An open letter to State Governors & Legislatures (Ohio only)
SUICIDE CONCERNS! URGENT COMMENTS ON O.A.C 5122-26-19; 5122-14-12
2 so far! Help us get to 5 signers!
Blood will be on your hands.
I was a trans kid. My parents did not allow me to have treatment, nor
did they respect my identity. I was extremely suicidal, even attempted
once at age 12, but in the end I managed to hang on in the hopes I
would be able to get treatment and find people who would accept me as
trans.
Now I am a trans adult. I am receiving hormone therapy, and have been
for a long time. The people in my life call me by my preferred name
and pronouns. Customers and coworkers perceive me as my correct gender
instead of my birth one. My body feels like it belongs to me. I have
never been happier.
An old friend I lost contact with attempted suicide three times due to
transphobia from their family. One day, they stopped responding to my
messages. They were 14 years old.
Adults and children alike deserve the best and most appropriate healthcare.
Adult trans people have to jump through hoops to get trans affirming
care already. It is much harder for children. Children and their
parents are given information and go through long periods of study and
discussion to make sure that transition is the right choice.
Transition is not done easily or taken lightly. It is not dangerous or
poisonous.
Trans affirming care saves lives.
If you do not listen to us, more people will die. More children will
die. Children who have only known discomfort in their body, children
who know being themselves could get them isolated, bullied, even
abused.
This study by the National Library of Medicine which
reports a 60% lower chance of depression and 73% lower chance of
suicide in children who receive trans affirming health care.
Study 1: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35212746/
A second study reports a 66% reduction in youth suicidal ideation and
a 76% reduction in suicide attempts.
Study 2: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2
According to the National Library of Medicine, trans affirming
surgeries ALONE have a 1% regret rate. This regret rate is even lower
than the regret rate of laser eye surgery. Not to mention the higher
regret rates of other procedures such as knee replacement surgery,
which has an almost 20% regret rate.
With a regret rate of nearly 1 out of every 5 patients, wouldn't knee
replacement surgery be a better candidate for pushback than trans
affirming care?
An 18 year old can go to war. An 18 year old can buy a gun. An 18 year
old can get body modifications and tattoos. An 18 year old can get
irreversible cosmetic surgeries. An 18 year old can make all of their
own medical decisions.
If ean 18 year old can make all other medical decisions without
resistance, why not trans healthcare?
If you're so concerned about children being mutilated, you should
cry out against corrective sex surgeries on newborn intersex people.
Yet you turn a blind eye to that.
Bodily autonomy is a fundamental human right. Once you set a precedent
for restriction, you may not like where it leads down the road.