Periodically, I host an AMA for subscribers where they can ask me anything. Next week, I will go through the questions and answer many of them on camera.
It goes without saying that we all need and appreciate you. Especially down here in Texas.
I know it would be difficult for you to testify in person at the various State Legislatures but I was wondering and hoping you could prepare several general responses (two minutes long) that we could have our LGBTQI+ community use to model their testimony after?
And let us know if you ever get down to Austin. Would love to host you in our house should you chose to avail yourself of this opportunity.
Hi Erin, Thank you so much for all the work you're doing and the constant vigilance it clearly asks of you, as well as what I'm sure is a big psychological toll. We deeply appreciate you! I have a question about your sense of how the queer community at large is responding to all of this violent anti-trans legislation. I remember reading a tweet, which might have been from Gillian Branstetter, in which she quoted one of the people organizing this anti-trans agenda, and this person said something like, "If we isolated the T+ from the rest of the LGBT+ community, we'll be able to target them more effectively, because the queer community isn't as unified as they'd like to think." This wasn't the quote exactly, but that's the gist of it. (Maybe you know what I'm referring to?) So my question is whether this accurately describes the anti-trans strategies you're seeing? Is the anti-trans violence not only directly aimed at trans-plus people as the most vulnerable among the LGBT community, but also at dividing us from the stronger parts of our community? And from what you're seeing among LGBT+ activism, is the community remaining unified and rallying around our T+ people? I'm in rural Appalachia, and it's hard to see the larger political landscape from here. I don't think there's the kind of larger movement that supported, for example, Obergefell vs. Hodges. I'd love to be wrong about that. I'm wondering what you see?
Hi Erin! I’m a trans woman living in Oklahoma and every day I get more and more afraid of this state. Do you know of any transgender relocation programs or financial assistance programs that could be applicable to help get my trans partner and I out of here? Also, what’s your go to coffee order? Thank you!!
Hey Erin! Thank you for all you do. You are so so appreciated. My question is: What IS and what CAN the federal government do to stop the completely unethical state overreach we are seeing with tran legislation/medical guidelines? 😭
I am the mom of a 20 year old transgender woman in Ohio. My level of concern for her rights and her safety are a daily concern. I know you have seen and commented on the Ohio State Board of Education resolution that was adopted, although not enforceable. I saw that the new GOP house adopted a “resolution” with the same language. I’m unclear as what this means for the trans community at this point. My daughter is not in K-12, but she does go and speak publicly against anti transgender policies and resolutions at the state and local levels.
We have seen a mixed review of how the anti-trans policies/laws and introducing legislation will occur in Ohio. The dems had 22 republicans join them In selecting the new republican speaker for Ohio.
Do you have thoughts about this or a gut feeling as to what this could mean for our Ohio transgender community? Does the wording of the resolution that was adopted by the Ohio house GOP, have any real ramifications on us and our kids?
I truly appreciate you and all of your post and insights. Please take time for you and your own care too as you continue to support and care for us!
Thank you so much for all being a source of news and information that’s important to the transgendered community that we would otherwise not know about.
I live in Nevada, is there anything I can do to to lend my support and voice to defend the rights of others as in the case of proposed forced medical detransition legislation in states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Kansas who embrace the agenda of groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, the American Principles Project, and the Coalition for Christian Virtue?
I'm an openly trans teacher in Kentucky. I'm getting worried this year. Laws like last year's Florida law that target teachers really concern me. Do you see those laws spreading to places like Kentucky? Am I right to be worried or an I just being dramatic?
Hi Erin, I know these various detransition bills prevent doctors from providing gender affirming care. Do they also prevent private insurance companies from covering it?
Hi Erin. I am a transgender woman living in Alexandria, VA. Do you have some specific organizations and actions I can look into to help prevent the passage of the recently proposed ban on medical transition in my state?
I think this is the first time I am writing this: I am a trans man. I finished my psychiatric training in one moderate risk state and am doing fellowship in another. Having a new environment has helped me to understand that I want to and need to transition.
I’m tired of letting fears of how I will be seen as a transitioning psychiatrist hold me back. If your map has shown me anything, it’s that our trans kids are under fire, and trans adults need to stop letting them take the bullets for us. We need to put on our protective gear together.
I also teach courses on transgender mental health and am intimately aware on the research about the benefits of transitioning. I can’t believe legislatures are letting people guide them who aren’t medical and psychiatric professionals in revoking the care of trans people. It’s genocide.
First do no harm.
My question is: do you have any tips for transitioning professionally and publicly?
Thank you for all you do. You have helped me to be brave in my journey.
Hi Erin! Thank you so much for such a well-researched, well-written newsletter! I have a boring question in that I was hoping we could chat at some point. I am a trans PhD student at the University of Washington, and one of my dissertation chapters is about how the media frames the "problems" that all of this legislation is purportedly "solving." If you're up for it, you can email me at iseder@uw.edu.
Firstly, Erin, thanks again for everything; all the work you do to bring the informaton to the World. Love from London, Ontario, Canada. Question: Is the exercise of compiling data on Trans individuals actually illegal? Thanks for your reply, and any other who want to reply. I am not a lawyer by the way. I am a curious individual.
Thank you Erin. Based on your review of legislative debates that occurred around the country last year, what group of speakers had the most sway or impact on Republican legislators? In our state the ONLY way to stop newly introduced legislation would be to convince Republicans to cross the aisle and vote against it. Only so many people will ever get to testify on these bills, so how do we maximize the impact? Would it be local pediatricians / physicians, educators, business leaders, phycologists, etc... I understand the power of personal testimony, but I can't see putting a trans child (even at 16+) in front of these hostile legislators to be ignored or worse. Who else can we try to recruit to build a stronger coalition?
Do you think we will EVER see a proper federal response to all the hate? I’m guessing no, but it would be nice to hear what someone on the ground thinks.
We see countless negative story after negative story, we rarely see wins to us anymore.
It goes without saying that we all need and appreciate you. Especially down here in Texas.
I know it would be difficult for you to testify in person at the various State Legislatures but I was wondering and hoping you could prepare several general responses (two minutes long) that we could have our LGBTQI+ community use to model their testimony after?
And let us know if you ever get down to Austin. Would love to host you in our house should you chose to avail yourself of this opportunity.
Masha
Hi Erin, Thank you so much for all the work you're doing and the constant vigilance it clearly asks of you, as well as what I'm sure is a big psychological toll. We deeply appreciate you! I have a question about your sense of how the queer community at large is responding to all of this violent anti-trans legislation. I remember reading a tweet, which might have been from Gillian Branstetter, in which she quoted one of the people organizing this anti-trans agenda, and this person said something like, "If we isolated the T+ from the rest of the LGBT+ community, we'll be able to target them more effectively, because the queer community isn't as unified as they'd like to think." This wasn't the quote exactly, but that's the gist of it. (Maybe you know what I'm referring to?) So my question is whether this accurately describes the anti-trans strategies you're seeing? Is the anti-trans violence not only directly aimed at trans-plus people as the most vulnerable among the LGBT community, but also at dividing us from the stronger parts of our community? And from what you're seeing among LGBT+ activism, is the community remaining unified and rallying around our T+ people? I'm in rural Appalachia, and it's hard to see the larger political landscape from here. I don't think there's the kind of larger movement that supported, for example, Obergefell vs. Hodges. I'd love to be wrong about that. I'm wondering what you see?
Hi Erin! I’m a trans woman living in Oklahoma and every day I get more and more afraid of this state. Do you know of any transgender relocation programs or financial assistance programs that could be applicable to help get my trans partner and I out of here? Also, what’s your go to coffee order? Thank you!!
Hey Erin! Thank you for all you do. You are so so appreciated. My question is: What IS and what CAN the federal government do to stop the completely unethical state overreach we are seeing with tran legislation/medical guidelines? 😭
Hi Erin!
I am the mom of a 20 year old transgender woman in Ohio. My level of concern for her rights and her safety are a daily concern. I know you have seen and commented on the Ohio State Board of Education resolution that was adopted, although not enforceable. I saw that the new GOP house adopted a “resolution” with the same language. I’m unclear as what this means for the trans community at this point. My daughter is not in K-12, but she does go and speak publicly against anti transgender policies and resolutions at the state and local levels.
We have seen a mixed review of how the anti-trans policies/laws and introducing legislation will occur in Ohio. The dems had 22 republicans join them In selecting the new republican speaker for Ohio.
Do you have thoughts about this or a gut feeling as to what this could mean for our Ohio transgender community? Does the wording of the resolution that was adopted by the Ohio house GOP, have any real ramifications on us and our kids?
I truly appreciate you and all of your post and insights. Please take time for you and your own care too as you continue to support and care for us!
Kindly,
Heather
Hi Erin. First I’d like to thank you for all you do for our community. How are you handling a long distance relationship?
Erin,
Thank you so much for all being a source of news and information that’s important to the transgendered community that we would otherwise not know about.
I live in Nevada, is there anything I can do to to lend my support and voice to defend the rights of others as in the case of proposed forced medical detransition legislation in states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Kansas who embrace the agenda of groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, the American Principles Project, and the Coalition for Christian Virtue?
I'm an openly trans teacher in Kentucky. I'm getting worried this year. Laws like last year's Florida law that target teachers really concern me. Do you see those laws spreading to places like Kentucky? Am I right to be worried or an I just being dramatic?
Hi Erin, I know these various detransition bills prevent doctors from providing gender affirming care. Do they also prevent private insurance companies from covering it?
Hi Erin. I am a transgender woman living in Alexandria, VA. Do you have some specific organizations and actions I can look into to help prevent the passage of the recently proposed ban on medical transition in my state?
I think this is the first time I am writing this: I am a trans man. I finished my psychiatric training in one moderate risk state and am doing fellowship in another. Having a new environment has helped me to understand that I want to and need to transition.
I’m tired of letting fears of how I will be seen as a transitioning psychiatrist hold me back. If your map has shown me anything, it’s that our trans kids are under fire, and trans adults need to stop letting them take the bullets for us. We need to put on our protective gear together.
I also teach courses on transgender mental health and am intimately aware on the research about the benefits of transitioning. I can’t believe legislatures are letting people guide them who aren’t medical and psychiatric professionals in revoking the care of trans people. It’s genocide.
First do no harm.
My question is: do you have any tips for transitioning professionally and publicly?
Thank you for all you do. You have helped me to be brave in my journey.
Tam (now pronounced Tom)
Hi Erin! Thank you so much for such a well-researched, well-written newsletter! I have a boring question in that I was hoping we could chat at some point. I am a trans PhD student at the University of Washington, and one of my dissertation chapters is about how the media frames the "problems" that all of this legislation is purportedly "solving." If you're up for it, you can email me at iseder@uw.edu.
Firstly, Erin, thanks again for everything; all the work you do to bring the informaton to the World. Love from London, Ontario, Canada. Question: Is the exercise of compiling data on Trans individuals actually illegal? Thanks for your reply, and any other who want to reply. I am not a lawyer by the way. I am a curious individual.
Thank you Erin. Based on your review of legislative debates that occurred around the country last year, what group of speakers had the most sway or impact on Republican legislators? In our state the ONLY way to stop newly introduced legislation would be to convince Republicans to cross the aisle and vote against it. Only so many people will ever get to testify on these bills, so how do we maximize the impact? Would it be local pediatricians / physicians, educators, business leaders, phycologists, etc... I understand the power of personal testimony, but I can't see putting a trans child (even at 16+) in front of these hostile legislators to be ignored or worse. Who else can we try to recruit to build a stronger coalition?
Do you think we will EVER see a proper federal response to all the hate? I’m guessing no, but it would be nice to hear what someone on the ground thinks.
We see countless negative story after negative story, we rarely see wins to us anymore.
This is straight up insanity.
What are the best strategies to employ in fighting anti-trans legislation in deep red states with Republican supermajorities like Arkansas?