While this is good news, the war against GAC care - and trans people in general - by the right wing and the current administration is just getting started. They have no stopping point, as they have shown time and time again. We need to prepare for the worst. Look at what happened in Kansas yesterday - and, sadly, this was a state that for a few years had been able to hold back the tide of GAC bans even while it was surrounded by states that had enacted such bans.
I think it’s important to understand here why GAC for minors is such a potent target for the right wing. It’s because from their point of view, there is nothing worse than a trans person who is indistinguishable from a cis person. They WANT to be able to physically identify trans people so they can subject them to all manner of abuse and discrimination. They know that recommended care for trans youth, by avoiding puberty, is very likely to yield great physical and psychological results - and that is anathema to them. It’s all about control and domination, and so forcing trans kids through the wrong puberty is a feature not a bug. Of course there are also some adult transitioners who end up indistinguishable from cis people, and that is similarly intolerable for the extreme right wing. That’s why when GAC for minors goes down, adult care is next.
I believe what is happening to trans people and other minorities is not stable or sustainable, and that things will get worse, eventually extending beyond the targeted groups.
"They WANT to be able to physically identify trans people so they can subject them to all manner of abuse and discrimination. They know that recommended care for trans youth, by avoiding puberty, is very likely to yield great physical and psychological results - and that is anathema to them."
I agree 100% with this statement. The only thing I regret about transitioning is that I started so late in life. If you had asked 8yr old me (back in 1980) if I wanted to delay male puberty with the option of female puberty later I would not have hesitated for a second. I'll never know how much better my life would have been were I able to grow up as the girl I already knew I was even then. Instead decades were lost to repression and anger while testosterone has morphed my body into something that I am fundamentally not. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
You are hitting on something important, that it's a big game to these scoundrels, playing with people's lives, excusing it because said lives are in the margins, well God damn it, even *one person* being trans is important. Human lives matter. We will not roll over and accept discrimination, in the 21st century, over my dead body.
Thanks, Mira. Hearing good news in these dark days brings solace.
I especially appreciate the statement issued by the Phoenix based hospital, “At Prisma Community Care, we are relieved to lift the suspensions for our patients under 19 whose gender-affirming hormone therapy was halted by this discriminatory executive order. Our healthcare providers have resumed normal operations, ensuring the delivery of evidence-based, patient-centered care. We are in the process of notifying the affected patients to resume their care.”
It's nice to hear how they feel instead of meekly resuming care. May they set the example for others who have suspended care.
As a matter of tactics, these lawsuits are our most potent weapon (I should make up some analogy to the war in Ukraine, but too lazy and busy at the moment). Congress is what it is for the next two years, during which the rabid muskrats wreak havoc as fast as they can, leaving a lot of rubble even if a blue wave were to materialize in 2022. But the mixed bag of judges notwithstanding, they have the power to slow that destruction down tremendously (even without the Justice Dept.). So support every organization filing those legal actions as much as you can, along with raising your own voices here, on LinkedIn, Tiktok (another generation from me, but apparently very influential) and other places where they can be heard.
The Board of Visitors here at UVA is hosting a closed-doors meeting on Friday morning to discuss the future of transgender healthcare at UVA. Given the current make-up of the BoV, the implications of this meeting are terrifying.
A local C’ville coalition already has plans for a protest outside the UVA Rotunda starting at 8:45AM on Friday, Feb. 21. For more information or to sign a petition, please follow this link and thank you!
Thanks for sharing! I knew about this action, but couldn't remember if it was public or not so I exercised caution and chose not to share. I'll be there documenting the demonstration. Let's see if Mr. Jefferson's University will (continue to) suppress the first amendment rights of its students.
I'm glad to see more places surgically re-implanting their spines... but really, their starting position should've been "we will continue to provide appropriate, medically-indicated care to 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 until you come down here and make us stop."
That it was instead to play anticipatory save-ass for their executives' and shareholders' quarterly reports by withholding care until their lawyers told them it was safe to take their lips off of Trump's taint is an indictment of the entire medical industry.
Maybe I missed it in all that Erin has written, but what is the justification for raising the age to 19 instead of 18, given that 18 is considered the age of majority in the US?
I don't know this for sure, but I have a guess I'm pretty confident in. Medicaid defines children as those under 19 years of age and has for quite a long time. My assumption is that since they're banning the use of federal monies for GAC, they went with the most expansive definition of "child" in the government.
Probably because they are “testing the water” by extending the GAC ban to a subgroup of adults, with the plan that they will eventually extend it to all adults.
So grateful for this. Thank you. Also, sadly, other hospitals continue to halt care, even in light of this. Lurie Children's (Chicago) has issued a statement that they'll halt surgeries for under 19 (chest reconstruction was named). This statement came after these judges ruled.
I live in Charlottesville, not Richmond, but thankfully no one in my life has been directly impacted by this yet. I'm just a local activist fighting the good fight.
While this is good news, the war against GAC care - and trans people in general - by the right wing and the current administration is just getting started. They have no stopping point, as they have shown time and time again. We need to prepare for the worst. Look at what happened in Kansas yesterday - and, sadly, this was a state that for a few years had been able to hold back the tide of GAC bans even while it was surrounded by states that had enacted such bans.
I think it’s important to understand here why GAC for minors is such a potent target for the right wing. It’s because from their point of view, there is nothing worse than a trans person who is indistinguishable from a cis person. They WANT to be able to physically identify trans people so they can subject them to all manner of abuse and discrimination. They know that recommended care for trans youth, by avoiding puberty, is very likely to yield great physical and psychological results - and that is anathema to them. It’s all about control and domination, and so forcing trans kids through the wrong puberty is a feature not a bug. Of course there are also some adult transitioners who end up indistinguishable from cis people, and that is similarly intolerable for the extreme right wing. That’s why when GAC for minors goes down, adult care is next.
I believe what is happening to trans people and other minorities is not stable or sustainable, and that things will get worse, eventually extending beyond the targeted groups.
"They WANT to be able to physically identify trans people so they can subject them to all manner of abuse and discrimination. They know that recommended care for trans youth, by avoiding puberty, is very likely to yield great physical and psychological results - and that is anathema to them."
I agree 100% with this statement. The only thing I regret about transitioning is that I started so late in life. If you had asked 8yr old me (back in 1980) if I wanted to delay male puberty with the option of female puberty later I would not have hesitated for a second. I'll never know how much better my life would have been were I able to grow up as the girl I already knew I was even then. Instead decades were lost to repression and anger while testosterone has morphed my body into something that I am fundamentally not. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
You are hitting on something important, that it's a big game to these scoundrels, playing with people's lives, excusing it because said lives are in the margins, well God damn it, even *one person* being trans is important. Human lives matter. We will not roll over and accept discrimination, in the 21st century, over my dead body.
Thanks, Mira. Hearing good news in these dark days brings solace.
I especially appreciate the statement issued by the Phoenix based hospital, “At Prisma Community Care, we are relieved to lift the suspensions for our patients under 19 whose gender-affirming hormone therapy was halted by this discriminatory executive order. Our healthcare providers have resumed normal operations, ensuring the delivery of evidence-based, patient-centered care. We are in the process of notifying the affected patients to resume their care.”
It's nice to hear how they feel instead of meekly resuming care. May they set the example for others who have suspended care.
As a matter of tactics, these lawsuits are our most potent weapon (I should make up some analogy to the war in Ukraine, but too lazy and busy at the moment). Congress is what it is for the next two years, during which the rabid muskrats wreak havoc as fast as they can, leaving a lot of rubble even if a blue wave were to materialize in 2022. But the mixed bag of judges notwithstanding, they have the power to slow that destruction down tremendously (even without the Justice Dept.). So support every organization filing those legal actions as much as you can, along with raising your own voices here, on LinkedIn, Tiktok (another generation from me, but apparently very influential) and other places where they can be heard.
The Board of Visitors here at UVA is hosting a closed-doors meeting on Friday morning to discuss the future of transgender healthcare at UVA. Given the current make-up of the BoV, the implications of this meeting are terrifying.
A local C’ville coalition already has plans for a protest outside the UVA Rotunda starting at 8:45AM on Friday, Feb. 21. For more information or to sign a petition, please follow this link and thank you!
https://cvilleunited4transfutures.org/
Thanks for sharing! I knew about this action, but couldn't remember if it was public or not so I exercised caution and chose not to share. I'll be there documenting the demonstration. Let's see if Mr. Jefferson's University will (continue to) suppress the first amendment rights of its students.
I'm glad to see more places surgically re-implanting their spines... but really, their starting position should've been "we will continue to provide appropriate, medically-indicated care to 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 until you come down here and make us stop."
That it was instead to play anticipatory save-ass for their executives' and shareholders' quarterly reports by withholding care until their lawyers told them it was safe to take their lips off of Trump's taint is an indictment of the entire medical industry.
Maybe I missed it in all that Erin has written, but what is the justification for raising the age to 19 instead of 18, given that 18 is considered the age of majority in the US?
I don't know this for sure, but I have a guess I'm pretty confident in. Medicaid defines children as those under 19 years of age and has for quite a long time. My assumption is that since they're banning the use of federal monies for GAC, they went with the most expansive definition of "child" in the government.
I've not heard that explanation, but it makes sense to me.
Probably because they are “testing the water” by extending the GAC ban to a subgroup of adults, with the plan that they will eventually extend it to all adults.
Since they've done so well with reproductive care by calling it all abortion, that wouldn't surprise me.
So grateful for this. Thank you. Also, sadly, other hospitals continue to halt care, even in light of this. Lurie Children's (Chicago) has issued a statement that they'll halt surgeries for under 19 (chest reconstruction was named). This statement came after these judges ruled.
Any word on NYC hospitals NYU Langone and Mt Sinai?
I feel like this is a good thing, and will be an ongoing trend going forward. The Hippocratic Oath sorta works that way. Do no harm right?
Thank you, Erin. Forever thank you.
This is good news -- and these days, we can use all the good news we can find! Thanks for spreading the word!
Glad to hear this here in Phoenix! Have you heard any updates from Phoenix Children's Hospital?
For tonight, at least, perhaps I can sleep a bit more! Thank you!
Which ones remain in obedience to the illegal EO ? Praytell?
Seems like they could use polite persuasion.
Unless something's changed in the last 24 hours, VCU is still refusing GAC.
Thank you.
If that has affected you or anyone you love, I regret that and feel for you.
I live in Charlottesville, not Richmond, but thankfully no one in my life has been directly impacted by this yet. I'm just a local activist fighting the good fight.