i need well meaning cis people to stop attemping to steelman trans healthcare conversations because it basically always ends with them just lying about easily checkable things “no minors are getting irreversible treatments” wrong not true “no minors are having surgery” also false, like instead just say the truth: currently some minors (few, but some) are able to access hrt that will have some irreversible changes on their body, some (even fewer) minors are able to access surgery.
the counter to transphobes screaming “these kids are being irreversibly changed” isn’t “no children are accessing this care” it’s “puberty is also an irreversible change” and “i think under 18s and even under 16s should be able to make medical decisions actually”
“no minors are accessing this care” means that transphobes can easily point to the examples of minors who are accessing that care, which just make us look like liar. sometimes teenagers and children need to make medical choices on their own. i think a 14 y/o should be able to get an abortion. i think trans kids and teens should be able to have the approriate care, which for some will just be like, picking a new name or haircut, and for some, sure, could be surgery.
And here’s the thing.
Saying “No minors are doing X!” is you attempting to convince the TERF that the thing they’re screaming about isn’t something they should personally be worried about.
But you’re never gonna convince them of that.
Because, like, first of all, as OP said, there are cases where kids are getting care. And to a TERF, even a single trans kid going on HRT is the fucking apocalypse.
Your job was never to convince the TERF.
Your job is to spread the truth and explain why these treatments aren’t the end of the world to everyone else. But you can’t do that if you’re lying.