As someone who has gone through a phase of questioning my ... inner state of the matter on this topic, now in retrospect, I am so so so so <i>soooooo</i> glad that such options were not readily available to me. If I was that age in the current world, I simply would've done it.<p>Given the permanent nature of a transition on a body, I really wish the advocates of pushing this at young ages would not push back against discussions of people who decide to detransition. Such stories break my heart way more than someone being unable to transition before a certain age.
100%, completely agree with this. I was a raised in an small town in the US where men were expected to football-loving brutes with hair-trigger tempers and went deer-hunting on the weekend. Given I was never like this, I also went through a phase of questioning - until I realized there are many ways of being a man. But I didn't come to that realization until I was in college.
Not really understanding you. Are you softly still saying, as someone who isn't them, that you want to gatekeep this from people who don't feel comfortable in their own bodies?
I'm not sure what you're trying to say by - "isn't them"<p>If I did undergo that path when I wanted to, at which point would you consider me "becoming them"? At the inception of the thought? After some rumination? After making the decision? After first time taking meds? After undergoing surgery?<p>I don't consider it gatekeeping, rather prevention of making an irreversible choice while the frontal lobe is still far from knowing even what path it wants for itself for the rest of its life. I know that might be seen as unfair to a lot of people, but given the persistence with which gender affirmation is being pushed, I feel that cases like me are simply considered collateral damage. Really glad I didn't end up as such.
We do it all the time with people who believe they should be amputees.<p><a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/body-integrity-identity-disorder-biid" rel="nofollow">https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/body-integrit...</a>
Which is also wrong. People living with BIID are (usually) not irrational. The small percentage that do seek amputation have usually exhausted all treatment options, and find that amputation improves their quality of life.
> We do it all the time<p>No, we don't. Your linked source literally says that surgeons and providers won't perform these amputations.
This thread will likely have extensive hate on a very small portion of the population.<p>A reminder that actual people have been turned into a cultural wedge issue, their lives put in danger due to the vitriol the culture war issue has stirred.<p>If you have known a person who has transitioned, you'd likely see someone happier after being able to transition.<p>Laws targeting trans people won't stop an actual criminal from entering the wrong bathroom.<p>Children and teens can absolutely know these things about themselves. Imagine telling a child who has a hetero crush on a classmate that they're too young to know they're straight. Children are little people. It won't be the correct choice for every child, but for every child it is the correct choice for, it will lead to a happier life and a more effective transition.<p>last but not least, you didn't care about competitive women's swimming before, you're not fooling me that you care about it now.
> Children and teens can absolutely know these things about themselves.<p>They can also absolutely be unduly influenced by their parents or other authority figures. The fact that Megan Fox has 3 trans kids points to upbringing as being a major factor.
> Children and teens can absolutely know these things about themselves.<p>The article quotes a campaigner against the trial who first transitioned and then detransitioned (as far as this was still possible I assume, since a lot is irreversible). So kids can absolutely make the wrong decision. The question is what the relative frequency of these mistakes is.
"In a review of 27 studies involving almost 8,000 teens and adults who had transgender surgeries, mostly in Europe, the U.S and Canada, 1% on average expressed regret. For some, regret was temporary, but a small number went on to have detransitioning or reversal surgeries, the 2021 review said."<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/transgender-treatment-regret-detransition-371e927ec6e7a24cd9c77b5371c6ba2b" rel="nofollow">https://apnews.com/article/transgender-treatment-regret-detr...</a>
With how few trans people are, the people among them who have detransitioned is even smaller. I'm not sure why these people should be the only ones that are taken seriously. They're nearly as big of grifters as the "tied-in-fifth-place" swimmer who decided the grift train would pay better than being a mid swimmer.<p>The thing about Puberty blockers, is they can be mostly reversed. This isn't about children getting things cut off, it's about preventing certain features that surgery cant fix from developing. IMO it's cruel for a teenager who is absolutely sure, to be forced to go through the incorrect puberty and have to undo that later.
> Campaigners who brought the legal action had argued the safeguards in place were inadequate and raised concerns about the long-term physical and psychological effects on young people.<p>What exactly are the safeguards for real? It’s literally irreversible damage when you mess up with hormones while on puberty.<p>I am conflicted myself, but I think I err on the side of caution and think that avoiding messing with your hormones should be no brainer.
>The number of members with GH claims per 10,000 beneficiaries under age 18 rose steadily from 5.1 in 2001 to 14.6 in 2016, without a dramatic change around 2003, the ISS approval date.<p><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6795021/" rel="nofollow">https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6795021/</a><p>Just as a reminder for everyone here, 0.14% of US children (+3x in a decade) are given Human Growth Hormone <i>because they are short</i>. Our government says that being in the bottom 2 percentiles is a medically valid condition to be treated with hormones.<p>Differentially focusing your emotional response on sex-expression hormone therapy vs. hormone therapy generally is reflective of bias.
Pure evil