Bendiest Enby

just an FYI for trans people in the US right now

[id: reddit post by user spaghettishoestrings titled "(UPDATE) Just lost my healthcare !" with the flair "Celebratory."

Post reads:

Original post is viewable through my profile. Apologies, since I’m on mobile, I couldn’t hyperlink. The TLDR: my doctor called me on Monday and informed me that their practice would no longer be providing treatment for gender affirming care as a result of a recent presidential Executive Order, even though the EO was for people under 19. Even though I’m 25.

Also, because it was asked a few times, this happened in Michigan, and I’ve been on HRT for 5+ years. It’s a practice that includes like 15+ physicians, and I think that the decision was made over my PCP’s head, given that she once told me that she literally moved states to be able to provide gender affirming care here.

First off, genuinely, thank you so much for all the replies and messages. I genuinely felt frozen after that phone call and didn’t know where to start, and you all really helped me get my feet off the ground.

A couple people mentioned contacting the ACLU, which, truthfully, I thought, “there’s no way that the ACLU will get back to me” but I sent a message anyway. They actually called me a few hours after my post and we talked about the Executive Orders and my rights. They offered to fax my provider a letter reminding them of my rights and some other legal terms. It’s crazy how a post on reddit resulted in my name being on the official ACLU letterhead.

Anyway, today my doctor’s physician assistant called me and shared that their practice is reversing their decision and they will continue to provide gender affirming care. I’m still keeping a bunch of the resources that y’all shared saved, including Planned Parenthood, Plume, and looking into a private endocrinologist.

This whole experience just reminded me how great this community is. I appreciate y’all <3"

[end id]

source

[id: reddit user copurrs commented:]

You should contact Chase Strangio from the ACLU, I believe he is looking for reports of folks being denied their GAC due to these EOs. He's @chasestrangio on IG and Threads.

by the way, just so everyone knows what not to do, shift+r reblogs a post instantly

https://newatlas.com/infectious-diseases/hiv-prevention-fda-lenacapavir/

growing up as a black girl before I became a guy, there was zero positive representation besides a few crumbs, everything else was a caricature and how undesirable black women are and their features. it hurts so much.

Too many people engage in politics and society as a fad, thinking "Oh boy I can't *wait* to forget about this some day!" I can't and don't understand the sheer joy some people have when it comes to forgetting (which makes sense given my dream job is archivist), but then I look at society and people ignoring covid even as it still shuts down hospitals and leaves babies disabled, how people championed anti-racism for like a year before moving on after *checks notes* nothing changed but DNC approved rhetoric, how people rallied for ecological changes to fight climate change and keep the cataclysmic floods and fires we're seeing now from happening only to eventually shrug before going to work at Palantir and Shell and Lockheed Martin to build and maintain devices that literally accelerate those issues... People are always more worried about comfort, status, and fitting into the same society that hurts everyone than they are worried about making things better for everyone.

I say this not as some doomer shit, but something you should remember with pride: You still care. You never stopped caring, or you did and you realized it makes you a shitty person to not care and changed. You keep up with what intrigues and worries you, not roughly interchangeable actors and "singers" who do exactly the same thing for decades that the media and their strangely rabid fans demand is "the coolest thing ever" or whatever. You decided to take your self-determination and determine how you would help to change the world. Pat yourself on the back for still taking covid, a major viral threat to the planet, seriously and trying to do your best to keep everyone safe, even if they're too shallow and thoughtless to return the favor or even recognize the virtue of what you're doing. Funnel your energies into similar worthwhile pursuits instead of bland, basal consumption. Be the masked face that forces everyone to reckon with every issue they've ever stopped working to fix or eradicate. Turn peer pressure back on those social weaklings by refusing to give in to theirs.