RainAndSadness
Administrator
- Jun 12, 2018
- 2,084
I've recently stumbled upon this article covering online pharmacies supposedly selling DIY hormones to children. This article repeats the same sentiment. In both articles they claim that online pharmacies sell hormones to children and go into detail how there should be a crack down on these websites, in one article they specifically mention how the UK Online Safety Bill will be used to do that, once it's implemented.
They don't provide any evidence for their claims in these articles, there is no evidence that any of this is happening on a wide scale. Instead they mention the rising numbers of adoIescents identifying as trans to back up their narrative that children obtain hormones online. While it's true that the current social climate enables trans people to come out earlier than before - which is a good thing, there is no reason to believe that a disproportionately large amount of trans teens would buy hormones over the internet as a result of that. That's an unfouded claim and belongs into the realm of fantasy. There is simply no data to back that up. As someone who has been active in the trans community for years I can say from an anecdotal viewpoint that children don't buy their hormones over the internet, at least not the degree that would justify the fear mongering of the media. Most people that use online pharmacies to access hormones for their transition are actually adults. There are many different reasons why adults do DIY transition, for example high medical costs, long waiting lists or even no access to health care at all. There is a lot of gatekeeping in the medical community happening that makes it difficult for trans people to obtain hormones. These articles[1][2] go into detail about the reasons why people turn to DIY transition. This medical article does the same. So there is an actual benefit of these online pharmacies providing hormones to transgeder adults because there are many people in our community that for whatever reason are unable to obtain hormones the conventional way - and it saves lives.
Here is a quote from the Atlantic article, which I've linked previously, so far it's the most charitable article covering this subject. And I share this sentiment. It's a known fact that lack of medical access to start your transition increases the suicide rate. If transitioning the covnentional way isn't an option, DIY hormones fill an important gap. The solution to this problem is obviously easier and more affordable access to trans health care. Simply cracking down on those online pharmacies as some media outlets suggested, isn't gonna solve the problem. Same applies to this forum by the way.
My point is, you have places that provide life saving medication to trans people. That's a good thing. The social-conservative branch of the media doesn't like that. And they fabricate a made up narrative that mainly trans children purchase these DIY hormones and that's totally not true. But they use that argument to justify cracking down on these places and make life harder even for consenting adults, for example with the grotesque Online Safety Bill in the UK. Now here is the problem. Even if that claim was true, even if teens bought those hormones from online pharmacies - why would that be?
Let's take a look at recent headlines.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
segm.org
www.politico.com
edition.cnn.com
www.nbcnews.com
So you have a trend towards banning trans-affirming health care for transgender youth. Again, we're talking about life saving measures. It's cruel and inhumane to deprive trans youth from appropiate medical care for a condition that requires immediate treatment, which in some cases include medical intervention.
www.vox.com
Here are some studies confirming the importance of trans-affirmig medical care.
https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(21)00568-1/fulltext (suicide rate of trans youth decreased by 40%) + articles[1][2] breaking it down
www.medicalnewstoday.com
The NHS just recently backstabbed the trans community again, stating that most trans children just go through a phase without actually backing that up with any data.
www.thetimes.co.uk
That's a lie and here is the rebuttal.
www.pinknews.co.uk
Here are some studies directly debunking the notion that trans children go through a phase.
https://publications.aap.org/pediat...nder-Identity-5-Years-After-Social-Transition + article breaking it down
www.healthline.com
Maybe the solution to the problem discussed in the two articles that encouraged me to write this thread aren't a crack down on online pharmacies. The problems are a hostile political and social atmosphere that leads to a crack down on trans rights, specifically access to medical care, which will increase harm and therefore bad mental health and essentially lead to suicide. There is a reason why trans people have a high suicide attempt rate, it's exactly bullshit like that and we're tired of this nonsense. I really hope politicans all around the world would stop playing with our lives and finally do the right thing - listen to the science. There is a medical and scientific consensus on the treatment of gender dysphoria, youth included. And I would really appreciate if the news stopped with the fear mongering about trans people in general.
All we want is to live in peace. And we have a right to live our best life, that includes making our own decisions and we are so tired of being used as pawns for political points. We're just humans, it's not that difficult to show some respect because life is already difficult as it, without your cotribution to our suffering. Thank you.
There is more I'd like to add to this topic and I might update this thread with more information in the future. There is a lot of misinformation going around regarding trans issues but I think I'm satisfied so far.
Some extra information. For the people that aware about the Amazon lawsuit regarding the sale of SN and the past few articles covering this forum, you've maybe noticed that they used a very similiar strategy here to justify a crack down on something they consider harmful, in this particular case trans-affirming medication that are mostly used by adults - but they're hiding their true agenda behind children who supposedly buy these hormones, they pretend it's children buying these hormones when that's not true - at least not in the implied quantities. And they did the exact same thing in their coverage of this forum because that's what creates social outrage. The Facebook group of the people opposing this forum specifically discussed using the minor angle to get this forum deplatformed when it's obviously a forum for adults and everyone else gets a boot. It's a common strategy of the conservative playbook to make up a boogey man that supposedly affects children and then you take the outrage and weaponize it to crack down on the rights of adults. This forum has seen this treatment for the past 3 years and social-conservatives have been playing that game for decades. I could name many issues where this happened. And trans issues are facing the same treatment right now, as you can see in the huge crack down on trans rights in some countries, hidden as 'legitimate and sincere concerns' for minors - they're simply trying to make it more difficult to transition in general, it's an attempt to legislate trans people out of society. Because that's their actual goal, social-conservative bullshit. When it comes the right to die, when it comes trans issues - it's simply social-conservative cancer and both cases affect bodily autonomy - what a fucking surprise. That's their enemy and that's why I as a trans person see so many similiarities in the stratetgies employed to wage war on these issues. Again, I'm not comparing trans related issues with the right to die because they're fundamentally different but the strategy to crack down on them are the same because both affect bodily autonomy and in both cases it outrages conservatives. Very important disclaimer.
They don't provide any evidence for their claims in these articles, there is no evidence that any of this is happening on a wide scale. Instead they mention the rising numbers of adoIescents identifying as trans to back up their narrative that children obtain hormones online. While it's true that the current social climate enables trans people to come out earlier than before - which is a good thing, there is no reason to believe that a disproportionately large amount of trans teens would buy hormones over the internet as a result of that. That's an unfouded claim and belongs into the realm of fantasy. There is simply no data to back that up. As someone who has been active in the trans community for years I can say from an anecdotal viewpoint that children don't buy their hormones over the internet, at least not the degree that would justify the fear mongering of the media. Most people that use online pharmacies to access hormones for their transition are actually adults. There are many different reasons why adults do DIY transition, for example high medical costs, long waiting lists or even no access to health care at all. There is a lot of gatekeeping in the medical community happening that makes it difficult for trans people to obtain hormones. These articles[1][2] go into detail about the reasons why people turn to DIY transition. This medical article does the same. So there is an actual benefit of these online pharmacies providing hormones to transgeder adults because there are many people in our community that for whatever reason are unable to obtain hormones the conventional way - and it saves lives.
Here is a quote from the Atlantic article, which I've linked previously, so far it's the most charitable article covering this subject. And I share this sentiment. It's a known fact that lack of medical access to start your transition increases the suicide rate. If transitioning the covnentional way isn't an option, DIY hormones fill an important gap. The solution to this problem is obviously easier and more affordable access to trans health care. Simply cracking down on those online pharmacies as some media outlets suggested, isn't gonna solve the problem. Same applies to this forum by the way.
My point is, you have places that provide life saving medication to trans people. That's a good thing. The social-conservative branch of the media doesn't like that. And they fabricate a made up narrative that mainly trans children purchase these DIY hormones and that's totally not true. But they use that argument to justify cracking down on these places and make life harder even for consenting adults, for example with the grotesque Online Safety Bill in the UK. Now here is the problem. Even if that claim was true, even if teens bought those hormones from online pharmacies - why would that be?
Let's take a look at recent headlines.
England’s health service puts brakes on transgender treatments for children
The NHS warned that the condition is often a temporary “phase” and issued new restrictions on the use of puberty blockers and sex-changing hormones.
www.catholicnewsagency.com
The NHS Ends the "Gender-Affirmative Care Model" for Youth in England
Following extensive stakeholder engagement and a systematic review of evidence, England’s National Health Service (NHS) has issued new draft guidance for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors, which sharply deviates from the “gender-affirming” approach. The previous presumption that gender...
segm.org
Florida takes next step to ban gender-affirming treatments for kids
The rulemaking is the latest step taken by the DeSantis administration to tighten regulatory controls over gender-affirming care.
www.politico.com
Arizona governor signs bill outlawing gender-affirming care for transgender youth and approves anti-trans sports ban | CNN Politics
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Wednesday signed two bills into law targeting transgender youth in the state, including one that restricts access to gender-affirming health care for minors.
Tennessee governor OKs transgender youth treatment ban
Tennessee is just the second state in the U.S. to enact such a ban after Arkansas approved a similar version earlier this year.
www.nbcnews.com
So you have a trend towards banning trans-affirming health care for transgender youth. Again, we're talking about life saving measures. It's cruel and inhumane to deprive trans youth from appropiate medical care for a condition that requires immediate treatment, which in some cases include medical intervention.
Stop worrying about what happens if we let kids transition. Worry about what happens if we don’t.
What’s so scary about a transgender child?
www.vox.com
https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(21)00568-1/fulltext (suicide rate of trans youth decreased by 40%) + articles[1][2] breaking it down
New data show importance of gender-affirming hormone therapy
A new study emphasizes the ways in which transgender and nonbinary youths benefit from access to 'life-saving' gender-affirming hormone therapy.
www.medicalnewstoday.com
The NHS just recently backstabbed the trans community again, stating that most trans children just go through a phase without actually backing that up with any data.
Most trans children just going through a phase, advises NHS
Most children identifying as transgender are simply going through a “transient phase”, new NHS guidance states.Doctors caring for youngsters distressed about t
www.thetimes.co.uk
NHS blasted for 'baseless' claim trans kids may be 'going through a phase'
NHS guidance saying trans kids are 'going through a phase' sends the message “they don’t believe trans people exist”, say advocates.
www.pinknews.co.uk
https://publications.aap.org/pediat...nder-Identity-5-Years-After-Social-Transition + article breaking it down
Only 2% of Children Who Begin Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatment Stop
A new, large study found that 98% of those who began gender-affirming hormones as adolescents were continuing treatment five years later.
www.healthline.com
Maybe the solution to the problem discussed in the two articles that encouraged me to write this thread aren't a crack down on online pharmacies. The problems are a hostile political and social atmosphere that leads to a crack down on trans rights, specifically access to medical care, which will increase harm and therefore bad mental health and essentially lead to suicide. There is a reason why trans people have a high suicide attempt rate, it's exactly bullshit like that and we're tired of this nonsense. I really hope politicans all around the world would stop playing with our lives and finally do the right thing - listen to the science. There is a medical and scientific consensus on the treatment of gender dysphoria, youth included. And I would really appreciate if the news stopped with the fear mongering about trans people in general.
All we want is to live in peace. And we have a right to live our best life, that includes making our own decisions and we are so tired of being used as pawns for political points. We're just humans, it's not that difficult to show some respect because life is already difficult as it, without your cotribution to our suffering. Thank you.
There is more I'd like to add to this topic and I might update this thread with more information in the future. There is a lot of misinformation going around regarding trans issues but I think I'm satisfied so far.
Some extra information. For the people that aware about the Amazon lawsuit regarding the sale of SN and the past few articles covering this forum, you've maybe noticed that they used a very similiar strategy here to justify a crack down on something they consider harmful, in this particular case trans-affirming medication that are mostly used by adults - but they're hiding their true agenda behind children who supposedly buy these hormones, they pretend it's children buying these hormones when that's not true - at least not in the implied quantities. And they did the exact same thing in their coverage of this forum because that's what creates social outrage. The Facebook group of the people opposing this forum specifically discussed using the minor angle to get this forum deplatformed when it's obviously a forum for adults and everyone else gets a boot. It's a common strategy of the conservative playbook to make up a boogey man that supposedly affects children and then you take the outrage and weaponize it to crack down on the rights of adults. This forum has seen this treatment for the past 3 years and social-conservatives have been playing that game for decades. I could name many issues where this happened. And trans issues are facing the same treatment right now, as you can see in the huge crack down on trans rights in some countries, hidden as 'legitimate and sincere concerns' for minors - they're simply trying to make it more difficult to transition in general, it's an attempt to legislate trans people out of society. Because that's their actual goal, social-conservative bullshit. When it comes the right to die, when it comes trans issues - it's simply social-conservative cancer and both cases affect bodily autonomy - what a fucking surprise. That's their enemy and that's why I as a trans person see so many similiarities in the stratetgies employed to wage war on these issues. Again, I'm not comparing trans related issues with the right to die because they're fundamentally different but the strategy to crack down on them are the same because both affect bodily autonomy and in both cases it outrages conservatives. Very important disclaimer.
