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”.

  • Potato_in_my_anus
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    1 year ago

    There’s no need of doctors in the red states, they can just pray the pain away. If they die, well that’s God will.

      • CafecitoHippo@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        But at this point, what kind of care are they actually going to get if they’re too poor to move. They’re fucked either way because God forbid we help people in need.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It is but given that I did it, and I am hardly impressive, and pretyyy much every day I see immigrant families who did a much more difficult version my sympathy levels arent very high. Except for the teens and kids. They are fucked until 18.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          If you have a kid, giving up everything including their welfare and education just so you can move is kind of abusive.

          • NABDad@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            If you have a kid, you should be ensuring that they live in a safe, healthy environment where they have the chance to succeed. If that means moving, move. If that means staying stay. If that means fighting the fascist scum who want everyone to suffer, fight.

          • dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Honestly, leaving a red state would arguably give them a better education. It’s more likely that people would be leaving behind friends and family which, in this day with very little social nets and high prices, is incredibly difficult, not to mention the emotional toll on some people.

    • ChapolinColoradoNZ@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      by your logic there’s no need for international refugees on blue states either. red states can deal with them. (I’m being ironic here as your logic is as bigoted as theirs and, imho, that’s not the way to resolve it)

      • 0110010001100010@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        …da fuck does that even mean? And how is saying red states pushing doctors away bigoted? They voted for this, they get to deal with the consequences. FAFO.

          • 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.

      • Potato_in_my_anus
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        1 year ago

        Sarcasm 🙄

        sär′kăz″əm noun

        A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule.A form of wit characterized by the use of such remarks.A biting taunt or gibe, or the use of such a taunt; a bitter, cutting expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with scorn or contempt; in rhetoric, a form of irony; bitter irony.