The way parents are treated in California is very different than the way parents are treated in Texas. Parents in Texas were not in danger of having their children removed from the home for not affirming a child's ephemeral gender.
Of course the outcry over the ruling by A.G. Paxton is about making parents child abuser, but it also included many of the points you make. It also quotes Texas law that requires medical and other professionals to report child abuse including teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees, employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services. Texas Children's Hospital, the #1 children's hospital in Texas, has paused "affirmation" treatment because of the ruling. Hopefully, it will make others re-evaluate their positions and put others on notice that they can be prosecuted.
There is obviously much work to be done, and, hopefully, our upcoming legislature will codify puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and "gender transitioning surgeries" as child abuse and include the medical reasons why. The vulnerable parents who are seeking care for their children need to know those reasons. This is the full ruling with information that you and others might find useful. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2022/kp-0401.pdf
Thanks so much for sharing this document! I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing, but the cynic in me thinks the Medical Complex reads things like "Beyond the obvious harm of permanently sterilizing a child, these procedures and treatments can cause side effects and harms beyond permanent infertility, including serious mental health effects, venous thrombosis/thromboembolism, increased risk of cardiovascular disease,weight gain, decreased libido, hypertriglyceridemia, elevated blood pressure, decreased glucose tolerance, gallbladder disease, benign pituitary prolactinoma, lowered and elevated triglycerides, increased homocysteine levels, hepatotoxicity, polycythemia, sleep apnea, insulin resistance,chronic pelvic pain, and increased cancer and stroke risk." as Cha-Ching!! Hopefully rulings like this will at least result in better gate-keeping.
Sincere thanks for your incredibly articulate essay. My heart goes out to all of the parents affected by this nightmare. This world we live in where parents have minimal say in their children’s emotional and medical care is beyond cruel.
Great letter! I'm thankful I found Irreversible Damage when my daughter first started down this road a year ago. I had no idea what to think since all I'd ever heard was to affirm or possibly end up with a dead child.
And parents who are told the suicit myth should have a right to sue those who misinformed them, who pushed them to inappropriately and harmfully medicalize their kids.
Agreed. Detrans ppl who went through this as kids should be able to sue everyone under the sun that medicated them and gave them surgeries that have permanent side effects and risks that they couldn't reasonably consent to. Therapists, doctors, the trans groups, teachers who had a part in pushing this, etc.
Category 5: Maybe, just maybe, international crimes-against-humanity law."
Because "When we think about crimes against humanity we picture dumb brutes with guns, not well-dressed politicians and professionals. But they’re some of the worst and there's ample precedent for using human rights law to punish them."
Such a well articulated letter. I talked to someone in the Texas AG office and was told that they are using this to go after those who are perpetrating medical abuse, I believe they understand that so many parents have been pushed and pressured into transing their child and they will not go after any parent who followed their doctors advice, rather they will go after the doctor. Thank you for your important voice on this issue.
I'm happy to hear that the AG will focus on the malpractice of doctors. I'm also impressed with the AG office's focus on the spurious notion that children are capable of informed consent.
I appreciate your point of view. I would like to add a bit of perspective, though. Once I started questioning the blanket affirm-all-kids-or-else mentality, it was initially very difficult for me to find good information to support that. Initial sources were only readily found on religious or very right-leaning sources, and even though much of the information was correct, my liberal/left-leaning friends always attacked the sources rather than the information. Once I started searching academic resources in my school library, I learned more on how to search effectively from more neutral sources - however there's been so much institutional capture in the States that for every paper that discusses risks and repercussions of encouraging transition, there are ten more papers (often written by trans academics who've earned PhDs; sometimes I've wondered if they've stormed those degrees just to lend academic legitimacy to what they want to believe) that claim the opposite.
Now when you are up against this (which took me several months to start being able to confidently sift through) and are also a parent who likely may not have access to those resources AND may not have the type of background that enables them to be able to effectively discern between good and poor sources, and have an entire institution and movement bearing down on you telling you that you are wrong, bigoted, phobic, and YOU HAVE TO ACT NOW because it's life or death - that's incredible pressure, all coupled with a child who's become a secretive stranger you're desperately trying to help and do the right thing. Parents are conditioned to trust the "experts" in this, and unless they've a solid background in psychology, sociology, education, etc they will often feel as though placing this trust is implicit and the only acceptable decision.
I have to agree that parents are in an undeniably precarious position. Even if we don't feel we need "expert resources" to confirm our parenting intuition that medical procedures to treat a healthy body don't constitute a sound approach, we're up against forces that are planting distrust of us in our children's minds, making it incredibly difficult to know what to do or who to turn to, and very difficult to parent well since the natural attachment has been frayed and your child no longer thinks you're a trustworthy mentor (because your transphobic!) Families need support to navigate this in a way that doesn't affirm the identity but also keeps the attachment between parent and child as healthy as possible. Keeping the family unit together must be a priority--this doesn't mean you have to affirm the child, even if they're threatening to cut you out if you don't. It's just not as black-an-white as this comment suggests. I do appreciate the author's perspective and the gratitude for his mother who would not buy into the lie that wreaked such havoc on his life.
I think the problem is for parents who have a child with ROGD who don’t see it coming so they have a very short amount of time to get up to speed. We’re DESPERATE, need help NOW and don’t know who to listen to or what is actually best for their child. I completely agree with what you’re saying, but every situation is different. Thank god there ARE places like this to help.
I remember the desperation during the initial phase of learning about my daughter's transID--also how totally alone I felt trying to navigate something where everyone was making recommendations that seemed crazy! Now as a veteran of this experience and a certified life coach, I've decided to help other families being blindsided to navigate the land mine they're in. I so wished I would have had someone holding my hand through that disorienting and infuriating time!
It's helpful to get this perspective from someone who traveled the road and endured so much. I'm also very glad you reunited with your mother and have gratitude for the stand she took for you.
Thanks for sharing your strong feelings and deep insight into a very painful experience for parents. We need encouragement such as you give, to be strong. Protecting our children is costly.
Needs correction - "virtue signaling" , not "virtual signaling".
Thank you--good letter!
"Largest U.S. pediatric hospital has now canceled puberty-blocking transgender treatments for kids there." Refered to in Martinez article
Please tell me which hospital this is?
It's Texas Children's Hospital. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/03/08/texas-childrens-hospital-stops-gender-affirming-care-trans-youth/
Excellent letter. Thank you very much for writing it!
It scares me that Biden seems to be all onboard with medicalizing kids. https://nypost.com/2022/03/31/biden-says-trans-people-made-in-image-of-god-during-video/
Have a look at this:
https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/white-house-pushes-puberty-blockers-for-trans-kids/
So infuriating! For whatever it's worth, I've taken to emailing the White House daily about this issue.
He showed his stripes at a town hall during his campaign in which he applauded transing an 8 year old girl.
He's onboard. His family foundation gives $$$ to trans orgs.
The way parents are treated in California is very different than the way parents are treated in Texas. Parents in Texas were not in danger of having their children removed from the home for not affirming a child's ephemeral gender.
Of course the outcry over the ruling by A.G. Paxton is about making parents child abuser, but it also included many of the points you make. It also quotes Texas law that requires medical and other professionals to report child abuse including teachers, nurses, doctors, day-care employees, employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive services. Texas Children's Hospital, the #1 children's hospital in Texas, has paused "affirmation" treatment because of the ruling. Hopefully, it will make others re-evaluate their positions and put others on notice that they can be prosecuted.
There is obviously much work to be done, and, hopefully, our upcoming legislature will codify puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and "gender transitioning surgeries" as child abuse and include the medical reasons why. The vulnerable parents who are seeking care for their children need to know those reasons. This is the full ruling with information that you and others might find useful. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2022/kp-0401.pdf
Thanks so much for sharing this document! I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing, but the cynic in me thinks the Medical Complex reads things like "Beyond the obvious harm of permanently sterilizing a child, these procedures and treatments can cause side effects and harms beyond permanent infertility, including serious mental health effects, venous thrombosis/thromboembolism, increased risk of cardiovascular disease,weight gain, decreased libido, hypertriglyceridemia, elevated blood pressure, decreased glucose tolerance, gallbladder disease, benign pituitary prolactinoma, lowered and elevated triglycerides, increased homocysteine levels, hepatotoxicity, polycythemia, sleep apnea, insulin resistance,chronic pelvic pain, and increased cancer and stroke risk." as Cha-Ching!! Hopefully rulings like this will at least result in better gate-keeping.
Sincere thanks for your incredibly articulate essay. My heart goes out to all of the parents affected by this nightmare. This world we live in where parents have minimal say in their children’s emotional and medical care is beyond cruel.
Great letter! I'm thankful I found Irreversible Damage when my daughter first started down this road a year ago. I had no idea what to think since all I'd ever heard was to affirm or possibly end up with a dead child.
Thank you!
This post is very informative and sums up what all parents of trans identified children and deal with on a regular basis. Well done!
Thank you so much. Well done!
Lots of facts here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2046221
And parents who are told the suicit myth should have a right to sue those who misinformed them, who pushed them to inappropriately and harmfully medicalize their kids.
Good summary of the research on the issue here:https://genderclinicnews.substack.com/p/suicides-spectre?s=r
Agreed. Detrans ppl who went through this as kids should be able to sue everyone under the sun that medicated them and gave them surgeries that have permanent side effects and risks that they couldn't reasonably consent to. Therapists, doctors, the trans groups, teachers who had a part in pushing this, etc.
I agree! And, it is not just doctors who forgot about "Do no harm". I like the framework from https://pitt.substack.com/p/international-right-to-truth-day?s=r :
"Be like Churchill at Tehran. Be picky. Prioritize. Distinguish between degrees of bad guys, and go after them accordingly, with appropriate tools:
Category 1: Polite persuasion, forgiveness, rapid reintegration
Category 2: Social/civil pressure
Category 3: Civil law
Category 4: Criminal law
Category 5: Maybe, just maybe, international crimes-against-humanity law."
Because "When we think about crimes against humanity we picture dumb brutes with guns, not well-dressed politicians and professionals. But they’re some of the worst and there's ample precedent for using human rights law to punish them."
Yes! Idk how I missed that article! It is so well said. Comparisons that I've never thought about before, but are so spot on. Wow. Thanks for sharing!
Yes!
Such a well articulated letter. I talked to someone in the Texas AG office and was told that they are using this to go after those who are perpetrating medical abuse, I believe they understand that so many parents have been pushed and pressured into transing their child and they will not go after any parent who followed their doctors advice, rather they will go after the doctor. Thank you for your important voice on this issue.
Oh, thank you for calling the Texas AG office and informing us! We sure get twisted takes from the media and the White House.
I'm happy to hear that the AG will focus on the malpractice of doctors. I'm also impressed with the AG office's focus on the spurious notion that children are capable of informed consent.
Fantastic! So thoughtfully written. Thank you
Well said, David 👏🏻
I appreciate your point of view. I would like to add a bit of perspective, though. Once I started questioning the blanket affirm-all-kids-or-else mentality, it was initially very difficult for me to find good information to support that. Initial sources were only readily found on religious or very right-leaning sources, and even though much of the information was correct, my liberal/left-leaning friends always attacked the sources rather than the information. Once I started searching academic resources in my school library, I learned more on how to search effectively from more neutral sources - however there's been so much institutional capture in the States that for every paper that discusses risks and repercussions of encouraging transition, there are ten more papers (often written by trans academics who've earned PhDs; sometimes I've wondered if they've stormed those degrees just to lend academic legitimacy to what they want to believe) that claim the opposite.
Now when you are up against this (which took me several months to start being able to confidently sift through) and are also a parent who likely may not have access to those resources AND may not have the type of background that enables them to be able to effectively discern between good and poor sources, and have an entire institution and movement bearing down on you telling you that you are wrong, bigoted, phobic, and YOU HAVE TO ACT NOW because it's life or death - that's incredible pressure, all coupled with a child who's become a secretive stranger you're desperately trying to help and do the right thing. Parents are conditioned to trust the "experts" in this, and unless they've a solid background in psychology, sociology, education, etc they will often feel as though placing this trust is implicit and the only acceptable decision.
I have to agree that parents are in an undeniably precarious position. Even if we don't feel we need "expert resources" to confirm our parenting intuition that medical procedures to treat a healthy body don't constitute a sound approach, we're up against forces that are planting distrust of us in our children's minds, making it incredibly difficult to know what to do or who to turn to, and very difficult to parent well since the natural attachment has been frayed and your child no longer thinks you're a trustworthy mentor (because your transphobic!) Families need support to navigate this in a way that doesn't affirm the identity but also keeps the attachment between parent and child as healthy as possible. Keeping the family unit together must be a priority--this doesn't mean you have to affirm the child, even if they're threatening to cut you out if you don't. It's just not as black-an-white as this comment suggests. I do appreciate the author's perspective and the gratitude for his mother who would not buy into the lie that wreaked such havoc on his life.
I think the problem is for parents who have a child with ROGD who don’t see it coming so they have a very short amount of time to get up to speed. We’re DESPERATE, need help NOW and don’t know who to listen to or what is actually best for their child. I completely agree with what you’re saying, but every situation is different. Thank god there ARE places like this to help.
I remember the desperation during the initial phase of learning about my daughter's transID--also how totally alone I felt trying to navigate something where everyone was making recommendations that seemed crazy! Now as a veteran of this experience and a certified life coach, I've decided to help other families being blindsided to navigate the land mine they're in. I so wished I would have had someone holding my hand through that disorienting and infuriating time!
Thank you for your courage to speak out. So many #detrans are unwilling. And, God bless you! #changedmvmt
It's helpful to get this perspective from someone who traveled the road and endured so much. I'm also very glad you reunited with your mother and have gratitude for the stand she took for you.
Thanks for sharing your strong feelings and deep insight into a very painful experience for parents. We need encouragement such as you give, to be strong. Protecting our children is costly.