“I’m a detransitioner and I live in Lowell (MA) but I work, worship, and do business in Nashua, so I’m an active member of the 603 and I’m here in support of SB272 today.
Like many children and teens today, I identified myself as transgender for years. When I started to feel confused and ashamed about my developing body, I asked everyone in my life to call me by a new name and use male pronouns to refer to me. So, in other words, I went through a social transition from female to male.
Everyone in my life immediately affirmed my new identity, either out of full support for it or just to stay neutral and not cause any issues. The constant affirmation, both active and passive, solidified me in my transgender identity. No one meant to lock me into an identity that would later leave me broken, ashamed, and more confused than before. They were really all just being nice.
But the social transition eventually wasn’t enough, and I soon felt I needed to take testosterone and when that wasn’t enough, I had a double mastectomy and when that still wasn’t enough, I had a total hysterectomy, including the removal of my uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and both ovaries.
There’s no point of contentment during a gender transition. We get fleeting moments of euphoria but ultimately, one step leads straight into the next.
I thought that in the end, I could become a man, but all I became was a mutilated and abused version of my old self.
Social transition is a big deal and we’re lying when we say that any of this is reversible. This is a big decision with lifelong consequences and New Hampshire doesn’t even require that parents be involved.
If the roles of mother and father don’t include authority over the emotional, social, and physical future of their children, the roles no longer mean anything.
Like me, transgender-identifying youth have a high risk for depression. The Trevor Project, which is an LGBT advocacy group, reports that 45% of LGBT teens have seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. More than half of that number is transgender-identifying youth. Teachers and school administrators are mandated reporters and if a child is suspected to be four times more likely to attempt suicide than the other students his age, his parents have a right to know and SB272 will ensure that parents are notified if their children are identifying with a high-risk community, and will allow the parents to decide the next best step for their child.
Please vote in support of SB272 and I’m happy to take any questions.”
