Alberta Premier Marlaina Smith plans to enact policies that will unavoidable HURT Trans kids while pretending to care about their protection.

@JimboSaturn

So the main thing here is that trans kids will be harmed by these policies. That's just a fact. Some of them will be abused, punished or otherwise harmed either by hateful parents or parents with the best intentions.


How do you know? Will it it break their bones or cut their skin? No.
Will it increase the psychological stress leading to greater rates of depression and even suicidal ideation? Yes.
Will it result in them being more likely to do poorly in school or even drop out entirely? Yes.
Will it take away a place where they feel safe when they don't feel safe in their own home? Yes.

I think you dismiss this as no big deal because you have not lived the experience. I think you could benefit from looking up some experiences of trans people from their youth. Might give you a better perspective.


Bottom surgery is already illegal before 18. Top surgery is already rare and there appear to be no data on which of the surgeries that do occur are for gender affirmation vs other medical issues.
On the other hand, puberty blockers are reversible and give kids exactly what people claim to want which is time to be sure of who they are.
Marlaina Smith wants puberty blockers to be unavailable to them until after puberty. Brilliant.

You are correct that these things are done with a lot of consultation with a medical professional.

@Pikachu I agree with outing the kids to their parents could be harmful. I really don't think I'm dismissing their issues; I really think that being called their biological pronoun will only hurt them if they let it. Being treated disrespectfully or abused will hurt them, a pronoun won't.

@JimboSaturn


With all due respect, you're speaking from a place of privilege not insight.
Would it be disrespect if someone intentionally kept calling you m'am? Would it be disrespectful if you told them your name and they insisted on calling you the wrong name?

I just described to you actual results of misgendering trans youth. Those weren't hypothetical.
If you think being misgendered every day is a trivial and they should just have thicker skin then you are trivializing their experience even if you're not doing so maliciously.

Again, i encourage you to seek out some trans voices and see what their experience has been.

@Pikachu I think there are some things to clarify.

I have no problem with transgenders changing their pronouns at all. I fact one of daughter's friend is in the process gender reassignment. She is committed in becoming a woman. Her parents of course have know about it the whole time (how can they not).

I think my emotions are coming from the other 30% of my daughter's friends who are calling themselves "they". I do truly believe this a fad and it trivializes the true transgender experience. When I say that using the non-preferred pronoun won't hurt them, I am speaking the these people.

In fact I got quite angry at one once. She seems to me a clear lesbian woman. Her mother died and her father is in jail. We have always welcomed her into our family and told her she can always live with us if she needed a place. We have no problem with anyone's sexual orientation and always just assumed she was gay. We have had her over for Christmas and special occasions and have always been kind to her. Anyway my wife used the word "her" accidentally and she got angry with my wife and classed us in the same group our lovely Miss Smith.

I just feel that more emphasis should be placed on treatment not silly pronouns.

That being said, Daniel Smith is a political troll.

@JimboSaturn

Well i think we are both in the privileged position of not actually knowing whether or not being routinely called by the wrong pronoun feels "silly". I'm sure once in a while is fine but maybe like Chinese water torture, the first few drops are no big deal but after a while it becomes quite mentally destructive.

And indeed part of the recognized treatment for people with gender dysphoria is honouring the gender with which they identify.


I mean, i don't doubt that people can overact or be unreasonable about it and maybe that's what happened in your case. I can understand how that would be very upsetting from a person you'd gone out of your way to take care of.

But when one doesn't look like the sex they identify with it could be confusing to others. But I get it and would call someone their preferred pronoun. @Pikachu I'm just saying some people will be uncomfortable with it. But isn't this referencing a seriously small percentage of the population? I personally don't know anyone who is trans.

@Spoiledbrat


It is indeed a small percentage of the population...which makes Marlaina Smith's attempt to turn this into legislation rather telling.
She doesn't care about trans kids, she wants to farm votes from ignorant, outraged and/or transphobic people.