New York Times article on puberty blockers

[DameMaud]

www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html
Is this an unusual/new take for the NYT?

Was just about to start a thread on this - yes, I think this is a bit different than usual for NYT, although I seem to recollect they published something not entirely pro-gender ideology recently.

The comments are excellent btw, it felt a bit like reading Mumsnet FWR!

What's been happening in the US and Canada with dishing out puberty blockers and opposite-sex hormones to young kids is really shocking, no controls at all seemingly, just up to individual doctors, no studies, no follow-up.

Yes, makes me feel a teensy bit hopeful for a wider awakening

I think this is pretty significant - the NYT has been very on board with trans ideology. Remember the ad about "dreaming of Harry Potter without its author"? So not only are they being critical of gender ideology, they have done a proper job of it. This is a really thorough investigation into the evidence on puberty blockers, not some tossed-off comment piece. So someone high-up at the NYT must have thought this was worth commissioning and spending time and resource on.

It didn’t take long for Cherise and Arick Basques to realize that their toddler was different. The child rejected pants, toy trucks and sports in favor of dresses, Barbie dolls and ballet

Oh look, more sexist sex roll stereotypes.
Boys who like barbies and ballet must be put on a path to to being a sterile sexless adult, a perpetual medical patient, and be castrated instead of simply being allowed a doll and a dress.

Since the new editor was promoted last June, I've seen more and more actual reporting on trans topics. The worst reporting (I'm not including opinion pieces) was in 2020 right after George Floyd's murder when NYTimes did an article highlighting unarmed Black people killed by police which rightly called out Black women like Breonna Taylor. What would have been a wonderful reporting job turned bizarre when they included a murdered Black transwoman who, once you dug deeper, was not murdered by police, was not even a victim of police negligence, and was killed by another Black male acquaintance (so not even due to racism!). But they had to be inclusive even if it had NOTHING to do with police brutality or racism. Complete bonkers and quite below NYTimes standards. It was like doing an article on male cancer deaths and then including a guy who died from falling off a ladder.

That's absolutely stunning - if the NYT is finally waking up to the fact that puberty blockers aren't safe or reversible that is a very BIG deal indeed!

Yes, they're waking up over there. There are several signs people are having proper conversations about all this now.

Question for American posters. Who are typical readers of the New York Times? Is it a very influential paper?

Here's the NYT comments thread for those who don't want to sign up to the Times: archive.ph/Ky8yZ

Is there an archived version? If I use the comment thread linked above there is an advert whose placement prevents my closing the thread to read the article.

It’s often known as The Newspaper of Record in the US. It and the Washington Post are probably the most influential national papers in the country and do generally have better quality reporting. It’s Democrat-supporting and elitist. Readership a bit like the Guardian but significantly more monied, I would say. Tends to be looked down on by grassroot progressives (as is all mainstream media), but still the place to get an OpEd published.

Hi Binglebong. I don't have a subscription yet was able to view the article as it came up on my news feed on my phone. Have you tried my first link?
If it doesn't work I believe there is a way of doing it by putting the article title in front of 'archive' something or other (Sorry to be so craply non-tech!) Hoping someone else can advise here?
Not sure how I was able to view it!

There was a really good piece int eh NUT last month but I have forgotten exactly what it was about

@Binglebong try this
archive.ph/2022.11.14-201102/www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html
🙏

This is a really good article from the NYT about language and how 'queer' has become more prevalent.

Let’s Say Gay

archive.ph/5obIX

I know someone with a medical background who was pushing for their teenage daughter to have puberty blockers because periods are ‘distressing’. well they are!
Interestingly 2 years after this started I think their DD has changed and I’ve noticed how much more feminine they look now. I’d be interested to see where she is in a couple more years.

I could see my ASD DD nearly falling down that hole but we have swerved it I think. She’s much more comfortable at the idea of being a girl now. Recently her paediatrician was taking about bone density peaking at 19 (and how much calcium DD needs). Imagine if you have any other condition and you had blockers what a mess your bones would be in.

Unfortunately it's being grumpy with me. I shall simply enjoy knowing sense is breaking out occasionally.

Posted before reading everything - many thanks!

Thanks, zanahoria -Pamela Paul has written some good stuff in the NYT recently.

The excellent Michael Biggs did some interesting analysis of the disappearance of words like lesbian from LGBTQIAP+ annual reports:
users.ox.ac.uk/~sfos0060/LGBT_figures.shtml

This is nice to see in the NYT, but there were some things I wish had been challenged. Especially the idea that kids who go on blockers have a long term improvement in mental health. We know they don't, that it can even become worse. And since that's the justification for the risks of the drugs that is pretty significant.

“We worked really hard to talk to her at her age level to make sure she understood some of these more complicated things.”

And this is informed consent?! Particularly struck by the word some.

Very influential American institution, IMO. The Gray Lady, "All the News that's Fit to Print," of American journalism.

Readers vary in political leanings, but majority are Democrats and progressives. Skews affluent, more academic. As a decades-long subscriber (yes, I'm biased) I find commentators to be extremely intelligent and well-read.

My takeaway was that some kids they interviewed reported improvement and that some doctors claimed to show improvement, but that there's no data to support any widespread conclusions.

Hey kids, trauma, famine and neglect can have an impact on puberty, so don't worry about this insane medication we're putting you on. It'll be fine, except for your bones disintegrating if you're unlucky. That'll be 10k please. Ta

This is another good article. Also very recent Yes. Really echoes and affirms what the LGBA are about Thanks for adding this to the thread zanahoria.