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A year or two ago I might have shared this article believing that the mother was doing the right thing âtransitioningâ her child and that this represented a progressive approach to gender non conforming children. I didnât know then what I know now. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/my-girl-became-youngest-trans-20138358
I didnât know that about 85% of gender dysphoric children become reconciled to their sex as they mature. I didnât know that the majority grow up to be healthy gay adults. I didnât realise that the transitioning of children is therefore, in effect, a form of conversion therapy.
I didnât know that when a small child expresses a wish (or claim) to be the opposite sex they are likely expressing not an innate gender identity but a desire to do the things they see that other group doing, forbidden to them by notions of what is appropriate for boys & girls.
I didnât understand that affirming a small child who wants/claims to be the opposite sex creates a confusion between sex (which is immutable) and personality traits (which can vary widely across both sexes).
Telling children that certain interests or behaviours are only appropriate for one sex reinforces the message of playground bullies throughout the ages: that boys who are too âfeminineâ or girls who are too âmasculineâ are not proper boys or girls & should be ridiculed & shamed.
Give children the freedom to play and dress up as they wish. But donât tell them they have to âtransitionâ to do this. That is tantamount to telling them there is something incompatible about their sex and their interests/preferences.
To my shame I used to think that those opposed to the transitioning of children were intolerant traditionalists wedded to conservative gender roles. I did not understand what I realise now: that conservative conceptions of gender roles are precisely what drives this ideology.
I did not understand the role that groups like Mermaids play in scaring hesitant parents with bogus suicide statistics. https://www.transgendertrend.com/the-suicide-myth/
Most importantly I didnât understand what awaits a child like this down the road: drugs to halt the development of brain and body; life-long medication with potentially catastrophic effects on their health; loss of sexual function, infertility, and painful and invasive surgeries.
All of it a gigantic experiment on children with no scientific evidence behind it.
The people who helped me realise what was going on and to revise my former opinions are too numerous to mention. But here are a few: @Docstockk @SwipeWright @Transgendertrd @4th_WaveNow @will_malone @boodleoops @cwknews
And a great article: https://4thwavenow.com/2019/08/19/no-child-is-born-in-the-wrong-body-and-other-thoughts-on-the-concept-of-gender-identity/
And a great article: https://4thwavenow.com/2019/08/19/no-child-is-born-in-the-wrong-body-and-other-thoughts-on-the-concept-of-gender-identity/
