Thread by @ErinInTheMorn

Another day, another transphobic New York TImes article.

Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria isn't real. There's no evidence of it. They've tried to find it.

So now they've changed the definition of "Rapid" to 2-4 years.

The NYT columnist describes Stephanie Winn as a "licensed marriage and family therapist" who "spoke out in approaching gender dysphoria in a more considered way" but was investigated for conversion therapy

What actually happened: She advocated for giving trans men ESTROGEN.

No, trans kids are not "actually just gay"

1) Gender and sexuality are different
2) Most trans people ALSO identify as gay
3) This relies on Ken Zucker's "desistance" research. Zucker's lab was shut down after he was investigated over conversion therapy.

I have an entire article on this - trans people are not "just gay" and nobody is trying to "Trans away the gay."

Trans people will tell you the number of times we've heard, "couldn't you just have been gay?"

erininthemorning.com/p/fact-check-w…

Autistic people can also be trans, and treating gender dysphoria among autistic people is just as important as treating gender dysphoria among neurotypical people.

Peer-reviewed articles have noted that withholding care would increase depression among autistic trans people.

Being prevented from transitioning due to an autism diagnosis can “cause increased levels of depression and anxiety.”

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Oh look, "Tiktok" and "groomer teachers" are making our kids trans.

No, increased social acceptance is allowing transgender people to come out as we see representation around us.

"The studies are flawed, deemed not conclusive"

What does it link to?
- One low impact journal commentary by Stephen Levine, who admits himself that there is "no data" that psychotherapy can help trans youth "desist" from being trans.
- A WaPo article

"Other Clinicians are dissenting"

What does this link to?

A shitty 4thWaveNow powerpoint presentation.

4thWaveNow is literally asking for US clinicians to "produce data" that shows high detransition with the side note, "Name your price" (see screenshots)

If you are abandoning decades of trans research and the medical organizations in favor of an anti-trans website that is begging on twitter with a high bribe to get scientists to produce anti-trans studies...

You're not a serious org.

And Pamela Paul is not a serious journalist.

More "transing away the gay" lol.

Anyone who believes families, especially Christian conservative families, are more tolerant of trans people than cis people is living on another planet that does not reflect the lived experiences of those on this one.

Probably the most egregious lie in the piece.

Studies do NOT show that 8 in 10 cases of gender dysphoria resolve themselves by puberty. Even most anti-trans experts admit that this is a lie. Sources to follow.

First, you can read a full debunking of the "80% of trans youth actually detransition naturally" here.

Quick summary: It is based on decades old data that classified gay people as "gender disordered" and also used conversion therapy to coerce kids.

erininthemorning.com/p/debunked-no-…

The problem?

The old criteria that these claims are based on literally do not require you to identify as "the other sex" in order to be diagnosed with "gender identity disorder," a "disorder" diagnosis that no longer even exists.

See this:

The two most common sources for these claims are Ken Zucker's research from 1995 and Thomas Steensma's research from 2011-2013. Both of these research studies have this same flaw of using DSM-IV criteria.

Ken Zucker is where the 80% number originally comes from. He was a conversion therapist who did his study on only 45 youth. Half of the youth did not even meet the diagnostic criteria.

A deeper review showed possible conversion therapy practices and his clinic was shut down:

That's right. The origin of the 80% claim comes from a clinic that practiced conversion therapy. Zucker allegedly told parents to avoid toys of the other gender, avoid play with other gender kids, and asked probing sexual questions of 9 year olds.

Steensma is the other source often cited.

Steensma, while lacking the conversion therapy issues, had even worse methodological flaws. Steensma considered all youth that did not return to the clinic as having detransitioned.

Steensma also used the outdated criteria.

Modern studies though show MUCH different numbers. In 2015, a survey of 28,000 trans people included 8% who reported ever detransitioning - 2,000 people.

Of those, 62% returned to being trans.

The most common reason for detrans among the remaining?

Lack of acceptance.

A recent study from 2022, the largest of its kind in the prestigious journal pediatrics, focused on 300 trans youth over a 5 year period.

Even 5 years later, 97.5% of youth still identified as trans or nonbinary.

It uses the modern criteria too.

psychologytoday.com/us/blog/politi…

Now, moving on to the second claim here... Paula's article states that 30% of people on HRT discontinue within 4 years.

ALSO not true, egregiously so.

She links to an article that looked at the US Military Healthcare System and does NOT say what she claims it does.

This study often gets passed around saying that people in the military saw a "30% detransition rate."

That's not what the study says.

It says 30% stopped getting their hormones with TRICARE.

LOTS of reasons to not get your hormones with tricare. Especially in 2017-2018.

Basically, if you stopped getting your HRT with Tricare, it counts you as discontinuing hormones. Can you see the HUGE problem?

Say you are a parent in the military and you see Trump targeting trans people in the military. Think you're gonna keep getting HRT through tricare?

The study does not cover:

- TRICARE coverage is often poor for trans issues
- People who pulled out in 2017-2018 due to Trump's anti-trans military directive and got it out of pocket/at planned parenthood
- Many trans people have switched to DIY
- Self pay/hormone sharing exists

The study itself says it likely overestimated discontinuation rates.

Dramatically so as it is not confirmed with any other study.

In my original thread on this topic, MANY military members chimed in and stated their reasons for leaving tricare and getting HRT at other clinics, out of pocket, etc.

https://x.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1658947465494638595?s=20

People who aren't in the military do not understand how bad Tricare can be about trans hrt.

Many people have just gone out of pocket.

https://x.com/amil_ramos/status/1659192164281196544?s=20

Moving on.

"studies rely on self-reported cases to gender clinics"

No, that is not how regret has been measured.

For instance, the 97.5% of trans youth are stable in their identity 5 years later study in the journal Pediatrics is done via a longitudinal cohort study.

"The studies are being broadly questioned and criticized"

(links to the same low-impact journal commentary she uses in two other places by an anti-trans witness paid to travel the country and advocate against trans care)

Oh my god. She does it again lol.

Is her entire article just this one source?

"Garcia-Ryan, board president of therapy first, an organization that does not support the affirmation model"

Not mentioned: This is ACTUALLY the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association, which had to rebrand after dozens of articles pointed out they are a conversion therapy org.

There are so many articles covering how this organization promotes conversion therapy. Here's mine: xtramagazine.com/health/gender-…

Gender Exploratory Therapy attempts to blame trans identity on a million different things, all while keeping the therapist's letter to start care JUST out of reach, while never intending to give it to the patient.

It's psychological gaslighting.

And in fact, GETA (no longer GETA but now "Therapy First") is heavily featured alongside several other known conversion therapy organizations, such as the "Christian Counselors Network," in the new AcPeds conversion therapy resource site.

The resource is from the deceptively titled American College of Pediatricians advocating "gender exploratory" conversion therapy for trans kids. It advises mothers to be "intimate with fathers" and "not to yell at them" to stop kids from being trans.

Read more about GETA and the AcPeds and conversion therapy here:

erininthemorning.com/p/right-wing-a…

Anyway. This is the end of the article. I probably could have written an article debunking it, and I still might, but until then... I am an LGBTQ+ journalist covering this disinformation every day.

If you want to support my work, subscribe at .erininthemorning.com/subscribe