Biologist here. Yep. 100% of the data favoring transition is low-quality. Why? It's fairly easy for anyone to tell. Just check to see if the results are based on what the study/survey subjects "report", i.e. depending entirely on people's own self-assessments.
--Much of it comes from anonymous uncontrolled online surveys of self-selecting, self-defining, self-assessing people. Spoiler alert: you are the worst person to try to assess yourself objectively, especially if you suffer from a mental condition that warps your self-perception. Consider the anorexic who insists they're doing great and feeling better after losing another 5 lbs.
--Even the more controlled studies are based on self-assessments, in the form of filling out multiple-choice questionnaires. people's subjectivity in self-assessment makes the resulting data low-quality, in contrast to objective criteria like documented suicides/attempts, documented diagnoses by clinicians, documented prescriptions for psych medications and documented insurance claims. All of this objective data shows that transition either doesn't help or makes things worse for the patient.
--Self-assessment-based studies are unable to account for the fact that people want to believe they are getting better and that people lie in order to get what they want. The coaching that trans activists do to young and inexperienced dysphoric people results in them saying they've had suicidal thoughts (clinically known as "suicidality") when they haven't.
--The studies that support transition are generally short-term, while the ones that don't are mostly longer-term. This is because it's natural for dysphoric kids and adults who have been waiting sometimes for years to begin their transition to feel joy and euphoria after they finally begin. That euphoria lasts for months or longer, before reality slowly begins to set in. In the meantime their questionnaire responses will seem to show that transition is having its desired effect.
For example, these long-term followup studies from Denmark and Sweden on transgender pre-op and post-op, respectively, show that suicide rates peaked starting 5 years and 10 years after transition, respectively:
With regards to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, it is imprecise to say that he signed an executive order last week that bans transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
The word "transgender" doesn't appear in the order once.
As he explains, "if a league or team identifies themselves or advertises themselves to be a girls or women’s league or team, then biological males should not be competing in those leagues..."
It's true that the effect of this order would prohibit men who identify as transgender (i.e. "transwomen") from playing on women's teams, but that's not because they are, or identify as, transgender, it's because they're male. Women who identify as transgender will face no restriction to their participation on women's teams.
The media gets this wrong every single time. We don't have to follow their lead, and should do better.
Now for a comment on actual content. I prefer to frame the sports debate as males in female/women’s sports. It’s funny how transmen (female) athletes wait to start testosterone until after their sporting days are over. Nobody thinks or talks about them in the sports debate! Yet well past their prime 40 something males/transwomen seem have a human right to the podium.
Thanks to both of you, as always, for this round-up. I just wish the news was less depressing. If anyone has a link that gets past the paywall for The Boston Globe article, that does look like, from what little I can tell, someone is actually searching for a way to have a sane discussion. To quote JK Rowling, “I’m so sick of this shit.”
I've been thinking about that APA statement. I wonder if reinforcing the statement in such strong language could be used to shield individual therapists being accused of malpractice? If you imagine a therapist getting sued like if a person detransitions don't you think the therapist will bring to court that statement by the APA and say - "I was just doing what my association said was best practice". I wonder the same thing about the endocrine society though at least they claim to be looking at their guidelines.
Here in Australia, the Federal Government issues every adult over a certain age with a bowel cancer test kit. The idea is that we use the test kit to take two tiny samples of our poo which we place in little test vials, then post the completed kit to the testing centre for a free bowel cancer screening.
Part of the kit is a "Participant Details" form that we need to complete and post to the testing centre with our samples. One of the questions on the form is "Which gender do you identify as?". There is no question asking us our biological sex.
I suspect that the hard scientists at the test centre proceed on the basis that physiological differences rooted in biological sex, and not subjective gender identity, are what are important for their purposes. But what do they do with cases where people disclose only the gender that they identify as, and don't add anything to indicate their biological sex?
Time for someone to sue the American Psychological Association. Speaking of lawsuits against pseudo-doctors, has Alexandra Q got an update on the lawsuit against the American Pediatric Association?
Could you look into the bill proposed to the Illinois state assembly that, I believe, criminalizes parents if determined they are “abusive” for not supporting a child transing? And that parents could lose custody for not supporting transition? IL HB 4876 is the identifier and an organization called Awake Illinois is fighting it.
Here is something positive: Seb Coe interview on CNN about World Athletics decision on protecting women’s sports. If D public officials had any guts at all, they could do this, too (and I speak as a lifelong D): https://twitter.com/boysvswomen/status/1763586635994698143
Biologist here. Yep. 100% of the data favoring transition is low-quality. Why? It's fairly easy for anyone to tell. Just check to see if the results are based on what the study/survey subjects "report", i.e. depending entirely on people's own self-assessments.
--Much of it comes from anonymous uncontrolled online surveys of self-selecting, self-defining, self-assessing people. Spoiler alert: you are the worst person to try to assess yourself objectively, especially if you suffer from a mental condition that warps your self-perception. Consider the anorexic who insists they're doing great and feeling better after losing another 5 lbs.
--Even the more controlled studies are based on self-assessments, in the form of filling out multiple-choice questionnaires. people's subjectivity in self-assessment makes the resulting data low-quality, in contrast to objective criteria like documented suicides/attempts, documented diagnoses by clinicians, documented prescriptions for psych medications and documented insurance claims. All of this objective data shows that transition either doesn't help or makes things worse for the patient.
--Self-assessment-based studies are unable to account for the fact that people want to believe they are getting better and that people lie in order to get what they want. The coaching that trans activists do to young and inexperienced dysphoric people results in them saying they've had suicidal thoughts (clinically known as "suicidality") when they haven't.
--The studies that support transition are generally short-term, while the ones that don't are mostly longer-term. This is because it's natural for dysphoric kids and adults who have been waiting sometimes for years to begin their transition to feel joy and euphoria after they finally begin. That euphoria lasts for months or longer, before reality slowly begins to set in. In the meantime their questionnaire responses will seem to show that transition is having its desired effect.
For example, these long-term followup studies from Denmark and Sweden on transgender pre-op and post-op, respectively, show that suicide rates peaked starting 5 years and 10 years after transition, respectively:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2806531?guestAccessKey=458dc50a-ea74-489c-bc68-c0128d48a4e3
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885
With regards to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, it is imprecise to say that he signed an executive order last week that bans transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
The actual order can be found here: https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/43897/EXEC-ORDER-2-24?bidId=
The word "transgender" doesn't appear in the order once.
As he explains, "if a league or team identifies themselves or advertises themselves to be a girls or women’s league or team, then biological males should not be competing in those leagues..."
It's true that the effect of this order would prohibit men who identify as transgender (i.e. "transwomen") from playing on women's teams, but that's not because they are, or identify as, transgender, it's because they're male. Women who identify as transgender will face no restriction to their participation on women's teams.
The media gets this wrong every single time. We don't have to follow their lead, and should do better.
Now for a comment on actual content. I prefer to frame the sports debate as males in female/women’s sports. It’s funny how transmen (female) athletes wait to start testosterone until after their sporting days are over. Nobody thinks or talks about them in the sports debate! Yet well past their prime 40 something males/transwomen seem have a human right to the podium.
Thanks to both of you, as always, for this round-up. I just wish the news was less depressing. If anyone has a link that gets past the paywall for The Boston Globe article, that does look like, from what little I can tell, someone is actually searching for a way to have a sane discussion. To quote JK Rowling, “I’m so sick of this shit.”
Dagny Benedict aka Nex initiated the fight. No one bullied her.
I've been thinking about that APA statement. I wonder if reinforcing the statement in such strong language could be used to shield individual therapists being accused of malpractice? If you imagine a therapist getting sued like if a person detransitions don't you think the therapist will bring to court that statement by the APA and say - "I was just doing what my association said was best practice". I wonder the same thing about the endocrine society though at least they claim to be looking at their guidelines.
First paragraph: peer review not pier review. Feel free to erase this comment
Here in Australia, the Federal Government issues every adult over a certain age with a bowel cancer test kit. The idea is that we use the test kit to take two tiny samples of our poo which we place in little test vials, then post the completed kit to the testing centre for a free bowel cancer screening.
Part of the kit is a "Participant Details" form that we need to complete and post to the testing centre with our samples. One of the questions on the form is "Which gender do you identify as?". There is no question asking us our biological sex.
I suspect that the hard scientists at the test centre proceed on the basis that physiological differences rooted in biological sex, and not subjective gender identity, are what are important for their purposes. But what do they do with cases where people disclose only the gender that they identify as, and don't add anything to indicate their biological sex?
Time for someone to sue the American Psychological Association. Speaking of lawsuits against pseudo-doctors, has Alexandra Q got an update on the lawsuit against the American Pediatric Association?
Could you look into the bill proposed to the Illinois state assembly that, I believe, criminalizes parents if determined they are “abusive” for not supporting a child transing? And that parents could lose custody for not supporting transition? IL HB 4876 is the identifier and an organization called Awake Illinois is fighting it.
Here is something positive: Seb Coe interview on CNN about World Athletics decision on protecting women’s sports. If D public officials had any guts at all, they could do this, too (and I speak as a lifelong D): https://twitter.com/boysvswomen/status/1763586635994698143
Correction: The Nassau County executive has no power to ban athlete participation "across the country."