Bailey Mosling considers him Wisconsin’s top drag teen.
A recent visit to the home. Friday afternoon, he displayed a pink motorized truck toy truck that he had decorated for his 16thbirthday dragshow later in the month. He goes by the stage name of Nemo.
Bailey said that Bailey’s performances are planned and have a storyline. Some points are quite theatrical. “It’s a way for me to express myself. It’s an art form for my eyes.”
Bailey is a typical teenager offstage. He lives with his mother Dana and father Luke in Middleton. Logan is his older brother.
Bailey stated that while growing up is difficult enough, it is one of the best things about being a teenager. The estimated 150,000 transgender teens in the United StatesHe has to face challenges that many teens don’t have to face.
He told Wisconsin Public Radios that it was an interesting thing for his rights and identity to be up for discussion. WHYsconsinThe survey asked transgender minors to tell their guardians about bills that would limit the rights and freedoms of transgender people.
The Wisconsin Legislature was flooded with bills last year by Republicans that would have profound effects on the lives and well-being of transgender children. According to the LGBTQ advocacy groupFreedom For All Americans: Since January, more than 100 bills that would adversely affect transgender youth in the United States have been introduced in state legislatures.
With Democratic Gov., Wisconsin’s proposals are unlikely to become law. Tony Evers is still in office, but transgender teenagers such as Bailey still feel the impact of the conversations surrounding these bills.
In February, Wisconsin Republicans introduced a bill that sought to Minors are prohibited from obtaining any type of gender-affirming careYou can also take medication to delay puberty, or hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
The bill was introduced just a few weeks after Bailey had started hormone therapy.
“I was like, “Oh my God, this is why I spent so much time for it to be taken from me.” Bailey said that he was afraid while sitting in his living area surrounded his family.
“Can you read this?”
Bailey discovered the language to describe himself first in a book about a teenage girl who was genderfluid in sixth grade.
Bailey, now a sophomore said that she finished the book in one minute. She then went back to the first pages and began reading it again. “I can still remember reading it over again, and then putting it on my mom or something. And saying, Can you read this?
Bailey began to Socially, it is a time of transitionIn seventh grade, he had to change his hairstyle. He changed his name and pronouns when he transferred to another school in eighth grade.
It took approximately a year to get started. Puberty-blockersHe said. He started testosterone two years later.
Bailey stated, “When it got so bad that I knew my hormone blocker would stop working any day, it was a bit like, “OK, let’s speed it up, everyone.”
Bailey’s mother Dana helped him overcome the many obstacles to obtaining gender-affirming minor care.
Dana stated, “There’s a reason it takes so long.” “Part of it is making sure you have the right providers to have these kinds of relationships.”
Dana believes Bailey knows more about himself now than many people his age. She thinks this is liberating for Bailey.
Dana stated, “There is no longer an insane need to discover or figure things out. You can then just unfold your existence.” “Exist and unfold to become the person you will be.
She said that politics is preventing this from happening.
“The fact that our kids exist is a political debate right now, I mean that that’s a stressor most families never have to deal withDana said, “Yes,”
Dana stated that the family would be open to moving to another state in order to continue Bailey’s care.
Dana stated, “It would have devastating to move.” “The safety and well being of Bailey would be greater than where we live, that’s certain.”
“The right thing to Do”
Michelle Baade from Beaver Dam wonders about her family’s future in Wisconsin.
She has four children including Savannah, a transgender girl of 7 years.
Michelle stated, “Kids know their identity in the same way we did as kids.” “I feel that we should show the same respect and honor to trans people when they tell me who they are.”
Michelle stated that Savannah was telling her family repeatedly that she was a girl at the age of three and a half.
Michelle: “She just got more adamant until it was screaming at us.” said. “I finally said, There’s more to it. She shouldn’t be shouting at us like this.
Finally, they sought out answers by visiting a therapist.
“We said, “Here are all of the things that are occurring, and we just want her to know which signs we’re looking for that she might have been trans,” and she said, “Oh, you all have them all,”” Michelle recalled. “I just stated, ‘I’m done listening to her’.”
Savannahs age is the time for transition. Michelle said that Savannahs transition is as simple as changing your hairstyle or pronouns. There are no medications or surgeries involved.
Michelle stated that you don’t do anything for trans children. “You can change their pronouns, and they can get clothes if that’s what they want. Then you respect their choice with regards to their hair.”
Michelle said Savannah was larger than life after these changes.
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“There has never been a moment when we looked back and wondered if we did the right things.” Michelle said. “There was never a doubt of that. Her personality has come out so well that we are 100% sure that it was the right thing to have done, and she has never questioned that fact..”
Michelle Savannah loves sports and wants a place on a girls team. The Wisconsin Assembly passed bills that would prohibit Savannah and other transgender girls from participating in girls’ and womens sporting teams in state schools and colleges.
Michelle stated that she doesn’t think her kid won’t get to play because of her gender, but it is likely in the small conservative community we live in, it will be a problem. “The more bills that are out and the more hate and ignorance that is circulating about trans children, the more likely it will be that someone has a problem playing with her.”
Michelle stated that it creates an emotionally exhausting environment
Michelle stated, “I honestly don’t believe there are more hateful people than supporters. I just think that the haters are louder.”Our power is in our numbers. We just need to stop being afraid of offending anyone and step forward.”
“This is about a kid”
Jos from Eau Claire is the father of a transgender 6-year-old child. WPR does not use Joss’ full name to protect his daughter’s identity.
Jos claimed that his child came out of the COVID-19 epidemic as a person.
Jos stated that Jos felt it was important for Jos to be at home and have a safe place to practice her identity. “It was really important that we, as a family, really get involved in it and really learn how to be affirming.”
Jos said that his family has had a positive relationship with the wider community.
Jos stated, “Being trans has been just really transformative.”
He called the bill “demonic” for criminalizing gender-affirming care.
Jos stated, “This isn’t about debating some thing in a town hall.” “This isn’t about a statue or a book. Those are all important, but this is about the child.”
At the local level, trans-inclusive and gender affirming policies are also under scrutiny.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is a conservative legal non-profit that is suing Madison and Kettle Moraine school district over policies that encourage teachers use of students preferred pronouns without parental permission. Eau Claires school board president received death threats for similar policies in that district.
National effortsSome schools in Wisconsin have also requested that books with LGBTQ content be removed from school libraries.
Jos said it was frightening to take a risk on an issue where his daughters have already been a target.
“You don’t want that kind of violent attention to your house, but it is the only way you will be heard.” Jos said. “As a parent you are always fighting that personal impulse to bring it down, to protect your children, to protect that person, and to see them as people.”
‘Just too morally distressing.
Anne Marsh is a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin-Madisons School of Medicine and Public Health. Ryan, her 8-year old son, is transgender.
Anne stated, “Our son grew up in a home where he was loved unconditionally and welcomed into our family.” How do you show a child the world sees them differently and treats them differently? As a parent, it’s difficult to have this conversation with a young child.
Annes said she would resign from the position and move with her family of five If the gender-affirming legislation is passed.
Anne stated that it was too distressing for her to go to work every single day and provide quality, evidence-based care to children in Wisconsin. She also said that knowing that her child will not have the same care is a morally unacceptable thing.
She said that bills pertaining to trans children were “born of ignorance.”
Anne stated, “If you sit down and talk to people who identify as gender-inclusive or transgender, that’s how people’s hearts change about this.” “When we create a culture that makes it unsafe to do so,People are often reluctant to share their stories when they have concerns about their physical health or emotional well-being.
“We are just trying to live”
Republicans said that social transition and the use of hormone replacement, puberty blocking drugs, and hormonal replacement are harmful. In a January memo, lawmakers were asked to support the bill banning gender affirming care for children younger than 18. It stated that gender transition is not effective in treating gender dysphoria.
The memo stated that children are especially vulnerable and that we must protect and allow their natural development. “Time and experience have shown us that young people need mental maturity to make such important decisions. Therefore, we believe it is in the public interest to limit parental discretion.”
Many major Medical associationsDo not agree with the memo’s assertions Support the rejection of similar bills in state legislatures. However, we agree that gender affirming care is safe for the mental and physical well-being of transgender kids.
“There’s nothing to stop… random strangers from the Legislature being allowed to weigh in on this,” Megin McDonell (executive director of LGBT advocacy group Fair Wisconsin) stated.
For now, Wisconsin’s bills focusing on trans youth are not moving. However, they could be reintroduced next fiscal year when split control is unlikely to be possible. Bailey is nervous about this.
Bailey stated, “If these bills were to pass, and I can’t get the care I need, then a part of who I am would feel wrong.”
Bailey is focusing on finishing 10th grade, and then deciding what he wants to do with his life after graduation. He also looks forward to the birthday drag show.
Bailey stated that Bailey is not trying to change the world. “We are just trying to live in the most comfortable way for us to live.”