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PaperclipPerfector  2yr ago (text post)   39480 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023

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I'd like you guys to refrain from responding to this message (the one you are reading right now) unless you either are someone who holds the beliefs I am trying to engage with, or you can steelman how someone who holds those beliefs would respond to what I'm saying. Expressions of agreement are useless to me here. Thank you. (I have tried to get this discussion going on Twitter, but as one would expect, it hasn't worked.)

clears throat

So you, hypothetical person, believe that if a trans child has been on puberty blockers for the maximum of two years, then they should be allowed to switch over to HRT, even if they haven't reached the age of consent. So, for example, if a child starts blockers at age 12, then they should be able to switch over at age 14, even though the age of consent is no lower than 16 anywhere in the United States.

Why should the age of consent for HRT, the "real deal" of transitioning, be lower than the age of consent for sex? If you say that HRT is less harmful for children than sex with an adult, you need to be able to substantiate your claim.

First, HRT is done under the supervision of a medical professional.

Appeal to unearned authority in this case. Many major medical professionals and hospitals as a whole have been shown to be corrupt on this issue. Simply put, ideology has more likely than not trumped the Hippocratic oath in this field.

Second, a big part of the reason for age of consent laws (and the frequent "Romeo and Juliet" exceptions for young people near either side of the line) is that the person who wants to have sex with a minor, unlike a doctor, presumably does not have the minor's best interests at heart.

Again, the profit margins shown from looking into books at transition clinics make the same case against doctors here.

Third, we are talking about the coercive power of the state.

The state is currently more often on the side of the secret transers. You are as likely (probably more) to wake up one day with your daughter Jill now informing you that she is your son John, who has been conversing secretly with school officials for a year and is now on artificial hormones, as you are able to get an injunction against your ex wife from doing the same without your consent.

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