You wrote, "Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk."
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for taking the risk to write this. What's happening now is insane and surely one of the lowest points our culture has ever stooped to.
I think that what you've just said will make a difference.
What's so insane about this is the harm it does is OBVIOUS, yet most nice white liberals have their minds so open they've fallen out.
All it takes is a 15 min segment by John Oliver based on a couple shoddy studies (seriously, read Jesse Singal on them) and their minds are made up and arguing against this becomes not only difficult but borderline impossible. When acceptance of youth transition becomes coded strongly blue no one in the progressive tribe wants to step away from the give mind.
Thanks for sharing the personal experience here, I hope it makes an impact
Every time I see or hear “the science” I can’t help but think we have ourselves a new secular religion. It has its high priests and rituals, but lacks anything transcendent and hopeful. It just destroys.
"Given the secrecy and lack of rigorous standards that characterize youth gender transition across the country, I believe that to ensure the safety of American children, we need a moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria. "
Yes, yes, YES.
I don't even understand how this became an issue. Seriously.
I totally believe that there ARE people who are affected by gender dysmorphia, but this number is very small, and I am convinced that the majority of people who _think_ they're affected by gender dysmorphia are, in fact, infected by a mimetic illness, a kind of mass hysteria—because what does it MEAN to feel like you're in the wrong body? How would a male "trapped" in a female body or a female "trapped" in a male body _know_? Since so many of the things that characterize and differentiate men and women—outside of anatomical and physiological differences—are cultural tropes.
I was a total tomboy when I was a kid. And around the age of nine or so, I _did_ go through a period when I insisted I was a boy. Looking back on that time, it seems clear in retrospect that I was chafing at all the restrictions I saw embedded in the feminine role.
It's scary to think what might have happened to me had I been born 50 years later.
I'm a member of Gen Z and I see the contagion rapidly spreading among my generation. It's common for people who display autistic traits to end up thinking they're trans. To some degree it makes sense: teens who are confused about social norms that other teens just seem to grasp easily (especially autistic girls, who feel much more of a pressure to present as neurotypical) will end up thinking that the reason for their problems is being the wrong gender, when the actual issue goes far deeper.
So now we have a generation of kids that are autistic, ADHD, BPD, etc. all end up getting hormones and surgeries to transition, when the real issue is their underlying health conditions. It's sad to see.
I am more than sure that the author and I would have widely disparate views on many issues but I admire her courage and her character. She is exactly the kind of person that I like to work with.
And, I understand about the need to hold off to preserve a paycheck. Not sure that many people could sacrifice their living for their values. That is a horrible and frightening choice to have to make.
This woman deserves a lot of kudos.
In my humble opinion this abomination of a circumstance is what happens when progressive politics meets greed. These children are a cause de jur, another collection of puppies to save that allow the elite progressive left to virtue signal and challenge traditional ways of life and is a cash cow for doctors and therapists, mentally ill children are just the meat to feed into the machine.
As a developmental psychologist and also a child psychotherapist -- Thank you, thank you, thank you!! The politicization of medical practice is a crime; and in the case of gender issues, a crime against children.
These doctors are no better than Mengele. They need to be thrown in jail. You can’t imagine how furious this crap makes me. Good on you for blowing the whistle. Your whistle needs to turn into a hell fire of fury aimed at them.
But beyond the abuses inflicted on children in these clinics, we as a society need a deep examination and reckoning with how we got here. Let’s start with: there ARE absolute truths. There is a right and a wrong. Parents determine what is OK for their kids. Kids should not have to invent psychological problems to be treated as special and accepted in peer groups. Chat rooms that teach kids how to be screwed up should be treated as child abusers. The few actual cases of gender dysphoria are mental problems (like anorexia) and need counseling, not drugs and mutilating surgery. (Have you seen what these monsters do to the forearms of their victims in an attempt to build a “penis”? ).
We don’t agree with anorectics that they are obese and encourage them to starve themselves more, do we?
Last year I visited a shuttered "Lunatic Asylum" where a tour guide described in detail all of the "treatments" given to the supposedly insane.
They pointed out that many of those admitted were just uppity women. The audience chuckled at how backward and stupid those early-20th century people must have been.
Then they went over frontal lobotomies - top of the line science in their day, fit to cure all sorts of disorders. We were horrified, then chuckled at how backward and stupid those early-20th century people must have been.
Unfortunately, people have done a lot of very bad things because they misunderstood biology. Consider the history of lobotomies, or the career of John Money (who popularized the term “gender identity”).
The current (generally misinformed) national conversation about gender identity is being driven — to a great extent — by people who have a naïve and childish understanding of biology, and a zealous belief that they know just how to manipulate it in order to permanently ‘fix’ what they think is a unitary psychological phenomenon. However, because both biology and psychology are complex, and people are remarkably diverse, the same ‘fix’ will never work for everyone… just like the same antidepressant or blood pressure medicine doesn’t work for everyone.
Diversity, including neuro-diversity, should be recognized and valued. Every individual should be respected, accepted, included, and have the opportunity to live the best life that they can. For some very small percentage of people, pharmacological or surgical intervention may be a reasonable option (after an extended period of therapy and careful evaluation). However, by definition, that singular solution is not appropriate for everyone. Unfortunately, the most zealous proponents of that singular solution are doing a tremendous amount of irreversible damage to the young, the vulnerable, families, women, and many of our institutions. I think that’s misguided and unacceptable. (Actually, I think it's worse than that. I'm just trying to be temperate in my language.)
A deep understanding of the evolutionary, genetic, and developmental forces that make us human should prevent us from making foolish mistakes, like thinking that we can surgically alter a few external body parts and change a person into something they’re not. Biology is more complicated than that:
However, all of this notwithstanding, compassion and humility should be our guiding lights. Clearly, they are not. My heart breaks for every child who has been (or will be) permanently harmed by this zealotry.
Thank you for speaking out. I personally have some beliefs that are different than the author's. I have met some transgender people (men to women). I am adamantly against anything being done with children, meaning surgery or drugs, other than mental health services. I think if someone is serious about going through with such a life altering situation it should be done as an adult after several years of therapy. I personally think over 25 years old. I think there are probably several trans people who would agree. We could be doing grave harm to countless numbers of children and young adults. Heck teenagers have enough to deal with just trying to figure life out.
Thanks for writing this, Jamie. I, too, felt complicit for several years because of how I was reporting on the subject. I hope this powerful piece will inspire more people to speak up.
Jordan Peterson interviewed Chloe Cole, a detransitioning person who is speaking out about the horrors of this industry. What was stunning was the ease with which these doctors determined she was trans and initiated drugs. She even had a double mastectomy at 15. They threatened her parents that it was better to have a trans boy than a suicide daughter. How did these doctors come to practice like this?? The AAP supports this?? How? A total rejection of objective truths. A rejection of right from wrong. And money. I want to heap acrimony and parental fury on them. I want them in jail for hurting children.
It was Ilhan Omar who said accurately but in a different context “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
If a society is not willing to protect its most vulnerable, its children, then it is doomed. From abortion in the final trimester, to gender affirming care, to indoctrination in the schools, it seems as if we hate our children.
I fear for my grandsons growing up in a world where they are a ideological tool to be used to further an agenda.
You wrote, "Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk."
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for taking the risk to write this. What's happening now is insane and surely one of the lowest points our culture has ever stooped to.
I think that what you've just said will make a difference.
What's so insane about this is the harm it does is OBVIOUS, yet most nice white liberals have their minds so open they've fallen out.
All it takes is a 15 min segment by John Oliver based on a couple shoddy studies (seriously, read Jesse Singal on them) and their minds are made up and arguing against this becomes not only difficult but borderline impossible. When acceptance of youth transition becomes coded strongly blue no one in the progressive tribe wants to step away from the give mind.
Thanks for sharing the personal experience here, I hope it makes an impact
Every time I see or hear “the science” I can’t help but think we have ourselves a new secular religion. It has its high priests and rituals, but lacks anything transcendent and hopeful. It just destroys.
"Given the secrecy and lack of rigorous standards that characterize youth gender transition across the country, I believe that to ensure the safety of American children, we need a moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria. "
Yes, yes, YES.
I don't even understand how this became an issue. Seriously.
I totally believe that there ARE people who are affected by gender dysmorphia, but this number is very small, and I am convinced that the majority of people who _think_ they're affected by gender dysmorphia are, in fact, infected by a mimetic illness, a kind of mass hysteria—because what does it MEAN to feel like you're in the wrong body? How would a male "trapped" in a female body or a female "trapped" in a male body _know_? Since so many of the things that characterize and differentiate men and women—outside of anatomical and physiological differences—are cultural tropes.
I was a total tomboy when I was a kid. And around the age of nine or so, I _did_ go through a period when I insisted I was a boy. Looking back on that time, it seems clear in retrospect that I was chafing at all the restrictions I saw embedded in the feminine role.
It's scary to think what might have happened to me had I been born 50 years later.
I'm a member of Gen Z and I see the contagion rapidly spreading among my generation. It's common for people who display autistic traits to end up thinking they're trans. To some degree it makes sense: teens who are confused about social norms that other teens just seem to grasp easily (especially autistic girls, who feel much more of a pressure to present as neurotypical) will end up thinking that the reason for their problems is being the wrong gender, when the actual issue goes far deeper.
So now we have a generation of kids that are autistic, ADHD, BPD, etc. all end up getting hormones and surgeries to transition, when the real issue is their underlying health conditions. It's sad to see.
I am more than sure that the author and I would have widely disparate views on many issues but I admire her courage and her character. She is exactly the kind of person that I like to work with.
And, I understand about the need to hold off to preserve a paycheck. Not sure that many people could sacrifice their living for their values. That is a horrible and frightening choice to have to make.
This woman deserves a lot of kudos.
In my humble opinion this abomination of a circumstance is what happens when progressive politics meets greed. These children are a cause de jur, another collection of puppies to save that allow the elite progressive left to virtue signal and challenge traditional ways of life and is a cash cow for doctors and therapists, mentally ill children are just the meat to feed into the machine.
As a developmental psychologist and also a child psychotherapist -- Thank you, thank you, thank you!! The politicization of medical practice is a crime; and in the case of gender issues, a crime against children.
These doctors are no better than Mengele. They need to be thrown in jail. You can’t imagine how furious this crap makes me. Good on you for blowing the whistle. Your whistle needs to turn into a hell fire of fury aimed at them.
But beyond the abuses inflicted on children in these clinics, we as a society need a deep examination and reckoning with how we got here. Let’s start with: there ARE absolute truths. There is a right and a wrong. Parents determine what is OK for their kids. Kids should not have to invent psychological problems to be treated as special and accepted in peer groups. Chat rooms that teach kids how to be screwed up should be treated as child abusers. The few actual cases of gender dysphoria are mental problems (like anorexia) and need counseling, not drugs and mutilating surgery. (Have you seen what these monsters do to the forearms of their victims in an attempt to build a “penis”? ).
We don’t agree with anorectics that they are obese and encourage them to starve themselves more, do we?
Jamie Reed you are truly courageous to tell this heartbreaking story.
Lawyers, where are you?
This ends with lawsuits. Lots and lots of lawsuits.
Every medical professional who is party to this deserves it.
Last year I visited a shuttered "Lunatic Asylum" where a tour guide described in detail all of the "treatments" given to the supposedly insane.
They pointed out that many of those admitted were just uppity women. The audience chuckled at how backward and stupid those early-20th century people must have been.
Then they went over frontal lobotomies - top of the line science in their day, fit to cure all sorts of disorders. We were horrified, then chuckled at how backward and stupid those early-20th century people must have been.
We're pretty fucking stupid.
This is a wonderful essay. Bravo...
Unfortunately, people have done a lot of very bad things because they misunderstood biology. Consider the history of lobotomies, or the career of John Money (who popularized the term “gender identity”).
The current (generally misinformed) national conversation about gender identity is being driven — to a great extent — by people who have a naïve and childish understanding of biology, and a zealous belief that they know just how to manipulate it in order to permanently ‘fix’ what they think is a unitary psychological phenomenon. However, because both biology and psychology are complex, and people are remarkably diverse, the same ‘fix’ will never work for everyone… just like the same antidepressant or blood pressure medicine doesn’t work for everyone.
Diversity, including neuro-diversity, should be recognized and valued. Every individual should be respected, accepted, included, and have the opportunity to live the best life that they can. For some very small percentage of people, pharmacological or surgical intervention may be a reasonable option (after an extended period of therapy and careful evaluation). However, by definition, that singular solution is not appropriate for everyone. Unfortunately, the most zealous proponents of that singular solution are doing a tremendous amount of irreversible damage to the young, the vulnerable, families, women, and many of our institutions. I think that’s misguided and unacceptable. (Actually, I think it's worse than that. I'm just trying to be temperate in my language.)
A deep understanding of the evolutionary, genetic, and developmental forces that make us human should prevent us from making foolish mistakes, like thinking that we can surgically alter a few external body parts and change a person into something they’re not. Biology is more complicated than that:
https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/there-is-biological-evidence-for
However, all of this notwithstanding, compassion and humility should be our guiding lights. Clearly, they are not. My heart breaks for every child who has been (or will be) permanently harmed by this zealotry.
Sincerely, Frederick
Thank you for speaking out. I personally have some beliefs that are different than the author's. I have met some transgender people (men to women). I am adamantly against anything being done with children, meaning surgery or drugs, other than mental health services. I think if someone is serious about going through with such a life altering situation it should be done as an adult after several years of therapy. I personally think over 25 years old. I think there are probably several trans people who would agree. We could be doing grave harm to countless numbers of children and young adults. Heck teenagers have enough to deal with just trying to figure life out.
Thanks for writing this, Jamie. I, too, felt complicit for several years because of how I was reporting on the subject. I hope this powerful piece will inspire more people to speak up.
Jordan Peterson interviewed Chloe Cole, a detransitioning person who is speaking out about the horrors of this industry. What was stunning was the ease with which these doctors determined she was trans and initiated drugs. She even had a double mastectomy at 15. They threatened her parents that it was better to have a trans boy than a suicide daughter. How did these doctors come to practice like this?? The AAP supports this?? How? A total rejection of objective truths. A rejection of right from wrong. And money. I want to heap acrimony and parental fury on them. I want them in jail for hurting children.
It was Ilhan Omar who said accurately but in a different context “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
If a society is not willing to protect its most vulnerable, its children, then it is doomed. From abortion in the final trimester, to gender affirming care, to indoctrination in the schools, it seems as if we hate our children.
I fear for my grandsons growing up in a world where they are a ideological tool to be used to further an agenda.