Essay
Importance of Protecting Trans Youth Rights
The consequences of banning the castration of minors altogether outweigh the negatives compared to the positives. Castration is the process in which one's genitals or ovaries are removed with radiation, surgery, and drugs. Castration of minors sounds bad in the beginning but the amount of therapy these children go through is overwhelming. Children who may not receive this life-saving care are more likely to consider suicide and at least 50 percent have reported attempting suicide due to not having the resources to function properly. A day in the life of these children feels as if they were trapped in the most uncomfortable outfit they own. Forced to wear that hideous clothing day in and day out never being able to sleep or eat without feeling it on them. In many cases, it is the only option left to save the child.
The process one must go through to even be accepted to one of these programs contains months to years worth of therapy. Before they can even step foot in a surgical room they have to get diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Then often for minors before they hit puberty they will take a substance called puberty blockers. Puberty blockers stop the process of puberty as time goes on. Then they will be put on a waitlist that can take years to get the care they need. It has been found that 9-10 of adults who expressed a want to use puberty blockers but didn't receive them contemplated suicide. Children who receive gender-affirming care are 72 percent less likely to contemplate suicide.
The transition these minors go through is not only physical, they have to go through the process socially. Changing things such as name and pronouns helps them fit in along with their peers, the only downside to transitioning socially and not physically as well as they can be looked at differently by the other kids. Bullying often happens to young children not have an education on the matter and just persevering them as weird but in reality all these kids want to do is take off that uncomfortable sweater that confines them.
The main argument made against this bill is that these children should wait until their mind is developed to make such a life-changing decision about themselves. These surgeries are irreversible in most cases; the only thing that is known to be reversible is puberty blockers allowing people to go through puberty later in life. Children make decisions they may regret and despise later in life. But if these decisions aren't made they may not make it later in life.
Sources
Austin, A., Craig, S. L., D’Souza, S., & McInroy, L. B. (2020). Suicidality among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the role of interpersonal risk factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5–6), NP2696–NP2718. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520915554
Posner, G., Mr. (2023). The truth about ‘Puberty Blockers.’ In The Wall Street Journal (pp. 1–3) [Opinion]. https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116284/documents/HHRG-118-JU10-20230727-SD011.pdf
Swift, J. (2024, June 17). Microsyllabus: Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender youth. Gender Policy Report. https://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/microsyllabus-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-youth/
Weiner, S. (2024, February 22). States are banning gender-affirming care for minors. What does that mean for patients and providers? AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/news/states-are-banning-gender-affirming-care-minors-what-does-mean-patients-and-providers
