A gay doctor who is one of Louisiana’s only specialist paediatric cardiologists has left the state after the introduction of a Don’t Say Gay copycat bill and a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.

Jake Kleinmahon, who was one of just three doctors specialising in heart transplants for children in Louisiana, chose to leave the state with his family, as they no longer felt safe.

Kleinmahon met and fell in love with his husband Tom in New Orleans, and the couple expected remain in Louisiana, even after retirement. However, he told CNN that the state’s anti-LGBTQ+ legislation made him and his family feel unwelcome and that he ultimately “didn’t have a choice”.

    • esadatari@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      there is a difference between saying what you mean, personally, versus personifying what one imagines the GOP leadership running the state of louisiana would say based on their voting record and obvious stances.

      the person saying the comment above likely doesn’t think the people of louisiana don’t require doctors, but is instead saying that the state, as a whole, is reaping what they sow.

      it’s unfortunate that there are going to be a lot of people that get fucked over on this. and a lot of people will have to do a lot of traveling to get procedures done. and it’s going to be painful. and that pain unfortunately needs to occur, or else the powers that be won’t realize how far they’re fucking over the citizens of their state.

      it’s a hard lesson that’s being learned. idaho is learning it too. it fucking sucks.

      brain drain is real. and the folks that ensured that it was possible are going to reap what they sow.

      right now as far as lousiana the state government is concerned, they would rather have the coverage of a religious based rule than a gay doctor that could save the lives of so many children.

      in which case: the hyperbolic statement that “there’s no need for doctors in red states, they have prayers” is, in essence, an accurate hyperbolization.

      • orclev@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re mostly right, but you made one critical mistake.

        and it’s going to be painful. and that pain unfortunately needs to occur, or else the powers that be won’t realize how far they’re fucking over the citizens of their state.

        It isn’t the powers that be that need to learn the lesson there, it’s the citizens. Specifically the ones that keep voting for these shitstains. The ones passing these laws know exactly how much damage they’re doing, they just don’t care. They’ll only stop when enacting these policies makes them unelectable, and the only way that will happen is if their supporters suffer the consequences of their actions.

      • ChapolinColoradoNZ@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yes, agreed, they deserve what’s coming for them but the “hyperbolisation” (as you called it) it’s still wrong. They still have 2 other doctors there and I’m sure some other religious nut case will turn up to fulfil that position. Leaving them to their “hopes and prayers” is still as cruel as what these nut jobs wish upon the misfits. My take is that we can’t take the same exact atitude towards them otherwise we are just proving them right. “An eye for an eye” rings a bell, probably biblical too.