#youth health care

[clownrecess]

You are not gross, or bad, if you struggle with hygenine. Its okay! Last night I brushed my teeth, which was a big achievement for me! Whatever achievement you made, I'm proud of you. And if you didnt make an achievement, I'm still proud of you. I love you so much, and your ability to take care of yourself is irrelevant to that love. /p

[floral-ashes]

To trans folks in Alberta, and especially trans youth—these times are difficult, but remember that we have been preparing for them. We were made for these times. Let your light shine through. Use it as a beacon to find your people. Find love, friendship, community. We will win.

I know we will win, because I know we can love ourselves more than they can ever hate us. We will win, not out of faith but out of persistence.

It won’t be an easy road, and it may be a long one. But the light of humanity always pokes through the darkness, however dimly.

[punkpandapatrixk]

I’m not in a competition with Destiny. I’m where I’m supposed to be for my Highest Good. I’m the best girl in my Universe.

[sage-writes-n-coins-mogai]

What’s so “sinister” about a child knowing their rights? Being freaked out by doctor-patient confidentiality is not showing concern, you just want to control your kid because you view children as not deserving of privacy and autonomy. There are plenty of reasons why a 12-13 year would want to speak to their doctor without their caregivers present:

They could have questions about their growing body that they’re too embarrassed/scared to ask their parents because FUN FACT! Not all parents are safe to people to talk to!

Someone in their life could be abusing in some way them and either their parents don’t believe them or they’re too scared/ashamed to talk to anyone else about it and the doctor-patient confidentiality could make them feel safe enough to speak up!

Their parents are sex negative/strict Christians and the child wants to expriment sexually but don’t want to get pregnant, get someone else pregnant or get STI/Ds, their doctor can provide ways to avoid just that, like contraceptives, because GUESS WHAT?? Teenagers are going to have sex with each other whether you approve of it or not!

Their parents could be an anti vaxxers and the child doesn’t want to get polio or some other illness that can be prevented!

Their parents could be controlling T3RF/GC cunts (just like the user who wrote the tweet above!) and wants to transition because FUCKING NEWS FLASH: Your children aren’t property and they’re autonomous beings, who deserve to make medical choices for themselves!

If your teenage child is desperate enough, they will try and go behind your back to transition or at the very least prevent going through a puberty that will make their dysphoria worse until they’re old enough to go on HRT.

If you think allowing a 13+ year old to have a say on who gets to be in the doctor’s office with them is “sinister” then maybe you need to ask yourself why you’re willing to deny your 13+ year old child privacy and bodily autonomy so you can ensure that only YOU get to decide what YOU want to happen to your teenager’s body!

[ex-foster]

Girls from foster care may be overrepresented among sex trafficking victims due to vulnerabilities such as lack of stable support systems, history of abuse, and a desire for belonging. Grooming involves manipulative tactics to establish trust and control, making individuals more susceptible to exploitation.

Similarly, girls from foster care may be overrepresented in homeless statistics due to factors like aging out of the system without adequate support, experiencing abuse within foster care, and lacking family resources.

Referring to sex trafficking victims as "sex workers" is inappropriate, especially when underage, because it inaccurately implies a choice and ignores the coercion, force, or manipulation involved. Many victims, especially those with histories in the child welfare system, enter the sex industry involuntarily.

The term "sex work" can be deceptive as it implies a voluntary choice, while victims of sex trafficking often face circumstances beyond their control. Recognizing the coercion and exploitation involved is crucial to addressing the issue appropriately.

[ceilidhtransing]

British trans people and our allies: write to your MP!

Just before Parliament was dissolved, the Conservative health secretary Victoria Atkins put in place an immediate ban on the prescription of puberty blockers to trans and questioning youth, with a penalty of up to two years in prison. The new Labour health secretary Wes Streeting has said he wants to make this ban permanent. The Good Law Project is challenging this ban in court. Find out more about the situation here.

It's important that, if you can, you write to your MP to let them know how you feel about this and ask them to speak out against it. It's really easy to write to your MP using the website WriteToThem - you don't even have to know the name of your MP; just put in your postcode and it'll tell you.

I'm not going to include a template letter to send, as lots of people sending an identical email tends to be very ineffective at getting an MP's attention and convincing them that a lot of people do actually care about an issue. Unique, individually written emails are much more powerful. But I want to emphasise how easy and doable it is to write to your MP in your own words: there's no set way you have to do it, you don't have to worry about being super formal if you don't want to be, and any personal touch you add is likely to make your email much more persuasive than a copy-pasted template, not less.

If you want to write but are truly stumped as to how to start, here are some ideas to think about:

Specify your personal connection to the issue: whether you're trans yourself, or the parent/sibling/friend/cousin/etc of a trans person. Obviously you don't have to do this - not everyone is comfortable outing themselves this way. You can of course just state that you're a “trans ally” or “someone deeply concerned with trans equality” or “someone deeply concerned with the transphobic trajectory the UK is taking” or something like that. It often helps to emphasise that the issue you're writing about is one that you as an individual care strongly about.

Similarly, if you have a personal story about trans healthcare, especially puberty blockers, feel free to use it. Don't ramble on and on, of course, but personal stories of your experience with an issue often help to make your message more impactful.

Make clear how you feel about the ban on puberty blockers. You can be as concise as you like; there's no obligation to write an essay if you don't want to. If you feel very strongly, say so. You don't have to mince words.

Use the Good Law Project's pages for inspiration on phrasing and arguments if that helps. The GLP has several pages on their site on this issue (here is a good one, and here is another). It's best not to just copy their exact wording, but it can be very useful as inspiration for the kind of points you might want to make.

Don't abuse your MP. You can write in very strong terms without lowering yourself to sending abuse, threats, insults etc at your MP. That kind of thing only guarantees they won't listen to you sympathetically.

Ask your MP to take a specific action. In this case, the action is likely to be “speak out against the ban on puberty blockers”. It helps to give your MP a specific Thing you're asking them to do, to avoid sending a rambling email that only makes them think “ok but what do you want me to do about it?”

If you can, find out a bit about your MP and tailor your letter accordingly. There are some MPs who are consistently really good at supporting trans rights and it probably doesn't help to instinctively go on the attack with someone who is already our ally. In that case, you can thank them for their support so far, state how important it is to you that they have been a trans ally, and ask them to continue their support by speaking out on this issue. With some MPs, especially the new ones, it's really hard to find out their stance on trans rights, but you can do a little sleuthing by searching their Twitter, googling “[MP name] trans (/rights)”, and seeing their voting record at TheyWorkForYou.

If you're writing to a Labour MP, and the issue of trans rights is an obstacle to you voting Labour, you can tell them that. If you no longer feel that you can trust Labour to support your rights as a trans person (or trans rights more generally), you can say so. If Labour has lost your vote over this particular issue, you can say so. If you have voted Labour in the past but didn't do so this year because of its stances on trans rights, you can say so. There are lots of new Labour MPs in this Parliament and many of them have relatively small majorities. Don't be afraid to be explicit that Labour has lost your vote because of its lack of support for trans people, if that is in fact the case. They need to know that this is an issue that people care enough about that it affects the way they vote.

Equally, if your MP is someone you voted for on the basis of their or their party's support for trans rights (for example a Lib Dem or a Green), say that too. Again, MPs like to know the issues that voters care about so much that it sways their vote.

Remember: transphobes are writing to your MP. If you think “ugh, what will just one letter do”, remember that bigots who work against us are very good at writing to MPs to try to sway their opinions. If an MP receives 30 letters from transphobes and 0 letters from trans people and allies, they will think the bulk of their constituents - at least the vocal ones - support the transphobic position. Even a short letter lets them know that actually, there are voters out there who want them to act in support of trans people. Don't let the transphobic voice be the only voice an MP gets to hear.

And if you want some further reading on the Cass Review, the document that Wes Streeting is pointing to in an attempt to justify the ban (which is nuts because the review, while deeply deeply flawed, doesn't even recommend this ban anyway), may I suggest...

The Cass Review: Cis-Supremacy in the UK's Approach to Healthcare for Trans Children by Dr Cal Horton in the International Journal of Transgender Health (I posted some choice quotes from this article here)

What's Wrong with the Cass Review? A Round-Up of Commentary and Evidence by Dr Ruth Pearce

Do No Harm? The Trouble With Cass' Therapy Recommendations by Elia Cugini

Advocates Say a Controversial Report on Healthcare for Trans Kids is “Fundamentally Flawed” by Samantha Riedel in them.us

A Parent's Perspective on the Puberty Blockers Ban by the Good Law Project

[alwaysenoughproject]

[onceuponafosterkid]

When you turn 18 in Colorado, you are given the option to close your case as a foster kid. When I turned 18, I chose to keep it open and do something called Youth in Transition. Basically this means I have custody of myself and I can do whatever I want, but my Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is now considered a lawyer, and she does whatever I tell her I want done in my case. I still have a caseworker and a family court judge as well. They are supposed to offer me support in my transition to adult hood to help me be as successful as possible. I chose to do this because I was just starting college and I needed guidance. I don’t know if it’s because the program is new, or because my team just really sucks, but they have offered no support in the past year. Every time I’ve gone to them for help, they have told me either “ask your friends” or “figuring this out is a part of growing up.” The problem with this is, I do not have parents. I don’t have anyone to ask for advice from. The state is supposed to be stand in parents for youth who don’t have any. So why are they not helping me? All I’m asking for is help finding resources and they won’t do it. But when I find a solution, whether or not it works out, they say I’m “impulsive”. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and unfair. So after almost two years of this, I’ve decided to close out my case. I think it’s the best option for me since I’m not getting any support from my team. The monthly meetings usually end with them criticizing everything I do and me telling them that they don’t get to criticize me when they’re the ones who failed to provide support in the first place. I’m a little bit scared to be going forward with this, but I’m also looking forward to being done with it all.

[the-cimmerians]

The trend of banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth was gaining momentum in conservative-leaning states, leading many to fear that the entirety of the Southeastern United States would follow suit. However, on Wednesday, Louisiana bucked this trend. Louisiana became the only state in the Southeast and one of only four states with Republican trifectas or legislative supermajorities to defeat such a ban in its legislature. This defeat provides transgender individuals, particularly those in neighboring states where such care is banned, with a vital source for their medical needs. Coupled with court blocks on similar bans in other Southeastern states, those who must cross state lines for their care likely feel a sense of relief. Without a doubt, transgender individuals in Louisiana are among those breathing easier.

[searching4sarahtonin]

You asked to see me..? About my loss of interests..?

- Aziraphale

Yes, thank you for coming to see me Aziraphale. Would you. mind telling me a bit more about it? Do you feel like your ability to be interested in things faded slowly, or disappeared more suddenly? Are there things you still do find pleasure or enjoyment in? I'm hoping to help root out what is causing this change for you, so that we can figure out how best to address it and help get you back to fully enjoying your existence again.

//IRL this week marks National Suicide Prevention week in the US. If you or someone you know is struggling with significant changes in their mental health - including loss of enjoyment/interest, hopelessness, changes in sleep or appetite, anxiety, despair, self-endangering behavior, or any other worrying change, please seek help. I promise it can and will get better, and the world needs you more than you know.

// For mental health crisis help in the US, dial 988 or text HOME to 741741 for immediate, confidential assistance.

//For crisis support specifically tailored to gender diverse folks, contact Trans Lifeline https://translifeline.org/

//For LGBTQIA+ youth, there is also The Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/

[punkpandapatrixk]

Keep being Original; you’re the Prototype~♪ One day, all of Humanity is gonna be just like you.

I once saw a fan of Love Marie Escudero’s comment on one of her YouTube videos something that goes like this—and mind you I’m writing this from memory, and I’m not from the Philippines, so I didn’t grow up knowing anything about how she was perceived as a celeb in the country:

‘I’m so happy to see how much you’ve grown, Love! Back in the day, you got so much hate because you were SO ahead of your time and people couldn’t understand your sass. But now, millions of girls want to be just like you!’

I think I totally butchered the original comment but there’s that LOL

Be proud of who and what you are. You just never know whose Life you’re gonna save from the Dark with that blinding Light of yours, Love~♡

[gwydionmisha]

Families of Trans Kids Are Seeking Sanctuary

[ex-foster]

[andragoras-in-vanity]

https://chng.it/gf7vMBrSm5

so a mother in Alberta started a petition to stop the premiere from revoking childrens rights to gender affirming care, if youre in canada please sign and if not please share!

[commiepinkofag]

Prohibition of Gender-Affirming Care as a Form of Child Maltreatment: Reframing the Discussion

Emily Georges, MD; Emily C.B. Brown, MD, MS; Rachel Silliman Cohen, MD

Pediatrics [2024] 153 [1]: e2023064292. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-064292

In the paper, three pediatricians explain that some of the laws banning gender affirming care [GAC] for trans youth frame parents and caregivers as committing child abuse when they allow children to access GAC, opening the door for child protective services investigations and for their children to be taken away from them. But the authors argue the opposite is true — that these caregivers are in the right for supporting trans kids’ access to GAC, and laws banning this medical care are actually a form of child maltreatment. Laws banning GAC “operate under the guise of protecting children,” write the authors, “In reality, they punish caregivers and physicians when they choose to support children.” “That children may be separated from their caregivers in certain states, on the basis of legislative efforts to classify GAC as child abuse, is abhorrent, misguided, and harmful. All children deserve love, acceptance, and care. Parents should be commended, not punished, for accepting their children for who they are.” from [a weirdo site] Fatherly >

[twopercentboy]

probably the most radicalizing life experience I've had so far is going to highschool in rural Alaska.

watching the systems fail us over and over again really makes you want to raze the whole thing and start over. my friends and I should not have to watch our peers die every single year while everyone else pretends they care and are trying to help. the systems in place do nothing but harm us and the programs they're trying to establish to help us are never actually helpful. im just so tired and so angry that no one cares about the rural villages and their youth. my friends have all had siblings, cousins, childhood friends, die by suicide and no one ever cares. we shouldn't have to watch this happen over and over again. we have only ever been the number one state in one thing and it's our youth suicide rates. this has been a problem for longer than I've been alive, and still, nothing is Actually being done.

every single year of my highschool career at least 3 people attempted to kill themselves and that's just my school. another one of my classmates died a couple days ago because the systems failed her too, and still, nothing ever fucking changes.

I'm just so fucking tired of it, we shouldn't have to watch this happen, the government should be trying harder to lower the suicide rates, they should be pushing resources to the villages every chance they get, but they don't, because when have they ever cared about our native youth?