From dying patients, to tantrum-throwing trans teens, the fall finale of NBC's New Amsterdam was full of drama. In Tuesday night’s episode, Dr. Iggy Frome (Tyler Labine) has a transgender patient named Shay, who wants "top surgery"--a procedure that removes a woman's breasts.
Shay's supportive parents have reasonable concerns. Of course, in a normal world the psychiatrist would be trying to counsel the transgender teen.
However, in our politically correct liberal society, he is, of course, trying to sway the parents, with all the politically correct lingo, like "gender confirmation surgery."
Mom: We love Shay. We have been supportive of his transition from the beginning.
Dad: The new haircut, the new clothes. Even the hormone blockers. We never pushed back, not once.
Mom: But surgery? It's so permanent.
Dr. Frome: Well, you know, um... top surgery is the most common gender-confirmation surgery for trans men. Having a body that doesn't reflect your gender...that can be deeply unsettling.
Mom: Of course. We know. It's just-- -
Dad: Okay, I'm just gonna say it. He's not even old enough to drive a car. He's not old enough to get into R-rated movies, and he's not old enough to decide on his own to get permanent surgery.Dr. Frome: It's okay, it's okay. This is exactly where we can talk about all of this. So why don't you guys tell me a little bit about Shay before he came out?
Mom: It was hard. He was anxious all the time. Sometimes he had trouble getting out of bed.
Dr. Frome: What about after he started to socially transition?
Mom: He started smiling. Making friends. And when he started the hormone blockers he said he felt like himself for the first time.
Dad: Yeah.
Mom: My baby was 14 and he had never felt like himself.
Dad: And we're grateful he does. But when we said no to surgery, you know what he did? He threw a gofundme on Twitter to ask his followers to pay for it. And they did.
Mom: We're proud that he is a voice for a community. But he's just a kid. Our kid. Please tell him he can't do this.
Dr. Frome: All right, I-I understand that you are overwhelmed. But the positive changes in Shay since transitioning are undeniable. And emotionally? I gotta say, I think the emotions that matter most here are his. So... I am going to approve a medical evaluation for surgery.
It turns out Shay is a bit of a social media star, with 27,000 followers on Twitter. "They've been following me since the beginning of my transition," Shay explains. "Yeah, they can't wait for me to get top surgery. Now we're just waiting for Dr. Frome to, you know, do his thing."
The only issue is, Shay soon finds out "he" will have to wait a year. His reaction just about sums up the lunacy of the left.
Dr. Frome: Those are your epiphyseal plates. That's the stuff inside your bones that does all the growing. Now, looking at this, we can estimate more or less how much more growing you are going to do.
Shay: So how tall am I gonna be?
Dr. Frome: I'm pleased to report, tall. Not, uh, NBA tall. But, you know, top shelf tall.
Shay: #Topshelftall...
Dr. Frome: Yes, you are in very good health, Shay. All the doctors here agree that you will be a prime candidate for top surgery in about a year.
Shay: A year?
Dr. Frome: Yeah. I mean, I know you were hoping for something a little sooner, but, uh, we have to take medical into consideration. It's surgery.
Shay: Now you sound just like my parents.
Dr. Frome: Listen, you've only been on hormone blockers for about six months. We need to see how it affects your breast tissue before we can decide what surgery will be right for you.
Shay: So a cisgender doctor gets to tell me what's right for me. Okay. Got it. Got it.
Dr. Frome: All right. I hear that you're upset, but I need you to hear me when I tell you that I want you to have the surgery. I said so to your parents.
Shay: Screw this. And screw you.
Shay runs out and Tweets like, "Dr. Frome blocked my top surgery. Dr. Iggy Frome hates the trans community." and "What a typical white cis-male move. Dr. Frome's nothing but a transphobic loser." The story goes viral, making Dr. Frome, who is gay, look anti-LGBT.
We later find out that Shay's anger is triggered by feeling pressure from Twitter followers to rush into the surgery: "They're all counting on me to get it. And I told them I would. I mean, now, if I make them wait..." Dr. Frome reassures Shay that he’ll support the surgery in a year and that then the right time to do it is when Shay is ready.
Then again, one can argue there never really is a right time to do a medically unnecessary surgery to remove healthy body parts in an attempt to change gender.
