The right in the US - especially conservative Christians - are whipped up into a frenzy now over the thinking literally any acceptance or encouragement of trans kids is "grooming". And I think they've been able to accomplish this by taking the word "children" and completely warping it in order to create a narrative that is so incredibly divorced from reality.

So what's the reality regarding trans youth? I'm not an expert so comrades please correct me if I'm wrong but in the US it generally follows this shape:

  • Social transitioning for pre-pubescent youth (clothes, pronouns, etc). No medical interventions are done at this stage.

  • Puberty blockers at the onset of puberty (maybe right before? I'm not clear on this one).

  • Hormones can be taken after puberty blockers if the person eventually chooses. Puberty is different for everyone but I guess this would be around age 14 or 15? Specific ages I'm not sure about but we're not talking little kids here.

  • Then actual surgical interventions are pretty limited for under 18s. I think I've only really heard about top surgeries for trans men who are like 16 or 17. Of course cis teen women have long been able to get breast reduction surgeries and no one complains about that. But AFAIK that's about the extent of surgeries for under 18 folks - extremely limited, for good or ill.

So what has the right done? They've completely twisted this narrative into that doctors are performing bottom surgeries on like 5 year olds across the country. I once saw a meme that compared Boston Children's Hospital to the Island of Dr. Moreau. They are utterly convinced that every year there are thousands of little grade school age kids getting gender affirming surgeries. What they're actually doing is taking that very small number of surgeries done on older teens and putting it under the blanket of "children". The people who are leading this charge and might know better (like Matt Walsh) are purposefully pulling this little trick to try and get people enraged.

Not that hypocrisy ever mattered to the right, but I bet you these same people who talk about "children are being mutilated" will think it's super important to clarify "those aren't migrant children crossing the border! They're like 16, they're basically adults! The media calls them 'children' to gain sympathy!" Or encourage their 14 year olds to join ROTC and basically be the little Hitler Youth in order to pave the way to join the imperialist crusading US military at 18. Whatever.

And even when it's not about surgeries, the evangelicals especially talk about children being "tricked" into being trans. This is because theologically they have to believe that being trans isn't real. That being trans is not something inherent but is instead a trick of the devil.

And where are the libs to push back on all this? Of course they're silent. The left can push back as best we can but we simply don't have the numbers to try and show a significant push back (so far at least). The libs do have the numbers. They could be pointing out this little trick the transphobes are trying to pull with the word "children". They could point out the completely unscientific assumptions made by people who by and large think the universe is less than 10,000 years old and evolution is a lie. But no, they'd rather sit on their hands and pretend nothing's happening. Or that voting is the solution.

Goddamn liberals. We're on our own on this.

  • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]M
    ·
    2 years ago

    Anybody who ever utters the words "Think of the children!" is incredibly sus. This paper thin veneer of concern has been the calling card of the world's most reactionary politics for quite some time now.

    If you actually wanted to "save the children," you would make it so their guardians don't need to work two and a half jobs just to pay rent. So their guardians can actually have time read them bedtime stories, have time to cook them healthy meals, take them to the playground, take them to the library. We built a society where children spend more time getting parented by YouTube and the video game console than they do from their loving family, and nobody seems too concerned about changing that. Just changing the flavor of propaganda which comes out of the screen.

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      From what I recall from an episode of CIA Evans' podcast, it goes as far back as Roman times where Romans would spread tales of Christians doing unspeakable things to children

      Then after they became Christian they began doing the same thing to non-Christians

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      If you actually wanted to “save the children,” you would make it so their guardians don’t need to work two and a half jobs just to pay rent. So their guardians can actually have time read them bedtime stories, have time to cook them healthy meals, take them to the playground, take them to the library.

      umm actually sweaty how about you self optimize instead of wasting all your time? I work 18 jobs as a CEO and still have time to read to my children.

      I kid, of course, but it seems to me like an easily defutable argument on the basis of ideology. Which is why I propose you bring hard numbers into it and asks whether someone spouting this agrees that we need to do something about cars (just generally), because they're the biggest killers of kids around

      • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        umm actually sweaty how about you self optimize instead of wasting all your time? I work 18 jobs as a CEO and still have time to read to my children

        They'll just go "See? This is why need women out of the workforce"

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The best society for children that the world has ever seen was the former GDR (East Germany) because they focused on the material needs of children and their caregivers.