Simply criticizing 'gender medicine' isn't enough
The Cass Review is important, but we need to scrap the entire concept of the 'trans kid' and the language of medicalized transgenderism. We should have done this from the getgo.
Both the WPATH Files and the Cass Review are incredibly important in that they signal an end to the rampant transing of kids. This insanity has ruined far too many lives and the castle built on a foundation of lies is crumbling rather quickly.
But the truth is there has never been any “science” or logical rationale to support the notion of a “trans child” or the transitioning of minors. The entire concept of transgenderism was bunk from the getgo, as called out decades ago by feminists like Germaine Greer and Sheila Jeffreys.
This whole thing could have been stopped before it began, had we listened to the women the mainstream media, progressive politicians, academics, and activists worked so very hard to silence. Had most bothered to be brave rather than to protect their reputations and incomes, there would have been no “gender clinics” to review and report on, and the WPATH Files and the Cass Review would have been unnecessary, because duh.
A child is never born in the wrong body. A boy who likes dresses is not actually a girl. The way for kids to truly be themselves is not to put them on hormones and chop off their healthy body parts. Sterilizing minors is not “life-saving health care.” Puberty sucks but it’s a necessary part of human development.
This has always been true and those of us willing to say so did, and were ignored, vilified, and censored.
But the good liberals shut their ears and went along with it because they weren’t willing to lose social status, income, friends, or jobs. They let the rest of us suffer for things they are now suddenly piping up about, as though this is new information.
If I sound bitter it’s because I am.
Truly, what we have collectively allowed to happen is a scandal and a travesty of epic proportions. And now that evidence is being compiled in reports that cannot be ignored, showing the the “science” behind transing kids is not there, things are being rolled back — the Tavistock gender clinic closed permanently at the end of March, Alberta is moving to prevent minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormones, numerous European countries have halted so-called “gender medicine” for minors, both the New York Times and the Washington Post have published articles acknowledging there is a lack of evidence supporting the need for medical interventions to deal with youth “gender issues” and the reality of regret for those who are put on this path towards “transition” — people are playing rational. Oh, well now that the science is in, perhaps we should reconsider doing dangerous, life-destroying medical experiments on kids…
You think??
Did we ever need fucking science or evidence to prove that boys are not actually girls on the inside or that preventing kids from going through puberty is dangerous?
I am terribly sorry for my non-celebratory, crass attitude, but it’s difficult to be thrilled when so much damage has been done, completely unnecessarily. We didn’t need to do this experiment to learn that transing kids is a reprehensible practice, because the entire concept of “trans kids” has always been bunk.
Why did anyone go along in the first place? Why are those claiming to be critical of “gender medicine” for minors still using the language supporting the practice? Why are gender critical journalists still talking about “trans kids” and using “preferred pronouns”? What exactly are you criticizing if you are still supporting the notion that these barbaric practices and these insane lies are legitimate or necessary? Are we meant to trust the “rational criticisms” of those too afraid to tell the truth? Or treat people as leaders who don’t seem to actually understand this issue at all?
Why are people still pretending as though they don’t know the truth, which is that there are only two sexes, and it is impossible to switch. Why are full grown adults who know exactly what it’s like to be a kid — having been one themselves at some point — pretending as though things that are perfectly normal must somehow be “treated” as “conditions”?
I realize that those tasked with producing these kinds of reports, like Hillary Cass, are working within a limited framework and attempting to get through to people who believe wholeheartedly something called a “trans kid” exists and that the only way for that individual to survive and thrive is by pretending it is possible to turn them into the opposite sex. I realize they are working backwards, against people who are convinced that there is “science” supporting the concept of “gender dysphoria” and that without medical “treatment” those who suffer from “gender dysphoria” are at risk of being miserable or suicidal. I realize that many likely believe the best way to address and stop the immense harms caused by giving puberty blockers and hormones to minors is to ease people into a change of mind, using evidence-based reports.
To me, though, leaving the underpinnings of transgenderism hanging out there in legitimacy is at the root of the problem, and the reason we are in this pickle at all. Treating this as an issue of “science” is also a problem. No one needs scientific reports to understand obvious truth.
A key conclusion in the Cass Report explains:
There remains diversity of opinion as to how best to treat these...young people. The evidence is weak and clinicians have told us they are unable to determine with any certainty which children and young people will go on to have an enduring trans identity.
Terms like “gender-related distress,” “gender care for children,” “gender dysphoria,” “pediatric gender-transition treatment,” “gender incongruence,” and “gender-questioning young people” are used throughout the report, not just confusing the situation, but in fact justifying the reason the clinics exist in the first place. How productive is it to question the transitioning of kids while also conceding the basis of the “transition”?
Cass explains, “For most young people, a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress” and that “The rationale for early puberty suppression remains unclear, with weak evidence regarding the impact on gender dysphoria, mental or psychosocial health.”
These assessments are true and important. But there is a problem with framing the very normal experiences of kids going through puberty as “gender-related distress” or “gender dysphoria.”
How one feels, whether child or adult, about “gender” is relevant to nothing and no one. Every single youth in the world struggles with confusion or distress as their body goes through puberty. These are not exactly comfortable changes. Many boys like playing with dolls or wearing dresses, and many girls like “boy things.” When I was a kid I refused to wear the girls’ ballet outfit and insisted on the boys’ uniform instead. I hated all “girl” things, wanted to play with the boys, and taught myself to pee standing up. Not once did anyone treat this as abnormal, and not once did I feel “distressed” about any of this. This was perfectly normal kid stuff, and everyone knew it, myself included. The idea that a girl who feels or behaves exactly as I and countless other girls have, over eons, needs “services” is ridiculous.
Leave the kids alone.
Stop imposing adult politics, ideologies, academic ideas, jargon, and perversions on kids.
I appreciate that these reports are being done because they have to be, but I don’t appreciate that they have to be done.
I don’t appreciate that we let this get so far out of hand, when we could have all just spoken the truth the moment anyone suggested a “trans kid,” or at very least supported the women who did.
I have had enough of this. I have had enough of this for years. I will never forgive those who ignored the women fighting this with all their might, who distanced themselves from us, who abandoned us, or who went along with the silencing, censorship, and vilification. I will never forgive those who stayed silent when they could have spoken out. Or when they could have simply donated money, or a venue, or a platform, or protection. I will not look at those men standing up now and demanding to know why they are the “only ones speaking up about this” and asking “where are all the women on this” as brave leaders. I will not pretend away truth and reality in a fight for truth and reality and I will not allow men to rewrite history to suit their wallets and egos. I will not allow women who refused to come on my podcast or who demanded I remove their articles and content from my website or YouTube channel because they didn’t want to be associated with a “TERF,” as it might negatively impact their career.
Here is how we win this fight: we say no. To all of it. To “preferred pronouns,” to “transgenderism,” to “trans people,” to “trans kids,” to “gender dysphoria” and to the notion that one’s personality, clothing preferences, feelings about one’s body or about gender stereotypes, or fetishes is an important part of one’s identity that must for some reason be “expressed” in public and “validated” by every stranger on the planet.
We tell the truth and we stop pretending the truth is rude. We listen, with respect, to those women who have refused to compromise on any of this and stop painting them as “toxic extremists,” “radicalized” toward the cruelty of pointing out that men are not women.
As soon as I realized what was going on and saw what was happening to the women pushing back, I spoke up, I stood up, and I supported those women publicly. Anyone could have done the same. And those who chose not to, and those continuing to play it safe now, are not people who deserve our respect or trust.
The TERFs were right, and they’re still right.
Fuck the experts. The experts failed us. Fuck the science. We don’t need science to know what every human has known for all of humanity. Fuck the media. Fuck the New York Times and the CBC for reporting clownfish ideology and for refusing to platform the women pushing back. Fuck the platforms that went along with all of this and are now publishing scientists as though you need a scientist to tell you that the term “assigned sex at birth” is stupid. Fuck every single one of my friends who unfriended me on Facebook or told me they couldn’t hang out with me anymore or attacked me for being “mean” because it was so very important to them that children be mutilated and sterilized. I was not bad, I am not bad, you are bad.
The TERFs were right, and they’re still right. Say it loud and never forget it.
Purchase tickets for the first ever event discussing gender identity, women’s spaces, and parental rights in Victoria, B.C. on May 30th at tickettailor.com.
Can I give this 500 hearts? Even the term "transgenderism" needs to go.
Thank you for your outrage. I share every single word of it. Reading this on the morning after another friendship ended over this. It helps to know that I am not alone and seeing all of this so fucking clearly.