Thread by @JuliaSerano

brand new essay, many weeks in the making: "Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth Is Neither New nor Experimental: A Timeline and Compilation of Studies." no-paywall link, 15 min read + over 100 references – please share & give it "claps"!
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #trans #science

...FYI most media outlets wouldn't have allowed me to publish this piece as is. so if you appreciate that I make essays like this freely available online, pls consider supporting me on Patreon for as little as $1/month!
patreon.com/juliaserano #trans #transgender #LGBTQ #science

🧵my essay 1) provides a brief history of how gender-affirming care came to be, 2) debunks the most common anti-trans & just-asking-questions talking points & tactics, 3) provides a list of over 100 studies & reviews showing how established this field is:
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi…

...here are a few passages debunking anti-#trans talking points/tactics. 1st up is the Gish gallop, which many ppl are familiar with but fail to see when trans-skeptical ppl do it. tune out the Gish gallop and focus on the large body of evidence I present!
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi…

...the biggest sign that "just asking questions about gender-affirming care" stories are pushing an anti-#trans agenda is when they (purposely) omit the large body of evidence showing gender-*disaffirming* approaches cause well-documented harm...
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #science

...another red flag that these stories are pushing anti-trans agendas is when concerns about "irreversibility" only go in one direction (i.e., fearmongering over cis ppl accidentally transitioning, but not caring about how #trans youth will be impacted)...
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi…

...I wanted to stress this b/c "just asking questions about gender-affirming care" stories never seriously grapple with how trans youth will be harmed by restrictions/bans. I compare it to that line from the TV show Succession: "No Real Person Involved"...
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi…

...next, I debunk the notion that GAC is "experimental" (which intentionally evokes "Frankenstein's monster"). as I show in my timeline & reference list, there's nothing new or experimental about any of these treatments!
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #trans #transgender #LGBTQ #science

...relatedly, #trans-skeptical practitioners & pundits often say there aren’t any “high quality studies” to support gender-affirming care for trans youth. this is a sleight of hand trick that means something different than how audiences interpret it...
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi…

...finally, if any trans-skeptical "questions" or talking points about gender-affirming care were true, then they would show up in the most recent studies. but they don't. pay attention to the #science & not the Gish galloping!
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #trans #LGBTQ #psychology

..."The fact that [these highly conservative organizations] all support gender-affirmative care and condemn gender-disaffirming practices nowadays is a testament to how much scientific evidence has been amassed over the last three decades.
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #trans #science

..."no research study is perfect. But scientific fields are not built upon any singular study. Rather, they arise as a result of multiple independent groups carrying out similar research and all coming to the same general conclusions"...
juliaserano.medium.com/gender-affirmi… #trans #science

...thanks for reading! btw I make very little $ on Medium (especially since I'm always sharing "friend links"). so if you appreciate that I make essays like this freely available online, please consider supporting me on Patreon for as little as $1/month!
patreon.com/juliaserano