1. One of the most stunning portions of the misleading and error-ridden "WPATH Files" is a section where the authors appear upset over how "suspiciously" happy trans people are.
They twist low regret rates into being a reason to oppose trans care.
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They twist low regret rates into being a reason to oppose trans care.
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2. The authors of the WPATH files seem unable to accept that trans care actually works and make trans people happy.
Instead, they ask, seemingly mockingly, how trans people could be happy "with the consequences of their choices"
Read my article here:
erininthemorning.com/p/wpath-files-…
Instead, they ask, seemingly mockingly, how trans people could be happy "with the consequences of their choices"
Read my article here:
erininthemorning.com/p/wpath-files-…
3. Excerpts from the "WPATH Files" authors note that in one study, "participants reported being happy... despite researchers noting that improvement in actual life situations was not always observed."
The implication, of course, being that trans people are "deluding" themselves.
The implication, of course, being that trans people are "deluding" themselves.
4. Of course, as with virtually every portion of the WPATH files, the authors do not present the very next lines of the 1988 study in the Netherlands, where the authors state that they considered this and found it uncompelling:
5. That study then concluded that there is no reason to doubt the therapeutic effect of SRS.
6. To be certain... trans people are facing extreme discrimination. We currently are drowning in anti-trans laws. In 1988, things were even worse in many ways. HIV prevalence was also very high.
Yet then, as now, trans people reported being happy.
Yet then, as now, trans people reported being happy.
7. The authors seem to ask, "why won't they just be unhappy?"
It would be so much simpler for their points if we were. Of course, many transgender people can intuitively answer this question. For many of us, pre-transition life feels like a black and white version, a husk.
It would be so much simpler for their points if we were. Of course, many transgender people can intuitively answer this question. For many of us, pre-transition life feels like a black and white version, a husk.
8. I came out during the Trump administration, a time when much was working against all trans people. I knew that coming out meant I'd lose my family, risk my stability, and receive public shame and harassment.
My life was objectively "good" when I presented as a man.
My life was objectively "good" when I presented as a man.
9. However, one of the oldest adages is the importance of being true to oneself.
The moment I came out, the authors of the WPATH files would likely argue that my situation "objectively" worsened.
I had no right to be happy, by their account and interpretation of trans care.
The moment I came out, the authors of the WPATH files would likely argue that my situation "objectively" worsened.
I had no right to be happy, by their account and interpretation of trans care.
10. Yet, I was. And I am. I described it as if "a light turned on inside, and I suddenly became capable of being happy from within, a feeling I had not experienced since childhood and a feeling no amount of external hate could ever extinguish."
Nothing external can beat that.
Nothing external can beat that.
11. Many studies show a low level of regret and high satisfaction for transgender people. A review from Cornell University found regret rates between 0.3-3.8%.
whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-eq…
whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-eq…
12. Just recently, in a report of over 90,000 people, the US Transgender Survey released a report in 2024 noting less than 1% of those who started HRT report being a little or a lot less satisfied.
13. Similarly, the WPATH leaked emails show the same, with one doctor in a thread of careful and interesting discussion of clinical experiences with detransition, notes that in 25 years and over 600 trans patients, only 4 have detransitioned.
14. The WPATH Files 37,000 words of editorial commentary do not grant legitimacy. They don't present it in truth. Instead, they determine, this is all "suspicious" and that trans happiness "should not be that high,"
After all, how could it be with what they are doing to us?
After all, how could it be with what they are doing to us?
15. They understand that the ongoing satisfaction and low regret undermine their argument that care provided is substandard and improper. They cannot acknowledge the possibility that trans people are happy because the care works. Instead, they argue, we are under a mass delusion.
16. What they will find, as so many others have, is that despite this suspicion... trans joy and happiness is enduring.
17. I am a transgender journalist covering legislation, cultural moments, and news on this topic every day.
Please consider subscribing to support my work at and you'll receive my latest article before anyone else.erininthemorning.com/subscribe
Please consider subscribing to support my work at and you'll receive my latest article before anyone else.erininthemorning.com/subscribe
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