#jonah wheeler

[tomsainsburyseale]

[benedictusantonius]

i’m the 4th gay, in case you wanted to know.

[puffinsplaces]

Jonah Wheeler

[puggleboo]

Daddy.

[decorumviris]

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Jonah Wheeler: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In [her] own words, Chase Strangio, the lawyer for the ACLU in the Skrmetti case, says, "I am a constitutional lawyer who does not believe in the Constitution."

The gist of Strangio's argument to the Supreme Court in favor of overturning Tennesee's ban on puberty blockers and sex change hormones for minor children was that a teenager who was assigned male at birth - a boy - can be prescribed testosterone to receive a form of gender affirming care. Then a teenager who was assigned female at birth - a girl - should have access to the same hormone.

In one situation, the use of blockers and testosterone is to correct a real medical condition that interferes with natural puberty. On the other hand, the use of blockers and testosterone is for a sex change rooted in a psychological feeling that cannot be objectively measured.

WPATH is the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. They are the leading figure in the world, and they measure those feelings by what's called the DSM-5. And the criteria through which the DSM-5 makes these determinations are questions as pedantic as, "did you use trucks or did you play with tea sets? Did you like blocks or do you like Barbies?" As if you could reduce being a woman to liking Barbies or blocks, or a boy to liking monster trucks or tea time. But that's what the criteria in the DSM-5 is.

During discovery for the Alabama case dealing with the same issue, we found out that WPATH knowingly was saying things that were untrue about these procedures, knowingly, and we only found out about that after discovery. And these are not the stringent criterium which we were told that it is.

On Monday, alone, the European Society for Psychiatric Health just put out a study that said that the impacts of estrogen in males led to a 26 times higher risk of testicular cancer, a 40 times higher risk of breast cancer, cognitive impairments, and autoimmune diseases. This is but one of many studies that have come out over the course of the last year which show that these procedures are not as medically affirming as people have made them out to seem.

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of principle, I believe in ‘live and let live,’ and Mr. Speaker, if you are of the legal age of majority, which is 18 years old, I believe 'live and let live,' you're able to do whatever you’d like to do with your body as long as it doesn’t hurt another individual or impede on their life.

But if you are under the age of majority, if you are in the legal age of minority, if you're under the age of 18 years old, I do not believe that you should be taking substances which stop the natural process of puberty to affirm a feeling that you might have.

I urge my colleagues to vote for the committee of conference report, and I’m going to end by saying what is probably the most controversial statement that I have made here at this well.

Nobody is born in the wrong body. Every body is beautiful. No matter if you were short and stout, tall and lean, whether you’re black or you’re white, whether you’re a feminine man or a masculine woman, nobody has the right to say that you aren’t beautiful as you were created. Immutable characteristics are your immutable characteristics, and you’re beautiful as you are; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Everybody is born in the right body.

Lilly Foss: [She rambles nonsensically until the Speaker directs her to ask an actual question] So, I'm just curious. Does the fact that you can’t use tangible measures of ADHD, does that mean that a child should not receive treatment for ADHD?

Wheeler: It’s irrelevant, and I didn’t bring anything up to the sort, but nice try.

--

Just in case anyone is tempted to accuse Mr. Wheeler of misrepresenting the DSM-5:

This is the justification for drugging, sterilizing and mutilating children.

[a-revival-of-sorts]

[a-camp]