The Trans Issue

[Bluesaph]

Hi everyone. I was hoping I could get some of you research sleuths to weigh in on something.

My SIL is falling for the whole trans children treatment issue and laws being attempted by the extreme right about this issue.

He has sent me various YouTube videos and articles which make these claims (which I would like to refute):

1. Liberals are using kids as Guinea pigs and parents with purported trans kids are taking them to corrupt doctors and medically castrating their children and giving them mastectomies…

2. There aren’t really many trans or gay children. The kids are being brainwashed and being confused on purpose.

3. The research that shows that gay and trans children are susceptible to suicide is “disinformation”.

I can spend all week trying to research to refute these three main points but I am taking care of my mom who has advanced liver cancer and diabetes and I just don’t have the energy.

So if anyone has already done this type of research or could point me to a non partisan paper or something I could send him I would so greatly appreciate it.

[mercuryblues]

2. I would just ask her when she took her stupid pill.

And does she follow that with a daily hate pill?

Why is she so interested in someone's sex?

[gatomedianoche]

3. I recommend Erin Reed on Twitter

Erin Reed, @ErinInTheMorn, keeps track of all anti-trans legislation and provides invaluable information on her Substack account

[Mad_Machine76]

5. Seconded

She's super informative! Also, she has a Tik-Tok she posts to frequently about these laws, myths, etc. If you want to DM me, you're welcome to as well, but rest assured these are all right-wing lies and disinformation designed to drive up outrage and confuse the average person into, if not supporting, tolerating their legislative assault on us.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. The lies from the Right don't need to be spread here

we've heard them all.

[Bluesaph]

6. Thank you for the great lead!

I will check it out.

No thank you to the one who accused me of something I’m not doing. I don’t get how people get their kicks out of being mean.

[crickets]

7. Number of trans children and adults in the US

https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/transgender-estimate-press-release/

Press Press Releases
New estimates show 300,000 youth ages 13-17 identify as transgender in the US
Approximately 1.6 million people ages 13 and older—0.6% of the population—identify as transgender in the United States, according to new estimates from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. This includes 1.4% of youth ages 13-17 (about 300,000 youth) and 0.5% of adults (about 1.3 million adults).

Transgender individuals are younger on average than the general U.S. population. Nearly one in five people who identify as transgender (18%) are ages 13-17, compared to less than one in ten (8%) who are ages 13-17 in the general U.S. population. [snip]

“Advances in gender identity data collection over the past five years have provided a more accurate picture of youth in the U.S. who identify as transgender. Previously, we could only estimate that based on adult data,” said lead author Jody L. Herman, Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute. “These new estimates show us that current policy debates regarding access to gender-affirming care and the ability to participate in team sports likely impact more youth than we previously thought.” [more]

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/10/transgender-teenagers-young-adults-ucla-report

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/24/cdc-nearly-percent-high-school-students-identify-transgender-more-than-one-third-them-attempt-suicide/
No paywall: https://archive.ph/91f2c

Study Shows Significant Increase in Transgender Population Among Younger Generations
https://instituteofliving.org/health-wellness/news/newsroom-detail?articleId=42505&publicid=461

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/94-of-transgender-youth-maintain-gender-identity-5-years-after-social-transition

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/

This article is focused on adults, including young adults under 30, but also provides useful data regarding trans awareness.

I hope these articles help, Bluesaph.

[Bluesaph]

13. Appreciate it so much!

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[GoodRaisin]

8. First thing I would say to this person or anyone else who says this is "why

do you care? How does someone else being trans effect you? Why does it matter to you? Why is this so important to you when so much of your budget is being soaked up by health care costs?. With so many serious issues we have to deal with why is it necessary to interfere in other people’s private lives?”

Then an explanation of what “wedge issues” are might be in order. And, about what Republicans actually bring to the table other than their boogeymen.

Personally, I would not spend my time actually researching these lies to refute them. I tell them Republicans need to butt the fuck out of people’s personal lives.

[Bluesaph]

11. He's my SIL

And usually votes Democratic. But his family are all Trumpers and every time he spends time with them he could es back with the latest wedge issue of the day.

A while back it was abortion.

Now it’s the trans issue.

I’ve asked him why he cares and he says: he believes in protecting the children. 🙄

He prides himself on not being a party line Dem and having an independent mind but he’s obviously not smart enough to see he’s being hood winked.

At the very least I can give him some food for thought so he won’t be as susceptible to the bait when he visits his family.

[GoodRaisin]

14. Got it. A democratic voter falling for this is kind of an odd situation.

Especially since you had mentioned abortion had also been an issue for him too. He really doesn’t sound like a democrat but guess he might be one of those “true” independents (which I believe are rare these days).

A science based response is needed and you’ve been given a number of references already. I’m bookmarking your thread in case I see something I think would help you. You seem awful busy, so you might challenge him to bring the science based, non partisan research to convince you instead of you convincing him. There’s a ton of information I’ve seen but as you say there’s the need to weed out the partisan publications. Good luck.

[Bluesaph]

16. Thank you for your kind response.

Yes he is different. He was brought up in a white conservative Republican household but fell in love with my daughter and we are firmly left wing democrats.

They have been married ten years and in that time he has demonstrated an ability to see which party is for his own best interests.

The hook has always been abortion and those wedge issues that come up.

He claims to be pro-life but has conceded that in the first three months he would be ok with abortion. He has also conceded that he just does not know when a fetus receives a “soul” and he has also conceded that the health and welfare of the mother would come first before the life of the fetus. So we have made painstakingly difficult and time consuming progress.

And now here we are with the trans issue. He really believes that radical left parents and radical left doctors are out there “castrating” (trigger word/loading the language) children and removing breasts off of 13 year old girls. I’m trying to disprove those things but there is so much nuance that it is so hard.

Between taking care of my mom, running my own art business, taking care of my husband and all the other things that land on me, it sure helps a lot to reach out here to a community where many people have the knowledge already that they can share!

So grateful!!!

[GoodRaisin]

17. The question to me really seems to be whether or not he's willing to accept the data and scientific

evidence instead of what he believes that is not supported by actual evidence. You say he has shown himself (and prides himself) on having an open mind. Has he really shown that in this case? Can you challenge him with that, and get him to accept to look not at political sources for his answers but to seek information within the boundary of what has been established by the medical community through their work with transgendered youth. It doesn’t sound like he has gathered enough information on his own to understand from a medical or transgendered perspective, as would be fundamental to an open mind approach.

I am providing you with a link to what different medical associations are saying. Perhaps you will find this to be of some assistance in pushing back on generalizations and outright lies coming from his family, again, good luck.

https://www.glaad.org/blog/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory

[Bluesaph]

20. Excellent point!

And the answer is no. He doesn’t really have as open a mind as he thinks he has and this is why his family can yank his chain and get him all riled up so easily.

But I do respect that he does come around (albeit painstakingly slowly) eventually and does vote Democratic.

I sent him the Standards of Care yesterday and haven’t heard back. I think it’s way too much reading for him haha!

I’m going to look at your link next. Some of these millennials just like sound bites and memes and this is why they are easily swayed. He thinks Jordan Peterson is intelligent if that tells you anything!!!

[Aristus]

21. I hate to say it, but he's got you on a wild goose chase.

He's not going to believe or support any information you show him, no matter how substantive or well-documented. He just wants you to waste your time.

That's how anti-trans, anti, well, anti-everything people are. They make preposterous claims then dare you to refute them. But they will never, ever believe anything you show them.

If he's already spewing that "protecting the children" horse shit, he's already a lost cause.

[crickets]

9. Transgender Day of Visibility

https://www.glaad.org/blog/transgender-day-visibility

Each year on March 31, the world observes Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to raise awareness about transgender people. It is a day to celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people, while also drawing attention to the poverty, discrimination, and violence the community faces.

International TDOV was created in 2010 by trans advocate Rachel Crandall. Crandall, the head of Transgender Michigan, created TDOV in response to the overwhelming majority of media stories about transgender people being focused on violence. She hoped to create a day where people could re-focus on celebrating the lives of transgender people, empowering them to live authentically, while still acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible.

Given that a minority of Americans say they personally know someone who’s transgender, the vast majority of the public learns about trans people from the media. This is a problem because, as shown in the Netflix documentary Disclosure, the media has overwhelmingly misrepresented, mischaracterized, and stereotyped trans people since the invention of film. These false depictions have indisputably shaped the cultural understanding of who trans people are and have taught the public how to react to and treat trans people in their lives. It's going to take a lot of work to undo the harm caused by these depictions.

However, society is becoming more accepting as trans people feel increasingly comfortable and confident being publicly and fully themselves, and media representations of their lives begin to improve. This is especially apparent in the generational familiarity of trans people. [more]

Trans Day of Visibility: 7 Trans People Share What Brings Them JoyTrans Day of Visibility: 7 Trans People Share What Brings Them Joy
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/transgender-day-of-visibility-joy

[Model35mech]

10. Google can help you... look for Standards For Transexual Care

There is also a protocol from ]HARRY BENJAMIN International Gender Dysphoria Association

that also provides standards of care which were initially developed by psychiarists AND physicians in the late 1970s. LONG before political and education "Liberals" were giving it very much attention

https://debradavis.org/gecpage/benjamin.html

[Bluesaph]

12. Lots of great leads!!!

I’m happy to delve into all of this!

I appreciate the ones who are kindly taking the time to help me save time as I learn how to advocate and hopefully educate others.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

15. Two Spirit people

Tell her to do research on two Spirit people. native Americans have been accepting of two spirit people since before the conquest. Some tribes don’t even assign a gender until the child tells them their gender.

[Hekate]

18. There are other indigenous peoples (Pacific Islanders among them) who accept fluid identities...

The whole vocabulary is different. The worldview is different.

I’ve known 3 transgender people, each very different in their challenges and their personalities. They each deserve to seek and find happiness.

[icymist]

19. Good grief! Read a good peer reviewed book on it and stop watching propaganda videos.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/ebook/9781942130529/third-sex-third-gender

Hurry up and get this one before the idiots burn them all.