TRANSGENDER EPIDEMIC IN TEENAGERS

TRANSGENDERS AND PUBLIC DEFENDERS

Isaac Singer says in a quote, “We must believe in free will – we have no choice.” The sovereignty of free will and the power of choice, however, has often been challenged from ancient times even to the current “democratic” dispensation. Kingdoms and empires that conquered distant territories imposed their laws, way of life and forcefully made colonies of those nations.

As of recent with the covid pandemic, we ought not only to marvel at how the power of choice and free will was easily snatched away from citizens residing in democratic countries (Nguyen and Tran 2022, Mounk 2018), there is nothing new under the sun, but also be concerned as some governments implement change policies and legislature in support of equality and inclusion of the LGBT community.

In a paper on sexual politics in Germany (Ludwig 2016) the author highlights that “the flexibilization of the apparatus of sexuality is not merely a side effect of neoliberalism but a constitutive element of neoliberal governmentality that is deployed to legitimate an anti-democratic and violent neoliberal state.”

Children are being given the power to choose their gender by the state before reaching adulthood, gender neutral bathrooms have new emojis, signs and symbols, is this still science?

TRANSGENGERS AND NERVE CENTERS

Children who identify as other genders than the one assigned to them at birth find it difficult to “come out the closet” to their parents and society. It may well feel like striking a nerve when “coming out,” but parental support and acceptance are consistent predictors of good outcome among the LGBT youth (Russell and Fish 2016, Mills-Koonce et al. 2018). Parents and family clinicians have relatively few empirically based resources to foster optimal behaviour and family functioning (Mills-Koonce et al. 2018), keeping an open door for discussion on sensitive and sexual topics is the best policy.

Adolescents who transition genders undergo reconstruction surgery and are placed on puberty blockers which thwart the development of their sexual characteristics (Biggs 2020). While gay and lesbian individuals do not need to undergo surgery, transgenderism is more complex, and the medical community thus needs to address the harms and consequences of transgenderism under a different lens.

Preservation of erogenous sensitivity (sexual arousal and pleasure) is one of the requirements for an ideal phalloplasty - penile construction involving nerve anastomosis - and often a demand of patients for fulfilling their sexual well-being (Elfering et al. 2021), we hope in the case and future of minors who transition, the surgeon does not strike a nerve and take joy out of life.

DE-TRANSITION DE-FAULT: SYSTEM RESTORE

There is an increase in the number of young individuals who after pursuing medical transition want to return to their natal sex. The root cause of the LGBTQ phenomenon is not fully understood, current research suggests a combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors may contribute to the development of an LGBTQ identity (Cook 2020). While the LGBT community is a minority group, clinicians are seeing more and more cases of transgender individuals who ask for detransition and reversal of changes due to regret (Guerra et al. 2020). The reasons for de-transitioning are complex and the medical community must develop protocols for detransition as there are for transition. There is paucity of data on the clinical experience on transexuals who discontinue or seek to reverse surgical or medical interventions after gender-affirming treatments (MacKinnon et al. 2022). Research is required to determine how best support and treatment can be provided for long term medical and psychological well-being of people who detransition (Littman 2021).

SUE-YOU-TO PRISON FOR MY CHILDREN AND DECISIONS: NAIVE CLINICIAN

One thousand families in the UK are taking legal action against Tavistock Clinic Gender and Identity Development Services (GIDS) over gender-affirming treatments performed on minors. “Lawyers expect about 1,000 families to join a medical negligence lawsuit alleging vulnerable children have been misdiagnosed and placed on damaging medical pathway” reads a report by The Times (Hayward 2022). Allegations against the clinic include recklessly prescribing puberty blockers with dangerous side effects and an “unquestioning, affirmative approach” to children believing they are the opposite gender (Woods 2022). Parents believed hormone therapy, mastectomies and castration would keep their children from becoming suicidal and endangering themselves. In a study by The Heritage Foundation the opposite was however found to be true. Author Greene (2022) highlights in an article titled “Does ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ For Trans Kids Actually Prevent Suicide?” that the increasing and easing of access to cross-sex treatments without parental consent significantly increases suicide rates.

LEFT AGENDAS AND RIGHT TRENDSETTERS

Many parents have raised their concerns on schools, under the guise of educating pupils, psychologically programming children to not only be accepting, but open to participate in relationships, activities, and various lifestyles under the sun and shade of the LGBTQ umbrella. Walt Heyer (2015), a public speaker and author who raises awareness on regret after sex change, writes in an article that “LGBT acceptance programs designed by GLSEN and funded by the CDC are designed to encourage kids to question their gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Schools are packaging the LGBTQ programs with sweets, colors, and psychological suggestions to vulnerable children seeking belonging, to join the squad and find a “home.” Parents must have access to public education for their children that does not advocate for ideological, sexual, and political agendas especially when evidence suggests the message embedded in school programs on LGBTQ may be harmful to children (Heyer 2015). The LGBTQ community has beckoned for acceptance and society has extended an olive branch, but as soon as you give a hand your whole arm is gone. Conway (2021) argues in an article, “Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride?

The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of activism” that the awareness raised at Pride events rather than discussing LGBTQ+ experiences, rights, and needs, these events “centered on privileged and normative ‘lifestyles’ and emphasized individual agency, rather than making intersectional inequalities visible and basis for collective action.”

Parents must make it easier for their children to talk to them about gender dysphoria. The medical community must further research and develop clinical guidance for transgenders who detransition. Doctors are sued for misdiagnoses, inadequate counseling and an “unquestioning, affirmative approach” to minors identifying as another gender. LGBT acceptance programs in schools advocate beyond acceptance and inclusion to participation of children. Progressive change has been effected in policies and legislature to accommodate the preferences and way of life of the LGBT community, their lifestyle however, being a minority group is often promoted above all other minority groups (Conway 2021).

Neoliberalism is not only based on coercion and force but paradoxically on consensus as well (Ludwig 2016). What about ending the modern slavery and mass incarceration of black people? Free the brother Young Thug. Can we equalize society by normalizing exceptions observed in the LGBTQ community to achieve the greater good? Quick maths: A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.

REFERENCES Biggs, M. (2020). Puberty Blockers and Suicidality in Adolescents Suffering from Gender Dysphoria. Archives of sexual behavior, 49(7), 2227–2229. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01743-6.

Conway, D. (2021). Whose Lifestyle Matters at Johannesburg Pride? The Lifestylisation of LGBTQ+ Identities and the Gentrification of Activism. Sage Journals. Volume 56, Issue 1.

Cook, C.H. (2021). The causes of human sexual orientation,

Theology & Sexuality, 27:1, 1-19

Elfering, L., van de Grift, T. C., Al-Tamimi, M., Timmermans, F. W., de Haseth, K. B., Pigot, G. L. S., Lissenberg-Witte, B. I., Bouman, M. B., & Mullender, M. G. (2021). How Sensitive Is the Neophallus? Postphalloplasty Experienced and Objective Sensitivity in Transmasculine Persons. Sexual medicine, 9(5), 100413.

Greene, J. P. (2022). Does “Gender-Affriming Care” for Trans Kids Actually Prevent Suicide? Here’s What The Data Say. The Heritage Foundation.

Hayward, E. (2022). Tavistock gender clinic “to be sued by 1,000 families.” The Times.

Heyer, W. (2015). Public School LGBT Programs Don’t Just Tranple Parental Rights. They Also Put Kids At Risk. Public Discourse.

Littman, L. (2021). Individuals Treated for Gender Dysphoria with Medical and/or Surgical Transition Who Subsequently Detransitioned: A Survey of 100 Detransitioners. Arch Sex Behav 50, 3353–3369.

MacKinnon, K. R., Kia, H., Salway, T., Ashley, F., Lacombe-Duncan, A., Abramovich, A., Enxuga, G., & Ross, L. E. (2022). Health Care Experiences of Patients Discontinuing or Reversing Prior Gender-Affirming Treatments. JAMA network open , 5 (7), e2224717.

Mills-Koonce, W. R., Rehder, P. D., & McCurdy, A. L. (2018). The Significance of Parenting and Parent-Child Relationships for Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents. Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence, 28(3), 637–649.

Mounk, Y. (2018). The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press.

Nguyen, T., & Tran, T. (2022). The Age of Extreme. Journal Of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 6(1), 72-100.

Guerra, M. P., Balaguer, M.G., Porras, M. G, Murillo, F. H., Izquierdo, E.S., & Ariño, C. M. (2020). Transsexuality: Transitions, detransitions, and regrets in Spain. Transexualidad: transiciones, detransiciones y arrepentimientos en España. Endocrinologia, diabetes y nutricion, 67(9), 562–567.

Russell, S. T., & Fish, J. N. (2016). Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Youth. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12, 465–487. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093153