‘Trans children more likely to be white and privileged’ says head

Can you post the relevant part which says that over 80% were white British

'83.4% were White British'?

I can't read that whole paper. Can you post the relevant part which says that over 80% were white British? The abstract doesn't seem to say this clearly: all it says about ethnicity is "For 2%, sex assigned at birth was unrecorded, 83.4% were White British and 36.6% had an unidentified ethnicity."

83.4% plus 36.6% adds up to 120%, so either these aren't referring to the same cohort or there's a misprint in there.

My dc goes to a special school for children with autism and behaviour difficulties and their closest friends are all transgender. They are definitely not middle class but all are in care and/or vulnerable at the extreme end.

Having said that, I am sure there are middle class white privileged children too.

It's possible to be white and privileged AND disadvantaged in some ways. My anecdata (parent in middle class area & working with children often with SEN and extreme disadvantages) is that the typical "trans child" is white and middle class. But also female and usually autistic - both clear disadvantages when teenage! There's also an overlapping subset where there is some kind of trauma at home - divorce, suspected abuse or even just extreme pressure.

The trans kids in care are obviously documented too but I suppose statistically looked after children are a small percentage of children.

A lot of my peers say "it's the kids who used to have eating disorders a decade or two ago" which rings true from my own experience of being a teenager in the 90s.

Personally I grew up poor and didn't suffer with bulimia or anorexia like so many of my wealthy peers. It would be interesting to know what the protective factors might have been. For the children with extreme disadvantages that I have known through work, I suspect they don't have the mental bandwidth to think about special identities. They are also quite excluded from culture which is where a lot of the propaganda comes from currently.

Yes, 80% of trans-identifying children being white British is exactly what you'd expect in a population where about 80% of the total population is white British.

If, for example, 95% (or 65%) of trans-identifying children were white British, this would not be in line with the general population. This would indicate that white British children were more (or less) likely to identify as trans than those from other ethnic groups.

I am gender critical but surely it is obvious that it is easier to live life as openly trans (or LGB) if you live in an area where you’re unlikely to be beaten up for it on the way to school. And parents won’t beat you or throw you out. Or if you aren’t also dealing with other stuff - disabled or from an ethnic minority. On that basis we’d expect more white British young people than in the general population to be openly trans.

The child of a black parent and a White parent (capitalisation deliberate because I think white and Black is equally ridiculous) is generally considered to be Black, though that seems racist to me as it suggests that the default is white. So surely a mixed Black and White family is also black (or Black)?

Religion surely in London too - you don’t get many Muslim dads promoting trans ideology. Or baptists.

Can you explain what you mean by a "Black family"? Because on the face of it, your posts are coming across as a bit racist. What does racial purity have to do with trans-identification in children?

I've just googled Dwayne Wade (never heard of him) and he appears to be a black man married to a black woman, with a trans child. Which immediately disproves your assertion that this doesn't happen. Or don't they count because they're American?

You'll never see a Black or Asian parent on the telly saying that their little boy is a girl.

David Grant - doesn't count because his wife is white.
Dwayne Wade - doesn't count because he's American.

Another obvious example of someone non-white who was a trans child is Keira Bell. Why doesn't she count in your opinion?

But that's not what the stats are showing, 80% estimated white British referrals compared to 78.5% estimate of teens being white British.

Please stop with the "self-indulgent posturing". I'm as gender critical as they get but as a mother of a child who identifies as trans and mixes with a large group of other teens who identify as trans they are all neurodiverse, have all struggled with friendships and fitting in and are very varied in terms of socio-economic background (they are all white but that would fit the demographic of where we live). They are not "posturing" - it's much more complex than that.

I can echo your experience of SS schools. Our daughter transferred from the local comp (which was great when her siblings went there) where NB/trans students were a plenty (and bullying, hence the move), to an all girls school. Guess what no trans/NB students at the girls school, but plenty of gender non-conforming girls who didn't feel the need to label themselves.

Ah, I see so according to you her 'whiteness' is cancelling out his 'blackness'.

Other posters are correct. You're sounding like you have a racist axe to grind.

Lots of words here that can be boiled down to social contagion.

Surely its not rocket science? Anything is easier when your privileged. Met many gay people in the Middle East? Or lesbians in India?

I'm really not. The other kids have real problems and areas of oppression. They don't have to make one up to feel special or whatever. There's a reason that there has been a rise in trans identified people as we accept that social privilege is a real thing. And guess who mostly feels that they are now part of this oppressed identity? Oh right the people deemed most privileged.

You are just being goady now.

Because the other kids have actual problems.

Anecdotally, at all my DC primary and secondary school, I’d say it’s 100% the wealthy and white DC who are trans and non-binary.

I think while a there are clearly many vulnerable young people with significant issues - as laid out so clearly in Hannah Barnes’s excellent book - there is also a sizeable cohort of middle class young people affected by social contagion.

I live in a fairly affluent area. While my children were at the local high school, through them I knew one lad identifying as trans and 12 girls. The non binary number was much higher - whole friendship groups were becoming non binary. It’s particularly noticeable in young lesbians; only one calls herself a lesbian, the rest are transmen.

So from my anecdotal experience, both descriptions of “who is trans” can be true.

Considering 78.5% of teens are estimated as white British that fits what you would expect if ethnicity doesn't play a role.

I’m responding to the claims made in the article in the OP - I think that’s the focus of this thread - so what I wrote doesn’t exclude other reasons for children to adopt the trans identity.

I’m very aware of the conclusions of the Cass review but we’re talking here about a particular trend that the head teacher is writing about: the social background of (some) children who adopt this identity. And yes, it’s something I have observed socially and in particular (wealthy) parts of the UK: privilege and social status.

My, there are some unpleasant generalisations on this thread.

Data I collected (can't think to it as outing, sorry) showed a very high prevalence of bullying amongst trans-identified children. Bullying more commonly experienced by gender non-conforming (often gay) children, neurodivergent kids and kids from difficult backgrounds. Association with high levels of access to mental health services. But not all.

I think associating trans with a particular racial or class demographic is simplistic in the extreme. There isn't a one size fits all story. My own DC went (recently left) to a 'posh single-sex school' and trans was very rare. But gay was fine, and no associated bullying. Very sensible head with careful PHSE. Who knows, that may have been helpful. But I'm wary of simple stories.

The m2f ROGD cohort transition a little later in my experience - 16 to 21 ish instead of 12-15ish for the f2m group.

So does Dwayne Wade. But my point with Grant is that he has a whire partner and co-parent. Those kids aren't being raised in a Black family.