A third female teenager I know has transitioned.

[PermanentTemporary]

This one is only 15, the others were 18, all changing to live as men. I also have a male cousin who transitioned to live as a woman in middle age a few years back. A friend's male partner has transitioned to nonbinary in their 30s.

I'm a very ordinary suburban woman in my 50s. Is this low numbers? High?

Last year, when DD was in Y11 5 girls decided they were no longer girls. That was 10% of the girls in her year. None of the boys transitioned.

@SelfCakering

I know of 5 girls in our small town who have transitioned (new names, calling themselves boys, binding etc - not sure if they have taken hormones yet but seems like that's the usual trajectory). Aged between 9 and 14. I also have a niece (21) who is now apparently a man - definitely taking testosterone. None of them seem very happy

maybe they are unhappy because nobody is accepting them as themselves, and because of gender dysphoria. from experience, it could make them happier if people like yourself would refer to them as their correct gender instead of misgendering them :)

Mid forties, suburban dweller here.

I know 3 M - F transitioners in various stages of the process.

Worked in an all girls secondary school until recently...several girls opting for unisex names and them/they pronouns and a few wanting to be known as boys.

Frankly it's terrifying.

@MondayYogurt

Well, Reddit's detrans forum has 25,000 members and counting.

I wish more people would read their stories and respect their voices. I wish they had access to medical and mental support instead of being fobbed off and alienated.

Their numbers are growing. Society won't be able to ignore them forever.

the amount of detransitioned people is still extremely low, you should not group an entire community with a minority and take away their rights because of this.

you should not group an entire community with a minority and take away their rights because of this.

Applause! Well said.

maybe they are unhappy because nobody is accepting them as themselves, and because of gender dysphoria

Or maybe the 21 year old on testosterone is unhappy because of painful clitoromegaly, a voice like Donald Duck, altered fertility, vaginal atrophy, acne and diminished pool of sexual partners?

maybe more people are coming out as trans these days because society is safer for them to do so, trans men are not females sick of misogyny they are simply struggling with a literal medical condition called gender dysphoria. instead of doubting people be more openminded and inclusive

@Chandeleur

Candy - the thing that worried me the most at the time is that she kept asking for "counselling" - and I put it off because I didn't trust anyone not to encourage her "trans" feelings. I felt so guilty about this. I talked to her a LOT about it all, and she seemed to be going through nothing that isn't absolutely standard for teenage girls. Social Media is to blame for much of it.

I had this with my daughter. And I wondered actually if it wasn't something that someone had directed her towards. I also worried about what such a person might latch on to though she did do some, with someone I picked carefully, but we now have a law here that means affirmation only is the only option so if it were now I would feel really stuck.

There seems to be a kind of strong feeling too that they need counselling to work things out, that they are really abnormal in a unique way, that is a bit weird. everything is medicalized.

@nolongersurprised

maybe they are unhappy because nobody is accepting them as themselves, and because of gender dysphoria

Or maybe the 21 year old on testosterone is unhappy because of painful clitoromegaly, a voice like Donald Duck, altered fertility, vaginal atrophy, acne and diminished pool of sexual partners?

maybe if you asked him yourself he would be able to tell you all the benefits he receives from testosterone, instead of you just assuming

@milohuissk

maybe more people are coming out as trans these days because society is safer for them to do so, trans men are not females sick of misogyny they are simply struggling with a literal medical condition called gender dysphoria. instead of doubting people be more openminded and inclusive

Just to point out that your post might get deleted for transphobia. It is transphobic to say that gender dysphoria is a requirement of being transgender. It's seen as problematic because it medicalises the trans experience. Please do better.

@SparklyLogic

Mid forties, suburban dweller here.

I know 3 M - F transitioners in various stages of the process.

Worked in an all girls secondary school until recently...several girls opting for unisex names and them/they pronouns and a few wanting to be known as boys.

Frankly it's terrifying.

quite unrelated to what i was saying, i find it funny that you perceive this as "terrifying" when what they want to do with their lives t make themselves more happy and comfortable has nothing to do with you

@AngieBolen

Last year, when DD was in Y11 5 girls decided they were no longer girls. That was 10% of the girls in her year. None of the boys transitioned.

less amab people come out as trans as it is more stigmatized and looked down upon because of gender stereotypes etc.

i find it funny that you perceive this as "terrifying" when what they want to do with their lives t make themselves more happy and comfortable has nothing to do with you

It’s NOT funny for those of us with daughters, who would ideally like them get through childhood/young adulthood with intact fertility, sexual function and endocrine systems

If you are interested in educating yourself a bit more about this milo you can start off by reading about the experiences of trans people who are not gender dysphoric. Being transgender is not defined by how traumatizing any perceived gender and sex misalignment is. Therefore it also should not be defined by whether trans people suffer from gender dysphoria either.

You've repeated several times that you assume trans people are gender dysphoric, but in doing so you are talking over the trans people whose experiences do not agree with you.

It's generally considered good form for allies to recognise when they are doing this and not just ignore it.

milo It's also probably a bit transphobic to say that people coming out as trans are 'less amab' (I assume this means 'less male'.)

I assumed “less amab” was just terrible grammar and that milo meant “fewer amab”.

My niece was trans from eleven - changed her name, her clothes, her hair. We didn’t encourage it but said we loved her for whoever she was, not what she was.

She had a bad trauma when she was fifteen - lost a close family member. Within a month she’d reverted back to being female - clothes, hair, name. When chatting to her about it she says she was mixed up, and scared about growing up - she developed really early, with periods and boobs by the time she was eleven. I have to admit I’m relieved - not because we didn’t want her as a boy, but because we weren’t sure that she knew she was right. I certainly couldn’t have made long lasting life changing decisions about my body when I was eighteen.

Well, Reddit's detrans forum has 25,000 members and counting

The r/detrans forum is heartbreaking. Lots of young women saying - no one questioned my trauma/sexuality/dislike of puberty/lack of adherence to gender conformity and now I have permanent body changes I regret.

the amount of detransitioned people is still extremely low, you should not group an entire community with a minority and take away their rights because of this.

I'm going to need some proper stats on that statement...do you have any?

At what number do you start to care? At what point do you admit that detrans lives matter? Or are they just acceptable collateral damage?

As social transitioning as a teenager gets so common, perhaps the risk will be less - surely where a group of 3 or 15 children are changing gender, it will be obvious that this is for most children something fashionable they are trying out, and the medical route will be used less?

thepostmillennial.com/mother-of-a-trans-child-poses-as-teen-trevor-project

An interesting write up of an adult who posed as a 15 year old trying to get advice from the Trevor project. Not good.

the amount of detransitioned people is still extremely low

@milohuissk. Detrans people are a minority. They are largely ignored or not believed. Some people think they don’t exist (or wish they didn’t). Their medical needs are often not met.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? The Trans community have often used those same phrases to describe themselves.

You seem to advocate listening to and supporting one marginalised minority but not another. Why is that?

How many sterilised, permanently altered bodies and lifelong medical conditions would be too many, in your opinion?

i find it funny that you perceive this as "terrifying"

What I find terrifying, having spent years working with children and young people is how coming out as trans or non binary has become a trend in the same way being a goth was when I was a teen.

Societal and peer pressure is massively influential in the road our children are going down.

The goths of my day could scrub off the eyeliner, grow out yhe black hair dye change their clothes and carry on with their lives.

Not so much the young people who may well change their minds later after hormonal treatment and surgery has already wreaked God knows what kind of damage on their bodies.

Depends how you categorise detrans - people who have gone to clinics for assessment, taken drugs, had therapy, surgery? If you are going to a clinic that is taking you down a medical or affirmation route and you change your mind - chances are you will back away and speak to other people or therapists instead (and not necessarily get in contact with those you feel have been actually harming you). And the clinics don’t seem to follow people up to assess outcomes.

Or the squillions of young people who tick the box and grow out of it?