Just want to add here that someone being transgender does not automatically imply surgeries. Some trans folk do not do surgeries, either through lack of funds, or sometimes just not feeling the need to. They don’t necessarily connect what “parts” they have with defining who they are. And for others, this is a very important part of transition. Either way, it’s a very individual choice.
This is a downright bizarre analogy. Forcing a child to have sex is sexual abuse and rape. Amputating a child’s genitals is sexual and physical abuse. Both deserve prison time.
What’s the latest science on gender dysphoria? Why does it seem more common these days?
“Why does it seem more common these days?”
More common? Probably not. More acceptable to talk about it openly and live one’s life how one wishes openly, definitely. It’s always existed.
^^^ I was wondering the same thing. How is gender identity is diagnosed, what type of medical professionals do this and how are they trained and certified to be qualified? In science, pretty much every major field has many unresolved disputes and conflicting POVs, which take decades (or longer) to resolve. Anyone with proper scientific training understands the tremendous complexity and controversy of paradigm shifts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift
I am not familiar with the analogous process established in medicine and psychology, but, for instance, the precedent with implementing the science of obesity, hunger and satiety into medical practice does not seem very reassuring to me.
Not a good idea compared to what? Suppose you have a young child, assigned female at birth. The baby was born, the doc said, “It’s a girl,” and you have a daughter. But then, almost from the time your child can talk, they are adamant that they are actually a boy. When they get to be around 9 or 10, they will soon be experiencing puberty. The thought of growing breasts so horrifies them, is so foreign to their self-conception, that they say they’ll kill themselves rather than do it.
What do you prefer, a kid with puberty blockers, or a kid in a casket?
Giving a child puberty blockers is certainly a huge step, a step that should be taken after lengthy consideration. Why would you believe that the parents who agree to this are doing it lightly?
I agree not more common, but much more acceptable. When I graduated from college I knew exactly two people who were out. Neither in my class. When I went to my 25th reunion there were lots and lots who were out. A handful I somewhat suspected, but most came as a complete surprise. It was a different time.
Sports organizations have already thought about transgender athletes and have made policies (though the policies are not all the same, and you may or may not agree with them):
https://www.transathlete.com/policies-by-organization
https://www.transathlete.com/k-12
Well it’s a good thing that gender surgery is normally postponed until the trans person reaches adulthood, then. For a pre-pubescent child, transitioning usually means a new name, new pronouns, new wardrobe, and not much else. All of these can easily be reversed.
Never said anyone undertook it lightly, just that I think it is a serious mistake to do so in young kids. Ok, so the kid says they identify with the opposite gender. So? You can dress however you want, play sports, date, etc. Why does one define one’s activities so narrowly that one must be only a certain gender to participate? If a prepubescent kid is suicidal at the thought of puberty, that kid has way bigger problems than gender confusion, and hormones aren’t going to stop suicide. Pumping kids full of chemicals may be medically necessary to stop cancer or other invasive diseases, but not to stop natural healthy growth and development in a human body.
I’m not understanding what you are objecting to here, @roycroftmom. Young kids are not given “chemicals” when they transition. Older kids may get puberty blockers. Puberty blockers are also given to young kids (usually cis ones because most kids are cis) if they for some medical reason experience extremely early onset of puberty, like puberty at age 5.
How do you know this? What evidence do you have to support this assertion? I don’t know if I’d be suicidal if I discovered that suddenly my body was going to turn into a man’s body, but I would find it traumatic. That’s a normal reaction, not mental illness.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Agreed. And I will be the first to admit that I am far from an expert on this subject, but am always willing to learn. What I do know is that the rates of suicide and homelessness amongst transgender teens is substantially higher than the average, and those are critical issues.
That said, ToS guidelines are in effect on this thread. Throwing around terms like “child abuse” and “amputation,” aside from not showing ant apparent open-to-listen, will only spawn debate. Broader questions such as transgender and sports warrants a separate thread.
Cardinal fang,if the thought of puberty really caused suicide ideation, one would expect to see historically suicides spike in the 9-13 set, a group which has generally very low suicide rates, rising more recently for reasons more related to social media than gender confusion. Hormones released at puberty affect not only the primary and secondary sex organs, but also brain development. Suppressing those hormones, and/or introducing the opposite hormones, for decades beginning in a still physically immature being, is not risk-free. Artificially interfering with normal physical growth and development in a child should be avoided to the greatest extent possible.
@roycroftmom, you said that a trans kid who is suicidal at the thought of puberty is mentally ill, apart from being trans. You say that if the onset of puberty caused suicidal feelings, then 9-13 year olds would have a suicide spike. This misses the point. It is not the onset of puberty that might cause suicidal thoughts, but the onset of puberty into the wrong gender. Statistics about non-trans kids do not help us evaluate how trans kids “should” or do react to puberty.
Also, trans kids don’t take puberty blockers for decades. They take them for a few years, and then decide whether they want to move more into medical transition, or go back to the sex characteristics of their birth gender*. Doctors already know the effect of puberty blockers given to kids for a few years, because, as I mentioned, the previous use case for puberty blockers was blocking puberty in very young children, who take the drugs only up until the time for a normal-age puberty.
- Someone might decide to go back to their birth gender and not be trans, or they might decide to keep the physical sex characteristics of their birth gender and still be socially trans. The human experience has infinite variety.
One aspect of the transition process that comes after a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is very perplexing to me. From all that I’ve read, suicide rates and depression are extremely high for kids even after they transition. I wonder if those suicide rates are as high with kids who transition in a very supportive family/community? Because if they are, then maybe gender dysphoria isn’t really the problem? I guess I’m wondering if gender dysphoria is an easy/trendy “out” (because it’s in the news a lot these days) and way of trying to deal with a psychiatric problem that is much bigger - something along the lines of disorders of the self. Perhaps the child/teen thinks that if they’re the other gender, things will be easier/better and all of their problems will magically go away?
Obviously I’m not a mental health professional, but it seems like there could be some larger, overarching disorder going on and gender dysphoria is an easy way to put a name on a condition that’s really hard to describe, diagnose and treat?
I’d obviously never ask my neighbor about this … but her trans son seems just as unhappy, unpleasant, difficult, surly, ungrateful and just plain immature/clueless about how the world works now as he was 3-4 years ago when he transitioned from female to male. (He barely graduated from an alternative HS, does not want to go to college, wants to “live on his own” in an apartment with a friend but gets bored with every minimum wage job he’s ever held and quits after a month). This family can afford and went to very high-end physicians, had family therapy, sends the son to individual therapy, the original private school the son went to was exceptionally caring and accepting, his friends supported him emotionally, etc. So I’m not sure if they really got to the exact root of the problem since transitioning to male doesn’t seem to have improved the child’s outlook on life or their family dynamic.
^You can be trans and also have a myriad of other psychological/behavioral problems at the same time. Certainly many, many cis kids do. Transitioning can’t be expected to be a mental/psychological/personality panacea, and I don’t think that’s what trans folks are expecting it to be.
I would be wary about judging a neighbor’s son’s mental health. It doesn’t seem to me like you are in a position to know whether he is now happier and mentally healthier than previously.
I too worry that some kids with problems will hope that transitioning to the other gender will solve them, when gender dysphoria is not the underlying problem. I’ve read anecdotes that sometimes autistic people transition, and then discover that they are no more adjusted in their new gender than they were in their old gender. It’s absolutely true that a lot of autistic people don’t manage to live up to gender norms for the gender they’re born in (especially if they’re born female) but transitioning is, unfortunately, not a cure for autism. I don’t know how common it is for autistic people to transition; maybe the anecdotes are just an old wives tale.
I teach trans kids now and then (and I’m sure some I don’t know about). A couple years ago, a trans guy was definitely the class leader, best student academically, and always the most helpful in group, pair, and general class interactions. Became a peer tutor later on. I think this aspect has to be separated out from others, not considered to be what the whole person is about.
"I guess I’m wondering if gender dysphoria is an easy/trendy “out” (because it’s in the news a lot these days) and way of trying to deal with a psychiatric problem that is much bigger - something along the lines of disorders of the self. "
“it seems like there could be some larger, overarching disorder going on and gender dysphoria is an easy way to put a name on a condition that’s really hard to describe, diagnose and treat?”
People used to say this about homosexuals as well. Most people no longer think that way in terms of folks’ sexual preferences. Fortunately, most don’t see it as a disorder or psychiatric problem needing to be diagnosed and treated as a condition.
Most of my friends are queer with several falling somewhere on the trans or other minority gender spectrums. Some have transitioned, some haven’t. I’ve been lucky not to know anyone who’s committed suicide over their sexuality and lack of acceptance since high school. I do, however, know plenty of people my age who have no contact with their bio family due to their rejection of my friends’ sexuality or gender identity.
A delay in puberty is what a lot of my trans friends say they would’ve wanted so that the transition at an older age would be much easier. It’s easier to transition when you don’t have the secondary sex characteristics that don’t align with your gender identity.
I’ve never, ever strongly identified with my sex and would be just fine waking up tomorrow in a man’s body. I guess if I had to label myself, I’d be gender fluid or non-binary but I just call myself queer as, to me, it encompasses both my gender identity and sexuality as I’m neither cis nor het. So on a personal level, I can’t identify with trans individuals who feel strongly that their “parts” don’t align with their identity. BUT I understand that that’s how they feel and should be supported in whatever they choose to do. So long as you’re not harming anyone else, I don’t understand why anyone has an issue with whatever anyone does with their own body.
I also sometimes think that if I had grown up in a more rigidly gendered household, I would identify as trans. I’ve never been one to associate with feminine things. I don’t own make-up, I don’t do my hair in anything other than a ponytail, I’ve always gravitated towards “masculine” sports and hobbies, and so on. But in my family, that was fine. I’ve known other families where that would not be acceptable and it probably would’ve seriously impacted my views of my own gender.
One of the big pushes for our student union last year was to get trans health needs included in our grad health insurance. It was agreed and I know a handful of people who are now getting the therapy (physical and mental) that they desired and are much, much happier for it.