I Worry.

I worry for the healthcare providers for us, they are coming under increased harassment from the right because of the lies the conservatives are spreading.

Families fear a ban on gender affirming care in the wake of harassment of clinics
NPR
By Blake Farmer
November 1, 2022


[…]

Transgender kids have found themselves at the center of a ballooning culture war this election season. In several cities and states — from Boston to Seattle — specialized clinics at academic medical centers have been targeted. Doctors have been harassed, despite following the evolving standards of care for trans teens.

Last month, hundreds of conservatives and anti-trans activists gathered outside the Tennessee Capitol for what they billed as "The Rally to End Child Mutilation." Over shouts of counter protesters, state lawmakers vowed to ban gender-affirming surgeries in Tennessee, claiming families were rushing into life-altering and irreversible decisions.

Anti-trans activist Matt Walsh of the far-right Daily Wire organized the rally after producing a supposed "expose" in September that claimed Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville was "butchering" children and that young patients were being pushed into hormone therapy. Walsh has said the campaign against Vanderbilt's clinic is just the start of his national ambition to end gender-affirming care for minors.

This is the same tactic the far-right anti-abortion protesters used, they harassed the doctors, assassinated some doctors, and bombed clinics are I worry that they might do the same to us.

A clinic under assault

The onslaught has been so intense that Vanderbilt's clinic even took down its entire web presence for a while. And in response to demands from Republican legislators, Vanderbilt has agreed to pause surgeries.

The irony is that in its statement announcing the pause, the medical center finally revealed just how few surgeries occur on minors — roughly five a year, only on patients 16 and older, never on genitals and always with full parental consent.

Vanderbilt has declined repeated requests for interviews, but specialists around the country have experienced similar firestorms.

"It's not just that we were worried about getting nasty phone calls and letters [in Arkansas]. We were worried about losing our license to practice medicine," says Dr. Michele Hutchison, who tried to fend off a ban on pediatric transgender care in Arkansas last year. "That's a big deal."

I worry that a hyped up right-winger will do something like the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband to our healthcare providers.

The rhetoric coming from Republican politicians with their lies is creating anger against us, the Proud Boys and Patriot Front are showing up armed at protests.

When will the demagoguery against end?