Thread by @taygoldenstein

OK, we're getting started on #HB1686. State Rep. @TomOliverson laying out his bill now.

"There is meaningful evidence that children are physically and emotionally being harmed" by hormone therapy and puberty blockers, he says.

https://twitter.com/taygoldenstein/status/1640343999360671746

@TomOliverson The bill does not criminalize parents, who are in a difficult position, Oliverson says.

@TomOliverson Oliverson is asking for testifiers to include author, year and publication when citing studies. He did not include such citations in his own opening statements.

@TomOliverson State Rep. Tony Tinderholt (@reptinderholt) asks whether Oliverson considered a mechanism similar to the state's 6-week abortion ban that lets private citizens sue anyone who "aids or abets" an abortion.

Oliverson says that was considered, but TX Medical Board is best regulator.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt Tinderholt asks about whether it would ban trans youth getting the medication from out-of-state.

Oliverson says no, Texas won't be telling other states what to do, just like it wouldn't appreciate other states to doing that to Texas.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt Tinderholt asks if bill addresses "detransitioners."

Oliverson says bill is more of a preventative. Com'te will hear "abundant testimony" from ppl who were "coerced" to transition + "given a bill of goods that ended up being inaccurate, that this would solve their problems."

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt Oliverson adds that there is other legislation that requires the system to give health care benefits to detransitioners. Says it's a "travesty" that in some cases insurance will pay for transitioning but not detransitioning.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt State Rep. @VoteAnnJohnson asks Oliverson if gender dysphoria is a true medical diagnosis.

Oliverson: "I think the concept is certainly something, but it unfortunately has become so expansive, so pulled in many directions, that I believe it to be an imprecise medical term."

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson Johnson asks if he believes there are physicians who are giving gender-affirming care or treating gender dysphoria in a "true and accurate way."

Oliverson says no. Adds he thinks physicians prescribing gender-affirming medications are "failing to follow the signs entirely."

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson Johnson asks if Oliverson is aware that referring for surgery for adolescents is not a standard of care/not surgeries performed in adolescence.

Oliverson says last session a physician testified that mastectomies are performed in Texas for youth under 16.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson Johnson asks clarifying question: Under his bill, mastectomies would be allowed for cosmetic reasons, as long as it's not related to gender dysphoria?

Oliverson: "I think we have to distinguish whether we're removing normal healthy anatomy or we're removing abnormal anatomy."

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson Rep. @VentonJonesTX, one of three openly gay members of this committee, says he's worked in LGBTQ health care for years.

Jones asks why the committee seems to be ignoring testimony from medical community against this bill/focusing on out-of-state cases/international studies.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson @VentonJonesTX Oliverson says he's looking for a "systematic review," looking at all studies on a subject and gauging their quality.

He says studies that critics point to are "not good randomized controlled trials."

https://twitter.com/taygoldenstein/status/1640405765604229121?s=20

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson @VentonJonesTX State Rep. @JonesJolanda, another of 3 openly gay com'te members, asks if there is there ever a legit diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Oliverson says studies show, if given supportive therapy, these children "come to terms" with their sex or they become gay.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson @VentonJonesTX @JonesJolanda Rep. Jolanda Jones asks why it seems detransitioners are favored + allowed treatment, while transitioners seem to be disregarded.

Oliverson says it would be a different conversation if these treatments were reversible. Adds surgeries may be more successful in adulthood anyway.

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson @VentonJonesTX @JonesJolanda Dr. Quentin Van Meter, president of the @ACPeds, is the first invited witness. This a conservative group, not to be confused with @AmerAcadPeds.

Van Meter says gender dysphoria is real, but today's diagnoses are "more of a social contagion." (Doesn't cite studies.)

@TomOliverson @reptinderholt @VoteAnnJohnson @VentonJonesTX @JonesJolanda @ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Wow. Van Meter asks why we didn't see 3% of the population commit suicide before gender-affirming care existed.

He also says that transitioning "tears apart the fabric of the family," estranges children from their friends.

This is important to note, so including here.

https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1640412706774630400

Johnson asks Van Meter if it's true he was rejected from a Texas courtroom in 2020. He confirms but says that was a "complex circumstance" bc judge asked him to cite references by heart, which he could not.

Says he's been allowed to testify in MO since.

https://twitter.com/taygoldenstein/status/1640412972794167296?s=20

Johnson asks Van Meter if it's true that his group @ACPeds contains less than 1,000 pediatricians in its membership compared to the @AmerAcadPeds that has 67,000 members. He confirms.

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Johnson asks if he's ever advocated for conversion therapy in the past.

Van Meter says yes, but that's a "very pejorative, invented term." Thinks patients should be allowed "to resolve their emotional issues and go a direction of mental health."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Johnson asks if it's true Van Meter's organization has called homosexual relationships "promiscuous, a danger to children, unstable" and "LGBTQ people's experience results in shortened lifespans."

Van Meter says: "We have recognized some of the risks that are associated w/ it."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Next witness is Dr. Jessica Zwiener, an endocrinologist in Houston, who also testified in Senate com'te on companion bill.

"We're not trying to push kids to be transgender; we just want them to figure out who they are," Zwiener says. Adds treatment decisions are complex.

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Zwiener says transgender youth patients are never pressured to start hormones or have surgeries. Multiple specialists are always involved. The risks and benefits of treatment are weighed against these of not doing treatment.

She urges the committee to oppose #HB1686.

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Zwiener adds that the youth's voices are missing from this debate. She says she sees a lot of children come in with depression.

"Once they start hormones, many of these kids come back to themselves. Their parents talk about how happy they are to have their kids back."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Venton Jones asks how this legislation will harm her young patients.

Zwiener says more mental health harm. Says since legislature has been in session she's seen a lot of that already. Many are considering leaving state.

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Zwiener: "I'm really concerned how I'm going to face these patients and tell them, 'Well, we've seen how important and impactful this therapy has been for you; now you can't have it anymore.'" #HB1686

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Tinderholt asks Zwiener if the answer is always transition.

"I believe in many cases the answer is transition. I don't believe that's always the case," but it's important to listen to them/work through the issue.

"In my experience, it's almost always the answer."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Tinderholt asks if gender-affirming care is child abuse.

Zwiener says no. "Gender dysphoria is a recognized medical condition. Transgender people have existed in all societies all throughout time. We have a treatment that helps these kids have normal mental health outcomes."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Tinderholt: "The science is simple. Gender and sex are different. Medical stuff should be easy when we're defining what a man and a woman is."

Zwiener: "It's clearly more complex since we're having a hearing about it."

Tinderholt says the two of them "fundamentally disagree."

@ACPeds @AmerAcadPeds Oliverson asks if Zwiener can point to studies showing gender-affirming care lowers suicide rates.

Zwiener says yes, and she adds that this is complex. "We look at the accumulation of evidence." Here's one she cited by Harvard physician Dr. Jack Turban: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31974216/

Here’s the other Turban study she mentioned: publications.aap.org/pediatrics/art…

Oliverson says he keeps hearing about "rapid-onset gender dysphoria." He notes Zwiener rolled her eyes at mention.

She says this was one poor study on parents, recruited from online support groups, not kids. Makes sense they'd conceal they're trans if parents not supportive.

The com'te is recessing for the full House session, which begins at 2 p.m. They will reconvene after the session. Stay tuned for updates.

I've got to write bc early deadlines, but @lmcgaughy is still live-tweeting for folks who want to follow along. The committee is back in and will go until midnight tonight, per Chair Klick.

Corinna Cohn, with @officialGCCAN who regrets her transition, is up now. She also testified in Senate.

"Authenticity is something you discover by living and growing, not by taking hormones and having surgery."

Cohn (continued): "We cannot protect children from growing up, and the misguided attempt through medicalization will only lead to pain."

Next is Frank Gonzales whose daughter Libby is trans.

At first, he didn't want to accept her stated identity. He pushed for her to cut her hair + play sports she didn't like. He was "hellbent this was just a phase," but he slowly realized it wasn't.
texastribune.org/2017/07/22/tra…

His breakthrough moment happened when she had a breakdown at school, crying that she needed Santa to turn her to a girl.

He said he's telling this story bc #txlege has heard a narrative that parents are coercing their children into being trans. He says this was not easy for him.

Libby is on hormone blockers, and he's confident it's the right decision for her. She was living in fear of her body changing.

It was not a decision they made lightly, he said. The family tries to be careful about even taking Tylenol.

Gonzales: "This is terrifying + traumatizing for her to constantly have to defend herself publicly, but I am her father + I am here to tell you: You don't have to understand, but I ask you to allow me the right to protect and defend my family, including my transgender daughter."

Rep. @NicoleCollier95, D-Fort Worth, asks Gonzales what would happen if this bill passes.

Gonzales, whose daughter is trans and on hormone blockers, said his family would be forced to leave the state.

@NicoleCollier95 Tinderholt asks if he'd support loopholes that would allow Gonzales' family to get medication from out-of-state or a surgery out of state and come back.

He said as long as they could receive health care, he'd consider it.

@NicoleCollier95 Some past coverage of Libby and her #txlege advocacy: houstonchronicle.com/news/education…

@NicoleCollier95 Jolanda Jones asks if Gonzales believes his daughter is well-adjusted now.

"When I say she's thriving: she is doing great in school, she's got a ton of friends -- she's happy ... I would hate to see her slip back into that reserved self, that not-confident-of-herself, sad self."

@NicoleCollier95 Gonzales: "You know how when you see someone smile + you see that sparkle in her eye? For that period, it was not there. ... A parent's love doesn't stop. I'm going to continue to do what I need to do to make sure she is going to be healthy + safe."

@NicoleCollier95 The room applauds for Gonzales. Committee Chair Klick tells the room "we have to maintain decorum" and "clapping is not appropriate." She asks the audience to refrain from doing that.

@NicoleCollier95 Joe Burgo, CA psychologist with @genspect, said his daughter went on hormones despite his protests.

A libertarian, he says he'd normally oppose bill, but he supports bc medical groups "will not regulate themselves + won't allow dissent from w/in bc activists control the debate."

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect Here's more on his group's stance on gender-affirming care. The group believes in "gender critical theory," which rejects the concept of gender dysphoria.

"Although gender roles are imposed upon us, these need not be perceived as an identity." genspect.org/position/

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect An emotional Gloria Valadez (sp?) says her younger brother attempted suicide bc of his concern the state would "take away the health care he needs."

She urges the committee not to pass the bill.

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect .@texmed president Gary Floyd repeating essentially the same testimony as TMA gave before a Senate committee. The physicians group is neutral on the bill.

That was a departure from group's previous efforts to oppose the criminalization of this care. Bg: houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas…

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed Floyd said the bill #HB1686 is not a priority of the group but notes members are divided over the issue.

"We do have a very split group on this, but it's a small group that --" Floyd does not finish his thought here.

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed .@landon_richie_, a trans Texan, says if he had been forced to wait until he was 18 to receive gender-affirming care, he would not have made it to 18 "bc there was no future for myself as the person I was before I transitioned."

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ Ben Wilson, physician from Waco, supports the bill. He says he thinks the TMA is neutral on the bill bc it's worried about infringing on the physician-patient relationship.

He says he thinks "do no harm" principle should override. Adds that TMA did not ask his position.

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston says 470 that registered to testify and we've only gotten through 19.

There are 92 registered FOR this bill and 2,702 AGAINST it, Johnson says.

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ Rachel Gonzales, mother of a trans daughter, Libby, said her family would "really love to not be involved in politics. We are so tired."

Her daughter asked her recently: "Why do so many people hate me that don't even know me?"

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ Gonzales said Libby has continually testified at the Capitol bc she knows other kids don't have the same love + support as her.

But this time, she decided to stay in school where she prefers to be. She told her mom she's really nervous + scared abt what might happen here today.

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ Gonzales: "I cannot fathom uprooting our entire life because legislators insisted they know my child better than me.

If you pass this bill, we will be forced out of our home, which is something that is not possible for many families."

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ Gonzales: "I would hope that every member in this body believes that every child deserves love and support and safety from their family. This bill would make it impossible, and I'm begging you as a mother, please stop hurting us and my children."

@NicoleCollier95 @genspect @texmed @landon_richie_ A lot of this testimony has echoed what was heard in the Senate com'te, including that of detransitioners Abel Garcia and Prisha Mosley. Abel's story below.

I am going to stop watching as actively at this time. The chair will cut off testimony in ~2 hrs. houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas…