“It’s not an ideology!” was a common response to the Facebook ad for my NH state senate campaign that asserted that “Gender ideology does not belong in schools.”
An ideology comprises the assertions and theories that serve as the foundation for a sociopolitical program, and transgenderism is built on shaky assumptions that aren’t open to scrutiny or questions.
Here are a few assumptions that are damaging New Hampshire’s children:
A child can be born in the wrong body. Although child-transing advocates assert that a boy can be born with a girl’s brain, brain studies haven’t determined a distinct structure or pattern that accounts for atypical gender identity.
Teen transing isn’t a craze. The British government investigated a 4,000% increase in children seeking gender-affirming medical treatment and 9% of students identified as gender diverse in a recent survey of 13 US high schools. Research tells us that peer and social media influence are at least in part the cause of declaring a transgender identity. A prominent transgender therapist and activist has raised concerns about the spike in transgender identifications among teens during the COVID lockdown because of increased time watching social media influencers.
Being trans is an innate life-long condition. There are at least eleven studies that show that between 67% and 93% of children with gender dysphoria who aren’t socially transitioned or given puberty blockers and hormones will be content living as their biological sex as adults.
Regret is extremely rare. There are thousands of detransitioners, young people who previously identified as trans or non-binary but then “de-transition” to reclaim their sexual identities, sharing their stories of damaged bodies and lives of regret.
Although the rate of detransition for adolescent-onset gender dysphoria isn’t known, a recent study from a UK clinic suggests that 10% of youth treated with gender-affirming interventions detransitioned. Another 22% disengaged from gender services without completing their treatment plan.
Affirming a child’s gender identity is the only way to prevent suicide. “Would you rather have a living transgender son or a dead daughter?” is the cruel sales pitch of the gender industry. Yes, suicide rates are elevated for children with gender dysphoria, but an analysis of data from the world’s largest pediatric gender clinic, Tavistock in the UK, indicated the rate of suicide for children with gender dysphoria is .03%.
An international study concluded that suicidality rates among transgender-identifying youth are only somewhat elevated compared to teens being treated for other mental health issues. The claims of astronomical suicide rates usually come from biased self-reports, such as The Trevor Project Survey, which conflates self-harm and thoughts of suicide with completed and serious attempts of suicide.
More to the point, gender-affirming hormones and surgery have not been shown to reduce suicide in the long term.
In addition, children with gender dysphoria often have comorbid conditions such as autism, anorexia, PTSD, and depression that may account for the suicidality. New guidelines from England’s National Health Service recognize that “a significant number of children are also presenting with neurodiversity and other mental health needs and risky behaviors which requires careful consideration and needs to be better understood.”
Related: Gender Clinics Are Coming for Your Autistic Children
Advocates of child transing claim that emotional disorders and autism are caused in part by gender dysphoria and can be alleviated by puberty blockers and hormones, but these conditions often predate the dysphoria.
Because these ideological assumptions haven’t held up to scientific scrutiny, England, Finland and Sweden have dropped the affirmative care model and strictly regulate puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones for treating child gender dysphoria.
The French Academy of Medicine advises that “the greatest caution is needed in their use, taking into account the side effects such as the impact on growth, bone weakening, risk of sterility, emotional and intellectual consequences and, for girls, menopause-like symptoms.”
It’s past time for policymakers in New Hampshire to put gender ideology aside, to stop treating mental distress by damaging healthy bodies, and to conduct a systematic review of the research.
