Thread by @genspect

WPATH: Come for the glasnost, stay for the perestroika? @DrLauraEL & @DrEricaAnderson’s article in @washingtonpost shows pivot to exploratory therapy – positions @Genspect parents at the heart of the controversy surrounding medical transition of kids washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/1…🧵

It’s been clear for a while now that there’s trouble at the top of WPATH, with senior, big-hitter figures openly expressing their concerns that gender-questioning adolescents are receiving a fraction of the assessment they need. genspect.org/wpath-clinicia… 2/10

Much of the debate centres around what does (not) constitute conversion therapy. Can therapists explore root causes of gender distress? Currently many fear this will be misconstrued as “conversion therapy”, as if black magic or exorcism rather than compassionate exploration 3/10

Yesterday’s @washingtonpost article pushes back on the idea that exploration is “conversion” & @genspect note it even says “exploratory” in the byline – even tho this conflicts with the gender identity model, as @LisaLittman1 showed only last weekend 4/10

As the authors say, “the field has moved from a more nuanced, individualized and developmentally appropriate assessment process to one where every problem looks like a medical one that can be solved quickly with medication or, ultimately, surgery” washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/1… … 5/10

... adding that “we may be harming some of the young people we strive to support — people who may not be prepared for the gender transitions they are being rushed into.” Seismic stuff, especially with such uncertain regret rates genspect.org/how-much-regre… 6/10

Is this the sudden death of WPATH? Unlikely. It’s a massive organization with hundreds of members who frankly don’t always see eye-to-eye. Like any organization, there will be internal debates, and that’s right and proper. 7/10

This is probably more like glasnost (гласность), the process of transparency brought in by Mikhail Gorbachev in the dying days of the USSR. Glasnost meant that Soviet citizens could finally say the things they knew to be true but were too scared to mention. 8/10

Just as with glasnost, uncomfortable truths are getting aired by the people at the top table – even if the language of the intelligentsia remains in place (in this case, “trans kids” sticks out). Not everyone will be happy + that too is to be expected… 9/10

After glasnost came perestroika (перестройка), or “reconstruction" – then the USSR's downfall. We don’t know where (or if) WPATH will be in a year, but what we heard yesterday can never be unsaid. A good day for parents with gender-questioning kids! genspect.org 10/10