I missed this during the workweek and now find myself with a little more hope we’ll transcend the darkness of hate and fear to step foot in the lightness of love and acceptance... another small step for mankind in our tangled web of a country. We have several transgender teens and 2 elementary aged children including one with Down's syndrome who are telling us in various ways they are transgender. None of us have expertise in this area, but we want to support and love them and their families while we have the honor of treating them.
As you already know, in his SOTU, President Obama acknowledged transgender people. On Thursday of this week, he expressed that one's gender identity should not prevent them from adopting or becoming a foster parent. Don't know if the timing is serendipitous or if this is another example of the Presidents' commentary emphasizing the hideousness of red state hatred, but this comes two weeks after Florida debated whether some agencies could ban LGBT couples from becoming foster parents. Florida, wake up, you're almost under water as it is.
Last week in California, Senate Bill 731 was heard in the Senate Human Services Committee. This bill ensures that children would be placed in homes based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex, thereby integrating a child's sexual and gender identity into child welfare practice. I'm looking for the outcome of this, but don't have time to track it down today. Just want to say, “as goes California, so goes the rest of the nation” in my somewhat unnaturally optimistic way.
Our transgender patients live with their biological families who are supportive and loving individuals. They are sincerely navigating their children's well being and their own fears of societal harm for being "different." Can you imagine that in our lifetime, we may see legislation that normalizes something as basic as one's “identity?” Let's make this happen by electing more and better dems even though this is a human issue, not a partisan one.
TLO and I are at the ranch this evening so please kibitz amongst yourselves.
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