"Delete This": Mistaken Victory Claims Show Why You Should Not Trust The "WPATH Files"

On Tuesday, Michael Shellenberger and other anti-trans leaders who pushed the error-ridden and editorialized "WPATH Files" declared victory over WPATH... Turns out, it was just a website glitch.

On Tuesday, cries of "Victory" emerged from influential leaders of the anti-transgender movement. Michael Shellenberger, the person behind the error-ridden "WPATH Files" release, took to Twitter and declared victory over the World Professional Association of Transgender Health. He claimed that WPATH had removed the WPATH 8 Standards of Care, that President Marci Bowers might have been removed, and stated, "WPATH is over." These statements were echoed by several leaders and organizations opposing trans care. However, within hours, it became clear that reports of WPATH's demise were greatly exaggerated: the site had simply reverted to its 2019 version in response to a technical glitch. Yet again, it appears those responsible for the "WPATH Files" failed to fact-check their work, leading to misinformation within their own audience.

Earlier this month, Michael Shellenberger released a set of leaked files he termed the "WPATH Files." The actual leaked messages from an internal message board at WPATH, the leading organization for global transgender health, were relegated to the back of the 35,000-word, editorialized report. Within a day, a fact-check of the document uncovered 216 errors and misleadingly presented messages, including the omission of words or phrases that significantly altered the intended meaning of what was "leaked." Owing to these serious factual inaccuracies, the leak failed to gain significant traction, with most of its coverage appearing in extremist far-right media outlets and occasional opinion pages.

However, in what appears to be a desperate attempt to indicate that the leak had achieved their apparent goal of ending the transgender care organization, Shellenberger turned to Twitter on Tuesday to declare "Victory!" He supported his claims of victory by posting screenshots that showed the 7th edition standards of care instead of the 8th edition ones on the WPATH website, and Marci Bowers was no longer listed as president. "WPATH is over," he stated, adding, "WPATH may have also removed its president." He further claimed, "I have been told that WPATH's board of directors met last night. Whatever transpired, WPATH appears to have reverted to its 2019 website," and he called for more whistleblowers.

You can see key portions of his thread here, which has since been deleted after being viewed 500,000 times:

Michael Shellenberger declaring “Victory” over a website glitch at WPATH.

Within hours, dozens of prominent anti-trans public figures celebrated on Twitter what they believed was their ultimate victory against the leading global authority on transgender health. Jamie Reed, the so-called Missouri "whistleblower," stated, "It appears the iceberg has been struck," and urged people to abandon ship and join her anti-trans organization. Anti-trans influencer and comedian Graham Linehan described the situation as "the beginning of the end of gender ideology." Our Duty, a major anti-trans international organization, promoted the claims of "Victory," encouraging people to "please share widely!" on their Canadian account. January Littlejohn, whose negative reaction to her gender-diverse child's coming out at school led to the creation of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, suggested this was "the beginning of the end." Genspect, an international organization opposing trans care, labeled the news as "must read," highlighting "big changes" on WPATH's website and alleging "membership tanking!" Even the National Review published an article on the website update, stating that the organization “deleted guidance urging invasive interventions for child gender dysphoria from its website after internal documents revealed that its members had doubts about the safety and efficacy of the approach.”

You can see some of these celebrations here:

Anti-trans reactions to a WPATH Website glitch.

A lone member of those who typically oppose trans care urged caution, however: Jesse Singal, who cautioned, “there’s such a climate of misinformation online — I think journalists should be really careful about jumping to conclusions. Something is VERY wrong with the WPATH website but no one knows what,” and then adding, “You shouldn't just casually toss out the theory that Bowers has been removed when the screenshots clearly show a reversion to an earlier version of the site, from before she took over. I don't understand the downside of finding out before tweeting speculation.”

Shortly afterwards, the actual WPATH website was fully restored with a statement on top, “Please be advised our website is currently experiencing an internal system issue, and we are working to restore it. WPATH continues its mission to promote evidence-based care, education, research, advocacy, public policy, and respect in transgender health.”

See the website here as screenshotted on 3/19/2024 at 3:18 PM:

Restoration of WPATH’s website with a note that it had experienced an internal technical error.

Singal then followed up to Shellenberger’s twitter thread, which had been viewed 500,000 times, asking him to take it down: “You might wanna delete this and post a correction -- a ton of people took your interpretation at face value and they're continuing to circulate this even after the site and SOC8 went back up.”

Shellenberger then deleted the entire thread.

The whole debacle starkly highlights why one should not consider the authors of the “WPATH files” a reliable, neutral, or even rational source on transgender healthcare. Shellenberger and his allies, ignoring the essential fact-checking required of any journalist, selectively used screenshots and twisted them to fit a narrative that was both self-serving and harmful. What appears to be a typical website reversion due to an technical error—something that happens all the time online—was wildly spun as evidence that the leading transgender medical organization had somehow "collapsed" and was retracting its latest care guidelines. This interpretation couldn't be further from the truth, a fact that even some critics of trans care recognized early on. Yet, the less exciting truth of a simple website error didn't fit the narrative they wanted to push. So, without waiting for any sort of official word, they jumped to declare a victory, misleading all of their readers in the process.

These errors are not unique to this event. They were common in the original “WPATH Files” as well. A fact check uncovered 216 factual errors, incorrect citations, and misrepresentations of the actual “leaked” message board posts. For example, the “WPATH files” claimed that a message board post leaked showed that a patient was “leaking prostate fluid.” The actual post revealed that the patient was actually experiencing an orgasm. In another instance, it was claimed that doctors called a patient’s detransition their "gender journey," when, in fact, those were the patient’s own words. Misinformation about critical aspects like the mortality rate of gender-affirming surgeries and regret rates was rampant in their editorialization of the leaked posts. Basic facts about transgender history were omitted, such as the burning of the Institute of Sexology by Nazis; instead, they portrayed trans care itself as if it were a Nazi invention.

Shellenberger's disregard for basic fact-checking is symptomatic of a broader issue within anti-trans journalism. Figures like Shellenberger and those who uncritically disseminate his findings often prioritize a narrative that casts transgender care in a negative light, interpreting all data through this skewed lens. Routine events are misconstrued as evidence of elaborate conspiracies: the growing comfort of trans individuals in expressing their identities is labeled a vast “social contagion,” and a transgender teenager’s decision to come out is branded as “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” Even transgender people experiencing low regret rates was interpreted in the original WPATH files as transgender people being “suspiciously” happy.

This brand of journalism has increasingly drifted from reality. Jesse Singal, a noted critic of trans care, commented on the debacle, observing that it “just chums the waters for conspiracy theorists.” If only Singal and other journalists who promote figures like Shellenberger could look introspectively and see how they have enabled the conspiratorial feeding frenzy against transgender people all along.

Update: A statement from WPATH was provided:

“The WPATH website experienced a ransomware attack and the site was down for roughly 14 hours while we worked to address the problem. We are still investigating the source but it's hardly a surprise that bad-faith activists would jump to the wrong conclusions. WPATH continues its mission to promote evidence-based care, education, research, public policy and respect in transgender health.”