The burgeoning medical scandal that goes by "teen transgender medicine," which I've been investigating for the last year, has changed my view on American exceptionalism. I am, and will always be, extremely proud to be an American. /1
But the UK press has been willing to take a hard look at the evidence of an epidemic of teen girls suddenly transitioning for reasons other than gender dysphoria. The US legacy media has not. /2
The High Court's decision was a scathing indictment of system of transgender medicine that pushes teens through hasty protocols and highly risky treatments - protocols & treatments identical to our own. Who cares? We're American, we know right from wrong... /3
Unless, of course, a group of activists accuses us of being bigots. Then, we hold our tongues, hide under the covers, and hand over our daughters. Anyone who questions the safety or wisdom of the ideological experiment masquerading as "teen transgender medicine" is vilified /4
Where is our gumption? Where is our basic curiosity? Few Americans actually believe that letting a 16 year old remove her healthy breasts without parental permission or a therapist's note can be good for her. And here we are, Land of the Brave... /5
intimidated into silence by a generation of brats who fling around terms like "transphobe" and "bigot," turning our genuine abhorrence at those things against us. Time to point out: their claims are shoddy, their evidence is poor. /6
We Americans have the blessing of a First Amendment. We really need to remember that. And we need to start using it. /7
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Think we don't have a serious problem w censorship in America?
Here's what it's like to write a book that takes the entirely common sense view - supported by dozens of experts & most Americans - that gender transition among teen girls is risky & should only proceed w caution. 1/
Amazon blocked my publisher from sponsoring ads for my book, while allowing ads for books that pushed the contrary view -- that is, books that argue that gender transition for teens is without serious risk. wsj.com/articles/amazo… /2
All of the legacy media outlets refused journalists' requests to review my book. Even Kirkus, which reviews 10,000 titles per year, declined to review it - even though it was the #1 book in several Amazon categories based on sales. feministcurrent.com/2020/08/30/bla… /3
In August, the National Association of Science Writers (@ScienceWriters) expelled a member of its online discussion group for mentioning my book, IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE, and @LisaLittman1, the public health researcher who did the original study that the book is based upon. /1
I spoke to Sean Scott, the man who was expelled from the group. When he mentioned my book, he wasn't even sure he agreed with it. "I thought it might be something I might want to write about or at least talk about, and I was banned," he told me. /2
Since then, I have tried to get a mainstream journalist to take this up. The NASW isn't a preschool and its members are NOT right-wingers. They are professionals who report on scientific matters. The older members were appalled. One tipped me off, another confirmed. /3
At 12, daughter decides with her friends that she's trans. Mom not on board. Daughter had always been very girly - more girly than the non-feminine mom was comfortable with.
At 14, daughter pushes for hormones & surgery.
/1
Daughter discovers that if she "opens up" to her pro-transition step-mom & therapist that mom is a "transphobe," that she's not "safe" with mom as a trans teen, she
gets everyone's attention.
/2
At 14, frustrated with mom, daughter tells step-mom that living with mom puts her at risk of suicide. Social workers and therapists leap in to 'help.' Step-mom only too happy to let her get hormones and surgeries. Mom now at risk of losing custody.
/3
The essential claim of my book is that most of the teen girls who identify as "trans" suddenly in adolescence are caught in a social current that has little to do with actual gender dysphoria. This is the sort of claim that ought cause a doctor to pause /2
and examine whether it is true for some or any of these patients. Are girls being fast-tracked to transition? Are docs sure the girls' desire for transition is motivated principally, if at all, by GD? Because the most important question is whether these girls are being harmed. /3
We're going to see a lot more of this - adolescent girls, regretting their hasty and heated transitions. And we'll wonder why more people didn't speak up.
I've been kicked out of events and labeled a bigot in my community, all for a book NO ONE's yet read. All for suggesting that maybe the sudden spike of trans id among teen girls may be the result of peer contagion.
Endlessly, I'm told, I'm going to "need serious security."
/2
There is *nothing* transphobic about pointing out that a population of teenage girls who has never exhibited any 'gender dysphoria' in the entire diagnostic history of GD (going back to the early 1900s) might be talking themselves into it.
/3
Here's what the book is NOT about: trans adults - although I interviewed many, mainly because so much activism claims to speak in their name. The individuals were sober and lovely and one became a friend. But the book--and the contagion--have almost nothing to do with them. /2
IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE is about a contemporary hysteria -- teen girls' penchant for spreading & increasing their own pain. These girls are in genuine distress. But "gender dysphoria" or "being trans" is a cry to be taken seriously, not correct self-diagnosis. /3