This commentary is by Robert Fireovid, a resident of South Hero.
Regarding the March 13 VTDigger article reporting on actions by the Vermont Principals’ Association, the association is making policy decisions inconsistent with current science.
Some of the most progressive countries in Europe (for instance, Sweden, Finland, Norway, U.K.) have stepped back from “affirming” transgenderism for minors because the science shows that many children who have been led to believe they are transgender are actually suffering from autism, ADHD, depression, social anxiety, social isolation and loneliness, social media syndrome and social contagion, are gender nonconforming, homosexual or bisexual, or are simply experiencing psychological challenges in their passage through puberty and adolescence to adulthood.
Minors who underwent transgender medical interventions but subsequently regret their actions are now suing the medical organizations involved in misdiagnosing and misprescribing those interventions. Further, if the statute of limitations for malpractice were longer, there would be more such lawsuits.
Claims about trans identification being a proxy for suicidality typically rely on apples-to-oranges comparisons. That is, they compare rates of suicidality (which involves thoughts of suicide as well as nonlethal self-harm without an intent to die) among youth who identify as trans (or who actually suffer from gender dysphoria) with rates among youth in the general population.
An apples-to-apples study would compare suicidality rates in the first group with suicidality among non-gender-distressed youth with similar mental health comorbidities (e.g., depression). A recent study did exactly that and found that the disparities in suicidality between gender-distressed and non-gender-distressed youth all but disappeared.
For example, in Canada, referred trans-identified natal males had almost 49 times more suicidal behavior than non-referred males but only 1.8 times more than referred (non-trans) males. Among females, the rates were 17:1 (referred to non-referred) versus 1:1 (referred to referred).
In other words, youth with gender-related distress are roughly in the same category of risk as youth without gender issues but with similar psychiatric problems.
Recently, a whistleblower who describes herself as “politically left of Bernie Sanders,” who is married to a trans-man, and who was a case manager at a pediatric gender clinic for years, quit her job and publicly accused her former employer of deliberately misdiagnosing mentally distressed youth with gender dysphoria.
In any major medical decision, the doctor and patient share in the decision-making process by considering all appropriate treatment options. This is known as “informed consent.” Failure to obtain informed consent is one form of medical negligence that may expose a provider to legal liability.
In general, informed consent requires that the patient have the capacity to reason and make judgments, the decision must be made voluntarily and without coercion, and the patient must have a clear understanding of the risks and benefits of the proposed treatment alternatives or nontreatment, along with a full understanding of the nature of the disease and prognosis.
Gender-focused hormonal therapies can result in hair loss, permanent voice change, nipple discharge, blood clots, heart problems, decreased libido, bone loss, erectile dysfunction, inability to orgasm, and even infertility.
Given the facts presented above, when parents are told that they must choose between fully and uncritically accepting a gender-affirming care plan, or condemning their child to death by suicide, are these parents capable of a rational decision or are they being coerced? And minors are unlikely able to make life-altering decisions, especially when they are not comprehensively informed about the risks and about viable alternative treatments.
Of course, helping the very small number of children who truly suffer from gender dysphoria is a proper course of action. And bullying or threatening anyone on account of their proclaimed gender identity is reprehensible.
But at the same time, it’s wrong to invite other minors down the rabbit hole of unnecessary confusion, the severing of otherwise-healthy parent-child relationships, and ultimately to biochemical or physical mutilation, and yes, suicide when these former children find that gender-focused medical interventions have both left their bodies irreparably broken and didn’t really help their psychological impairments anyway. It’s also wrong to punish anyone who doesn’t pledge allegiance to a religion or ideology.
Whereas progressive European countries are pursuing science-based policies, the Vermont Principals’ Association is listening only to wildly biased, unscientific opinions of ideological activists, advocate groups, and medical professionals/institutions with at least apparent if not actual financial conflicts of interest.
I would be happy to share more information with VPA or anyone else about the facts regarding transgenderism in schools.Â