taken steps or want to take steps to move to a new state or country.

Over 93% have said gender-affirming care bans make them feel less safe in the state.

Equality Florida executive director, Nadine Smith, said in a statement: “The results of this survey make clear that we Floridians will be repairing that damage of anti-LGBTQ+ laws passed in this state for years to come.”

“Conferences are cancelling, talent is fleeing, and the best and brightest are abandoning our universities, while LGBTQ+ people are feeling more unsafe than ever before.”

“These attacks have to stop.”

In April, the Human Rights Campaign issued a warning against LGBTQ+ travelers visiting Florida, telling potential tourists to “reconsider” any plans they may have had.