Ohio Gov. DeWine Giveth, and Now Taketh Away

[Carolyn Marie]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4391617-gender-affirming-care-access-ohio-trans-adults-restricted-new-administrative-rules/

 

 

So DeWine vetoed an anti-trans bill and got massive push back, so I guess he decided to stick it to the trans community to regain his conservative bona fides via some admin regulations instead of laws.  IDK which is worse, but this seems pretty awful.  It's hard enough for most trans people who wish to medically transition to find willing practitioners who are affordable.  Now folks in Ohio are supposed to find a bio-ethicist & a psychiatrist & an endocrinologist!?  Where does one even find a bio-ethicist; Bio-ethicists R Us??  If he doesn't now require a bio-ethicist and a psych for every other form of medical treatment, he's going to have some big time lawsuits on his hands for a prima facie case of discrimination.

 

Yeah, a real sweetheart is Gov. DeWine, a real ally.  NOT! 

 

Carolyn Marie

[KayC]

I never even heard of a Bio-ethicist.  Had to Google it.  Sounds kind of quack-y to me 🦆

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioethics

 

[Charlize]

51 minutes ago, KayC said:

I never even heard of a Bio-ethicist

Agreed....a great new specialty but perhaps a better specialty might be a political ethicist.

 

Hugs

 

Charlize

 

[KatieSC]

Sooner or later, someone needs to acknowledge that our supposed legislative leaders in these red states have no medical education, and have no credibility in deciding medical care. This is clearly not part of WPATH standards, and it is just another blockade. What bothers these political lunatics about our existence that they are coming at us with such vengeance? 

[Audrey]

@KatieSC I highly recommend this podcast from ACLU from last year about the epidemic of anti-trans attacks. As sobering as it is to hear or read about, I take some comfort knowing that there are advocates and allies who are fighting on *our* side, and *for* us.

https://www.aclu.org/podcast/why-and-how-trans-hate-is-spreading

 

Science, reason, logic, ethics, and so on is not the basis of any of this hateful legislation or extralegal maneuvers. It is, quite simply, hate. Hate that is motivated by fear and a lack of understanding. Hate that is fueled by a belief that a gender binary is an immutable fact and anything else is an affront against God, or whatever other core belief. Hate that ultimately leads to power. As horrifying as this  allis for the trans community, it also means that other critical issues are getting no attention, such as climate change, homelessness, income inequality, and more.

 

Love,

~Audrey.

[Ivy]

This effectively bans trans care for anyone who is not quite wealthy, assuming they can even find the required practitioners.  

So he went from listening to those affected, to (in practice) a right-wing draconian ban.

 

I swear, I've given up on any hope of any consideration from these people.  They won't be satisfied till they kill us all off.  I can't write any more here without breaking the rules…

[emeraldmountain2]

Wow, I take back what I said about Mikey growing a spine. Mikey, you have no spine, no heart, no brain, and no courage. Looks like my boycott list now includes the state of Ohio. Gee, this boycott list sure is getting long...

[Vidanjali]

1 hour ago, Audrey said:

As horrifying as this  allis for the trans community, it also means that other critical issues are getting no attention, such as climate change, homelessness, income inequality, and more.

 

Indeed. To wit, this quotation from the article:

 

“Candidly, as I expressed a week ago, I am concerned that there could be fly-by-night providers and clinics that might be dispensing medication to adults with no counseling and no basic standards to assure quality care,” DeWine said Friday. 

 

if applied to narcotics in a timely manner, like decades ago, would have been meritorious. 

[emeraldmountain2]

30 minutes ago, Vidanjali said:

“Candidly, as I expressed a week ago, I am concerned that there could be fly-by-night providers and clinics that might be dispensing medication to adults with no counseling and no basic standards to assure quality care,” DeWine said Frida

They are clearly attempting to end informed consent HRT.

[VickySGV]

The man from what I read above, is the equivalent of an 80 year old handyman with a single dull hand saw, a hammer with a broken handle that is too heavy for him to swing, and a single screwdriver and a two foot (0.6M) tape measure trying to build an 8 bedroom mansion in a Hurricane before the water is too deep. 

 

He obviously does not even basically understand the Medical and Pharmacy licensing processes of his own state or the part that ethics plays in the education of those professions. 

[KatieSC]

Hey, there are a fair number of these boobs in a lot of states making decisions about healthcare and they have no qualifications. Yet, they keep up the barrage to adversely affect our well-being. Here in South Carolina, the chair of the medical affairs committee at the state house runs a lawn and garden center. Yep, uniquely qualified! 

[KatieSC]

Of course, these politicians who are trying to rid the galaxy of all that is transgender, do not have any other priorities. Oh wait a minute, I do recall one politician who is planning on slitting throats of people on his first day as president. That is so comforting. I did not realize that he learned that in the JAG corps. 

 

Make no mistake, the next 24 months will be a roller coaster ride for many of us, and that is being optimistic. We can only hope that common sense, and some true application of laws will occur. I wish it were simpler for all of us.

[emeraldmountain2]

2 hours ago, KatieSC said:

Here in South Carolina, the chair of the medical affairs committee at the state house runs a lawn and garden center. Yep, uniquely qualified! 

Wut.

[emeraldmountain2]

These politicians, from the local, state, and federal levels, who are trying to destroy our lives must be named and shamed.

[emeraldmountain2]

May I ask @KatieSCwho this person is?

[VickySGV]

3 hours ago, emeraldmountain2 said:

May I ask @KatieSCwho this person is?

 

It will be on the State web page, although you will have to drill down to it.  Commission heads and members of licensing boards and bureaus are listed and get mad if they are not.

[emeraldmountain2]

33 minutes ago, VickySGV said:

 

It will be on the State web page, although you will have to drill down to it.  Commission heads and members of licensing boards and bureaus are listed and get mad if they are not.

Yeah, I've looked them up. Surprise, surprise, they've put forward anti-trans legislation and resolution.

[Ivy]

57 minutes ago, emeraldmountain2 said:

Surprise, surprise, they've put forward anti-trans legislation and resolution.

It's a kinda competition to see who can be the most anti-trans.  There's no downside for them.  The more Tra****S that die, the better.  Their base loves it.

 

I need to be careful here, I'm starting to get bitter.

[AmberM]

So I have a contact that provided some further context on the draft rules. Right now, there is a draft of rules written up and published on the state of Ohio's website and they are seeking Public comment between now and January 19th. I've read the draft rules, and I am working on my own response, but if you are interested, here is a link. I've been sharing it with some people for two main reasons:

1. Provide information of potential

2. Provide visibility so others can also add comments on the rules

 

Hopefully with the help from our community and our allies we can mitigate damage.

 

State of Ohio Gender Transition Draft Rules (Jan 8, 2024)

[Audrey]

@AmberM Thank you for sharing.

I believe the effect of such a proposal is that care will be gate-kept by the most difficult person to find, the "medical ethicist" in this case. As in, if this person does not exist, then there is no transgender health care - probably the point, unfortunately. It is especially troubling what they ask this so-called ethicist to do, particularly the comment about "counseling for people who want to de-transition," which feels like code for "conversion therapy." Nearly all people see a mental health provider and a medical doctor anyway for HRT, and WPATH standards provide plenty of protection for clients and providers alike. It is likely the writers are clueless about WPATH at all, and it is pretty disingenuous to craft rules like this under the guise of safety and protection, when the likely effects will be to cause more misery like depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide - and thus cost the state far more money. I am not sure I can comment outside of Ohio but feel free to borrow from this!

 

Love,

~Audrey.

[Ivy]

40 minutes ago, Audrey said:

It is likely the writers are clueless about WPATH at all, and it is pretty disingenuous to craft rules like this under the guise of safety and protection, when the likely effects will be to cause more misery like depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide

The simple truth is that none of these rules are made in good faith.  The point is to keep trans people from transitioning.  If we kill ourselves… meh.  They don't want us around anyway so it's an acceptable outcome.

There might be transphobes that are genuinely concerned, but I suspect they are few and far between.

They've already stated that the goal is our eradication.  After all, it's what their "god" wants.

[Ivy]

49 minutes ago, Audrey said:

It is likely the writers are clueless about WPATH at all, and it is pretty disingenuous to craft rules like this under the guise of safety and protection, when the likely effects will be to cause more misery like depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide

The simple truth is that none of these rules are made in good faith.  The point is to keep trans people from transitioning.  If we kill ourselves… meh.  They don't want us around anyway so it's an acceptable outcome.

There might be transphobes that are genuinely concerned, but I suspect they are few and far between.

They've already stated that the goal is our eradication.  After all, it's what their "god" wants.

 

I'm sorry if this offends anyone.  It's just how I see it.  I wish it wasn't the case.

 

I'm getting off here now.  'nite y'all.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

1 hour ago, Audrey said:

I believe the effect of such a proposal is that care will be gate-kept by the most difficult person to find, the "medical ethicist" in this case. As in, if this person does not exist, then there is no transgender health care - probably the point, unfortunately.

 

I suspect "medical ethicist" is a pretty rare career choice.  I've never met one in the wild.  So, how are people supposed to find one?  And since ethics and morality vary, each medical ethicist is likely to have a different perspective from the others.  Could lead to inconsistency. 

 

I dislike the time limits in these drafts.  And it seems to focus excessively on the surgery aspect.  That's probably because it is what's in the news most.  I suspect it is pretty rare for responsible and ethical doctors to do gender-affirming surgery on minors.  I really dislike how limiting their description of intersex conditions is.  As usual, it stops at chromosome issues, major hormone issues, and external genitalia.  Totally leaves out somebody like me with normal chromosomes, only a mild hormone issue, and the unique plumbing on the inside. 

 

[KatieSC]

Ohio, as well as a large number of other Red states have rejected WPATH, the AAP, the AMA, and other leading medical associations. I just do not see these politicians getting swayed by the general public unless they hear from their evangelical constituency thumping some By-Bulls. In other words, I do not think they care what anybody else thinks. They are going to darn well do what they want to do.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

2 hours ago, KatieSC said:

Ohio, as well as a large number of other Red states have rejected WPATH, the AAP, the AMA, and other leading medical associations. I just do not see these politicians getting swayed by the general public unless they hear from their evangelical constituency thumping some By-Bulls. In other words, I do not think they care what anybody else thinks. They are going to darn well do what they want to do.

 

Well, you might be right to a point.  Personally, since the COVID experience, I have a very low opinion of organizations like the AAP and AMA.  I don't include WPATH because I just don't know much about them...but I would choose not to involve big medical organizations.  At best it is unnecessary, and more likely counter-productive.  If anything/anyone has credibility, it ought to be the voting public - and the real crime is that politicians don't seem to listen to the public.  And to make things worse, the public hasn't had a clear voice on trans issues so far. 

 

Thomas Jefferson said, "An informed citizenry is the only true repository of public will."  That doesn't mean informed by a political party or national/global organization either.  I believe it means informed by experience, which is the best form of education.  Discriminatory bills pass because people aren't informed by experience - they don't know us as friends and neighbors.  But I think they are beginning to - and that relationship experience is key to inclusion.