A groundbreaking study out of Perth Children's Hospital using innovative methodology determined only 1% of patients receiving GAC detransitioned/desisted, that does not suffer from loss to follow up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing these resources when you find them. Parents us like me KNOW this is true, we’ve walked beside our kids on this journey and we see how carefully it’s managed step by step over several years, and yet, we often don’t have one *specific* thing we can easily point to when others challenge our decisions based on the hysteria around our kids. This is truly helpful ammunition for us in our fight for our kids.
Oh they're already trying. Sarah Jorgensen from UofToronto associated with the SEGM left a comment, grasping at two straws: first, some patients were not included due to "engagement issues" (non-attendance at appointments etc.) and it's possible they reidentified with their sex assigned at birth without telling the clinic or the clinic not finding out through other means. OK, but this isn't going to get the number to EiGhTy PeRcEnT!! (I'm waiting for the authors' reply to this, as indeed this data was not reported, and should have been.) More ridiculous, she tries backhandedly to insinuate that maybe some patients reidentified but their cases weren't closed anyway, as those patients would continue to need mental healthcare. (Yes, but not from a gender clinic, you dipshit).
Patients who were discharged for not attending appointments *shouldn't* be included in the stats: we don't know whether they are trans or not, and shouldn't guess.
(In the UK, many trans people are unfortunately discharged from gender services due to the ableist and transphobic attitudes of clinicians. I don't know to what extent that could have been an issue in the present study, and don't want to assume.)
I agree that the number excluded for this reason should be reported in the paper.
This is just one more study conforming what we already knew - that GAC is safe, effective, and humane medical care that is widely supported by the evidence. But of course this will not stop the engine of right-wing hatred. If anything, it will only intensify. Those who would scapegoat and demean such a vulnerable and small segment of the population for political purposes are truly pathetic human beings.
"The study ... is poised to significantly influence the debate on gender-affirming care..."
Probably not, because there really isn't much debate. The issue is pretty well settled on the left side of the political divide, and there is an ideological crusade to eradicate transgender people on the right side. Right-wing legislators in this country vote for care bans even in the face of overwhelming testimony in favor of gender-affirming care. No amount of evidence will sway them.
Outside the political arena, there are likely still many, many people who don't really know what to think about this whole transgender thing, but this study is unlikely to reach them. If they get any information at all, it's coming from mainstream (or right-wing) media.
Nevertheless, this study is a good and useful thing. It advances the scientific understanding of gender-affirming care, and it guides the development of standards of care.
Just as importantly, this study is yet another solid piece of evidence to point to when someone who didn't think much about gender suddenly has to because a friend or family member or kid came out to them.
I think this might be underestimating the effect on a section of mainstream media. There are a bunch of publications that *like to think of themselves* as being impartial, and that currently end up both-sidesing the issue because clueless editors think that's what "impartiality" looks like. Studies like this can influence them.
(I am *not* including here the publications that have a very deliberate anti-trans editorial policy but try to cover for it with a *pretence* of impartiality, such as the UK arm of The Guardian, or the BBC. Those will continue being shit no matter how many studies like this are published.)
As an Australian, this makes me proud! With desert on one side of a vast continent and ocean on the other, Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world. Fascinating research. Thanks Erin. I’ll be sharing this widely.
Erin, you are a true journalist. You’ve become my primary secondary source of information on trans issues. I truly appreciate what you’re doing from the bottom of my heart. 💜
I'm grateful for Erin as well! I mean, I knew Anti-Trans Organizations pathologically lie like normal people breathe, but it's always nice to have overwhelming confirmation that trans people actually *like* being the gender that they weren't assigned at birth.
This is encouraging. For us anyway. Of course it is offset by people who intentionally draw from ancient studies and misquote and misuse sources that are out there. The w path distortion is a prime example. I saw a headline in Newsweek last night saying that HRT is linked to cancer. Didn't take them long to latch on to that bogus study. But that stuff is out there. And it's going to continue to be out there. And for someone who saw that Newsweek article, are they going to be convinced otherwise. Not likely. We're living in a great repression.
Until I get more info, I refuse to believe that there are more than two people (Chloe and Prisha) in the US that have detransitioned.
Seriously, a loss to follow-up rate of 0.7% with 552 people over the course of 2-8 years is unheard of and SHOULD put the ridiculous assumptions about disposition made in other "studies" to rest.
On the bright side, all of the hateful attacks on the trans community have resulted in some crazy good research.
I'm alarmed that the language of RANZCP members is to consider caution and how little is known about giving or holding back with puberty blockers. This language, as far as I know, hasn't shown up in the U.S..
I just kicked over a hornet's nest of GC "feminists" with a response on X saying I didn't think pedophiles should be executed. It turns out the "Protect the Kids" trope links frenzied GC types to kill-the-perverts fanatics. As a trans fem (sorry for old pic) I also got accused of "disguising [myself] as a woman" and "invading women's spaces" as well as "causing harm to children." In the end I just blocked all of them. But I visited the pages of a couple who cited lists of papers supposedly supporting the GC position. Have all these been debunked already?
We keep trying to tell them. They love firing up millions with misinformation. What's worse is people, too lazy to research, believe misinformation if it's dramatic & juicy enough. Too many ignorant folks in the world and social media isn't helping things. Instead of information making people smarter, it's making them dumber. Imagine that. SMFH
This is more proof that WPATH's manipulation of data is losing credibility. Once their credibility is gone so will their supporters. Afterall, noone wants to align themselves with liars.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing these resources when you find them. Parents us like me KNOW this is true, we’ve walked beside our kids on this journey and we see how carefully it’s managed step by step over several years, and yet, we often don’t have one *specific* thing we can easily point to when others challenge our decisions based on the hysteria around our kids. This is truly helpful ammunition for us in our fight for our kids.
Excited to see the knots they twist themselves into to try and discredit this.
Sadly it won't be knots, just blatant lies and misdirection by only "citing" content with their audiences that backs their claims.
Exactly. You know that anti-trans groups and detransitioners have to lie to make their case because their case isn’t based on facts or science.
Oh they're already trying. Sarah Jorgensen from UofToronto associated with the SEGM left a comment, grasping at two straws: first, some patients were not included due to "engagement issues" (non-attendance at appointments etc.) and it's possible they reidentified with their sex assigned at birth without telling the clinic or the clinic not finding out through other means. OK, but this isn't going to get the number to EiGhTy PeRcEnT!! (I'm waiting for the authors' reply to this, as indeed this data was not reported, and should have been.) More ridiculous, she tries backhandedly to insinuate that maybe some patients reidentified but their cases weren't closed anyway, as those patients would continue to need mental healthcare. (Yes, but not from a gender clinic, you dipshit).
Patients who were discharged for not attending appointments *shouldn't* be included in the stats: we don't know whether they are trans or not, and shouldn't guess.
(In the UK, many trans people are unfortunately discharged from gender services due to the ableist and transphobic attitudes of clinicians. I don't know to what extent that could have been an issue in the present study, and don't want to assume.)
I agree that the number excluded for this reason should be reported in the paper.
They’ve made it clear that any number of trans kids made to suffer is acceptable, but a cis person making a mistake isn’t.
That is the cold truth of how ass-backward their thinking can be.
This is just one more study conforming what we already knew - that GAC is safe, effective, and humane medical care that is widely supported by the evidence. But of course this will not stop the engine of right-wing hatred. If anything, it will only intensify. Those who would scapegoat and demean such a vulnerable and small segment of the population for political purposes are truly pathetic human beings.
"The study ... is poised to significantly influence the debate on gender-affirming care..."
Probably not, because there really isn't much debate. The issue is pretty well settled on the left side of the political divide, and there is an ideological crusade to eradicate transgender people on the right side. Right-wing legislators in this country vote for care bans even in the face of overwhelming testimony in favor of gender-affirming care. No amount of evidence will sway them.
Outside the political arena, there are likely still many, many people who don't really know what to think about this whole transgender thing, but this study is unlikely to reach them. If they get any information at all, it's coming from mainstream (or right-wing) media.
Nevertheless, this study is a good and useful thing. It advances the scientific understanding of gender-affirming care, and it guides the development of standards of care.
Just as importantly, this study is yet another solid piece of evidence to point to when someone who didn't think much about gender suddenly has to because a friend or family member or kid came out to them.
As always, thank you for your great work, Erin!
Consider it aspirational, lol.
I think this might be underestimating the effect on a section of mainstream media. There are a bunch of publications that *like to think of themselves* as being impartial, and that currently end up both-sidesing the issue because clueless editors think that's what "impartiality" looks like. Studies like this can influence them.
(I am *not* including here the publications that have a very deliberate anti-trans editorial policy but try to cover for it with a *pretence* of impartiality, such as the UK arm of The Guardian, or the BBC. Those will continue being shit no matter how many studies like this are published.)
It's always good to see a new study confirming what we already know.
As an Australian, this makes me proud! With desert on one side of a vast continent and ocean on the other, Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world. Fascinating research. Thanks Erin. I’ll be sharing this widely.
The mountain of evidence just keeps piling up... and it just keeps getting ignored by all the people who most need to have it stapled to their faces.
Erin, you are a true journalist. You’ve become my primary secondary source of information on trans issues. I truly appreciate what you’re doing from the bottom of my heart. 💜
I'm grateful for Erin as well! I mean, I knew Anti-Trans Organizations pathologically lie like normal people breathe, but it's always nice to have overwhelming confirmation that trans people actually *like* being the gender that they weren't assigned at birth.
Couldn’t agree more. 🙂
This is encouraging. For us anyway. Of course it is offset by people who intentionally draw from ancient studies and misquote and misuse sources that are out there. The w path distortion is a prime example. I saw a headline in Newsweek last night saying that HRT is linked to cancer. Didn't take them long to latch on to that bogus study. But that stuff is out there. And it's going to continue to be out there. And for someone who saw that Newsweek article, are they going to be convinced otherwise. Not likely. We're living in a great repression.
Until I get more info, I refuse to believe that there are more than two people (Chloe and Prisha) in the US that have detransitioned.
Seriously, a loss to follow-up rate of 0.7% with 552 people over the course of 2-8 years is unheard of and SHOULD put the ridiculous assumptions about disposition made in other "studies" to rest.
On the bright side, all of the hateful attacks on the trans community have resulted in some crazy good research.
You're right, some recent research on trans health is raising the bar for healthcare research in general.
This is good to know. I find myself looking around many national health services to seek what's common. I noticed in the recent article about Kaltiala that RANZCP.org. https://www.ranzcp.org/clinical-guidelines-publications/clinical-guidelines-publications-library/role-of-psychiatrists-working-with-trans-gender-diverse-people has language very much like hers regarding RANZCP membe's role working with TGD children and adolescents.
I'm alarmed that the language of RANZCP members is to consider caution and how little is known about giving or holding back with puberty blockers. This language, as far as I know, hasn't shown up in the U.S..
I just kicked over a hornet's nest of GC "feminists" with a response on X saying I didn't think pedophiles should be executed. It turns out the "Protect the Kids" trope links frenzied GC types to kill-the-perverts fanatics. As a trans fem (sorry for old pic) I also got accused of "disguising [myself] as a woman" and "invading women's spaces" as well as "causing harm to children." In the end I just blocked all of them. But I visited the pages of a couple who cited lists of papers supposedly supporting the GC position. Have all these been debunked already?
We keep trying to tell them. They love firing up millions with misinformation. What's worse is people, too lazy to research, believe misinformation if it's dramatic & juicy enough. Too many ignorant folks in the world and social media isn't helping things. Instead of information making people smarter, it's making them dumber. Imagine that. SMFH
This is more proof that WPATH's manipulation of data is losing credibility. Once their credibility is gone so will their supporters. Afterall, noone wants to align themselves with liars.