The Republican supermajority in Ohio made the decision to bully and victimize helpless children and their families on their final moment of treatment in 2023.
They have abhorrent interests. Did they take any action to combat the 1 in 5 Ohio children who experience appetite and food uncertainty? No. Did they take any action to safeguard children from the gun violence that is currently the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 and 19? No.
Instead, they bullied a few high school transgender athletes out of activities during their final session before the holiday break, robbing parents of their rights to help their trans children, meddling in personal health care decisions, and raising the suicide rate among LGBTQ+ children. That was Ohio Republican legislators ‘ top concern for the year.
House Bill 68 was approved by Republicans in the Ohio Senate on Wednesday evening with a 24–8 vote, and the Senate revisions received support from Republican members of the House on Tuesday nights with the ballot of 61–27. The bill prohibits trans athletes from taking part in Ohio women’s sports and forbids doctors from giving trans children gender-affirming treatment, such as estrogen therapy and puberty blockers. Doctors who have already begun treating patients would be able to remain under a father clause.
In Ohio, there were only six trans high class female student athletes the previous year. Just three were given permission to participate in the springtime sports season. According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association, there are about 400,000 players in the position who compete in 7 to 12 sports. These three transgender athletes from the previous flower make up 0.0000075 %.
Now, no children’s hospital in Ohio offers gender-affirming surgery to patients under the age of 18, and every significant health organization in the country supports gender affirming care. HB 68 is opposed by the Physicians Action Network, the Ohio Psychological Association, Ohio Council of Behavioral Health Providers, Cincinnati Children’s Clinic, Cleveland Clinic Pediatricians, Nationwide Childrens’, Dayton Kids, and Akron Kids. All of these organizations are opposed to it.
It will now be off to Governor. In contrast to the sworn testimony of every significant medical and children’s health association, every LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, and the testimonies of trans kids and their parents who spent their Wednesday in tears in the Ohio Statehouse halls, Mike DeWine must decide whether he truly wants to protect Ohios ‘ most vulnerable children, despite his repeated assertions.
DeWine has 10 days to make a decision, which means that as soon as December 23, he could neither follow the science, the medicine, and the facts, as well as the psychological experts, guidance counselors, pediatrician’s hospitals, or the vocally expressed crucial human needs of the LGBTQ+ community. He could also sign his name to government-mandated bigotry and discrimination against the most susceptible children in Ohio and their families.
DeWine may decide just before Christmas whether to be excessively violent or to adhere to the best applicable science as well as fundamental human compassion and decency.
Lives will be lost due to this act.
Intersex, transgender, nonbinary, and other individuals on the spectrum are all part of normal human variant, according to every respected expert resource you consult, including biologists, endocrinologists, gynecologists. psychiatrists. pediatricians.
However, 550 anti-transgender payments have been passed nationwide in 2023, more than in the previous eight years combined. Political opportunists and right-wing religious zealots have banded together to harass and target our trans sisters and brothers, the only members of the LGBTQ+ family that polls show majorities still wo n’t accept, as the larger LGBT+ community has gained acceptance.
What is it for? To incite hate, make a weak group the scapegoat, “other” fellow Americans, demean other people, and victim on forces of bigotry and hatred for cunning political gain. This is a crude, visceral ugliness coming from the lawmakers in Ohio. They are consumed by their fear and intolerance, and the only thing they can do is punch down, revealing a damaging and important character flaw.
House Bill 68 is a significant government overreach into personal health care decisions, infringing on parents ‘ rights to provide for their trans children, and carelessly raising children’s risk of suicide and suicidal ideation.
The most crucial stage is this last one. If this bill is passed into law, it will cost life.
According to a National Institutes for Health study, murder and depression-related online searches are directly related to the passage of anti-trans legislation, more so than just their introduction. According to the American Psychological Association, study overwhelmingly indicates that the transgender community’s anxiety, depression, and suicide risk have increased as a result of these laws targeting access to healthcare and sports involvement.
According to a Trevor Project study, 86 % of transgender and nonbinary children believe that the recent discussions over state laws limiting trans people’s freedom have negatively impacted their mental health. According to a Trevor Project study, LGBTQ+ children have been thinking more about suicide for the past three years, and last year, 45 % of those young people reported really considering death. With nearly 60 % of transgender boys and young men, that number was actually higher for children who were gender-dividend.
However, according to Scientific American, proponents of anti-trans hatred legislation are deceiving the public with out-of-date, junk science.
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman said,” We do n’t make laws just for the hundreds of people who come and testify,” ignoring the experts, advocates, and families most affected who shared their own lived experiences.
One mom’s narrative
Not everyone who desired to speak was given the opportunity. Vietnam veteran Jim Kaster describes himself as a social liberal and devout patriot. Kaster claimed in evidence that the Senate commission handling the bill rejected but gave to the Capital Journal that his pension love is spending time with his two sons and two grandkids,” who are the grapes of my eye.”
Avery, who is the oldest, is likewise my best friend and criminal companion. Avery was born a child, but Kaster wrote that it was obvious from the moment he was given birth that the boy was meant to be him.
” I was wary of people who claimed to identify as something other than the gender they were born with, like some people of my generation and background.” Individuals who were different, homosexual, or transgender were the target of jokes and scorn when I was a child and for the majority of my life. It was widely believed that it was wrong or even sinful for someone who was born a woman to mistake themselves for men or vice versa, from the army to GM’s shop floor to the ( Disabled American Veterans ) pages where I spent my free time. I’ll say that despite never having met a person who had sex distress, I tended to concur.
No one was more mystified than I was to see Avery’s resolve to live the life he immediately knew was meant to be lived when” Avery was born and I became a father.” It was n’t serious at all. It was n’t a political issue. People who spent any time with Avery could tell as soon as he could walk and talk that the child was meant to be him. We initially believed that this was just a step, and I watched as he was made to act like an adult in common. He was being forced to be someone he was n’t, it became clear, but Avery was having none of it. He preferred wearing female attire, playing with the kinds of playthings, and engaging in the activities I’ve always associated with being a child. He persisted in being true to himself from the moment he was born. He accomplished this despite having a large number of neighbors, family members, friends, peers, teachers, and politicians who obviously do not comprehend. To get himself in this world, he is prepared to go to any lengths.
He’s one of the bravest folks I’ve ever met, which is noteworthy given my defense background.
” Avery has taught me so much. He is both my best friend and my nephew. I am confident that the gender affirming therapy he is receiving from his parents, who have done cautious and attentive research on him, is keeping him safe, sensible, and giving him the chance to continue being himself.
I’m here to tell you straight up that it would be horrible to interfere with Avery’s health care. I speak for all of the fathers who have had the good fortune to possess grandchildren who are courageous enough to be themselves in a society where people disagrees, not just for myself.
Whitney, the family of Avery, Kaster’s girl, also gave the Capital Journal her testimony that was rejected. She describes every moment in it, which is worth reading in its entirety, when her family has been navigating their father’s health, social, and emotional journey as a trans person. These times are filled with the complexity and richness of society.
Avery and his family chose for him to begin junior high as a child, going by the name of AJ:
I was waiting for the foot to fall every day. Being transgender was bound to come up at some point.
” I was right. AJ was declared trans by the end of the year. Once more, the school has been very encouraging and vigilant. AJ meets with a secret therapist in addition to the one the university has hired. The therapist approached AJ at the beginning of his guidance and cautiously brought up her gender. When I told her that our community supports him, I could notice the tension in her voice easing. Being in seventh grade is difficult, irrespective of his household support system.
He recently learned that some of his feminine companions are no longer permitted to speak to him because their kids do not want their baby to be associated with a transgender child, and his female colleagues have made disparaging remarks about him. I worry that this is just the beginning. I typically consult a personal consultant because AJ has been hurting himself by cutting for the past eight weeks. He experiences depression and anxiety.
” AJ is aware that this act will probably go and may restrict his ability to continue receiving treatments. He checks to see if it’s over every day. To put this right, he looks to me.
” This age is difficult for any kid. I suppose the reason why anyone would want to create a child’s life more difficult is something I find difficult to understand. We are all aware of the records, including the higher suicide rate among transgender children. Why then do n’t we take more steps to safeguard these helpless kids?
Why?
Yes. Why? Why do Ohio Republican lawmakers treat this people with such senseless cruelty that they have never given a damn about it? What kind of monsters enjoy using the legal system to make abused children weep and harm them and their families in these kinds of horrific ways?
This is an abhorrent, repulsive, cold-hearted, indifferent, and unrelenting show of blatant ignorance and bigotry for no apparent reason. I’m hoping Gov. DeWine is able to get some humanity and compassion because the vast majority of Ohio Republican politicians have fallen short in his search.
My husband and I, as kids, have made wise decisions about what we believe to be in the best interests of our baby. We are aware that AJ’s journey is unusual and difficult. We have lost friends and even some family members, but our baby is the one we will not let go of. We, as parents, are in the best position to make decisions for our children, so our government should n’t be interfering and deciding for him. Our home adoresAJ. I prayed for this kid. He’s a gem. We will support him always. Anything we can perform to maintain his health. Healthy means giving patients gender-affirming maintenance.
Whitney, AJ’s mother
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