XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics, comp.os.linux.advocacy   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.transgendered   
   From: democrat-insurrection@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://nypost.com/2022/06/18/detransitioned-teens-explain-why-they-   
   regret-changing-genders/   
      
   “I was failed by the system. I literally lost organs.”   
      
   When Chloe was 12 years old, she decided she was transgender. At 13, she   
   came out to her parents. That same year, she was put on puberty blockers   
   and prescribed testosterone. At 15, she underwent a double mastectomy.   
   Less than a year later, she realized she’d made a mistake — all by the   
   time she was 16 years old.   
      
   Now 17, Chloe is one of a growing cohort called “detransitioners” — those   
   who seek to reverse a gender transition, often after realizing they   
   actually do identify with their biological sex. Tragically, many will   
   struggle for the rest of their lives with the irreversible medical   
   consequences of a decision they made as minors.   
      
   “I can’t stay quiet,” said Chloe. “I need to do something about this and   
   to share my own cautionary tale.”   
      
   In recent years, the number of children experiencing gender dysphoria in   
   the West has skyrocketed. Exact figures are difficult to come by, but,   
   between 2009 and 2019, children being referred for transitioning treatment   
   in the United Kingdom increased 1,000% among biological males and 4,400%   
   among biological females. Meanwhile, the number of young people   
   identifying as transgender in the US has almost doubled since 2017,   
   according to a new Centers for Disease Control & Prevention report.   
      
   Historically, transitioning from male to female was vastly more common,   
   with this cohort typically experiencing persistent gender dysphoria from a   
   very young age. Recently, however, the status quo has reversed, and   
   female-to-male transitions have become the overwhelming majority.   
      
   Dr. Lisa Littman, a former professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences at   
   Brown University, coined the term “rapid onset gender dysphoria” to   
   describe this subset of transgender youth, typically biological females   
   who become suddenly dysphoric during or shortly after puberty. Littman   
   believes this may be due to adolescent girls’ susceptibility to peer   
   influence on social media.   
      
   Helena Kerschner, a 23-year-old detransitioner from Cincinnati, Ohio, who   
   was born a biological female, first felt gender dysphoric at age 14. She   
   says Tumblr sites filled with transgender activist content spurred her   
   transition.   
      
   “I was going through a period where I was just really isolated at school,   
   so I turned to the Internet,” she recalled. In her real life, Kerschner   
   had a falling out with friends at school; online however, she found a   
   community that welcomed her. “My dysphoria was definitely triggered by   
   this online community. I never thought about my gender or had a problem   
   with being a girl before going on Tumblr.”   
      
   “There was a lot of negativity around being a cis, heterosexual, white   
   girl, and I took those messages really, really personally.”   
   Helena Kerschner, on how the online trans community made her feel   
   pressured to change gender   
   She said she felt political pressure to transition, too. “The community   
   was very social justice-y. There was a lot of negativity around being a   
   cis, heterosexual, white girl, and I took those messages really, really   
   personally.”   
      
   Chloe Cole, a 17-year-old student in California, had a similar experience   
   when she joined Instagram at 11. “I started being exposed to a lot of LGBT   
   content and activism,” she said. “I saw how trans people online got an   
   overwhelming amount of support, and the amount of praise they were getting   
   really spoke to me because, at the time, I didn’t really have a lot of   
   friends of my own.”   
      
   Experts worry that many young people seeking to transition are doing so   
   without a proper mental-health evaluation. Among them is Dr. Erica   
   Anderson, a clinical psychologist specializing in gender, sexuality and   
   identity. A transgender woman herself, Anderson has helped hundreds of   
   young people navigate the transition journey over the past 30 years.   
   Anderson supports the methodical, milestone-filled process lasting   
   anywhere from a few months to several years to undergo transition. Today,   
   however, she’s worried that some young people are being medicalized   
   without the proper restraint or oversight.   
      
   “I’m concerned that the rise of detransitioners is reflective of some   
   young people who have progressed through their gender journey very, very   
   quickly,” she said. She worries that some doctors may be defaulting to   
   medicalization as a remedy for other personal or mental-health factors.   
   “When other issues important to a child are not fully addressed [before   
   transition], then medical professionals are failing children.”   
      
   “I’m concerned that the rise of detransitioners is reflective of some   
   young people who have progressed through their gender journey very, very   
   quickly.”   
   Dr. Erica Anderson, a clinical psychologist specializing in gender,   
   sexuality and identity, who is herself transgender.   
   According to an online survey of detransitioners conducted by Dr. Lisa   
   Littman last year, 40% said their gender dysphoria was caused by a mental-   
   health condition and 62% felt medical professionals did not investigate   
   whether trauma was a factor in their transition decisions.   
      
   “My dysphoria collided with my general depression issues and body image   
   issues,” Helena recalled. “I just came to the conclusion that I was born   
   in the wrong body and that all my problems in life would be solved if I   
   transitioned.”   
      
   Chloe had a similar experience. “Because my body didn’t match beauty   
   ideals, I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me. I   
   thought I wasn’t pretty enough to be a girl, so I’d be better off as a   
   boy. Deep inside, I wanted to be pretty all along, but that’s something I   
   kept suppressed.”   
      
   She agrees with Dr. Anderson that more psychological evaluation is needed   
   to determine whether underlying mental health issues might be influencing   
   the desire to transition.   
      
   “More attention needs to be paid to psychotherapy,” Chloe said. “We’re   
   immediately jumping into irreversible medical treatments when we could be   
   focusing on empowering these children to not hate their bodies.”   
      
   • • •   
      
   Until 2019, Marcus Evans was the Clinical Director of Adult and Adolescent   
   Services at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, a publicly funded mental-   
   health center in the UK where many youth seek treatment for gender   
   dysphoria. But he resigned three years ago over what he viewed as the   
   unnecessary medicalization of dysphoric adolescents.   
      
   “I saw children being fast-tracked onto medical solutions for   
   psychological problems, and when kids get on the medical conveyor belt,   
   they don’t get off,” Evans said. “But the politicization of the issue was   
   shutting down proper clinical rigor. That meant quite vulnerable kids were   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)