Opinion: Gender-affirming care has a long history, though anti-trans laws pretend it’s ‘untested’
Los Angeles TimesMar 28, 2023
The Facts
Kentucky and West Virginia have advanced laws to limit access to gender-reassignment therapies for children. The legislations increase the total number of states attempting to restrict such treatments to 11.
On Wednesday, Republican lawmakers in both chambers of the Kentucky legislature voted to override a veto by Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear, voting 29-8 in the state Senate and 76-23 in the House. During the session, 19 individuals were arrested for trespassing following protests against the measures.
The Spin
Left narrative
The consequences of the current opposition to gender-affirming care reach far beyond the transgender community. Access to hormones and surgery is a basic medical service that should not be restricted. Aside from the blatant discrimination motivating the legislation in West Virginia and Kentucky, the bills may impact treatments for menopausal women, restrict access to birth control, and more. No one should have to live with such a violation of privacy into bodily autonomy.
Right narrative
The trans movement has inspired a blind religious following, with Biden trying his best to be to act as priest and pastor. The left continues to use rhetoric around autonomy and liberties when, in actuality, pushing irreversible trans treatments for children is detrimental not only to them but to wider American society. More than half of Americans support a ban on transgender surgeries or hormone blockers for minors. Despite this, the left continues to turn the issue into a moral fault line against which it deigns to judge anyone and everyone.