I think we should take the word “tranny” back the way so many other slurs have like the word “queer.” Being trans is not a bad thing. Being trans shouldn’t be the subject of ridicule. It’s transphobia that certainly should. There’s nothing inherently negative about shortening “trans person” to “tranny” except in the malicious use by those who are our enemies. This is our word and we own it. We always have. Much like so many other reclaimed sluts though, it’s still not ok for cis people to use it.
DeWine added that the rules will require transgender adults to obtain from their providers a “comprehensive care plan” including “lengthy” mental health counseling before they can be considered for any medical interventions.
Gatekeeping is a term used to describe barriers and extra steps added into the process of getting treatment for gender dysphoria. Thanks to DeWine, Ohio is adding more gatekeeping; erecting and expanding restrictions and barriers for access to care greater than anywhere else for both minors and adults alike. It’s seriously fucked up and they will have blood on their hands. None of these added gatekeeping measures are necessary. There is no evidence that any of them are even helpful. Make no mistake, they will absolutely be disastrously harmful and deadly. The claim of fly-by-night providers and clinics is nothing short of a fantasy. These rules will only serve to increase the mortality rate for untreated gender dysphoria.
Left untreated, gender dysphoria worsens. Every delay towards getting care is extremely harmful and increases the likelihood it will prove fatal in much the same way that exposure to the gympie-gympie plant is often fatal. As a result, these new rules are going to lead to more otherwise preventable deaths. I personally had to jump through several hoops to get HRT and I almost didn’t survive. They had eliminated that form of gatekeeping I had to deal with since then, but now these fuckers not only put it back, but made it worse. They’re saying it’s for “protection” but if that’s really the goal they did that exact opposite of what they should have done. This isn’t for protection at all, it’s an discriminatory and prejudiced attack on trans people as a whole out of malice and spite. This is a direct attack on trans people like myself as part of the conservative plan to “eradicate” us.
One of the rules, he said, will require transgender adults seeking access to medications like hormones to retain a multidisciplinary team “including but not limited to an endocrinologist, a bioethicist and a psychiatrist.”
Notice they slipped a “bioethicist” in there. Bioethicist is just GOP dog whistling for having a conservative tell you that you can’t get treatment because they personally think it’s unethical.
DeWine’s proposal is among the nation’s most stringent for transgender adults seeking access to gender-affirming medical care, and it is likely to bottleneck resources and worsen financial strain on people seeking gender-affirming care.
They’re turning Ohio into the anti-trans hellscape they turned Florida into.
The conservatives are already doing this in Florida (our most fucked-up state) to disastrous effect, Worse, they may make me have to do all this extra shit just to remain on my current treatment that I’ve been on for a decade. If that happens, there’s a serious chance it will prove fatal. I can’t be sent back to square one. I do not have the ability to go through that hell again, and I know I’m not the only trans person facing the same thing.
The bill was a red herring.
Yes, it’s true DeWine vetoed the bill restricting access to care for minors. However this new move has been done by circumventing democracy and is much worse and much further reaching. (And for that matter, the GOP is going to force the bill through anyway. That’s bad in and of itself, but that’s not what I’m concerned about at the moment.) I’m talking about the “administrative rules” [executive order] he put in place without democratic involvement. The bill was almost certainly a red herring and an attempt to misdirect and bury the news of the new “administrative rules”; an attempt to hide their horrific actions from the general public. Don’t be fooled. The GOP is anti-American and pro-fascist.
If you have an ounce of morality in your body, fight this.
It’s extremely important our cis allies prove they actually are allies. Get obnoxious. Spread this around to everyone you know and make sure they read the entire thing, even if they’re a conservative. No, especially if they’re a conservative. Attack the GOP; get involved with the Democratic party and push for petitions, lawsuits, whatever you can to defend trans rights. Flood members of the Ohio government with calls, petitions, protests, general strikes, and letters. Make a sizable donation to TransOhio and get involved. Make it your life’s mission to save us from this affront on human rights until trans rights are enshrined in the constitution just like abortion rights were in the recent election. Kick toxic people out of your life, yes even your family, and show no restraint. Ban them from everything if you have to. Make it clear that transphobia of any form will not be tolerated. Even if you don’t live in Ohio there’s things you can be doing to help your local trans community, and you should. Also, if you can, please donate to TransOhio. It’s one of the few organizations in the state fighting for us actively. They also support ya in other ways like providing resources, organizing events, and providing name change assistance. Support them as much as you can and volunteer if you’re able.
Please don’t ignore this.
Please don’t think that just because you don’t hate trans people that that in itself is good enough. It is not. You must fight for us because we’re too vulnerable and too small a minority to fight for ourselves. If you are unwilling to take these steps, then your allyship was merely performative and devoid of substance. You were never a real ally to begin with. Do better.
We’re entirely at the mercy of cis people to prevent this attempt at genocide.
Please help. I am absolutely terrified of the evil Dewine has wrought. I am incapable of fighting this anymore than I already have. I shouldn’t have to face an uphill battle to just be allowed to continue to receive medical treatment for a medical issue, and to just exist as who I really am and stay that way. I’m in fear for my life.
It’s up to you to fight this.
Reject ignorance, hatred, and division and embrace love and compassion.
There is no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a curse. Liber CCXX I:41
Love is the law, love under will.
Exhausted and terrified, Vanessa
UPDATE: The Ohio Medical Board rejected the rules for applying for adults
Make no mistake, this is a victory. However, the battle is far from over; trans kids deserve access to medical care just as much as adults do. Ultimately what needs to happen is for trans rights to become enshrined in the constitution.
I may have grown up assigned male, but I still felt the pressure to plan marriage and kids growing up anyway. Gotta carry on the family name they said. Well, that’s not gonna happen at this point. I’m already passed the point of no return in terms of having children biologically. If I was to decide to have a kid at some point I’d have to adopt or find a surrogate. I’m not at all interested in the later. Adoption is fine though since that was my plan even as far back as when I was still closeted and in denial. I don’t feel right brining a brand new life into this world when there’s so many in need of loving homes and caring parents. No judgement on those who do, this is just about me and my personal feelings. If I did adopt, I would adopt an older kid. Those are the ones who get adopted less so I’d like to make that dream come true for them in my limited capacity I must abide by in the life. Plus I don’t want to deal with that anxiety, drama, and exhaustion of raising a baby. A single puppy is handful enough I can’t imagine having to deal with a human baby. I do not need that much stress and anxiety added to my life.
In any case, my family name isn’t gonna be passed down no matter the circumstance since I’m not interested in trying to adopt without being married first, and when I get married my last name will change anyway. I’m aware that you don’t have to do it that way but that’s the done thing and I don’t want to subject myself to the level of dysphoria is I’d have for not doing that. Plus I just like the idea of sharing a last name with my future husband. I have considered changing my name to include Kindell as an additional middle name so I can keep the name and change it at the same time. I haven’t decided for sure what I want to do on that front and I’ve got time to figure it out. There’s my rush.
I’m not interested in hyphenating my name. That just make it too long and kinda too messy for my tastes. Not knocking those who do, it’s just not for me. Doing it this way would still keep that familial connection while also taking his name like I want. Still, I recognize that considering a future that’s still a ways off is a bit of a waste of time since circumstances change and so do we as time progresses.
In any case, I don’t really want kids at this stage of my life anyway. I’ve long been more interested in living a free life filled with few expectations beyond my own. Plus, I have determined through raising a puppy that I don’t have what it takes to deal with a baby long term at this point in my life. I can barely handle puppy shenanigans at the moment. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings I suppose. I hope it’s a nice one.
I still do not understand putting First Person Shooters on consoles that aren’t the Steam Machine. Controllers that only have joysticks are simply unsuitable to the task. All the games that use it anyway involve the game cheating for you to make up for the imprecise movement of a joystick. In order to avoid constant joystick drift, controllers have a dead zone in the middle where moving it within that range doesn’t send any output. This is necessary to ensure the joysticks aren’t sending inputs when you’re not moving it, which makes it impossible to get the kind of fine control needed to be accurate since it ignores the fine movement by design necessity. Autoaim is such a common feature in these games on console that most people don’t even notice when it’s happening, but give that to someone who primarily plays PC FPS games and they’ll notice immediately. The only answer to this that I’ve ever used that was on par with the classic WASD + mouse input method is the Steam Controller (and presumably the Steam Deck since it also has this) which replaces the right joystick with a trackpad like on a laptop. With a little practice, one can quickly be just as accurate in ways controller joysticks simply can’t. As a result when I’m playing console games I can get pretty frustrated that I can’t just connect my Steam Controller to the console and use that instead of the regular controller when playing these kinds of games.
This was written in response to this article (link below) and I thought it worth sharing here since there seems to be a lot of ambiguity between what people are saying and what corporate is hearing.
I I would actually prefer more isolation in terms of the workspace. When I’m in office the thing I want most is proper cubicles instead of this open office format nonsense. It’s very distracting and obnoxious. I always end up putting in headphones to tune it all out so I can actually focus. Half the time I’m not even listening to anything, I just have them in for the noise cancellation. You don’t solve isolation with meetings or with making every God damn thing you’re coworkers do a potential distraction. You solve it by being more kind and compassionate. You solve it by not being so anal about metrics and report cards. You solve it by making what your employees say and do matter. Your solve it by giving people raises so they don’t feel so exploited and can thereby afford to live more comfortably. You solve it by giving better benefits so they can get access to things they need as human beings. You solve it by not turning everyone into a number on a spreadsheet but rather thinking of them in human terms. You solve it by letting them form unions so they feel like they’re represented in ways that matter. You solve it by reducing the wealth disparity so employees don’t feel like they’re in a feudalist dystopia. You solve it by making sure their boundaries and religions are respected. You solve it by actually caring about them beyond their labor. You solve it by making sure their needs for accommodations are met. You solve it by making sure they’re being listened to and their complaints are being addressed in a speedy manner. In short, you solve it by human decency, compassion, recognition, equity, and understanding. And by never letting getting to know them as a person and being open and honest to become a weapon against them later on when the belt is being loosened. Plus giving them a 2 weeks notice before you let them go if you’re laying them off so they have a chance to find a new job first, just like you expect from them when they’re leaving of their own accord.
Sometimes I think allism needs to be classified as a disorder characterized by an inability to communicate clearly, directly, deliberately, and effectively then expecting the other party to be able to read their mind to understand what they really meant. Then when the other party misinterprets their vague double-speak they have a meltdown and act like you’re the problem when they’re the ones not just saying what they mean. If you don’t say what you mean you have no right to act surprised when they can’t read your mind.
Beyond that, there’s also the aspect of them not being able to handle straightforward, direct, clear, and truthful speech. They can’t just accept new information and move on. Instead they think they have to read into it a hostility that may or may not exist but is definitely unimportant. They’ll not acknowledge what you’ve said, just staying silent, and you’re left guessing what they didn’t get and trying to repeat stuff to get a response so you know they heard you. Apparently repeating things is one of the things that can trigger them into this rude silence, which is absurd because you start repeating yourself because you think they didn’t hear you because they didn’t do the polite thing of just acknowledging what you said. If they did, you wouldn’t have to repeat yourself in the first place. They do the exact opposite of what you should do to get someone to stop repeating trying to make sure you heard and understood what they said and took the information in.
Allistics really need to grow a thicker skin. If someone just telling it like it is offends you, that’s on you. You’re the one who can’t take hearing facts. You’re the one who overreacts to information. You’re the problem. Don’t dis on the normal autistic person and pretend it’s their fault you don’t know how to deal with your emotions in a healthy way. Somehow they’ve gotten it so twisted that they think someone having a breakdown or a shutdown is the problem when the actual problem was the people and/or environment around then that caused it. It’s like cornering a dog and screaming at it and then being surprised when it barks and growls. Of course if you point that out to them once you’ve calmed down, they get all defensive as if you just pissed in their cereal.
“People are so used to others being indirect and phony that clear, direct communication appears aggressive.” -Unknown.
I think the thing that pisses me off quickest is when someone is being belligerently ignorant and are so set in their delusions that they won’t look at the facts even when you put them directly in front of them. Several times recently I’ve gone into lengthy explanations about why something is wrong and doesn’t fit the facts and they just get mad at you and refuse to even consider the facts, much less update their views to match reality. If we could just do away with this human tendency we could advance the species significantly overnight. I make it a personal rule that I never accept anything too much as to make me immovable, and that I will remain always open to change my views in light of new information if it is confirmed to indeed be substantiated fact. I don’t understand why most people seem incapable of doing this. You should always maintain a healthy level of skepticism and intellectual curiosity. You should always go where the facts lead. To do otherwise is to be belligerently immobile no better than a stubborn ox.
Of course there’s always also the knowledge that comes from gnosis, but such knowledge cannot be shared unless substantiated externally. Nobody should be expected to accept your gnosis as fact for themselves without their own independent investigation if that is even possible. Don’t just dismiss it out of hand, and believe people when they tell you about their experiences, but never expect someone to take your words as gospel when all they have to take them on is your word that you’re telling the truth. However, that on its own is one thing but once you start having a lot of people having the same experience, even if it cannot be measured, then that becomes a form of information substantiation in itself.
My favorite genre of games are first person shooters, but not just any old first person shooter, specifically that kind that predominantly came out on MS-DOS and those games that mimic that style of play. They’re fast paced and intense with absurdly powerful weapons largely fighting hoards of zombie-like enemies with your circle strafe. However, the name of the genre…well…they’re calling it “Boomer Shooters” for some reason. Don’t know who came up with that but they were an idiot.
I hate the term “Boomer Shooters” because it just plain doesn’t make any sense and it annoys me that it has become the name of the genre. Boomers weren’t the ones who grew up with those games, they grew up with stuff like the Atari 2600. It was Gen X that grew up with them. If we’re naming them based on a generation title then they should be called “X-Games” but I think that term is already taken.
Personally, I’ve started to bring back the term “Doom Clones” since that was the term they used back when those games were new. All first person shooters were called that even if they were very different from Doom. It was just the language of the time. To me, it fits way better and is more authentic.
