Hi Cuties,
Long time no talk.
Many years ago I was introduced to a Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times".
Guess what?
My shit got interesting.
Between getting fired, open heart surgery (thankfully not mine) and blowing up my computer (thanks to an overpowered webcam) you could say my life has been very interesting.
That's not all but enough about me for the moment.
I don't know about anyone else but to me the world is getting a bit hostile out there.
People are going around saying horrible things about us and they are passing laws left right and center that either limit or rights or outright make us illegal to just be alive and ourselves.
It looks like we are slipping back into the bad old days. The days when I could be arrested just for going out in public wearing the clothes that I wear every day.
Right now there are either bills getting ready to be put into laws or out and out laws that make it illegal for anyone under a certain age to be treated for gender dysphoria, charging the parents with a crime that could land them in jail.
So follow me for a moment. Little Johnny or Jane tell Mom and Dad that they feel they are transgender and want to start "the process". Of course Mom and Dad want the best for their little (insert pronoun) and they do everything to help their child.
Of course, the do a bit of research which will include the suicide rates for untreated transgender children.
The Trevor Project website reports that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth (13-24) seriously consider suicide each year and that one attempts it every 45 seconds.
If it were my child, I to would do anything I could to help them and I know from bitter personal experience how much fun it is to grow up and live as an untreated trans person in the good old USA.
Did I ever consider suicide? Hell yes. I remember one night looking out the window of my hotel room on the 15th floor wishing there was a way I could open the window.
Was that just about being trans? No but I'm sure that you have heard the phrase "the straw that broke the camels back". It all adds up.
What about after I started seeking treatment (and yes that included mental health)?
Once I started I haven't looked back and I have no regrets. None.
Of course I didn't start until I was in my late 50's.
My point is these kids don't need someone to tell them how wrong they are for feeling the way they do and I know from personal experience that they are getting all the bullying and bullshit they can handle and more.
Add to that the guilt should their parents get arrested and convicted for helping them. Of course this would mean that they were either living with uneducated relatives or worse, stuck in a foster home.
Of course any and all treatment they were getting would be cut off and stopped.
I wonder what effect that would have on those suicide rates.
Do I have an answer? Hell yes.
Educate yourselves. Learn about the problem before it becomes your problem and after you are done learning, take a moment and decide which side of this fight you should really be on.
If I see you there I'll say hi.
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