#Gender-Affirming Care

[elierlick]

Wait times, high costs, and gatekeeping often turn deadly for trans people. Mastectomies are a 140-year-old procedure that cis women receive with ease. Trans people, however, are often forced to obtain the procedure from costly specialists. The New Zealand wait time for bottom surgery is 10-12 years. https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/05/17/trans-teen-mastectomy-new-zealand/

[sleepycatten]

Getting gender-affirming care from NHS England as a trans person can be like

Patient: I'm trans. I'd like gender-affirming healthcare please. NHS: No. Patient: WTF? NHS: Come back in a month. If you're still trans, we'll consider it. Patient: WTAF? NHS: Urgh. Fine. I'll refer you to a gender identity clinic. Patient: How long will that take? NHS: I dunno. Maybe 2-5 years for a first appointment, depending on which clinic you're referred to. Patient: WTF? Can't you give me healthcare now? At least HRT? NHS: Fuck no! We're not qualified for that! Patient: But you do it all the time for cis people. NHS: That's entirely different and no, I won't explain why. Patient: Urgh. Fine. If I get care from a private clinic, will you at least agree to work with them on a shared care basis? NHS: Hell no! Patient: Not even if I choose a clinic where the folks running it also still work for the NHS? NHS: No. Patient: WTF? I'll just turn to DIY HRT then. NHS: No! Don't do that! My sudden deep knowledge of HRT tells me that this will be unsafe! Patient: Then give me an alternative! NHS: No.

[crewtawn]

Rare-Pair || Fausdet (?)

I know people are more fond of rare-pairs than they used to be. Forgive me for being a bit nervous on this! I've been a fan of Guilty Gear for a little while now, and I just started to hyper fixate. More rambling and extras under the cut...

I'd like to petition to call this pair "Gender-Affirming Care"!

My boyfriend's favorite character is Faust, and mine is Bridget (I'm ftm) so I really like them together.

Both are trying to be their best selves. Bridget is lost. A young woman (around her 20s, as shes a similar age to May, who is around 23?) in a world that's out to get her. Faust, a mentally unstable man, lost to the opinions of others. I can see them coming together to push the other to open up about themselves and help the other find what they're really looking for in life.

Faust helps Bridget decide one what medical transition things she would or wouldn't want to do.. Bridget would show him what a true companion looks like even after something so horrible had happened.

They heal each other. Faust calls Bridget pretty and that even if she didn't transition medically she's still very pretty. Both of them gush to Elphelt and she gets em hooked up. Hehe..

[xiaq]

It is absolutely wild to me how Republican news outlets and politicians try to sensationalize things that don't even exist. Yet these fabricated issues are having serious disastrous effects on real-life people's health and safety. B was just talking to one of his old "friends" and he was trying to convince us to donate to the campaign of a governor whose platform rests primarily on anti-trans legislation. And B was like...no?? Are you aware of his platform? And this guy says, with absolute confidence, that this governor's platform is about protecting kids. Because it's ok if an adult wants to mutilate their body, but we shouldn't be allowing doctors to surgically change children's bodies. Which is why gender-affirming care should be illegal.

The mental gymnastics. Except he genuinely thought that "gender-affirming care" was synonymous with "surgical intervention." Gender-affirming care for a 10-year-old is therapy and support and letting them wear the clothes and use the pronouns/name they want. Gender-affirming care for a teenager might also include blockers and/or hormone therapy (or not! I've only known one person who started hormones before they turned 18, and I specifically worked with queer kids when I was a professor/teacher). For some people, gender-affirming care is solely external and doesn't involve physical intervention at all. And it is so, extremely, rare for someone to receive surgery as part of gender-affirming care when they are a minor. Yet this is what so many people seem to think gender-affirming care means. Surgery.

This is not an accident. This is targeted and malicious. This is misdirection by people who know better trying to sway the opinions of people who don't. Listen. I don't know what my point is, here. I just needed to vent. I guess it just goes to show that, now more than ever, if you're going to get into a debate with someone, make sure you understand what they mean when they use certain terminology or you're certain to get nowhere. Because this man was so confident he knew what he was talking about until we did a quick vocabulary backtrack. And when confronted with the fact that maybe he hadn't, actually, been fed the truth, he suddenly had a lot less to say. Ugh.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

A clear choice for trans people: Hate, indifference – or fight back

By Melinda Butterfield

However individual trans people and allies choose to vote or choose not to vote, what’s most important is to recognize that we must organize and prepare to fight for our right to live – no matter the outcome on Election Day.

[stephobrien]

For a long time now, transgender people, allies, and medical and psychiatric professionals have been warning that attacks on gender-affirming care, privacy, and bodily autonomy harm kids.

Now, those warnings have been horrifyingly validated.

Researchers have found that states that passed anti-trans laws saw suicide attempt rates rise by up to 72% among transgender and nonbinary youth aged 13 to 17, and by 44% among those aged 13 to 24.

This study surveyed over 61,000 transgender and nonbinary people, and controlled for factors such as state by state differences, race, age, and the impact of COVID-19.

You can read the full article here:

It's been said many times, and now there's yet another piece of proof:

Transphobia is not about protecting kids.

Transphobes like terfs pretend they're trying to save children from some sort of evil "gender ideology," but - as usual - science proves that their bigotry only hurts the people they're pretending to protect.

And yet, right-wing politicians keep doubling down on their anti-trans attacks.

They've been warned again and again that their hate-based legislation hurts kids. They don't get to claim ignorance as an excuse.

They're knowingly choosing to endanger children's lives for the sake of their own bigotry and careers.

Remember this when casting your votes.

[autisticadvocacy]

ASAN strongly believes that all transgender people should have access to gender-affirming care, and we are deeply troubled by any use of autism as a justification for transphobic efforts that would create barriers to care.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The Trump closing argument: you hate trans people, don't you? If not, I'll find other people for you to hate. Donald Trump and the Republican party are pushing an agenda of “division, chaos and hate” by spending tens of millions on ads attacking transgender people, advocates said, as the right wing intensifies its anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. The GOP has spent more than $65m on ads targeting trans people, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, with the former president’s most frequently aired ad targeting Kamala Harris over her support for gender-affirming care.

Television ads have also been running in tight statewide races further down the ballot, including in Ohio, Montana and Wisconsin, with Republicans returning to hyperbolic, far-right talking points that proved unsuccessful during the 2022 midterm elections. “The Maga [Make America great again] agenda is one of division, chaos and hate,” said Brandon Wolf, a spokesperson for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The Republican Party of Colorado has called to "burn all Pride flags" in a shocking Pride Month message to its followers.

The state's GOP recently sent out a campaign email that referred to LGBTQ+ people as "barbaric," "creeps," “degenerates,” "godless," "groomers," "predators," “radicals,” and “reprobates." The message also linked to a sermon from Pastor Mark Driscoll, which proclaimed in the video thumbnail "God hates flags," wordplay on a popular conservative slogan that uses a derogatory slur.

"The month of June has arrived and, once again, the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy, and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children," the email stated, via Denver journalist Kyle Clark.

The email then referred to gender-affirming care as "barbaric medical procedures" and falsely claimed the treatment is "irreversible." While surgical procedures — which are rarely, if ever, performed on minors — are permanent, puberty blockers and many side effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are reversible.

"These degenerates want to violate our children and their innocence," the message continued.

After Clark posted the emails to social media, the official account for the Colorado GOP responded with a gif of pixelated fire and the message: "Burn all #pride flags this June."

The email is not the first viciously anti-LGBTQ+ message to appear in Colorado Republicans' inboxes — the party sent out another email just two weeks ago that called for parents in the state to take their kids out of public schools because Democrats are trying “to turn more kids trans.”

The May message referred to transgender identity as a "fetish" and "disturbing behavior which should be treated rather then [sic] encouraged." It also claimed that using a person’s pronouns does “not make any sense and causes gender confusion.”

[gwydionmisha]

Have something you want to tell your Congress Critters? If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

[eternal-echoes]

Other countries should learn the lessons from the UK (and from Sweden and Finland). First, there is insufficient evidence to justify the general clinical use of puberty suppression or cross-sex hormone use in youth experiencing gender dysphoria. Second, a treatment regimen that focuses exclusively on gender dysphoria, ignoring co-occurring mental health conditions, will not provide optimal care for young people. The shut-down of GIDS is not merely a restructuring move in response to the clinic’s failed operations—it ’s a move away from the “gender-affirming” intervention care model, and toward whole-person-affirming care that is rooted in developmental psychology.

Link to full article

[zmyaro]

‼ Urgent Health Insurance/Trans Care Question ‼

Someone I know had a gender-affirming surgery recently that was supposed to be covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The surgery was done in two parts—one last fall, and one the following spring. It was always planned to be done as two parts; that is how the surgeon always does that surgery. BCBSM is now claiming the second half of the surgery was purely a “cosmetic” surgery because xe has “no history of gender dysphoria”—directly contradicting xer doctors and the documentation BCBSM already accepted to cover the first half of the surgery. BCBSM is now claiming xe is personally on the hook for the >$7,200 bill BCBSM was supposed to cover, and has denied 3 appeals (most recently this morning). What options does xe have?

[zinniajones]

Florida Adult Trans Care Ban SB 254, June 3, 2023 interim update

(from www.floridaban.com)

INTERIM UPDATE, June 3, 2023:

Rainbow Progress Fund provides a firsthand account of the joint Boards of Medicine committee hearing on June 1, including false and eugenicist claims by Board member Patrick Hunter (a member of the anti-trans Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and Catholic Medical Association) that transitioning "lowers IQ" of trans people.

The committee failed to advance any of the necessary informed consent forms, mandated by SB 254, that are needed by MDs and DOs before they can resume providing new prescriptions. This means that until these forms become available, MDs and DOs cannot prescribe their established trans patients any new change in dosage of their current medication, or add any new medication to their existing HRT regimen.

Simone Chriss of Southern Legal Counsel, a nonprofit currently bringing litigation against SB 254 and its adult care restrictions, explains the current effective policy and status of prescribing restrictions on MDs/DOs as of June 3, 2023:

“While no draft consent forms have been released yet, the Boards are expected to file an emergency rule soon that will provide clarification about continuation of care for patients while the informed consent forms are being developed. The Boards’ discussions over the past two days indicated that, as we’d shared previously, physicians can continue prescribing to patients who provided informed consent and were first prescribed prior to May 17th. The emergency rule should provide guidance on whether and how new prescriptions and adjustments to medications can be prescribed prior to the adoption of informed consent forms. No emergency rule language has been posted yet on the Florida Administrative Register.”

Rainbow Progress Fund explains the unacceptable medical danger of the current situation for trans patients: "Those currently on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will not be able to adjust their medication until the new consent forms are finalized. This delay poses potential risks to patients whose hormone levels may require immediate attention."

To be clear, even when these forms become available, this does not and will not change SB 254's statutory ban on NPs and APRNs prescribing gender-affirming care. As 80% of trans adults on HRT in Florida receive their prescriptions via an NP or APRN, the effects of SB 254 have permanently disrupted the established prescriptions and ongoing medical treatment of thousands of trans adults across the state. SB 254 continuously jeopardizes the trans community's health and must still be mitigated in its entirety.

No other state has ever imposed SB 254's novel and selective restrictions on NPs and APRNs, who have prescribing authority just as doctors and physicians can prescribe medication. NPs and APRNs in all other states - and in Florida until SB 254 was enacted this May - have always been able to prescribe all gender-affirming hormone therapy, including schedule III medications like testosterone. "NPs have the prescriptive authority to prescribe controlled substances in all fifty states." (Zhang & Patel, 2022) There has never been any reason for this unique new restriction on NPs alone, prohibiting gender-affirming prescriptions alone, other than Florida's intentional targeting of the ongoing medically necessary treatment of almost all trans adults in the state.

The committee concluded that their next meeting will occur in three weeks, on June 23 at an undetermined location or video call, to continue considering the required adult consent forms. This is completely unacceptable. The Boards must issue the mandated informed consent forms immediately in order to restore the ability of MDs and DOs to freely manage and prescribe any new or changed medically necessary treatment for their trans patients, even as this is itself utterly insufficient to mitigate the overwhelming danger to health and life caused by SB 254.

None of this is over until SB 254 is completely reversed.

We will continue to provide updates as we confirm any further policy actions by the Boards and their impacts on trans patients and our providers. The policy chart below will be updated to incorporate this information when it becomes available. Thank you to the trans community of Florida for closely monitoring this situation and assisting us, and to our allies here and abroad. The world will see that we are not alone and you are a part of making that happen. Your strength and unstoppable spirit in an unimaginable situation is what will ensure we survive. As long as Florida exists, Transgender Florida will be a fact. (Zinnia Jones, June 3, 2023)

Please support Florida's local gender clinics and their nurse practitioners as they work to survive this crisis and continue providing care to trans Floridians: https://spektrum.health/DONATE/

[the-semicolonoscopy]

Holy shit, Ohio's republican governor just vetoed a bill that would have banned gender-affirming health care! I'm stunned. And so, so grateful. Wow!

[intelligentchristianlady]

In Case You Haven't Heard

The Attorneys General of Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah want to be able to access out-of-state medical records of state residents who have gone out of state for medical care — not just for abortion, but also for gender-affirming care. (x)

You know what to do in November 2024.