Another day, another transphobic hate piece by Janice Turner in the Times. So much wrong with it, but here are a few highlights:
Indeed if your natal puberty is blocked you may never orgasm or feel sexual desire
I have only seen this mentioned as an issue for one trans child - Jazz Jennings. Giving testosterone to trans boys results in a massive increase in sex drive and growth of a micro penis.
But where is the ethical debate and long-term research into how Lupron — a prostate cancer drug used “off label” on children — affects brain development at puberty?
Triptorelin, not Lupron is used in the UK. Janice could have described Lupron as a licensed drug used for the treatment of precious puberty, but she wants to make it sound scary so uses "cancer drug". Also, she does not explain what "off label" means. Triptorelin has been tested and found to be safe for use with children. Why it is off label is because the drug companies have not spent the money conducting research to prove it is beneficial for trans children. However, there is plenty of other research that indicates puberty blockers are beneficial.
They will do anything but admit that what Dr Littman has termed “rapid onset gender dysphoria” among girls is a social contagion, because this undermines their key ideological principle, that gender is not constructed but innate
I don't think anyone is arguing that trans women's brains are hard wired to like pink or such. It does not particularly matter what weight it is environment and what weight it is biology (although some twin studies have shed some light on this). What is more important is that for the vast majority of individuals with gender dysphoria their gender identity is immutable and causes life long misery unless they receive the appropriate treatment.
The trans movement is mainly led by trans women, who never experienced the maelstrom of female puberty, its intense but fleeting certainties. Some transitioned late after fathering children. What do they care about the fertility of troubled girls?
Pure scapegoating. The campaign for rights for trans children to receive the appropriate medical treatment is being lead by Mermaids, run by Susie Green, a non-trans women. Stonewall is led by Ruth Hunt a non-trans woman. And Gires by Terry Reed a non-trans women and her husband Bernie a non-trans man. Any social contagion is due to interaction with their peers and viewing posts by trans guys (e.g. vlogs) on the internet.
(Apologies for using non-trans, but the c word is banned on Mumsnet)