Moms risk arrest to protect gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth

From Orion Rummler of The 19th by way of The Advocate comes a simple fact that the parents of trans kids are determined to keep their children healthy and safe. 

Even if they have to be arrested for it:

(Larissa) Godfrey-Smith was one of over 50 people who joined a protest last month against the Trump administration’s plans to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. They blocked the entrance to the Health and Human Services Department headquarters to demand that the government stop blocking medical care for transgender kids. Godfrey-Smith was among the 25 protesters arrested.

 Parents and grandparents of trans youth, plus their therapists and medical providers, are fed up after years of health care bans and hostile rhetoric. Those feelings are driving them to do things they’ve never done before — like plan to get arrested at a protest.

 . . . As a licensed professional counselor who specializes in LGBTQ+ mental health, Godfrey-Smith, who uses she and they pronouns, works with trans kids and their families as they navigate the complexities of gender changing over time. They answer nervous parents’ questions. They talk about concerns regarding medical transition. They also work with trans adults who are well into their 30s and 40s and figuring it all out for the first time. 

 The Trump administration is not helping those patients, she said; bans and rhetoric are just making everything worse. Families are confused about what they can access and what to believe. Financial costs to find knowledgeable providers are rising. And parents are scared about the world their trans children are growing up in. 

“I’m so angry and so frustrated. I’m just so exhausted at the misinformation,” they said. As a mental health provider, they know that families feel abandoned. She wants those families to see people standing up for them. 

 

Read the entire article here.