[Vol. 32] Trans Youth Need You to "Listen to the Experts"
Transgender children need gender-affirming healthcare.
Welcome back to That’s Gay, a candidly queer newsletter for a candidly queer world (cheers to that 😉 🥂), written by me, Till Kaeslin.
That’s Gay comes out every Monday and Thursday mornin’
If you like the newsletter, share it! Throw it on your instagram story, share it on Facebook, tweet about it, or go stone-age and tell a friend … in person *gasp*. Help That’s Gay grow 👇🏻 👇🏻
*Oh and follow the That’s Gay Instagram account for shorter, mini-posts as well as the latest updates on the newsletter 💌
I’m honestly having some of the most peaceful times I have in a long time out here in Connecticut. I’m writing this out on the patio (as per usual), Umi (my little black dog) snoozing by my side, and the sun toasting my legs.
I’ve found myself thinking it a couple of times this week – this place is like a little safe haven, a respite away from the craziness of the city; of the world.
But, alas, in today’s world, that craziness will find you anywhere, eventually.
This time it came in the form of some pretty grim news. If you haven’t heard yet, Arkansas has officially become the first U.S. state to ban gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
What does this mean? It means no tried-and-true (not to mention life saving) gender-affirming medical services for trans folks under the age of 18, even if they have a parent’s consent. No puberty blockers, no hormone therapy, no referrals to specialists.
Why is this bad news? What does this mean for trans children in Arkansas and beyond? Why do trans children need access to gender-affirming healthcare in the first place?
Let’s get into it.
I think when a lot of people hear the words “youth” and “gender-affirming healthcare” in one sentence, they think of impressionable kids and teens making medically irreversible decisions – decisions they will later regret when they “know better”.
It’s that same thinking that loads anti-trans bills with the ammo they need to push through the legislator. And it’s no wonder why it’s so effective. Fear – that’s what that ammo is made of; it’s a knee jerk reaction to what you don’t yet understand, and it’s fucking powerful.
Don’t believe me? The fear is tangible in the name of the bill – it’s the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. *cue eye roll*
Although a lot less sexy than fear, the facts tell another story.
Here’s what lawmakers miss when they buy into this narrative of trans youth fumbling blindly into transition:
1. Transitioning for children is not a risky decision.
For a young child, it’s a proper haircut, access to clothes that make them feel affirmed in their gender, and a whole lot of loving, supporting family, friends, and teachers. For a teen, it might be fully reversible puberty blockers – a treatment that, for the time being, keeps them from going through an unwanted puberty that would change their bodies forever.
If the child needs it and their medical providers recommend it, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and certain surgeries are also possible options. Yes, some of these decisions are permanent, but they are never decisions made blindly.
2. Children and their parents are not making these decisions alone.
The only reason youth are granted access to gender-affirming treatment in the first place is because they’ve been recommended for it – by therapists, pediatricians, and not to mention experts in the field of gender identity and gender dysphoria.
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all voiced their support for comprehensive care for transgender and gender-expansive youth. They have all also decried bans on healthcare for trans youth – the very same kind Arkansas’ legislator just approved.
When the Covid-19 pandemic surged, we said “listen to the experts”. Why can’t we stick to that commitment when it comes to trans youth?
I think the first paragraph of this piece published by the National Health Law Program, Gender-Affirming Care for Youth is Good Health Care, paints the picture perfectly.
3. Denying a transgender child transition is a risky decision.
I’m going to be blunt here.
There’s a reason experts agree that gender-affirming healthcare should be made available to trans youth.
There’s a reason transgender activists and allies all over the country are decrying this decision made in Arkansas, and preparing to battle tooth-and-nail before it officially becomes law over the summer.
The reason? Transgender youth are dying.
More than half of transgender/nonbinary youth respondents to the Trevor Project’s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health reported that they “seriously considered attempting suicide” in the last year.
More than half. Just take a moment to let that sink in.
That’s the reason. That’s why people are so mad; why I’m so mad. Because despite all the good science, knowledgable experts, and emotional testimony from transgender youth and their parents (who should never have to testify for the basic right to healthcare in the first place), lawmakers have decided not to listen; to give in to their most basic instinct – fear.
That’s what makes me truly angry here – grown men and women putting the lives of children at risk because they are scared.
That’s cowardice, if I’ve ever seen it stand before me.
While Arkansas may be the first U.S. state to pull the trigger on a trans-healthcare ban for youth, it may not be the last.
There are more than a dozen similar bills sitting in state legislatures right now – which, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights group, are just a handful of the 100 bills total that have been filed in statehouses around the country targeting the transgender community.
Wherever they go, their rights have been challenged – in the classroom, in the office, in the bathroom, on the soccer field, in the hospital.
Let’s get one thing straight: Fear does not erase.
When we’re scared of something, when we don’t understand how something works, what it is, or how we even deal with it, we as human beings tend to want to just shove it out of sight.
If we can’t see it – if we deny it the right to be seen – then it doesn’t exist, right? Out of sight, out of mind.
The hard-to-swallow truth is that the world is 99% things you and I don’t yet understand – and that might even be a little too generous. And just because you and I don’t know what that 99% holds, doesn’t mean it isn’t there, scary as that might be to accept.
Our job then – each of our jobs – is to do our best to support each other based on what we do understand.
The trans kids must understand that they are valid in their identity and deserve the right to love, support, and equal access.
The parents of trans kids must understand that the job they signed up to do does not change regardless of who their child identifies as. Their job is to keep their kid safe, loved, and fought for.
The medical experts must understand that they are doing the best they can for trans children when they help them seek treatment.
The lawmakers ruling on bills regarding people’s access to life-saving treatments must understand that it is not their job to understand, but to listen.
Most importantly, we all have to understand: trans kids will not stop being trans.
They will continue to exist, even if we deny them the right to treatment. The only thing that’ll change is that they’ll suffer unnecessarily.
Here’s what one of my favorite trans influencers on Instagram, Schuyler Bailar, posted in reaction to the news from Arkansas:
I think that pretty much sums it up.
And that was That’s Gay, Volume 32. See you in Volume 33, folks!
Want Volume 33? Not signed up yet?
Share this newsletter and help my baby grow!