Inside the belly of the beast: Going undercover at trans conferences
With Aaron Terrell and Benjamin Boyce
Listen to the conversation Aaron Terrell, Benjamin Boyce, and I had about the Trans Health Summit in San Francisco last month and the European Professional Association for Transgender Health conference in Killarney, Ireland. Plus booze!
Thank you for this episode. To Benjamin's question: "who refers them?" regarding autistic, non-verbal children, I can't express how much in lock-step the Bay Area is: therapists, psychiatrists, doctors, teachers, community leaders, cultural organizations, organized religion. I recently asked my OB-GYN to refer me to a doctor, of any kind, who was not affirming, and she parroted out a list of WPATH-style talking points ("research says...") and said that, no, such a doctor doesn't exist here.
I am not one of the "lucky ones"; I have had multiple interactions with Diane Ehrensaft. I don't know what to do with her history with Satanic Panic, which I learned in the last year or so. The Youtube videos about it need to be made available to parents here.
As for "what to do", or "how to win", I agree with Eliza that confrontations - many of them - are required. The everyday conversations with all the everyday people around you. Always respectful, always fact-based.
This was a really enlightening conversation, if somewhat shocking and horrifying (regarding the non-verbal autistic children). I really appreciate Benjamin's questions to Aaron and Aaron's very frank answers regarding the decision to medically transition. Overall, it sounds like those who are promoting unquestioned medical transition so heavy-handedly are seriously deluded into believing this is a wonderful thing that has absolutely no downside. I'm not sure how we as a society will move out of this, but I'm grateful that people like the three of you are out there exploring these issues.