NYT: During Pandemic, Many Trans Saw An Opportunity to Transition

[Carolyn Marie]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/business/transgender-transition-pandemic.html

 

I'm hoping there isn't a pay wall on this.  It's a good article.

 

Carolyn Marie

[MirandaB]

Just don't read the comments! 

 

My mom in law (my sister in law outed me to her) reads the physical paper every day, will be nice for her to see I'm not the only one who did this, if and when it gets in the physical paper. 

[Kelly2509]

not surprising.  my local support group is full of "pandemic babies", myself included

[VickySGV]

6 hours ago, Carolyn Marie said:

I'm hoping there isn't a pay wall on this. 

 

For me, there is one.  Oh well, the idea behind this does not startle me I am pretty sure.

[Ariel Pas]

@Kelly2509 Count me amongst the pandemic babies! Life was moving far too fast in my mid 20s to really take stock of the percolating dysphoria I constantly felt and no way to attribute it to anything more than general anxiety. Once the pandemic hit, so much free time meant more Discord chatting and I met a few transwomen. Once I got to know their stories and what their lives were like, I sympathized far more than I expected and my egg fully cracked. I'm so grateful for that experience.

 

@Carolyn Marie Unfortunately it is behind a paywall, but I was able to create a free account and I used it as one of my free articles.

 

Wowee though. I know I shouldn't read comment sections when anything is written about us, but UGHHHH! I wanna throttle these ignorant, self-righteous, finks and shove as much literature countering everything they say about us down their throats until they choke. Big cheers to the commenter Ann Onymous though. She is really trying to stem the bleeding.

 

Don't read the comments, y'all.

[Kelly2509]

@Ariel Pas for me it was the idea that I was working through the core parts of my problems with depression and the egg was the last thing in the back of the closet that i was terrified to even look at.  Once the pandemic hit and I wasn't out in public, I have been fully remote since early March 2020, and I didn't have to worry about people in general I decided I could at least examine it.  Basically with all the external pressures removed (or at least reduced) I felt free to take off the mask for the first time in 32 years.  4 months later I started coming out and here I am 2 years from the beginning of lockdown and I'm about to be out at work (last thing I need to do, we're doing it on Transgender Day of Visibility) and I have my name change hearing set for May 18.

[Carolyn Marie]

1 hour ago, Kelly2509 said:

4 months later I started coming out and here I am 2 years from the beginning of lockdown and I'm about to be out at work (last thing I need to do, we're doing it on Transgender Day of Visibility) and I have my name change hearing set for May 18.

 

Big congrats to you and also you, @Ariel Pas.  For all of us, the reasons may differ but the results are the same.  There comes a time when we all must sink or swim, fish or cut bait, and every other silly metaphor that applies.  Best wishes.

 

Carolyn Marie

[MirandaB]

I have an account already, not sure there's anything in that article that would be informative for people on this site, and I did not listen to my own advice and glanced at the comments, but did upvote some supportive ones.  Here's the most informative section:

 

Quote

 

For example, Mount Sinai Health System, which has the biggest transgender care program in New York City — the Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery — has also seen an increase. It performed 938 surgeries in 2021, 60 percent more than the previous year and 43 percent more than 2019.

 

“We’ve been scrambling to have the bandwidth for the people who are feeling comfortable who are coming in for care,” said Dr. Joshua Safer, the center’s executive director.

 

At Northwell Health’s Center for Transgender Care in New York, which was founded in 2016, the number of transition procedures roughly doubled in 2021, compared with the number of surgeries in 2020, which was similar to the number in 2019, according to Dr. David W. Rosenthal, the center’s medical director.

 

 

 

[MirandaB]

And here's my favorite bit:

 

Quote

She said she sometimes wonders why it took her so long to come out to those closest to her. “All those fears I had, everything that was holding me back about transitioning, it doesn’t make sense anymore,” she said. “I didn’t know I could be happy like this.”

 

 

 

[Charlize]

The NY times has been a powerful voice in support of this community for several years now.  Even though in can't read the article i'm glad to know that tradition continues.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[Ariel Pas]

@RhondaS

 

Highly relevant documentary regarding Mount Sinai that I heard about entitled "Born to Be" and came out in 2019/2020:

 

Quote

BORN TO BE follows the work of Dr. Jess Ting at the groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York City-where, for the first time ever, all transgender and gender non-conforming people have access to quality transition-related health and surgical care. With extraordinary access, this feature-length documentary takes an intimate look at how one doctor's work impacts the lives of his patients as well as how his journey from renowned plastic surgeon to pioneering gender-affirming surgeon has led to his own transformation.

 

It's supposed to be good, but I can't vouch for its actual quality. Might be worth a watch if anyone is interested in what's happening there.

[MirandaB]

I keep meaning to watch that. 

 

The article was in the physical paper today. 

 

They had a nice short bit the other day about a mom and her acceptance of her trans son, but also chose one of those "we shouldn't let people do anything about transitioning until they're adults" letters to feature the day before that. 

[MirandaB]

Today they published the article they posted online with some headline about 'kids on the gender spectrum', which they changed to the 'transgender spectrum' after they caught some flak over that, and in the paper the headline is "When Kids Dispute Their Gender". 

 

The article itself isn't that bad, maybe as good as you can expect from articles from the cis world. 

[Guest]

On 3/17/2022 at 11:51 PM, Carolyn Marie said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/business/transgender-transition-pandemic.html

 

I'm hoping there isn't a pay wall on this.  It's a good article.

 

Carolyn Marie

I hit a pay wall and don't want to pay for a subscription. I'm sure it's true though, as I also transitioned during the pandemic...not sure why...I guess all the isolation finally forced me to take a long hard look at myself and figure out the secrets of my brain and what I want my future to look like lol. 🤷‍♀️