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.
Folks, if you live in one of these places and are threatened by this: fucking leave. They threaten your life! They have intent and ability to act on those threats, and the ability to get away with it within the system you are currently living in.
Save yourself.
There are people/groups/communities in California that will help you. I can’t speak for other states but I see it every day here.
Put yourself out there on social media and ask for assistance in relocating, I guarantee you will find help. It won’t be glamourous and you will still have to fight for yourself, but not for the same reasons. You are accepted here. Fuck those fascists, do not give them the chance they are frothing to act upon.
I like the enthusiasm, but minors are not generally in a position to up and relocate. Supportive families are increasingly finding themselves needing to move out of hostile states. Most of us are holding our breath for national elections to determine if we need to flee the country.
I agree with you and I don’t have anything useful to add, but I wish the very best for you and your family; that you are all safe and thriving.
I keep seeing comments like these in different threads. Every one of them seem to forget all the factors that keep people stuck in red states. Housing prices are sky high, especially in blue states with prices being 5 times what housing costs here. Wages here are well below a living wage on average as well as being highly stagnant. Most of us live pay check to pay check and have no way of saving enough to relocate. My wife and I have been wanting to move since we got married but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.
You’re absolutely right, of course. I am familiar with the comments you’re speaking of, and I meant mine to be a bit more than the usual “Well just move” flippant remark. Hopefully that came across.
The unfortunate truth is exactly as you described, and for someone (and/or their family) to change their circumstances requires sacrifice of some kind. Often, very significant sacrifices.
I don’t want to minimize that- Quite the opposite really. I want to reinforce the fact that for anyone who feels their lives are endangered, those sacrifices might be worth it. And importantly: they don’t have to go through that experience alone.
Anyway, I hope you and your family stay safe and happy. Cheers
Christ, that sounds kinda miserable. My condolences, I hope you can figure something out. If you’ve got free time, try for some licensure of some kind.
Thanks. Not a license per say but I am working on getting some IT certs to try to help out with our finances more.
fucking leave
Ideally vote on the way out, if you can.
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.
Another proud moment for Christianity
And for the Republicans who pander to them
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.
Gender affirming care is professionally administered interventions that help a person live an affirmed life as the gender they most identify with.
In practical terms, it’s a giant-ass flow chart with a bunch of different questions and options that end in a wide array of care options that properly guided individuals and either partake of, or not. Everything from talk therapy, to puberty blockers, to hormone replacement therapy, to physical surgeries on their genitals, to adding or removing breast mass, to changing the configuration of their face. Whatever makes sense to the individual.
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?
Did you bother following any links in the article? They have a link to the bill, explaining exactly what they’re banning, as well as another explaining in detail what gender affirming care is.
Removed by mod
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 💖
Love ya, friendo
Did you know: Puberty blockers cause ZERO harm to children, and to reverse the effects, which will allow puberty to continue its course, just stop the medicine!
This adolescent person that is nearly the age of majority will now have to suffer anxiety, body image issues, potential suicidal and self-harm ideation, and general misery, because the a person decided that what this other person was doing for self care, and to improve their mental health, was wrong. I’m so glad these lawmakers with NO BIAS and MEDICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE are making laws, that are obviously not for any agenda and hurting nobody in particular, because trans people like me aren’t actually real people and shouldn’t be allowed to be comfortable in their own body.
Or hear me out we let them block puberty because that’s literally hurting nobody and preventing them from doing so very clearly does hurt people.
But also you know that kids don’t think they are trans cause of puberty angst right? Come on man. If you were fundamentally unhappy going through puberty as a teen then sorry to say but that’s actually not normal. Most people are rather content knowing their balls will get hairy or they’ll grow boobs. We’re talking about kids who’ve been dreading puberty since like they knew what it was. I’ll again repeat if you dreaded puberty that’s not normal.
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.
