1y ago

One of Louisiana’s only pediatric cardiologists has left the state over anti-LGBTQ legislation

www.cnn.com One of Louisiana's only pediatric cardiologists has left the state over anti-LGBTQ legislation | CNN

When Jake Kleinmahon and his husband, Tom, decided to move back to New Orleans in 2018, they had plans to live there forever.

…

But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

That’s when Kleinmahon said he started having difficult conversations with his family about leaving the home they love. When he explained to his six-year-old daughter that their family had no choice but to leave New Orleans, she said, “We do have a choice, just one of them isn’t a good one.”

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave.

In 2023, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in 41 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ community. Of those bills, more than 220 explicitly targeted transgender people. As of June, 77 anti-LGBTQ bills had been signed into law.

70 comments

Louisiana’s just beginning the “find out” phase, after fucking around and passing hateful, discriminatory bills.
- The people will find out, the fucks actually responsible for this will get the best treatments possible world wide.
  
  The people voted them into power so they can deal with the consequences. I know, not everyone voted for them, but then again, not everyone voted. Maybe the people will make different choices after suffering the consequences of their voting decisions. If they anger enough of the voter base, there could be some change. Or maybe Louisiana will become Mississippi 2, Electric Boogaloo.
  
  The only people who will "find out" are those who can't afford to travel for healthcare. These policies always hurt the lowest socioeconomic brackets first and foremost.
  ETA: To be clear, this is a bad thing. These policies are evil and disgusting. Instead of getting mad at the people who may not have even been able to get the time off to vote, let's be mad at the perps who put up these policies to begin with.
- They aren't going to find out. All the people are going to learn is that it is "ThE wOkE LeFt" causing all of these problems with their radical agenda.
  
  Typically these people "find out" when it matters to them. Their sister's kid can't get a surgery and dies. That's when it comes home.
  It's too late, but they didn't care until it was too late. Thoughts and prayers.
- They aren't finding out anything. These bills are having the desired and intended effect.
- Please find something new to say, it's so boring seeing people use that phrase.

Kleinmahon said he was also receiving hate mail at his job from people condemning him for being gay and saying he needed to “find Jesus.”
Oh, ffs. Religious types are the worst.
- No hate like christian love.
- These are definitely the same people who would praise God and only God after this doctor saves their kid's life.
- "I found Jesus, he's actually really cool, we're going to Fire Island together next weekend"
  
  Ooooh, I'm jealous. I heard Jesus was hung.

Soon they'll find themselves crossing state lines for life saving procedures, just like women needing life saving abortions already do in their states.
- And they will be angry at the doctors being so far way instead of realizing the true root of the problem.
  
  Unfortunately you're definitely right, they're gonna be mad that all the doctors were 'indoctrinated' into not agreeing with trans genocide and forced births
- Until they pass a law preventing the movement of people to other areas for healthcare because it’s too woke or something. We simply can’t have people getting liberal heart transplants, it’s against the freedom…of…the right to…bear freeze peach…I dunno
  
  Religious conservatives used to be against all sorts of medical and scientific practices, saying they were an abomination or an afront to God's plan.
- And I bet in some cases they'll end up running afoul of laws passed to stop people from crossing state lines for abortions.

The kids might die of undiagnosed heart conditions, but at LEAST they won't be Trans-Gay!! (disclaimer)
- That'd be considered a win for a lot of these people. They would rather their young children die of easily preventable illnesses then find out that they're gay.
  
  But if they are gay, then they should also be dead! Conservatives: Dead kids=gud 👍🏾 😊
  
  They would rather have ten cis kids die than one trans kid live.
  
  Or have universal healthcare.
  
  and christianity is, after all, essentially a death cult. dying is good because you either get to be with jesus or you get punished for eternity for not being christian.

They're fine with the kids dying so long as the kids aren't gay.
- Also fine with kids being massacred in schools as long as they can keep their AR-15s. No biggie...
- Dying is fine, just don't sin. Also, sin is whatever I say it is.
  Ain't controlling a religion fun?

Louisiana: We're not Mississippi, but dammit, we're trying.
- I think Louisiana is worse than Mississippi.
  At least Mississippi has some decent geography.

Why the hell does Louisiana only have one pediatric cardiologist?
- Because it's a for-profit healthcare system and that's not where they pay pediatric cardiologists what they feel they're worth.
  And when you're a pediatric cardiologist, you pretty much dictate your salary.
  
  What do you mean? Are public hospitals also for-profit in Louisiana? How can an employee dictate thier salary?
  Edit: also why the fuck am I downvoted? I can't ask questions?
- Smart people don't want to raise families in states designed to be at the bottom of lists like education, jobs, medicine, and happiness
  But hey, I'm sure the people still living there have owned the libs so many times, it's all worth it
- The title says "one of the only..." which I think they mean "one of the few..."
- It's not a very good state to live in.
  I'd say it's the worst.
- Maybe for the same reason they now have one fewer?
- The very end of the article said "Now there are two pediatric cardiologists in the state", which implies there were three before.

Excluding communities simply because you feel like theyʼre unclean is so... boring. Like, we as a species have done the whole / “racial purity” / “religious monoculture” thing for thousands of years now. Excluding people for non-violent reasons doesnʼt give you an advantage; you just get left behind as people with new ideas get poached by inclusive tolerant cultures that are intolerant of your intolerance. You can try to raise the switching cost by building walls and making emigration illegal, but sooner or later you get invaded; at best you get ignored and stagnate, dying an early death from silly things like tooth decay because you chased out all the dentists.

Idaho currently has this problem. Lots of specialists leaving because wtf, and moving to Washington and Oregon.

Thoughts and prayers, louisaians

I'm guessing most of you have lived in America long enough to know that we prefer our public policy to exercise cruelty in any way possible.

Not to be outdone in their race with Florida to the bottom...

Not the draining of the swamp I was expecting... brain drain

Jesus Christ. They’re the new black people. Except the old black people still face discrimination, and Italians, Irish, and Asians all got allowed into the “white” club.
- Asians all got allowed into the “white” club.
  Maybe it's just me but I really wouldn't say something enormously wrong on the internet.
  
  You must be new here.
  
  They may not be fully in the club, but they are still way ahead of Indians, Indigenous Americans, Middle-Easterners, Hispanics, and Blacks.

Good riddance to groomers

What exactly did the legislation do?
- A few are mentioned in the article:
  "Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed three bills, including one that banned gender-affirming care for most transgender minors, and HB 466, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that prohibited teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in class"
  
  At what age?

70 comments