蜜桃影视

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For LGBTQ mental health support, contact The Trevor Project鈥檚 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386.

Hunter, a 17-year-old from suburban Houston, was so nervous his aching stomach prevented him from falling asleep. So after practicing in front of a mirror over and again, he overcame crippling anxiety and told his parents a secret he鈥檇 kept hidden for years.

He came out as transgender, a revelation that was met with violent rejection. His mother hit him in the face, he said, while his brother鈥檚 reaction cut like a knife: No matter what, he told Hunter, he would never be a boy. With his worst fears validated, Hunter, who was 12 at the time, grabbed a razor blade and slit his wrist. 

Depression, anxiety and gender dysphoria 鈥� a clinical level of distress when someone鈥檚 gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth 鈥� prompted a years-long battle with self-harm and suicidal ideation that nearly cost Hunter his life. Yet he said involuntary placement in a psychiatric hospital didn鈥檛 help. Instead, it was gender-affirming health care, including puberty blockers, that saved him. 

Today, Hunter faces a new threat and his health care remains in legal limbo as the Texas governor and attorney general seek to define puberty blockers and other forms of gender-affirming care as child abuse. 

Critics argue the move puts children鈥檚 lives at risk. 

鈥淚鈥檓 scared because they say it鈥檚 child abuse and I hate when they say it鈥檚 child abuse because it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 not child abuse at all,鈥� said Hunter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fears he could become the subject of a state investigation. Hunter knows all too well the harms of being mistreated because he鈥檚 lived through them himself. 鈥淢y child abuse was not like what they鈥檙e saying. My child abuse was horrible.鈥�

Transgender youth experience higher rates of mental health challenges than their cisgender classmates and are far more likely to die by suicide. A suggests that gender-affirming medical care improves mental health outcomes for transgender teens. Meanwhile, blocking access to that care 鈥渉as been shown to increase youths鈥� risk for suicidal ideation and other negative mental health outcomes,鈥� . 

Because Hunter is in the foster care system, he’s at the mercy of the state for gender-affirming treatment 鈥� even as the state has openly declared itself hostile to that very care.

Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion that . 

鈥淭he Texas Family Code is clear 鈥� causing or permitting substantial harm to the child or the child鈥檚 growth and development is child abuse,鈥� Paxton wrote. 鈥淐ourts have held that an unnecessary surgical procedure that removes a healthy body part from a child can constitute a real and significant injury or damage to the child.鈥�

Acting on that memo, the state Department of Family and Protective Services to launch 鈥渁 prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures,鈥� and child protective services opened nine inquiries into the parents of transgender teens. 

Among those who supported the move is Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a conservative think tank in Virginia. Ultimately, he said he wants the state to ban gender-affirming care and to go 鈥渁fter the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies that are pushing this on kids.鈥� 

鈥淲e want kids to feel comfortable in their own bodies. We want them to accept themselves for who God made them to be and for who they are,” Schilling said. In February, prior to Abbott鈥檚 order, the American Principles Project prodded the governor to take action, accusing him of failing to protect children. 鈥淚t鈥檚 abusive to remove the body parts of a child if it鈥檚 not necessary, and I don鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 necessary and I do believe it鈥檚 wrong.鈥�

After the parents of a transgender child and a psychologist filed suit, Travis County Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction and declared Abbott鈥檚 order was 鈥渂eyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional,鈥� and stated that he was likely to lose in a trial scheduled for July. Representatives for Paxton, Abbott and the family services department, which employs one of the parents who鈥檚 suing, didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment. 

Abbott鈥檚 order is part of a broader national push among conservatives to stifle youth access to gender-affirming care and resources. In Florida, legislation dubbed the 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� bill would restrict classroom instruction on 鈥渟exual orientation or gender identity.鈥� During a virtual roundtable on Thursday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona blasted the legislation in Florida and elsewhere. 

鈥淟aws around the country, including in Florida, have targeted and sought to bully some of our most vulnerable students and families, and create division in our schools,鈥� Cardona said. 鈥淭his administration won鈥檛 stand for bullying or discrimination of any kind.鈥� 

The legal fight in Texas is far from over and teens like Hunter remain in uncertain territory. Paxton that the 鈥淒emocrat judge鈥檚 order permitting child abuse is frozen,鈥� and that investigations could carry on. On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, which sued to stop Abbott鈥檚 order, asked an appeals court to to ensure the statewide temporary injunction remains in place during the appeals process. 

鈥淭he targeting of Texas families of transgender youth is unconstitutional and wrong, as the district court鈥檚 order made clear,鈥� Brian Klosterboer, an ACLU of Texas staff attorney, said in a media release. He said the state 鈥渟hould stop these cruel and senseless investigations and focus on addressing real problems plaguing鈥� the state鈥檚 child protective services.聽

鈥楽tate of terror鈥�

The suicide and self-harm crisis facing LGBTQ youth is more than a data point to Hunter. Initially, he said that he started cutting because it 鈥渕ade me feel safe for some reason.鈥� 

鈥淚t made my anger go away and my pain go away,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen, after I kept doing it, it made me fall into depression and that got worse.鈥� 

While suicide is the second-leading cause of death among all teens, rates are particularly stark for LGBTQ youth. 

In by The Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focused on suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth, more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth reported 鈥渟eriously considering attempting suicide鈥� in the past year. The situation was particularly bleak for youth who reported experiencing discrimination. Research suggests as many as . 

Amy Green, the group鈥檚 vice president of research, said the efforts in Texas and elsewhere are already 鈥渢aking a toll on the mental health鈥� of transgender youth. She by her group and Morning Consult in which 85 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth reported that 鈥渞ecent debates about state laws restricting the rights of transgender people have negative impacted their mental health.鈥� In , more than half of transgender adolescents reported experiencing 鈥渓ong-term mental health problems鈥� compared to just 17 percent of their cisgender peers. 

For Hunter, gender-affirming care became a positive force for his mental health. These days, he said his self-harm and suicidal ideation have grown infrequent. Instead, he sees a future where he鈥檚 comfortable in his own skin. 

鈥淥n the inside, everything is just normal and my mental health is normal,鈥� he said of that hoped-for day. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 cry any more, no more suicidal thoughts.鈥�

Research suggests that other transgender youth have had similar experiences. that gender-affirming care can reduce anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and gender dysphoria, which can start as young as 7.

Among the child welfare groups fighting Abbott鈥檚 order is Disability Rights Texas, which provides legal representation and advocacy for Texans with disabilities. In , the group argued that gender-affirming care is medically necessary 鈥� especially for transgender teens with disabilities. In a 2018 report, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund found that 59 percent of transgender youth have long-term mental health needs, with family and community rejection being a key driver.  

Meredith Parekh, the supervising attorney at Disability Rights Texas鈥� foster care division, said efforts to define gender-affirming care as child abuse is 鈥渁n absurd premise on its face.鈥� As an attorney who represents children in the foster care system, she has firsthand knowledge about the state of child abuse in Texas. Parents who consent to gender-affirming care at their child鈥檚 request, she said, are 鈥渁ttuned to their child鈥檚 needs鈥� and are acting in stark contrast from parents who are 鈥渨illfully ignoring what their child needs.鈥�  

鈥淭he idea that these parents who are paying attention and trying to do their best by their children by following well accepted, prevailing medical advice is just ludicrous,鈥� she said. Instead, she accused Abbott of attempting to 鈥渄rive these children and their families underground.鈥�

Beyond the parents with transgender children who have faced CPS investigations, Parekh said Abbott鈥檚 order has had a 鈥渃hilling effect鈥� on all transgender youth receiving gender-affirming care that鈥檚 placed them 鈥渋n a state of terror.鈥� 

鈥淎s attorneys who represent kiddos, our job is to make sure we get these kids to adulthood, to make sure these children are protected and safe and loved and cherished,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e cannot do that if we are burying them.鈥�

鈥楤ad guys鈥�

Schilling, of the American Principles Project, acknowledged that he鈥檚 never talked to a transgender teen about their gender-affirming health care. He cheered recent developments that have already limited access to such care as a result of Abbott鈥檚 order. He noted that the due to the directive. Preventing health care providers from providing gender-affirming care, he said, 鈥渋s ultimately the goal.鈥� 

鈥淭he real bad guys are not necessarily the parents who are often exploited as well,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ig pharma is a bad guy here, these gender clinics are a bad guy here.鈥�

He acknowledged that transgender youth face a heightened risk of suicide, a reality he said is is driven by 鈥渢he fact they feel uncomfortable in their own bodies.鈥� 

鈥淢y heart really goes out to these kids just as much as my heart goes out to anyone else who feels uncomfortable in their own bodies, you know, anorexic people, people that struggle with keeping weight off,鈥� Schilling said. Instead of treatments like hormone therapy, he said, people should focus on 鈥渕aking kids accept their body and getting them to feel comfortable in their own body鈥� because they are made in God鈥檚 image.  

Motivating his advocacy, he said, are the stories of people who came to regret their decision to transition. Children, he said 鈥渄on鈥檛 always make the best decisions,鈥� and 鈥渟ometimes they鈥檙e little jerks and sometimes they exaggerate and sometimes they do crazy things.鈥� Stories of people who decided to 鈥渄etransition,鈥� he said, are 鈥渉orrific.鈥� 

Estimates on the proportion of people who decide to detransition are as high as 13 percent. Some people who detransition do experience regret, but by Jack Turban, a chief fellow in child and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, found they鈥檙e in the minority. Instead, four-fifths of those who detransitioned attributed their decision to external factors like family pressure, non-affirming school environments and an increased vulnerability to violence. 

鈥淔or most people,鈥� Turban said in a media release, 鈥渋t appears detransition is forced upon them.鈥�

鈥楲et them be happy鈥�

For Hunter, gender-affirming care has been critical to improving his medical care. Why, he asked, would anyone want to take that away from him? 

Gender-affirming care is 鈥渕ostly for the kids to be happier,鈥� Hunter said. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e sadder when you say it鈥檚 child abuse, why would you want them to be sadder? Let them be happy.鈥� 

For him, regret isn鈥檛 part of the equation. Asked whether adolescents are too young to advocate for themselves, Hunter offered a response that centered on individual rights. 

鈥淭hey know what they want. You should just do it for them and see how it goes,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et them figure it out by themselves. It鈥檚 their choice, not yours.鈥�

For Hunter, Abbott鈥檚 order has already had a chilling effect. He plans to begin testosterone therapy but has decided to wait until his 18th birthday. He said he鈥檚 worried about potential health ramifications if he goes onto testosterone, but is forced to stop. Should his gender-affirming care get cut off altogether, Hunter predicts a future with deteriorating mental health. 

鈥淢y suicidal thoughts would start again,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would just be staying in my room cooped up, doing nothing, losing interest in everything. I鈥檇 be drowning in my own guilt and sorrow.鈥� 

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For LGBTQ mental health support, contact The Trevor Project鈥檚 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386.

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