First of all, as a minor you can pretty much get a tattoo anywhere in the US as long as you have parental consent. So, legally, tattoos are not considered worse than “other things”, no. The people up in arms over gender affirming care for youths should also threaten and harass tattoo parlors that allow this horrible, permanent body mutilation to happen to children. Laws should be passed around the country with as much vigor and urgency as with laws against trans people, but they’re not. For some reason. I can’t possibly imagine why.

If your argument is that it’s hypocritical for a parent to refuse to let their child get a tattoo, but they’re okay with them getting gender affirming care, then you’ve missed the mark on that one too. Unlike tattoos, that have no value beyond the aesthetic, gender affirming care actually improve the quality of life for the person, reducing depression and the risk of suicide. It’s considered healthcare. That’s the argument you need to be fighting, not these strawmen ones. But I guess that’s not as easy. If tattoos were as important to a child’s well-being as gender affirming care is, then this comic would be making a perfectly valid point, of course. Come back when that’s the case.