Argument with son about trans stats

"Lies, damn lies and statistics".
Just allow your son to find his own way and develop his own philosopy of life.

Here's the recent relaunch:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/

The 40% suicide rate is old, it might go back all the way to around 2008, it has been challenged since then, and has now been repackaged and relaunched at the same number, I think it's actually 41%, but it's now being presented as 41% of young trans people have contemplated suicide.

It would be interesting to see a comparable figure for how many young people with at least one significant mental health condition have contemplated suicide.

Realistically neither of you “know the stats” and both of you are relying on randoms on the internet to inform you and give you ammunition to “win” the discussion. I would suggest the conflict is really about something else and that you’d be better off finding out what that is.

He also believes that the rate of suicide attempts of trans people is 40% and so transitioning is a net good- this is from TikTok.

This isn't reliable data. It is based on self reported, non randomly sampled surveys where there isn't a clear line between self harm and attempted suicide, often remembered decades later.

The other issue is that suicide attempts/completions actually increase after "transition" according to some studies.

https://www.transgendertrend.com/the-suicide-myth/

Lots of relevant discussion and information on this board:

https://www.mumsnet.com/search?query=40%+suicide&date=all&topics[0]=Feminism%3A+Sex+%26+gender+discussions

Afraid I don't have any studies to point you to but I would ask a few additional questions about the videos/experts he's watched on TT.

If the regret rate is less than 1%, how is that being quantified? Is that among people who've had a full surgical transition? Or among people who've had a social transition and (crucially) over what period of time? If you asked a socially transitioned 14 year old if they had regrets 6 months on, they're probably going to say no. See where they're up to 10 years later, it may well be a different story. Are there long term studies?

Also as for the 40%, I'd really like to ask if those intense suicidal feelings or poor mental health are resolved by physical or social transition? Have there been any long term studies that show the link between not living in your preferred gender and mental health? So once you DO live in your preferred gender are your MH problems instantly cured? Tapered off any medications etc? Or is it that the MH issues were always there and continue to be, despite outward gender expression.

I'm not a scientist but when I hear stats like that (on either side of the discussion!), I want to know the working out and how they arrived at that number.

Transgender trends web site

statsforgender.org/

This is a great start. Evidence based stats.