Care to write an op ed to the NYT? Seriously. The holes in the context are gaping from many angles.   Indeed, when the contentious Dr. Cantor says, “What’s being told to the public is totally different from WPATH’s discussions in private”, he is not wrong, however his deliberate omissions further muddy the big picture.   And what you explain about age-unrelated metrics such as sexual maturity scales helps to clarify this which was reported in the 19thnews.org article: "In response to WPATH’s request for HHS feedback on a draft of its forthcoming standard of care, Adm. Levine shared her view with her staff that publishing the proposed lower ages for gender transition surgeries was not supported by science or research and could lead to an onslaught of attacks on the transgender community.” I suspect that when people read "not supported by science or research" they may tend to err on the side of jumping to the conclusion that it means trans healthcare as a whole is not supported by science or research when really the matter is far more nuanced.   What I am not clear on is whether these "leaks" refer to interactions of Dr. Levine with WPATH before or after she joined the Biden administration - or do they intersect, and in that case, can it be parsed?   I must say also, please be careful, anyone, who gets into depth reading about this. There is at least one publication which I came across which was so incredibly cruel and petty in their reporting on this issue, and which included outright lies, even lies which were supposedly cited where the citation did not corroborate the lie. A mess. It left me a bit haunted, which I hope will pass soon enough. So, trigger warning on any deep dives on this. Much love, all.

Thank you, @Vidanjali and @KayC!   It's been a few days since attending the Twin Cities Pride Festival. I went with my trans son and a longtime friend of mine who had revealed he was nonbinary. My friend and I have been meeting monthly for breakfast and have been supportive of each other's journeys. He came prepared with a small printed booklet, really just a folded piece of paper to look like one, which stated "What Jesus Said About Being Gay And Trans" on the cover. It was empty. There was a long line of booths for religious organizations and we spent the better part of the hour (my kiddo and I standing aside watching) as he walked up to the booths and spoke with the host, sharing his pamphlet. The exchange was usually the same, incredulous look, a playful statement that they should read what's inside, a tentative crack, quick flips through empty pages, and then a big smile. Sometimes there were hugs, sometimes just good laughs. One woman, obviously keen to this ruse, opened it saying "it's going to be blank". He enjoyed making those brief connections and I thought it was good fun. It also gave me the opportunity to simply observe and take in the day.   Firstly, I didn't expect it to be almost State Fair-like. I saw a lot of the same vendors you'd see there: Corn dogs, Pronto pups, fried whatevers, and a corporate tinge with big booths for Verizon and other national retailers. There were plenty of small shops and boutique vendors. My kiddo loves pins and stickers and bought some, we also had to look at all the rock and gem stalls. He takes after his mother in that way. I saw a necklace with a small ring of Guatemalan jade that I eventually went back to get. I couldn't get it out of my head that it would go well with my eyes, now that they're lighter and are a brighter green than the sky blue they once were as a younger person, and went back to purchase it before my kid and I started our volunteering shift.   My friend had other plans for the day and wanted to spend some time with his daughter before she trod off across the Country on a trip, so after we'd seen most of the festival we all left for an hour to have a beer at a nearby, beloved, English pub. They have three levels and two outside. The main level is a large, well groomed, bowling green. On any other day you could play lawn bowling, but that day they cleared the lanes so people could sit and watch the Euros projected on a wall. My friend and I enjoyed our pints of London Pride (fitting!) and sheltered from the wind as we could. The weather wouldn't turn on the day, but the winds were a-blowin'! After beers and a Shirley Temple, we said our goodbyes. My friend headed for the light rail and we headed back to Loring Park.   When my kiddo and I returned to the festival, we found the booth we were to be volunteering at, and we got my aforementioned necklace, visiting some areas we didn't see on our early circuit. We didn't have much time before our shift, so we headed back there and visited with the volunteers working it at that time, got a feeling the job we needed to do, and started our shift. The role was simple: have people spin the wheel of prizes, dole them out, and if anyone was interested in hearing what the organization was about we'd give them our spiel. TransForming Families is a great group for parents and caretakers of trans and non-binary youth, as well as time and space for those kids to socialize with their peers (both littles and teens) facilitated by a trans/non-binary young adult. My family has been going to meetings, hosted once a month across different cities around the Metro and beyond, on and off for about 6 months. The people are great and I felt compelled to volunteer.   The other volunteer at the time had a young non-binary child and had just returned from DC as the family had been invited to the Pride festivities at the White House! So cool! Also cool was when our first transgender representative Leigh Finke stopped by. I spotted her and said, "welcome Representative Finke!" and we made quick small talk. The family had just spent some time with her in DC as they were both at the White House event. I about melted when I met the young kiddo, though. She did the things kids do (ask questions about the conversation openly with their parents while addressing the other person) asking, "who is she? Is she from the...(I forget the whole question)?". It was super cute and struck me so hard. She identified me as a she, not asking for my pronouns, just point blank "she". They then introduced themself with their pronouns and continued on being a kid at a festival.   It was such a great opportunity to volunteer, to see all the diverse and happy faces that walk the paths of Pride, and do so without cause for concern. I felt lucky to help and I felt happy being at Pride, maybe a bit like I was quietly on probation being my first, but won't be my last. I hope!

Hi Lydia, nice gaming setup you have there

I would say happier than before, not perfect, and I think there will always be some fears out of my control that would rule my inner peace.

Good morning everyone,    @Willow I’m sorry to hear about your experience and hope your daughter is able to help you ask the right questions and understand your options.    @KymmieL This is the second “Hell Has Frozen Over Tour” I’ve been made aware of. I hope yours is as successful as the other.    The coffee was good and Parker seemed to sleep in this morning, so we had a nice late morning walk.    Hugs,   Mindy🌈🏳️‍⚧️🐛🦋    

Thank you @Vidanjali for that insertion in this one.  Dr. Bowers actually was my surgeon back in 2013, as patient nine hundred something (very close to, but not her 1,000th patient who I guess was just a few weeks later.)  Now that I see what is really being referred to in the core of this article, I am really rolling my eyes about the whole thing.  I was actually part of an online study group of Trans Health Care Professionals of the proposed Standards Of Care V8 back at the time they were out for professional collegial review prior to publication. I was in the discussion about 98% as simply a nosy neighbor listener and reader with a relevant professional degree to the group's thoughts. A fly on their wall so to speak.  I do remember one of my IRL friends in the group mentioning Dr. Levine's comments as a medical colleague and NOT as a political officer of any rank, but the folks I was hanging out with had their own reasons for not including the age guidelines, which were mostly of the view that other medical phenomena which occur over an age spectrum should be the guidelines such as the Tanner Scale of Sexual Maturity a couple of other professional "scales" of assessment and not legal age.  Levine and Bowers and many others were considered to be colleagues in the profession with their own say and background for adding to the conversation, which it was at that point.  I did not see the "politics" or even a relation to any political POV, however, the discussions took place AFTER the politicization of the Covid 19 Vaccine and Pandemic in 2019 and 2020 which had been well marked with political injection into medical science and treatment protocols, and thus Levine's involvement is equated to the prior years of interference and pressure from a government, especially from those whose beliefs were supported during the Covid years and are now at odds with the winner of the 2020 election.

It is unbelievable how many people feel entitled to poke into transgender people's personal business.

Sometimes we need a little push.

Thanks@Vidanjalifor the update that reveals the complexity of this issue. Particularly, Dr. Marci Bowers on surgeries:  "Gender-affirming surgery is valued highly by those who need these services—lifesaving in many cases,” Dr. Bowers said. Good for her.  

I took it for granted that I would not be able to read the NYT article related to this because of the paywall. Today I clicked on it and found I'm able to read it. I don't know why, I don't subscribe. Here it is in case anyone is interested to read it. It does provide more context and detail.   June 24, 2024 by Azeen Ghorayshi who covers the intersection of sex, gender and science for The Times.   Biden Officials Pushed to Remove Age Limits for Trans Surgery, Documents Show   Newly released emails from an influential group issuing transgender medical guidelines indicate that U.S. health officials lobbied to remove age minimums for surgery in minors because of concerns over political fallout. Health officials in the Biden administration pressed an international group of medical experts to remove age limits for adolescent surgeries from guidelines for care of transgender minors, according to newly unsealed court documents. Age minimums, officials feared, could fuel growing political opposition to such treatments. Email excerpts from members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health recount how staff for Adm. Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services and herself a transgender woman, urged them to drop the proposed limits from the group’s guidelines and apparently succeeded. If and when teenagers should be allowed to undergo transgender treatments and surgeries has become a raging debate within the political world. Opponents say teenagers are too young to make such decisions, but supporters including an array of medical experts posit that young people with gender dysphoria face depression and worsening distress if their issues go unaddressed. In the United States, setting age limits was controversial from the start. The draft guidelines, released in late 2021, recommended lowering the age minimums to 14 for hormonal treatments, 15 for mastectomies, 16 for breast augmentation or facial surgeries, and 17 for genital surgeries or hysterectomies. The proposed age limits were eliminated in the final guidelines outlining standards of care, spurring concerns within the international group and with outside experts as to why the age proposals had vanished. The email excerpts released this week shed light on possible reasons for those guideline changes, and highlight Admiral Levine’s role as a top point person on transgender issues in the Biden administration. The excerpts are legal filings in a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming care. One excerpt from an unnamed member of the WPATH guideline development group recalled a conversation with Sarah Boateng, then serving as Admiral Levine’s chief of staff: “She is confident, based on the rhetoric she is hearing in D.C., and from what we have already seen, that these specific listings of ages, under 18, will result in devastating legislation for trans care. She wonders if the specific ages can be taken out.” Another email stated that Admiral Levine “was very concerned that having ages (mainly for surgery) will affect access to care for trans youth and maybe adults, too. Apparently the situation in the U.S.A. is terrible and she and the Biden administration worried that having ages in the document will make matters worse. She asked us to remove them.” The excerpts were filed by James Cantor, a psychologist and longstanding critic of gender treatments for minors, who used them as evidence that the international advisory group, referred to as WPATH, was making decisions based on politics, not science, in developing the guidelines. The emails were part of a report he submitted in support of Alabama’s ban on transgender medical care for minors. No emails from Admiral Levine’s staff were released. Plaintiffs are seeking to bar Dr. Cantor from giving testimony in the case, claiming that he lacks expertise and that his opinions are irrelevant. Admiral Levine and the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment, citing pending litigation. Dr. Cantor said he filed the report to expose the contents of the group’s internal emails obtained by subpoena in the case, most of which remain under seal because of a protective order. “What’s being told to the public is totally different from WPATH’s discussions in private,” he said. Dr. Marci Bowers, a gynecologic and reconstructive surgeon and the president of WPATH, rejected that claim. “It wasn’t political, the politics were already evident,” said Dr. Bowers. “WPATH doesn’t look at politics when making a decision.” In other emails released this week, some WPATH members voiced their disagreement with the proposed changes. “If our concern is with legislation (which I don’t think it should be — we should be basing this on science and expert consensus if we’re being ethical) wouldn’t including the ages be helpful?” one member wrote. “I need someone to explain to me how taking out the ages will help in the fight against the conservative anti-trans agenda.” The international expert group ultimately removed the age minimums in its eighth edition of the standards of care, released in September 2022. The guidelines reflected the first update in a decade and were the first version of the standards to include a dedicated chapter on medical treatment of transgender adolescents. The field of gender transition care for adolescents is relatively new and evidence on long-term outcomes is scarce. Most transgender adolescents who receive medical interventions in the United States are prescribed puberty blocking drugs or hormones, not surgeries. But as the number of young people seeking such treatments has soared, prominent clinicians worldwide have disagreed on issues such as the ideal timing and criteria for the medical interventions. Several countries in Europe, including Sweden and Britain, have recently placed new restrictions on gender medications for adolescents after reviews of the scientific evidence. In those countries’ health systems, surgeries are only available to patients 18 and older. The email documents were released by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, in a challenge to the Alabama ban brought by civil rights groups including the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of five transgender adolescents and their families. Transgender rights groups have turned to the courts to block laws, like Alabama’s, that have been approved in more than 20 Republican-controlled states since 2021, but the courts have been split in their rulings. On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on youth gender medicine, which makes it a felony for doctors to provide any gender-related treatment to minors, including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries. The petition, filed by the Department of Justice, cited the WPATH guidelines among its primary “evidence-based practice guidelines for the treatment of gender dysphoria.” Additional emails cited in the new court filings suggest that the American Academy of Pediatrics also warned WPATH that it would not endorse the group’s recommendations if the guidelines set the new age minimums. In a statement on Tuesday, Mark Del Monte, chief executive of the American Academy of Pediatrics, pointed out that the medical group, which represents 67,000 U.S. pediatricians, had not endorsed the international guidelines because it already had its own in place. He said the academy had sought to change the age limits in the guidelines because the group’s policies did not recommend restrictions based on age for surgeries. Last summer, the pediatrics academy reaffirmed its own guidelines, issued in 2018, but said that it was commissioning an external review of the evidence for the first time. The numbers for all gender-related medical interventions for adolescents have been steadily rising as more young people seek such care. A Reuters analysis of insurance data estimated that 4,200 American adolescents started estrogen or testosterone therapy in 2021, more than double the number from four years earlier. Surgeries are more rare, and the vast majority are mastectomies. or top surgeries. In 2021, Reuters estimated that 282 teenagers underwent top surgery that was paid for by insurance. Gender-related surgeries for minors have been a focal point for some politicians. Gov. Ron DeSantis, Republican of Florida, has argued that surgeons should be sued for “disfiguring” children. In Texas, where parents of transgender children have been investigated for child abuse, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has called genital surgeries in adolescents “genital mutilation.” The final WPATH guidelines state that distress about breast development in particular has been associated in transgender teenagers with higher rates of depression, anxiety and distress. “While the long-term effects of gender-affirming treatments initiated in adolescence are not fully known, the potential negative health consequences of delaying treatment should also be considered,” the guidelines state. “Gender-affirming surgery is valued highly by those who need these services — lifesaving in many cases,” Dr. Bowers said.   https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/health/transgender-minors-surgeries.html  

It was after I got out of the Army and the death of my parents that I knew I was transgender.I could not hold it in anymore

UK General election: Party leaders battle for votes on eve of election as Tory minister predicts Labour landslide. David Tennant's message to young trans people was that “it’s a tiny bunch of whingeing little f--- that are on the wrong side of history and they’ll all go away soon.”    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jul/03/uk-general-election-2024-live-updates-tories-labour-polls-boris-johnson  

It was good,went to a parade and my boyfriend went with me.He was appraised for saying he loves and accepts me for I am.He even went to an event with me too.Work,they did something nice for me.Bought me a pride shirt and flag.

I am much happier now,do not miss the old self I was before

That's adorable @MaeBe 🥰

Hiding in plain sight getting harder.

Here's a question, though. If an individual were turned off by this Biden admin statement so much so that they no longer wanted to vote for him, is the alternative candidate really someone they'd perceive as more trustworthy? If their predilection for Biden were in fact eroded over this issue, maybe they'd just not vote at all which is in effect similar to voting for the alternative.   I agree the public needs clarification on this. Especially the facts on how uncommon trans minor surgery actually is & what trans youth healthcare actually entails. I'd like to see the Biden admin state what they DO support with respect to trans youth and the trans population at large. The present concern here seems to be the optics of this statement and the further ignorance is has the potential to inflame.

@Mirrabooka - agree - I have all 3 of the Ace albums and love all 3.

Are you happy now or do you still have fears that rule your inner peace?