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Three stories from the Guardian, looks as if transgender children are now being targeted by the right-wingers In the US. Not that we have anything to brag about in the UK as the High Court has stopped the easy prescription of blockers to transgender teens.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/29/arkansas-tra...
https://www.theguardian.com/society/transgender
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/30/trans-kids-r...
Comments
Those States Not Representative.
Life for T folk remains very dangerous. The laws in my area are favorable, but often it is very hard to get them to make sensible choices. No Bars alone. No walking home at 1:00AM.
Yes
Yes, the laws are being flung about with impunity right now by state legislators. Unfortunately I'm afraid that honestly the current Supreme Court wouldn't interject them being unconstitutional either. The only hope right now in all honesty is that the Senate can break their log jam and push through a new civil rights bill. That might solve it?
The 'whataboutism' that leads everyone to think that every transgender female wants to somehow rape every girl in the bathroom is out of control in those states. To some extent I can see a concern on the athletes, but instead of banning it outright, maybe you enable them to have a length of time on hormones? Oh wait, these are the same states that say that's illegal... We have about twenty states in our country that make up the most bigoted people in office. Unfortunately I don't see that changing anytime soon. Best case scenario comes from legislation. I don't see this being solved in the courts.
The Republican Party in the
The Republican Party in the USA does not have any real platform to run on anymore so they pick wedge issues. They need to make some group into the other so it can become us versus them. Transgender people are just the newest group to become the other.
The party focuses mostly on cultural issues to distract people from them not have a firm vision of how to better the country. They spend time talking about how Dr Zuess was cancelled when in truth it was the company itself that pulled the books. Then they also spent time on the non-issue of Mr Potato Head. They are acting like there would be no more MR. and MRS Potato Head. The truth is that MR. & MRS Potato Head are not going anywhere.
They should not waste one second on either of those issues. They should be working on making sure that people do not need to wait hours to vote in some districts and in others they can just walk in and vote. They should be doing more about the gun issue instead of saying they send their thoughts and prayers out to the victim and right after a shooting is not the time to talk about gun control. That is like someone gets caught cheating and they tell their spouse now is not the time to talk about me cheating on you.
They are working both those issues
The only real legislative successes of the Republican party are things that serve no purpose but keep them in power despite being a minority. To that end, they have been actively working on voter suppression tactics, because high voter turnout generally results in a Republican loss. They are the sole reason we can't have reasonable gun control laws, because the pro-gun ownership lobby is among their highest sources of revenue and they have to keep that money train going.
Saying they are not working is simply not true. They are working very, very hard, for their own sake and no one else's.
Define Reasonable
I don't like cars so should laws be passed to prevent everyone from having one? Guns like TG is a favorite flash point from the masses. Last year there were 173,040 vehicular deaths and over forty million injuries. Why not ban vehicles?
Where people carry crime goes down. Evil doesn't like the odds.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/08/05/gun-owners...
Every dictator confiscated guns before mass murder of the population and controlling the masses.
The Second Amendment is there to protect the First Amendment and to make sure every citizen has the personal right to defend themselves. The British began confiscating guns and kicked off the American Revolution
Every mass murder has been where guns are not allowed, schools, theater, shopping centers, rallies, etc.
Yes, I carry and it is always on my hip or in my purse. I was in the store a couple weeks back and a man looked at me and smiled. "Nice to know I'm safe. He was looking at the gun on my hip. Guns save lives. Laws will never stop evil from finding one and killing the defenseless.
PM me if you wish to know how mothers, wives, kids have saved their own life and others because they had a gun.
Hugs Hon
Barb
Life is a gift, mine's precious to me and I will keep it if at all possible until my Father calls me Home.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
That's actually a perfect example
I'm glad you brought up the issue of vehicular deaths, because it's a prime example of an issue that receives appropriate legislative action. Just off the top of my head:
These are all legislative actions taken in response to deaths attributed to vehicles. We have agencies that are constantly reviewing the issue and issuing new regulations - airbags became required in the 1990s, tire pressure monitoring systems became required in the 2000s, rear backup cameras and high visibility standards for lights and reflectors on vehicles became required in the 2010s, and so on. And there will be more regulations to make new vehicles safer than those that came before them. And it works: deaths by automobile has been on a downward trend for years.
Exactly none of these things have been implemented for gun owners. In fact, the reason you can even quote a number of vehicular deaths with any accuracy is itself the result of legislative action on the subject; for gun violence, the opposite is true, with legislation preventing the collection of any sort of statistics on the national level, leaving us completely blind to the true scope of the problem.
For cars, we take action. For guns, we don't. It's that simple.
Might want to look in the right direction
https://home.nra.org/
gunssavelife.com
https://www.ok2a.org/
For starters. If you wish I can point you to several more
Open disclosure
I am a lifetime member of the NRA and a member of the Oklahoma Second Amendment, I've carried guns since I was six years old. I started carrying the same time I began driving tractors and other farm equipment. I took the test and had a state drivers license at 14. In the beginning, pickups was a two partnership. My brother or I would sit on the floor working the gas pedal, clutch, brakes. The other stood in the seat and steered and shifted. Not only on the home place but moved equipment eight miles to other working farms. Fuel truck, seed wagons, everything connected to a dairy farm.
Most people are not mentally geared to take care of themselves. They want a structured environment, a government dictating everything they do. They don't want to make decisions. They want someone else to do that besides providing for their safety and even their care. A nine to five job, five days a week, party on the weekend and they have the life they always dreamed of. They want everyone else inside that structured box with them because they can't handle difference. Does TG come to mind as everyone demands conformity?
One last bit of knowledge everyone should know. Rulers do NOT let slaves own weapons. Every nation even before the Romans did not let the slaves have weapons. If one can defend themselves they are free. If one can not defend themselves they are a slave subject to their master's whims. The U.S. is a Republic not a Democracy. It was designed to be ruled by freemen from the bottom up not from the top down. If one doesn't understand the difference I suggest learning it.
Biden ruling by executive order scares the absolute shit out of me. Executive Order was for one purpose only, to be used in time of crisis if congress couldn't be convened in time to act in defense of the nation. This nation has become a dictatorship no matter what anyone believes.
Hugs People
Barb
Life is a gift, treasure it.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Across the country
legislation is currently being drafted that reverses every regulation that permits trans kids access to gender suitable lavatories. Legislation is being passed that criminalizes gender-affirming medical care. Legislators are blatantly lying about transwomen; casting them as sexual predators, when the predators are males preying upon unaccompanied boys in Men's Rooms. No child under the age of eighteen is permitted to receive gender-confirming surgery, yet people like Rand Paul have lied repeatedly. He even likens GRS, which is only available to adults, to Ritual Genital Mutilation.
Rights and protections enacted or recognized under the Obama administration were systematically eviscerated and/or removed by the Department of Justice under the Trump Administration. All fueled by misplaced ideological-driven ignorance and fear from evangelical advisors and cabinet members. Or as we like to say in my house, HOLY FUCK!
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/08/trump-administration-aga...
Love, Andrea Lena
Legislative Ignorance
In backwoods, that should be backwards, Arkansas, the legislature has passed a horrible bill essentially denying a transgender child the proper care and medication. Bastards.
Portia
Trans children and elderly Asian women
Evil cowardly pukes always pick what they see as
an easy target who can't fight back to be their victim
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
Trans is the Stepchild of Humanity
For a long time we have been used as a rally point for gays, lesbians, politicians, anyone wanting their fifteen minutes of fame. There is right and wrong everywhere one cares to look and of course on one's point of view. After gays used us for passing a gay affirming bill, we were dropped like the stepchild no one wants until it comes to using us for one cause or another.
Is it all bad? No. I offered but wasn't invited to speak before Oklahoma House, Senate on a bill outlawing care to trans children. The Gov wrote me back and told me it would never pass. It never got out of committee. I converse with a few politicians all across the U.S.and as I said, we are a great political favorite fair haired child until we aren't needed for their cause any longer.
Might be as bad as the tabloids and paper good for the birdcage but I haven't seen it. Trans get murdered and yes it breaks my heart but what class of people don't lose people to murder everyday? The liberal news no longer has Trump to kick around so they are working on a new attention getter to sell their crap to the public. Nothing new so they turn a gopher mound into a pandemic.
Dang it people filter this stuff. They are turning people against people so no one focuses on the real problems. Its a socialist and communist play book. Our dang governments have got out of hand and everyone wants to ignore the elephant in the room.
Hugs People
Barb
Life is a gift, don't waste it..
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Perhaps a review of the links below?
"Despite medical best practice guidelines from the Endocrine Society, Child Mind Institute, and American Psychological Association recommending that states provide gender-affirming care for trans children, several states want to criminalize these vital health services."
https://www.hrc.org/resources/unprecedented-onslaught-of-sta...
https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-...
https://www.insider.com/over-half-of-us-states-tried-passing...
Love, Andrea Lena
Early Care is Needed
First Andrea, thank you for the resources. I do love researching what is out there.
Trans have the highest rate of suicide per population any other class of people. That rate drops dramatically when they receive support and care at an early age. The beginning age for care was at five years.
Yes I have heard the uneducated, unwashed masses claiming a diagnoses at that age was brain washing. Thus began the panic of "save the children from the monsters". And thus politicians saw a great chance to win favor and votes. Pass bills to protect the children.
Grabs yuh by the old heart strings don't it? Who doesn't want to save the children beside Scrooge and trans. They just want to turn children into more monsters like them.
Science has come so far if everyone would just pay attention.Male and Female brains develop and function differently. An MRI would tell whether that boy developed a girl brain or the girl developed a boy brain. Simple but no one wants simple solutions. Then put the child in a holding position with hormones until he or she is old enough to make a command decision for themselves. Doesn't draw voters to one's cause. And we are one percent of the population. Easy to kick around for one cause or another when we don't have enough votes to count. Pant us as the bogey bear under the bed. How much does the general population know about us? Only what the MSM wants them to know.
Personally, I'm not sure it's going to make a lot of difference. Humanity is on a crash course and passing laws isn't going to stop it. We are debating over who gets a deck chair while on the deck of the Titanic.
Hugs People
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Following the Native American?
I had hoped that humanity would come to an intelligent solution to the off Gender issue. Many Native American Tribes recognize the Two Spirit. Some think that the term originated in the counter culture of San Francisco when the truth is that Two Spirit have been around for thousands of years. Two Spirits in Native Culture were often Shamans.
The truth is that the Post Surgical MTF must still work very hard to adopt a hard to read Female personage. My own personal beliefs preclude any sort of penetrative intercourse.
"After gays used us for
"After gays used us for passing a gay affirming bill, we were dropped like the stepchild no one wants until it comes to using us for one cause or another."
I brought this to everybody's attention at the time it happened, but all and sundry on here* told me to just be patient, that our turn was next.
Well, I've been patient for a long freaking time, my patience has worn thin.
*I could name names but I won't, except to say one is a very prominent name here.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
More inane blame targeting
I's more of this insane targeting blame on defenseless minorities. It works like this. Find a small defenseless minority. Convince your constituency that all their problems are caused by that minority. Reap fear vote in the next election. It's hateful it's silly. It's insane and for some reason it seems to work
Your friend
Crash
Worked Really Well
For Hitler. Anybody seriously think that things have gotten better since then are living in a fantasy world.
Trans children as well as adults have always been a target of politicos and god's "chosen". Trans people young and old are different, and we are taught that different = bad. It is this very old survival trait from back in the early tribal period that is causing problems today.
My sister got her hopes up that things were actually starting to change for the better. I told her not to be stupid, that anything that was done could be undone. Unfortunately I was right. It isn't a big stretch to believe the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum will end up worse off than they were to begin with.
No, I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. I still support my sister and her friends, that's not going to change. But my sister is on borrowed time, so I can only hope to help stave off the inevitable for a year or two longer, just for her.
That's my personal opinion. It's possible I could change my mind, but it's going to take some powerful evidence.
They know they can survive
Trans kids are the canaries in the coal mine right now
The Republican Party and far right wing media are now targeting trans kids and since their is an ultra conservative majority on the Supreme Court for whom ideology triumphs right and reason, there is no recourse for the actions of state legislators in red states.
If one steps back and takes a look at the rhetoric and the ever changing targets of the Republicans and their media enablers, everyone who isn't a straight, white, Evangelical Protestant male has a target on their back. If you are a cis gendered straight woman who is willing to be subservient to a man and have no reproductive rights, well you are acceptable because you know your place. Read what these people are saying- both the politicians and their prominent supporters- it there in plain sight.
There are, of course, wealthy individuals who may be LGBTQI, or of color, or of a non Protestant faith who think they are accepted, but they really aren't. The far right- including the people in power within the Republican Party- are part of a nativist movement (a veritable reincarnation of the 19th century Native American Party better known as Know Nothing Party) that hates everyone who isn't one of "them" and they will make temporary alliances with certain others who may be useful to them in the short term, but ultimately they will even through ideological soul mates to the wolves when they have served their purpose. They want a white, Dominionist Christian nation and everyone else will be "invited" to leave one way or another.
So if you fit into one or more of the following groups, you should do your part to fight politically to keep them from regaining any more political power: LGBTQI, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Slav, Native American, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhist or any other faith. If you want living and working conditions other than those of the early industrial revolution, you are on their list too.
Yes, they are a minority, but they want to control or otherwise get rid of the majority of people in the United States.
And that's why
Georgia passed a law making it illegal to provide water to voters waiting in line to cast their ballot. They want to eliminate as many voters as possible. The fewer legit voters there are the easier it is to rig the ballot to ensure the "proper" candidate wins. That also helps justify fewer polling places: fewer voters = fewer polling places. That the closed polling places are in minority neighborhoods is just a coincidence, don't ya know?
They know they can survive
Dear Joe Biden,
Joe - you seem to be a reasonable guy. So reasonable that your approval ratings are ten points higher than the highest Trump ever achieved.
Your Covid Act is wildly popular even though it appears unnecessary for 90% of the economy. That would suggest the country still understands Christ's sermon on the mount.
It would seem like the next reasonable thing to do would be to push a Trans bill into the Supreme Court. If the court takes a bigoted stance on this (or on any other far-right policy such as revoking Obamacare, striking Roe vs. Wade, upholding Voter-suppression Bills, etc.) you will have all the necessary impetus you need to pack the court. With a favorable court, the country will finally return to majority rule.
Use your second Reconciliation bill to pass your infrastructure act. This will also be extremely popular and will give you even more political capital. The public will back your suggestion that the filibuster is Jim Crow and will grant you the simple majority vote to pass your entire agenda -- including adding DC and Puerto Rico giving you four more votes in the Senate, at which time you can tell a few of the Manchin's of the world that their day is over.
As people see Covid properly handled, as the economy soars due to all the expansion from the Covid Act and the Infrastructure Act, as people understand that love conquers hate, as you create so many jobs that border issues become nothing but historical trivia, as sanity returns to the ownership and use of guns, as "race" becomes something people merely do to see who is the fastest, as people see that climate change is to be embraced to be defeated, as people grow used to the calm that is your presidency, the world will heal.
Then we should get to the real work and amend the constitution so that Amanda Gorman doesn't have to wait until 2036.
One more thing Joe. . .that second term thing. . .maybe you should ask Jill about that. Your Jill. . .not me.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
sadly,
trans folk have never STOPPED being targets, for a short while we got moved to the back burner, but now we are the focus again. while not all states are this bad, even supposed "good" states, Oregon, California, New York still have their hate mongers.
Teresa L.
I think part of the problem
is that some people don't like themselves and project that enmity onto others and minorities are easy targets. Then there are those who are just plain nasty because that is either how they survive or they enjoy being malicious and making misery for others. It seems that some enjoy seeing others in trouble or upset, why I don't know because to normal people, we feel the opposite.
Many people don't understand gender dysphoria and the discomfort or pain that cause the individual, they also see it as something of a choice, we choose to be as we are. Of course, anything in children has to be a fad and they'll outgrow it, which possibly says more about their lives than trans kids. I do agree that some will misdiagnose themselves, as do some adults, but that is for the experts to sort out and doesn't need the help of legislatures. Laws are blunt instruments and should be there to protect those at risk not the bullies who harass them.
I remember reading an article about why the US will never have a national healthcare scheme and after reading it read the comments, those of Americans living in Britain, and who were glad to avail themselves of the NHS, suggested it was because there was a sense in most Americans of 'why should I pay for their treatment?' Which given that it likes to be seen as a Christian country seems more than a little ironic as well as being extremely myopic.
Angharad
There are other factors that
There are other factors that are bigger on why it is so hard for America to get a single-payer system. A huge one is profit. The health insurance industry and for-profit health care providers pay for propaganda against it. The biggest lies they tell are that single-payer is more expensive and that government-run healthcare is not as efficient. You will hear these two talking points way more than why should I pay for their treatment?
Those lies are easy to sell to the American public because they tie into the myths of American exceptionalism and hyper-individualism. People think why would the US need to change from the best system? Also people can do better and know better than the government. That also the government is just trying to control the people by getting involved with healthcare. Remember one of the cornerstones of the Republican party is the line “Here are the eight scariest words in the English language, I am from the government and here to help.”I find that last point funny of government can’t do anything right funny, most of the people who say that are either on Medicare, Medicaid or use the VA.
Another reason is tied to the profit, big corporations do not want the system to change. Opinion polls show that a majority of people do want either a single-payer health care system in America or a system where there is a mix of private and government-run options. What the people want in American has no bearing on what bills are passed. They only get passed if big corporations and people in power want it also.
Corruption
I wrote a long comment but decided that peeing into the wind is no fun.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Yes
Corporations desperately want to somehow frame (astroturf) that 'What is good for GM is good for America' as our new national motto.
How dare we tax them when we plan to ship all our jobs out to other countries or build AIs to replace them.
A perfect example is the current semiconductor shortage in the world.
The US wants self sufficiency in semiconductor production but all the major players want Uncle Sugar to kick in a shit ton of money to pay for it, never mind a pure capitalist would invest their own money in creating fab capacity.
It is ironic that a Taiwan company is more true to capitalism as they are investing 100 billion of their own money in this and not purely asking for government welfare.
Point is corporations are doing what is good for their shareholders and not us.
So who are those shareholders? Obviously they are not necessarily US citizens so foreigners, Chinese no doubt for example, also benefit from profits made on the backs of US labor tool. Typical corporate playbook has always been to play off one group vs another if it means getting benefits to their bottom line, even if they have to outright lie to do so.
Politicians and Corporations are cut from the same cloth and both do NOT have our best interests in mind and kowtow only if we stay together to threaten the end of their existence if they do not do as we say in law. That is why they want to control government too.
Jobs? That is just a cost of doing business, not the reason for its existence in the first place, just an unfortunate side effect until a machine can be had for cheaper.
So what is that rant about though? It explains why the pharmaceutical industry has arbitrarily raised prices on ancient drugs that cost nothing to make, including estradiol. Martin Shkreli is the poster child of all these folks.
ALL the pharmaceutical companies are in on it as they overprice it in the US but have to toe the line elsewhere as there are laws elsewhere against it.
If they merely plow their profits into further development, well, the stockholders won't be happy. Cry me a river.
Capitalist corruption
Doctors no longer are in charge of health care. This is because insurance companies can afford to buy more congressmen. This is the evil of capitalism replacing democracy in today’s America. A few years back the Supreme Court ruled campaign finance limits on corporations infringed on their free speech rights. I’ve been waiting for the day Disney runs for president since. Maybe the new world order the far right fears so much includes replacing the United Nations with the United Corporations? Now there are a couple of book ideas for dystopian authors! Replace zombies with Ronald McDonald....
BAK 0.25tspgirl
Attack the small and weak
To rally a group into action you need an enemy to struggle against. The enemy needs to be easily identifiable from the rest of the group. The chosen enemy must be weaker than the group, but only barely. (Too weak and no struggle is believable.) In today’s US the enemy varies by group size and location. LGBTQ+ works locally but gets thin at the state level. Trump worked very well for the Democrats in 2020. Biden didn’t work as well for the opposition. Please note the resurgence of Jewish demonization by Q and the Right. The only reason the Amish aren’t being targeted is that they aren’t scary enough. Although those Amish Mafia Drug runners on TV a couple years back could have changed that.... Remember how well it worked for Hitler and Milosevic (Serbia).
BAK 0.25tspgirl