Science Supports Trans People - Here is why

I often think of many of the social sciences as the real-life equivalents of quantum physics. By observing what is happening, you influence and change the outcomes, making it that much more difficult to verify. Furthermore, you have to go to extremis in order to get verifiable results which means you instantly doubt them.

If you are a grown adult and want to make these changes I'd say fair enough.

But kids are so young - they believe in toy story, superheroes and aliens and all sorts of stuff, how could you trust them to understand the complexity of gender, let alone put them through life changing surgery to change their genitals and block the natural course of puberty? They legally can't be trusted to drink a beer, drive a car, vote, consent to sex - I really don't understand it

Based on the abstracts, both of those papers have significant issues in how they were performed. Costa uses the CGAS as the measure of effectiveness of the treatment, but this is a qualitative number determined by the clinician after an interview with the child. To be used effectively, the rating should be done by a clinician who is unaware of the treatment plan in place for the child. If not, there is the risk of bias (conscious or subconscious) being introduced into the measurement.

Allen has no mention of any other supports put in place, which means there is no attempt to control for the beneficial effect of other aspects of treatment.

The data presented doesn't support the conclusion that hormonal treatments are an effective treatment for Gender Dysphoria or other gender incongruency issues in adolescents. To adequately support that would require a double blind test, for which obtaining ethical approval would be very difficult.

The Lancet Puberty suppression in transgender children and adolescents - The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology quotes research showing that 39% of pre-pubescents referred for gender incongruency had a persistent transgender identity in adolescence or young adulthood. Without medical intervention, their identity issues either resolve or get worse. Figures like that show that there is a requirement to be very careful about the use of permanent medical interventions for children who present as transgender. What is needed is therapy where the child is allowed to explore what their identity means to them, and to come to terms with who they are and to explore the positives and negatives of any future plans they are considering. It is important that his is done in a non-judgmental, but also not unequivocally affirming and reinforcing form, as ultimately the child will have to make a choice on if their best option is to learn to live in their biological sex, or to transition to their preferred gender.

On the article quoted in this, opposite sex twins in multiple species can have issues to to the hormones to which they are exposed in utero. In cattle, there is the freemartin (Freemartin - Wikipedia) which is an infertile female animal with male behaviours due to the exchange of genetic material with their male twin. This article is interesting, but the conclusion is slightly over-reaching, in that there is no attempt to remove the nature v nurture possibility, and would be better expressed as "These findings suggest the possibility of a role for genetic factors in the development of GID, which requires further research"

The one thing I struggle to wrap my head around is...

So when I was growing up(90's/00's) there was a push from people that we shouldn't pigeon hole folks because they don't like sport, wear markup etc...

So a boy who didn't like sports but instead like shania twain, playing dress up...was just a boy...a boy who happened to be gay and now enjoys wearing makeup and fashion etc...but still a man/male

Same goes for girls who would fit into the typical tomgirl stereotypes...it's just a girl who interests the differ from the societal norms...

But now...oh a boy who wants to wear makeup and listens to Little mix...they most be transgender...

There seems to be a bigger push within the fringes of the trans movement to pigeon hole everyone based on societal norms which to me seems utterly regressive...

When it comes to adults and transgenderism, give them mental health services and if surgery is the way to go, let they go ahead...but children...I mean that is scary...

This applies to many other areas - Climate Change a perfect example. Dissenting views won't bring in the $$$$$ and could get you fired from your University position.

related

It's why I find it difficult to wrap my head around the whole thing, especially some members of the gay community whole are welcoming this with open arms...

But it's not even gay/lesbian kids...it's kids who are different...would a child who cross dresses/wears make up like Noel Fielding/David Bowie be considered the wrong gender...

What's wrong with just dressing how you like...if I decided I liked wearing dresses, that doesn't make me a women, it makes me a man who wears clothes uncommon amongst men and nothing more