For the last two years, Koen has routinely self-administered weekly testosterone injections without a second thought.
During that time, the trans 17-year-old said his self-image and school and family life has drastically improved. His fear of needles, too, has faded.
“[Transitioning] made me look forward to things more because now I can start paying attention to the better version of myself,” said Koen, who asked to be identified by his first name because of fears for his safety. “It’s something I feel like I’ve needed for a while. I’m able to express myself more fluidly and feel comfortable doing that, which I think is a very big step for me right now.”
At the start of the year, though, a greater worry emerged.
A new law banning gender-affirming care for minors in Louisiana took effect on Jan. 1 prohibiting puberty blockers, hormone treatment, and gender-reaffirming surgery. Now, Koen isn’t sure he could continue his hormone treatment.
Louisiana is one of 22 other states that have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for minors, disrupting health care needs for trans and nonbinary people.
The court cases striking down these shitty laws really need to get moving. Restricting access to hormone therapy is blatantly unconstitutional, as the existing challenges that have made it through the courts have proved.
People born XXY (Klinefelter’s Syndrome) can get testosterone for treatment, so to say someone who needs testosterone for similar gender affirming care cannot get it is plain discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
I wholly agree with you. And I say this next part as an ally living in Louisiana:
I don’t see the courts being able to stop this from happening. Inevitably, it will get challenged and end up at the Supreme Court, which will rule 6-3 “states rights”.
Conservative justices have shown time and again that unless the constitution literally says the words “shall not infringe upon trans care for minors” they will not interpret it as such.
The only thing stopping this law in the last few years was a veto from the democratic governor, and now that that has flipped republican, the only thing that will stop it is enough people turning out to vote in 2027.
I’m not so sure SCOTUS would rule that way. Even Gorsuch ruled in favor of lgbtq rights because it is such obvious discrimination: https://www.npr.org/2020/06/15/863498848/supreme-court-delivers-major-victory-to-lgbtq-employees#:~:text=Gorsuch couched his opinion in,or transgender without discriminating …
I hope you’re right. I think the involvement of minors might change that though
Very big difference between social discrimination and medical treatment
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But that syndrome is literally about a lack of testosterone production in males, so of course hormone treatment is justified.
There’s an imbalance being fixed.
Gender affirmative care isn’t medically necessary, you’re not curing an imbalance. You’re modifying your body to align with what you want it to be.
In my mind it’s just like plastic surgery. You wouldn’t let a kid get tons of plastic surgery because they don’t like their body image. Why should we start pumping them full of hormones?
I’d bet anything you don’t personally know or love any trans folk. On the off chance you do, please please please never tell them that their diagnosable condition is akin to plastic surgery. This is precisely what people are referring to when they talk about harmful, close minded ideals towards trans people and their identities.
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Why are we letting them delude themselves further?
Why would this ever be any of your business?
I don’t like the way you drive your car, I’ve decided it’s unhealthy and morally wrong. A bunch of people are all arguing that you should have your license revoked because of it. Seems kinda fucked up, right?
You could get real driving experts, with real bona fides, to present facts saying the way you drive your car is no different from anyone else (as it relates to health and safety). But because I feel like I deserve to be the moral authority on the matter, me and my crowd are going to continue dehumanizing you at every opportunity, and will ruthlessly demand that you lose your driving privileges.
You want the same thing, but for bodily autonomy. For no reason other than you think you know better than everyone.
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Stop being the language police, and people will leave you alone.
That might literally be the dumbest thing I’ve ever I heard.
“iF yOu DiDn’T cAlL uS oUt FoR bEiNg TwAtS, wE’d ToTaLlY mInD oUr BuSiNeSs”
That doesn’t even make sense. If you hear about using the wrong pronouns, it’s probably someone you know asking you not to misgender them. If you’re hearing about it more than that, it’s probably because of whichever talking head you’re listening to that’s trying to make you mad.
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Typical centrist idiot halting all progress because they think their thoughts are so profound.
Are you a trans person? No? Quit telling them how they should treat themselves, you empathy lacking dumb ass.
It’s none of your fucking business.
I don’t need to be trans to have an opinion.
I’m also on the left. Not everybody who disagrees with you falls into the political category you don’t like
Your opinion screams of a lack of understanding, and your manner belies an unwillingness to even hear contrary information.
Don’t be surprised when people refuse to engage with you in this punji pit you’ve constructed around a boxing ring.
In my mind
Are you a doctor?
No, just trying to have a conversation.
You guys get to share your opinions and thoughts, even though you aren’t doctors.
You’re claiming something is flat out not medically necessary when you clearly do not have the knowledge to make that call. Your opinions cost people their lives.
My opinions cost nobody their life?
I said it’s not medically necessary because there’s not a physical imbalance that needs to be fixed, like the syndrome the person I was responding to used as a comparison.
A person with gender dysphoria will not have physical problems, like the people with the syndrome mentioned would.
That’s all I was getting at. Whether you consider medically necessary to include their distress over a mental disorder, was something I wasn’t touching on.
My only opinion that’s really relevant is that I don’t think minors should be allowed to transition. At no point did I say trans folk should be harmed or berated in the street or whatever else I’m being accused of.
My opinions cost nobody their life?
yikes
I’ve done nothing except share words online. You need to get over yourself.
They’re both gender affirming care even if you don’t like it.
If a child is born with a cleft lip would you repair it or tell them that’s the way god made them and they have to live with it?
If a child is neurodivergent and has severe gender dysphoria becasue of it do you force them to remain unhappy and uncomfortable or do you help them make adjustments to make them more comfortable?
If you can’t “fix” the issue isn’t the next best step accommodating for it? If someone is paralyzed and the spine can’t be repaired do you leave them in bed or give them a wheelchair? If I person is deaf do you just leave them in silence or give them hearing aids and/or teach them to sign?
Being trans is very often like being gay, it’s hardwired into the brain, just like being left handed. If it’s just the way a person’s brain is wired isn’t it better to relieve discomfort by adjusting the physical to match the mental if the mental can’t be adjusted to match the physical?
There will be kids who are experimenting with their gender identity and decide that they’re most comfortable as their birth gender and that’s great, any form of self discovery is awesome but there will always be people who are gender dysphoric and the most successful way of alleviating that dysphoria is to transition.
Years and years of therapy come before any form a medical transition for kids and often transition simply means a preferred name change, change of clothes and gender affirming hair style. If a child is comfortable with just those changes then medical transition isn’t necessary. If however they, after therapy and non medical gender affirming care still feel uncomfortable puberty blockers can be used to pause puberty until the child is older. Once they’re older they can decide whether or not transition is the right choice for them.
No one should go into transition without therapy first but gender dysphoria is so uncomfortable. It’s like walking around in shoes that are 3 sizes too big or too small your entire life. You can get by, but it’s painful.
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A beautiful woman? It’s not about beauty, it’s about gender identity, wtf lol. You ignorant ass hahaha
Yeah, gender dysphoria. The mental illness.
So you’re actively arguing they not receive treatment for something you do think is a mental illness?
No wonder mental health is failing so hard across the board, people are just deciding which things do and don’t get treatment all willy nilly based on feelings apparently!
I don’t think treatment should be telling them they’re now the gender they want to be instead of figuring out how to accept yourself for who you truly are.
But that’s my opinion. I don’t need it to be my way. If they are happier, cool for them.
Reconstructive surgery to fix an aesthetic-only deformity isn’t “medically necessary” either, by your definition. So you get upset that people stare at you in public? Ha ha, feelings aren’t real, get over it!
I wouldn’t think that’s medically necessary no.
You literally said “so of course hormone treatment [for klinefelter syndrome] is justified”. you didn’t say the exact words “it’s medically necessary” but you’re acting like for some reason it’s justified for X person to get HRT that exists solely to make their bodies more similar to what would make them comfortable, while it’s not justified for Y person to do the same thing. You’re drawing arbitrary lines for what specific condition “counts” as justification to get the treatment. And here you are admitting that you label both as “not medically necessary” yet only one you’re vehemently against and crying about online?
It’s also ignoring the fact that a large portion of people who are trans are also born with “abnormal” hormone production or sex characteristics (major chromosomal abnormalities are reported to be about 8-10x as prevalent in trans populations compared to the general population) and gender dysphoria (along with pretty much every other disorder in existence) is heavily tied to genetics, prevalence of anything like ADHD or gender dysphoria or bipolar can be traced to various sets of specific genes and in the case of e.g. latent gender dysphoria or latent bipolar or latent depression, are often present for someone’s entire life (i.e. they’re “predisposed” to it) without being “active” but then (irreversibly) start developing from, or are triggered by, events – like reaching a certain point in development (especially puberty), or experiencing certain environmental conditions over a long period of time (especially as a child), or even as an acute chemical response to a drug (for example, anti-depressants and hallucinogens can cause trigger full-blown bipolar in those who are predisposed), or various other factors, and a combination of a bunch of them.
You are discriminating against people for their medical condition and hand-picking scenarios in which medical treatment is “acceptable” with absolutely zero scientific, logical, or moral basis. You are acting on your insecurity, emotions, and hatred of trans people alone, and nothing else.
That bible chastity belt, is becoming a noose. Good work you Christians. Very Jesus of y’all.
Another proud moment for Christianity
The fucked up part is that they literally are proud of this.
Sure. Apologists will tell you that there was some pure form of Christianity that was good and it got corrupted in recent times by its alliance with the political right. History doesn’t tell us that. It has always been a tool of oppression.
I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity.
-Fredrick Douglass 1845
Over a century prior to the Jerry Falwell moral majority. In1845 the Christianity presented was viewed as a temporary oddness not aligned with the real Christianity.
Heck even in the letters of Paul, decades before any Gospel accounts he talks about homosexuals going to hell and how people deserved death for not giving the church money.
It was always a shit cult that attacked the vulnerable. Always willing to punch down. “Slaves obey your masters!” It declares.
What exactly is “gender-affirming” care? Is it a sex change? Is it hormone therapy?
Why can’t articles report on specifics instead of using loaded language?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_language
“This type of language is very often made vague to more effectively invoke an emotional response and/or exploit stereotypes.”
Both sides do it, and we should feel shame whenever we stoop as low as /r/conservative.
I think it’s sorta telling that you did a wiki search for loaded language instead of one for gender affirming care. To be clear, it’s absolutely not loaded language, it’s just language you don’t understand, literally anything can seem vague if you don’t know what it entails, if you truly don’t want to be like /conservative then I think you should be a but more proactive at self education.
Here is a better rundown from a neutral source. But tldr it’d everything from parental support/respect for prounons/new haircut/clothes and possibly puberty blockers for minors. To hormones, electrolysis and an extremely long list of different surgical options too numerous to lost depending on the person.
So the idea of blocking all medical options for minors is ridiculous since no minors are getting surgery. Period. And puberty blockers are both reversible and have been used for decades. Legislation restricting what psychologists, pediatricians and endocrinologists have all agreed as safe and effective treatment is just lunacy and bigotry.
It’s also not just for trans kids. There are all sorts of types of gender affirming care that have nothing to do with transitioning.
I didn’t read the article, and I refuse to do even the most basic research on this subject, but let me tell you (with undeserved confidence) why you’re wrong.
You have a hotkey for that around here?
I thought all the evidence was coming back that being a minor and transitioning is too young.
Seems that when kids start going through puberty they they get unhappy with their body which is a tale as old as time. But then when they turn into an adult that have gone through the natural process of growing up and they fit with their body.
That’s why countries are reducing giving life changing drugs to kids that just need time. Sometimes you just need to go through the growing pains.
I’m 49.
I knew in 1978 that I was the wrong gender even though I didn’t know what being trans was.
I come from a conservative CATHOLIC British/Irish family living in small town Canada. Went to catholic school and everything. Needless to say I got ZERO help.
The first time I tried to kill myself I was 9. It wasn’t until 2020 and covid that I actually sat down and realized I need to do something because if I die of covid (autoimmune disorders) I will die never being happy and I WANT to be happy.
Unfortunately my realizations came at the same time americans decided to go full nazi and all I get when reaching out to trans communities is those communities being bombarded with attacks from american nazis.
I wish I could have transitioned when I was a kid, it would have saved me from 40+ years of pain and suffering. Ironically before I can take the steps medically to feel better I actually have to repair the damage caused by 30 years of anti depressants and anti psychotics used as a Band-Aid trying to fix my mental health without dealing with the root issue which is gender dysphoria likely caused by being neurodivergent (which was something that wasn’t discovered until a few years ago).
Children shouldn’t have to suffer the way we older generations had to suffer. The brain cannot be reprogrammed, it’s hardwired, someone who is trans can’t stop being trans any more than someone can stop being autistic or having adhd.
I wish you all the luck in the world and hope we’re able to do something about the slime oppressing you and other trans people.
Thank you so much for sharing your story 💖
Wow, you should read some actual evidence then instead of just thinking about it!
The rate of kids that don’t transition after being on puberty blockers is something like <2%. All I’ve seen is some people crying about regret rates increasing by a lot when it goes from like 1 to 2%. “It doubled!!!” (Should be obvious that it will go up a little the easier it is to get treatment).
In any case, while puberty blockers aren’t without adverse effects, those aren’t huge, so prohibiting them is utterly nonsensical unless a majority of kids end up not going through with it.
And if a child knows at age 7 that it’s not the gender it was assigned at birth, that’s not some puberty thing. Which is a significant portion of transgender people.
