Gavin Volure’s Peanut Butter

It’s like this: my sib Tidy just called and told me that a significant portion of the population of Austin is up in arms because Dell Children’s Hospital just shut down its entire adolescent medicine dept over fallout from this anti-gender-affirming care crap.

The only MD in the city doing trans youth medicine also happens to be, by all accounts, the best MD in the city for cis girls with other complex stuff. Both of my cis nieces with weird issues are among her patients. This poor doc just said “fuck it” and quit, she couldn’t take the relentless bashing. My nieces and countless other Austin girls are now without the medical care they need and deserve. And for what? The governor’s MAGA street cred?

My point is this: even if your kids aren’t trans, this anti-trans bullshit can and will still fuck them up.

Protecting trans kids protects ALL kids.

#ProtectTransKids

May 22, 2023 at 12:13amWeb
Show threadtoxtethogradyMay 22, 2023
@iBlame And Texas sucks because of this, and it's showing up in the "best places to live" surveys...
Show threadGavin Volure’s Peanut ButterMay 22, 2023
@toxtethogrady Texas doesn’t suck. The Texas GOP sucks.
Show threadDragonFlameMay 22, 2023
@iBlame @toxtethogrady But Texans elected the Rep lawmakers, so you must understand that to the rest of the world looking on at Texas, Florida and all the trans-hate, abortion denying States these places totally suck.
Show threadSharon Gibson MorganMay 22, 2023
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady But Texans have to contend with gerrymandering and voter suppression, so there's that. Just in, the GOP legislature passed a bill that would essentially strip gov't authority from the state's cities, particularly the city of Houston. As it stands, Austin, the state's capital, has taken over the Houston Independent School District & replaced duly elected members of the HISD School Board.
Show threadGregneeMay 22, 2023
@SharonGibson3 @RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
More specifically, the governor and GOP legislators did. They just happen to work (very part time) in Austin. Austin is the bluest city in the state.
Show threadSharon Gibson MorganMay 22, 2023
@Gregnee @RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady Exactly.
Show threadDragonFlameMay 22, 2023
@SharonGibson3 @Gregnee @iBlame @toxtethogrady
I do truly understand your despair and frustration. Dreading your next election, even as onlooker.
Show threadGrandpa DonMay 22, 2023

@SharonGibson3

who elected the people who did the gerrymandering?

Show threadAmadi LovelaceMay 22, 2023
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady Texas and Florida have engaged in some of the sleaziest, most underhanded voter suppression in the nation and are both gerrymandered to hell and gone. Their electoral results aren’t reflective of shit except what happens when republicans get a scintilla of power.
Show threadtoxtethogradyMay 22, 2023
@amaditalks @RHW @iBlame In the cities, they are pure blue. And it drives Republicans up the wall...
Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@RHW
Texas has a massive amount of gerrymandering and voter suppression and they've used that to enact hate campaigns without majority support. More than once in the last 20 years Republicans gained seats in the Texas legislature while getting a smaller share of the votes than the previous election. There are factors other than what voters want that determine who's in power and in places like Texas and Florida Rs are ready to end democracy before letting anyone else win.
@iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadDragonFlameMay 23, 2023
@Lacci @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Is it decades of capitalist corruption that has ended up with your legislature and state governments out of control?
A year ago Australia managed to get rid of a corrupt govt that was infiltrating prominent positions in all public service and controlling bodies with their candidates and so corruption multiplied and authoritarian control increased.
But, we have the advantage of compulsory voting, and even a fine for not voting. Polls are held on Saturdays to make it easy to vote multiple polling sites.
Guess you suffer from your system, and I recognise it is hard for you when your govt wants to disenfranchise you.
But how on earth did you all let Trump get so much crazy control? Are all Republicans truly so blind?
Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@RHW
A ton of it is the legacy of racism in the US. We have a ton of very undemocratic things left over from stuff like Jim Crow and earlier racially motivated political systems. And the racial divide and the stoking of white racist fears has been a very effective motivation for people like Trump and the Texas Republicans. And the federal system lets Republicans divide and conquer by taking over states and changing their individual laws to disenfranchise people.
@iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadMaude NificentMay 23, 2023

@RHW @Lacci @iBlame @toxtethogrady

It’s mostly the legacy of deeply entrenched, non-stop racism, so i guess it depends how you define “capitalism”.

If you check some of these gerrymander maps they more or less reflect a history of segregated housing, from policies like redlining (bank loans based on location and colour), or jim crow era rules about who can live where, federal and state government discrimination, and a hundred other things.

As well as australia’s electoral commission preventing excessive gerrymanders, people here aren’t always disenfranchised automatically for life if convicted of crimes. yes, Indigenous people here are imprisoned disproportionately, but in the USA punishments themselves are disproportionate, and on release people are virtually non citizens for the rest of their lives - no vote, no housing support and so on. There is a census map somewhere on line, if you look for e.g high African American population centres you discover they are actually massive prisons.

have you seen the netflix documentary “13th” ? it’s perhaps one place to start, in understanding how unrepresentative government really is in the USA, esp in the south. (just the tip of a massive iceberg)

Show threadMaude NificentMay 23, 2023

@RHW @Lacci @iBlame @toxtethogrady

impact of counting prisoners on US democracy - website

https://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/impact.html

The Problem

Counting prisoners as residents of the prison town in the Census creates big problems for state and local redistricting and for statistical research

Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@maudenificent
I think you're pretty much right with a couple caveats. Most formerly incarcerated people can vote again, but it's highly variable by state. Only 7 states permanently disenfranchise felons. Also Australia's justice system is ranked as one of the most punitive and unjust towards minorities justice systems in the developed world. It being less horrific than the United States justice system is definitely not a reason to not to demand massive improvements.
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadMaude NificentMay 23, 2023

@Lacci @RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady

interesting map thanks - as i thought, its mostly southern states - i agree about australia’s “justice” system, it’s greatly in need of reform. (particularly deaths in custody, age of criminal responsibility)

instead of punishments perhaps i should have said longer sentences for crime types keep people ineligible for voting longer.
… talking about reasons people “don’t just vote for better politicians” (including criminal justice and gerrymanders)

but i do think we are (so far) lucky in terms of our electoral commission oversight of electorates, elections etc.

https://justicepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/sentencing.pdf

Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@maudenificent
Your electoral system is so much better than ours, it really is considered one of the best in the world, it's not just a thing people say in Australia the way some people here talk about the US system. Though the mandatory voting is polarizing among both experts and regular people who hear about it other places. I'm not really sure where to fall on it, but even if you look at it in the worst possible light it is hard to argue it has done much harm.
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@maudenificent
The level to which both our criminal justice systems are cruel and racist is astounding. Individual Black people in the US are only slightly more likely to actually commit a crime than white people (that's mostly because crime is higher among poorer people and things black people do more often are more likely to be criminalized) but black people are imprisoned at more than 3x the rate of white people.
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@maudenificent
And indigenous people in Australia actually have an even higher rate of incarceration than Black Americans, and it's 9x that of whites in Australia. Though most prisoners in Australia can legally vote even from prison (I think only people with more than a 3 year sentence are disenfranchised) it's still incredibly devastating to individuals and communities. :(
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadMaude NificentMay 23, 2023

@Lacci @RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady

all of this ... i think i became interested in USA because (apart from dominating popular culture) its older and more has been written about how the current state of affairs evolved, making it easier to understand what we have here - and our political parties love to import readymade policy even though a lot of it sux

it's all appalling in terms of what we tolerate for other people

Show threadLacciMay 23, 2023
@maudenificent
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the policies were imported from the US to Australia too. That has happened with indigenous policies and racial minority policies. The Nazi's even borrowed a bunch of major elements of their race laws from the US, especially the Jim Crow south. Though they thought some of them were too extreme to work in Germany.
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady
Show threadMaude NificentMay 24, 2023

@Lacci @RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady

and a lot of the laws for apartheid were modelled on the queensland aus system of Aboriginal "protection"

uk, us, and aus have in last few decades shared some policies -not just on matters of race, though poc always bear the worst impact of capitalism latest version

it's all rather mind-blowing

Show threadDarryl Collins 🚴🏻Jun 4, 2023
@RHW @iBlame @toxtethogrady not all of them. It's possible to look from the outside, Ireland in my case, and understand that only some Texans voted for extremists.
Show threadtoxtethogradyJun 4, 2023
@darrylxxx @RHW @iBlame What's happening in Texas and Florida (actually just in the rural stretches) is that their Way of Life is dying a slow death, and this is how they lash out at it. It's convenient for the insanely rich, as it lets them off the hook (and the rural legislators tend to vote for the interests of the rich, anyway...) When that part changes, so will the legislatures...
Show threadDarryl Collins 🚴🏻Jun 4, 2023
@toxtethogrady @RHW @iBlame I'm not from there so have little real knowledge of what goes on, but my perception is that communities under pressure actively vote in favour of the rich and against their own best interests. It's happening here too. Shocking, depressing and mind-blowing. 🤯
Show threadGavin Volure’s Peanut ButterJun 4, 2023
@darrylxxx @toxtethogrady @RHW In Texas, the minority right wing ruling party has the fix in. Voter suppression laws and district gerrymandering have decimated democracy in the state. In a fair election they would be voted out. Lefties are in fact a disenfranchised majority here.
Show threadGavin Volure’s Peanut ButterJun 4, 2023

@darrylxxx @RHW @toxtethogrady Thank you.

Signed, a rural Texan socialist

Show threadtoxtethogradyMay 22, 2023
@iBlame There was once a time 50 years ago when Texas Republicans didn't suck. In fact, they were an alternative for Texas liberals when the State Democratic Party was seen as corrupt and beholden to the business interests (and outside LBJ, much of it was racist). Give a party absolute power, and it will become absolutely awful...
Show threadGrandpa DonMay 22, 2023

@iBlame @toxtethogrady

Texas elected them.

Show threadToot Ωncommon - SHUT 🇺🇸 DOWNMay 22, 2023
@iBlame @toxtethogrady Like they are at all inseparable.
Show threadNick 'The Viking'May 22, 2023

@iBlame

Yes if you can't home school your kids to keep them a bit further away from the guns, or in a gigabuck private school, and fly them by private plane to wherever medical service is available, you're gonna have a hard time.

Show threadDarwin WoodkaMay 22, 2023

@iBlame

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2023-05-19/aclu-threatens-paxton-with-lawsuit-after-dell-childrens-exodus/

ACLU Threatens Paxton With Lawsuit After Dell Children’s Exodus

Investigation of gender-affirming care may be unconstitutional

Show threadLawrenceMay 22, 2023
@iBlame According to the hospital's press release, the adolescent medicine dept hasn't *actually* shut down; it's just that all their doctors are quitting. Now, why would one choose to practice medicine, particularly pediatric or gynocological medicine in a state where you could be criminally prosecuted for doing your job? You wouldn't. Even if a doctor happened to be anti abortion or anti trans, practicing in one of these states would leave them wide open to all kinds of liability. Fucked up.
Show threadBierFrau♀️♀️May 22, 2023
@iBlame it's okay, cause they didn't really care about girls either. All of the women's bathroom and sports stuff was just fear mobgering so women would jump on board.
Show threadKerri LevineMay 22, 2023

@iBlame

That so many will suffer so much absolutely unnecessary misery & suffering is the point of it for the GOP.

Think about it.

They KNOW what they're doing will cause harm & they forge ahead nonetheless.

Because they can, because they want to.

Because they LIKE the results.

2024 is where we defeat fascism or we welcome it.

It's our time, peeps.

#FightGOPFascism

Show threadRob Hafner May 22, 2023

@iBlame for those curious about the details, Texas Tribune has a story up-

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/22/texas-hospital-adolescent-health-gender-affirming-paxton-investigation/

Doctors depart hospital after Texas AG investigates gender-affirming care

The adolescent clinic treated eating disorders and menstrual complications. It also offered gender-affirming care — which is still legal for now but triggered an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Texas Tribune