My kid is an adult now, and safe from this, but that's not the case for thousands of kids.
When my kid was in his teens, he was terrified and miserable. We didn't know what was wrong. The therapists didn't know what was wrong. It was one of the scariest times of my life, and worse for him, I'm sure.
If amidst all that, the state government had sent a social worker to investigate us, with the implied threat that my child could taken from our home, I honestly don't know if my kid would have survived that.
I'm the mother of a transgender child. Last spring Greg Abbott ordered CPS to investigate parents like me for child abuse. A caseworker came to my home, interrogated my children individually & alone, & kept our investigation open for MONTHS despite no evidence of harm or abuse🧵
— Amber Briggle (she/her) (@mrsbriggle) November 29, 2022
My kid is so much better now. There's still residual trauma left from what he went through in those years, but once he -- and we -- understood that he was trans, things started getting better almost at once. We found a therapist that worked with trans kids. We started him on HRT. We got him top surgery. Each one of those things helped him immensely.
Why is it the business of the state to stop families from getting the medical care they need for their children? I mean, these are the same people who don't want the state to compel them to vaccinate their children. So they're opposed to state control of them; but they are pro-state control of others?
I'm kidding. Of course I understand why the same people can be anti-vax, and yet for state control of trans kids.
These are hierarchal people. Their entire worldview is built around the idea that some people should be in control of what happens, and other people should be controlled.
Some people have power. Those people should not be restricted in any way. They should be allowed to do what they will. If they want to carry guns in grocery stores and university classrooms, if they want to occupy state land, if they want to storm the capitol, they should not be opposed, or even criticized. The slightest infringement on their actions is an outrage.
Other people exist to be acted upon, and those people should be closely watched and fenced about with restrictions. Any act they commit that is not 100% in compliance with the approval of those in power -- like, for instance, wearing a mask; or selling loose cigarettes; or calling their child by the name and pronouns the child prefers -- these acts must be harshly opposed, and harshly punished.
That worldview is the very basis of conservative thought, and it's why conservativism today is such a poisonous force in the world.
“Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition …There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” -- Frank Wilhoit
2 comments:
I give $25 to donors choose for items supporting Trans kids in non-Blue states every time I read/hear about anti-trans stuff. This has been generally $100/week, give or take. It is SO awful.
It is. And thank you!
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