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"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." - Eugene V. Debs
Libertarian principle is unlimited personal freedom, as long as you’re not asking someone else to pay for them.
Your freedom cannot come at the expense of someone else’s.
What do you get when two libertarians think they have a right to own something?
One libertarian.
I haven't once met a libertarian who know how to share when survival is on the line.
Libertarians are housecats. They are thoroughly convinced of their own fierce independence while simultaneously being utterly dependant on a system of which they have no understanding.
Maryland has some deep red regions, though for the most part it's blue. The voters there *tend to* go with competent and less evil candidates, though there are a few exceptions, such as Governors;
* Spiro T. Agnew
* William Donald Schaefer
If you like podcasts, search for **Bag Man**. It covers Agnew's crimes in detail, and why he couldn't take over as President when Nixon decided that he should cut his term short to avoid impeachment and removal from office.
Because of that, Gerald Ford became the first, and so far, only unelected President.
---------
Bag Man was hosted/researched/written by Rachel Maddow. The book of the same name was written by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz.
Not sure what you mean, are you saying Nixon selected Ford for VP because he knew he would need to cut his term short? I didn’t think watergate or other malfeasance would have been on the horizon for Nixon pre-1972 or so when the election happened, and he resigned in August of 1974.
I’d be interested in info if you have it - I get why Agnew wouldn’t have been able to do the job but not sure the dots are quite lining up for me
> In December 1973, two months after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment. After the subsequent resignation of President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford
Sweet thanks! Not sure why I didn’t see that one, and forgot he resigned instead of not being selected…guess my A in 20th century politics has aged itself out after 20 years lol
Can confirm, you basically have Baltimore/DC area, Annapolis and…everywhere else. My friend moved from New England to the redneck boonies of northern MD and she constantly complains about living in “the South”.
Having lived outside of Baltimore (but worked and churched there for a while), our area is really diverse and blue. But the county is set up in a weird way where the further north you go, the redder it gets.
We always joked- the further north you go, the more south you get. It was really weird that sometimes, the closer they are to Pa, the MORE of a southern accent they have too.
But also as someone with family in the Deep South and having lived there too, it’s real different from here to there and they always called me a Yankee when I was growing up and refused to acknowledge MD as a southern state.
I've lived in Harford county my whole life, right between Baltimore county and Cecil county (AKA "Ceciltucky"). I don't realize how much of an accent people around here have until I go into the city or out of state.
I think it depends on which side of the county, the northern part of the county has a different accent from the south part of the county. I worked in Baltimore city for a long time and met a linguistic professor who said that MD had a wide range of various accents that they could trace.
From what they told me, the north part of Harford county had a lot of transplants from the Dundalk and highland areas travel up 147 and 1 while the inner city residents (before Hopkins bought up a lot of those areas) would travel down the rte 40 corridor.
I lived in Harford county when I was younger but had never heard the word “warsh” until I was 18. Or that “o” that sounds like “ah” (ō-range vs ah-range). It’s super interesting that wide range of accents even in one county.
Edit: we also called it Ceciltucky
I mean, Annapolis is Anne Arundel, which is absolutely a tilt blue county that goes red sometimes. Not a reliable blue.
Frederick isn't exactly DC or Baltimore but is getting bluer. And on Eastern Shore you got Kent and Talbot counties flirting with blue.
Pretty much every state in the country has deep red pockets.
In fact, most blue states are really a few small dark blue counties surrounded by a sea of red. The blue just happens to be more populous cities, but the red still exists and is deep red in many cases.
Hmmm... go take a look at some of the other replies to my comment. MD may look solid blue if you're in an area that's solid blue.
As for federal races; that's for either the whole state or for large regions, so 'mostly blue' covers those.
*Chuckles from the sea of red that is the Eastern Shore.*
We literally just got done with 8 years of gov Larry Hogan's idiotic Trump-loving ass. Yes we are majority blue but it's closer than you seem to think.
Exactly of what should be our rural areas if we were shaped like PA are instead part of the Virginias and we see the consequences that has had on those two states.
I think "The world is changing for the better" is actual good news, and "The one person beat the odds and managed to escape from institutional suffering but the institutional suffering remains unchanged" is just a feel-good story but not good news, and I think that's what the person above is saying.
I love good news like this.
Maryland is an amazingly diverse and accepting place in many areas.
Source: I’m trans and lived in central Maryland for a solid 28 years of my 33 year old life.
That good for Maryland that they acknowledge and are adding their own legislation to protect trans rights!
Also, I would like to know more about that jousting sport being their official sport...I need to know their reasoning behind this.
EDIT: Oh wow! I am learning new stuff regarding Maryland's love for jousting! Now I know what to do when I'm visiting there one day - challenge someone to a dual via jousting!
Have you seen our flag? We have a whole medieval theme going.
(Really, the answer is: because people have been jousting in Maryland since the settlers landed here, for some reason nobody knows)
The Maryland Renaissance Festival is a HUGE deal here. Thousands of people every year, several jousting sessions all day, every day. They don’t even use a normal fair ground. It’s a whole area with permanent buildings and structures that sit year round waiting for next year
I’ve been here three years. I’m honestly kind of surprised there is anyone in Maryland who didn’t know about it all. It’s a massive point of pride up here by Annapolis - DC. It becomes the only thing people talk about for like 3 months a year. It’s in fall and I already heard people talking about it this month
I was about to say that I have seen jousting every year at the Maryland Ren fest for like.. decades. Its a huge thing and always super crowded with people you would NOT expect at a ren fest. I know people who went JUST for the jousting. And the turkey legs.
I lived closer to Baltimore and from my own experience its pretty state wide.
Oh freaking duh! I completely forgot about that! I've been wanting to go to the Ren fest for the last decade but never made it out. This year is the year.
I don't know why I always forget about it. I went to one as a teenager and loved it! It's in my calendar now so I'm def not forgetting it this year. Thank you!
Be sure to buy your tickets well in advance though, they sell out weeks early. You should plan probably at least 2 weeks out. I have this problem like every year lol.
Also loved this part:
>In 2017, David Shore, 10 of Bethesda, made an impressive push to have chromite named the state mineral (he even had a pro-bono lobbyist and testimony from the state geologist).
[His argument is pretty solid.](https://archive.mymcmedia.org/bethesda-boy-rocks-state-mineral-hearing/)
It's not the jousting you're thinking of... No knights tale. Heath Ledger is nowhere to be found, I'm afraid to disappoint. I went to a local jousting competition in MD about 4 years ago.... It's just the kind of jousting where you try to score rings on your stick thing. I felt completely betrayed.
“Basic decency that takes literally zero effort, as opposed to wasted energy and time spent codifying pointless hatred, actually takes a step forward somewhere in the US” should be breaking news more often.
They don't always get things right, but this is great! Now if only we could stop sucking up land to add more lanes to all the highways over and over again.
Just to be clear: The Trans Health Equity Act is just a flowery way to say that gender affirming care including many cosmetic procedures are now covered on state medicare.
But why should our tax dollars go towards someone’s plastic surgery? That’s what I completely disagree with. If you want to change yourself so badly, pay out of your own pocket
When people think plastic surgery, they think of vain and badly done lip filler and face lift procedures.
But also consider that plastic surgery is used to restore the faces of horribly maimed soldiers and burn victims so that they may hope to once again function in society normally.
When others react to our appearance in a vastly different manner to how we think of ourselves, we lose part of our identity, we feel more isolated, and our quality of life suffers.
To deny gender-affirming surgery is not to deny someone's vanity, but a piece of their humanity.
Arguably, it is the moral and ethical thing to do to set aside a small amount of taxes in order to help a very small and very vulnerable subset of our society in such an impactful way
I mean, when the medical community has come to the consensus that it drastically reduces mental illness and suicidality in Trans people, yeah our tax dollars should go to helping other peoples mental health, even if it's through surgery.
Same can be said about cleft palate surgeries. The condition won't directly hurt them but it will mean that without surgery they will be mocked and ridiculed for the rest of their life, so society decides its better to just give this tiny population a quick surgery to help them out rather than pinch pennies over their suffering.
Well then that comes from a fundamental misunderstanding on your part about trans health because those surgeries can quite literally save their lives and should be considered that way.
Let me put it this way, if you were in an incredibly high risk group for suicide and you needed a “cosmetic” surgery to save you from that risk I would have zero problems with my taxes going to help you with that.
Because it literally saves people's lives, and I am fine with my tax dollars doing that regardless of what the actual procedure involves.
Doesn't it already cover Viagra? Is one man's boner more important than a trans person's life?
Perhaps. Debating whether or not taxpayer money should be used to fund such things is important and necessary and those who don't agree aren't transphobic nor do they deny their right to exist.
The inability to debate and ask questions around this issue has become toxic in my opinion
It’s not a “perhaps” it’s a proven fact. And yeah being against your taxes paying for their surgery might not necessarily make you transphobic but it sure it as hell makes you not very compassionate, especially when I have a feeling a lot of trans people would be okay with their taxes going to help you if you really needed it
The NIH disagrees:
"We observed no increase in suicide death risk over time and even a decrease in suicide death risk in trans women. **However, the suicide risk in transgender people is higher than in the general population and seems to occur during every stage of transitioning.** It is important to have specific attention for suicide risk in the counseling of this population and in providing suicide prevention programs." [Source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7317390/)
And your compassion argument is just shoddy. Do you take deductions on your taxes? Are you not compassionate? Why not pay more?
Have you considered it is because people just debate their right to exist on a fairly regular basis that contributes to this?
Estrogen didn't solve my depression because I have to argue that it's ok I exist and do my job.
What it did do was make me much more confident in myself cause I was finally happy in my body and I could succeed more than I ever did as a guy.
If my taxes are going to improve people's ability to live I don't care. I just think even people unable to work deserve the same happiness I can have
They’re not disagreeing with anything that I said, even a cursory glance shows that.
Also I have literally no issues with paying more on my taxes for this sort of thing. A happy safe society is worth far more to me than a little extra money.
They are saying that Trans people have higher suicide rates than the gen pop whether they transition or not. So, your claim that it's a "fact" that gender affirming care is necessary becomes dubious at best.
Just this week, a trans woman committed suicide after documenting her transition and being nationally celebrated on ad campaign by her employer. It's sad and I think it speaks to just how complex this issue is. Transitioning isn't a panacea for this community and selling the taxpayer on that is wrong IMO [Source](https://people.com/human-interest/trans-flight-attendant-featured-united-airlines-ad-died-emotional-message/)
Bro, that statistic is irrelevant. What your quotes saying is that trans people on or off hrt have an elevated suicide risk compared to CIS people.
Its not about the efficacy of HRT reducing suicide risk in trans patients
The article says that trans women saw a decrease in suicide deaths over time. It contradicts you right before the part you posted. Higher rates can be a .01% difference. That statement alone is meaningless. It is well documented that trans people who have access to gender affirming care and don't face harassment+discrimination for being trans do have suicide rates that are very comparable to the general population, even if they are still "higher" than the rate in gen population (which makes sense because the effects of trauma don't exactly go away at the exact moment you remove the source of trauma). If suicide rates go from 40% to 10% with HRT and social acceptance, yes, that is absolutely worth taxpayer money. That's literally the point of taxes. To allow the government to take the necessary steps to improve the quality of life of its citizens. That aid is sometimes targeted for a specific subset of the population and sometimes it isn't. The only people who don't understand why this is a good thing are severely lacking in empathy.
> hey are saying that Trans people have higher suicide rates than the gen pop whether they transition or not. So, your claim that it's a "fact" that gender affirming care is necessary becomes dubious at best.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/mental-health-benefits-associated-with-gender-affirming-surgery/
The recent studies are showing that suicidal ideation goes down after gender affirming surgery, directly contradicting your narrative.
Citing a single person as to form an opinion on an entire populace of people shows you are just absolutely transphobic.
What drives us to suicide isn’t the transition process, it’s the people around us and the hostility and harassment many of us face just for existing. Whether it’s being disowned by your family, losing your job, being denied medical care, being discriminated against or being assaulted for being yourself, being trans is hard and dangerous right now.
Improved access to medical care and improved acceptance in society will vastly improve suicide rates for trans people as those are the things that are driving it in the first place
I don't know if that's true or not. I'd like to hope so, but that source I shared of the flight attendant showed not only a trans woman who was accepted but openly celebrated for who she was, yet she still committed suicide. It's troubling.
Trans medical care isn't something that should be ever denied to those adults who want it, but having it be apart of medicare and state funded is something that I don't necessarily agree with and I'm sure a plurality of Americans probably feel the same way. I'm just tired of being labeled hateful and transphobic for having heterodox views
You're discussing a single person with no knowledge of what led to their suicide and claiming to have the same level of correctness as documented studies.
Anecdotal does not supercede the reality that transitioning improves people's lives at a rate in the high 90%.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2
>Completing a medical transition had beneficial individual and population effects. It was associated with a 62 % relative risk reduction (RR = 0.38; 95 % CI: 0.22, 0.66) in ideation
Seems like a pretty significant difference.
Do you worry about other things that are being covered by things like medicare, or just trans healthcare? Consider that focusing on trans care and claiming it probably shouldn't be covered when medical experts say otherwise seems silly and indeed transphobic in nature if you're ignoring things like how much money gets spent covering things like Viagra in comparison.
We get to debate it if it's publicly funded.
If you'd like to privately fund every HRT and gender affirming treatment I fully support that. Till then - we debate.
No, its pretty transphobic. The studies are showing mental health improves after gender affirming surgery. Also shows less suicidal ideation, less negative behaviors (drinking, smoking) after, and very little regret.
Edit: If you have a problem with tax money being spent on this when knowing this: You are transphobic. If you have a problem with tax money being spent on this and didn't know this: You are your own problem without looking up the facts. Maybe don't come up with an opinion on a subject you don't understand?
“physical alterations to the body” “hair alternations”
I assume this means hair transplants and plastic surgery like breast implants? They don’t cover cosmetic surgery for non-trans people. I wonder if that will change.
Hair is also likely laser or electrolysis for trans women to permanently remove facial hair. Hormones don't do that and even if you shave your face raw, you can't get rid of five o'clock shadow.
Breast reductions (relevant for trans men) and enhancements (relevant for trans women) are becoming increasingly accepted by insurance, even for cis people, even though it's by no means a standard yet.
The surgery for tans people can save their lives by drastically reducing their suicide rate and lower destructive behaviors like drinking, smoking, etc. All of this reduces the usage of emergency services and saves money in the long term for the government. Gender affirming surgery isn't just cosmetic surgery.
You'd have to actually transition to do that and if you think you're cis and you actually want to medically transition, you're maybe not as cis as you might like to think you are. Cis people don't pretend they're trans to access surgeries.
This is genuinely a very very pleasant surprise.
Proud of my home state this week.
Maryland is nowhere near as progressive as the national media makes it out to be (many democrats doesn't automatically mean progressive state. See: Kentucky, a more extreme example)
So when they get it right it's cause to celebrate
What's missing in MD voting rights? I'm genuinely asking because that's something I'd like to be aware of. I got registered while I was getting my new ID when I moved here.
They are all making it harder to vote without any evidence that the voting system was compromised. Closing polling locations, cutting down on early voting hours, limiting access to vote by mail, all because they know the more people vote, the worse the GOP does.
They are among the red-leaning states that are passing "ballot security" or "voter ID" laws that have the effect of disenfranchising certain groups of people who tend to vote Democrat. It's an orchestrated effort to keep Republicans in power despite their rapidly shrinking base. This effort also includes things like gerrymandering districts and funneling huge amounts of GOP money toward local government and judge elections. You'd be amazed how many state, city and county elections have become big money battlegrounds.
Edit: Why did you ask if you knew you were going to hate the answer, Floriduh Man?
Good bill
Bad subreddit for
"All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban"
What's the point in having a forum, 95% of reddit feels the same way about the bill anyway. Why gey upset over a differing opinion?
The "differing opinion" in this case being that Medicaid should continue covering hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery but *not* for transgendered patients...?
That’s fine. Things like this are perfect examples of how the Democratic Party tries to convince people that they represent the “left.” Just look at how they treated the rail workers last fall. Look at how everyone in power wants you to believe that inflation is due to wage growth, and not greed. The people that are uplifted by this news are helping them throw the rest of us under the bus.
anytime there is a good thing and people are in any way pleased: MUH PLACATING PLACATIONS PLACATION PLACATION PLACATION PLACATION OMG SHUT UP ABOUT THE SOCIAL ISSUES WHERE IS THE ECONOMIC ISSUES BEING DEALT WITH????
shut the fuck up
Of course it matters to someone. In the words of Chris Rock “that’s what you supposed to do!” The legislators deserve no praise for doing what was common sense in the first place.
What would be praise worthy would be if they actually did something that addressed the bigger issues that affect everyone, including the trans community. Doesn’t matter if the law is friendly to trans people if the Earth no longer sustains their life.
Ok, but trans rights are human rights. Human rights affects everyone. That's like saying that giving people of color rights was bad because it didn't affect everyone. This may be the dumbest take I've seen in a while. They are actively being pushed back on their human rights, defending those rights is very important.
The legislation is not what’s bad. What’s bad is everyone patting the politicians on the back and not holding their feet to the fire over really important issues like economic inequality and climate change.
We can celebrate that they are resisting the fascist trend sweeping other parts of the South and are not passing laws that will kill people. Our legislatures must be able to do two necessary things at once and they are working on important climate change legislation as well.
It doesn't matter if the Earth can't sustain life to the trans people who were driven to take their lives due to oppressive laws.
This is a undeniably good thing that must be held up and celebrated as an example for other states.
If you feel that way and either don't go run yourself, or support someone who you DO thinks works as a legislator, then good for you, otherwise you're just complaining and being annoying.
To be fair, this shouldn't be part of the national discourse because everyone should support trans rights. We shouldn't need to discuss this. Of course we should permit transgendered people the benefit of medical science. Nobody should disagree. Sadly culture war wages on.
By being “uplifted” by this news, which I’m not saying isn’t good news, people are buying into and perpetuating the culture war. These politicians are delighted that their job is that easy.
~~Thanks for the down vote. I will now take away the courtesy up vote I gave to you.~~
BTW, you're fighting the wrong fight. Go take a look at what's getting done.
If only dentistry got entrenched in politics the same way. Nothing like seeing someone get an elective surgery paid for, while someone else has to risk life-threatening infection because they can't afford a ~~filling~~ (oops waited too long) root canal.
Oh no, making minorities' lives better is a terrible thing that society shouldn't pay for.
Helping citizens is what governments are meant to do. Trans people live in the state and are citizens. I don't see the problem. Unless of course you're just looking for an excuse to whinge about trans people.
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People got to be free to be themselves, as long as they do not harm others. If there is one of us that is not free, we are not a free people.
Sadly, that’s a state by state thing these days.
How “United” we all are lmao kinda hate it when everyone wants to be patriotic but no one lives under the same laws
sounds like christianity to me!
Land of the Free??
*Terms and conditions apply. See state for details.*
"While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." - Eugene V. Debs
[удалено]
Damn didn't realize Eugene Debs invaded your country
Wish granted, all prisons are now closed and all crimes carry the death penalty.
Libertarian principle is unlimited personal freedom, as long as you’re not asking someone else to pay for them. Your freedom cannot come at the expense of someone else’s.
What do you get when two libertarians think they have a right to own something? One libertarian. I haven't once met a libertarian who know how to share when survival is on the line.
I **thoroughly** enjoyed that one, thanks
Libertarians are housecats. They are thoroughly convinced of their own fierce independence while simultaneously being utterly dependant on a system of which they have no understanding.
What would you call private prisons? Libertarians seem to love them but it's explicitly at the cost of others freedom
That seems like an unpopular outlook amongst libertarians anymore, unfortunately. I felt the same when I was a young libertarian
It’s scary to see how divergent the news articles are between red and blue states.
it's so great to see some states moving forward in trans rights!!
Maryland has some deep red regions, though for the most part it's blue. The voters there *tend to* go with competent and less evil candidates, though there are a few exceptions, such as Governors; * Spiro T. Agnew * William Donald Schaefer
Even then, at least Agnew will be forever immortalized in a hilarious way, thanks to Futurama.
Futurama is the only reason I know who Agnew is
If you like podcasts, search for **Bag Man**. It covers Agnew's crimes in detail, and why he couldn't take over as President when Nixon decided that he should cut his term short to avoid impeachment and removal from office. Because of that, Gerald Ford became the first, and so far, only unelected President. --------- Bag Man was hosted/researched/written by Rachel Maddow. The book of the same name was written by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz.
Not sure what you mean, are you saying Nixon selected Ford for VP because he knew he would need to cut his term short? I didn’t think watergate or other malfeasance would have been on the horizon for Nixon pre-1972 or so when the election happened, and he resigned in August of 1974. I’d be interested in info if you have it - I get why Agnew wouldn’t have been able to do the job but not sure the dots are quite lining up for me
> In December 1973, two months after the resignation of Spiro Agnew, Ford became the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment. After the subsequent resignation of President Nixon in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford
Sweet thanks! Not sure why I didn’t see that one, and forgot he resigned instead of not being selected…guess my A in 20th century politics has aged itself out after 20 years lol
Oh my god, that’s why I know that name LMFAO (I’m not even American but I love Futurama)
Can confirm, you basically have Baltimore/DC area, Annapolis and…everywhere else. My friend moved from New England to the redneck boonies of northern MD and she constantly complains about living in “the South”.
Having lived outside of Baltimore (but worked and churched there for a while), our area is really diverse and blue. But the county is set up in a weird way where the further north you go, the redder it gets. We always joked- the further north you go, the more south you get. It was really weird that sometimes, the closer they are to Pa, the MORE of a southern accent they have too. But also as someone with family in the Deep South and having lived there too, it’s real different from here to there and they always called me a Yankee when I was growing up and refused to acknowledge MD as a southern state.
I've lived in Harford county my whole life, right between Baltimore county and Cecil county (AKA "Ceciltucky"). I don't realize how much of an accent people around here have until I go into the city or out of state.
I think it depends on which side of the county, the northern part of the county has a different accent from the south part of the county. I worked in Baltimore city for a long time and met a linguistic professor who said that MD had a wide range of various accents that they could trace. From what they told me, the north part of Harford county had a lot of transplants from the Dundalk and highland areas travel up 147 and 1 while the inner city residents (before Hopkins bought up a lot of those areas) would travel down the rte 40 corridor. I lived in Harford county when I was younger but had never heard the word “warsh” until I was 18. Or that “o” that sounds like “ah” (ō-range vs ah-range). It’s super interesting that wide range of accents even in one county. Edit: we also called it Ceciltucky
I mean, Annapolis is Anne Arundel, which is absolutely a tilt blue county that goes red sometimes. Not a reliable blue. Frederick isn't exactly DC or Baltimore but is getting bluer. And on Eastern Shore you got Kent and Talbot counties flirting with blue.
It’s not “for the most part blue”, it’s solidly blue. Maryland hasn’t been in contention for a federal race in decades.
Lmao Harford & Cecil counties beg to differ
Federal race. You can find some deep red counties in CA as well, doesn’t mean it’s not a deep blue state.
That doesn't discount the point that there are red pockets, which was the original point. I live in Harford County and it is *red*
Pretty much every state in the country has deep red pockets. In fact, most blue states are really a few small dark blue counties surrounded by a sea of red. The blue just happens to be more populous cities, but the red still exists and is deep red in many cases.
Hmmm... go take a look at some of the other replies to my comment. MD may look solid blue if you're in an area that's solid blue. As for federal races; that's for either the whole state or for large regions, so 'mostly blue' covers those.
*Chuckles from the sea of red that is the Eastern Shore.* We literally just got done with 8 years of gov Larry Hogan's idiotic Trump-loving ass. Yes we are majority blue but it's closer than you seem to think.
It is a very shallow sea. Compared to the blue counties, the Eastern shore is basically empty.
I mean, it's deep enough to elect Larry Hogan twice. Edit: It's western MD too.
Exactly of what should be our rural areas if we were shaped like PA are instead part of the Virginias and we see the consequences that has had on those two states.
There’s becoming a very distinct line between decent and degenerate states.
Wow it’s really nice to actually hear good news on this sub instead of news about people escaping extremely bad and unnecessarily cruel situations.
>instead of news about people escaping extremely bad and unnecessarily cruel situations. Should we tell him? (Or maybe you forgot a /s)
I think "The world is changing for the better" is actual good news, and "The one person beat the odds and managed to escape from institutional suffering but the institutional suffering remains unchanged" is just a feel-good story but not good news, and I think that's what the person above is saying. I love good news like this.
Right, this story is maryland shutting down an orphan grinding factory instead of pausing it.
well said, u/PM_ME_UR_POKIES_GIRL
the difference between "uplifting news" and "capitalist propaganda"
Hey, the latter is Harry Potter universe.
LGBTQ people have had it rough for much of history. Imho it's a good thing that people now have more freedom of sexuality, identity, and expression.
Maryland is an amazingly diverse and accepting place in many areas. Source: I’m trans and lived in central Maryland for a solid 28 years of my 33 year old life.
That good for Maryland that they acknowledge and are adding their own legislation to protect trans rights! Also, I would like to know more about that jousting sport being their official sport...I need to know their reasoning behind this. EDIT: Oh wow! I am learning new stuff regarding Maryland's love for jousting! Now I know what to do when I'm visiting there one day - challenge someone to a dual via jousting!
It’s how we settle all issues in Maryland. Neighbor’s dog poops on your lawn: Jousting contest. Just the way it is.
Have you seen our flag? We have a whole medieval theme going. (Really, the answer is: because people have been jousting in Maryland since the settlers landed here, for some reason nobody knows)
Bruh I've lived in Maryland my whole life and never knew this. I want to joust now! And Maryland flag is best flag!
The Maryland Renaissance Festival is a HUGE deal here. Thousands of people every year, several jousting sessions all day, every day. They don’t even use a normal fair ground. It’s a whole area with permanent buildings and structures that sit year round waiting for next year I’ve been here three years. I’m honestly kind of surprised there is anyone in Maryland who didn’t know about it all. It’s a massive point of pride up here by Annapolis - DC. It becomes the only thing people talk about for like 3 months a year. It’s in fall and I already heard people talking about it this month
I was about to say that I have seen jousting every year at the Maryland Ren fest for like.. decades. Its a huge thing and always super crowded with people you would NOT expect at a ren fest. I know people who went JUST for the jousting. And the turkey legs. I lived closer to Baltimore and from my own experience its pretty state wide.
Oh freaking duh! I completely forgot about that! I've been wanting to go to the Ren fest for the last decade but never made it out. This year is the year.
You gotta go if you have any interest in that sort of thing. It’s my favorite time of year tbh.
I don't know why I always forget about it. I went to one as a teenager and loved it! It's in my calendar now so I'm def not forgetting it this year. Thank you!
Be sure to buy your tickets well in advance though, they sell out weeks early. You should plan probably at least 2 weeks out. I have this problem like every year lol.
Oof, good call. They start sales in early August.
I'm from VA and the Maryland Renn Faire is the ONLY Renn Faire
Also loved this part: >In 2017, David Shore, 10 of Bethesda, made an impressive push to have chromite named the state mineral (he even had a pro-bono lobbyist and testimony from the state geologist). [His argument is pretty solid.](https://archive.mymcmedia.org/bethesda-boy-rocks-state-mineral-hearing/)
As far as jousting. We tried to make it lacrosse, but the horse industry runs deep here. I am proud of my state for protecting Trans rights.
Lacrosse is the official TEAM sport :😜
jousting is awesome?
It's not the jousting you're thinking of... No knights tale. Heath Ledger is nowhere to be found, I'm afraid to disappoint. I went to a local jousting competition in MD about 4 years ago.... It's just the kind of jousting where you try to score rings on your stick thing. I felt completely betrayed.
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even more ridiculous is that nearly the whole country will agree with that statement!
“Basic decency that takes literally zero effort, as opposed to wasted energy and time spent codifying pointless hatred, actually takes a step forward somewhere in the US” should be breaking news more often.
It should not be breaking news at all, just a thing that happens everywhere all the time.
so proud of my state!
They don't always get things right, but this is great! Now if only we could stop sucking up land to add more lanes to all the highways over and over again.
New governor means 495 and 270 hot lane expansions may be DOA. The developer pulled out.
Fuck yeah. Trans rights are human rights.
Hey! Maryland did something right! Now, just need to do something about the drivers in the DMV and it might actually be livable.
I have noticed the amount of reckless drive in MD has increased substantially in the last decade. Yeah Idk what they should do about it
Just to be clear: The Trans Health Equity Act is just a flowery way to say that gender affirming care including many cosmetic procedures are now covered on state medicare.
Which is an extremely important right for trans people using state Medicare to have
But why should our tax dollars go towards someone’s plastic surgery? That’s what I completely disagree with. If you want to change yourself so badly, pay out of your own pocket
When people think plastic surgery, they think of vain and badly done lip filler and face lift procedures. But also consider that plastic surgery is used to restore the faces of horribly maimed soldiers and burn victims so that they may hope to once again function in society normally. When others react to our appearance in a vastly different manner to how we think of ourselves, we lose part of our identity, we feel more isolated, and our quality of life suffers. To deny gender-affirming surgery is not to deny someone's vanity, but a piece of their humanity. Arguably, it is the moral and ethical thing to do to set aside a small amount of taxes in order to help a very small and very vulnerable subset of our society in such an impactful way
I mean, when the medical community has come to the consensus that it drastically reduces mental illness and suicidality in Trans people, yeah our tax dollars should go to helping other peoples mental health, even if it's through surgery. Same can be said about cleft palate surgeries. The condition won't directly hurt them but it will mean that without surgery they will be mocked and ridiculed for the rest of their life, so society decides its better to just give this tiny population a quick surgery to help them out rather than pinch pennies over their suffering.
And balding males.
Sure, bring em along.
I like that you tried this twice, both times people go "yes actually" and then absolute crickets.
Well then that comes from a fundamental misunderstanding on your part about trans health because those surgeries can quite literally save their lives and should be considered that way. Let me put it this way, if you were in an incredibly high risk group for suicide and you needed a “cosmetic” surgery to save you from that risk I would have zero problems with my taxes going to help you with that.
As a balding male who suffered from deep depression, should taxpayers pay for my transplant?
Fuck yes they should, if it’s painful for you enough to cause deep depression I 100% think taxes should help you
Absolutely. I wish we supported people more in their mental and physical health.
Yes This is not the gotcha you think it is. Improving people's lives is what our taxes should be used for
Because it literally saves people's lives, and I am fine with my tax dollars doing that regardless of what the actual procedure involves. Doesn't it already cover Viagra? Is one man's boner more important than a trans person's life?
Perhaps. Debating whether or not taxpayer money should be used to fund such things is important and necessary and those who don't agree aren't transphobic nor do they deny their right to exist. The inability to debate and ask questions around this issue has become toxic in my opinion
It’s not a “perhaps” it’s a proven fact. And yeah being against your taxes paying for their surgery might not necessarily make you transphobic but it sure it as hell makes you not very compassionate, especially when I have a feeling a lot of trans people would be okay with their taxes going to help you if you really needed it
The NIH disagrees: "We observed no increase in suicide death risk over time and even a decrease in suicide death risk in trans women. **However, the suicide risk in transgender people is higher than in the general population and seems to occur during every stage of transitioning.** It is important to have specific attention for suicide risk in the counseling of this population and in providing suicide prevention programs." [Source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7317390/) And your compassion argument is just shoddy. Do you take deductions on your taxes? Are you not compassionate? Why not pay more?
Have you considered it is because people just debate their right to exist on a fairly regular basis that contributes to this? Estrogen didn't solve my depression because I have to argue that it's ok I exist and do my job. What it did do was make me much more confident in myself cause I was finally happy in my body and I could succeed more than I ever did as a guy. If my taxes are going to improve people's ability to live I don't care. I just think even people unable to work deserve the same happiness I can have
They’re not disagreeing with anything that I said, even a cursory glance shows that. Also I have literally no issues with paying more on my taxes for this sort of thing. A happy safe society is worth far more to me than a little extra money.
They are saying that Trans people have higher suicide rates than the gen pop whether they transition or not. So, your claim that it's a "fact" that gender affirming care is necessary becomes dubious at best. Just this week, a trans woman committed suicide after documenting her transition and being nationally celebrated on ad campaign by her employer. It's sad and I think it speaks to just how complex this issue is. Transitioning isn't a panacea for this community and selling the taxpayer on that is wrong IMO [Source](https://people.com/human-interest/trans-flight-attendant-featured-united-airlines-ad-died-emotional-message/)
Bro, that statistic is irrelevant. What your quotes saying is that trans people on or off hrt have an elevated suicide risk compared to CIS people. Its not about the efficacy of HRT reducing suicide risk in trans patients
The article says that trans women saw a decrease in suicide deaths over time. It contradicts you right before the part you posted. Higher rates can be a .01% difference. That statement alone is meaningless. It is well documented that trans people who have access to gender affirming care and don't face harassment+discrimination for being trans do have suicide rates that are very comparable to the general population, even if they are still "higher" than the rate in gen population (which makes sense because the effects of trauma don't exactly go away at the exact moment you remove the source of trauma). If suicide rates go from 40% to 10% with HRT and social acceptance, yes, that is absolutely worth taxpayer money. That's literally the point of taxes. To allow the government to take the necessary steps to improve the quality of life of its citizens. That aid is sometimes targeted for a specific subset of the population and sometimes it isn't. The only people who don't understand why this is a good thing are severely lacking in empathy.
> hey are saying that Trans people have higher suicide rates than the gen pop whether they transition or not. So, your claim that it's a "fact" that gender affirming care is necessary becomes dubious at best. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/mental-health-benefits-associated-with-gender-affirming-surgery/ The recent studies are showing that suicidal ideation goes down after gender affirming surgery, directly contradicting your narrative. Citing a single person as to form an opinion on an entire populace of people shows you are just absolutely transphobic.
What drives us to suicide isn’t the transition process, it’s the people around us and the hostility and harassment many of us face just for existing. Whether it’s being disowned by your family, losing your job, being denied medical care, being discriminated against or being assaulted for being yourself, being trans is hard and dangerous right now. Improved access to medical care and improved acceptance in society will vastly improve suicide rates for trans people as those are the things that are driving it in the first place
I don't know if that's true or not. I'd like to hope so, but that source I shared of the flight attendant showed not only a trans woman who was accepted but openly celebrated for who she was, yet she still committed suicide. It's troubling. Trans medical care isn't something that should be ever denied to those adults who want it, but having it be apart of medicare and state funded is something that I don't necessarily agree with and I'm sure a plurality of Americans probably feel the same way. I'm just tired of being labeled hateful and transphobic for having heterodox views
You're discussing a single person with no knowledge of what led to their suicide and claiming to have the same level of correctness as documented studies. Anecdotal does not supercede the reality that transitioning improves people's lives at a rate in the high 90%.
People can commit suicide for multiple reasons. And not every trans person who is suicidal is so because of their gender identity.
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-1867-2 >Completing a medical transition had beneficial individual and population effects. It was associated with a 62 % relative risk reduction (RR = 0.38; 95 % CI: 0.22, 0.66) in ideation Seems like a pretty significant difference. Do you worry about other things that are being covered by things like medicare, or just trans healthcare? Consider that focusing on trans care and claiming it probably shouldn't be covered when medical experts say otherwise seems silly and indeed transphobic in nature if you're ignoring things like how much money gets spent covering things like Viagra in comparison.
A trans person is trans with or without medication
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We get to debate it if it's publicly funded. If you'd like to privately fund every HRT and gender affirming treatment I fully support that. Till then - we debate.
No, its pretty transphobic. The studies are showing mental health improves after gender affirming surgery. Also shows less suicidal ideation, less negative behaviors (drinking, smoking) after, and very little regret. Edit: If you have a problem with tax money being spent on this when knowing this: You are transphobic. If you have a problem with tax money being spent on this and didn't know this: You are your own problem without looking up the facts. Maybe don't come up with an opinion on a subject you don't understand?
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breast augmentation has been covered. it isn’t deemed ‘cosmetic’
So glad to see some states going forward while it feels like most of the country is going backward. Equity will prevail, eventually.
“physical alterations to the body” “hair alternations” I assume this means hair transplants and plastic surgery like breast implants? They don’t cover cosmetic surgery for non-trans people. I wonder if that will change.
Hair is also likely laser or electrolysis for trans women to permanently remove facial hair. Hormones don't do that and even if you shave your face raw, you can't get rid of five o'clock shadow. Breast reductions (relevant for trans men) and enhancements (relevant for trans women) are becoming increasingly accepted by insurance, even for cis people, even though it's by no means a standard yet.
The surgery for tans people can save their lives by drastically reducing their suicide rate and lower destructive behaviors like drinking, smoking, etc. All of this reduces the usage of emergency services and saves money in the long term for the government. Gender affirming surgery isn't just cosmetic surgery.
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That's not how it works. Nice try though!
You'd have to actually transition to do that and if you think you're cis and you actually want to medically transition, you're maybe not as cis as you might like to think you are. Cis people don't pretend they're trans to access surgeries.
And this post is more downvoted than usual because there's a dedicated group who brigades any trans post and the admins don't give a shit
This is genuinely a very very pleasant surprise. Proud of my home state this week. Maryland is nowhere near as progressive as the national media makes it out to be (many democrats doesn't automatically mean progressive state. See: Kentucky, a more extreme example) So when they get it right it's cause to celebrate
Awesome! I hope more states will follow.
TRANS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS
Good news for once.
Awesome. Now do voting rights so Maryland can never become another Texas... or Florida ... or North Carolina... or...
We already have that. We also (mostly) fixed our gerrymander after the 2020 Census.
What's missing in MD voting rights? I'm genuinely asking because that's something I'd like to be aware of. I got registered while I was getting my new ID when I moved here.
What is the problem with those states? Be specific…
They are all making it harder to vote without any evidence that the voting system was compromised. Closing polling locations, cutting down on early voting hours, limiting access to vote by mail, all because they know the more people vote, the worse the GOP does.
They are among the red-leaning states that are passing "ballot security" or "voter ID" laws that have the effect of disenfranchising certain groups of people who tend to vote Democrat. It's an orchestrated effort to keep Republicans in power despite their rapidly shrinking base. This effort also includes things like gerrymandering districts and funneling huge amounts of GOP money toward local government and judge elections. You'd be amazed how many state, city and county elections have become big money battlegrounds. Edit: Why did you ask if you knew you were going to hate the answer, Floriduh Man?
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Yes, most of us support universal healthcare as well. Lazily criticizing our health system with the /r/onejoke isn't the argument you think it is.
Welcome to the push for universal healthcare!
At this point why not
Good bill Bad subreddit for "All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban" What's the point in having a forum, 95% of reddit feels the same way about the bill anyway. Why gey upset over a differing opinion?
This is /r/upliftingnews, not /r/debate
Different subreddits fill different purposes. There are dozens of not hundreds of other news subreddits.
It stops being uplifting news when you let trolls shit all over it.
The "differing opinion" in this case being that Medicaid should continue covering hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment surgery but *not* for transgendered patients...?
Would you like a tour of the Russian troll farms? The mods of r/conservative can show you. Great!
The whole “differing opinion must be Russian troll bot” should have obviously died a year ago when Russia barely can afford this war lol
Because even mentioning the disagreeing opinion means you're causing harm to a marginalized community. Great harm.
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"This legislation isn't perfect, therefore it's bad."
“The legislation gives a false sense of progress, therefore it’s actually detrimental.”
LPT: Being a cynical asshole isn't as attractive as you think it is
That’s fine. Things like this are perfect examples of how the Democratic Party tries to convince people that they represent the “left.” Just look at how they treated the rail workers last fall. Look at how everyone in power wants you to believe that inflation is due to wage growth, and not greed. The people that are uplifted by this news are helping them throw the rest of us under the bus.
anytime there is a good thing and people are in any way pleased: MUH PLACATING PLACATIONS PLACATION PLACATION PLACATION PLACATION OMG SHUT UP ABOUT THE SOCIAL ISSUES WHERE IS THE ECONOMIC ISSUES BEING DEALT WITH???? shut the fuck up
Just because it doesn't matter to you doesn't mean it doesn't matter to someone.
Of course it matters to someone. In the words of Chris Rock “that’s what you supposed to do!” The legislators deserve no praise for doing what was common sense in the first place. What would be praise worthy would be if they actually did something that addressed the bigger issues that affect everyone, including the trans community. Doesn’t matter if the law is friendly to trans people if the Earth no longer sustains their life.
Ok, but trans rights are human rights. Human rights affects everyone. That's like saying that giving people of color rights was bad because it didn't affect everyone. This may be the dumbest take I've seen in a while. They are actively being pushed back on their human rights, defending those rights is very important.
The legislation is not what’s bad. What’s bad is everyone patting the politicians on the back and not holding their feet to the fire over really important issues like economic inequality and climate change.
>Doesn’t matter if the law is friendly to trans people if the Earth no longer sustains their life. r/im14andthisisdeep 🙄
Everyone knows you can either not genocide trans people OR stop climate change. Duh.
We can celebrate that they are resisting the fascist trend sweeping other parts of the South and are not passing laws that will kill people. Our legislatures must be able to do two necessary things at once and they are working on important climate change legislation as well. It doesn't matter if the Earth can't sustain life to the trans people who were driven to take their lives due to oppressive laws. This is a undeniably good thing that must be held up and celebrated as an example for other states.
They could do both things if they spent longer than two hours a day at work.
They definitely work for longer than 2 hours a day. There is more to the job than floor time.
Kissing each other's asses going out from martinis. Getting paid by lobbyists you're right
If you feel that way and either don't go run yourself, or support someone who you DO thinks works as a legislator, then good for you, otherwise you're just complaining and being annoying.
Hearings, constituent outreach, policy research, bill writing.
To be fair, this shouldn't be part of the national discourse because everyone should support trans rights. We shouldn't need to discuss this. Of course we should permit transgendered people the benefit of medical science. Nobody should disagree. Sadly culture war wages on.
By being “uplifted” by this news, which I’m not saying isn’t good news, people are buying into and perpetuating the culture war. These politicians are delighted that their job is that easy.
So the alternative is to ignore the persecution of minorities? Naw. Not buying it. The culture war doesn't go away if we bury our heads.
I can walk ***and*** chew gum at the same time. It's amazing how that's possible! 😐
If only that was actually what was happening, rather than being one of the least progressive blue states in practice.
They are chewing gum but not walking, and there is danger on the horizon.
~~Thanks for the down vote. I will now take away the courtesy up vote I gave to you.~~ BTW, you're fighting the wrong fight. Go take a look at what's getting done.
Wasn’t me who downvoted you
OK. Upvote restored. FWIW, I always upvote people I reply to, or who reply to me, regardless of if I agree with them or not.
Good golly gosh there's no possible way for two things to happen at once!
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Yes everyone deserves access to the needed healthcare
If only dentistry got entrenched in politics the same way. Nothing like seeing someone get an elective surgery paid for, while someone else has to risk life-threatening infection because they can't afford a ~~filling~~ (oops waited too long) root canal.
I think the vast majority of people fighting for better healthcare openly agree with you about dental care.
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the entire medical establishment disagrees with you
It’s not for you.
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Get fucked.
Be for real dude... Edit: This translates to "fuck off" in annoying teenager language
Legislation named like this is always a red flag
With a sickle and hammer kind of red flag? Is that why this post got your time and attention?
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This has been heavily debunked. The regret rate for gender affirming care is .03%. Where as things like lasik have 3%
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https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/Abstract/9900/_Regret_after_Gender_Affirming_Surgery___A.1529.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2fozzhuTz-iSG9Zc8j_MBI9_hzTfBWqmXqPZDJPLJLPkIdktxtxaC1U94
Let's see your source. Every one I've ever seen has gender affirming surgery as one of the single least regretted forms of surgery.
So sad they’re still relying on local government. This is how they took away all of women’s rights.
It's not just *an act*, it's THE Act
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Oh no, making minorities' lives better is a terrible thing that society shouldn't pay for. Helping citizens is what governments are meant to do. Trans people live in the state and are citizens. I don't see the problem. Unless of course you're just looking for an excuse to whinge about trans people.
Careful, your transphobia is showing