Presently not posting as much because of work. One particular job has turned into a serious mission because before my hiring other people had gotten really sloppy. So at present it’s down to your working fingers to fix all their cock-ups and fit in some practical workarounds. Working wonders and shitting miracles to meet deadlines which heretofore have gone whooshing by like they were summer breezes. A lot of expostulations are being wrung from my lips like: “Oh, FFS!” or “Seriously!” as I dig through the layers of half baked buggeration, trying to clear their Augean Stables. Fortunately I do not have to do this the hard way like Hercules as I have the equivalent of a Bobcat mini excavator. Still takes up my evening time so I’m effectively working over twelve hour days. Which should give my sole remaining reader an idea of my work environment. This situation will continue until the contract ends in two weeks and I step out of the office and onto a plane. Or at least until I wrassle this hyar ‘Gator back down to a manageable place in it’s particular swamp. Oh what the hell, the money’s not bad.
So what has happened out in the big wide world while I’ve been busy? This whole transgender thingy looks like degenerating onto wholesale institutionalised child abuse. Especially if you live within the remit of the Victorian Department of Work and Education in Australia. Apparently one particularly poisonous piece has been written in policy since September 2017. Effectively giving the ‘Educators’ guidance that in the event of a minor (under 18) stating that they’re a bit fuzzy about what sex they should be and their parent(s) disagree, the Department will intervene and institute procedures which will lead to the prolonged torture of Gender reassignment surgery against the parents express wishes. Here’s the money quote from their ‘Diversity’ policy section on ‘parental guidelines’.
God help the families who fall into this trap. Bureaucrats can whisk their kid away and put and under age child through a life changing medical procedure? As a parent I could fully understand if some local authority busybodies did that to someone’s child and the affronted parent subsequently hunted the Bureaucrats down and cut them to dogmeat. If such a case came to trial and I was on the jury I’d insist on a verdict of Justifiable homicide or not guilty. Mutilation (Which is what gender reassignment surgery really is) of under age children as a matter of public policy? That’s insane. Wait until the afflicted hit that age of majority and are legally capable of making such a decision. Then do it on their own dime if they really, really want to. Not taxpayer dollar. Why? Because it’s an elective ‘treatment’.
Such a policy is misguided also because if these children come back a few years later, deciding that their surgery was a mistake, the resulting lawsuits will fall on the public purse. And who pays for these cock-ups? The taxpayer. This is why it’s a bad idea to make these things public policy. Even real TG’s and TV’s think it’s stupid because they simply want what we all want. To be left alone to get on with their own lives. Which should be an engraved in solid bedrock human right. To be left in peace so long as they do no physical harm to others and to have no physical harm done to them.
As I’m finding out unravelling the mess of my current contract, part of which is rewriting committee written procedures (No! OMG! NO!) so they actually make sense and trying not to shout at fluff-brained time wasters in video meetings. Especially about their arbitrary decision not to have a system of purchase orders to track their invoicing (WTF!). It’s a lot to get through in two weeks. But I will finish because my tickets are booked and I’m getting on that flight no matter what. At close of play a week on Friday my computer goes off, my cell phone goes off and I’m winging my way to the fabled land of Oz where I may find amusements to take my mind off the stupidity of the world.
I may be off the grid for a while, I may find time to post something. Who knows?
TTFN
The Bill Sticker Alternative 
To give a personal anecdote here; my sister was a tomboy when we were growing up. She frequently expressed a desire to have been born male. As an adult, she is content to be female. My parents took a wait and see attitude and let her sort it out herself – and me likewise. Had the state intervened because either of us showed them to be expressing confusion about our gender it would have caused irreparable harm. Childhood is far too young to be making such decisions and the state has no business whatsoever being involved in them. The best people to decide upon a child’s well-being are the parents. The state should only get involved if the parents abrogate that responsibility.
From my understanding of this policy, it is the state weaponising trans people for political purposes and that seriously pisses me off. Such things as gender identity are personal matters. If it means a child waiting until they reach the age of majority, so be it. Better that than the state be involved.
LikeLike
I knew from a very early age that I was “different”. At that time these things simply weren’t discussed. That said, even if they were, I would still not wish to transition. This is simply because surgical intervention would change a male body that is biologically complete and works as it should to a superficially female on that won’t. It’s taken me years to come to this conclusion.
So, I agree with Bill here. The state has no place deciding for a child. Being a bit fuzzy about gender may be an indication that the individual is trans. It may merely be a phase. The parents should always be involved in any decisions. The sate must absolutely not be involved in making such momentous decisions.
LikeLike
Oz may be different to the UK (although I doubt it) but in the UK trans children do not undergo surgery before they are 18 years old (and are thus adults when they make that decision). They may, after a long assessment process, be given puberty blockers which are reversible.
LikeLike
Even so. To someone who is under age without the parents consent? I grok wrongness.
LikeLike
I daresay there are other medical situations where parental consent (or specifically the lack of it) can be overridden in the child’s interest. Off the top of my head: Jehovah’s Witness parents refusing life-saving blood transfusions for their children.
LikeLike
Yes, but trans surgery is not a life saving procedure like a transfusion, and medical professionals will not be making key decisions as it clearly states in the policy. They would simply carry out those decisions. I think I would boil my argument down to this; The state has no business being in people’s bedrooms.
LikeLike
Given the rate of suicide among trans people and that transition (social/medical/surgical as required/desired) is the proven & accepted way to treat this; then it can be a life saving procedure. As far as I’m aware however irreversible treatment is not given to children, so the big decisions can be made by them when they are adults.
I’d definitely agree on your point about the State & it’s minions – whatever the reason to overrule parental views, it should be backed up by expert medical opinion and enforced if necessary by the courts, not some bureaucrat.
LikeLike
Don’t just read into statistics as a whole; look at the suicide rates both pre and post operative. Look at the numbers for those with ‘buyers remorse’. That might give you a better picture than a simplistic “Intervention saves lives”. I’ve actually worked with TG’s and TV’s and each is different, with the sources of their misery, which derives from their individual morphology and psychology. There is no “One size fits all” solution that will not result in real harm. Especially with those children whose sexuality is in flux.
LikeLike
Absolutely everyone is an individual case. I didn’t mean to imply every trans person must transition fully. The way forward for each trans person should be what suits them & their needs and desires – and decisions taken over a period of time. Not all trans people will want or need to fully transition; some may transition socially, some medically and some surgically. The way things are in the UK there’s no such thing as a swift process, you’d be lucky to get a first appointment at a GIC within 18 months and that’s just the start of things.
It’s only one example, but a horrible example of what can happen when parents refuse to accept, or support, their children who come out as trans is Leelah Alcorn. Sadly she didn’t make it.
LikeLike
Yes Jessica, but this is about Victoria, Australia, here. The legal codes differ.
Did put this to my Youngest, who is a rising star in the UK’s Family law firmament, also my wife, who is a teacher with over 30+ years in education. Both expressed negative opinions of the policy as written. Because it hands over parental rights to bureaucrats which none of that breed should ever have.
LikeLike