Written By: Anton Sawyer
Hypocrisy: How The GOP Is Using Pro-Transgender Arguments To Combat Vaccines
Though I do have a tumultuous relationship with the Church of Satan, there is one sentiment I do share with their founder Anton LaVey. Stupidity is always the number one sin, and it’s a shame it isn’t painful. Because if it were, people like Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky would be constantly walking around clutching their heads complaining about “the brain pain” like Mrs. Boucher from The Waterboy. I say all of this because it occurred to me that the primary anti-vaccine talking point from the GOP party is the exact same talking point used by the transgender community as it pertains to the youth proceeding with the steps needed to complete a transition.
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This talking point is centered around a personal relationship with a healthcare professional that knows your specific needs better than anybody else.
Let me put it another way.
You are a parent who is worried about the health and wellbeing of your thirteen-year-old child and decides to take them to your family physician for answers.
This is the same physician that delivered the child, so they understand the complete history of the patient better than almost anyone.
After a complete rundown, the doctor makes a recommendation for what they deem the “proper course.”
The doctor does make it known that no matter what may have been said in the headlines, this suggested remedy is going to be what’s best for the patient in terms of overall benefit and is being done in the best interest of the patient.
Am I talking about recommending a prescription for Ivermectin in the face of a local Covid outbreak, or am I talking about beginning the hormone blockers and other first steps of a transition? It’s all about intent.
Now, I don’t want to come off saying that fake medicine being peddled by some talk-show host is just as valid as the mental, physical, and emotional tolls transitioning can take. Nor do I want to minimize those who have begun or are currently going through the process—or worse, those who have yet to come to terms and are currently residing in their own personal Hell for not being able to truly be themselves. No, today’s article is going to focus on how the Republican party has been trying to change both legislation and the overall health of society at large by using the same reasoning used by one of the groups they’ve been targeting now for decades; LGBTQ+ (though this piece focuses mostly on the "T").
Myths
First off, let’s dispel the conservative myth that transgender issues are something that’s a recent happening. Perhaps it’s gained more mainstream media attention during this century, but it’s nothing that is new or relatively uncommon in the real world. Jules Gill-Peterson, a professor of gender, sexuality, and women’s studies at the University of Pittsburgh has found extensive evidence of trans youth in the US living as themselves and fighting to transition in decades-old archival documents. The records from American hospitals and clinics date back to the early 20th century, with examples across the US well before the existence of contemporary language on trans identity. Some of these findings included handwritten letters from trans kids to a famous endocrinologist, Harry Benjamin, who was known for providing trans healthcare in the 60s and 70s. Another example Gill-Peterson found, was from a trans woman named Val who in the 1950s was trying to get surgery in Wisconsin.
Another myth that the Republican party has tried to peddle is that Covid is a pandemic and being transgender cannot be compared to the number of deaths and people impacted by the Coronavirus. Though this is technically correct, there are two reports from the CDC which show that the trans community is indeed a part of an epidemic of its own. The first is from a 2017 study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where it was found that approximately 35% of transgender adolescents reported having attempted suicide. Taking this fact along with another CDC report from 2021 which found that the rate of suicide for those ages 10 to 24 increased nearly 60% between 2007 and 2018 and was the second leading cause of death among people ages 10-34 in 2018—there’s a definite trend that is sweeping this sub-section of our society that has had deadly consequences of their own.
With human life being impacted greatly in both cases of the Covid pandemic and suicide epidemic, it’s foolish to say that they don’t both require a heightened level of attention.
Conservative’s Fight For “Alternative Medicines”
We’ve all heard about the Joe Rogan controversy. We’ve seen rockers like Ted Nugent come out and sing Ivermectin’s praises, all followed by the cheering of political leaders when it comes to taking alternative medicines to fight Covid. For example, in early 2022 on her Instagram feed, Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene implied that she’s taking Ivermectin herself, writing, “In foreign countries, you can walk in a pharmacy and buy Ivermectin over the counter without a prescription like I did, and it has saved many lives.” She also added, “[T]he government can’t mandate a vaccine if there are treatments for covid, and early treatment of Ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies is a CURE in most cases. Withholding these treatments is murder, and I believe the government is responsible.”
Though the conservatives are referring to a different strain of Ivermectin than the one used in horses as a de-wormer, the backlash from the medical community when it came to recommending the use of this substance was swift and exacting. So much so that it prompted the need for a complete narrative shift to come from the RNC to make it a bit more palatable to the American lexicon at large.
Make it about the doctors and their oaths when it comes to their expertise in proper patient care.
“Please, do your own research. Please take into account your unique medical history, your current medical condition. Please consult with your doctor or doctors or medical professionals that you trust and then based on that information, that only you really know about and your doctor really know about, then you have then you should make an intelligent decision for yourself and your family and loved ones.” Conservative juggernaut Sean Hannity has been making statements like this since the GOP decided to shift the narrative towards alternative medicines when combating Covid. The pundits for the conservative movement have been incredibly important when it comes to setting the tone for all of this medical misdirection; they always are. What’s become so surprising is the complete lack of self-awareness when it comes to the fact that the reasoning being used in supporting alternative medicines are the exact same ones used by one of the largest groups the GOP has consistently targeted with the trans community.
The Attacks
It’s important to note that the American Medical Association has a very strict standard when it comes to politics and medicine. The AMA has clearly stated that political figures should never infringe on private care decisions designed to “nurture the child’s short and long-term development and balance the need to preserve the child’s opportunity to make important life choices autonomously in the future.” It’s clear that from the recent actions of the leaders of the conservative nation, they never got the memo.
In 2022, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a letter to Texas state health agencies announcing that delivering gender-affirming medical treatments to transgender youths “constitutes child abuse” under state law. It stipulated that doctors, nurses, and teachers are legally now required to report parents who aid their child in receiving such care to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). This report would then trigger an investigation into the family. When it comes to this entire situation, it’s important to note that the ACLU has sued Texas to prevent implementation, and a Texas judge has partially blocked enforcement. Further, the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement indicating that denying trans youths health care is discriminatory and illegal under federal law. This fact has not stopped Abbott from yelling “full steam ahead” with his plan.
Also in early 2022, during an appearance with radio host and conspiracy guru Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Greene called for vigilante violence against trans people in public, claiming that it is necessary to stop the “grooming” of children and blaming mothers for turning their kids trans. Greene said that if her daughter had a trans summer camp counselor, her husband would “beat” them “into the ground” and they would “be in jail. … this is exactly how we need to stand up against this stuff.”
Because violence against a repeatedly attacked minority has always shown to be the right course of action throughout human history, right?
Final Summary: Nothing Learned
Again, these conservatives are the same people who are fighting tooth and nail for the right of family choices to be made inside the family with their own healthcare provider when it comes to taking non-approved antidotes for Covid, all while being incapable of seeing the hypocrisy of how these terrible pieces of lawmaking being aimed at the trans community are fighting the exact family choices they are trying to champion. The only difference between the trans community and the GOP is that the LGBTQ+ community isn’t trying to pass laws that would separate parents from their children in the family court systems because mom thinks Ivermectin would be a better choice at fighting Covid than vaccines.
I know that sometimes self-awareness is difficult, it can be one of the most difficult things in life to have, but this has gone beyond the pale. No matter how much deception I threw at everyone in my life when I was a drug addict, I still knew in my heart what I was doing, and that it was wrong.
With how severe the GOP echo chamber is, I’m not entirely convinced that they have had the ability to hear or process what they are doing by using the same arguments as those they attempt to stifle. I hope they are that dense because I don’t think the God they are so fond of will be as forgiving if He knows they truly knew better when it’s time for judgment.
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