Wrote a letter to my unicameral rep about the trans youth Healthcare ban under debate tomorrow.
Growing up as the wrong gender is suffering. It was a nightmare when I went through it in the 90s, and while it's still difficult, the years have made it much less horrible. Today there are avenues for gender affirming care for youth that didn't exist when I was young, and it warms my heart to see the next generation of trans folk able to have care that I was denied. It is horrifying that cisgender people with power have the gall to try to deny this care to children. To do harm to children. While pretending it is for their own good? To subject these kids out of malice to the same nightmare that I was subjected to out of ignorance.
To quote my mother, who has been a lifelong republican: "I can't see how this sort of thing is any business of the government. It's something that happens and dealing with it is a matter for families and their doctors."
She's right. This legislation shows a complete ignorance of what it means to be transgender, what treatments are recommended and used, how difficult it is to get treatments, and furthermore, a deep contempt for families!
Growing up Nebraskan, I was raised on some basic values: family, honesty, acceptance, and hard work. I was raised to tell things how they are, to accept things as they are, to work hard to fix problems that arise, and to trust families to know what's right for them. This legislation violates all these values. It's built on lies about what it means to be transgender. It buries its head to ignore that we are a real variation of humanity. It cuts off the ability to work hard to fix the dysphoria that can emotionally cripple or kill children. And it refuses to trust families.
I'm ashamed of my home state that you all even permitted this horrific farce to get so far as a debate.
