Name: Parents of trans child fear they must leave America
Uploaded: 2024-11-25T12:18:52.483Z
Duration: 4 min 9 s
Description: After Missouri banned transgender healthcare for minors, the Haluf’s left the state in search of a safe place for their 12-year-old daughter to access gender affirming care. Now living in Maryland, the family is bracing for the new Trump administration to pass federal restrictions.

After Missouri banned transgender healthcare for minors, the Haluf’s left the state in search of a safe place for their 12-year-old daughter to access gender affirming care. Now living in Maryland, the family is bracing for the new Trump administration to pass federal restrictions.

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The Haluf family, seeking a supportive and safe environment for their 12-year-old transgender daughter, relocated from Missouri to Maryland following the state's restrictive legislation on transgender healthcare for minors. Missouri is one of at least 26 states that have enacted such restrictions, pushing families to seek alternatives for adequate care. For Katie, their daughter, gender-affirming care includes therapy, clothing, haircuts, and hormone blockers to delay puberty. 

Despite moving to Maryland, the family now faces concerns over potential federal restrictions on transgender healthcare, especially under promises made by former President Trump. These proposed regulations on a federal level have prompted fears that their daughter's access to necessary medical and psychological care could be jeopardized. 

Transgender rights have become a contentious issue in the United States, with misinformation and fear-mongering often dominating discourse. Families like the Halufs, concerned about their child's well-being, are considering worst-case scenarios, including the possibility of seeking asylum in Canada, should stricter federal laws take shape.

The rise in anti-transgender sentiment comes amid a backdrop of significant spending on politically charged advertising and rhetoric. This environment has incited anxiety and activated crisis lines for trans rights organizations across the country. The Haluf family's primary focus remains on ensuring Katie's mental and physical well-being, underscoring the potential ramifications of legislative changes on transgender youth.



Parents of trans child fear they must leave America

So, what am I looking at here? My pride flag. This shows to the world that I don't want to hide and pretend to be someone else. I want to be me. Our child should have the same rights as any other child. Because she's transgender, doesn't make her any different. 12-year-old Katie and her family moved across the country last year to flee state restrictions on their daughter's rights. At her parents' request, we're not showing her face and we're using an alternate name. I don't have the answer of why people hate her and have never met her. Where is Katie allowed to exist? How is she allowed to exist? Is she allowed to exist? We won't be changing your children's gender with their transgender craziness. Transgender rights have become one of the biggest flashpoints in this country's culture marked, in many cases, by flat-out lies and conspiracies. There are some places, your boy leaves the school, comes back a girl. Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners. Republicans spent more than $200 million on anti-trans ads before the election. Kamala's for they-them, President Trump is for you. This is 100% BS. It's sowing fear, and then by doing that, you're sowing hate. And all of this comes back to people like our child. We thought that by leaving Missouri and coming to Maryland, that we would be safe. And now we're being threatened with anti-trans legislation on a federal level. At least 26 states, including Missouri, have passed restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors. This was their final protest in Jefferson City. We did everything we could to fight this, and there was nothing that we could do to change their minds. We moved to Maryland to be able to access gender-affirming care for Katie. What that looks like is therapy services, it's clothing, it's haircuts. And at this age, it is a hormone blocker to prevent her from going through puberty. This is my hormone blocker, right here. Could that treatment be reversed at some point? Yes, absolutely. It's really a pause button. Katie gets more time to live in the body that she has now. On day one, I will revoke Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender-affirming care. Trump has promised federal restrictions on transgender rights, including far stricter rules about gender-affirming care, especially for minors. One trans rights organization saw a nearly 700% increase in calls to their crisis hotline after the election. What would happen if your daughter didn't get that care? She would end up going through puberty, and it would be traumatizing to her to see all of those things happen to her body. I know you get some treatment from doctors, from other care. What would happen if you didn't get that? I would be upset and scared. In the LGBTQ community, the suicide rate is high for those who are not being supported by their caregivers. We want her to survive childhood. So families like Katie's are trying to prepare for what's ahead, even drafting an asylum application. We have to start thinking about a backup plan. If push comes to shove, we will need to go north, we will go to Canada. What would it take for your family to say, we need to leave this country? A federal healthcare ban would likely be the moment we know that it's time to leave here. What does this symbolize to you? Freedom and rights. This proves that everybody has their own rights to be themselves.

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