Ask a MtF TG a question

[stickygirl]

Julia Serano runs through the facts and research wrt transgender access to restrooms; that it's transgender people who are the victims, not the perpetrators of assault. The video content is drawn from her book Sexed Up - a must-read for anyone with an investment in transgender issues.

It's difficult for me to resolve the real life abuse that trans folk face with the la-la land portrayed on Lit's forums. If I seem a bit irritable at times, there's your reason.

 

[Zrosey]

Oh boy - this is a long explanation. Ten years ago there was support for trans folk, which was reflected in the policies of all political parties. That support was undermined by misinformation, led by the Murdoch press, whose readers got bored with being titillated by trannies, and found they could sell more papers to MumsNet instead. Conservative religious groups and media influencers fell in line to spin the wheels of lies and hysteria. In many ways transphobia today mirrors the homophobia of the 1970s with tropes like 'they're all perverts, they rape women, they spread aids, they convert our children...' Ladida - all that bullshit.

It became untenable for politicians to continue their support and they quickly caved in: repealing legal rights and protections and throttling the funds of existing medical services. It was easy to commission an 'independent report' into transgender services, which basically said the service is kinda shit in the UK, without providing the reasons of why it was shit, like lack of staff, funding, research.
"Aha!" cried the politicians, ever keen to cut budgets. "We must stop harming children. The two existing national centres must close and we'll create much better regional centres instead".

The result of that decision is illustrated by the chart above, which lists the waiting times for the new regional centres. I'd call that wilful obstruction.

Yes, high demand, but why? It's a bottleneck at specialist centres created by GPs who may be unwilling to offer local help. It is more ethical for the GP to refer a patient to a consultant in a perfect well-funded world, but GPs are short-staffed and don't have the resources to offer local help anyway.

Blockers and HRT
The rules have changed further in 2024 with an outright legal ban on puberty blockers to U18s.
( As a reminder puberty blockers have been used since the 1980s to treat precocious puberty. They are not an unknown drug and have already been approved by regulatory bodies. The effects are reversible - they only delay the onset of puberty )

Additionally some GP surgeries have recently stopped HRT prescriptions for existing transitioning patients, who will be over 18. That is not a legal ban, but a whim of the GP. There is a case to be made that since HRT drugs can still be prescribed to treat symptoms of menopause, this is discriminatory action. Can you imagine how it must feel to have waited years to get a referral to have your transition approved, start treatment and then have it pulled away? I'd guess the majority will buy the drugs online instead, where regulation is like the wild west.

In the US I don't think there has been a ban on blockers, but then your health system is very different. There are probably profits to be made from selling blockers and hrt so there is resistance to bans.

It is really hard to convey everything I would like to say with just a emoji, but that'll have to do for now....gotta rush off

 

[stickygirl]

Puberty Blockers
I'm indebted to a Reddit blog for finding this advice from NHS UK wrt puberty blocker treatments

Early puberty can be treated by:

• treating any underlying cause
• using medication to reduce hormone levels and pause sexual development for a few years

Treatment with medication is usually only recommended if it's thought early puberty will cause emotional or physical problems, such as short height in adulthood or early periods in girls, which may cause significant distress.

So children who may suffer significant distress... hmm... so like dysphoria. But that's for normal children, not confused by their gender, because being confused about your gender is best cured by a stiff course denial of course...

 

[Zrosey]

Ironic how the recommendations and acceptance changes depending on the reason for use of these drugs....I've had a few convos where I've pointed out these blockers are a well known therapy and of course I'm met with a mouthful of mush, mumbled excuses why now its different.
Sort of like how corrective / plastic surgeries are just fine for cishet folks.....

 

[stickygirl]

...and with that, it's time to call it a day with this thread. It has become an anachronism at Lit given that now trans women, trannies, shemales and transexuals only exist on the site with fully functional dicks and the sexual appetite of teenage boys. I can't bothered to curate a thread that no longer has any relevance here.

Byeee