Transgender Missourians consider leaving state after AG includes adults in emergency rule

[RandySF]

Sera Hart-Smith and her partner Kyle Kiera Hart are packing their belongings to leave Missouri before Hart-Smith runs out of her supply of estrogen.

Hart-Smith has been taking estrogen since she was 19, and the couple is afraid state leaders may take that access away and push her back into the depression that she felt before medically transitioning.

“Once my body was functioning on estrogen instead of testosterone, I got so much better,” Hart-Smith said. “So the idea of that being taken away or having to go back into the pit that I lived in for the first 19 years is horrifying.”

An emergency order by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, which is scheduled to go into effect Thursday, will stop new patients from receiving gender-affirming care unless they pass multiple screenings and have three years of documented gender dysphoria.



https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/24/transgender-missourians-consider-leaving-state-after-ag-includes-adults-in-emergency-rule/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. The hatred for this class of human beings is sickening

[Initech]

18. And it's all because of baseless social media conspiracy theory bullshit.

I'm so pissed that Fox gave that shithead terrorist Libsoftiktok a platform to spew hate and lies.

[RKP5637]

2. FloriDUH too! - I guess politicians know more than the astute medical profession.

I guess soon one will go to politicians for all prescriptions rather than the medical profession.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. Please don't leave!

That’s what they want you to do.

I live in Missouri. I am asking you to stay and vote. We gotta get rid of the real evil…republican politicians.

[Rebl2]

4. Well I

live in MO too and I wish they would not leave either, but it just feels like we will never have more democrats in the Missouri house and senate again. We did have Nixon as our governor for a couple of terms, but I think he was kind of a conservative Democrat.

[sanatanadharma]

5. Individuals should not suffer for the sake of a sick society

It is those who are not in legal-medical-emotional-health-economic crisis who have to stand, push back and take the resulting pain that the regressives are and will dish out in reaction to having THEIR desires impeded.

[tazkcmo]

6. Too late.

I'm gone and never going back.

[NullTuples]

9. That is not a fair ask of them!

Would you ask that of other people who were deprived of much needed medical care if they could get it by leaving?

[Cracklin Charlie]

10. I know.

And I totally understand. I want all people to be healthy and happy. And I won’t be angry with anyone who needs to leave.

It’s just that I live in Missouri, and I want them here. And I want more of us here to fight against the takeover of our government by authoritarian forces. Our new Attorney General is a horrible person, who was appointed by the governor, another horrible person. The people pushing this legislation have a much bigger agenda than just cruelty to certain folks.

It’s just a part of something much bigger, and a danger to us all.

[NullTuples]

12. Perhaps you could entice left-voting cis, het, men to move there?

They're likely to feel the effects last.

[Maru Kitteh]

15. Look at someone you love dearly.

Somebody who needs a medication to live healthfully. Will you ask them to live without it?

I don't think I would.

[Mad_Machine76]

7. I'm really scared this is going to spread like wildfire with RW AGs

The one in my state (Indiana) is Todd Rokita and he's really awful.

[Cracklin Charlie]

11. They are trying to gain control of 34 states.

So, they can call a convention, and rewrite the Constitution.

We are all in danger.

[Matthew28]

13. God help us if they do

This nation will become the christian Iran if they're successful. Fight like hell.

[NullTuples]

8. They ARE leaving if they can. It's cruel to strip someone of hormonal healthcare

Many trans people have been on hormone replacement therapy (hrt) for decades. Our bodies don't make estrogen testosterone any longer, either because the organs involved have atrophied or because they've been surgically removed.

A total absence of endogenous (body-made) so-called sex hormones *and* hrt results in dysregulation of any body system that is normally co-regulated by those hormones. And there are many. Just one example: Serotonin & either estrogen or testosterone co-regulate each other. Serotonin is the oldest, most basic hormone in mammals, so it regulates everything from sleep to mood to hunger & thirst to immune and autoimmune responses. Without it, those body functions get thrown out of whack (as an aside, that's why many trans people feel so "good" after starting hrt; apparently the Serotonin regulation receptors stopped matching what was available after puberty). As in, our sleep cycle gets messed up, sensory issues (remember many of us are autistics) skyrocket, autoimmune problems flare, and so on. I know this personally as I've experienced it for a few weeks when there have been estrogen shortages in the past. It is miserable, and for trans people in Missouri, there is no end in sight. This goes way beyond Republicans stopping trans people from transitioning; it stops us from being able to live our lives the way cis people are allowed to do.

Now on top of that, add the psychological stress of knowing someone - or a substantial part of society - has that much control over YOUR body and your day to day life that they can toy with you like this and harm you on a whim.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

14. dont blame them.. scary times

[LostOne4Ever]

16. I just want to know why the American people are okay with all this

I just got through looking at some polls and it looks like half of America still supports the republicans. Poll after poll says they strongly disagree with all the anti-trans bills and anti-abortion extremism.

WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL SUPPORTING THESE FASCISTS???

They directly go against what the people want, they target innocent people, peddle racism and bigotry, they undermine democracy with their gerrymandering and packing the courts, and they push unpopular cuts to programs people depend on and it barely affects their poll numbers?

But a democrat sneezes wrong and they instantly become an unelectable?

Why can the Repugnantcans do no wrong and Democrats must be perfect in the eyes of the public? Why don’t they care that this is happening???

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

17. Do you want the short, accurate answer

Or the long one that tap dances around it and tries to pretend that anything else is behind it?

Because the answer is:

Religion.

Too many Americans take its most hateful tenets seriously, while far too many of the rest are cowed into refusing to see it or pretending they don't see it, thanks to the unearned privilege given to religion here. No matter the awful things religions do here, both in influence and direct actions, few Americans will acknowledge the destructive force it is.

Those of us who do point it out are treated worse than criminals, including by so-called "liberals." We're despised, lied about, threatened, and worse. Too many Americans are too much of self-serving cowards to stand by what is right and true after seeing what happens to us.

[LostOne4Ever]

20. Then thank god I am an atheist

And I agree that is probably the case for a gigantic swath of Americans. But organized religion is supposedly dying and the “not religious but spiritual” nones are on the rise.

So that surprises me.

[vercetti2021]

19. If this happens in Texas

I'm absolutely fucking screwed. I don't have any means to leave because I don't have that kind of money

[LostOne4Ever]

21. You and I are in the same boat

And I am hoping the Texas Legislature is distracted enough with 10 commandments and school prayer bills to give us a little time.

[GoodRaisin]

22. I can't think of one piece of legislation by Republicans in which they aren't taking something

away since tax breaks for the rich in 2017. Maybe more guns for mental patients, that’s about it.

Pretty soon we’ll all be leaving these Republican christofascists controlled bastions of religious purity for one reason or another.