An amazing piece by Eliza Mondegreen.
She reported from the WPATH conference a few months back, and now she's returned from the EPATH conference that was held near the Genspect conference in Ireland.
Grim and bizarre reading, but also somewhat hopeful - it sounds like they're trying to figure out what to do as it all unravels.
https://genspect.org/dont-stop-believin-three-days-at-the-european-professional-association-for-transgender-health/
A Swedish researcher had the misfortune to find that “youth with gender dysphoria diagnoses face persisting mental health challenges after initiation of treatment with puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones,” including increased psychiatric hospitalization, expressed that she was “really concerned about how results will be interpreted,” since “as you all know, there are improved mental health outcomes following puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones.” “Gender-affirming treatment is supposed to alleviate gender dysphoria,” the researcher reiterated. “It would be a good thing if it alleviated other mental health challenges but even if mental health challenges persist, that doesn’t mean it’s not the right treatment for gender dysphoria.” In response, a prominent Dutch researcher mused: “What should we use as an outcome measure? Mental health needs? What if you ask the kids: are you happy with the treatment and they say, ‘yes, we are happy’?”
[...] It would be unreasonable to expect too much from treatments—even treatments that have been offered to patients as a cure-all. Perhaps this sobering realization lies behind the decision to roll out new terminology, replacing ‘gender-affirming care’ with ‘gender-affirming medical treatment.’ Then clinicians can say that a patient’s physical embodiment goals pursuant to a sense of ‘gender incongruence’ were met, even if the patient’s mental health crashed.
[...] In a disturbing update on the “intersection” of autism and transgender identity among patients at the Dutch clinic, researchers reported that—out of 30 patients potentially eligible to participate in a 17-year follow-up study—four had declined to participate, two had detransitioned, one who had not detransitioned expressed serious regrets about vaginoplasty, and two [...] died by suicide. [...] The presenters preferred to dwell on the “diversity” of their “trans-autistic” patients, with their variety of self-identifications 17 years after they started down the path to transition: “fairy,” “elf,” “non-binary,” “friendly non-intimidating woman,” “cis” (read: detransitioned). “Each referral,” the presenters said, including the patients who died and the patients who detransitioned or experienced regret, “followed their own unique path with regard to their gender identity and mental health trajectory.”
Over and over again, researchers and clinicians presented damning findings that suggest something is going seriously wrong in the world of ‘gender-affirming care’ and then neglected to apply their findings to their work, which remains imperative and life-saving—even when patients die.
At EPATH, presenters and attendees alike skirted the difficult issues gender raises. On Friday, one presenter explained that she would not be sharing quotes from her research because “they were really triggering and it’s the last day of the conference.” In other words: let’s avoid touchy subjects so we don’t spoil the mood.
But the mood of the conference was strange—uneven—like a family holiday after something has gone badly wrong, where nothing that needs to be said will be said. The pieces of the conference refused to fit together. There’s a genocide underway but social acceptance is greater than ever before. We’re under attack by a global movement that seeks our annihilation but more optimistic than ever before about the future of the work we do. The evidence is troubling but gender-affirming care effective. Everything is hunky dory, except for all the things that aren’t. Don’t worry. Worry. Was I the only one who left confused about how I was meant to feel?