transgender community demanding funding for their drugs

[C_T_Russell]

Just seen a petition going round that is demanding pharmac fund more drugs and even funding for reassignment surgery.
This is just nuts.
They really think the taxpayer should fund their lifestyle choice?
All the health implications that this shit does to their body is also a burden to the health system in later years.
Pharmac has far better things to fund like cancer treatments, waiting lists are bad enough for far more serious surgeries.
The delusion here is just next level.
If they succeed in getting this funded, then so should botox and Propecia get funded too.

[Kenj]

Totally agree with you. Could be expensive with the non-binary who can chance their identity on a daily base.

[TinkandTiff]

Omg, the ignorance is rife.
As the mother of an adult transgender person, I wish to say you have absolutely NO BLOODY IDEA of what you are talking about. Best you just shut up, rather than continue to make yourself look like bigots.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

We can't afford heart ops, hip ops, keeping Mums in for longer than 24 hours...

Priorities.

[Kenj]

I guess that's me you are calling a bigot TinkandTiff.

Hard not to be one when I am on Morphine thrice daily for worsening pain for a conventional physical problem and have fuck all chance of having anything done for probably another year or more.

[TinkandTiff]

I guess that's me you are calling a bigot TinkandTiff.

Hard not to be one when I am on Morphine thrice daily for worsening pain for a conventional physical problem and have fuck all chance of having anything done for probably another year or more.

Well, guess what. Heaps of people are in the same boat as you.  Some are worse off.

My son had gender re-affirming surgery about 4 years ago. I helped pay for it, and he had saved for it. No assistance from the government.
As a child, a blood test came back with unusually high natural Testosterone levels for a female. I felt sick when years later he came out as trans, as at the time I meant to do something about getting him seen by a specialist to find out what the situation was. But i was busy.......with an elderly father than had Alzeihmers and was causing no end of stress for me. I was studying, working and raising 2 kids and keeping an eye on my father, whilst keeping house.  I dropped that ball and never had the blood test investigated or made further enquiries with an endocrinologist. I felt so guilty when he came out as trans. For years, I  didn't understand why he had such bad anxiety. He would leave family events and go home early, not go to friends parties. His 18th birthday I had to drive into the city at 2 am to collect him. He had such a bad panic attack he ended up vomiting into a rubbish bin.  Fortunately he was clubbing with a close group of caring friends that looked after him for me til I got there.

 Once he received a diagnosis of genuine Gender Dysphoria. He began the process of transitioning, that alone took months to see an endocrinologist, psychologist etc etc.
It was a slog.
But it was worth it. And my husband and I are sooooo proud of him. He is FINALLY his authentic self.
 
He aced his degree at University. He was always an Excellence student at College, so not surprised he did well at Uni.  His anxiety ceased to exist.

He has a fabulous job, in his profession and is doing unbelievably well. Pays taxes just like everyone else.

As far as I am concerned he is entitled to have his medication funded by Pharmac.
He works blimmin hard and contributes a lot to society.
He is also kind, considerate, intelligent, damn handsome. And the best son I could have asked for.

[Olive]

Omg, the ignorance is rife.
As the mother of an adult transgender person, I wish to say you have absolutely NO BLOODY IDEA of what you are talking about. Best you just shut up, rather than continue to make yourself look like bigots.

Well said.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Our children are our hostages to the future, and it may well be true that as parents we all pick up a shed load of guilt over things we did or didn't do for them. My personal best is not understanding that letting her avoid a doctors visit for glandular fever as an adolescent (because some mate of hers told her it was the kissing disease and the doc would think she was a ****...) then probably resulted in her MS diagnosis just a few years later...

But the reality is each of us do the best we can do with the realities life hands us. As parents we cannot fix the world for them, any more than we can fix it for anyone else faced with huge challenges. What's more, I think we can each list a fair number of 'Really Unfair' realities that we deal with, and our health system has a pretty big pile of those to offer. At the same time, it simply isn't possible to do every heart op, every cancer treatment, every hip op (dammit!), every drug subsidy - we just do not have the resources in this country.

Another reason I'm sadly glad my daughter lives in Perth. She'll probably live longer there, and if she doesn't I won't have to watch her do it without me.

No one said it would be easy...

---

Interesting. Why can't I use the word '****'? As in s l u tee...

[Kenj]

.... and I wrote f**k and it was not blocked

[Oh_hunnihunni]

It is blocked on my screen - f**k is what I see.

Maybe it's my tablet getting sick of my bad language! AI taking the time to clean up my wickedness...

What a thought.

[king1]

.... and I wrote f**k and it was not blocked

lol, we don't block many, just the N word, the Sl... word and the C word. Others should only be used when appropriate though...

[Kenj]

It is blocked on my screen - f**k is what I see.

Maybe it's my tablet getting sick of my bad language! AI taking the time to clean up my wickedness...

What a thought.

Nah, I typed it as that, being the gentleman that I am 

[Lilith7]

While I don't know a lot about transgender people, I strongly doubt that its in any way a 'lifestyle choice' & I can recall some referring to gay people using that term in earlier times as a means of diminishing them & pretending it was something they'd deliberately chosen rather than having been born attracted to the same gender, exactly as the rest of us are born attracted to the opposite gender.

I can also understand that surgery would be something transgender people would require at some point; but the huge problems we're having with our health system now isn't something likely to be overcome quickly so for those like your son are fortunate to be able to afford it themselves, Tink and Tiff.

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is having to see our children suffer through something which we want to fix & can't.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

It is blocked on my screen - f**k is what I see.

Maybe it's my tablet getting sick of my bad language! AI taking the time to clean up my wickedness...

What a thought.

Nah, I typed it as that, being the gentleman that I am 

Goodness!

You are full of surprises...

[TinkandTiff]

While I don't know a lot about transgender people, I strongly doubt that its in any way a 'lifestyle choice' & I can recall some referring to gay people  using that term in earlier times as  a means of diminishing them & pretending it was something they'd deliberately chosen rather than having been born attracted to the same gender, exactly as the rest of us are born attracted to the opposite gender.

I can also understand that surgery would be something transgender people would require at some point; but the huge problems we're having with our health system now isn't something likely to be overcome quickly so for those like your son are fortunate to be able to afford it themselves, Tink and Tiff.

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is having to see our children suffer through something which we want to fix & can't.

Oh, it is soooo not a "lifestyle choice", believe me. I too remember the days when being gay was something that had to be hidden.
Why would anyone choose to put themselves through the trauma, outward signs of hatred from some in society that are uneducated on the subject, derision and outright discrimination that many transgender people are shown? 

We are not wealthy people. But he worked so hard and saved so hard to be able to have the necessary surgery, and I helped out with some money I had aside for retirement. He has always known he is very much loved, regardless of his gender identity, and whilst I didn't think he would ever hurt himself. ...but given our shocking youth suicide rates,  why risk it by not supporting him in his decision. I am so glad we did, as he is truly flying and destined for great things.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

You sound like great parents to me. We are very lucky with our kids, and while they may have put us through hell at times,  often under circumstances beyond all control, I am certainly glad I had mine and I'm sure few of us really regret an instant of it.

But, the hell is real when you are neck deep in it, wading through it to the other side takes enormous strength and resilience and we need to remember the fact that we did that and take comfort from it.

We did, and continue to do the best we could. Parent and child alike.

[C_T_Russell]

Perhaps I am a bigot. But I'm just getting tired of the direction things are going. 
It's being promoted as a "choice" to kids in schools these days.
I know personally some transgender people, both left it until well into their 20s before they decided surgery was the right choice.    None of this BS about putting kids on puberty blockers, etc.

Growing minds can't make an informed decision easily and many later regret it later in life.
Abnormal hormone levels is not always a factor for everyone who is transgender and  same goes for many cisgender people who have way out hormones and grow boobs or hair where they shouldn't, etc.

The people i know after transitioning still had to learn how to adjust to every day things that their new gender had to experience, for example urinals in a men's toilet was something of a shock to see.

Also one of them was told by family that the way she(now he) was interacting with their young children was inappropriate for a man.     
These are things that should come naturally if they are born as a different gender than their body.

It's not something you should have to learn how to do if you truly are that gender.

[Lilith7]

While I don't know a lot about transgender people, I strongly doubt that its in any way a 'lifestyle choice' & I can recall some referring to gay people  using that term in earlier times as  a means of diminishing them & pretending it was something they'd deliberately chosen rather than having been born attracted to the same gender, exactly as the rest of us are born attracted to the opposite gender.

I can also understand that surgery would be something transgender people would require at some point; but the huge problems we're having with our health system now isn't something likely to be overcome quickly so for those like your son are fortunate to be able to afford it themselves, Tink and Tiff.

One of the hardest parts of being a parent is having to see our children suffer through something which we want to fix & can't.

Oh, it is soooo not a "lifestyle choice", believe me. I too remember the days when being gay was something that had to be hidden.
Why would anyone choose to put themselves through the trauma, outward signs of hatred from some in society that are uneducated on the subject, derision and outright discrimination that many transgender people are shown? 

We are not wealthy people. But he worked so hard and saved so hard to be able to have the necessary surgery, and I helped out with some money I had aside for retirement. He has always known he is very much loved, regardless of his gender identity, and whilst I didn't think he would ever hurt himself. ...but given our shocking youth suicide rates,  why risk it by not supporting him in his decision. I am so glad we did, as he is truly flying and destined for great things.

That is exactly the point - no one in their right mind would 'choose' to be gay given the way in which gay people were treated then, & its really sad to see transgender people being subjected to the same ugly stuff.

And as to the nonsense that 'women should fear transgender people' - I'm not buying that, but I do think women may have something to fear from some men who might pretend to be transgender in order to gain access to women's spaces. There are after all, some very devious blokes out there as we've been reminded very recently here.

Good luck to your son - he has excellent parents, which no doubt has made all the difference. 

---

You sound like great parents to me. We are very lucky with our kids, and while they may have put us through hell at times,  often under circumstances beyond all control, I am certainly glad I had mine and I'm sure few of us really regret an instant of it.

But, the hell is real when you are neck deep in it, wading through it to the other side takes enormous strength and resilience and we need to remember the fact that we did that and take comfort from it.

We did, and continue to do the best we could. Parent and child alike.

Indeed; its always harder while you're in it & trying to cope with whatever situation the little sweetie darlings have presented us with this time. But somehow you get out the other side & take a breath - just in time for the next hurdle.

 Because somehow, the ingenious little sods always find something else with which to torture their rapidly ageing parent/s! 

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Perhaps I am a bigot. But I'm just getting tired of the direction things are going. 
It's being promoted as a "choice" to kids in schools these days.
I know personally some transgender people, both left it until well into their 20s before they decided surgery was the right choice.    None of this BS about putting kids on puberty blockers, etc.

Growing minds can't make an informed decision easily and many later regret it later in life.
Abnormal hormone levels is not always a factor for everyone who is transgender and  same goes for many cisgender people who have way out hormones and grow boobs or hair where they shouldn't, etc.

The people i know after transitioning still had to learn how to adjust to every day things that their new gender had to experience, for example urinals in a men's toilet was something of a shock to see.

Also one of them was told by family that the way she(now he) was interacting with their young children was inappropriate for a man.     
These are things that should come naturally if they are born as a different gender than their body.

It's not something you should have to learn how to do if you truly are that gender.

I had no choice when I was a youngster. I was a girl, so I was responsible for helping my sister, being nice and polite, having good manners, not getting dirty, knowing how to cook and clean, looking forward to marrying a nice boy with a good job and having babies whom I would raise to be perfect human beings. I could not argue the point, swear, wear tarty clothes, or train for any kind of work that wasn't a proper job, like nursing or teaching, or being a secretary. I had to have a male sign hire purchase or rental contracts for me, couldn't earn the same income as a man, couldn't do lots of things as a single, certainly not have a child...

So I'm glad choice is offered to children. More choice that is. Especially round body autonomy and identity. Because I know, and so do many of us if we think about it, what it is like to be hammered into the wrong sized role because of stuff we cannot change. To be not picked for the team because we are fat, or skinny, or short, or too tall. Or redheaded, or brown, or myopic, or have a stutter or a limp or silver hair or no partner. Or fancy our own sex.

Being human, and growing up to be who we want to be is always difficult. Never ever easy. But if accepting diversity exists makes it just a bit more comfortable then I'm all for it.

And I understand the way some have gone totally overboard on this, for whatever reason - like greenwashing to fake concern for environmental matters. Every tv drama now has to have several genders rolling around together in the romance part of the plot, idiots determined to be famous are riding the bandwagon and stirring up the masses, grandstanders with axes to grind are taking on anyone they can to get a settlement, or score points. In sports - well, we all see what is happening with sports and the failures who think they should get a free run at the podium. 

The spotlight is on the very few with the mainstream more interested in just getting on with it. But then, there have always been the divas... I'm still glad it is easier these days to be different. To be a little bit nuts. And to have babies, or not, wear spangles or not, get tattooed or not - without all that shaming and gossip. I think that is a good thing. 

I just wish it had happened back in the days when I wanted to go to art school rather than get a proper job...

[TinkandTiff]

Perhaps I am a bigot. But I'm just getting tired of the direction things are going. 
It's being promoted as a "choice" to kids in schools these days.
I know personally some transgender people, both left it until well into their 20s before they decided surgery was the right choice.    None of this BS about putting kids on puberty blockers, etc.

Growing minds can't make an informed decision easily and many later regret it later in life.
Abnormal hormone levels is not always a factor for everyone who is transgender and  same goes for many cisgender people who have way out hormones and grow boobs or hair where they shouldn't, etc.

The people i know after transitioning still had to learn how to adjust to every day things that their new gender had to experience, for example urinals in a men's toilet was something of a shock to see.

Also one of them was told by family that the way she(now he) was interacting with their young children was inappropriate for a man.     
These are things that should come naturally if they are born as a different gender than their body.

It's not something you should have to learn how to do if you truly are that gender.

And that is exactly the case with my son. He went through female puberty, it was very distressing for him....no puberty blockers for him, as at that age he hadn't figured it out. When he looked in the mirror, what he saw was wrong for what his brain was telling him. He just didn't understand the why.
He has acted like a male his entire life. Hasn't had to learn a thing!!
He even sat like a male when he was a 10 year old girl!! Much to the disgust of some in the extended family, lol.

---

"Perhaps I am a bigot. But I'm just getting tired of the direction things are going."


And how exactly does it affect YOU personally C T Russell ????

It is not being promoted as a "choice" in schools. Have you sat in on any classes in schools??? Or are you just going by what is reported in the media from certain sectors of society that have an agenda??

By the way, my son went to an all girls Presbyterian school from Year 7 to Year 13.
Not exactly inundated with encouragement to be different.