what is your stance on minors transitioning?
good question. i'll be honest, i've struggled with this answer a lot for a couple of reasons:
a) i knew i was trans as a minor but was unable to transition until i was an adult and
b) i've seen how impulsive teenagers are
as is the case with most of my answers, it's not a black and white. saying minors can or can't transition as a blank is stupid, just as stupid as saying teenagers can't know that they're trans. i did. my friend who transitioned at 15 did. my other friend, however, did not, and later detransitioned before i even had access to t.
i believe teenagers should be able to access hrt so long as a couple of criteria are met.
1. does the child have gender dysphoria
2. has this dysphoria been persistent for more than two years
3. has the child successfully socially transitioned
you may be thinking why two years, which, understandable. the reason is because gd typically presents somewhere before or during puberty. for me, it was before, but i didn't despise my female body until it became less and less male during puberty. i hated not being seen as one of the guys, but that's my own personal anecdote. regardless, gd generally presents or worsens during puberty,
teenagers should be allowed access to puberty blockers so long as dysphoria has been persistent for six months. not a huge amount of time, but enough for one to denote that these feelings aren't just a hyperfixation or a spur of the moment decision, but something that is likely causing a problem. those hormone blockers will then allow the kid to actually determine if this is gender dysphoria or some kind of fear of maturing, which can present somewhat similarly (ie. my old friend).
that six months feeds into the two year requirement, which in-turn means a kid will be on puberty blockers for roughly 1.5 years prior to hrt, which is plenty of time to socially transition for the most part
now, what if the kid has been dysphoric since childhood and persists until puberty age? then the kid can take puberty blockers for a year then continue on to hrt.
kids detransirion, just like adults do. but kids are influential, impulsive, and want to be special. and what better way to feel special and unique than to change your gender? to be autistic? to have ticks?
like all medical conditions, this is something that needs to be taken extremely seriously. there needs to be consistent therapy to ensure the child is happy and mentally healthy, doctors to ensure blood work and everything is okay, and a healthy support system to make sure the child isn't alone in this journey.
surgeries should be for those over eighteen alone. i understand these are life-saving surgeries, but again, teenagers are rash. hrt is reversible (to an extent), reversing surgeries can me.anywhere from difficult to impossible.
but yeah. that's my hot take. lmk what yall think.
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