A new bill in Florida would mandate health insurance plans cover conversion therapy, according to the bill's sponsor. It also bans trans people from updating their drivers license gender markers.
In 1932 Jews made up around 1% of Germany's population. The Nazis blamed Jews for all the ills of society and passed ever greater draconian laws against a very small number of people that ultimately lead to extermination. Trans folx make up around 1% of the population and Republicans (neo-fascists) see them as a great threat to society and pass evermore draconian laws that will end with extermination. Fascist elevate a relatively small group of powerless human beings to be the great enemy. If you ever wondered if what happened in Nazi Germany could happen in the USA, stop wondering and see that it is happening. The only question is what will you do to stop it.
The other bad part of the insurance provision in this bill is that it would essentially require insurance companies to charge more for policies that cover gender-affirming care (in addition to requiring that they cover conversion therapy and detransition treatment), and then also to have alternate policies available that do NOT cover gender-affirming care. While I have no problem with it covering detransition treatment for the small percentage of people who need it, I do believe that the requirement for lower cost plans that don't cover gender-affirming care will overwhelmingly result in employers choosing the lower cost plans instead of ones that cover gender-affirming care, resulting in even more barriers to receiving care in a state that has already heavily restricted access even for adults. This bill is most definitely less bad than the OTHER biological sex bill, HB 1233, but it would increase the risk of people experiencing discrimination and violence, especially if combined with other bills that are also making their way through the Florida legislature this session. It's a very multi-pronged approach attacking us from all sides, and it sucks being trans in Florida right now, and it sucks even more being the kind of person who is incapable of ignoring what's happening and who understands the complexities of all of the many different ways these bills can impact our lives. :(
Anna is amazing. She was at every medical board meeting I attended, always debunking the lies and misinformation. We need to elevate her every chance we can get. Thank you, as always, Erin.
So are they proposing just to prohibit drivers’ license sex marker changes going forward, or are they also proposing to try to revert all the changes that have been done in the past?
I feel like no amount of testimony or effort against these bills does any good anymore....if the GOP controls the legislature, this is likely going to be run through like a steamroller regardless of how eloquently and passionately opponents speak out against it. Courts are really the only possible redress against this stuff in the deeply red states...sadly.
Using the testimony and legislators' attempts to dance around it as evidence in courts is part of why their bigot bills are widely failing when challenged on legality.
Of particular concern to me is that it isn't just saying that the insurance has to cover conversion therapy, it is saying that if an insurance company doesn't cover conversion therapy it ISN'T ALLOWED to cover gender affirming care. This looks like it could be a slight-of-hand trick to me, similar to how last year's ban in SB 254 affected 80% of trans adults without outright saying that would be the end result. A legal or insurance expert needs to weigh in on the subject, but I suspect that it isn't logistically feasible for any private insurance company to cover conversion therapy for several reasons (no reputable certified practitioners in-network, no actuarial data for setting prices for the coverage, etc) and so this bill could force them to drop coverage for gender affirming care because covering conversion therapy isn't actually feasible even if they wanted to. I don't want to sound too alarming because I don't know if this is true, but I also don't want to get blind-sided if that is what would happen.
Well, it certainly won’t cost them much to “cover” it--since the number of folks wanting/‘needing’ to access it will be vanishingly small. (and re/‘needing’: how does “medical necessity”--a requirement for insurance to cover care--exist for an intervention known to cause harm? Past the point of absurdity.)
What you are saying makes sense. I think you're absolutely right. It's a coward's way of sidestepping and outlawing GAC. As a parent, I'm so damned angry at the U.S. right now. Angry at the Republicans AND the Democrats, who seem to be busy doing everything except standing up and proclaiming that these bills are WRONG AND UNAMERICAN!!
The lifestyle that results in embracing who we really are is hard enough. I suspected to get some crap from society, which is why it took me 4 years to embrace who I really am. NOW I know what I was afraid of back then (2011-2015). I couldn't even read all of this, I'm so pissed. How dare a group of people openly look like fascists, racists & Nazis in this country. While a shit load of observers stand by to see what will happen instead of pushing back. Looks like we have very few allies. The GOP are acting like hate & fear is the only thing they know how to run on. Politicizing who we are and what we're about is disgusting. I certainly didn't embrace this, thinking I'm making a statement of any kind. Same when I stopped fighting that I thought I was a lesbian back in the 1970's, because I had no language for being trans. THIS is a nightmare and literally makes me sick. Where does it end?
I keep telling people this is like a big snowball running downhill, getting bigger & faster. We're at the bottom of the hill to be destroyed by that thing. Eradication? How dare this happen in AmeriKKKa.
Ridiculous. Hydra-like, this old BS, debunked "therapy" rises again and again. Same battles we must fight over and over. Different historical context but same old tired discourses.
Friendly states need to make it possible to easily get driver's licenses/IDs in their states (e.g. easing/looking the other way on residency requirements). I simply refuse to out myself as trans every time I get pulled over or buy alcohol.
What are you talking about, ReneJax? Vanessa needed to explain what she meant by those words, but after looking them up, I don't think you're responding to what she said. I, for one, experienced thoughts of being a boy when I was 6 years old, so I can throw out ROGD. I had given up when puberty happened and I screamed at my mother that I wanted a sex-change at 13 when I had no idea what that was. My soul was screaming but my dysphoria came about much sooner than that. Those other 2 words seem nightmarish to me and have been debunked by medical professionals.
So just because sex change surgery ends up being wrong for one person, we should gatekeep it for everyone else? That makes no sense. And GAC encompasses MUCH more than just surgery. You should know that. If you don't, please educate yourself.
I do hear what you are saying about the over-zealousness of some of today's youth. However. Before any large societal shift in thinking, there's usually a big dramatic swing towards whatever that is, before an eventual course correction back towards center. IMO, that's what's happening now with youth and gender. Will some of them end up regretting their decision to change their gender? Of course. But I'm betting that almost zero of those who go on to de-transition never had any surgery anyway.
The regret comes from having surgeries that can't really be changed back without another surgery. What do you think they're regretting? Things that change their appearance permanently. The media finds them, or they go to the media to complain. LOOK IT UP!
You're arguing with a ghost, ReneJax. Nobody is saying what you're saying, Just you. Wow! There is some weirdness going on in this thread. Don't project that whining with people who aren't saying what you're thinking. Absolutes like that destroy the art of clear communication. Nobody is saying 'ALL' anything. All or nothing? Hmmmm... Yes, when the medical industry debunks something, IT IS DEBUNKED! Doesn't matter who of them doesn't agree. You have some crazy arguments.
Anyone who comes to the defense of Florida's anti-trans bills is either ignorant of what is in the bills and ignorant of the openly anti-trans bigotry expressed by Florida politicians, or is an anti-trans bigot.
I'm talking about the Florida bills and you are responding with talking points so this isn't a conversation. I'm not going to help you advertise whatever it is you're selling so I'm done with you.
We do not need to tolerate bad faith arguments under the pretext of "rational discussion", which is what every bigot such as yourself pivots to when called out on their bigotry. Puberty blockers are commonly used in cis children with precocious puberty, and no one questions whether they are "too young" to make such a "major decision". In fact no one asks this about medical care for children at all in general (it is left up to children, their parents, their doctors, and accepted standards of care), EXCEPT when it is trans kids. THEN all of a sudden all the "questions" appear. YOU are the one who needs to grow up, and no one else.
Hmmm, attempting a modicum of decorum here . . . but suddenly the stench of baseless and purposeful egregious extreme right-wing supportive cannon fodder attempts to permeate an otherwise intelligent and informative alert to the relentless legislative attacks on our TRANSGENDER community.
Your personal journey is just that, YOURS! You detransitioned, your choice, good for you. I sincerely hope you are happy with your personal choices, however your comments against our community appear otherwise. While I respect your freedom of expression, your journey is NOT representative of our community as a whole. To infer or imply otherwise baseless unsubstantiated claims is disingenuous, harmful and highly destructive to the very existence of our community.
Q: What has the transgender community ever personally done to you to warrant attacking us, whom are simply living This Life as our true self? You are supposedly now living your true self. Why is it that persons detransitioned such as yourself and others actively seek to burn down the very community you once embraced? But then in a moment of retrospect, perhaps that is your goal?
Why are people saying you detransitioned? Did you? Are you for or against anti-trans bills?
I have noticed an increase of a bunch of young people saying they are transgender, aren't, and detransition. I am an advocate of therapy before anybody does something rash, and GCS surgeons went from questioning those surgeries to not questioning them & just performing them. Those are the kids that suddenly realize they're not transgender after all and regret their decision. I believe without therapy, those kids jump the gun to transition and make us all look crazy about our clear-cut decision to do so.
Is that kind of what you're saying here?
Social media has created an eerie kind of group think-tank where it seems cool to be this way when it isn't at all. This is not a cool thing to do! For me, it was a necessity, not trendy.
In 1932 Jews made up around 1% of Germany's population. The Nazis blamed Jews for all the ills of society and passed ever greater draconian laws against a very small number of people that ultimately lead to extermination. Trans folx make up around 1% of the population and Republicans (neo-fascists) see them as a great threat to society and pass evermore draconian laws that will end with extermination. Fascist elevate a relatively small group of powerless human beings to be the great enemy. If you ever wondered if what happened in Nazi Germany could happen in the USA, stop wondering and see that it is happening. The only question is what will you do to stop it.
“First they came for the Latinos, and I did not speak up because I didn’t speak Spanish.”
“Then they came for the Palestinians, and I did not speak up because I hated Arabs.”
“Then they came for the trans women, and I didn’t speak up because I find them disgusting.”
“Then they came for the pregnant women, and I didn’t speak up because I believe life begins at conception.”
“Then they came for me, and there was no one to speak for me because the people who would have spoken on my behalf had already died.”
The other bad part of the insurance provision in this bill is that it would essentially require insurance companies to charge more for policies that cover gender-affirming care (in addition to requiring that they cover conversion therapy and detransition treatment), and then also to have alternate policies available that do NOT cover gender-affirming care. While I have no problem with it covering detransition treatment for the small percentage of people who need it, I do believe that the requirement for lower cost plans that don't cover gender-affirming care will overwhelmingly result in employers choosing the lower cost plans instead of ones that cover gender-affirming care, resulting in even more barriers to receiving care in a state that has already heavily restricted access even for adults. This bill is most definitely less bad than the OTHER biological sex bill, HB 1233, but it would increase the risk of people experiencing discrimination and violence, especially if combined with other bills that are also making their way through the Florida legislature this session. It's a very multi-pronged approach attacking us from all sides, and it sucks being trans in Florida right now, and it sucks even more being the kind of person who is incapable of ignoring what's happening and who understands the complexities of all of the many different ways these bills can impact our lives. :(
These heartless scumbags must be defeated.
Anna is amazing. She was at every medical board meeting I attended, always debunking the lies and misinformation. We need to elevate her every chance we can get. Thank you, as always, Erin.
They are really pushing for the guillotines, aren’t they?
So are they proposing just to prohibit drivers’ license sex marker changes going forward, or are they also proposing to try to revert all the changes that have been done in the past?
I feel like no amount of testimony or effort against these bills does any good anymore....if the GOP controls the legislature, this is likely going to be run through like a steamroller regardless of how eloquently and passionately opponents speak out against it. Courts are really the only possible redress against this stuff in the deeply red states...sadly.
Using the testimony and legislators' attempts to dance around it as evidence in courts is part of why their bigot bills are widely failing when challenged on legality.
This is why we have to keep showing up in mass and calling out every single thing.
I have the same question about driver’s license changes.
With his nice suit and perfect hair, I get icky vibes from him. He’s an abuser.
Def wife beater chic
Of particular concern to me is that it isn't just saying that the insurance has to cover conversion therapy, it is saying that if an insurance company doesn't cover conversion therapy it ISN'T ALLOWED to cover gender affirming care. This looks like it could be a slight-of-hand trick to me, similar to how last year's ban in SB 254 affected 80% of trans adults without outright saying that would be the end result. A legal or insurance expert needs to weigh in on the subject, but I suspect that it isn't logistically feasible for any private insurance company to cover conversion therapy for several reasons (no reputable certified practitioners in-network, no actuarial data for setting prices for the coverage, etc) and so this bill could force them to drop coverage for gender affirming care because covering conversion therapy isn't actually feasible even if they wanted to. I don't want to sound too alarming because I don't know if this is true, but I also don't want to get blind-sided if that is what would happen.
Well, it certainly won’t cost them much to “cover” it--since the number of folks wanting/‘needing’ to access it will be vanishingly small. (and re/‘needing’: how does “medical necessity”--a requirement for insurance to cover care--exist for an intervention known to cause harm? Past the point of absurdity.)
What you are saying makes sense. I think you're absolutely right. It's a coward's way of sidestepping and outlawing GAC. As a parent, I'm so damned angry at the U.S. right now. Angry at the Republicans AND the Democrats, who seem to be busy doing everything except standing up and proclaiming that these bills are WRONG AND UNAMERICAN!!
The lifestyle that results in embracing who we really are is hard enough. I suspected to get some crap from society, which is why it took me 4 years to embrace who I really am. NOW I know what I was afraid of back then (2011-2015). I couldn't even read all of this, I'm so pissed. How dare a group of people openly look like fascists, racists & Nazis in this country. While a shit load of observers stand by to see what will happen instead of pushing back. Looks like we have very few allies. The GOP are acting like hate & fear is the only thing they know how to run on. Politicizing who we are and what we're about is disgusting. I certainly didn't embrace this, thinking I'm making a statement of any kind. Same when I stopped fighting that I thought I was a lesbian back in the 1970's, because I had no language for being trans. THIS is a nightmare and literally makes me sick. Where does it end?
I keep telling people this is like a big snowball running downhill, getting bigger & faster. We're at the bottom of the hill to be destroyed by that thing. Eradication? How dare this happen in AmeriKKKa.
Ridiculous. Hydra-like, this old BS, debunked "therapy" rises again and again. Same battles we must fight over and over. Different historical context but same old tired discourses.
Friendly states need to make it possible to easily get driver's licenses/IDs in their states (e.g. easing/looking the other way on residency requirements). I simply refuse to out myself as trans every time I get pulled over or buy alcohol.
And "conversion therapy" is MALPRACTICE.
Appalling.
JFC! Why are people?
Ha! Let's see how long it is before the insurance companies say, "Uh... you don't tell us what to cover." What stupidity, ignorance, and hatred.
Oh, so we're now rehashing the ROGD/"social contagion" and "desistance" myths and advocating medical gatekeeping. GTFOOH.
You well know that gender affirming care encompasses more than bottom surgeries. You are intellectually dishonest so you can fuck right off.
What are you talking about, ReneJax? Vanessa needed to explain what she meant by those words, but after looking them up, I don't think you're responding to what she said. I, for one, experienced thoughts of being a boy when I was 6 years old, so I can throw out ROGD. I had given up when puberty happened and I screamed at my mother that I wanted a sex-change at 13 when I had no idea what that was. My soul was screaming but my dysphoria came about much sooner than that. Those other 2 words seem nightmarish to me and have been debunked by medical professionals.
So just because sex change surgery ends up being wrong for one person, we should gatekeep it for everyone else? That makes no sense. And GAC encompasses MUCH more than just surgery. You should know that. If you don't, please educate yourself.
I do hear what you are saying about the over-zealousness of some of today's youth. However. Before any large societal shift in thinking, there's usually a big dramatic swing towards whatever that is, before an eventual course correction back towards center. IMO, that's what's happening now with youth and gender. Will some of them end up regretting their decision to change their gender? Of course. But I'm betting that almost zero of those who go on to de-transition never had any surgery anyway.
Long story short: It's called progress.
The regret comes from having surgeries that can't really be changed back without another surgery. What do you think they're regretting? Things that change their appearance permanently. The media finds them, or they go to the media to complain. LOOK IT UP!
You're arguing with a ghost, ReneJax. Nobody is saying what you're saying, Just you. Wow! There is some weirdness going on in this thread. Don't project that whining with people who aren't saying what you're thinking. Absolutes like that destroy the art of clear communication. Nobody is saying 'ALL' anything. All or nothing? Hmmmm... Yes, when the medical industry debunks something, IT IS DEBUNKED! Doesn't matter who of them doesn't agree. You have some crazy arguments.
Anyone who comes to the defense of Florida's anti-trans bills is either ignorant of what is in the bills and ignorant of the openly anti-trans bigotry expressed by Florida politicians, or is an anti-trans bigot.
I'm talking about the Florida bills and you are responding with talking points so this isn't a conversation. I'm not going to help you advertise whatever it is you're selling so I'm done with you.
We do not need to tolerate bad faith arguments under the pretext of "rational discussion", which is what every bigot such as yourself pivots to when called out on their bigotry. Puberty blockers are commonly used in cis children with precocious puberty, and no one questions whether they are "too young" to make such a "major decision". In fact no one asks this about medical care for children at all in general (it is left up to children, their parents, their doctors, and accepted standards of care), EXCEPT when it is trans kids. THEN all of a sudden all the "questions" appear. YOU are the one who needs to grow up, and no one else.
Hmmm, attempting a modicum of decorum here . . . but suddenly the stench of baseless and purposeful egregious extreme right-wing supportive cannon fodder attempts to permeate an otherwise intelligent and informative alert to the relentless legislative attacks on our TRANSGENDER community.
Your personal journey is just that, YOURS! You detransitioned, your choice, good for you. I sincerely hope you are happy with your personal choices, however your comments against our community appear otherwise. While I respect your freedom of expression, your journey is NOT representative of our community as a whole. To infer or imply otherwise baseless unsubstantiated claims is disingenuous, harmful and highly destructive to the very existence of our community.
Q: What has the transgender community ever personally done to you to warrant attacking us, whom are simply living This Life as our true self? You are supposedly now living your true self. Why is it that persons detransitioned such as yourself and others actively seek to burn down the very community you once embraced? But then in a moment of retrospect, perhaps that is your goal?
I'm completely confused here.
Why are people saying you detransitioned? Did you? Are you for or against anti-trans bills?
I have noticed an increase of a bunch of young people saying they are transgender, aren't, and detransition. I am an advocate of therapy before anybody does something rash, and GCS surgeons went from questioning those surgeries to not questioning them & just performing them. Those are the kids that suddenly realize they're not transgender after all and regret their decision. I believe without therapy, those kids jump the gun to transition and make us all look crazy about our clear-cut decision to do so.
Is that kind of what you're saying here?
Social media has created an eerie kind of group think-tank where it seems cool to be this way when it isn't at all. This is not a cool thing to do! For me, it was a necessity, not trendy.
Fascists do love genocide