The Truth About Anti-Trans Legislation

05/03/22 • 37 min

Trigger warning... This episode touches on upsetting topics for trans people and allies.

Today, we address some of America's most comprehensive anti-trans laws ever approved. The entire package of anti-LGBTQ+ laws was signed on April 8th, 2022, by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and it directly attacks transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers.

Amidst the pain and fear these laws are causing, we take a moment to analyze the real reasons politicians are proposing criminalizing parents and professionals for providing necessary gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

We debunk the myths and lies that are being spread to promote these anti-trans bills. For example, puberty blockers are a completely safe, proven method to buy some extra time for kids to figure out their gender, with no irreversible effects. And no one is performing surgeries on trans kids or grooming them to be LGBTQ+. These things simply aren’t happening.

Anti-trans legislation, which goes against all medical advice and peer-reviewed, evidence-based best practices for transgender care, causes great harm. It protects absolutely no one, though its proponents falsely claim that it’s “protecting children” because they hope to win over ultra-conservative, right wing voters.

These politicians know nothing about trans people’s experiences, they’re just playing a political game that will cost innocent lives and tear families apart. As the number of anti-trans bills has been rapidly increasing, calls to The Trevor Project suicide hotline have increased by 150%, which is no coincidence.

We urge advocates and allies of trans people to speak up, get involved, send emails, and make phone calls. Ultimately, the transgender community only asks for one thing: to be left alone and given the same rights that cisgender people have.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Some details of the harrowing law recently approved (2:37)
The alarming increase of calls to suicide hotlines is an immediate effect of the attacks on the transgender community (6:39)
The real reasons why politicians stand behind these discriminatory and cruel agendas (14:01)
The truth about puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgeries (18:35)
The best ways to support and help the transgender community (25:28)
How attacking things like abortion rights and trans rights is used to distract the population from the real issues. Jackie shares her wise perspective on this. (34:15)

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trigger warning... This episode touches on upsetting topics for trans people and allies.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Some details of the harrowing law recently approved (2:37)
The alarming increase of calls to suicide hotlines is an immediate effect of the attacks on the transgender community (6:39)
The real reasons why politicians stand behind these discriminatory and cruel agendas (14:01)
The truth about puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgeries (18:35)
The best ways to support and help the transgender community (25:28)
How attacking things like abortion rights and trans rights is used to distract the population from the real issues. Jackie shares her wise perspective on this. (34:15)

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Being Religious and LGBTQ+ Affirming

Our guest today, Leah, has a potentially life-saving message for two groups of people. She wants LGBTQ+ Christians to know that they don’t have to choose between their faith and fully being themselves. She also humbly asks religious people who are non-LGBTQ+ affirming to reconsider what they’ve learned about what the bible has to say on this topic. According to Leah, Jesus made it clear that the highest commandment is to love God and to love people, and that includes all people.

We are so honored to have Leah on the podcast with us for this critically important and timely conversation. When her daughter came out as transgender two years ago, Leah dove deep into the study of the ways humans have misinterpreted the bible with regard to LGBTQ+ people.

We so appreciate Leah’s honesty and openness about her journey to becoming an LGBTQ+ affirming Christian and her struggles with the contradiction between what she felt was right in her heart and what a lifetime of religious teachings dictated. We talk about Leah's massive commitment to educating herself and how she is continuing her studies while speaking out to spread the message that one can be a devout Christian and also fully LGBTQ+ affirming.

Some Questions We Ask:

Could you talk about the concept of words in a book vs. the intent of the Scripture and faith? (11:04)
We're looking at legislation promoting tearing families apart because the family is affirming their trans child. What are the most important things you want to say to parents? (18:20)
What would you say to other people who are trying to find their voice and figure out how they can speak up and make a difference without getting too far out of their comfort zone? (22:50)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

Leah's journey and commitment to finding an answer in God (4:54)
Looking at the cultural and historical context to interpret what is written in the Bible (13:46)
The urgency of discussing sexual orientation and gender identity at church (17:26)
Why it is necessary to promote conversations even if they feel uncomfortable for many people (21:54)
The importance of sharing and promoting educational content about the LGBTQ+ community (35:17)

Resources:

Blue Babies Pink website

Geeky Justin website

CannyonWalker Connections website

Church Clarity website

The Reformation Project website

FreedHearts website

Susan Cotrell YouTube channel

Q Christian Fellowship website

Matthey Vines YouTube channel

Books:

Justin Lee -Torn

Matthew Vines -God and the Gay Christian

Kathy Baldock - Walking the Bridgeless Canyon, Repairing the breach between the Church and the LGBT Community

Julie Rodgers - Outlove

Staci Frenes - Love Makes Room

Austen Hartke - Transforming: The Bible & the Lives of Transgender Christians

Colby Martin - Unclobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Alicia's Story: Transitioning at 62

We are so honored to have Alicia Araballo join us today to share her transition story and much more. Alicia has been an educator for 36 years; she is a counselor and former teacher, an LGBTQ+ advocate, and she recently came out as a trans woman at the age of 62.

As the oldest of five siblings in a traditional Latino family, coming to terms with her gender identity and sexuality was extremely challenging. The predominant machismo, and the absence of information and role models from the LGBTQ+ community, added to Alicia's confusion about who she really was throughout a big part of her life.

When she first attempted to transition over 25 years ago, the lack of family and social support as well as difficulty finding quality gender-affirming medical and mental health care caused Alicia to put that dream on hold, but not forever.

In this episode, the first of this two-part interview, Alicia shares her journey of discovering herself through the many "twists," as she calls them, in her life that led to getting in touch with amazing, supportive people who finally helped her rediscover and become her true self.

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

About how Alicia always felt different since she was a little girl, even without the words to explain it (1:42)
About Christine Jorgensen's story and how it touched Alicia's life (4:34)
How Alicia's family dealt with same sex relationships and how that affected her in her self-discovery journey (8:01)
How Alicia's first therapist told her that she was possessed by a demon (10:20)
Feeling like an island and about Alicia's first hormone treatment (16:10)
Alicia finally gets in touch with people who really understand her (22:21)
The decision and the happiness attached to deciding to transition at 62 (33:31)

Connect with Jackie and Bridget:

Connect with Alicia: