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”.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s not necessarily a solution. Look at the UK- three major parties, but being run by the right-wing Tories. Or Israel, with a bunch of parties and it’s a mess.

        I’m not happy with either party in the U.S., but it could actually be worse, not better, because often it either splits the vote or requires building coalitions with extremists.

        • Arsenal4ever@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Canada has many parties but is about to become a right-wing nightmare.

          This isn’t a party problem, it is a comms problem. The right feels like it must stop progress for human rights in any way possible. Lying, cheating, whatever. And in many places, the right is funded by rich people who want less taxes and regulations.

          In Canada, it is tar sands oil. Since tax cuts and let’s screw up the planet are not popular, you need a wedge issue. Here’s Trump marveling at how a wedge issue is spread:

          “It’s amazing how strongly people feel about that. You see, I’m talking about cutting taxes, people go like that,” Donald Trump said while making a muted applause gesture. “I talk about transgender, everyone goes crazy. Who would have thought? Five years ago, you didn’t know what the hell it was.”

        • TheActualDevil@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          And lets be honest, those coalitions almost always end up being mostly a 2 party system with more steps. The elect a bunch of different parties, then those parties all group together in 2 sides mostly. Possibly leaving a few that aren’t included and then their votes mean nothing. It’s like gerrymandering in a different way. You don’t need to change voting districts, you just have to get another party that agrees with you on the important things to also win some elections. You could even argue that, while technically under the same name, the Tea party was kinda of that. A whole different kind of politician was voted in, with the understanding that they would just be agreeing with the Republicans on legislation. It’s obviously not quite the same, but it’s not far off.

          • barsoap@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            There’s literally 13 different coalitions in Germany for 17 (states and federal) governments involving five parties (not counting FW and CSU==CDU).

            What you don’t see is Left (demsocs) and either Union (conservative) or FDP (neoliberal pretending to be ordoliberal), but those pairings exist on the municipal level. Usually by the Left managing to remind CDU folks what the “C” stands for or chancing upon a left-liberal FDP guy (who exist, rare as they are).

            What you do see a lot, and I mean a lot a lot, is the Greens being in coalition with either CDU or SPD.


            Also, one important distinction: In a proportional system, there being two big parties is a reflection of the electorate’s position. In a FPTP system, it is due to the system itself, the electorate doesn’t get a choice.

        • Vuraniute@thelemmy.club
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          1 year ago

          something is better than nothing, also I’m not American and this is how stuff works here, with more than two parties, arguably more democratic but whatever ¯_(ツ)_/¯

          ps: not looking to get into a political debate.

          • cnut@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            What are we referring to as “nothing”? Because what Louisiana currently has is not “nothing”.

            And don’t comment on politics if you don’t want to “debate” (why everything a debate i hate the internet) or leave that little “tag” out of the comment because nobody actually gives a shit if you actually respond or not? You’re not that special, kid.

        • yata@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          The UK doesn’t really have three major parties either, it has two major parties and a runner-up. UK has many of the same problems with its political system as the US (not that strange, since a lot of the US political system has roots in the UK system), so it is a really bad example to cite as a different political system, because it really isn’t.

          Or Israel, with a bunch of parties and it’s a mess.

          Israel is also a very unique example with a unique set of problems literally no other country in the world has, so again, bad example.

          How about instead mentioning the many many countries with proportional representation which doesn’t have these problems?