A federal judge says that DeSantis was spreading lies when he called gender-affirming care “mutilation.”

This year has been all downhill for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. His presidential aspirations are going up in smoke thanks to his complete lack of charisma and general campaign incompetence. His losing war against Disney is costing Florida taxpayers millions of dollars. Now a federal court all but called DeSantis a liar for the way he justified his ban on medical care for trans youth.

DeSantis repeatedly claimed that the law was necessary to prevent youth from being “mutilated.” In just one example, he went after one reporter who questioned him about it when he signed the bill last May.

“And when you talk to people and I know, like people in your industry will dress it up with a euphemism, and they’ll say it’s health care to cut off the private parts of a 14 or 15 year old,” DeSantis said. “That is not health care. That is mutilation.”

Tell that to U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle.

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102 points

I think it’s wrong and bizarre that we cut the private parts of babies just because of a social trend started by a bunch of weirdos. That’s why medically unnecessary circumcision before the age of 18 should be regulated.

This is consistent with the tiny minority who view the practice as a covenant with God because you’re not allowed to enter into a contract as a minor in the US.

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-15 points

Tbh, I think that irreversible sex change surgeries shouldn’t be allowed until the age of 18 (circumcision included). There’s a reason that we don’t let children do a lot of things, and that’s because their brain isn’t developed enough to make informed decisions.

There are a lot of things that I personally thought were a good idea in my teens that I definitely wouldn’t in my mid 30s, and I’m sure that’s true for most people.

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45 points

I’d like to know the stats for how many people under 18 are having actual sex change procedures.

I always assumed the care what we’re receiving at that age was things like hormone therapy, or something that could easily be reversed later.

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36 points

You are correct, it is only reversible care. Nobody gets a sex change under 18 in the US due to minor status consent and permanent procedures like that. Unfortunately you will find it hard to prove something that doesn’t happen, happened. That’s why they choose this route so they can claim that they are making sure kids aren’t getting sex changes by getting the medical/therapy records for anyone Trans.

The problem is that it’s just so they get their info to persecute them, which even if this gets stopped in court it keeps Trans people from seeking professional care due to completely legitimate fears of future breaches. They win whether they get the records or not.

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35 points

This is the lie that is being told. No reputable doctor is doing this. You are right, a teenager can’t reliably make those sorts of decisions.

The optimal treatment is a combination. They give drugs that delay puberty, combined with intensive mental health care.

The drugs are because reversing the effects of puberty is hard and invasive. By delaying puberty, they can sidestep a lot of these issues. If the patient decides they were wrong, they can stop the drugs, and puberty will kick in normally.

The mental health care is to help them get a handle on what is actually wrong. It filters out those with other mental health issues, that could be helped better in other ways. It also allows those who want to go through with it to firm up their understanding of what it will entail, and what they need to do prior.

If, after all this, they still want to transition, they can start the process. They are at least now aware of what it will entail, and don’t have the baggage of their body lurching in the opposite direction to their mind.

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-8 points

Yeah, for sure. I’m definitely not against hormones and mental health treatment. It’s just weird that “children shouldn’t be able to just get permanent, life altering surgery,” is a bad take around here.

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14 points

Okay, can we just take a minute to acknowledge that the ONLY gender affirming surgery legally on the table before you are 16 is for breasts?

It also requires the sign off of a legal guardian and there are a bunch of recommendations in place from therapists about how to make good long term decisions so it’s not like minors are making uninformed decisions on their own.

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13 points

But your brain is so developed it can decide what’s good for others. Kindly shut up.

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-10 points

I guess you also support letting 14 year olds get tattoos?

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