In the Thursday working session, Representative Matt Moonen stated that some of the language in the bill that has come under attack “did not further the goals” intended of the bill and moved that the bill “ought not to pass,” essentially recommending that his own bill be killed in committee.
This doesn’t sounds like a dead issue. It sounds like the bill had some potential problems and they want to touch it up before sending it to the floor to be passed. Maine can still get its trans refuge state status. Not that that is going to stop the right-wing from lying about it, of course.
It proposed allowing judges jurisdiction over cases involving their presence in the state and also included measures to protect parents in custody disputes where one parent consents to the child receiving care and the other does not.
So it would give legal shelter to a parent that, in spite of the other’s non-consent and without preexisting legal authorization, goes and has a gender-affirming medical procedure performed on their child? Yeah, hard pass bro.
People being wrong about it is why this law is needed. Because fascists in other states are trying to illegalize healthcare and oppress a minority group.
Nope, try again. The law refers to consent to medical procedures. Feel free to quote any provision in that providing shelter just for consenting to the child's gender itself.
Because fascists in other states are trying to illegalize healthcare and oppress a minority group.
Nope, try again. Joint legal custody is the default, which requires both parents to consent to any medical procedure for the child. No one's targeting gender-affirming medical procedures specifically, you're just looking to carve it out.
Nope, try again. Joint legal custody is the default, which requires both parents to consent to any medical procedure for the child. No one's targeting gender-affirming medical procedures specifically, you're just looking to carve it out.
Yes, I am looking to preserve individual's right to self-identity and medical autonomy.
One parent should not be able to kibosh gender-affirming care a child seeks especially if another parent does consent.
Also they are totally trying to target gender affirming care, in state after fucking state. Which is what makes laws like these necessary.
I think all persons should have autonomy of self. Forcing a person through an incongruous puberty is abuse and children should be protected from abuse.
You're aware that hormone therapy can cause increased risk of blood clotting, bone loss, eyesight loss, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and depression, erectile dysfunction, infertility, heart attack, and a number of other adverse side effects -- right? And you want children to just be able to go into CVS and buy it for themselves?
I think all persons should have autonomy of self.
So, just to be clear, you want a child to be making its own medical decisions?
You're aware that hormone therapy can cause increased risk of blood clotting, bone loss, eyesight loss, memory loss, suicidal thoughts and depression, erectile dysfunction, infertility, heart attack, and a number of other adverse side effects -- right?
You're further aware that caffeine is way worse and anyone with $1 can access that.
Cool, ban caffeine for kids. I support that too.
If you gave a shit about suicidal thoughts, you wouldn't be trying to justify blocking access to gender affirming care.
No one's blocking access, we're just requiring the same level of consent that we require for any other medical procedure. Sorry you can't pump random kids full of hormones you creep, lol.
I don't. Put the shit in the water; it's delicious.
No one's blocking access, we're just requiring the same level of consent that we require for any other medical procedure.
And if a parent tried to block their child from other life-saving healthcare (see: blood transfusion) they should be stopped from perpetuating that harm as well
Sorry you can't pump random kids full of hormones you creep, lol.
You really seem to be coming at this from a bad-faith position if you are equating a person requesting healthcare having the provision of that care facilitated by a parent and a team of medical professionals "pumping random kids" with that care.
And if a parent tried to block their child from other life-saving healthcare (see: blood transfusion) they should be stopped from perpetuating that harm as well
Imagine trying to equate OTC hormones to transfusions for mass blood loss, lmfao.
You really seem to be coming at this from a bad-faith position if you are equating a person requesting healthcare having the provision of that care facilitated by a parent and a team of medical professionals "pumping random kids" with that care.
What part of OTC hormones involves a parent and team of medical professionals, lmfao.
The law in Australia considers that a child under the age of 18 years of age is capable of giving effective consent to a medical procedure or treatment if he or she fully comprehends the nature and consequences of the procedure proposed, irrespective of whether a parent consents.
Imagine letting some nutjob parent let you die because they refused a blood transfusion or something. Its their body, theres a lot wrong with your train of thought.
In conclusion, the gender reassignment process can commence at any stage so long as there is consent on the Gillick competence of the adolescent, a diagnosis of gender dysmorphia and a proposed treatment for this. However, without this consent and criteria being satisfied, Court intervention is necessary for treatment to commence in any capacity.
I did. What part of that enables a child alone to consent to gender-related medical procedures? Even the text you quoted says that you need a court order if there is not consent to Gillick competence, and the outset of the page provides that consent to Gillick competence requires both parents to consent.
Did you read? I'm gathering that you're Australian, and it's frankly laughable that I know your laws better than you.
Cool that you don’t care about using even the minuscule amount of power you hold in a democracy to vote for something better. That position makes you the bad guy btw.
There is no state or county that only has the party of Capital on the ballot. So just don’t vote for the party of Capital at the ballot box. You can and should do more stuff outside of voting, but as far as voting, do not vote for the party of Capital. If you do vote for the party of Capital you are telling them that your rights are negotiable. That you will support them unconditionally, and most importantly, the people who prove by their actions they obviously do not care about human rights, will continue to be in a position to block out anyone else that could possibly care about human rights.
Don’t bother engaging with this guy. He’s problematic. Vote blue this time and work toward better representation later. We can’t change the broken system overnight.
Vote blue this time and work toward better representation later.
That’s exactly what you all said in 2020. And 2016. And you’ll be saying it again in 2028. Atleast be honest about it; don’t the “it’s just this time” thing.
Who cares? It’s not our fault you’re not mature enough to make the best decision out of 2 bad decisions. Poor baby didn’t get what he wanted so he’s gonna shit his diaper and throw a fit. Go ahead. Vote for Trump or third party or a hot dog. No one cares anymore just fucking stop talking.
Well voting in the general election is binary. There are no other choices than Republican or Democrat. You have to choose between those two or it’s effectively the same as not voting.
So it’s not just this time. It’s every time because of how the electoral system in America works.
The system isn’t broken. That’s what liberals don’t get. Its working exactly as its intended to. Learn the history of the US and tell me this isn’t exactly what all those who set it up intended it to be. Where are all the Buffalo where are all the dead tribes of people whose land, settlers and colonists took. The few that survive have little culture left or live on RES’s. You can’t fix a fascist empire with voting and doing little else.
I can’t fucking stand anyone that uses the word liberal. I know this shit is working the way it’s supposed to. I know that violent revolution is the only way to make change. I also know that people that use the word liberal aren’t the ones that should have input on revolution.
I’ll be spending my trans ass time setting up mutual aid for food, housing and meds for all I can. You can vote for whatever wealthy fuck you want. We don’t live in a democracy. We live in a republic with a fascist ideology. What’s the headcount of babies in cages after biden? More than Trump. They are all the same, Fascist bastards. The Democrats are no better they just hide it better. I’m not saying don’t do anything, just that the liberal is the same as the rest. And focus on something helpful instead of a cult of blue hoping checking a box will save people.
Voting for a third party is simultaneously voting blue and red, if you listen to the blues they tell you it’s a red vote while the reds are in your other ear complaining you just voted blue. The fact that it pisses off both the republicans and the democrats frankly is an indication that I have made the correct decision.
It should be the correct decision, but when the realistic options are maintaining the (lukewarm at best) status quo and genocide we kinda dont get to make the correct decision unfortunately
Politics is similar to the ecological structure and development of a forest. You begin with grasses which shield fledgling shrubs from the elements. The shrubs eventually push out the grass and make way for trees that push out the shrubs and then trees that push out the earlier trees. Then fire and flooding that brings you back to step 2.5. Focus on trees after you slit the stem of every single shrub and hope fire doesn’t set you back after.
In a vacuum, absolutely. With human meddling inadvertently causing hotter, longer, broader, and more frequent fires, natural fires can cause a full or partial reset more frequently. Except in aus. Eucalyptus is future-proof. Just like politics, ecology finds people are the problem.
This such a white western take. Indigenous peoples all around the world have been using fire to benefit ecology. People are not the problem. White fascist, colonial actions and ideals are the issue.
Yeah cause reverse racism exists and talking about the history of the world and how your view point is clearly skewed by racism colonialism and white fascism is totally racism in of itself.
Reminds me of a conversation I had a decade ago about “reverse rape.” It’s just rape. Academic study of racism hasn’t made “power+prejudice” the de facto definition and, as a result, it’s ostensibly racist to say “white western take.” I say this, once again, while agreeing with you.
Gia Drew, Executive Director of Equality Maine, stated in an interview with Erin In The Morning that the bill was “probably not the right fit” for Maine and that “the climate has changed” over the issue, pointing to some of the complexities within the bill as well as outside disinformation attacks. When asked why the bill wasn’t amended to make it a better fit, she stated that she did not know why that route was not chosen.
Drew did express hope, however, for future versions of the legislation and pointed to prior successes, stating, “We were able to pass one of the most historic laws last year in that same committee.” The state had previously passed a law that allowed trans youth above the age of 16 to consent to gender affirming care without parental approval.
Erin In The Morning Read in the Substack app Open app Discover more from Erin In The Morning News and discussion on trans legislation and life. Over 47,000 subscribers Continue reading Sign in Democrats Vote Down Trans Refuge Bill In Maine After Right-Wing Attacks Maine’s Judiciary Committee voted down House Bill 1735, a shield law for transgender people fleeing other anti-trans state laws, after the cosponsor asked for his own bill not to pass. Erin Reed Jan 26, 2024 49 11
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On Thursday afternoon, Maine’s Judiciary Committee, controlled by Democrats, voted down House Bill 1735, a bill that would establish Maine as a refuge state for transgender people obtaining care across state lines. The vote to kill the bill came after a relentless social media campaign from leading national anti-trans activists targeting Democrats on the committee with disinformation about what the bill would do. In the Thursday working session, Representative Matt Moonen stated that some of the language in the bill that has come under attack “did not further the goals” intended of the bill and moved that the bill “ought not to pass,” essentially recommending that his own bill be killed in committee.
The bill included several provisions aimed at protecting transgender individuals who travel to Maine for their care. Some provisions shielded patients and providers from investigations by other states, such as those currently being led by AG Ken Paxton of Texas, who is subpoenaing hospitals across state lines for medical information on trans patients. Other sections designated the arrest and extradition of transgender individuals and their providers to other states for “crimes” around obtaining care as a “lowest priority” for law enforcement. However, the section of the bill that garnered the most media attention was the one protecting abused and neglected transgender youth. It proposed allowing judges jurisdiction over cases involving their presence in the state and also included measures to protect parents in custody disputes where one parent consents to the child receiving care and the other does not.
This sparked an intense pressure campaign from prominent anti-trans social media influencers and organizations, targeting the committee members. They received an overwhelming number of emails and phone calls, spurred by calls to action from far-right media. Libs of TikTok, known for posts frequently followed by bomb threats against LGBTQ+ individuals and allies, inaccurately claimed that the bill would “take custody of kids” from parents who oppose gender-affirming care; this post received 7 million views. Other accounts, including Riley Gaines and Chloe Cole, a political detransitioner and right-wing media figure, amplified posts labeling the bill as a “transgender trafficking bill.” Meanwhile, right-wing media outlets with a history of anti-trans reporting, such as the Daily Signal and the Daily Caller, published articles echoing similar assertions.
Following the pressure campaign, a previously scheduled meeting for January 17th on the bill was postponed to January 25th. On Thursday, that hearing happened, with one of the cosponsors of the bill, Rep. Moonen, stating that despite the bill’s protections, it “ought not to pass” because there was language in the bill that “is not needed” to accomplish the goals of protecting patients and providers from out of state prosecutions. The committee then voted the bill down 12-0.
See the moment from the hearing here:
Following the hearing, large anti-trans accounts and publications praised the outcome. Meanwhile, local news media questioned local LGBTQ+ organizations on the result. Gia Drew, executive director of Equality Maine, said in an interview with the Maine Morning Star that she “expects the goals behind the proposal to be revisited,” stating that the bill was a “complex issue.” She also noted that voting down the bill would not change access for people in Maine and that this was “not the end,” adding that she expects the goals of the proposal to be revisited.
Maine rejecting the bill after putting it up for a vote is significant. Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia have approved similar protections for transgender people seeking care across state lines. Maine may be the first state with both a Democratic governor and legislature to strike down such a bill, and the second state in the region to see puzzling votes from Democrats over transgender rights. Earlier this year, a handful of New Hampshire Democrats joined Republicans in passing a bill that could restrict bathroom access in the state, a move that raised similar questions over the commitment of State Democrats towards protecting their transgender citizens.
You can see a list of refuge states here: Trans Refuge Laws, source: Movement Advancement Project
Gia Drew, Executive Director of Equality Maine, stated in an interview with Erin In The Morning that the bill was “probably not the right fit” for Maine and that “the climate has changed” over the issue, pointing to some of the complexities within the bill as well as outside disinformation attacks. When asked why the bill wasn’t amended to make it a better fit, she stated that she did not know why that route was not chosen.
Drew did express hope, however, for future versions of the legislation and pointed to prior successes, stating, “We were able to pass one of the most historic laws last year in that same committee.” The state had previously passed a law that allowed trans youth above the age of 16 to consent to gender affirming care without parental approval.
Future legislation on this issue is uncertain. There is no other pending legislation in the state establishing it as a refuge for transgender people.
The offices of Representative Matt Moonen and Senator Ann Carney were contacted for comment. Comments will be provided should they be received.
Please support my independent reporting and advocacy on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed. 49 Likes · 5 Restacks 11 Comments founding Ryn 23 mins ago
“Oh no republicans are lying and being mean to me online, time to fold and give them exactly what they want”
Sigh. I hope they revisit this immediately Like (16) Reply Share
Célia Vytrac 25 mins ago
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