Trans journalist Erin Reed called Douthat’s interview “hostile” and noted that El-Sayed previously stood up for trans rights when asked in August by Fox News’ Jesse Watters whether he supports “sex changes for minors.” El- Sayed replied, “The government shouldn’t tell you what kind of health care you should have, and if you’re a minor, that’s between you and your doctor and your parents.”
In September, a state university student asked about his position on gender-affirming care. El-Sayed answered, “I don’t think the government gets to have a say about what health care is provided in what circumstances and why.”
Reed also praised El-Sayed for remaining steadfastly committed to trans rights at a time when other Democratic politicians have adopted right-wing framing, saying they oppose government-funded surgeries for trans kids (something that almost never occurs) and “biological men in women’s sports” (an inaccurate and insulting reference to trans girls and women athletes who want to play on sports teams matching their gender identity).
“El-Sayed’s race will be one of the most important to watch on election night,” Reed wrote. “If he can win a highly contested seat despite the anti-transgender Republican money spent against him and the attacks from the right-leaning wing of his own party, it will be a clear case that embracing anti-trans views is not required to win swing states and swing districts across the United States.”
On his campaign website, under the heading “Healthcare Freedom for Women and LGBTQ+ Americans,” El-Sayed wrote, “Healthcare decisions should be made by a patient (and their parents if they are a minor) and their doctor–no one else. That includes reproductive and gender-affirming care…. I oppose any effort to criminalize certain medications and the use of lawfare or funding cuts to stop healthcare providers from providing full-spectrum healthcare that meet all the needs of their diverse communities.”
The lives of conservatives (including neoliberal journalists) are valueless. Completely valueless.
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Fuck that bitch and the Ellison family. Everyone should boycott everything they own. Yes that includes Annapurna. Outer Wilds was funded by fascist money.
Please win
“I don’t think the government gets to have a say about what health care is provided in what circumstances and why.”
Attaboy, this is EXACTLY the message. And, speaking from experience, it throws conservatives right on their asses.
Protecting human rights really is that easy. Anti trans folks always gotta twist themselves into pretzels for their ideology, making endless carveouts and caveats to justify their bigotry. It’s the same thing with abortion rights, gay rights, immigrant rights, or anything else reactionary thinking attacks.
He also had one of the most incredible comebacks I’ve ever seen to the “mutilating children” bullshit; “Are you circumcised?”
I saw him do this. Epic. The smug prick who asked him about it acted like he won some kind of gotcha but it was totally a self own. Amazing.
He’s a baller in interviews.
Also: I like how he uses his look.
I want to be clear: I don’t think every candidate should try and look like a macho tough guy. But I think everyone should find their look and lean into it. And his happens to be a flawless visual performance of traditional masculinity.
Which makes it so satisfying to watch when people try and put him off his game with fearmongering over evolving gender norms, and this absolute chad just dunks on them about what losers they look like when they insist on creating a lists of state-approved genitals.
I wish him so much success tomorrow, but regardless of the outcome he’s done amazing things in the campaign, and he’s going to be a force in American politics either way.
People (particularly, young men) have been so inundated with propaganda, that we need to have some visible people on the left who come off as traditionally masculine.
It’s stupid, but right now it’s necessary unfortunately.
Reminds me of a fun moment from back when I was still on Facebook, a decade or longer ago:
During a political discussion about something else entirely, an American right wing nut job blurted out something about Scandinavia “being overrun by Muslims because of all Scandinavian men being low testosterone weaklings”.
Heinous bigotry, I know. But here’s the fun part: I, being a Danish guy born and raised in Denmark with very masculine features including an impressive full beard (who happens to be a far left pacifist internationalist) just said “both my nationality and profile picture of my own face are public” and that was enough to shut his vile white supremacist Islamophobic tirade down 😁
I remember how they used to air The World’s Strongest Man competition on ESPN 2 way back in the day, and all of the best competitors were Danish (and other Scandinavians).
Like every time.
“Aren’t you guys the ones always rallying around the ‘small government’ ideal? I’m just walking the walk while you keep talking the talk.”
I’m getting worried that the fix might be in in Michigan. I don’t think they can cheat hard enough everywhere to avoid the wave, but they might just hate him enough to risk it in Michigan.
AIPAC money already turned his primary opponent. The right is terrified of a reasonable voice in the senate from an “other” demographic showing people that Muslims are actually good people who might even care about them more than the white power network that they’ve voted for for decades, which has never actually done anything to help them in their economic struggles.
Talarico elicits the same fear in Texas from a different angle.
AIPAC money already turned his primary opponent
I suspect she’s been turned for a long time.
my daughter and i saw him in a small room at msu when he first began campaigning for governor. i was very impressed with him from the start. not just the fact that he had well thought out, wonky answers to difficult problems, but also because he really seemed to have a big heart. i’ve voted for him three times now. feeling good about his chances against oxy mike.
(and their parents if they are a minor)
Some people would say he’s murdering trans kids with this little footnote
Who should decide then? You?
What is the procedure when a civilized justice system discovers parents have been sending their child to a “conversion camp” to try and turn them straight?
Denying a trans child their health care should require a response at least as severe as that.
(In an ideal world, which we are far from).
In an ideal world there’d be no “conversion camp” to begin with.
I concur - we’re far from an ideal world.
Yet steps towards a better world are necessary and appreciated.
For the time being I see need for guidance by parents and doctors when it comes to trans kids - even though not all parents and doctors behave ideally and with the best interest of the child in mind.
Having no guidance at all would likely be worse.
The trans kid?
Ideally? Yes!
Practically? Guidance required 🤷♂️
You wouldn’t solve the “some parents are dense assholes” problem by letting kids alone decide; you’d just create a different set of problems caused by asshole parents.I understand the point you are trying to make, but this is the compromise that we need to make, at least for now, to make progress.
If any politician goes full force with “transgender healthcare for minors, regardless of parental consent” they will lose. It sucks, but that’s how it is.
A lot more trans kids will die if Sayed loses vs. If he wins. I want him to win, not die on an absolutist hill.
We need to work towards laws about parental medical neglect. Focus on the laws that let parents deny lifesaving healthcare to their children on religious grounds first (a more direct form of child murder imho). Eventually we can move the needle on putting children ahead of their parents’ ideologies, but that isn’t a fight we are going to win today.
And the definition of “minor” in this case can be different than 18 or 21. Just like you can buy a firearm or drive a car but not drink alcohol at the same age.
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Sweet holy stonewall, that’s the dumbest nonsense I’ve seen on the fediverse.
Most English speakers don’t define “law”, “property”, “rights”, or “theft” the way faux libertarians and sovereign citizen scam victims do. Those that do use your minority definitions are generally ill-regarded by their social and economic peers, and suffer a reduced quality of life because of it.
Please go audit a freshman law survey at your local community college class. A general philosophy one might be good also.
You don’t know what trans rights are?
This is the most braindead take I have ever heard. What if someone owns a bathroom and decides that not only can trans people not use it, but they don’t want black people to use it, or jews, or muslims, or christians. People can just discriminate however they want because they own something? Also governments can absolutely own things you fucking dipshit, public property is clearly a thing, all over the world. I’m honestly hoping your a bot because I cannot imagine a living breathing human being that is this fucking stupid.
You sound libertarian.
Almost certainly a libertarian.
Incidentally, here’s a nearly 30-year old internet essay related to this (please ignore the old-school ableism in the piece): Libertarianism Makes You Stupid
I REALLY wish anarcho-capitalists hadn’t stolen that word.
There’s nothing wrong with libertarianism by its original definition (being more in favor of liberty for the individual AND groups than the authority of the few to rule the many), but when you add the obsession with private (as opposed to personal) property and allowance for corporate authoritarianism as well as racial segregation, it becomes an ideology as childishly inconsistent as it is selfish and destructive.
oh i remember this one, first it was that your brain finished developing at 18, then 21, now its 25 and im seeing people consider banning all sorts of things until you hit 30. All based on pop psychology pseudoscience and a study that cut off at those specific ages and concluded that your brain never stops changing. Its funny how all pretense of having rigor and being careful with science stops once its something you can use to oppress minorities.
You know what’s also proven? HRT for trans minors is both easily reversible and proven to lower suicide rates. But from what I’ve seen from the people that spout these points you’d probably like it better if they killed themselves
The brain is only truly complete when you’re dead. Best to be safe and never let anyone make a decision.
I’d be ok with that rule, provided it only apply to those who’d complain the loudest: US “libertarians” and fascists.
Not really, since that’s obviously tyranny, but it could make for a fun week to do it temporarily 😁
1: the brain study didn’t conculde anything of the sort. It’s chart just showed constant growth and stopped where they ran out of available data. Human brains keep developing your entire life.
2: Both feminizing and masculizing trans HRT have changes that cannot be reversed without substantial surgery. Puberty blockers however are entirely reversible.
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Can you consent to have your broken arm fixed before you’re 25?
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So now you’re adding more shit. “state it stuff but start in”.
So no treating congenital birth defects?
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Ok, then no vaccinations or blood transfusions for anyone under 25. Better start closing up all those public schools, too, since they’re funded with stolen money.
