FBI Targets Gender-Affirming Care Providers

Speaker 1 [00:00:08] Hey TransLash Fam, this is The Mess, Imara’s guide to our political hellscape. And that’s me, I’m Imara. Thanks so much for coming back. Sadly, this show is something that we need to continue to do. Didn’t we want to live in a world where we didn’t necessarily need to have a show about how hellscapy it all is? But here we are. You’re back here and we continue to do the show because we know that it’s necessary and we’re just so glad that you’re able to do so because we try to provide a little levity as we work to inform you and you know, that’s what you’re into so we’re all here together. We have to keep trying to find the hope in all the darkness. So today on The Mess, I’m going to tackle the FBI asking for tips on doctors who provide gender affirming care to minors. The feud between Olympic winner Simone Biles and swimmer Riley Gaines over trans women’s sports and a moment to celebrate world pride in DC. Now, as you know, we record this a day or so before it comes to your ears. So as things are wild and getting wilder, things will have changed. So now, you know we always give that as a disclaimer. So if you’re a regular listener, you know that we always say this, but for the new people. You know, we have to make everything accessible. So, for the new people, just letting you know that that’s why. Okay, with that, let’s get to it. So we wanted to start out by uplifting something that you may not have heard about. I mean, we even struggled to find audio coverage for this, like news organizations saying something about what I’m gonna talk about. And that is the FBI and this gender affirming care tip line that they’ve started. So what’s that? The FBI put out a tweet and also an instruction to all of its offices nationwide. To begin to monitor a tip line that they just set up to basically, I’m gonna paraphrase the tweet and use some of its language, which is to hold those accountable who are mutilating children. Now, the Trump administration is saying that a federal law that the United States passed to protect against female genital mutilation, essentially abroad, but also covering the United State. Is sufficient grounds to begin to investigate people who provide gender affirming care. Now, this has a terrible chilling effect across the country to people who are providing gender affirmen care. One of the things that is really key about federal action through the FBI on this statute is that it is not covered by malpractice insurance or it is covered as well by… The hospital insurance that hospitals provide for doctors or even that doctors have individually. So there’s a huge exposure amongst doctors and people who provide gender affirming care are totally freaked out. And this is just a total manifestation of the administration’s hyper-focus on trans people and its willingness to use every single tool available in order to prevent trans people from essentially getting the care that we need and to exist. And by the way… Just like everything else, it’s not gonna stop at trans kids. Trans kids are just the easy political gateway for them to begin to do this. It’s going to expand to adults over time. I’m just telling you because it’s what I’ve observed in every single piece of legislation so far. Moreover, we know that this is just one piece of a weaponization of the federal government, specifically the domestic security apparatus against trans people. So one of the things that happened back in early April, is that the Department of Homeland Security removed a rule that prevented it from launching investigations of people just because they’re LGBTQ. So now the Department Of Homeland Security and all of its sprawling security apparatus that it has, alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, and you name it, can launch investigations of peoples solely because they are LGBTQ. That’s enough reason to open a file on somebody and open a case. So this move by the FBI to begin to set up a tip line to begin to threaten doctors with prosecution, perhaps even parents, right? Who are involved in the activity of getting and providing care for their kids is a really troubling development with respect to trans people. And it hasn’t gotten enough coverage. And so we wanted to make sure to uplift it to you all because you care about politics and you care what’s happening. So please pay attention to this and also try to just reach out to people who provide gender-affirming care and let them know. That we care about them and we support them because they’re really going through it right now. And that’s deeply painful and unfair. And that is just a G-Man, you know, the 1930s name for FBI agents mess. Next up today is the rift between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines. Now, Simone Bials, the name speaks for itself, right? You know, record-breaking Olympic gold award winner, world gymnastic champion, national gymnastic champion, like the list goes on and on and on and then Riley Gains, who you all might remember shot to fame over criticizing trans athlete Leah Thomas. Who she competed against when Leah Thomas was a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania. Leah Thomas, of course, is a trans athlete who won a race while competing there and literally caught hell for doing so. So much so that you really don’t see or hear from her anymore because there was a terrible traumatic incident and the case of Leah Thomas was used to change rules within swimming competitions and elsewhere across sports. So it was. A really really really difficult time for her and for anyone who cared about trans people competing in sports. Well Riley Gaines is a person who lost a race came in fifth and then essentially started a grift. I’m just going to say what it is. Started a grif with the Christian nationalist movement and Republicans to travel the country and complain about trans women in sports and to make up stories that are unsubstantiated. About Leah Thomas and her interaction with other women swimmers. She’s also appeared in political campaign commercials such as one with Herschel Walker when he was running for the Senate in Georgia and a string of anti-trans ads. So this is kind of her career. Well, these two locked horns because Riley Gaines sent out a tweet about a Minnesota high school basketball team with supposedly a trans member. And Simone Biles called her out on Twitter and essentially said, you’re a bully, you need to cut this out. You know, all of this because you lost a race. Why don’t you go sort of figure other things out besides picking on trans kids? And then of course the Manosphere and the MAGA movement exploded and unloaded on Simone Bials for standing up for a kid. And I think what’s really interesting about this and we don’t think about it, we think about the ways in which trans people are embedded in culture, you know, Navamal and Laverne Cox, the list goes on. But there’s also a cultural infusion here that’s happening through social media and through podcasting where people like Riley Gaines are put forth to just be provocateurs and the fact that they are provocateurs with large platforms then influences the culture so that even someone who’s literally as gold plated encased in gold as Simone Biles becomes a target of attack. For just standing up for a kid. So I think that we need to always keep in mind that this cultural conversation that is happening, one that’s kind of been hacked through social media and through podcasting and these other things is influencing the larger political conversation right now. And as we reported at TransLash, those things are working in concert. So again, this may not be something that you paid attention to as much, but it really is having an impact on politics right now, and if you aren’t familiar with Riley Gaines and… Her presentations to the world, we’re just going to give you just a taste of her recently on Fox News talking about trans women in sports.

Speaker 2 [00:08:46] Can I just say this is exactly why Donald Trump won? Following November 5th, I was certain that the Democrats would start to recant from their voting record, from their previous position that they had taken on this. It wasn’t an issue Kamala Harris really campaigned on when she was running for president, but they have not. They have double, tripled, quadrupled down on this, people like Governor Walz, tampon ten, mind you, who put tampons in the bathroom of fourth grade boys’ elementary school classes. This is what the American people. Wholeheartedly, regardless of political affiliation, reject.

Speaker 1 [00:09:18] And that’s just a wet mess. So last up today is some good news, like fun news. The kickoff for Pride season, that even in the midst of everything that’s going on in the world, we still have Pride. And even though corporations are pulling out, we still had Pride parades and Pride month. Even though, you know, Donald Trump tried to rename it Title IX month. I mean, who knows what that is? And nothing is more emblematic of Pride this year than World Pride, which kicked off in… Now, initially organizers had thought before Trump came to power and the various problems and travel warnings that countries have issued for the United States through our LGBTQ, our travel bans, that there were going to be 3 million people that showed up for World Pride. There weren’t 3 million, but there were 700,000 people that turned out for World Pride. 700,00 people. There were only a half a million people in the nation’s capital, which means that everyone would have had to turn out in the nation’s capital plus another 250,000 people. So I think that in this moment, it’s a roaring success. And it was star-studded. It had amazing performances by Cynthia Arevo. And people came from all across the country for a variety of things. It wasn’t only parties, because I know people who went, there were a lot of parties, but it wasn’t all parties. There was a human rights conference and people were talking about health and a whole host of other things. But more importantly than any of that is the fact that we know LGBTQ people who have a sense of community and feel a sense of community are much less likely to engage in self-harm and have a better sense of self and self-esteem. And so things like World Pride are really important. That means that all those 700,000 people are leaving better than they arrived. And it’s why Pride is important right now. So any way that you can, anywhere that you I hope that you will find a way to engage in community in a really fun and inspiring way. Make sure that you are safe. At TransLash, we’ve actually posted some safety tips of how to stay safe during Pride. We hope that follow those. But in general, connect with people and don’t let the moment get you down because the 700,000 people who turned out for World Pride in DC, despite everything that’s going on, were uplifted. And you can just see that in all of the coverage. From World Pride and so I’m actually encouraged to go to my pride here in New York City to be perfectly honest. I need to be uplifted in this moment and that’s just a rainbow mess but it’s not really a mess, is it? Because it’s pride. Well, that’s all we have time for today, sadly. I so appreciate you being a TransLash fam subscriber and sorting through all the mess with me today and all the hidden gems and what’s going on. If you like the show, it’d mean so much to me if you left a review on Apple Podcasts, you might just hear me weed it out on the show. I’ll be back in your feed in two weeks to sort through all of the shenanigans that come up between now and then. I’m your host, Imara Jones. The show is produced by Aubrey Calloway and this episode was engineered by Lucy Little. Oliver Ash-Kleine oversees production as the director of podcasts at TransLash Media. The show gets to your ears with the help of our social media team, including Morgan Asprey and Hilary Esquina. And of course, this show is made possible by TransLash fam subscribers like you. Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you soon.