It’s 2022, and that means children’s hospitals are now providing resources to adolescents who are
confused about their gender.
Specifically, Boston Children’s Hospital is doling out advice on a variety of topics under the banner of “Gender Services”. Included in a page/directory of links is advice for boys in regards to “safer tucking” and techniques to compress breast tissue called “safer binding” for girls.
Alongside a photo of a “trans-woman” is a list of advice and “comfort tips” such as:
“Trimming/shaving generally helps with tucking
Use a sharp razor and shaving cream or soap to avoid irritation.
It’s not possible to urinate while taped, so use the bathroom before you tape
Remaining taped for longer than 4–8 hours causes irritation, discomfort, and possible pain while urinating. Try not to tuck 24/7. Take breaks if you can.”
An attempt at medical graphics is listed on the second page with a definition of tucking and description of why it is done, which states, “tucking can help relieve gender dysphoria or make you feel better about your body”.
Under “comfort tips” for binding, the document appears to inherently understand the practice is
dangerous and stresses the possibility of injury:
“Binders are already designed to be tight. Getting one even smaller causes injury and discomfort... Binding while you sleep can further crush chest tissue and restrict breathing. Try to only wear it 8–12
hours at a time... Binders offer even more compression than the above methods. Many are designed for people recovering from breast tissue surgery, but today there are companies who design specifically for transmasculine/non-binary folks.”
The children’s hospital also links to Planned Parenthood resources under their links for “gender-
affirming hormone therapy”. The dystopian page showcases a range of stories from multiple
transgender patients as well asking readers to join their race-based, transgender “patient advisory
panel”:
“We're looking for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) identifying trans women and other patients who are receiving estrogen therapy at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts to join our quarterly patient advisory council with other trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive patients of color.”
Not to be discounted, also linked is a “Transgender ID” project through GLAD which seeks to assist trans-people in changing their legal name and gender on federal and state documents.
Don't you just love societal progress?