Protect Trans Kids - Blog Posts

Hello,

My name is CJ and I’m a trans man. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina and I still live there today. My dad is a Chilean immigrant and he came to this country when he was only 8, spending most of his life in the beautiful land of Puerto Rico. My mom grew up in Florida (where I was born) and has mainly Irish ancestry. I have two older brothers, both in college. One attends Juilliard, the other UNCC. Most of my friends are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I also have friends who are children of immigrants, just like me.

When I was born, it was induced by medication and I was born 8 weeks early due to a disease my mom had contracted while pregnant with me. We both survived thanks to the doctors and nurses who helped my mom deliver me safely. Due to my premature birth, I have struggled my whole life with chronic illness and disability.

I am telling you all of this because I am scared. Tomorrow is November 5th, Election Day, and depending on who wins I may be in serious danger.

Please, for the sake of me, my friends, my family, the trans community, the chronically ill, the disabled community, immigrants, immigrant families, women who need access to healthcare, and EVERY. SINGLE. American citizen…

💙VOTE BLUE💙

I don’t want my rights to be taken from me.

protec the baby trans

Blåhaj says: "Protect trans kids"

What the fuck is happening

TW: mentioning anti trans sentiment

The government has redefined extremism:

“Extremism is the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: 1 negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or 2 undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or 3 intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).”

But has also said terfs (gEndeR CriTiCal) do not fall under this definition.

How is that not violent, hatred, intolerance, aiming to destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others???

fucking despicable

laughable that the tories often fit their own definition of extremists

and also laughable that they say that it's a "more precise definition" even though it's incredibly vague compared to the existing definition

I want to set something on fire peacefully make my views known aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

You CANNOT separate art from the artist when the artist is still alive and producing new media to profit off.

So on that note, do NOT watch the new Harry Potter series. Do not hate watch it. Do not watch it because “it’s going to be my childhood remade”. I do not care. Do not watch it. This is a direct move to erase the original trio who have all stood against jkr.

There is so much more I could say about this, but there is not enough room. Remember to check with reality rather than believing conspiracy theories promoted, supported, and funded by white nationalist hate groups.

Missouri is proposing 20% of the nation’s anti-trans legislation this session. Gender-affirming care for young folks is on the edge of being criminalized (so much love to trans friends in states where that has already happened).

Please keep up with the anti-trans legislation in your state and combat it. There are lives at stake.

Transphobes do not touch this post.

Image ID: a 10-image cartoon comic featuring Joey, a boy with short hair.

Image 1: Joey, upset, gesticulates towards an open laptop. Text reads: The reality of St. Louis trans kids. Last week, a former (non-medical) employee of Washington University’s Pediatric Transgender Center was featured in a viral article about how the clinic was “rushing” kids into medical care and “mutilating” us. Every single thing she said was a lie, but the media loves it. Footnote reads: I wouldn’t give any more attention to this, but it is immediately endangering the lives of trans people. Missouri has launched a state investigation and is actively attempting to criminalize gender-affirming care based on conspiracy theories.

Image 2: Joey points to a map of the United States where Missouri is singled out, and a map of Missouri where St. Louis is indicated with a star. The text reads: The Transgender Center, located in St. Louis, Missouri, has been the target of hateful attacks from the far-right state legislature for years. It is part of Washington University Hospital, a branch of a prestigious private university.

Image 3: A younger Joey injects his T shot in his leg while someone takes a photo. Text reads: I can tell you that everything in the article is false because I received care at the Transgender Center beginning at 16 years old. My medical transition has brought me nothing but joy. What a gift it is to be trans!

Image 4: A younger Joey sits on a couch and stims with a tangle fidget toy. Text reads: No one is “rushed”. I sat on many waitlists, had to have 6 months of specialized gender therapy and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria before even being referred to the Center, and I was denied as “not ready enough” by an endocrinologist the first time I finally got an appointment. Footnote reads: If you’re curious about what it looks like to be a trans kid, I did another piece on that! Check out tinyurl.com/transkidscomictumblr.

Image 5: A colorful map of the United States shows how many states have a Negative Gender Identity Policy Tally and how many states have criminalized gender affirming care. Joey holds a credit card. Text reads: St. Louis’ Pediatric Transgender Center is the only one in the region, meaning the waitlists are extremely long. Plus, no one in the only industrialized country without free healthcare is getting medical care for fun. Many American trans folks have to fundraise for our care.

Image 6: Joey, distressed, sits on a couch while talking on the phone. The person on the other end says: “That’s me!” Text reads: This former employee spoke about specific cases, and patients have been able to identify themselves. She shared our private medical info and called us horrifying.

Image 7: This is split into two panels. In the first, Joey holds up a box of condoms and a packet of birth control pills. Texts reads: She especially hated trans men such as myself, saying that trans ideology was destroying “girls”. She lamented about hormones making us “sterile”, which is a complete lie. We trans mascs have to actively prevent pregnancy. In panel two stands a doctor. Text reads: Every time I had an appointment at the Center, doctors reminded me: Remember: testosterone is not a contraceptive! Footnote reads: The wonderful Erin Reed wrote a breakdown debunking all the lies in the article. See tinyurl.com/erinreedmissouri.

Image 8: Joey, masked, sits at a circular table with his brother, an unmasked boy with fluffy short hair. Joey’s brother is showing him his phone. Text reads: Major newspapers continue to platform these complete lies because they bring in engagement and money. The Washington Post tracked down my little brother’s personal cell phone number to try to get in contact with our mom – the president of an organization supporting trans kids in Missouri. Freaky, right?

Image 9: Joey, looking disgusted, leans against a door frame while talking on a cell phone. Text reads: But no one wants to talk with me, the adult who medically transitioned at this clinic as a minor and has not “desisted” in six years. The Washington Post reporter, who didn’t know anything about trans people, talked with me for 20 minutes and used a sentence of mine in an article about “both sides of the debate”. She didn’t mention that this former employee is being legally represented by a recognized anti-LGBT hate group, nor that all of her claims are unsupported by reality or science.

Image 10: Joey looks angry and gesticulates. Beside the drawing are two photos of Joey, one of him happy in front of a trans flag, and the other of him drawing up testosterone to take his first T shot. Text reads: There is no debate. There are trans people, and there are people who want us dead. There is truth and there are conspiracy theories. Where is my viral article in a major paper?

Published Feb 16, 2023. End ID.

Can we take a moment to think about the younger trans men and mascs on tumblr right now?

I was a teenager when ace and transmed discourses were at their peaks, and I can’t exaggerate how badly it affected me then.

Now trans men are the latest target, and I’m terrified for trans kids.

It’s easy to say “intracommunity discourse is an online problem! Go talk to queer people irl!”, but people forget that so many kids and teenagers do not have safe or reliable access to IRL LGBT+ communities and support groups. For many, online spaces are the only option.

We need to make sure the younger members of our community are being heard, and block out the hateful voices with messages of support and encouragement. Things are bad enough for trans people right now, and it's easy to forget that trans minors are often the ones suffering the most.

To any younger trans men or transmasculine people reading this:

The hate you are experiencing isn’t normal, it hasn’t always been like this, and it won’t always be this way. It is bleeding out from a small, miserable group of self-absorbed jerks.

Don’t feel obligated to call them out, don’t feel like you have to interact with these people. Please don’t doomscroll through discourse tags; it will make you feel like everyone is out to get you.

If you want to speak up for your community, that’s fine, but please take a break if you feel like your mental health is worsening. Block anybody who so much as breathes rudely in your direction.

You’re just as trans as the rest of us. You are welcome here.

Oh, and if you want to seek out external resources and groups, PFLAG helped me a lot when I was younger. It is an American-based organization, however, so if anyone has recommendations for those living outside of the US, please let me know in the reblogs!

I made a list. It's incomplete. Working title:

The pre-apocalyptic "omg moooom" phase:

- ww3 memes

- organising climate crisis protests at 14

- Not knowing the "before". Before the housing crisis. Before 9/11. Before Reagan laws. Before debt.

- no going out. No dates in cute restaurants. Do I look freaking rich.

- Amazon or Nestle owning everything you have ever had

- America just.... I'll just say America.

- Being 5th grade when Trump came into office

- No being able to turn off the ads. The manipulation. Ever. The deep psychology approach to making me despise myself since I learnt to decode information

- constant exposure to violence and suffering numbing us until we're called ignorant and heartless for not reacting

- social media algorithms specifically designed to crush and turn me into an addict. Since before I got my period.

- no more girlhood. You know how to pull an eyeliner and perfectly curl your hair in 7th grade or you die.

- no public spaces. There's Sephora, there are some chain restaurant. And if you feel like feeling a drop of relief you buy a Starbucks.

- Cyber. Bullying. Being on your own. Your parents have no goddamm clue.

Where's My Fucking Teenage Dream but it's real. Where's my fluffy 90s hair, my glitter hair combs, my shopping-as-a-hobby, my milkshakes, my prom? Where's my "my favourite colour is yellow?" Yellow like Butter Flowers, not like toxic waste. Can we talk about growing up in the years before a global system snaps? I was 7 when I read a picture book about Anne Frank. Who knew the early knowledge of how to spell 'death' would be so handy.

You CANNOT separate art from the artist when the artist is still alive and producing new media to profit off.

So on that note, do NOT watch the new Harry Potter series. Do not hate watch it. Do not watch it because “it’s going to be my childhood remade”. I do not care. Do not watch it. This is a direct move to erase the original trio who have all stood against jkr.

i’m so SICK of people telling me that trans people aren’t in danger just because we’re not actively being hunted and killed for sport. WHEN HAS BEING “LEGAL” EVER ERASED PREJUDICE??? just because we aren’t being hung in the street doesn’t mean that our livelihood isn’t under review by a bunch of people that want us gone. i’m so tired it’s all i can talk to my therapist about

I’m dead fucking serious. Our lives literally depend on it. We have no time to wonder if we should fight back or not. Because we absolutely should!

It’s getting worse to be trans in America, so I made this.

A message to everyone who is against Trump in the U.S,; don't give up.

I understand that statement may seem cliche and useless to many people. But everyone needs to understand the significance it holds.

I am heartbroken about the election results in the United States. But I will not stress how important it is to stay strong, and not give up on our democracy. I won't tell you it's not terrifying.

But we can't stop fighting for the rights of ourselves and others. No matter how hopeless it may seem at the moment, we must work together to maintain democracy in America.

If you feel like it's not worth it to keep trying, think of the genocide against the Palestinians, which will only reach new extremes under Trump's presidency (he has said he wants Netanyahu to be even more aggressive and tough on Palestine than he already is being—sit with that for a moment.) the transgender people who won't receive the affirming care they deserve, the people of color who now have nearly no protections against racism and police brutality, the children who won't have access to the education they need, who won't be protected against rapists and gun violence, the people who will not be able to get abortions no matter how dire their situations are, the legal and illegal immigrants who will be deported, the Ukrainians who will now longer have protection from America against the Russian invasion in their country. And there is so much more, so much more that we won't even see coming.

However, we can still do things to make a difference. Go to protests, educate yourself and others, donate to Palestinians/charities that help Palestinians and other people in need, volunteer at organizations that help women travel to different states to have legal safe abortions, flood your congressmen, representatives, mayors, governors, anyone in our government, with letters and complaints.

Use your voice! Remember, you have free speech no matter how much you are made to feel like you don't.

Now is not the time to worry about hurting anyone's feelings or being annoying. Be a bother. Force everyone who is using their power to ignore you and your rights to notice you.

Don't be scared to aggressive as you fight against the fascism that threatens our country. We cannot and will not allow this nation to slip further into hate, homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, misogyny, and anti immigrant ideology any more than it already has.

We cannot afford to be selfish or weak. Even if your state has voted to add protections for women and trans people in their state constitutions, doesn't mean you're safe. Do you think Trump won't do everything he can do outlaw these rights everywhere eventually? Fight and keep fighting. For everyone.

This may seem dramatic to some. I've heard the argument "Trump won't follow through. He's not being serious. He won't actually try to become a dictator", several times. Wake up! He has presented these intentions time and time again. Take his words at face value. He will strip people of their rights, especially if we actively chose to ignore his clearly communicated intentions. Do not think he won't do everything in his power to pass Project 2025 and other hateful, controlling, unconstitutional policies.

Believe it. But also believe in hope. It's easy to feel alone during this time. Remember, however, that there are millions of people behind you, and we can keep it that way if we remind ourselves and each other that we are fighting together and we will not give in.

No matter what, do not give up on our country and every single citizen that still needs our protection and support.

i was at a restaurant last week, watching the political ads on the TV between sports games. one from the trump campaign ended with the slogan “kamala is for they/them. trump is for you”. it was vilely clever - and it made a clear statement about who was the enemy, the other, the unwelcome, in trump’s great america. i thought about how the right had gone all-in on transphobia this election season, and i hoped it was a gamble that would cost them.

this week has been a gut punch, and i’ve been feeling a lot of things - rage, fear, grief, and subspecies of those emotions. what i kept coming back to, though, as i digested these feelings, were the people i love. my queer friends. the trans kids in my community. the people who, already, are losing their rights to bodily autonomy, state-by-state. the way that i’ve had to start looking at our country as a fucked up patchwork of safe and not-safe. the way that access to medical care, increasingly, changes depending on which side of an arbitrary border you’re on. i’m also realizing the ignorance and privilege it is to only think of our country this way, now. america has always been about picking and choosing who deserves rights, who we consider a person. but, despite the deep-seated flaws of this country, i live in it. so do so many people i love. and that’s what I keep coming back to: the people i love, and my desire to protect them. at the very center of all the rage and hurt and anxiety and sorrow i’m feeling, is a deep, perilous love. i am holding onto that love. i hope you are, too.

Hey, so this is insane…