So apparently, the biggest story in healthcare right now is a nurse in B.C. getting sanctioned for being openly transphobic. Really? That is the scandal? Our system is slowly getting Americanized, healthcare workers have to do more and more with less and less, while a few more people get to profit from suffering. And this is what we are showing you? This is the headline?
Here is the thing. For every Amy Hamm who gets blasted across the headlines, there are five *guys* in white coats, usually in positions of authority, who make their transphobia known. They are like landmines for every other healthcare worker - you just gotta avoid them. These guys have the confidence of a man who has never been told no. They are untouchable. They say whatever they want because they know no one is going to pull their scalpel out of their hands.
But who gets picked for the news? A nurse. A woman. It is the perfect cherry picked character to stir things up. Look everybody, even your friendly neighborhood nurse has gone rogue. It is not an objective report, it is a cultural wedge.
I'm talking about transphobia so let's segue into sports. You notice how anytime people want to justify being a transphobic sack of shit, they drag sports into it?
They do not talk about housing, or jobs, or healthcare access. No, it is always, “What about the girls’ swim team?!” Like suddenly everyone in the country is an expert on high school relay races. They do not care about the sports, it is just the easiest way to make the prejudice sound like common sense. It is a marketing move.
And Amy Hamm? She is the same thing. She is not the story, she is a story that works. She is the wedge they can put on the table and go, “See? Even nurses are against this!” It is strategic. Pick the case that generates the most friction, blow it up in the media, and suddenly trans rights are back in the hot debate column.
Meanwhile, the evidence shows most of the truly vocal transphobia comes from men in power, not from women like Hamm. But those guys? They are invisible. They do not get sanctioned. They do not get front page stories. Because a surgeon mouthing off does not make for a good cultural flashpoint. A nurse does.
So let us stop pretending this is news. It is not about accountability, it is not about healthcare standards, it is about running the same wedge issue playbook they have been using with sports for years. Pick a case, blow it out of proportion, and let the culture war circus roll on.
Don't be a clown.