In the abominable "U.S. v. Skrmetti" decision, the Roberts Court allows states to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors. This will cause "untold harm" to trans children—just like MAGA wants.
This decision is awful. To begin with, the government has no business making laws/decisions regarding a person’s healthcare. Decisions regarding a person’s health should only be made between them and their qualified doctor. Period. If any person is denied healthcare, that means that you could be next, so such a decision impacts every one of us. Remember that this follows government rules on abortion access. Who’s next ??? Shame on the members of the Supreme Court who seek to codify their religion into law & ignore our Constitution, which gives every individual equal access to care. Shame.
While I’m on the subject, the WHO ranks the United States #37 in the world in healthcare. Many people here cannot afford coverage & care. Now that RFKJr is in charge, do not look for improvement. After lying during his hearing for Secretary, he is seeking to eliminate vaccinations.
It really does distill to that: govt should have no say about health decisions. Our 37th rating is going to plummet after RFK is done...just like Putin wants.
Greg, We the People have the propensity, actually the need to put things into baskets, at birth we had a boy or we had a girl. Simple, buy blue things or pink things, dolls or glove and balls. So simple, so easy. Get on with life. Then... Not so simple.
SCOTUS is a basket case. MAGA is for baskets. Real life not so much for baskets. Our judiciary is supposed to, ideology aside deal with things that do not fit neatly into a basket. This defines liberal and conservative. The former tries to think out of the basket or box, the latter tries to stuff things back into the basket or box. White is white, black is black.
What would happen if all birth certificates were noted as to gender, to be determined. Would this relieve those who favor stuffing things back into a basket of the need to put them back in the same box? Can the insanity of today's ideologically driven court be explained this easily? Would the mindset become one of let's makes sure he/she/they have every available assistance to step into the right basket? Or is the bias so deep seated that nothing matters, only the original basket? Sadly I believe the latter, the inherent evil within the Stepen Miller's of the world will prevail. This is demonstrated every day all over the planet.
Thanks, Greg, for shedding some light on a subject that many of us older folks don’t understand, but can embrace simply with compassion and nonjudgment. My heart goes out to the families affected by the trans phenomenon and the cruelty of the people in charge of this country right now.
Thanks, Earl. I understand why people have difficulty with it, especially if they don't have anyone in their lives who are trans. That, alas, makes it easy for MAGA to exploit.
My mother, who's 93, says grey tabby cats are the only Real cats. Thanks Greg, and remember: science has proven there's an Actual, fruit filled rainbow of gender.
Greg I’ll be 70 in a few months so I grew up during turbulent times. Reading your script regarding the SC ruling and trans people in general, I remembered during hs there was a Renee Richards. First trans-athlete played professional tennis. Very interesting, in your research did she ever come up? She sued the tennis association in ny and won. Look forward to the 5/8 tonight.
Greg I meant to tell you in my post above that Tucker carlsons dad outed Renee Richard’s that she was transgender. 🤬 also see The Lady and the Dale. TC dad again outs the woman who may or may not have been transgender on that show!
What worries me about the "reasoning" of this case is that it would seem to apply to a law that prevents ADULTS from getting hormone therapy they need to keep their sexuality stable. That's because of the "standard" they set for contemplating laws about trans people--they say it is rational basis, but in fact it is "sincere belief" that something is "rational." We've seen the "sincere belief" standard before. All you have to do is "really believe" that all the science is wrong and bingo.
I have a close relative, an adult, who is trans. He waited for hormone therapy till 18, not wanting his decision to be "parental." He coped by pouring himself into his art, leading to a prestigious art school and a flowering of his talent. That he HAD the talent saved him--that and the fact that we live in a pretty tolerant state. I seriously fear what would happen should his career require him to move to a place where even as a truly rationale adult, he can't get the treatment he needs. (He hasn't decided yet about surgery). So if this decision sparks a bunch of anti-ALL-trans legislation he will face a consequence no one has thought about yet--a severe restriction on where one can live and work.
Thanks for sharing that, Susan. The thing that's really ridiculous is, it's not like these are some bizarre medications. Trans boys take the same medication as 1) girls who are on some kind of birth control and 2) older men with prostate issues. It's not some experimental drug here. I'm glad he had the talent to save him!
Ohhh Greg…thank you for this very compassionate speech. My great-niece hated her big breasts that started growing at age 11. She dated but felt uncomfortable. Then she met a man on the Internet when she was 19. He was in his 40’s. They fell in love and got married. Two years later, my great-niece started taking hormone therapy and then underwent surgery to remove her breasts. He felt liberated! He changed his name, divorced his husband of 5 years, and sought out a new life. He met a trans woman who he has fallen madly in love with. My nephew, his father, said he has never seen his son happier.
The fact that is transpeople have existed forever but now the hateful Nazi regime is ruling from their thrones the most evil they can push. I call them “The Injustices6”. I believe it was Sotomayor who said she cries often, behind her closed door.
Let me indulge you in another subject, if I may. My parents were victims of the Holocaust. They never called themselves survivors because they escaped without being in concentration camps. My sister, myself, and my two daughters are applying for dual citizenship with Germany. My mother was born and raised in Berlin. Both of parents kept all of their original documents. We have hired a German American lawyer who I sent all of the documents to in six different emails because one pdf exceeded the megabytes that can be sent. I received a response back stating my mother’s passport was not a German passport but a “foreigner’s” passport which meant my mother was stateless. So, the fucking Third Reich declared Jews “stateless” as never being from, working in, or living in Germany! I became very emotional. This passport has the Nazi symbols stamped all over it. I meet with the German consulate in San Francisco on Tuesday to certify my mom’s documents. Because of her stateless status, the attorney has to file other applications with Germany.
This is what is happening to the disappearing Latinos and Latinas. My heart is completely broken.
Oh my god, Marlene, that is terrible. And not surprising. And so sad, that we are back in the same place again.
Breast reduction surgery is usually the only surgical procedure that can happen before age 18...for perfectly good, psychological reasons that your great-nephew will attest to. "We cannot mutilate our children like that," says the MAGA...but how many of them circumcised their sons?
No kidding! They are the ones who are worthless and think their sword yields with an iron fist. I would like to ram that sword and my fist up their asses and watch them slowly melt into the nothingness that they are.
Thank you Greg for the elucidation of this infamy. I must divert to something I read this morning from Robert Reich. It's something we should all be aware of and I hope my limited computer skills allow me to do this:
Have to disagree with you on this, Greg: "even the Republican Party has stopped going after gay marriage and other anti-LGB legislation because people have accepted that gay people exist and deserve rights." The Southern Baptists just voted at their annual convention to go after Obergefell. Not all Republicans are Southern Baptists, but all Southern Baptists are Republicans. They are the second largest Christian denomination in the country after Catholics. They (S.B. and others) will go after gay marriage and other gay rights and make it clear to their Republican Senators and Representatives that they expect them to work toward that end. The 6 SCOTUS justices will almost certainly be willing to reverse Obergefell. John Roberts was very unhappy when Anthony Kennedy ruled in favor of legalizing gay marriage.
Re the transgender issue, I think the biggest problem is ignorance. I don't think enough has been done to try to explain to people a lot of what you say in your post. I didn't know what to think about it until I watched a Barbara Walters special several years ago. After it was over I turned to my wife and said, "There are stranger things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio." We don't fully understand the mechanics of it (or at least we didn't at the time of the BW special), but it is a biological phenomenon, not a choice based on a fad or lifestyle or whatever.
So there needs to be a massive effort to educate the populace about trans people, treatment, consequences of withholding treatment.
I suspect those who oppose trans rights feel like there has been too much change in a very short time. Look at the advances made for women, for Blacks, for gays in the past 70 years--in living memory for many. They probably feel transgender is a step too far, and they want someone to reverse all of those changes. Someone like Trump. SCOTUS. The Republican party.
So, again, education about nature and nurture and common humanity and just what transgender is. Plus, the science. Sadly, Trump & company are going after education and science and MAGA is with him. So it won't be easy, but it has to happen. Ryan White was a turning point in the gay rights movement, remember? (or the start of a turning point)
You're doing your job in this column, but you're preaching to the choir. How do we preach to the whole congregation in 2025?
And I just found this reading by Maya Angelou which I know, somehow, is a huge clue about how to get rid of fascism, every minute of everyday no matter how big or small it is. I just need to figure out how to apply it to the big now picture. Thinking…Thinking….
Our writers are our strengths and Goody Two Shoes Comey, as he was sometimes called at the FBI, trying to teach us about how institutions will always embody our culture was just too much to take.
Thank you Greg for sharing. This is a temporary situation as it is too horrendous to stand. He has made a fool of himself. These kids have God—given rights. Life’s struggles can be overwhelming but we were never promised happiness on earth and He, I believe, assigns us work to achieve greater good. In this case, these special kids are leading the way to a brighter future and deserving of our love and support.
TGIF🎉🎉🎉
This decision is awful. To begin with, the government has no business making laws/decisions regarding a person’s healthcare. Decisions regarding a person’s health should only be made between them and their qualified doctor. Period. If any person is denied healthcare, that means that you could be next, so such a decision impacts every one of us. Remember that this follows government rules on abortion access. Who’s next ??? Shame on the members of the Supreme Court who seek to codify their religion into law & ignore our Constitution, which gives every individual equal access to care. Shame.
While I’m on the subject, the WHO ranks the United States #37 in the world in healthcare. Many people here cannot afford coverage & care. Now that RFKJr is in charge, do not look for improvement. After lying during his hearing for Secretary, he is seeking to eliminate vaccinations.
It really does distill to that: govt should have no say about health decisions. Our 37th rating is going to plummet after RFK is done...just like Putin wants.
Thank you Greg.
Thanks, Sara.
Greg, We the People have the propensity, actually the need to put things into baskets, at birth we had a boy or we had a girl. Simple, buy blue things or pink things, dolls or glove and balls. So simple, so easy. Get on with life. Then... Not so simple.
SCOTUS is a basket case. MAGA is for baskets. Real life not so much for baskets. Our judiciary is supposed to, ideology aside deal with things that do not fit neatly into a basket. This defines liberal and conservative. The former tries to think out of the basket or box, the latter tries to stuff things back into the basket or box. White is white, black is black.
What would happen if all birth certificates were noted as to gender, to be determined. Would this relieve those who favor stuffing things back into a basket of the need to put them back in the same box? Can the insanity of today's ideologically driven court be explained this easily? Would the mindset become one of let's makes sure he/she/they have every available assistance to step into the right basket? Or is the bias so deep seated that nothing matters, only the original basket? Sadly I believe the latter, the inherent evil within the Stepen Miller's of the world will prevail. This is demonstrated every day all over the planet.
And throughout history
Good idea, Old Man. What does it matter anyway? So much of what drives this stuff is obsolete vestiges of worse-off times.
I feel the same way about trans issues as I do about religious and quasi-religious ones ones -- these issues are not the government's business.
Me too. The difference is that religions can change. We aren't born with religious beliefs...they are all nurture.
True, but gender issues seem to me to be complicated by nurture too.
Thanks, Greg, for shedding some light on a subject that many of us older folks don’t understand, but can embrace simply with compassion and nonjudgment. My heart goes out to the families affected by the trans phenomenon and the cruelty of the people in charge of this country right now.
Thanks, Earl. I understand why people have difficulty with it, especially if they don't have anyone in their lives who are trans. That, alas, makes it easy for MAGA to exploit.
My mother, who's 93, says grey tabby cats are the only Real cats. Thanks Greg, and remember: science has proven there's an Actual, fruit filled rainbow of gender.
My black-and-whites would like a word with your mother... ; )
Lol
My brown tabby disagrees with your Mum. 😹😹😹
I have 3 ragdollls, full disclosure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9e_Richards
Greg I’ll be 70 in a few months so I grew up during turbulent times. Reading your script regarding the SC ruling and trans people in general, I remembered during hs there was a Renee Richards. First trans-athlete played professional tennis. Very interesting, in your research did she ever come up? She sued the tennis association in ny and won. Look forward to the 5/8 tonight.
Thanks for this...I have to look into it more.
The religious fanatical zombies continue their take no prisoners assault on humanity.
All in the name of the guy who just wanted us to love each other without any exceptions. Sigh.
Greg I meant to tell you in my post above that Tucker carlsons dad outed Renee Richard’s that she was transgender. 🤬 also see The Lady and the Dale. TC dad again outs the woman who may or may not have been transgender on that show!
Well, THAT tracks. That family is awful. Which is why both of those guys were abandoned by their mothers.
What worries me about the "reasoning" of this case is that it would seem to apply to a law that prevents ADULTS from getting hormone therapy they need to keep their sexuality stable. That's because of the "standard" they set for contemplating laws about trans people--they say it is rational basis, but in fact it is "sincere belief" that something is "rational." We've seen the "sincere belief" standard before. All you have to do is "really believe" that all the science is wrong and bingo.
I have a close relative, an adult, who is trans. He waited for hormone therapy till 18, not wanting his decision to be "parental." He coped by pouring himself into his art, leading to a prestigious art school and a flowering of his talent. That he HAD the talent saved him--that and the fact that we live in a pretty tolerant state. I seriously fear what would happen should his career require him to move to a place where even as a truly rationale adult, he can't get the treatment he needs. (He hasn't decided yet about surgery). So if this decision sparks a bunch of anti-ALL-trans legislation he will face a consequence no one has thought about yet--a severe restriction on where one can live and work.
Thanks for sharing that, Susan. The thing that's really ridiculous is, it's not like these are some bizarre medications. Trans boys take the same medication as 1) girls who are on some kind of birth control and 2) older men with prostate issues. It's not some experimental drug here. I'm glad he had the talent to save him!
Ohhh Greg…thank you for this very compassionate speech. My great-niece hated her big breasts that started growing at age 11. She dated but felt uncomfortable. Then she met a man on the Internet when she was 19. He was in his 40’s. They fell in love and got married. Two years later, my great-niece started taking hormone therapy and then underwent surgery to remove her breasts. He felt liberated! He changed his name, divorced his husband of 5 years, and sought out a new life. He met a trans woman who he has fallen madly in love with. My nephew, his father, said he has never seen his son happier.
The fact that is transpeople have existed forever but now the hateful Nazi regime is ruling from their thrones the most evil they can push. I call them “The Injustices6”. I believe it was Sotomayor who said she cries often, behind her closed door.
Let me indulge you in another subject, if I may. My parents were victims of the Holocaust. They never called themselves survivors because they escaped without being in concentration camps. My sister, myself, and my two daughters are applying for dual citizenship with Germany. My mother was born and raised in Berlin. Both of parents kept all of their original documents. We have hired a German American lawyer who I sent all of the documents to in six different emails because one pdf exceeded the megabytes that can be sent. I received a response back stating my mother’s passport was not a German passport but a “foreigner’s” passport which meant my mother was stateless. So, the fucking Third Reich declared Jews “stateless” as never being from, working in, or living in Germany! I became very emotional. This passport has the Nazi symbols stamped all over it. I meet with the German consulate in San Francisco on Tuesday to certify my mom’s documents. Because of her stateless status, the attorney has to file other applications with Germany.
This is what is happening to the disappearing Latinos and Latinas. My heart is completely broken.
Oh my god, Marlene, that is terrible. And not surprising. And so sad, that we are back in the same place again.
Breast reduction surgery is usually the only surgical procedure that can happen before age 18...for perfectly good, psychological reasons that your great-nephew will attest to. "We cannot mutilate our children like that," says the MAGA...but how many of them circumcised their sons?
No kidding! They are the ones who are worthless and think their sword yields with an iron fist. I would like to ram that sword and my fist up their asses and watch them slowly melt into the nothingness that they are.
Thank you Greg for the elucidation of this infamy. I must divert to something I read this morning from Robert Reich. It's something we should all be aware of and I hope my limited computer skills allow me to do this:
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/palantir-the-worst-of-the-corporate?r=eian&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
It seems "1984" is not a threat, it is here. Am I wrong?
Have to disagree with you on this, Greg: "even the Republican Party has stopped going after gay marriage and other anti-LGB legislation because people have accepted that gay people exist and deserve rights." The Southern Baptists just voted at their annual convention to go after Obergefell. Not all Republicans are Southern Baptists, but all Southern Baptists are Republicans. They are the second largest Christian denomination in the country after Catholics. They (S.B. and others) will go after gay marriage and other gay rights and make it clear to their Republican Senators and Representatives that they expect them to work toward that end. The 6 SCOTUS justices will almost certainly be willing to reverse Obergefell. John Roberts was very unhappy when Anthony Kennedy ruled in favor of legalizing gay marriage.
Re the transgender issue, I think the biggest problem is ignorance. I don't think enough has been done to try to explain to people a lot of what you say in your post. I didn't know what to think about it until I watched a Barbara Walters special several years ago. After it was over I turned to my wife and said, "There are stranger things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio." We don't fully understand the mechanics of it (or at least we didn't at the time of the BW special), but it is a biological phenomenon, not a choice based on a fad or lifestyle or whatever.
So there needs to be a massive effort to educate the populace about trans people, treatment, consequences of withholding treatment.
I suspect those who oppose trans rights feel like there has been too much change in a very short time. Look at the advances made for women, for Blacks, for gays in the past 70 years--in living memory for many. They probably feel transgender is a step too far, and they want someone to reverse all of those changes. Someone like Trump. SCOTUS. The Republican party.
So, again, education about nature and nurture and common humanity and just what transgender is. Plus, the science. Sadly, Trump & company are going after education and science and MAGA is with him. So it won't be easy, but it has to happen. Ryan White was a turning point in the gay rights movement, remember? (or the start of a turning point)
You're doing your job in this column, but you're preaching to the choir. How do we preach to the whole congregation in 2025?
I’m just here to say I just blocked James Comey.
And I just found this reading by Maya Angelou which I know, somehow, is a huge clue about how to get rid of fascism, every minute of everyday no matter how big or small it is. I just need to figure out how to apply it to the big now picture. Thinking…Thinking….
Our writers are our strengths and Goody Two Shoes Comey, as he was sometimes called at the FBI, trying to teach us about how institutions will always embody our culture was just too much to take.
https://youtu.be/sXjz7gV-jc8?si=orREipgpdbnc0mNO
Thank you Greg for sharing. This is a temporary situation as it is too horrendous to stand. He has made a fool of himself. These kids have God—given rights. Life’s struggles can be overwhelming but we were never promised happiness on earth and He, I believe, assigns us work to achieve greater good. In this case, these special kids are leading the way to a brighter future and deserving of our love and support.