Article bookmarked, thank you. It was most informative and I do hope this model becomes the standard of care and receive wider societal awareness and support. I do have additional thoughts about...
Article bookmarked, thank you. It was most informative and I do hope this model becomes the standard of care and receive wider societal awareness and support.
I do have additional thoughts about reconciling the wonderful care plan outlined, and where it will meet cultural opposition though.
The fundamental aim of gender affirming care is to treat young patients in the gentlest way possible.
And this is what a lot of people don't understand about Fundies: their aim is never to treat anyone in the gentlest way possible. In their world, gentleness is coddling, coddling leads to softness, and softness is death or far worse. Everything must stay Pure and on the Right Path, even at the risk of blood, violence, sacrifices, punishment and horror. I know plenty of atheist Fundies too, it isn't about any one holy book. It's about rigid adherence to "the Right Path".
How do we care for the young person
I feel that this subject has a similar emotional tone to honour killings, foot binding, FGM, and pressured widow suicide: that these people are not motivated by a loved ones' happiness, good health, or even their being alive. They are not after comfort and care, they want Right Living. In my conversations with some of these people, it's a granted that either (1) individual happiness doesn't matter, or else (2) when someone isn't doing Right Living, their happiness is shallow, fake, and impermanent anyway. That (3) only Right Living leads to the kind of "happiness" that matters.
I know the auhor says the best care is to work with families, and that contrary to lies, kids are not having things done to them without family involvement. But I wonder if there is a time and place to actually secretly support kids with blockers, being the gentlest way, until they survive into adulthood when they can get away from adults who are not interested in their health and happiness.
I understand the motivations of the article, but I think that it's perhaps overly optimistic about the level of empathy transgender youth have from their parents. Using the term, 'best possible...
I understand the motivations of the article, but I think that it's perhaps overly optimistic about the level of empathy transgender youth have from their parents.
Parents, too, want the best possible outcomes for their children, which is why we work closely with them, always. Together, we want to help kids make the right choices—not just for today, but for tomorrow.
Using the term, 'best possible outcome' doesn't help the argument here, based on my experiences with parents of transgender children. If a parent is already a firm believer in fixed gender binaries, than their opinion of "best possible outcome" is almost certainly does not include their child deviating from that.
But even in supportive families, the common reactions of parents are almost universally negative. (at least, amongst my generational cohort.) For instance, common parent reactions I've heard include:
Worries about their child becoming a target of violence.
Worries about the career viability of their child as an openly queer person.
Worries about medical intervention causing some form of long term harm.
Worries about medical intervention costing a significant sum of money. (USA especially.)
Immediately concluding that their trans child wants surgery.
Feeling like their child is, "going through a phase" and will make decisions they will regret.
It fundamentally doesn't help that dysphoria can be brutally painful, but also extraordinarily difficult to communicate. A trans person often has to explain why transitioning is vital enough to require taking those risks, while dealing with dysphoria, and a world that is discriminatory against them.
One other thing I'd like to mention, is the focus on transgender children, fundamentally ignores the experiences of a vast set of transgender people. In fact, many people transition later in life. It feels like in mainstream discourse, there's an urge to deny being transgender is anything other than a temporary state. However, not all trans people want to seamlessly disappear into the gender they transition into. And that's not getting into the experiences of those who do not naturally pass. Or into conversations about privilege and access in society. These are entire conversations that need to be had about gender that haven't happened.
While I appreciate this article, I don't think it will do much to build empathy with the families who aren't ready to accept a transgender child. Perhaps its beyond the scope of this article, but we're going to see a lot of refugees until its addressed.
You'd be surprised. I've seen a lot of variation in the Southern US. Some devout Christians have no problem with binary transgender people. They understand gender dysphoria as a medical condition...
If a parent is already a firm believer in fixed gender binaries, than their opinion of "best possible outcome" is almost certainly does not include their child deviating from that.
You'd be surprised. I've seen a lot of variation in the Southern US.
Some devout Christians have no problem with binary transgender people. They understand gender dysphoria as a medical condition which is treated with transition-related healthcare.
My hope is that the people who are compassionate and caring will continue to support children (their own or others') and adults around them, and eventually we all just have to wait out the stigma...
My hope is that the people who are compassionate and caring will continue to support children (their own or others') and adults around them, and eventually we all just have to wait out the stigma as their voices continue to diminish.
Glad to hear from the Southern US. I also see variations despite labels in Atlantic Canada as well as Vancouver. It's always worth celebrating kindness and love wherever we find them.
Well, as someone in an incredibly trans friendly area, I can tell you first hand that there are a lot of trans people who have moved here who do not have the support of their families. It warms...
Well, as someone in an incredibly trans friendly area, I can tell you first hand that there are a lot of trans people who have moved here who do not have the support of their families. It warms the heart to know there could be more support for children in the south nowadays.
Unfortunately, both our perspectives are biased, and are only based on our personal experiences. This is compounded by a lot of the research on trans people being extraordinarily flawed.
For example, a study on transgender mental health that I participated in asked me repeatedly if I had engaged in sex work, and counted all relationships greater than 1 year as the same. I'm a business professional who's been in a committed relationship for 8 years.
Article bookmarked, thank you. It was most informative and I do hope this model becomes the standard of care and receive wider societal awareness and support.
I do have additional thoughts about reconciling the wonderful care plan outlined, and where it will meet cultural opposition though.
And this is what a lot of people don't understand about Fundies: their aim is never to treat anyone in the gentlest way possible. In their world, gentleness is coddling, coddling leads to softness, and softness is death or far worse. Everything must stay Pure and on the Right Path, even at the risk of blood, violence, sacrifices, punishment and horror. I know plenty of atheist Fundies too, it isn't about any one holy book. It's about rigid adherence to "the Right Path".
I feel that this subject has a similar emotional tone to honour killings, foot binding, FGM, and pressured widow suicide: that these people are not motivated by a loved ones' happiness, good health, or even their being alive. They are not after comfort and care, they want Right Living. In my conversations with some of these people, it's a granted that either (1) individual happiness doesn't matter, or else (2) when someone isn't doing Right Living, their happiness is shallow, fake, and impermanent anyway. That (3) only Right Living leads to the kind of "happiness" that matters.
I know the auhor says the best care is to work with families, and that contrary to lies, kids are not having things done to them without family involvement. But I wonder if there is a time and place to actually secretly support kids with blockers, being the gentlest way, until they survive into adulthood when they can get away from adults who are not interested in their health and happiness.
I understand the motivations of the article, but I think that it's perhaps overly optimistic about the level of empathy transgender youth have from their parents.
Using the term, 'best possible outcome' doesn't help the argument here, based on my experiences with parents of transgender children. If a parent is already a firm believer in fixed gender binaries, than their opinion of "best possible outcome" is almost certainly does not include their child deviating from that.
But even in supportive families, the common reactions of parents are almost universally negative. (at least, amongst my generational cohort.) For instance, common parent reactions I've heard include:
It fundamentally doesn't help that dysphoria can be brutally painful, but also extraordinarily difficult to communicate. A trans person often has to explain why transitioning is vital enough to require taking those risks, while dealing with dysphoria, and a world that is discriminatory against them.
One other thing I'd like to mention, is the focus on transgender children, fundamentally ignores the experiences of a vast set of transgender people. In fact, many people transition later in life. It feels like in mainstream discourse, there's an urge to deny being transgender is anything other than a temporary state. However, not all trans people want to seamlessly disappear into the gender they transition into. And that's not getting into the experiences of those who do not naturally pass. Or into conversations about privilege and access in society. These are entire conversations that need to be had about gender that haven't happened.
While I appreciate this article, I don't think it will do much to build empathy with the families who aren't ready to accept a transgender child. Perhaps its beyond the scope of this article, but we're going to see a lot of refugees until its addressed.
You'd be surprised. I've seen a lot of variation in the Southern US.
Some devout Christians have no problem with binary transgender people. They understand gender dysphoria as a medical condition which is treated with transition-related healthcare.
My hope is that the people who are compassionate and caring will continue to support children (their own or others') and adults around them, and eventually we all just have to wait out the stigma as their voices continue to diminish.
Glad to hear from the Southern US. I also see variations despite labels in Atlantic Canada as well as Vancouver. It's always worth celebrating kindness and love wherever we find them.
Well, as someone in an incredibly trans friendly area, I can tell you first hand that there are a lot of trans people who have moved here who do not have the support of their families. It warms the heart to know there could be more support for children in the south nowadays.
Unfortunately, both our perspectives are biased, and are only based on our personal experiences. This is compounded by a lot of the research on trans people being extraordinarily flawed.
For example, a study on transgender mental health that I participated in asked me repeatedly if I had engaged in sex work, and counted all relationships greater than 1 year as the same. I'm a business professional who's been in a committed relationship for 8 years.