What the fuck is so hard about letting doctors decide what medical treatment people need?
What the fuck is so hard about letting sports leagues and conferences determine who is or isn't eligible to play in them without some legislation mandating a conclusion?
What the fuck is so hard about minding your own business?
We can try to explain to people why it is important to accommodate people with trans status but frankly I'm fucking sick of doing it. They don't have to like trans people, or understand it. (Even as somebody who fully supports trans rights and has trans friends I don't really UNDERSTAND it - it's their life, their experience, their consciousness, not mine.) They just need to stop caring. They just need to pay attention to LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE. Maybe something that actually affects them.
As a trans person, thank you so much for this article. We need all the support we can get, especially as Dems seem perfectly willing to throw us under the bus now, with the approving the NDAA, despite the little inclusion that strips trans kids of people who have served of healthcare.
Florida is challenging Texas for the most cruel and horrible state award. They will eventually come for all Queer people and women and mentally ill and neurodivergent and everyone except rich straight white men.
What Florida is doing is horrific. Forcibly detransitioning someone is beyond cruel. Anxiety, ptsd and suicidal ideation will likely be the upshot. Maybe that’s the real motive behind this or maybe it’s just the sadism.
As a country, we seem to be getting more cruel and more ignorant every day.. This is torture, plain and simple. The real criminals are the prison wardens and guards perpetuating this. If this is not the beginning of Nazi Germany, right here in the USA, I don't know what is. And it won't be recognized until it's too late.
Thank you for your unwavering resistance. We already have cops killing people of color largely without consequences, I suspect the rest of the LGBT+ community (like me)is on their checklist of undesirables to "remove " from their Gilead. 🤬😭😩😭🤬
I have one FB friend who has transitioned since we "met" on FB. She is still the same incredibly funny and kind human being. I have actually only met 1 transition woman in my life, a co worker from several jobs ago.
Even if I didn't know a single transition human being, I would still care about and defend the entire community.
Thank you for writing this, we need all the allyship we can get. The 8 past years have been scary, but the accelerated pace of the last few months is terrifying
Aside from the obvious what are we to do? How do you stop something when those in the driver's seat are the ones committing these crimes. A single person is powerless against this. When a whole state is doing this what are we to do? Go to jail? Demonstrate? I am not giving up or not wanting to be of use but how? How do we, the common ordinary average citizen, how can we help? We need to stop this before it gets any bigger but how the loonies are in charge! The court system is broken and nobody wants to fix that or anything else. We need dynamic leadership. We need away forward and upward. Until we the people in an organized united group start to undo the damage it will go on unabated. The victims will suffer and be ignored. But this is not the 60's and this is not the civil rights movement. This time they are coming for our freedoms but so far nobody seems to care. So far my fears of a Hitler like Germany happening here are coming true. They could not stop it then. What makes you think you can stop it now. Especially when so many Americans voted for this to be.
Unfortunately, we do have a playbook but it’s not a satisfying one — in fact, it’s an absolute nightmare. The same resistance methods that were used then may be needed again. Allies and rebels are going to be forced to pretend to comply or be neutral on the surface, so they can work underground in secret. There’s a time for speaking up, but there’s also a point when keeping your mouth shut becomes a crucial tool to protect those you shield. We all hope it doesn’t come to that — that speaking up and visibly fighting back will continue to be way forward, kicking and screaming.
We start by not going along with it. By objecting and calling people out any time they mention this as if it were acceptable. Friends, family, coworkers. Speaking out against the news media that is trying really hard to normalize this shit.
We spread the word of what is happening and make it clear we do so in disgusted horrified terms so nobody listening thinks we're just bringing up another minor news story.
We do let ourselves get conditioned to accept any aspect of this.
>> "Especially when so many Americans voted for this to be." <<
The vast majority of who either really didn't think Republicans would follow through or still don't get that they themselves will end up being the Republican's victims. There is going to be a shit-ton of buyer's remorse coming (it already is) and we need to help push that along.
Make noise - let things be known - drag this filth out into the harsh daylight. I wonder how many people in Florida actually KNOW that about this? So tell the world, loudly.
Yes, if/when (don’t give up hope before you have to) the worst comes, you might need to be sneaky, but until then, please remember to use your voices to help those with less privilege than yourselves!
(I know I’m saying all this in 2nd person - I’m not American, or in US)
Human beings that have gender dysphoria and transition (or don't) are not "known" in true numbers. Society has required masking to survive. People not seen are not counted. So scared for what is ahead.
It is so crazy to me that a governmental body is even equating being trans with having gender dysphoria in the first place. One doesn't equal the other. I've actually never had a transgender client that has gender dysphoria: they've come to me for various goals they are working on, but never because they themselves are uncomfortable with their own identity. If their goals have to do with being trans at all, it's usually that they have discomfort over other people in their lives being uncomfortable.
Cruelty is the point. They pick on the most vulnerable first, then work their way up to the rest of us, who are trying to lay low and not be noticed. I wish I wasn’t such a coward or maybe I just need to find an efficient manner to fight back against these bullies.
I didn’t read the entire article so maybe it is mentioned. If so, forgive this comment, but why is it only women who are being targeted in Florida? That I think is an extremely important issue
I am also interested to know if trans men and non binary people are included in this. I think the whole thing is horrific and maybe they are starting with trans women because it’s easy to scare the idiots with them. Scary trans women in women’s prisons kind of thing.
I wonder if part of it is what they feel they can get support on and, generally, trans women get more discomfort from the section of the public that's obsessed with paying attention to what is or isn't in someone's pants. Mostly because people are terrified of "men" being in spaces generally reserved for women, focused on the idea that keeping men out of women's restrooms keep women safer, for example. On some level, this may be true, but considering the rates of sexual assault in this country I can't imagine seperate bathrooms are doing much for us in society.
I'm not sure where they feel that they have the right to deem a medical diagnosis as anything other than what it is identified as by the diagnostic manual. Personally, as a therapist, I've never diagnosed gender dysphoria. All of the transgender individuals I have worked with have not had dysphoria about their gender: dysphoria, perhaps, about the reactions of those around them, but not unhappiness/insecurity about how they identify. And that's what that diagnosis is for: if the main reason someone is seeking treatment is if they are struggling with their self-identity as relates to gender. The fact that anyone, let alone a governmental body, is trying to twist facts to state that being transgender equals delusional thinking is horrific to me as a person. As a therapist, it's downright enraging. I feel the same about Ohio trying to make it required for a therapist to get "parent permission" before diagnosing gender dysphoria. What's next? Do I need permission to diagnose a child with regular dysphoria (aka low level, but chronic depression)?
Honestly though…it’s important to remember that the dsm used to define homosexuality as a deviant delusion too. Science, as an authority, is often used to both justify and enforce (chemical castration, institutionalization, etc) oppression. Everything that can lend credence or precedent to totalitarianism becomes deputized. That history has to be a part of the conversation re: "why don’t they just trust the science?"
For some reason, my response keeps disappearing! The gist of what I tried to reply last night is that, yes, science has absolutely, as many other things, been used to justify oppression over the years. I couldn't have been a therapist in those days as it would have clashed with my basic ethics. We've made a lot of strides forward as a society and a profession. I hate to see the current political climate trying to pull us backwards.
We definitely can't blindly trust what someone tells us is "proven": we have to dig into things and check validity. There are always going to be people that, unfortunately, have to have a group that they are as lesser than themselves to make them feel secure. We have to keep fighting the good fight to realize we don't have to be against each other.
I lived in W Germany when I was in high school. In college, I majored in German, and studied modern German history. I've had gut-wrenching visits to multiple Nazi concentration camps. I've seen armed soldiers marching and in tanks on city streets in a divided Berlin, and been in vehicles routinely stopped and searched for no reason. I have a family member by marriage who escaped the Russians as a teen. I've seen the aftermath of authoritarianism, and never imagined I'd ever see it in my beloved United States.
Six years ago, I was in couples counseling when the therapist opined that transgender was a passing fad. I informed her that not only was it real, I personally had a close trans family member, and also had 4 close friends with trans family. I also have at least a dozen friends or acquaintances who are gender-fluid or nonbinary. I told her she'd better open her mind and get used to reality. Uncle Ogre, I'd bet that you've actually met, and probably know fairly well, more than just that one trans person. It's just that, like gays and lesbians at one time, they are forced to hide themselves because they don't know whom they can trust. Given what's happened/happening in this country since that escalator ride that took us to Hell, I can't blame them, and I don't often mention their reality when I talk about them. God help us all, and keep the different among us safe, until sanity prevails once more.
It always makes me shudder when I hear people report their therapist said things like this. Seperate from why you think it's for you to decide that how someone feels is a "fad": Why is such an opinion relevant to share in a session that should be able your clients in front of you?
Also, yes, I have seen an increase of other individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community being concerned for their safety in a world where people dressed as Nazis feel empowered post-election to be marching in the streets.
On the positive side: many clients under 18 that I have had in the last five years, when I've asked about their gender identity (a standard question for an intake), they have been perfectly comfortable telling me about their journey of considering their gender and sexual identity. They don't feel they have to identify a certain way. They treat it as a question to be determined by each person as a normal part of determining their identity. I find that heartening.
What the fuck is so hard about letting doctors decide what medical treatment people need?
What the fuck is so hard about letting sports leagues and conferences determine who is or isn't eligible to play in them without some legislation mandating a conclusion?
What the fuck is so hard about minding your own business?
We can try to explain to people why it is important to accommodate people with trans status but frankly I'm fucking sick of doing it. They don't have to like trans people, or understand it. (Even as somebody who fully supports trans rights and has trans friends I don't really UNDERSTAND it - it's their life, their experience, their consciousness, not mine.) They just need to stop caring. They just need to pay attention to LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE. Maybe something that actually affects them.
As a trans person, thank you so much for this article. We need all the support we can get, especially as Dems seem perfectly willing to throw us under the bus now, with the approving the NDAA, despite the little inclusion that strips trans kids of people who have served of healthcare.
I am so sorry--the world is failing you.
Florida is challenging Texas for the most cruel and horrible state award. They will eventually come for all Queer people and women and mentally ill and neurodivergent and everyone except rich straight white men.
What Florida is doing is horrific. Forcibly detransitioning someone is beyond cruel. Anxiety, ptsd and suicidal ideation will likely be the upshot. Maybe that’s the real motive behind this or maybe it’s just the sadism.
But they WANT them to commit suicide - one less mouth to feed. Bastards!
As a country, we seem to be getting more cruel and more ignorant every day.. This is torture, plain and simple. The real criminals are the prison wardens and guards perpetuating this. If this is not the beginning of Nazi Germany, right here in the USA, I don't know what is. And it won't be recognized until it's too late.
It’s the politicians (and wonks behind them) coming up with this shit who are truly evil! Let’s not give the cogs in the machine too much credit…
True, but nothing would be done without complicity.
Thank you for your unwavering resistance. We already have cops killing people of color largely without consequences, I suspect the rest of the LGBT+ community (like me)is on their checklist of undesirables to "remove " from their Gilead. 🤬😭😩😭🤬
ARRRGGGHHH! I am already so angry over the fucking MAGATS. I don't know how long I'll survive what's coming!
The head shaving reminds me of what they did to women who slept with Nazis. It is designed to humiliate the woman.
I have one FB friend who has transitioned since we "met" on FB. She is still the same incredibly funny and kind human being. I have actually only met 1 transition woman in my life, a co worker from several jobs ago.
Even if I didn't know a single transition human being, I would still care about and defend the entire community.
That's just who I am.
Thank you for writing this, we need all the allyship we can get. The 8 past years have been scary, but the accelerated pace of the last few months is terrifying
Aside from the obvious what are we to do? How do you stop something when those in the driver's seat are the ones committing these crimes. A single person is powerless against this. When a whole state is doing this what are we to do? Go to jail? Demonstrate? I am not giving up or not wanting to be of use but how? How do we, the common ordinary average citizen, how can we help? We need to stop this before it gets any bigger but how the loonies are in charge! The court system is broken and nobody wants to fix that or anything else. We need dynamic leadership. We need away forward and upward. Until we the people in an organized united group start to undo the damage it will go on unabated. The victims will suffer and be ignored. But this is not the 60's and this is not the civil rights movement. This time they are coming for our freedoms but so far nobody seems to care. So far my fears of a Hitler like Germany happening here are coming true. They could not stop it then. What makes you think you can stop it now. Especially when so many Americans voted for this to be.
Unfortunately, we do have a playbook but it’s not a satisfying one — in fact, it’s an absolute nightmare. The same resistance methods that were used then may be needed again. Allies and rebels are going to be forced to pretend to comply or be neutral on the surface, so they can work underground in secret. There’s a time for speaking up, but there’s also a point when keeping your mouth shut becomes a crucial tool to protect those you shield. We all hope it doesn’t come to that — that speaking up and visibly fighting back will continue to be way forward, kicking and screaming.
We start by not going along with it. By objecting and calling people out any time they mention this as if it were acceptable. Friends, family, coworkers. Speaking out against the news media that is trying really hard to normalize this shit.
We spread the word of what is happening and make it clear we do so in disgusted horrified terms so nobody listening thinks we're just bringing up another minor news story.
We do let ourselves get conditioned to accept any aspect of this.
>> "Especially when so many Americans voted for this to be." <<
The vast majority of who either really didn't think Republicans would follow through or still don't get that they themselves will end up being the Republican's victims. There is going to be a shit-ton of buyer's remorse coming (it already is) and we need to help push that along.
Make noise - let things be known - drag this filth out into the harsh daylight. I wonder how many people in Florida actually KNOW that about this? So tell the world, loudly.
Yes, if/when (don’t give up hope before you have to) the worst comes, you might need to be sneaky, but until then, please remember to use your voices to help those with less privilege than yourselves!
(I know I’m saying all this in 2nd person - I’m not American, or in US)
Human beings that have gender dysphoria and transition (or don't) are not "known" in true numbers. Society has required masking to survive. People not seen are not counted. So scared for what is ahead.
It is so crazy to me that a governmental body is even equating being trans with having gender dysphoria in the first place. One doesn't equal the other. I've actually never had a transgender client that has gender dysphoria: they've come to me for various goals they are working on, but never because they themselves are uncomfortable with their own identity. If their goals have to do with being trans at all, it's usually that they have discomfort over other people in their lives being uncomfortable.
Cruelty is the point. They pick on the most vulnerable first, then work their way up to the rest of us, who are trying to lay low and not be noticed. I wish I wasn’t such a coward or maybe I just need to find an efficient manner to fight back against these bullies.
I didn’t read the entire article so maybe it is mentioned. If so, forgive this comment, but why is it only women who are being targeted in Florida? That I think is an extremely important issue
I am also interested to know if trans men and non binary people are included in this. I think the whole thing is horrific and maybe they are starting with trans women because it’s easy to scare the idiots with them. Scary trans women in women’s prisons kind of thing.
I wonder if part of it is what they feel they can get support on and, generally, trans women get more discomfort from the section of the public that's obsessed with paying attention to what is or isn't in someone's pants. Mostly because people are terrified of "men" being in spaces generally reserved for women, focused on the idea that keeping men out of women's restrooms keep women safer, for example. On some level, this may be true, but considering the rates of sexual assault in this country I can't imagine seperate bathrooms are doing much for us in society.
I'm not sure where they feel that they have the right to deem a medical diagnosis as anything other than what it is identified as by the diagnostic manual. Personally, as a therapist, I've never diagnosed gender dysphoria. All of the transgender individuals I have worked with have not had dysphoria about their gender: dysphoria, perhaps, about the reactions of those around them, but not unhappiness/insecurity about how they identify. And that's what that diagnosis is for: if the main reason someone is seeking treatment is if they are struggling with their self-identity as relates to gender. The fact that anyone, let alone a governmental body, is trying to twist facts to state that being transgender equals delusional thinking is horrific to me as a person. As a therapist, it's downright enraging. I feel the same about Ohio trying to make it required for a therapist to get "parent permission" before diagnosing gender dysphoria. What's next? Do I need permission to diagnose a child with regular dysphoria (aka low level, but chronic depression)?
Honestly though…it’s important to remember that the dsm used to define homosexuality as a deviant delusion too. Science, as an authority, is often used to both justify and enforce (chemical castration, institutionalization, etc) oppression. Everything that can lend credence or precedent to totalitarianism becomes deputized. That history has to be a part of the conversation re: "why don’t they just trust the science?"
For some reason, my response keeps disappearing! The gist of what I tried to reply last night is that, yes, science has absolutely, as many other things, been used to justify oppression over the years. I couldn't have been a therapist in those days as it would have clashed with my basic ethics. We've made a lot of strides forward as a society and a profession. I hate to see the current political climate trying to pull us backwards.
We definitely can't blindly trust what someone tells us is "proven": we have to dig into things and check validity. There are always going to be people that, unfortunately, have to have a group that they are as lesser than themselves to make them feel secure. We have to keep fighting the good fight to realize we don't have to be against each other.
I lived in W Germany when I was in high school. In college, I majored in German, and studied modern German history. I've had gut-wrenching visits to multiple Nazi concentration camps. I've seen armed soldiers marching and in tanks on city streets in a divided Berlin, and been in vehicles routinely stopped and searched for no reason. I have a family member by marriage who escaped the Russians as a teen. I've seen the aftermath of authoritarianism, and never imagined I'd ever see it in my beloved United States.
Six years ago, I was in couples counseling when the therapist opined that transgender was a passing fad. I informed her that not only was it real, I personally had a close trans family member, and also had 4 close friends with trans family. I also have at least a dozen friends or acquaintances who are gender-fluid or nonbinary. I told her she'd better open her mind and get used to reality. Uncle Ogre, I'd bet that you've actually met, and probably know fairly well, more than just that one trans person. It's just that, like gays and lesbians at one time, they are forced to hide themselves because they don't know whom they can trust. Given what's happened/happening in this country since that escalator ride that took us to Hell, I can't blame them, and I don't often mention their reality when I talk about them. God help us all, and keep the different among us safe, until sanity prevails once more.
It always makes me shudder when I hear people report their therapist said things like this. Seperate from why you think it's for you to decide that how someone feels is a "fad": Why is such an opinion relevant to share in a session that should be able your clients in front of you?
Also, yes, I have seen an increase of other individuals in the LGBTQIA+ community being concerned for their safety in a world where people dressed as Nazis feel empowered post-election to be marching in the streets.
On the positive side: many clients under 18 that I have had in the last five years, when I've asked about their gender identity (a standard question for an intake), they have been perfectly comfortable telling me about their journey of considering their gender and sexual identity. They don't feel they have to identify a certain way. They treat it as a question to be determined by each person as a normal part of determining their identity. I find that heartening.