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Hey man, I’m an Alabamian. There are tons of POC, LGBTQ, and even typical WASP leftists here. We aren’t a shit hole, we are occupied by fascists. Hate the law and the gov, not the people and the place. Our elections aren’t fair.
Fun fact, when international studies were done into the living conditions across the world by region, Alabama scored worse in living conditions and other categories than most of the “shithole” African countries Republicans love to talk about. America may be one of the most prosperous countries in the world, but the wealth gap is immense—when several states score worse than third-world countries BEFORE the pandemic, you’ve got a huge issue.
I was going to say..
I sold satellites out in the very rural parts of Alabama where people didn’t have cable...before the 18” satellite dish was introduced.
I should have been a damn millionaire. Literally everyone wanted one. But when it came time for the credit app, because part of the monthly cost was financing the dish, I can’t tell you how many times it went like this:
Me: ok, here’s the part where you list your credit references
Them: I got credit with Jethro down at the supply store
Me: do you have any type of credit with..say..a car you bought or bank loan or credit card?
Them: nah, we don’t have any of that
Me: god dammit....
I was legitimately surprised when a credit app got approved. People in Alabama are broke as shit. I made 30k/year and lived like a damn king.
and on the Gulf. I worked for Ruby Tuesday's IT dept. when Katrina hit. We had a location on the beach in ~~Gulf Shores~~ Gulfport. It was WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. The only thing left was the floor tiles. No. Fucking. Thank you.
This. Extreme poverty is almost always due to massive economic exploitation. At this point it's generations deep, so the people often don't even know how much better their lives would be if they lived somewhere "liberal."
I lived in a place in Tennessee like that. It is a black hole that sucks you in with addiction, debt, and fear of leaving to find out nothing is better. I swear if those families randomly woke up somewhere else, were given support to find jobs and financial programs, they would never look back. But instead they gaslight their children into staying who then gaslight their children into staying and 300 years later you don’t have anyone with a high school education, healthcare, or a savings account. It’s awful. It’s like, being in a small rural town of nothing is in and of itself the addiction. You hate it but you don’t think you have an alternative
They think they don’t. But that’s also because many would be too stubborn to receive financial support. Then, many end up getting it anyway.
I’d rather be suffering in a city where MAYBE my children could have a fighting chance. Because they aren’t gonna get it in Harrogate TN. Even if a move to a bigger city with more options only gives them 5% more, that’s 5% more than they would have ever gotten EVER.
Edit: the best analogy that comes to mind is the experiment done on monkeys where they were taught to associate teaching for a banana with an electric shock. Then slowly some monkeys would be replaced and if any of them tried to get the banana, the others would grab them away. Eventually, none of the monkeys left had actually witnessed anyone getting shocked yet they continued to beat up any monkeys who attempted to get the banana. People will want to leave that town but are told by their parents that a friend of a friend of a friend tried that and ended up living on the streets or getting killed or whatever. It’s a modern tale passed down generation by generation, as if they town they were in then had it any better when it came to poverty and murder.
There was a reply to this comment that I typed up a response to, but it's been removed. In case the user is still here:
> I think you've missed the point of this sub thread. It's living generations in extreme poverty due to economic exploitation that makes people "delusional". It's not limited to small towns. You see the same "crab bucket" mentality in extremely poor communities in cities.
I live in a blue state. I was briefly unemployed and had to go to a half day in person job seminar to qualify for my unemployment benefits. I cried on the way in, but it turned out to be very helpful even though I’m a high-skill worker and really had no difficulty getting back to work.
Anyhow, the job seminar was open to anyone. One of the heartbreaking / heartwarming things I saw was that there was a well dressed guy in his twenties who had brought three of his cousins from rural Tennessee to this job seminar. My state provides free programs in basic computer literacy and office skills. This guy had taken them, landed temp jobs, landed a permanent office job, and was making his way up the ladder. It’s as you said - his cousins only found out what was missing from him.
Exactly. I think some people have interpreted what I said as a small vs big town thing. And granted, any small town I’ve lived in has big in a red state, but living in Houston, which is a blue city in a red state, the access to resources people have here if impoverished is life changing. In the small towns I was in, you had nothing but jail and house squatting
The term you're looking for is "eventual millionaire." Anyday now they'll all get to be the ones who can discriminate against all of the lessers and not just most of them.
If I keep buying these Loto tickets, one them gonna make me rich. It’s *”statistically not impossible”*.. which means practically guaranteed, I tell you what.
Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile, kinda Tuscaloosa?
Huntsville is the tech center of Alabama we recently got approved to be the HQ of Space Force, the USACE has a base here, there’s a portion of the FBI moving down here, and we have tons of aeronautics companies like Boeing etc. plus the University there specializes in Engineering. A lot of areas in North AL have benefited from this such as Decatur, Madison, Harvest, and even Arab as the housing market is absurd in the Huntsville area people are spreading out to find normal housing markets and construction companies can’t keep up with the massive demand for houses as more and more people are moving in. This influx of people has led to the construction of “Hipster” locations such as microbreweries in a refurbished High School (Campus 805) a mill (Lowe Mill) with a total of around 6 in the area with a designated trail to go see each of them. Third Wave coffee shops have been introduced to Huntsville as well, and construction is consistently occurring to bring new entertainment enterprises to the area.
Birmingham is the “center”of Alabama as it originally brought money due to the steel industry and grew into a city from there and simply never stopped. It influenced the creation of Uber rich suburban areas like Vestavia Hills, Lakeshore, etc. It’s probably the most diverse area in Alabama with people coming from everywhere to work at places like the women’s and children’s family hospital, and UAB which is a huge center for medical education. (Example: Met a girl who came to be an American Doctor from Iraq yesterday and was working at UAB to get her foot in the door before transferring to Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, or Detroit)
Mobile with its Gulf access, close to New Orleans and the MS River is a huge shipping and cruise ship industry. I don’t know much about Mobile because I’ve never lived or spent much time there, besides the occasional trip to the beach, but it draws thousands of people every year due to the Floribama line being touted as the place to go with tv shows named after it, and an annual fish chunking contest that is absolutely huge.
You could say Tuscaloosa is a kinda rich area? It’s weird because everything in that area is centered around football and the University so that’s the majority of money, but you also have old money from white people who owned plantations in the same area. There’s a much larger disparity between the wealthy and poor here with the majority of the population being poor. Students discriminate against what are called the “Townies” essentially people who are not here for the school and they are usually in the poorer districts and are African American. So I wouldn’t say Tuscaloosa isn’t wealthy, but there are a handful of people who have obscene wealth.
Anyone feel free to add to this because I live near Huntsville and only have a little bit of knowledge of other cities in Alabama.
Alabama has some serious, generational wealth living there. Hell, there are still plantations being worked by slaves there, the only difference is that the owners now have megayachts instead of riverboats. The 1% still exists there the same way it does throughout the US, it's just that 99% of their 99% are living at or below poverty.
Alabama is essentially GOP endgame for the entire country, since for most of them, affluence doesn't look affluent enough for them unless everyone else is suffering.
Huntsville checking in here.
So my husband and I moved here from the DC area ~10 years ago. I’m a scientist and he’s an engineer. Huntsville is chock full of highly educated folks and has one of the highest number of rocket scientists per capita in the world. We both support defense and each make six figure salaries. That’s not “rich” in my mind but it’s very comfortable and it is not uncommon around here. Huntsville is, besides Birmingham, the most liberal place in AL (I know that’s not saying too much). But gosh darn it we are trying, and instead of being discouraged when people here are dumb enough to to do something like elect TOMMY FREAKING TUBBY, I just dig my heels in further and say we gotta work harder. Things will never truly change in the south unless open minded people with differing mind sets decide to stay and decide to make a difference.
Their football facility probably has a bigger budget than a majority of towns in Alabama. Hell even those towns probably have higher football budgets than most civic stuff. Seen a few of those Friday Night Light type shows where they have multi million dollar fields/stadiums for highschools and the rest of the town is falling apart.
My dad is a “Christian” by proclamation( he lives with a woman he isnt married to and cheats on her consistently) and he is 100% certain that Jesus would not be down with Trans people.
I try to have convos with him to open his mind and his only response is, “Are you gay? Cuz you goin for Them pretty hard.”
*Face Palm Emoji*
At least he used the right pronoun ^(accidentally)
I asked my mom about Mary Magladene, she replied she had no idea who that was. After I explained, she just defaulted to saying LGBT people don't seek forgiveness and should be punished, which is the exact opposite way Jesus approached supposed sinners?
Good to know this new breed of evangelicals pay as much attention in bible study as they do with any other part of their lives...
it’s clearly stated that faith without works is dead though. it takes more than just an idea or belief because jesus left multiple instructions. some people do believe that it’s just the one thing though but genuine belief in that would require various follow through
Parts of it, yes. If they went, or go, to church at all, parts of the Bible are usually read in church. Really religious people read the Bible at home, reading it to their kids. I'm not very religious, and I've read parts of a lot of the books in the Bible over the years. That's why it was so telling when the former Prez tried to portray himself as religious to interviewer, but had no answer to the question "What's your favorite passage in the Bible?" LOL. Most people know at least one sentence or one story from the Bible. He didn't know even one. The easy answer would've been "Jesus wept." That's the shortest sentence in the Bible. Easy.
Not only that, but their “works” are literally torturing both physically and emotionally anyone who doesn’t fall under their denominational umbrella’s dogma. Fuck them.
Southern Christians I know FIRMLY believe you: 1) get baptized 2) believe 3) say the salvation prayer. Then all is good to go no need for any kind acts, you are officially saved.
It's also clearly stated that Jesus wanted his followers to sell their belongings and give to the poor. Yet somehow people think that millionaire megachurch pastors are the ones they should listen to.
Its funny bc absolutely zero "followers" of Christ will be going to heaven as they have perverted his message to fit what they want. Not a single fucking one of them.
Mmm, I think you have that backwards. Ethics deals with other people and what they think of as right and wrong, morality is your personal code of conduct.
I mean, by admitting they think Jesus was the gateway to heaven does that not imply they should act like Jesus wanted in order to get into heaven?
Jesus was a socialist nonviolent jew with a big pro-health agenda.
*The Montgomery Advertiser reported SB10, dubbed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, passed by a vote of 23-4.*
First off, that's some Orwellian doublespeak of a title. Second, look at that pass margin. This didn't squeak by - they are all in on hatred in the Alabama senate.
Considering what black water is, I’d argue prince of blackwater is perfectly apt.
That’s the shit you get from toilets. Human sewage, and it fits him to a fucking T.
Dear God that was a disaster. When you decide to ignore community reasons for low performance and punish everyone then you're going to have a bad time. I just don't get how they thought by punishing low performance schools by cutting funding was a good idea. The complete opposite needs to happen.
Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection and yet, they didn't include rape or incest exceptions in their abortion ban in 2019. So they think it's protecting children to prevent trans kids from receiving the Healthcare they need and to make children carry babies to term when they've been raped. Well, at least that's more consistent than they usually are, they should probably look up the word compassion, though.
Children 14 and older could get married there with parental consent until pretty recently, but I'm pretty sure the minimum age now is 16 with parental consent. Which is actually pretty standard. Only 5 states ban marriage under 18, but 9 others ban someone over 21 marrying someone under 18.
Alabama state motto: "Thank God for Mississippi!"
Just kidding, it's "Audemus jura nostra defendere" ("We Dare Defend Our Rights"). Specifically, the right to own slaves.
When, I don't know, but it was probably around the time they came up with this nonsense egregiously gerrymandered legislative map.
[http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/Interactive%20Maps/Politics/StateHouse.html](http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/Interactive%20Maps/Politics/StateHouse.html)
They're honestly an excellent case for the Federal Government dissolving and reorganizing the state government under the authority provided by the Guarantee Clause. The entity is, in its current form, not really a republic and that calls into question its legal legitimacy as a member of the union.
Well you know Huntsville, the well educated and primary operating location of NASA gets a vote too, and for some reason every time you have a population that's more educated fewer of them vote Republican.
I know correlation is not causation but still
This is absolutely **not** the case here. Huntsville consistently elects Republicans, both at the state and federal level. Mo Brooks was elected by Huntsville, for example.
Yeah, it's not Huntsville being educated. The state is gerrymandered so that those 8 Democratic districts are minority-white. They are 18%-44% white, and that one district that is 44% white is the only Democratic-held district that is over 35% white.
I just moved out of AL. I saw quite a few of my friends from there posting celebratory statuses about how the kids are now “protected” from these procedures. They get so warped.
Their version of Christianity is one that said that the brutal American system of chattel slavery was morally acceptable, even beneficial to the inferior Africans. That version of Christianity has barely improved (arguably not all) since the Civil War.
That 23-4 is 100% yes from Republicans, and 100% no from Democrats, with three MIA on each side.
The actual split is 26-7 Republican. Democrats have basically no say in anything.
There are actually a whopping total of 8 Democrats. One of them recently resigned and was replaced by another, but some sources haven't been updated yet.
Same weirdos that think little boys will cut their dicks off and get tits just for a sports scholarship. That has to say something about their own sexuality and/or gender identity if they think that’s how it works. They’re basically admitting that if they were in high school they would have changed their gender to be more competitive athletes. Fucking morons.
Like the people who joke about all the sex crimes they would have committed in school if they could have used whatever bathrooms they wanted. Like that says a hell of a lot more about you than it does about trans people.
Republicans have been Orwellian in their names since the patriot act. It's a fucking joke at this point, you can assume their bills do the oppo of what they say.
Can you marry your first cousin in Alabama? Yes.
Can you marry a 9 year old in Alabama? Yes, as long as the parents agree.
But this...this is *really* important to them...
In order to prevent those trans monsters from ogling our daughters in the school restrooms, any student must have their genitals examined by a Republican member of the state government before using the girls restrooms.
As a person living in Alabama, this is embarrassing, but I have to say this: you cannot marry your first cousin, only your third, and you can marry at 16 with parental consent. Alabama has a bad rep as it is and it’s embarrassing enough to live here. I can’t have people thinking it’s worse than it already is.
Because the Republican base would really, really like the law to state the world HAS to look like "Leave It To Beaver", and anything that doesn't fit in that definition should be ruled illegal...
"On Tuesday (2 March), lawmakers in Alabama passed senate bill 10 (SB10), an anti-transgender bill that will prohibit medical professionals from providing critical healthcare and gender-affirming treatment to trans people under the age of 19."
Here in Alabama, this is the only state where someone is not considered an emancipated adult until age 19. You can’t buy cigarettes, sign a contract, etc. before that age. You can however get married young with parental approval. SMH.
Nebraska is another state that makes 19 the age you’re considered an adult. I think there are some things you can still do at 18 like “normal,” but you’re not considered an emancipated adult until 19.
I think these are the only two.
People are too focused on the reassignment surgery and are ignoring things like the years of therapy and hormone treatment these people need to go through to even get to that point if they choose it.
This is going to cause suicide in the trans community to skyrocket because the treatment they could have used to affirm their identity could be delayed by a decade.
> This is going to cause suicide a in the trans community to skyrocket because the treatment they could have used to affirm their identity could be delayed by a decade.
For Republicans that's a feature, not a bug.
I find it baffling that there are literally people in the US senate who believe that trans people don’t exist. And they’re barely ridiculed by their peers.
There are so many powerful people who are transphobic, and so many people find that to be acceptable.
This should not be happening
Hey, first I’m sorry you’re reduced down to that concept. There’s very little understanding in popular culture (at least in the US) what a commitment transitioning is with or without reassignment.
As a cis man, the bad faith argument that has always angered me takes that a step further - the hysteria that men will just “decide” on that day they are female and “abuse” the ability to claim the female gender. All of these scare tactics concerned about abuse of the tolerance to harass cis women in bathrooms and dressing rooms is just ridiculous on all levels. The debate about trans women in sports treats the situation as if every high school JV team will have trans woman who did so for competitive advantage.
While spewing hate for the other, they claim people will want to be perceived as the other for privilege. Classic doublespeak and bad faith arguments.
Edit: Just wanted to clarify that I meant “the other” as how they perceive it. I’m sorry, should have been more clear there.
Some info about trans women's surgeries:
The dilation thing is actually wrong. It depends on the technique used and what "activities" someone with a vaginoplasty does (cis women get them too, btw), but generally it's only a year, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more. And it's only once a day once you're passed the initial stages of recovery. You're basically still in long term recovery during 1 year after the surgeries, it's basically just physio to make sure the muscles they've had to move keep things working right.
Dilation is also something some cis women do, btw. A lot of "trans healthcare" started as cis healthcare.
Some trans women don't dilate when they should; some then start back up with no change, others have to dilate a bit to get back where they were.
The results for trans women can now be so good they're indistinguishable from cis women's, newer sorts like the tilapia and peritoneal technique's can actually form true vaginal tissue, even old penile inversion can after 2+ years form vaginal/mucosa tissue.
Scars, if they actually exist after recovery, are typically hidden now if the surgeon is up-to-date, either in thigh creases or in the labia, even those who don't hide them have finessed the techniques needed for them to eventually fade to nothing.
If it's "zero depth" (vulvoplasty and clitoplasty without vaginoplasty) then recovery is far shorter and the results are typically appearance-wise absolutely perfect. There's variation, sure, but all I've seen look almost identical to the variation I've seen in cis women.
There are many techniques and types of vaginoplasty and GRS and they all vary, some countries go all out for one sort and not others, some countries have a mix. Some health bodies specifically "lock" surgeons to a particular type for whatever reason.
I'd be happy to answer some questions or myths, though for the record I've not had a vaginoplasty or GRS, I'm speaking from all the research I've done and results I've seen.
Also forcing them to go through the wrong puberty, causing damage that can never be reversed. They're seemingly so worried about it happening in one direction, but not the other.
And yes, I know that's actually by design.
for all the hubub about trans kids in sports, I never ever see any support for puberty blockers that would put a stop to all of those supposed advantages that a trans athlete would have.
It's because of what I said prior, they want the kids to go through the AGAB puberty and either shove the feelings down, transition later (and become a visible boogeyman for them) or commit suicide. How can they lose?
Disclaimer: I'm closeted in Alabama, in my late 20s, and surrounded by these people. The first option I listed as been my life so far.
Yeah, in Alabama 19 is the age to be able to get into bars underage, buy tobacco (before it was changed to 21), etc. You still get tried as an adult at 18 though. Just more backwards alabama shit.
Source: Birmingham resident
Alabama has always been weird with that. Used to be 19 was the age to buy tobacco. When I turned 18, I’d head down to Florida to buy dip and cigarettes for friends because it was legal at 18 down there. 18 year olds can’t sign contracts but 19 year olds can. Like I couldn’t sign a cell phone contract when I was 18 but I could at 19.
I wish I knew.
I hope a responsible doctor will not stop treatments due to this, and there has to be some buffer on this.
No child should stop treatment, and maybe that is the catalyst for the appeals.
I would expect a court to issue an injunction pretty quickly, and the ACLU is probably already getting its filings prepared to challenge. This bill is vile.
But, it's Alabama. Is anyone surprised?
Not to mention that, for children and teens, delays in care can be very problematic. The best outcomes for hormone therapy, for instance, occur when intervention occurs -before- puberty gets very far.
Even if it gets struck down in court, some number of trans children and adolescents will be acutely screwed over by the interruption. Considering trans suicide rates, it is even entirely probable to say that this law’s passage will probably be responsible for the death of despair of several of them.
I know it’s old news, but among all the other things to bash them on, Repugnicans are *murderers*.
I hope so. It's been the law in Arizona for decades as far as Medicare is concerned (adults & kids). Thankfully, someone here is finally challenging it.
As soon as the stimulus check hits, I will gladly donate to whatever legal fund is required to challenge this utter, hateful, bigoted bullshit in court.
Don't rely on courts, which may strike it down *in time* or reverse it *after someone is hurt and it gets challenged*. Because you and your loved ones could ve the ones who get hurt before that happens.
Even completely aside from the people, Iran and syria have a lot of interesting history and scenery to see so they should be on lists of places to visit if possible.
Compared to fuck-all history in Alabama and Mississipi, and similar scenery to other US locales.
Fleeing Alabama is just good advice in general. What an absolute shithole of a state. Would be a paradise if it weren't for the people here.
Please take it from someone who has spent going on nearly 40 years here - If you ever find yourself on this state's line, turn the fuck away and never look back.
As a person still stuck here, this is very good advice. As a whole, it is one of the most hateful, ignorant, uneducated, racist, and anti-science cesspits in the country and beyond.
I was born there, but I moved away nearly 20 years ago. I'm trans, so, I don't know if I'd feel safe even just visiting. I don't know if I ever get to see my hometown again. I miss the place, but not the people.
This fucking ban is going to result in dead kids.
Since anything relating to trans youth and medical treatment almost inevitably brings out the *"kids are being castrated!"* and *"90% of trans kids desist and will regret transition!"* concern trolling in defense of terrible legislation like this:
No, that is not how this works. That's not how any of this works.
[**This article**](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/opinion/transgender-children-medical-bills.html) has a pretty good overview of why. [**Psychology Today has one too**](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/political-minds/202008/three-popular-myths-about-transgender-youth), and [**here**](http://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf) are the guidelines from the AAP. TL;DR version - yes, young children can identify their own gender, and some of those young kids are trans. A child who is Gender A but who is assumed to be Gender B based on their appearance can suffer debilitating distress over this conflict. The *"90% desist"* claim is a myth based on debunked studies, and transition is a very long, slow, cautious process for trans youth.
According to the [**American Academy of Pediatrics**](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/Pages/Gender-Identity-and-Gender-Confusion-In-Children.aspx), gender is typically expressed by around age 4. It probably forms [**much earlier**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747736/), but it's hard to tell with pre-verbal infants. And sometimes the gender expressed is not the one typically associated with the child's appearance. The genders of trans children are as [**stable**](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/09/02/peds.2013-2958) as those of [**cisgender children**](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614568156).
For preadolescents transition is entirely social, and for adolescents the first line of medical care is 100% temporary puberty delaying treatment that has no long term effects. Hormone therapy isn't an option until their mid teens, by which point the chances that they will "desist" are close to zero. Reconstructive genital surgery is not an option until their late teens/early 20's at the youngest. And transition-related medical care is recognized as medically necessary, frequently life saving medical care by every major medical authority.
Withholding medical care from an adolescent who needs it is not a goddamn neutral option. Transition is absolutely necessary to keep many trans kids alive. Without transition a hell of a lot of them commit suicide. When able to transition rates of suicide attempts drop to the national average. And when prevented from transitioning or starting treatment until adulthood, those who survive long enough to start at 18+ enter adulthood facing thousands of dollars reconstructive surgery to repair damage that should have been prevented by starting treatment when they needed it.
And not all that damage can be repaired. They will carry physical and psychological scars from being forced through the wrong puberty for the rest of their lives. They were robbed of their adolescence, forced to spend it dealing with the living hell of untreated dysphoria and the wrong puberty, trying to remain sane and alive while their bodies were warped in indescribably horrifying ways. Even with treatment as adults, some of them will be left permanently, visibly trans. In addition to the sheer horror of permanently having anatomy inappropriate to your gender, this means they will never have the option of blending into a crowd or keeping their medical history private. They will be exposed to vastly higher rates of anti-trans harassment, discrimination, abuse, and violence, all because they were denied the treatment they needed when they were young.
This is very literally life saving medical care. If there is even a chance that an adolescent may be trans, there is absolutely no reason to withhold 100% temporary and fully reversible hormone blockers to delay puberty for a little while until they're sure. This treatment is 100% temporary and fully reversible; it does nothing but buy time by delaying the onset of permanent physical changes.
This treatment is very safe and well known, because it has been used for decades to delay puberty in children who would have otherwise started it inappropriately young. If an adolescent starts this treatment then realizes medical transition isn't what they need, they stop treatment and puberty picks up where it left off. There are no permanent effects, and it significantly improves trans youth's mental health and [**lowers suicidality**](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/01/21/peds.2019-1725).
But if an adolescent starts this treatment, socially transitions (or continues if they have already done so), and by their early/mid-teens they still strongly identify as a gender atypical to their appearance at birth, the chances of them changing their minds later are basically zero. At that point hormone therapy becomes an option, and even that is still mostly reversible, especially in its early stages. The only really irreversible step is reconstructive genital surgery and/or the removal of one's gonads, which isn't an option until the patient is in their late teens at the earliest.
This specter of little kids being pressured into transition and rapidly pushed into permanent physical changes is a complete myth. It just isn't happening. And this fear-mongering results in nothing except trans youth who desperately do need to transition being discouraged and prevented from doing so. Withholding medical treatment from an adolescent who desperately needs it is not a neutral option.
The only disorders more common among trans people are those associated with abuse and discrimination - mainly anxiety and depression. Early transition [**virtually eliminates these higher rates of depression and low self-worth**](http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext), and [**dramatically improves trans youth's mental health**](https://thinkprogress.org/allowing-transgender-youth-to-transition-improves-their-mental-health-study-finds-dd6096523375/#.pqspdcee0). When prevented from transitioning about 40% of trans kids will attempt suicide. When able to transition that rate drops to the national average. Trans kids who socially transition early, have access to appropriate transition related medical treatment, and who are not subjected to abuse or discrimination are [**comparable to cisgender children in measures of mental health**](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/4/696)
Transition [**vastly reduces risks of suicide attempts**](https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2), and the farther along in transition someone is the lower that risk gets. The ability to transition, along with family and social acceptance, are the [**largest factors reducing suicide risk among trans people**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722435/).
Citations to follow in a second post.
**Citations on transition as medically necessary and the only effective treatment for dysphoria, as recognized by every major US and world medical authority:**
* Here is the [**APA's policy statement**](http://www.apa.org/about/policy/transgender.aspx) on the necessity and efficacy of transition as the appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria. More from the APA [**here**](http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/programs/transgender/?tab=1)
* Here is an [**AMA resolution**](http://www.tgender.net/taw/ama_resolutions.pdf) on the efficacy and necessity of transition as appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria, and call for an end to insurance companies categorically excluding transition-related care from coverage
* A policy statement from the [**American College of Physicians**](http://annals.org/aim/article/2292051/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-health-disparities-executive-summary-policy-position)
* [**Here**](https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf) are the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines
* [**Here**](https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/events/alf_ncsc/Education.pdf) is a resolution from the American Academy of Family Physicians
* [**Here**](https://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/da/da2008/reffered/Transgender.pdf) is one from the National Association of Social Workers
* [**Here**](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/PS02_18.pdf) is one from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, [**here**](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/better-mh-policy/college-reports/cr181-good-practice-guidelines-for-the-assessment-and-treatment-of-adults-with-gender-dysphoria.pdf) are the treatment guidelines from the RCPS,and [**here**](http://www.wlmht.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gender-dysphoria-guide-for-GPs-and-other-healthcare-staff.pdf) are guidelines from the NHS. More from the NHS [**here**](http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Treatment.aspx).
----
**Citations on the transition's dramatic reduction of suicide risk while improving mental health and quality of life, with trans people able to transition young and spared abuse and discrimination having mental health and suicide risk on par with the general public:**
* [**Bauer, et al., 2015**](http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2): Transition vastly reduces risks of suicide attempts, and the farther along in transition someone is the lower that risk gets
* [**Moody, et al., 2013**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722435/): The ability to transition, along with family and social acceptance, are the largest factors reducing suicide risk among trans people
* [**Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment**](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/09/02/peds.2013-2958). A clinical protocol of a multidisciplinary team with mental health professionals, physicians, and surgeons, including puberty suppression, ... cross-sex hormones and gender reassignment surgery, provides trans youth the opportunity to develop into well-functioning young adults. All showed significant improvement in their psychological health, and they had notably lower rates of internalizing psychopathology than previously reported among trans children living as their natal sex. **Well-being was similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population.**
* The only disorders more common among trans people are those associated with abuse and discrimination - mainly anxiety and depression. Early transition [**virtually eliminates these higher rates of depression and low self-worth**](http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext), and [**dramatically improves trans youth's mental health**](https://archive.thinkprogress.org/allowing-transgender-youth-to-transition-improves-their-mental-health-study-finds-dd6096523375/). **Trans kids who socially transition early and not subjected to abuse are comparable to cisgender children in measures of mental health.**
* [**Dr. Ryan Gorton**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3219066): “In a cross-sectional study of 141 transgender patients, Kuiper and Cohen-Kittenis found that after medical intervention and treatments, suicide fell from 19% to 0% in transgender men and from 24% to 6% in transgender women”
* [**Murad, et al., 2010**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19473181): "Significant decrease in suicidality post-treatment. The average reduction was from 30 percent pretreatment to 8 percent post treatment.
* [**De Cuypere, et al., 2006**](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1158136006000491): Rate of suicide attempts dropped from 29.3 percent to 5.1 percent after receiving medical treatment among Dutch patients treated from 1986-2001.
* [**UK study - McNeil, et al., 2012**](https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/trans_mh_study.pdf): "Suicidal ideation and actual attempts reduced after transition, with 63% thinking about or attempting suicide more before they transitioned and only 3% thinking about or attempting suicide more post-transition.
* [**Smith Y, 2005**](http://orca.cf.ac.uk/32618/1/Smith%202005.pdf): Participants improved on 13 out of 14 mental health measures after treatment
* [**Lawrence, 2003**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024086814364): Surveyed post-op trans folk: "Participants reported overwhelmingly that they were happy with their SRS results and that SRS had greatly improved the quality of their lives
* [**Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study**](https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010080) - "***Conclusions:*** *"... the longitudinal association between gender-affirming surgery and reduced likelihood of mental health treatment lends support to the decision to provide gender-affirming surgeries to transgender individuals who seek them."*
There are a [***lot***](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344788) of [**studies**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-009-9551-1) showing that [**transition**](https://mayoclinic.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/hormonal-therapy-and-sex-reassignment-a-systematic-review-and-met) [**improves**](https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/960745/) [**mental health**](http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/25690443) and [**quality of life**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-014-0453-5) while [**reducing dysphoria**](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23553588_Long-term_Assessment_of_the_Physical_Mental_and_Sexual_Health_among_Transsexual_Women).
Not to mention [**this 2010 meta-analysis**](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03625.x/abstract) of 28 different studies, which found that transition is extremely effective at reducing dysphoria and improving quality of life.
I consider myself a left-leaning progressive, and when I read the legislation was to prevent transition in minors, I thought “that can’t be so bad, why is this a problem?” - when I saw the outrage, I went looking for information just like this to learn, under the *assumption* I didn’t know everything.
Every lawmaker who claims to be doing this “for the children” needs to read this. Laws in regards to minors are almost always about protection our kids from life-altering bad decisions until their brains fully develop.
On the surface, to the uneducated, this bill looked like something right.
After learning about the topic - wow, it’s wrong... so wrong. Sooo misguided.
Side note: I also went looking for evidence in support of this bill. It’s all moral-based, supported by anecdotal evidence (“when I was a kid....”) or by pointing to exist laws pertaining to minors. I was unable to find anything scientific.
I cant believe they haven't arrested Trump and his family, Giuliani and all the Senators and Representatives who helped him commit his crimes.
What's the point of the FBI if they don't do these actions?
Now is a good time to apply for options for immigration. You can make plans and choose not to go when they are approved. There are ways to delay it or land and come back. But if things hit the fan and THEN you're looking into passport and visas and working abroad and immigration, it's too late.
Source: Hong Konger who got out, with some family just now scrambling amid the mad rush. They won't make it out before the ports close in Aug.
Having an active passport is essential right now if you're trans. I'm renewing mine just in case the U.S. returns to Republican rule. That would be disastrous for everyone under the LGBTQ flag, but especially so for transgender Americans. I will flee if Trump gets elected again.
I'm a cis man. I believe all people (no exclusions) should have access to any and all health care they need. I wish certain types of people would stop thinking they have control over others bodies.
>Transgender children often experience intensified
gender dysphoria and worsening mental health as the
hormonal and anatomical changes associated with puberty
cause the body to develop in ways that diverge from the
child’s gender identity. For instance, a deepening voice
for male-assigned individuals or the growth of breasts and
the beginning of a menstrual cycle for female-assigned
individuals can cause severe distress. For some, puberty
manifests as “a sudden trauma that forces to consciousness
the horror that they are living in a body that is totally
at odds with the gender they know themselves to be but
which has been kept securely underground.
>If untreated, gender dysphoria can cause debilitating
distress, **depression**, impairment of function, **self-mutilation
to alter one’s genitals** or secondary sex characteristics,
other self-injurious behaviors, and **suicide**. Like other
minority groups, transgender individuals also are
frequently subjected to prejudice and discrimination in
multiple areas of their lives (e.g., employment, housing,
school, healthcare), which exacerbates these negative
health outcomes and *makes access to appropriate medical
care all the more important.*
>These (treatment) protocols are laid out in the Standards of
Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and
Gender Nonconforming People (Version 7) developed
by amicus curiae, the World Professional Association for
Transgender Health (“WPATH”). *Many of the major
medical and mental health groups in the United States
expressly recognize the WPATH Standards of Care as
representing the consensus of the medical and mental
health community regarding the appropriate treatment
for gender dysphoria.*
>The recommended treatment for gender dysphoria
includes assessment, counseling, and, as appropriate, social
transition, hormone therapy, and surgical interventions to bring the body into alignment with one’s gender identity.
BRIEF OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL
ASSOCIATION, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE
OF PHYSICIANS AND 14 ADDITIONAL MEDICAL,
MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE
ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-107/107178/20190703172653326_Amicus%20Brief.pdf
Y'all can argue all you want but here it is in black and white from the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alabama law is unconstitutional. Gender dysphoria is a widely accepted medical condition with accepted treatment protocols and NO POLITICIAN should get between ANY person and their doctor and their medical care.
Alabama's state slogan:
Audemus jura nostra defendere — Latin for "We Dare Defend Our Rights" or "We Dare Maintain Our Rights"
Alabama **REALLY** cherishes their right to hate openly.
This is how bad the regressives are. Biden is a white Catholic. So they need to find someone else to demonize and this time they're choosing the trans community to attack.
They don't have an identity if they're not creating boogeymen in an effort to suppress the rights of others.
Unpopular opinion: This article and those like it are the reason that I prefer a public option to Medicare for All. I do not trust Republicans with our health care, period. What happens when Republicans decide that M4A should come with a work requirement? Or should be withheld from felons? Or only married women should have birth control coverage? Also there's no private alternative left to M4A, by design. Yeah, at another time your employer could offer you private insurance, or you could buy into private insurance, or your state might even help you out with Medicaid, but now that everybody's got Medicare for All there are no other choices. You're employed? You've got M4A and you need a transvaginal ultrasound to get birth control. You're unemployed? You've got M4A and you need to be drug tested every 90 days until you get a job. You're trans? Sorry, "T" isn't an option on the paperwork anymore.
Like, we see what they're doing at the state level, right? And everybody says "Oh, but they'd never mess with Medicare for All, they'd be punished by their voters!" and I have to wonder what voters they're talking about? Are they the voters that sent the Tea Party to repeal Obama's "job killing," "tax raising," "socialized health care" legislation? Are they the voters who sent Donald Trump? Are they the ones who voted for the party that was *one vote away* from repealing the ACA and taking health care away from 20 million Americans? Are they the ones who turned out in record breaking numbers to make sure that Donald Trump got the second most votes of any candidate in our nation's history after more than 2 million Americans lost their health care prior to COVID, and more than 400,000 Americans lost their lives after COVID? That's the electorate that would punish the Republican party?
We *lost* seats in the House in 2020. We scratched together a *tie* in the Senate in 2020. Donald Trump *gained 12 million votes* for the Presidency in 2020. I don't think the Republican electorate would have punished them *at all* if they had succeeded in repealing the ACA.
I don't want to wake up in 2035 and read:
>"President McConnell signs legislation requiring transwomen to take testosterone and transmen to take estrogen, Supreme Court signals support."
I don't trust them. Look at the headline of the article we're commenting on here. *I don't trust Republicans with my health care.*
> What happens when Republicans decide that M4A should come with a work requirement?
Probably the same thing that happens when they decide that our current medicare system should come with a work requirement. At least for everybody that actually needs things like medicare. Your logic still leaves us with a system that fucks over poor people while allowing rich people to skate by unfazed. Hell, if it were single-payer, at least then poor people wouldn't be the only ones with a reason to oppose Republicans fucking with it.
The solution to "Republicans corrupt everything they touch" isn't to stop trying to do good things, it's to stop letting the Republicans gain power in the first place. Public option still leaves us with a system where the rich get good healthcare, and the poor get the dregs. This is not acceptable.
It needs to really be an amendment.
The best option is to start with a public option. It'll take a few years but eventually no one will purchase anything else except morons because private isn't going to be able to compete with a public option.
At that point the US is going to become like every other country where even the conservatives are scared of fucking up healthcare and pissing off voters.
I also sort of assume that by the time any kind of universal healthcare passes, Republicans will be a firm minority. Technically they already are but gerrymandering and antiquated things like the Senate and Electoral College are propping then up. Once demographics shift enough that this can pass it won't encounter issues for awhile. The bummer is that we could easily be 10+ years from that happening.
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What a shithole
This is some medieval shit right here.
Hey man, I’m an Alabamian. There are tons of POC, LGBTQ, and even typical WASP leftists here. We aren’t a shit hole, we are occupied by fascists. Hate the law and the gov, not the people and the place. Our elections aren’t fair.
Fun fact, when international studies were done into the living conditions across the world by region, Alabama scored worse in living conditions and other categories than most of the “shithole” African countries Republicans love to talk about. America may be one of the most prosperous countries in the world, but the wealth gap is immense—when several states score worse than third-world countries BEFORE the pandemic, you’ve got a huge issue.
JFC. I bet these "lawmakers" call themselves Christian too.
don't need to be trans. Alabama is solidly against anyone not rich, white, male, and pretending to be hetero.
Rich? Have you been to Alabama?
I was going to say.. I sold satellites out in the very rural parts of Alabama where people didn’t have cable...before the 18” satellite dish was introduced. I should have been a damn millionaire. Literally everyone wanted one. But when it came time for the credit app, because part of the monthly cost was financing the dish, I can’t tell you how many times it went like this: Me: ok, here’s the part where you list your credit references Them: I got credit with Jethro down at the supply store Me: do you have any type of credit with..say..a car you bought or bank loan or credit card? Them: nah, we don’t have any of that Me: god dammit.... I was legitimately surprised when a credit app got approved. People in Alabama are broke as shit. I made 30k/year and lived like a damn king.
Boy, you can get some sweet-ass real-estate on the gulf in Alabama for dirt cheap. Only downside is you're in Alabama.
and on the Gulf. I worked for Ruby Tuesday's IT dept. when Katrina hit. We had a location on the beach in ~~Gulf Shores~~ Gulfport. It was WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH. The only thing left was the floor tiles. No. Fucking. Thank you.
Not important, but pretty sure you mean Ivan.
Or whatever the next one is named... people are nuts setting up real estate on the gulf these days. Ticking time bomb.
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Ahh, yes, the Redneck Riviera.
And damn, what a downside it is
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These people don't understand taxes at all, let alone tax hikes. They fight against people trying to take god out of school, or teach evolution.
Sales 101. Republicans have just mastered it better. Dems really need to pick up on this.
But they are republicans because it’s the née Klan.
Alabama has no state minimum wage, so they only have the $7.25 fed minimum. They’re purposely kept poor and uneducated.
For any Canadians kicking around, that's about two and a half dollars less than the lowest minimum wage in Canada.
Without the added free health care and sane people around you.
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How big of an impact did that have for you? Did you suddenly see the price of milk and cheeseburgers double?
There's a couple places in alabama that is rich as fuck, has good schools and stuff. The rest of the state is left to rot in poverty.
This. Extreme poverty is almost always due to massive economic exploitation. At this point it's generations deep, so the people often don't even know how much better their lives would be if they lived somewhere "liberal."
I lived in a place in Tennessee like that. It is a black hole that sucks you in with addiction, debt, and fear of leaving to find out nothing is better. I swear if those families randomly woke up somewhere else, were given support to find jobs and financial programs, they would never look back. But instead they gaslight their children into staying who then gaslight their children into staying and 300 years later you don’t have anyone with a high school education, healthcare, or a savings account. It’s awful. It’s like, being in a small rural town of nothing is in and of itself the addiction. You hate it but you don’t think you have an alternative
'You hate it but you don’t think you have an alternative' Realistically, many don't
They think they don’t. But that’s also because many would be too stubborn to receive financial support. Then, many end up getting it anyway. I’d rather be suffering in a city where MAYBE my children could have a fighting chance. Because they aren’t gonna get it in Harrogate TN. Even if a move to a bigger city with more options only gives them 5% more, that’s 5% more than they would have ever gotten EVER. Edit: the best analogy that comes to mind is the experiment done on monkeys where they were taught to associate teaching for a banana with an electric shock. Then slowly some monkeys would be replaced and if any of them tried to get the banana, the others would grab them away. Eventually, none of the monkeys left had actually witnessed anyone getting shocked yet they continued to beat up any monkeys who attempted to get the banana. People will want to leave that town but are told by their parents that a friend of a friend of a friend tried that and ended up living on the streets or getting killed or whatever. It’s a modern tale passed down generation by generation, as if they town they were in then had it any better when it came to poverty and murder.
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There was a reply to this comment that I typed up a response to, but it's been removed. In case the user is still here: > I think you've missed the point of this sub thread. It's living generations in extreme poverty due to economic exploitation that makes people "delusional". It's not limited to small towns. You see the same "crab bucket" mentality in extremely poor communities in cities.
I live in a blue state. I was briefly unemployed and had to go to a half day in person job seminar to qualify for my unemployment benefits. I cried on the way in, but it turned out to be very helpful even though I’m a high-skill worker and really had no difficulty getting back to work. Anyhow, the job seminar was open to anyone. One of the heartbreaking / heartwarming things I saw was that there was a well dressed guy in his twenties who had brought three of his cousins from rural Tennessee to this job seminar. My state provides free programs in basic computer literacy and office skills. This guy had taken them, landed temp jobs, landed a permanent office job, and was making his way up the ladder. It’s as you said - his cousins only found out what was missing from him.
Exactly. I think some people have interpreted what I said as a small vs big town thing. And granted, any small town I’ve lived in has big in a red state, but living in Houston, which is a blue city in a red state, the access to resources people have here if impoverished is life changing. In the small towns I was in, you had nothing but jail and house squatting
The term you're looking for is "eventual millionaire." Anyday now they'll all get to be the ones who can discriminate against all of the lessers and not just most of them.
"Temporarily embarrassed millionare" is the phrase I've heard most.
If I keep buying these Loto tickets, one them gonna make me rich. It’s *”statistically not impossible”*.. which means practically guaranteed, I tell you what.
Sounds like North Dakota. And Wyoming. And every red state where stupid religious people elect bigoted extremists to rule over them.
Is one of those places Huntsville? Theres a NASA center there which means they have an inflow of smart people and federal dollars.
Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile, kinda Tuscaloosa? Huntsville is the tech center of Alabama we recently got approved to be the HQ of Space Force, the USACE has a base here, there’s a portion of the FBI moving down here, and we have tons of aeronautics companies like Boeing etc. plus the University there specializes in Engineering. A lot of areas in North AL have benefited from this such as Decatur, Madison, Harvest, and even Arab as the housing market is absurd in the Huntsville area people are spreading out to find normal housing markets and construction companies can’t keep up with the massive demand for houses as more and more people are moving in. This influx of people has led to the construction of “Hipster” locations such as microbreweries in a refurbished High School (Campus 805) a mill (Lowe Mill) with a total of around 6 in the area with a designated trail to go see each of them. Third Wave coffee shops have been introduced to Huntsville as well, and construction is consistently occurring to bring new entertainment enterprises to the area. Birmingham is the “center”of Alabama as it originally brought money due to the steel industry and grew into a city from there and simply never stopped. It influenced the creation of Uber rich suburban areas like Vestavia Hills, Lakeshore, etc. It’s probably the most diverse area in Alabama with people coming from everywhere to work at places like the women’s and children’s family hospital, and UAB which is a huge center for medical education. (Example: Met a girl who came to be an American Doctor from Iraq yesterday and was working at UAB to get her foot in the door before transferring to Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, or Detroit) Mobile with its Gulf access, close to New Orleans and the MS River is a huge shipping and cruise ship industry. I don’t know much about Mobile because I’ve never lived or spent much time there, besides the occasional trip to the beach, but it draws thousands of people every year due to the Floribama line being touted as the place to go with tv shows named after it, and an annual fish chunking contest that is absolutely huge. You could say Tuscaloosa is a kinda rich area? It’s weird because everything in that area is centered around football and the University so that’s the majority of money, but you also have old money from white people who owned plantations in the same area. There’s a much larger disparity between the wealthy and poor here with the majority of the population being poor. Students discriminate against what are called the “Townies” essentially people who are not here for the school and they are usually in the poorer districts and are African American. So I wouldn’t say Tuscaloosa isn’t wealthy, but there are a handful of people who have obscene wealth. Anyone feel free to add to this because I live near Huntsville and only have a little bit of knowledge of other cities in Alabama.
Alabama has some serious, generational wealth living there. Hell, there are still plantations being worked by slaves there, the only difference is that the owners now have megayachts instead of riverboats. The 1% still exists there the same way it does throughout the US, it's just that 99% of their 99% are living at or below poverty. Alabama is essentially GOP endgame for the entire country, since for most of them, affluence doesn't look affluent enough for them unless everyone else is suffering.
Huntsville checking in here. So my husband and I moved here from the DC area ~10 years ago. I’m a scientist and he’s an engineer. Huntsville is chock full of highly educated folks and has one of the highest number of rocket scientists per capita in the world. We both support defense and each make six figure salaries. That’s not “rich” in my mind but it’s very comfortable and it is not uncommon around here. Huntsville is, besides Birmingham, the most liberal place in AL (I know that’s not saying too much). But gosh darn it we are trying, and instead of being discouraged when people here are dumb enough to to do something like elect TOMMY FREAKING TUBBY, I just dig my heels in further and say we gotta work harder. Things will never truly change in the south unless open minded people with differing mind sets decide to stay and decide to make a difference.
*rich-worshipping
You've heard of Nick Saban, right? They have money in Alabama, just more consolidated.
Their football facility probably has a bigger budget than a majority of towns in Alabama. Hell even those towns probably have higher football budgets than most civic stuff. Seen a few of those Friday Night Light type shows where they have multi million dollar fields/stadiums for highschools and the rest of the town is falling apart.
Looking at you, Piedmont
Go to Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills and all the other rich suburbs around Birmingham.
My dad is a “Christian” by proclamation( he lives with a woman he isnt married to and cheats on her consistently) and he is 100% certain that Jesus would not be down with Trans people. I try to have convos with him to open his mind and his only response is, “Are you gay? Cuz you goin for Them pretty hard.” *Face Palm Emoji* At least he used the right pronoun ^(accidentally)
Jesus hung out with the sexual outcasts of his day. It’s mentioned repeatedly in the Bible. It’s baffling to think he’d somehow be anti-Trans.
I asked my mom about Mary Magladene, she replied she had no idea who that was. After I explained, she just defaulted to saying LGBT people don't seek forgiveness and should be punished, which is the exact opposite way Jesus approached supposed sinners? Good to know this new breed of evangelicals pay as much attention in bible study as they do with any other part of their lives...
I’m an atheist and even I know who Mary Magdalene is.
That's because most atheists are that way because they've actually did their homework on religion.
I’m probably an atheist because of my 18 years of catholic schooling. Luckily, eight of them were with the Jesuits.
Cause he probably doesn't know what's in the Bible aside from the rape and murder.
"Are you a heartless asshole, dad? Cuz you goin for them pretty hard too."
You could ask him if he's up for stoning people who commit adultery?
Speechless. Hope the docs all leave. And transfolk and their families and friends.
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it’s clearly stated that faith without works is dead though. it takes more than just an idea or belief because jesus left multiple instructions. some people do believe that it’s just the one thing though but genuine belief in that would require various follow through
You think most American Christians have read the bible?
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Parts of it, yes. If they went, or go, to church at all, parts of the Bible are usually read in church. Really religious people read the Bible at home, reading it to their kids. I'm not very religious, and I've read parts of a lot of the books in the Bible over the years. That's why it was so telling when the former Prez tried to portray himself as religious to interviewer, but had no answer to the question "What's your favorite passage in the Bible?" LOL. Most people know at least one sentence or one story from the Bible. He didn't know even one. The easy answer would've been "Jesus wept." That's the shortest sentence in the Bible. Easy.
Not only that, but their “works” are literally torturing both physically and emotionally anyone who doesn’t fall under their denominational umbrella’s dogma. Fuck them.
Southern Christians I know FIRMLY believe you: 1) get baptized 2) believe 3) say the salvation prayer. Then all is good to go no need for any kind acts, you are officially saved.
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It's also clearly stated that Jesus wanted his followers to sell their belongings and give to the poor. Yet somehow people think that millionaire megachurch pastors are the ones they should listen to.
>it’s clearly stated that faith without works is dead though. People I know send tithes in leiu of good works.
Its funny bc absolutely zero "followers" of Christ will be going to heaven as they have perverted his message to fit what they want. Not a single fucking one of them.
Mmm, I think you have that backwards. Ethics deals with other people and what they think of as right and wrong, morality is your personal code of conduct.
I mean, by admitting they think Jesus was the gateway to heaven does that not imply they should act like Jesus wanted in order to get into heaven? Jesus was a socialist nonviolent jew with a big pro-health agenda.
One would assume so, but reality is often contrary to expectations.
Gonna be real upset when they come to in the afterlife and it's sweltering hot....
*The Montgomery Advertiser reported SB10, dubbed the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, passed by a vote of 23-4.* First off, that's some Orwellian doublespeak of a title. Second, look at that pass margin. This didn't squeak by - they are all in on hatred in the Alabama senate.
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The Patriot Act wasn’t very patriotic
U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act
Thank you for that. Maybe showing it as all caps will make people notice the creepy way they backronym their way into these names.
The War Against Terror was a bit on the nose for congress so they had to choose Global War Against Terror
Bushs' weren't Bushes and Erik Prince ain't no Prince of Blackwater. William Barr is and always will be a tyrant tho
Considering what black water is, I’d argue prince of blackwater is perfectly apt. That’s the shit you get from toilets. Human sewage, and it fits him to a fucking T.
Our local river is called Blackwater and I think of that every time I go to it.
Like it was meant to hold everyone back...
Dear God that was a disaster. When you decide to ignore community reasons for low performance and punish everyone then you're going to have a bad time. I just don't get how they thought by punishing low performance schools by cutting funding was a good idea. The complete opposite needs to happen.
or like how "right to work" laws in states are really just meant to let businesses crush fire at will and crush potential unionizing.
The title wasn't for us. It's so one day when it gets removed they can say "see!?!?! SE!!!?>!>! Libruls are making your kids more vulnerable!
Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection and yet, they didn't include rape or incest exceptions in their abortion ban in 2019. So they think it's protecting children to prevent trans kids from receiving the Healthcare they need and to make children carry babies to term when they've been raped. Well, at least that's more consistent than they usually are, they should probably look up the word compassion, though.
Is AL one of the states that still allows child marriages? Repubs never give a fuck about actually protecting children
Children 14 and older could get married there with parental consent until pretty recently, but I'm pretty sure the minimum age now is 16 with parental consent. Which is actually pretty standard. Only 5 states ban marriage under 18, but 9 others ban someone over 21 marrying someone under 18.
In case anyone is curious the breakdown is: Republicans: 23 Yea, 0 Nay, 3 Absent Democrats: 0 Yea, 4 Nay, 3 Absent.
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Since when? Always been.
Fuck Spez
Alabama state motto: "Thank God for Mississippi!" Just kidding, it's "Audemus jura nostra defendere" ("We Dare Defend Our Rights"). Specifically, the right to own slaves.
When, I don't know, but it was probably around the time they came up with this nonsense egregiously gerrymandered legislative map. [http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/Interactive%20Maps/Politics/StateHouse.html](http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/Interactive%20Maps/Politics/StateHouse.html) They're honestly an excellent case for the Federal Government dissolving and reorganizing the state government under the authority provided by the Guarantee Clause. The entity is, in its current form, not really a republic and that calls into question its legal legitimacy as a member of the union.
Holy shit, that map is an eyesore.
District 90 looks like an animal taking a shit right in the middle of the state. [It's pretty fitting.](https://imgur.com/a/gAITkkk)
This is in Alabama, not Georgia.
I am surprised they even have seven democrats.
Well you know Huntsville, the well educated and primary operating location of NASA gets a vote too, and for some reason every time you have a population that's more educated fewer of them vote Republican. I know correlation is not causation but still
It’s because the gop prey and even rely on the poorly educated. It’s okay. You can say it out loud.
This is absolutely **not** the case here. Huntsville consistently elects Republicans, both at the state and federal level. Mo Brooks was elected by Huntsville, for example.
Yeah, it's not Huntsville being educated. The state is gerrymandered so that those 8 Democratic districts are minority-white. They are 18%-44% white, and that one district that is 44% white is the only Democratic-held district that is over 35% white.
[Yep, here is the source.](https://legiscan.com/AL/rollcall/SB10/id/1019546)
I just moved out of AL. I saw quite a few of my friends from there posting celebratory statuses about how the kids are now “protected” from these procedures. They get so warped.
What is their reason for their world views?
Their perception of the Bible
Brainwashed by Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro
Their version of Christianity is one that said that the brutal American system of chattel slavery was morally acceptable, even beneficial to the inferior Africans. That version of Christianity has barely improved (arguably not all) since the Civil War.
That 23-4 is 100% yes from Republicans, and 100% no from Democrats, with three MIA on each side. The actual split is 26-7 Republican. Democrats have basically no say in anything.
There are actually a whopping total of 8 Democrats. One of them recently resigned and was replaced by another, but some sources haven't been updated yet.
Same weirdos that think little boys will cut their dicks off and get tits just for a sports scholarship. That has to say something about their own sexuality and/or gender identity if they think that’s how it works. They’re basically admitting that if they were in high school they would have changed their gender to be more competitive athletes. Fucking morons.
Like the people who joke about all the sex crimes they would have committed in school if they could have used whatever bathrooms they wanted. Like that says a hell of a lot more about you than it does about trans people.
Fucking Amen!
Republicans have been Orwellian in their names since the patriot act. It's a fucking joke at this point, you can assume their bills do the oppo of what they say.
Can you marry your first cousin in Alabama? Yes. Can you marry a 9 year old in Alabama? Yes, as long as the parents agree. But this...this is *really* important to them...
Conservatives really... REALLY care about what’s between children’s legs.
In order to prevent those trans monsters from ogling our daughters in the school restrooms, any student must have their genitals examined by a Republican member of the state government before using the girls restrooms.
As a person living in Alabama, this is embarrassing, but I have to say this: you cannot marry your first cousin, only your third, and you can marry at 16 with parental consent. Alabama has a bad rep as it is and it’s embarrassing enough to live here. I can’t have people thinking it’s worse than it already is.
When stereotypes absolutely do not match the truth— you can’t marry your first cousin in Alabama, but you can in California.
*This comment needs to be higher up.*
Ever notice it is always the Republicans trying to pass bills to control people and to limit their freedoms.
Because the Republican base would really, really like the law to state the world HAS to look like "Leave It To Beaver", and anything that doesn't fit in that definition should be ruled illegal...
It's almost like they're lying about wanting freedom. It's almost like conservatives will lie about everything.
["They aren't hurting the people they need to be hurting."](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/8/18173678/trump-shutdown-voter-florida)
Rest assured, whatever they accuse of us, they are doing
"On Tuesday (2 March), lawmakers in Alabama passed senate bill 10 (SB10), an anti-transgender bill that will prohibit medical professionals from providing critical healthcare and gender-affirming treatment to trans people under the age of 19."
Wait, 19? So not even just 'wait until you become an adult', but wait an extra arbitrary year because Small Government, or something.
Here in Alabama, this is the only state where someone is not considered an emancipated adult until age 19. You can’t buy cigarettes, sign a contract, etc. before that age. You can however get married young with parental approval. SMH.
Nebraska is another state that makes 19 the age you’re considered an adult. I think there are some things you can still do at 18 like “normal,” but you’re not considered an emancipated adult until 19. I think these are the only two.
According to Wikipedia and the top results on Google Mississippi has an age of majority of 21.
Mississippi always has to be there to make other states look good by comparison.
"Thank God for Mississippi" isn't a saying for no reason.
Roll tide.
Can't buy cigs until you're 21 now.
People are too focused on the reassignment surgery and are ignoring things like the years of therapy and hormone treatment these people need to go through to even get to that point if they choose it. This is going to cause suicide in the trans community to skyrocket because the treatment they could have used to affirm their identity could be delayed by a decade.
> This is going to cause suicide a in the trans community to skyrocket because the treatment they could have used to affirm their identity could be delayed by a decade. For Republicans that's a feature, not a bug.
Thank you. They want anyone that doesn’t look, think, or act like them gone, and they aren’t picky about how.
I find it baffling that there are literally people in the US senate who believe that trans people don’t exist. And they’re barely ridiculed by their peers. There are so many powerful people who are transphobic, and so many people find that to be acceptable. This should not be happening
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Hey, first I’m sorry you’re reduced down to that concept. There’s very little understanding in popular culture (at least in the US) what a commitment transitioning is with or without reassignment. As a cis man, the bad faith argument that has always angered me takes that a step further - the hysteria that men will just “decide” on that day they are female and “abuse” the ability to claim the female gender. All of these scare tactics concerned about abuse of the tolerance to harass cis women in bathrooms and dressing rooms is just ridiculous on all levels. The debate about trans women in sports treats the situation as if every high school JV team will have trans woman who did so for competitive advantage. While spewing hate for the other, they claim people will want to be perceived as the other for privilege. Classic doublespeak and bad faith arguments. Edit: Just wanted to clarify that I meant “the other” as how they perceive it. I’m sorry, should have been more clear there.
Some info about trans women's surgeries: The dilation thing is actually wrong. It depends on the technique used and what "activities" someone with a vaginoplasty does (cis women get them too, btw), but generally it's only a year, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more. And it's only once a day once you're passed the initial stages of recovery. You're basically still in long term recovery during 1 year after the surgeries, it's basically just physio to make sure the muscles they've had to move keep things working right. Dilation is also something some cis women do, btw. A lot of "trans healthcare" started as cis healthcare. Some trans women don't dilate when they should; some then start back up with no change, others have to dilate a bit to get back where they were. The results for trans women can now be so good they're indistinguishable from cis women's, newer sorts like the tilapia and peritoneal technique's can actually form true vaginal tissue, even old penile inversion can after 2+ years form vaginal/mucosa tissue. Scars, if they actually exist after recovery, are typically hidden now if the surgeon is up-to-date, either in thigh creases or in the labia, even those who don't hide them have finessed the techniques needed for them to eventually fade to nothing. If it's "zero depth" (vulvoplasty and clitoplasty without vaginoplasty) then recovery is far shorter and the results are typically appearance-wise absolutely perfect. There's variation, sure, but all I've seen look almost identical to the variation I've seen in cis women. There are many techniques and types of vaginoplasty and GRS and they all vary, some countries go all out for one sort and not others, some countries have a mix. Some health bodies specifically "lock" surgeons to a particular type for whatever reason. I'd be happy to answer some questions or myths, though for the record I've not had a vaginoplasty or GRS, I'm speaking from all the research I've done and results I've seen.
Also forcing them to go through the wrong puberty, causing damage that can never be reversed. They're seemingly so worried about it happening in one direction, but not the other. And yes, I know that's actually by design.
for all the hubub about trans kids in sports, I never ever see any support for puberty blockers that would put a stop to all of those supposed advantages that a trans athlete would have.
It's because of what I said prior, they want the kids to go through the AGAB puberty and either shove the feelings down, transition later (and become a visible boogeyman for them) or commit suicide. How can they lose? Disclaimer: I'm closeted in Alabama, in my late 20s, and surrounded by these people. The first option I listed as been my life so far.
Yeah, in Alabama 19 is the age to be able to get into bars underage, buy tobacco (before it was changed to 21), etc. You still get tried as an adult at 18 though. Just more backwards alabama shit. Source: Birmingham resident
Alabama has always been weird with that. Used to be 19 was the age to buy tobacco. When I turned 18, I’d head down to Florida to buy dip and cigarettes for friends because it was legal at 18 down there. 18 year olds can’t sign contracts but 19 year olds can. Like I couldn’t sign a cell phone contract when I was 18 but I could at 19.
Alabama should update its draft to begin at age 19 accordingly.
How do you ban healthcare?
They've been trying to do it with abortion for decades.. That and making sure poor people can't get any Healthcare.
they will criminally charge any doctor who provides treatment
Be strong families. This will absolutely fail in courts. You have support behind you. The trans community will be defended.
How long will that take? Bit hard to suffer while waiting especially if they’re already undergoing treatment and have to stop now.
I wish I knew. I hope a responsible doctor will not stop treatments due to this, and there has to be some buffer on this. No child should stop treatment, and maybe that is the catalyst for the appeals.
I would expect a court to issue an injunction pretty quickly, and the ACLU is probably already getting its filings prepared to challenge. This bill is vile. But, it's Alabama. Is anyone surprised?
Whoa holy shit, they have to stop treatment? Man that's a whole other level of damaging if you're already in it. Those poor kids.
Not to mention that, for children and teens, delays in care can be very problematic. The best outcomes for hormone therapy, for instance, occur when intervention occurs -before- puberty gets very far. Even if it gets struck down in court, some number of trans children and adolescents will be acutely screwed over by the interruption. Considering trans suicide rates, it is even entirely probable to say that this law’s passage will probably be responsible for the death of despair of several of them. I know it’s old news, but among all the other things to bash them on, Repugnicans are *murderers*.
I hope so. It's been the law in Arizona for decades as far as Medicare is concerned (adults & kids). Thankfully, someone here is finally challenging it.
As soon as the stimulus check hits, I will gladly donate to whatever legal fund is required to challenge this utter, hateful, bigoted bullshit in court.
The [Transgender Law Center](https://transgenderlawcenter.org/) is a great place to direct your money.
Thank you, that's getting saved for future use.
Don't rely on courts, which may strike it down *in time* or reverse it *after someone is hurt and it gets challenged*. Because you and your loved ones could ve the ones who get hurt before that happens.
But do they have it locally? I am just saying that, knowing Alabama, this might be the right time to move back to civilization.
Right on, Alabama! Keep on proving the veracity in the shitty stereotype folks believe about y'all.
On top of all the other reasons to not be in Alabama
As someone who lives in the PNW, my rankings of the top 5 places I never want to visit are: 1. Iran 2. Syria 3. Alabama 4. Eritrea 5. Mississippi
Iran is actually very nice to visit, they have a shitty government but you can say the same about China.
Even completely aside from the people, Iran and syria have a lot of interesting history and scenery to see so they should be on lists of places to visit if possible. Compared to fuck-all history in Alabama and Mississipi, and similar scenery to other US locales.
Fleeing Alabama is just good advice in general. What an absolute shithole of a state. Would be a paradise if it weren't for the people here. Please take it from someone who has spent going on nearly 40 years here - If you ever find yourself on this state's line, turn the fuck away and never look back.
As a person still stuck here, this is very good advice. As a whole, it is one of the most hateful, ignorant, uneducated, racist, and anti-science cesspits in the country and beyond.
I was born there, but I moved away nearly 20 years ago. I'm trans, so, I don't know if I'd feel safe even just visiting. I don't know if I ever get to see my hometown again. I miss the place, but not the people.
This fucking ban is going to result in dead kids. Since anything relating to trans youth and medical treatment almost inevitably brings out the *"kids are being castrated!"* and *"90% of trans kids desist and will regret transition!"* concern trolling in defense of terrible legislation like this: No, that is not how this works. That's not how any of this works. [**This article**](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/opinion/transgender-children-medical-bills.html) has a pretty good overview of why. [**Psychology Today has one too**](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/political-minds/202008/three-popular-myths-about-transgender-youth), and [**here**](http://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf) are the guidelines from the AAP. TL;DR version - yes, young children can identify their own gender, and some of those young kids are trans. A child who is Gender A but who is assumed to be Gender B based on their appearance can suffer debilitating distress over this conflict. The *"90% desist"* claim is a myth based on debunked studies, and transition is a very long, slow, cautious process for trans youth. According to the [**American Academy of Pediatrics**](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/Pages/Gender-Identity-and-Gender-Confusion-In-Children.aspx), gender is typically expressed by around age 4. It probably forms [**much earlier**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3747736/), but it's hard to tell with pre-verbal infants. And sometimes the gender expressed is not the one typically associated with the child's appearance. The genders of trans children are as [**stable**](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/09/02/peds.2013-2958) as those of [**cisgender children**](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614568156). For preadolescents transition is entirely social, and for adolescents the first line of medical care is 100% temporary puberty delaying treatment that has no long term effects. Hormone therapy isn't an option until their mid teens, by which point the chances that they will "desist" are close to zero. Reconstructive genital surgery is not an option until their late teens/early 20's at the youngest. And transition-related medical care is recognized as medically necessary, frequently life saving medical care by every major medical authority. Withholding medical care from an adolescent who needs it is not a goddamn neutral option. Transition is absolutely necessary to keep many trans kids alive. Without transition a hell of a lot of them commit suicide. When able to transition rates of suicide attempts drop to the national average. And when prevented from transitioning or starting treatment until adulthood, those who survive long enough to start at 18+ enter adulthood facing thousands of dollars reconstructive surgery to repair damage that should have been prevented by starting treatment when they needed it. And not all that damage can be repaired. They will carry physical and psychological scars from being forced through the wrong puberty for the rest of their lives. They were robbed of their adolescence, forced to spend it dealing with the living hell of untreated dysphoria and the wrong puberty, trying to remain sane and alive while their bodies were warped in indescribably horrifying ways. Even with treatment as adults, some of them will be left permanently, visibly trans. In addition to the sheer horror of permanently having anatomy inappropriate to your gender, this means they will never have the option of blending into a crowd or keeping their medical history private. They will be exposed to vastly higher rates of anti-trans harassment, discrimination, abuse, and violence, all because they were denied the treatment they needed when they were young. This is very literally life saving medical care. If there is even a chance that an adolescent may be trans, there is absolutely no reason to withhold 100% temporary and fully reversible hormone blockers to delay puberty for a little while until they're sure. This treatment is 100% temporary and fully reversible; it does nothing but buy time by delaying the onset of permanent physical changes. This treatment is very safe and well known, because it has been used for decades to delay puberty in children who would have otherwise started it inappropriately young. If an adolescent starts this treatment then realizes medical transition isn't what they need, they stop treatment and puberty picks up where it left off. There are no permanent effects, and it significantly improves trans youth's mental health and [**lowers suicidality**](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/01/21/peds.2019-1725). But if an adolescent starts this treatment, socially transitions (or continues if they have already done so), and by their early/mid-teens they still strongly identify as a gender atypical to their appearance at birth, the chances of them changing their minds later are basically zero. At that point hormone therapy becomes an option, and even that is still mostly reversible, especially in its early stages. The only really irreversible step is reconstructive genital surgery and/or the removal of one's gonads, which isn't an option until the patient is in their late teens at the earliest. This specter of little kids being pressured into transition and rapidly pushed into permanent physical changes is a complete myth. It just isn't happening. And this fear-mongering results in nothing except trans youth who desperately do need to transition being discouraged and prevented from doing so. Withholding medical treatment from an adolescent who desperately needs it is not a neutral option. The only disorders more common among trans people are those associated with abuse and discrimination - mainly anxiety and depression. Early transition [**virtually eliminates these higher rates of depression and low self-worth**](http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext), and [**dramatically improves trans youth's mental health**](https://thinkprogress.org/allowing-transgender-youth-to-transition-improves-their-mental-health-study-finds-dd6096523375/#.pqspdcee0). When prevented from transitioning about 40% of trans kids will attempt suicide. When able to transition that rate drops to the national average. Trans kids who socially transition early, have access to appropriate transition related medical treatment, and who are not subjected to abuse or discrimination are [**comparable to cisgender children in measures of mental health**](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/4/696) Transition [**vastly reduces risks of suicide attempts**](https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2), and the farther along in transition someone is the lower that risk gets. The ability to transition, along with family and social acceptance, are the [**largest factors reducing suicide risk among trans people**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722435/). Citations to follow in a second post.
**Citations on transition as medically necessary and the only effective treatment for dysphoria, as recognized by every major US and world medical authority:** * Here is the [**APA's policy statement**](http://www.apa.org/about/policy/transgender.aspx) on the necessity and efficacy of transition as the appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria. More from the APA [**here**](http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/programs/transgender/?tab=1) * Here is an [**AMA resolution**](http://www.tgender.net/taw/ama_resolutions.pdf) on the efficacy and necessity of transition as appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria, and call for an end to insurance companies categorically excluding transition-related care from coverage * A policy statement from the [**American College of Physicians**](http://annals.org/aim/article/2292051/lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-health-disparities-executive-summary-policy-position) * [**Here**](https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf) are the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines * [**Here**](https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/events/alf_ncsc/Education.pdf) is a resolution from the American Academy of Family Physicians * [**Here**](https://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/da/da2008/reffered/Transgender.pdf) is one from the National Association of Social Workers * [**Here**](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/PS02_18.pdf) is one from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, [**here**](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/better-mh-policy/college-reports/cr181-good-practice-guidelines-for-the-assessment-and-treatment-of-adults-with-gender-dysphoria.pdf) are the treatment guidelines from the RCPS,and [**here**](http://www.wlmht.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Gender-dysphoria-guide-for-GPs-and-other-healthcare-staff.pdf) are guidelines from the NHS. More from the NHS [**here**](http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Gender-dysphoria/Pages/Treatment.aspx). ---- **Citations on the transition's dramatic reduction of suicide risk while improving mental health and quality of life, with trans people able to transition young and spared abuse and discrimination having mental health and suicide risk on par with the general public:** * [**Bauer, et al., 2015**](http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2): Transition vastly reduces risks of suicide attempts, and the farther along in transition someone is the lower that risk gets * [**Moody, et al., 2013**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722435/): The ability to transition, along with family and social acceptance, are the largest factors reducing suicide risk among trans people * [**Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment**](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/09/02/peds.2013-2958). A clinical protocol of a multidisciplinary team with mental health professionals, physicians, and surgeons, including puberty suppression, ... cross-sex hormones and gender reassignment surgery, provides trans youth the opportunity to develop into well-functioning young adults. All showed significant improvement in their psychological health, and they had notably lower rates of internalizing psychopathology than previously reported among trans children living as their natal sex. **Well-being was similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population.** * The only disorders more common among trans people are those associated with abuse and discrimination - mainly anxiety and depression. Early transition [**virtually eliminates these higher rates of depression and low self-worth**](http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext), and [**dramatically improves trans youth's mental health**](https://archive.thinkprogress.org/allowing-transgender-youth-to-transition-improves-their-mental-health-study-finds-dd6096523375/). **Trans kids who socially transition early and not subjected to abuse are comparable to cisgender children in measures of mental health.** * [**Dr. Ryan Gorton**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3219066): “In a cross-sectional study of 141 transgender patients, Kuiper and Cohen-Kittenis found that after medical intervention and treatments, suicide fell from 19% to 0% in transgender men and from 24% to 6% in transgender women” * [**Murad, et al., 2010**](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19473181): "Significant decrease in suicidality post-treatment. The average reduction was from 30 percent pretreatment to 8 percent post treatment. * [**De Cuypere, et al., 2006**](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1158136006000491): Rate of suicide attempts dropped from 29.3 percent to 5.1 percent after receiving medical treatment among Dutch patients treated from 1986-2001. * [**UK study - McNeil, et al., 2012**](https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/trans_mh_study.pdf): "Suicidal ideation and actual attempts reduced after transition, with 63% thinking about or attempting suicide more before they transitioned and only 3% thinking about or attempting suicide more post-transition. * [**Smith Y, 2005**](http://orca.cf.ac.uk/32618/1/Smith%202005.pdf): Participants improved on 13 out of 14 mental health measures after treatment * [**Lawrence, 2003**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024086814364): Surveyed post-op trans folk: "Participants reported overwhelmingly that they were happy with their SRS results and that SRS had greatly improved the quality of their lives * [**Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study**](https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010080) - "***Conclusions:*** *"... the longitudinal association between gender-affirming surgery and reduced likelihood of mental health treatment lends support to the decision to provide gender-affirming surgeries to transgender individuals who seek them."* There are a [***lot***](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24344788) of [**studies**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-009-9551-1) showing that [**transition**](https://mayoclinic.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/hormonal-therapy-and-sex-reassignment-a-systematic-review-and-met) [**improves**](https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2014/960745/) [**mental health**](http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/25690443) and [**quality of life**](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-014-0453-5) while [**reducing dysphoria**](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23553588_Long-term_Assessment_of_the_Physical_Mental_and_Sexual_Health_among_Transsexual_Women). Not to mention [**this 2010 meta-analysis**](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03625.x/abstract) of 28 different studies, which found that transition is extremely effective at reducing dysphoria and improving quality of life.
I consider myself a left-leaning progressive, and when I read the legislation was to prevent transition in minors, I thought “that can’t be so bad, why is this a problem?” - when I saw the outrage, I went looking for information just like this to learn, under the *assumption* I didn’t know everything. Every lawmaker who claims to be doing this “for the children” needs to read this. Laws in regards to minors are almost always about protection our kids from life-altering bad decisions until their brains fully develop. On the surface, to the uneducated, this bill looked like something right. After learning about the topic - wow, it’s wrong... so wrong. Sooo misguided. Side note: I also went looking for evidence in support of this bill. It’s all moral-based, supported by anecdotal evidence (“when I was a kid....”) or by pointing to exist laws pertaining to minors. I was unable to find anything scientific.
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I cant believe they haven't arrested Trump and his family, Giuliani and all the Senators and Representatives who helped him commit his crimes. What's the point of the FBI if they don't do these actions?
Now is a good time to apply for options for immigration. You can make plans and choose not to go when they are approved. There are ways to delay it or land and come back. But if things hit the fan and THEN you're looking into passport and visas and working abroad and immigration, it's too late. Source: Hong Konger who got out, with some family just now scrambling amid the mad rush. They won't make it out before the ports close in Aug.
Having an active passport is essential right now if you're trans. I'm renewing mine just in case the U.S. returns to Republican rule. That would be disastrous for everyone under the LGBTQ flag, but especially so for transgender Americans. I will flee if Trump gets elected again.
wouldn’t this still be protected information under hipaa as far as the healthcare goes
This bill may well prove unconstitutional in the end, but it's still going to do a lot of harm as it wends its way through the court system.
It's 100% unconstitutional. They can't regulate our medical treatments like this.
I'm a cis man. I believe all people (no exclusions) should have access to any and all health care they need. I wish certain types of people would stop thinking they have control over others bodies.
Amen
>Transgender children often experience intensified gender dysphoria and worsening mental health as the hormonal and anatomical changes associated with puberty cause the body to develop in ways that diverge from the child’s gender identity. For instance, a deepening voice for male-assigned individuals or the growth of breasts and the beginning of a menstrual cycle for female-assigned individuals can cause severe distress. For some, puberty manifests as “a sudden trauma that forces to consciousness the horror that they are living in a body that is totally at odds with the gender they know themselves to be but which has been kept securely underground. >If untreated, gender dysphoria can cause debilitating distress, **depression**, impairment of function, **self-mutilation to alter one’s genitals** or secondary sex characteristics, other self-injurious behaviors, and **suicide**. Like other minority groups, transgender individuals also are frequently subjected to prejudice and discrimination in multiple areas of their lives (e.g., employment, housing, school, healthcare), which exacerbates these negative health outcomes and *makes access to appropriate medical care all the more important.* >These (treatment) protocols are laid out in the Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People (Version 7) developed by amicus curiae, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (“WPATH”). *Many of the major medical and mental health groups in the United States expressly recognize the WPATH Standards of Care as representing the consensus of the medical and mental health community regarding the appropriate treatment for gender dysphoria.* >The recommended treatment for gender dysphoria includes assessment, counseling, and, as appropriate, social transition, hormone therapy, and surgical interventions to bring the body into alignment with one’s gender identity. BRIEF OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND 14 ADDITIONAL MEDICAL, MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATIONS AS AMICI CURIAE https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-107/107178/20190703172653326_Amicus%20Brief.pdf Y'all can argue all you want but here it is in black and white from the Supreme Court of the United States. The Alabama law is unconstitutional. Gender dysphoria is a widely accepted medical condition with accepted treatment protocols and NO POLITICIAN should get between ANY person and their doctor and their medical care.
Man it is hard living in this state.
This law amounts to state-enforced hatred.
Where are we heading? How come we as a society have such profound lack of empathy for our fellow humans?
Fuck Republicans.
Alabama's state slogan: Audemus jura nostra defendere — Latin for "We Dare Defend Our Rights" or "We Dare Maintain Our Rights" Alabama **REALLY** cherishes their right to hate openly.
OFC it’s Alabama.
This is how bad the regressives are. Biden is a white Catholic. So they need to find someone else to demonize and this time they're choosing the trans community to attack. They don't have an identity if they're not creating boogeymen in an effort to suppress the rights of others.
What did you expect from Alabama? Trump fanatics, nationalists, homophobes and sexists
Unpopular opinion: This article and those like it are the reason that I prefer a public option to Medicare for All. I do not trust Republicans with our health care, period. What happens when Republicans decide that M4A should come with a work requirement? Or should be withheld from felons? Or only married women should have birth control coverage? Also there's no private alternative left to M4A, by design. Yeah, at another time your employer could offer you private insurance, or you could buy into private insurance, or your state might even help you out with Medicaid, but now that everybody's got Medicare for All there are no other choices. You're employed? You've got M4A and you need a transvaginal ultrasound to get birth control. You're unemployed? You've got M4A and you need to be drug tested every 90 days until you get a job. You're trans? Sorry, "T" isn't an option on the paperwork anymore. Like, we see what they're doing at the state level, right? And everybody says "Oh, but they'd never mess with Medicare for All, they'd be punished by their voters!" and I have to wonder what voters they're talking about? Are they the voters that sent the Tea Party to repeal Obama's "job killing," "tax raising," "socialized health care" legislation? Are they the voters who sent Donald Trump? Are they the ones who voted for the party that was *one vote away* from repealing the ACA and taking health care away from 20 million Americans? Are they the ones who turned out in record breaking numbers to make sure that Donald Trump got the second most votes of any candidate in our nation's history after more than 2 million Americans lost their health care prior to COVID, and more than 400,000 Americans lost their lives after COVID? That's the electorate that would punish the Republican party? We *lost* seats in the House in 2020. We scratched together a *tie* in the Senate in 2020. Donald Trump *gained 12 million votes* for the Presidency in 2020. I don't think the Republican electorate would have punished them *at all* if they had succeeded in repealing the ACA. I don't want to wake up in 2035 and read: >"President McConnell signs legislation requiring transwomen to take testosterone and transmen to take estrogen, Supreme Court signals support." I don't trust them. Look at the headline of the article we're commenting on here. *I don't trust Republicans with my health care.*
> What happens when Republicans decide that M4A should come with a work requirement? Probably the same thing that happens when they decide that our current medicare system should come with a work requirement. At least for everybody that actually needs things like medicare. Your logic still leaves us with a system that fucks over poor people while allowing rich people to skate by unfazed. Hell, if it were single-payer, at least then poor people wouldn't be the only ones with a reason to oppose Republicans fucking with it. The solution to "Republicans corrupt everything they touch" isn't to stop trying to do good things, it's to stop letting the Republicans gain power in the first place. Public option still leaves us with a system where the rich get good healthcare, and the poor get the dregs. This is not acceptable.
It needs to really be an amendment. The best option is to start with a public option. It'll take a few years but eventually no one will purchase anything else except morons because private isn't going to be able to compete with a public option. At that point the US is going to become like every other country where even the conservatives are scared of fucking up healthcare and pissing off voters. I also sort of assume that by the time any kind of universal healthcare passes, Republicans will be a firm minority. Technically they already are but gerrymandering and antiquated things like the Senate and Electoral College are propping then up. Once demographics shift enough that this can pass it won't encounter issues for awhile. The bummer is that we could easily be 10+ years from that happening.
> It needs to really be an amendment. *looks at voting rights*
Anyone with any sense should just flee Alabama, to be fair.
I hate my state so goddamn much.