Hot takes on Dana Pham and trans issues

“The Les Talk moved forward without the original lineup and without Sydney Mardi Gras’ explicit support. Arielle was joined by Rain Dove, who has been very public about not “identifying as” a woman or lesbian, and Dana Pham, a trans-lesbian-identified male, to discuss lesbian sexuality.” — Source: https://www.afterellen.com/general-news/576204-arielle-scarcella-has-left-the-chat

Pretty sure I’m more than just a trans lesbian identity mate.

“One of the featured speakers at the rally was prominent anti-communist, Dana Pham. A rabid opponent of women’s right to abortion, Pham is so anti-communist that she opposes even social democracy because she says that it leads to communism. So this is the sort of politics that Socialist Alternative and Solidarity are in a united front with! Now, Pham openly self-identifies as the child of former capitalists in Vietnam who were dispossessed by the heroic Vietnamese anti-capitalist revolution. Indeed, the demonstrations in Australia in support of the Hong Kong anti-communist movement is a magnet for members — and their unreconstructed descendants — of a number of different exploiting classes who are bitter that communists confiscated (or threaten to confiscate) their ill-gotten wealth and brought it into common social ownership. Many participating are, like Pham, either members of the overthrown former capitalist/ landlord ruling class of Vietnam or their children. Hence, the anti-PRC rallies have been shot through with the flags of the deposed former South Vietnamese regime.” — Source: https://www.trotskyistplatform.com/tag/hong-kong-anti-communist-protests/

In other news, Communism killed more than 100 million throughout history.

“One could claim an infinite number of reasons for suicide so that point doesn’t have much merit.” — Facebook commenter

My response: “Literature has described high levels of mental health problems among trans people, such as depression, resulting in increased levels of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) behaviour and suicidality (suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and suicide rates). With the aim of systematically reviewing the available literature in this field, this study identifies 31 papers that explore the rates of NSSI and suicidality in trans people. From reviewing the literature, it was revealed that trans people have a higher prevalence of NSSI and suicidality compared to the cisgender (non-trans) population. There appear to be some gender differences within these rates, with trans men at a greater risk for NSSI behaviour. Prevalence rates differ depending on the different stages of transition, but they are still overall greater than the cisgender population. The study concludes that trans individuals are at a greater risk of NSSI behaviour and suicidality than the cisgender population, and discusses risk factors and the need to develop effective preventative interventions.” — Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/09540261.2015.1073143

“Sadly surgery and hormones don’t preclude suicide as an outcome for many as well.” — Facebook commenter

My response: “Studies investigating the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among trans individuals have identified elevated rates of psychopathology. Research has also provided conflicting psychiatric outcomes following gender-confirming medical interventions. This review identifies 38 cross-sectional and longitudinal studies describing prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders and psychiatric outcomes, pre- and post-gender-confirming medical interventions, for people with gender dysphoria. It indicates that, although the levels of psychopathology and psychiatric disorders in trans people attending services at the time of assessment are higher than in the cis population, they do improve following gender-confirming medical intervention, in many cases reaching normative values. The main Axis I psychiatric disorders were found to be depression and anxiety disorder. Other major psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, were rare and were no more prevalent than in the general population. There was conflicting evidence regarding gender differences: some studies found higher psychopathology in trans women, while others found no differences between gender groups. Although many studies were methodologically weak, and included people at different stages of transition within the same cohort of patients, overall this review indicates that trans people attending transgender health-care services appear to have a higher risk of psychiatric morbidity (that improves following treatment), and thus confirms the vulnerability of this population.” — Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/09540261.2015.1115753

I eventually responded to both Facebook commenters with:

If a trans woman gets SRS, and then isn’t happy with how her new vagina looks, she could get surgery to make it look better (whatever that means, don’t know if that’s even a thing), in which case the subsequent surgery would be cosmetic. The basis for this reasoning is that breast augmentation would usually be cosmetic for a trans woman, since HRT should at least lead to some breast development. There are cis women out there with small breasts, so I can’t see how breast aug is medical. HRT and SRS is medical as appropriate to alleviate dysphoria, then anything beyond that is cosmetic. To look ‘average’ like the rest of society is not cosmetic.

That’s it for now, I’ll add more to this blog post as more come in.