There is nothing inherently partisan about disagreeing with the ideology of gender identity and its effects on law and policy.
In particular, opposition to this in the UK has been spearheaded by left-wing, grassroots feminist groups. This was in reaction to the right-wing Conservative government's proposals to allow people to change their legal sex by self-declaration, rather than the current system of requiring a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and approval from a panel of people with legal and medical qualifications.
> Trans healthcare for kids does not involve surgery. Surgeries are not performed for people under the age of 18.
Unfortunately that is not true.
There are surgeons who perform 'gender affirming' double mastectomies on girls as young as 13. This is documented in the medical literature.
The former CEO of Mermaids, a UK-based charity for children who identify as transgender, had her child castrated and given a penile inversion at the age of 16, by a surgeon who specializes in constructing 'neovaginas'.
Your comment reminds me of a very interesting interview with Dr Az Hakeem, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who set up group therapy sessions for gender dysphoric patients: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ycqNoareUT6Y6s85LrJSF
He would include in these groups people at all stages in their transitions, so those considering transitioning further could be informed and challenged by those who had gone the whole way with surgery and all.
Hakeem [...] describes himself as a “gender critical psychiatrist”
Then the "sell"
Hakeem offers “specialist psychotherapy for gender dysphoria”, and says that he “does not try and persuade or dissuade anyone from pursuing physical sex interventions such as hormones or surgery but his role is to provide a neutral exploration space to think about sex and gender”.
Then the reality
“He made it clear from the very start that he was sceptical of my gender and expressed doubt that it could differ to [my] sex,”
So a great example of someone pathologizing trans people and not taking them seriously. I hope that was what you wanted to shed light on! Thanks!
Sounds like he asked some mildly probing questions that challenged the patient's self-beliefs, and Pink News have decided to spin this as being "conversion therapy".
Note also that Pink News' general editorial stance is that unconditional affirmation is the only valid approach, so it's not much surprise they jumped on this story.
I would still recommend giving that podcast a listen, it gives a much richer insight into Dr Hakeem's work than that article.
A therapist that knows how to ask mildly probing questions:
"I hear and validate your feelings and you have a lot of options in front of you, I'm here to help you to minimize the risk of regret with the irreversible options and that might lead me to ask uncomfortable questions, is that ok?"
Az probably:
"What on earth are you going about love? There's no such thing as gender! Gender is just sex. So you just go into the lavatory and check down your trousers, you see a willy down there? Yeees, then you are unfortunately a female, but a Johnson? Hooray! You are a man, then you can man the fuck up and skip out of here! NEEEEEEXT"
ROGD is the term given to the phenomenon of teenagers with no history of gender dysphoria suddenly announcing a transgender identity, typically after spending massive amounts of time online, and often after a friend has announced that they are trans. Who would be better placed to notice this set of circumstances than their parents?
>> "The term "rapid-onset gender dysphoria", coined by Littman, first appeared in a July 2016 notice that was posted on four websites, recruiting parents to respond to a research survey that Littman described as "Rapid onset gender dysphoria, social media, and peer groups".[27] In the title of Littman's poster abstract for the study, published in February 2017, the phrase appeared as "Rapid Onset of Gender Dysphoria".[28]"
It's not a thing. What is a thing is kids finding language to describe what they experience. Expanding vocabulary and ability to communicate is normally lauded and praised.
Littman's study hasn't been discredited though. It's been robustly critiqued, as one would expect for any research that advances a novel hypothesis.
The main issue that people have with her study is that it challenges the often deeply held belief that a person's gender identity is innate; it hypothesises that there is a population of trans-identifying people who have adopted this identity via sociogenic means. By doing so, it calls into question the affirmation-only clinical approach that has been so ascendant in recent years.
Challenging people's fundamental beliefs and practices on a topic is never going to be popular amongst those who hold such beliefs. This is why her research received such an intense backlash, and why activists are so keen to claim that it's been debunked and discredited, even when it hasn't.
> All rises in incidents of transgenderism are easily explained by a more tolerant society accepting it.
This doesn't explain the disproportionate rise in teenage girls seeking treatment at gender clinics though.
Here's a fascinating essay by a detransitioner on how she began thinking of herself first as 'non-binary' and later as male, and ended up being prescribed testosterone medication for this: https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name. She goes into quite some detail about how being exposed to gender identity ideology on Tumblr over a period of years was what influenced her to transition.
Other detransitioners have described similar online influences. It seems likely that this is at least one of the factors causing such an increase, and may well explain why the rise in referrals to gender clinics are so skewed toward female teenagers, who are the primary demographic of sites like Tumblr, and who are particularly vulnerable to social contagions.
There is nothing inherently partisan about disagreeing with the ideology of gender identity and its effects on law and policy.
In particular, opposition to this in the UK has been spearheaded by left-wing, grassroots feminist groups. This was in reaction to the right-wing Conservative government's proposals to allow people to change their legal sex by self-declaration, rather than the current system of requiring a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and approval from a panel of people with legal and medical qualifications.
See https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/women-are-vital-part... for more detail.