Sad, Sad, Sad News

We know that there is an ongoing campaign against us by the conservatives, but this shows how broad-base their hate of us really is.

A third of trans youth are at risk of losing gender-affirming care, study says
NPR
By Vanessa Romo
March 21, 2022


The recent wave of Republican-led bans attempting to block transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care may be fertile political ground for conservatives in an election year, but a new study shows the bans are putting tens of thousands of vulnerable young people in jeopardy.

A report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law estimates that more than 54,000 transitioning transgender youth ages 13 through 17 are at risk of losing access to gender-affirming medical care, even in cases where doctors, therapists and parents concur with the need for those treatments. And in at least three states — Alabama, North Carolina and Oklahoma — lawmakers are pushing legislation that would impact about 4,000 18-to-20-year-olds.

The figures are staggering considering that only about 150,000 American youth identify as transgender.

That is so sad that so many trans children are victims of hate.

Back in the late seventies Anita Bryant started "Save Our Children" campaign against gay people using the same tactics that the Republicans have copied are using now. Back then the Republican states passed constitution amendments banning same-sex marriages (some of which are still on the books). We need to repurpose Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" for our trans children.

The article goes on to say…

The study also notes a new tactic being employed in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has circumvented the lawmaking process by issuing an order classifying gender-affirming care as child abuse. Abbot subsequently called on state employees, teachers and doctors to report parents who try to obtain the treatments for their children. He also threatened that there will be consequences for those who fail to report. The Williams Institute estimates nearly 14,000 young people in the state could be affected by the order.

The move has served as a template for Missouri leaders, who are now seeking to implement a similar workaround, which could affect approximately 1,500 transgender youth in the state.

The way to stop this pogrom directed against is to VOTE and to help organize get out to vote campaign!

I was never involved with a political campaign in my life, I wasn’t even a member of a political party until I was in my early 60s until one day in a support group meeting when a support group came in with her face swollen and black and blue from being beaten with a 2x4 and I knew that I have to something to help end hate and discrimination.

I remember the first time I called my legislator, my voice was shaky, and I was nervous as hell. I didn’t say that I was trans, I only said that I was a voter from his district (Later on when I do to know him, I used to begin my emails with “It is troublemaker Diana again…” I joined the Democratic party and started going to fundraisers candidates. I was a very “Out” trans woman and the only trans person at the fundraisers. One of the proudest days in my life was when I saw a Connecticut "Discrimination is Illegal" poster hanging on a wall in a business which said, "transgender status, gender identity or expression" and know that I help to make that true.

I am not saying everyone is cutout to be an activist. I was driven to end the violence and hate against us, however, you need to take a stand the time has come where silence can be deadly.

If you live in Texas the very minimum that you have to do is speak out to friends and family, tell them that you are against Abbott’s policy on abortion, his LGBTQ policies, and the political gerrymandering to make Texas a one party state. Notice that nowhere did I say that I said that you had to “out” yourself.

The American Academy of Pediatrics found that transgender teens have dramatically higher rates of suicide attempts and self-injury. Adolescents using puberty blockers have been found to have a reduced risk of suicidal thoughts.

I know that many people think, “Here goes Diana banging the drum and tilting windmills again!” but I am worried about the new generation of trans children and the struggle that they are facing and I know that the only way for us to end this is to get involved in politics!

I have said this many, many times… In a commentary by Abigail C. Saguy in LGBTQ Nation she wrote,

In 1978, gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk famously made “Come out, come out, wherever you are” the slogan of his campaign to defeat the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gay teachers from working in public schools in California.

The idea was that if enough people told their friends they were gay, Californians would realize that they had friends, co-workers, and family members who were gay. Then, out of solidarity, they would oppose the proposition. The campaign helped defeat the initiative.

"Save Our Children!" Your silence = death to a trans child.