The struggle is real and definitely valid

 

The struggle is real and definitely valid

Vaccine consent form invalidating for non binary and trans people, Manitoban says

Trigger warning - this article contains high pitched squealing and may induce misanthropy. 

However, it is essential reading; whilst reviewing this, I went on what is known as a journey. I apologise deeply for my hostile tone at the start, it is only halfway through I truly began to comprehend the fight we have on our hands. I leave my uneducated comments up as a warning, as evidence change is possible, and because I believe I must own my past.

"When Kai Solomon printed out their consent form to get a COVID-19 vaccine, their eyes focused on the portion of the form that asked for their sex.

And their heart sank.

Solomon found Manitoba's form had four boxes they could pick from when designating sex: male, female, intersex and unknown" (Let's forget about 'intersex' there - any of a range of differences of sexual development being listed as separate to the only sexes in mammals - male and female. Let's forget them, their mostly sex specific conditions and the constant, ableist 'othering' and literal mis-sexing they endure at the hands of the LGBTQIAS+ movement - this is trivial in comparison to Kai's plight) "Solomon, who is non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, didn't see themself reflected in any of those options.

"I felt very invalid. It was very defeating. It just felt like we didn't fit … like we didn't deserve the vaccine because we're not on the form," Solomon said."

So, for Kai this is nightmarish. Legit. Having to give factual information on a medical form is harmful. Why does medicine need data, why isn't thyselves own internal self perception listed?! I myself feel excluded by the heteronormative font and colonialist use of English as a language. I have to wonder, when will we move onto why political persuasion, star signs, favourite colours and number of Twitter followers aren't recorded? There's so many things I imagine Kai likes people to know about them - thoughts on all of life's big questions, their funniest stories, the times they've been brave and kind or owned Jordan Peterson...

"Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's vaccine implementation task force, apologized to Manitobans who identify as transgender for "wrong, inappropriate and disrespectful" wording in the question about sex on the vaccine consent form."

It's "wrong, inappropriate and disrespectful" to ask the most significant factor in medicine? This doctor had to do a press announcement to apologise to the they/thems. Just think about that.

"We should have done better before and we need to do better going forward, so I want to apologize for our error," she said."

Biological sex matters in medicine. The Lancet - "A growing body of research highlights the influence of biological sex in clinically relevant health outcomes, including sex-specific differences in immunity, pharmacology, and vaccines outcomes (side-effects and efficacy)". Women tend to need lower doses, they develop antibodies faster and suffer more symptoms. "sex-based differences in innate and adaptive immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infections are probable contributors to the increased risk of intensive care unit admission and overall mortality in men, and increased reports of long-COVID symptoms in women."

So, sorry, theybies and gentlethem, but this is highly fucking relevant. It's probably not that healthy to live in furious denial of your biology, because, umm, it's real and definitely important when it gets to healthcare. And even if you don't care - for the rest of us, confined to our dull meat-suit of realism, data is vital. Still, they can't stop. The precious, pedantic self exceptionalism and loud complaints are key in non-binary survival/validation and we all need to hear it or they will be killed all over again.

"There are now three boxes that can picked when designating sex: male, female and X. 

The X isn't much better, according to Solomon and some other LGBTQ Manitobans.

"X isn't a gender and it's disrespectful," says Deith Aquino, a non-binary Filipinx Manitoban."

Yep, definitely a problem. X isn't a gender, but more importantly gender has no basis in medicine - so why is it on a question about sex? I actually agree!

So, what we've learned - biological sex is taboo, but we must know this person is of Filipino descent. Anyone know why? Why don't all records come with a little mood chart, ink-blot tests and requests for self expression through the medium of dance? Think of all the lost opportunities to truly know the patient via the intentional and unintentional gestures, expressions and body formations... 

""A first mistake is an accident. But once the same mistake happens again, it's not a mistake anymore, it's a decision ... that can bring harm and danger."

HaRM And dAnGER! Are you listening?

"Charlie Eau, a community advocate with Trans Manitoba, says the group has been clear that it want to be a part of dialogue and engagement with the province and Shared Health to improve health outcomes for trans, non-binary and two-spirit people.

Part of the issue, Eau says, is that the province isn't clear about what information it needs and for what purpose."

What purpose? What possible reason would there be (except for those listed above - the cherry picked, heteronormative, abusive ones) for this violation and exercise in systematic de-legitimisation? Let Trans Manitoba on your public health board, goddammit, I'm sure they have so much to offer - for example, what colour plasters are you using? Are the needles used in the archetypal, patriarchal phallic form? Why can't they be inverted like a vagina? Are you penis fetishists?

"Sex, or one's biological attributes, is different than gender — socially constructed sets of expectations about how people should look, act and think. Gender identity is how you feel inside and how you express your gender."

The transplain begins. How is gender relevant? Do amicagender 'folks' reacted differently to antegenders?  Can oneirogender become hydrogender as a side effect? Why do they confuse sex and gender with this inane sideshow of pre-packaged 'individuality'? 

Yet again, they mix the two, wax lyrical about gender, roll it in glitter, put it centre stage and invite gasps of astonishment from the audience. Then they tell us they're not the same thing in an awe-inspiring show of esoteric investigative-journalism. 

For the uneducated; *Antegender: "a protean gender which has the potential to be anything, but is formless and motionless, and therefore, does not manifest as any particular gender." *Amicagender: "a gender that changes depending on which friend you’re with" *Oneirogender: “being agender, but having recurring fantasies or daydreams of being a certain gender without the dysphoria or desire to actually be that gender day-to-day” *Hydrogender: "a gender that shares qualities with water"

Imagine confusing those...

Winnipeg advocate Charlie Eau says they're eager to engage with the province on how to better accommodate the needs of non-binary, two-spirit and trans Manitobans in the vaccine campaign. (Austin Grabish/CBC) - Oh the beleaguered half smile. Cheer up Charlie, it might never happen! I love the reference to two spirit, a purported non-binary identity recognised by native American people. It's one of many non-binary identities (therefore covered by NB), mostly describing the same sort of narcissistic fancy-pants shite we might come up with at age 12 when writing fantasy biographies in diaries labelled 'PRIVATE! DO NOT READ!' To be clear, this is an attempt to bring in the mental images of native people crushed underfoot. And I for one want to poke my mind's eye out.

"Government documents often use sex and gender interchangeably, not recognizing they're different" - like you just did, and like these activists are fighting for - "Another issue with the question on the form is that it doesn't provide appropriate options for trans and non-binary people, because it asks for sex, which could leave people forced to select the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than what they identify as now." - for fuck's sake - 'forced'? What is on your medical records? And isn't sex different to gender? How on earth could this be at odds with it, unless it's a deliberate ploy to overwrite sex with gender and leave them a little caveat to stunningly own us every now and then? 'No one is erasing biological sex' they say...

Some trans people have experienced barriers in accessing specific medical services and procedures because their health card gender marker doesn't match other documents. - Indeed, this sounds confusing. If I say I'm beautiful and my photo ID is invalidating me with aestheti-phobia, why can't I photo-shop it? It is, after all, who I am inside. Or are we living in Nazi-era Germany now?  How many genders are they supposed to list? There are hundreds of neo-terms and even more spurious identities - "People are worried the same thing will happen if their vaccine consent forms don't match their ID, Eau says. Both Eau and Solomon say that if the province really needs that data, a simpler approach would be to just ask for gender and leave a blank space for people to fill in what fits best" - Yeah, let's just record everything, all the 'I'm special because...' reasons with the ever-growing list of self selected boxes, allowing for those with a variety of or even original genders (imagine that), obvs, and all the generic oppressors with their 'biology' can just record their sex they think makes them important. The dullard fucks. Personally, I most excitedly await the OneDirection-genders or whatever the devil it is these young people like now. The Brossettes had nothing on this.                                                                                                                       More negative experiences                    

"The consent form was only the start of a transphobic experience in getting a vaccine, some Manitobans say" - Just the start... relevant biology in medicine is transphobic. Remember this. Biological sex is transphobic "Eau says they were repeatedly misgendered — referred to using pronouns that don't accurately portray their identity — and that were no single-stall bathrooms available at the vaccination supersite when they were there" - OK, this has swayed me. I'm hereby changing my tone. The fact is, it's now clear to me the medical establishment has always been based on abuse and sadism. It's why people get into it. It's probably entirely focused on harming the brave NB's in society. Look at the Tuskagee syphilis trials, Henrietta Lacks, J Marion Sims and his abuse of black women - now, imagine what's being done to the most oppressed - trans and non-binary people... And two spirits...

Corinne Mason, who identifies as queer, says when they arrived to their vaccine with the sex portion of their consent form blank, someone assumed they are female and filled it in for them. - What? How dare they? All these little fascists, doing their documentation in back rooms under the guise of 'helping' or 'just doing their job'. If it doesn't send a chill down your spine, do you even have one? Are you non-spineary? Know what this reminds me of? Nazis and their documents and categories. Covid has caused a global crisis, killing millions and near bankrupting economies, restricting rights - all of it a cynical cover for the sustained assault on the most vulnerable.

Corinne Mason was vaccinated on Wednesday. They worry transphobic comments and requirements could deter more transgender people from being vaccinated. (Submitted by Corinne Mason) - This is Corinne? And a 'medical professional' looked at they and saw a woman? You really need to get into the details with these stories, it's only when you do you can see how bad and valid it is. Also, Corrine would be correct about this spreading fear worse than covid among the community - and maybe this is the plan? Was she they really expected to keep quiet about this? It appears the warning bell has been rung - are you listening?

""I saw it as a barrier," Mason said, worrying that the traumatizing experiences of trans, non-binary and two-spirit people will contribute to vaccine hesitancy in the community" - Traumatising. Barriers and trauma - clear signs of where we're headed. Of course trans, non-binary and TWO SPIRIT people have vaccine hesitancy, look at what happened when native American's accepted pox-ridden blankets. 

"If you have trans people who are being misgendered or not knowing how to fill in the form, or … the form makes them feel, excluded or ignored or obscured ... then you have those people sharing that experience with other trans and non-binary people," Mason said." - I don't know how they do it, how they carry this relentless erasure on their shoulders and continue to not only survive, but do so by heroically outing themselves in the press, with home-dyed hair and constant demands... Having the most intimate understanding of your own self ignored and not validated and affirmed in forms designed to collect certain data for public health statistics is unforgivable. And despite knowing the risks of speaking out, Corinne still does it. It evokes Mohammed Ali's brave stance against the Vietnam war. How will history regard this? I for one hope for a Manitoba gender crime trials, holding these monsters to account.

"Eau has the same fears, but also wants to protect people from negative, triggering experiences.

"I want people to get vaccinated, but I also don't want people to be re-traumatized when they go. Having 12 people misgender you when you haven't left the house in a year is really upsetting," they said" - 12 people misgendering you - you counted twelve? Why do you have to speak to that many people? I hope this person sues and gets some form of reparation. Ideally, these 'professionals' should be fired. In the gender crime trials I would hope to see all those complicit in this confronted with the harm they have enabled and perpetuated. March them through the clinics, being referred to as 'patients' or something equally dehumanising, lets see how they feel having their special individual qualities ignored. 

"It has to be better when I go back for my second … [vaccination dose], because what I experienced was transphobia." -  It's difficult to imagine how it could be worse, anyway. The casual transphobia of being correctly indentified for the purposes of medical requirements, asked to declare your sex, or any reminder that it exists is a stain upon 'civilised' society. 

Non-binary and transgender Manitobans are concerned the province isn't adequately knowledgeable about gender and sex and it's making the vaccine campaign difficult to navigate and traumatizing. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) - If you have been affected by this article, I want you to know you are doing great, doing so well. I'm sorry it's so difficult for society to see you for the incredible souls you are, and I pray one day soon everything will go your way, leaving you with nothing to complain about ever again 

Here's Kai talking about this most pressing issue on the news