Thread by @DadTrans

15 Bad Faith Arguments made Against the Use of Puberty Blockers for Trans Adolescents: Thread:
#1 “They are new and untested”
They’ve been used since 1988 for Trans adolescents, with follow up studies for 20 years. We've summarised over 30 academic papers: growinguptransgender.com/2020/06/10/pub…

#2 “Kids are too young to have Puberty Blockers”
They are only used with Trans Adolescents from the start of puberty to block puberty & give 'thinking time'. There’s no moral panic in their use for precocious puberty at a much younger age.

#3 “They are powerful cancer drugs”
They are used to stop testosterone and oestrogen. This can be useful to stop puberty, or also can be useful when certain cancers are exacerbated by testosterone or oestrogen. Calling them a "cancer drug" is bad faith & misleading scaremongering

#4 “They are irreversible”
False. They're medically & physically reversible. If they're stopped, puberty continues. “What about psychology? If adolescents have blockers, they can’t turn back time to have never had them”. Well every action we take is irreversible. Bad faith.

#5 "They're used "off label". That means they're experimental"
75% of medicines in neonatal intensive care are "off-label". 25% of children's medicines in hospital are “off-label”
10% medicines prescribed for children in the UK are off-label or unlicensed assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

#6 “The existing evidence is not high quality”.
Sample sizes are small as very few trans adolescents have been treated to date. Want larger sample sizes? Then lower barriers to access. Dr's, adolescents & their families want the best standard of evidence possible.

#7 “There's not been Randomised Control Trials”
A score of experts have time & again stated Randomised Control Trials are unethical & would unfeasible. Bad faith commentators 'require' a Blind RCT – as if trans adolescents wouldn’t notice progressing through puberty! Bad Faith.

#8 (i) “Z Value Bone Density decreases when adolescents are on blockers”
"Z value Bone Density" compares bone density to expected age-based norms. Bone density rises as an effect of puberty. Those on puberty blockers will not have this rise at the same time as those not blocked

#8 (ii) This means bone density compared to their non puberty blocked cis peers decreases (however their actual bone density continues to rise at a relatively slower rate). If puberty resumes (by stopping blockers or starting HRT), bone density increases at a higher rate.

#9 (i) “We don’t know the impact on brain”
Bad faith. There are many many things we do not know about the human brain. Blockers have been studied for their impact on many different variables, kidney function (fine), well-being (it improves), mental health (it improves)

#9 (ii) Impact on gender dysphoria (stays same, HRT improves dysphoria). Blockers have even been studied for effect on Executive Functions (no negative impacts). There's much evidence of benefits & no evidence of harm. Medical decisions are made based on the current evidence.

#10 “Do nothing until there is much more evidence”
Doing nothing is not a neutral decision. Puberty for trans adolescents causes significant harm. Puberty blockers are proven to be beneficial. Withholding beneficial medical care is not a value-neutral ethical decision. Bad Faith.

#11 Use of Biased / fringe 'medical' sources
These include hate group designated 'American College of Pediatricians'. Former GIDS psychoanalysts (with no medical qualifications & an axe to grind). Niche studies on brain scans of sheep & blogs from Evangelical funded groups.

#12 Citing non-peer reviewed opinion pieces in "respected" journals.
E.g. Employee of BMJ who also works for BBC using a BMJ blog as evidence for a BBC 'investigation'; Then hiring a colleague with no expertise in gender health to write a critical summary citing the same blog.

#13 Further signs of bad faith include: Failure to report the clear well-being benefits of timely blockers including avoidance of acute distress & pain, of adolescents not dropping out of school / failing in school, benefits to teens of learning, growing & enjoying adolescence.

#14 Yet more signs of bad faith include: Failure to state the global medical consensus which supports the use of puberty blockers for trans adolescents including the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Paediatrics, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health..

#15 Failing to clarify if the preferred medical outcome for trans youth is denial of medical support & instead psychotherapy to "help them accept themselves as they are". This is conversion therapy. It causes immense harm. There is no place for it in modern medical practice. END/

A summary of these Bad Faith arguments is available on our blog by @FierceMum here - we've also written much more on this subject, feel free to browse: growinguptransgender.com/2020/06/30/fif…