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Judges Aren’t Liking Transgender Care Bans
The right’s latest target has been trans kids. Bathroom/locker room bans. sports bans (a more complex issue in my mind, but blanket bans are not a solution and forcing trans boys to compete in the female division proves this isn’t about “protecting women’s sport”) and, of course, bans on medical transition under the age of 18.
The grounds are pretty much always the same: Protect kids from “experimental” medical treatments.
What Does Trans Healthcare Look Like For Kids?
To get one thing out of the way: Gender identity in humans develops between three and five years of age. Gender expression starts not long afterwards as kids look to those around them to see what it means to be a boy or a girl. Variation in gender expression also starts early…I am betting everyone reading this knows a “princess” and a “tomboy,” for example. In some cases these are phases, in some cases the baby princess grows into a fashionista and the baby tomboy grows into me. Ahem.
Kids do know they are trans young. Late transitioning typically means that the person transitioning either A. Was afraid to do so because of social pressure or B. Mistook their dysphoria for something else or failed to recognize it. These are both also why we seem to have more trans kids. More trans kids are being…