DIY Hub Disappears After Right-Wing Scrutiny
Leading Off: UK based DIY HRT site, HRT Cafe, shuts down without warning; Idaho moves to restrict social transition for minors; the State Department cracks down on transgender immigrants. The top story lines as we start off the week.
by Assigned Media
Amidst attacks on trans healthcare and devastating wait times for what little care is available, the largest resource for DIY HRT in the UK has suddenly shut down. HRT Cafe, an online resource containing tutorials and resources for self administered HRT, closed down the site suddenly and without any sort of statement, leaving anyone who had relied on it for care in the dark.
The shutdown came following a surge in right-wing news outlets spotlighting the practice of DIY HRT, many of which specifically named HRT Cafe. While self-medicating is not generally recommended by medical professionals and is often seen as a last resort, statistics show that roughly a quarter of trans people in the UK have had to rely on DIY at some point during their transition, a number which is likely to grow as the UK makes access to hormone therapy harder and harder to access. The practice is less common in the US, where inexpensive informed consent clinics make it easier to transition under the guidance of a medical professional.
The Idaho State House has passed a bill that would require doctors and teachers to out children they suspect of socially transitioning. This bill, HB 822, puts a seventy-two hour time limit on outing a child before they are at risk of fines up to $100,000. Additionally, the bill disallows any individual in these professions from affirming a child’s transgender identity without written consent from a child’s parents, a violation of which would make them subject to the same penalty.
The bill defines social transition as a child “adopting a name, pronouns, appearance, or dress that does not correspond to the individual's sex,” a definition that not only covers trans kids, but would also require reporting anytime a child of any gender presents in any way that may defy strict gender norms. This definition has been called “excessively broad” by the ACLU, who note that this is not only threatening to trans kids, but “a serious violation of privacy for all students.” Wearing boyish clothing or going by a gender neutral nickname would seem to be enough to trigger an alert to parents under the bill’s terms.
The bill has not yet been passed into law and still requires a vote in the Senate and a signature from the Governor, however it is expected to pass.
The State Department has finalized a new rule further restricting trans immigrants from entering the US. This new rule adds the requirement for visa applicants to identify their sex assigned at birth, and to provide supporting documentation for it. This opens the door for potential discrepancies in an applicant’s identification, as any mismatch between an applicant’s birth certificate and current ID used to apply has the potential of flagging their application.
Given that the Trump regime only recognizes male and female markers on identification, this new rule additionally causes issues for anyone who uses the gender marker ‘X’, either resulting in an override of that marker or additional hurdles during the processing of an application.
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