Some kids think they’re a unicorn, that doesn’t mean you have a horn surgically placed on their foreheads.
This thread from ‘James Barry’ (yes, a rando but worth writing about) is a must-read because it slams parents using puberty blockers and other procedures on their children who think they’re another gender. It’s crazy some adults need a reminder that children are growing and changing, and learning about themselves as they go along, and that some of these acts will do irreparable damage to these kids but here we are.
It’s long but worth the read.
Your reminder: a child doesn't have a "gender identity". A little boy can be as glittery and unicorn-y as he likes. A little girl can love monster trucks and light sabres. Every kid can love climbing trees and falling into streams. What's most important…
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
Yup.
… is that little people love the bodies they're in. Those bodies grow so fast. Our job, as parents, is to help them navigate the world in these quickly-changing bodies. As they grow from blithering babies to tottering toddlers, to delightful 4-year-olds and sassy 7-year olds.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
THAT THEY LOVE THE BODIES THEY’RE IN.
GET OUTTA HERE!
It’s the parent’s job to help them navigate things. This is key …
Keep going.
They do grow so fast. We watch them, daily. They have growth spurts where they seem to grow "out" and get a bit pudgy, and that's just a precursor to a spike where they get taller in a week. We watch it, with awe.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
They have weeks where they eat nothing but yoghurt/potatoes/cheese. They have weeks where they can't stand yoghurt/potatoes/cheese (and how DARE you suggest they ever liked these evil things). Their bodies tell them what they need.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
Told you this is good.
It must be very confusing to have your own arm grow 2 centimetres in a couple of weeks, so that your reach is different, and you knock things over. Things that were within your grasp are now beyond your grasp, and you fumble, and spill. You're a kid. Your body is amazing.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
I should say "behind your grasp"!
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
Anyone who has watched a small person grow will be aware of the absolute miracle of it. How they deal with the daily changes is utterly beyond the concept of any adult.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
For me, and for any sensible adult who watches the miracle of children growing, the concept of "stopping" that growth is a crime beyond imagining. Because "puberty blockers" literally stop a child growing.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
Sensible adult.
That’s key.
There are sadly too many foolish adults out there and not enough sensible ones when dealing with ‘gender identity’.
They don't just "stop puberty". They stop "growth". They stop bones developing, and becoming strong. They stop muscles stretching and filling with blood and protein. (They stop brain development.) They stop the beautiful process of human growth.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
This is terrifying.
Change can sometimes be violent. And the changes that happen with the onset of puberty can feel violent, because of their intensity. But that's not a reason not to change. We, as humans, cannot remain children forever. And the process of puberty makes us adults.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 19, 2022
Puberty makes us adults in the sex in which we're born. It changes us into the adults we will be. It's not comfortable. I've yet to meet the adult of either sex who found it comfortable. But it's what we have to do. We can't stay kids forever.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 20, 2022
NEITHER (and this is the hard part for some) can we "stay a kid for a while, and then transition into the other sex". It's simply not possible. It really isn't.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 20, 2022
Just like it’s not possible to change into a unicorn.
Yeah, it’s true.
Science simply isn't that advanced. We don't know if it ever will be, but certainly we're not at the point of changing XX chromosomes to XY chromosomes in a human.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 20, 2022
The adults who are making these decisions for you will not have to live, as you, when you are 25 years old. When you are deformed, without sexual function, infertile, and looking for love (as we all do).
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 20, 2022
Ouch.
And so sad.
How anyone can look at a lovely child's body, with all the potential for a human life, and say "I want to stop this growth" is utterly beyond my understanding.
— James Barry (@JamesBarry1789) March 20, 2022
This. ^
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