The most frequently refuted tales about transgender people have been countered by reputable medical and scientific experts.
Anti-trans attitudes still persist throughout the UK, US, and elsewhere. Some of the loudest voices would lead people to believe that transgender people are abnormal and unfamiliar, that they all regret transitioning, and that they are undermining the foundations of society.
They assert that the existence of transgender people “ignores standard science.” Some of the same people who attempt to refute trans rights based on “the science” also deny the claim that humans are responsible for global warming and spread false information about COVID-19 immunization. They aren’t dealing in facts, and their anti-trans rhetoric is rooted in dangerous beliefs.
If we had to debunk every falsehood and outright lie about transgender people and gender-affirming healthcare, we would be here all day, but the research is available. It’s being discussed in courtrooms, in political debates, and in content written by those who support trans rights.
PinkNews digs into the truth behind three of the most prevalent anti-trans claims.
The claim: Being transgender is a cultural phenomenon sweeping through younger generations.
The story: Being transgender is a cultural phenomenon sweeping through younger decades
The commonly discredited “trans social contagion idea” can be traced to a 2018 report by former Brown University doctor Lisa Littman, who now advises the gender-critical group Genspect.
Littman coined the term “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” which some anti-trans proponents have used to suggest that trans adolescents, especially trans boys, aren’t truly trans but are essentially lesbians or girls with mental health issues, who identify as trans after exposure to so-called outside influences.
However, a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2022 found that the “social contagion” isn’t supported by real-world data.
It found a modest decrease in the number of younger individuals identifying as transgender by analyzing information from two CDC studies conducted in 2017 and 2019. Additionally, it found a slight decrease in the proportion of young people who were assigned female at birth and later identified as transgender.
The study concluded that “the sex assigned at birth ratio of TGD (transgender and gender diverse) adolescents in the United States does not appear to favor AFAB (assigned female at birth) kids” and should not be used to refute the practice of gender-affirming medical treatment for TGD children.
What has increased in recent years is transgender visibility. As more and more trans people feel they can live authentically and receive support, including gender-affirming treatment, it’s a sign that the community is becoming more accepting.
However, as LGBTQ+ citizens have repeatedly shown, increased awareness frequently leads to increased problems from those who want to force us back into the shadows.
The “social contagion” concept fuels falsehoods about stigmatized groups as being contaminated and able to influence or manipulate young people. It contains a lot of anti-LGBT, anti-disabled language that has been used throughout history to attack a number of different marginalized parties.
Trans people aren’t new. Trans individuals have existed in various cultures throughout the course of human history, according to records.
The story: transgender persons regret transitioning
Detransitioning means stopping or reversing transition, which may include social or medical transition, or both. There are individuals who detransition, and there are a variety of reasons that can be behind such decisions, including stigmatization, family stress, and non-affirming environments.
Gender-critical voices frequently make the case that young people shouldn’t be affirmed in their transition or given access to gender-affirming care using detransitioning stories.
However, recent guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) claim that there are “low rates of patient regret and high rates of patient satisfaction” with gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for transgender individuals.
Individually, a 2019 study of 3,398 attendees of a sex identity clinic in the UK found that only 16 – about 0.47 percent – experienced transition-associated regret. Of these, even fewer went on to detransition.
Additionally, a study in North America found that 94 percent of transgender children still identify as transgender five years later. 1.3 percent of young people transitioned to a different identity before affirming their transgender identity, while 2.5 percent later identified as cisgender and 3.5 percent as non-binary.
There is a common understanding among the majority of major medical organizations that providing gender-affirming care is essential, and numerous studies have shown that it is harmful to stop someone from expressing their gender.
The myth: Trans people, particularly trans women, participating in sports hurts cis women
Trans and non-binary people have played sports for years without experiencing any unfair advantages or disadvantages, whether in schools, clubs, or leagues.
However, legislation to forbid trans people from competing in athletics, especially women and girls, has been introduced in a number of states across the US. In recent years, several sports governing bodies around the world have instituted trans bans due to concerns about “fairness.”
Legislators who support trans sports bans have consistently failed to mention instances in their states where trans athletes, by and large, did not have advantages over their cisgender counterparts.
A recent study found that trans women don’t have any advantages over their cisgender counterparts when competing in elite sports.
The report, co-authored by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, is an in-depth analysis of all scientific literature published in English between 2011 and 2021 about trans women and their participation in elite-level sports.
The authors concluded that these studies lack strong evidence that trans women who have undergone testosterone suppression have a clear biological advantage and that lung size and bone density are key factors influenced by male puberty.
The report did find strong evidence “that elite sport policy is made within transmisogynist, misogynoir, racist, geopolitical cultural norms.”
Further research revealed that testosterone frequently exaggerates the role the hormone plays in trans eligibility rules in athletics because it has little to do with performance differences.
Trans sports bans don’t protect or support women who play sports. That’s because trans participation in athletics isn’t one of the issues that affect women’s sports, including unequal pay, racism, and widespread sexual assault and harassment.
Bans discourage young people and children from engaging in the life-changing power of sports. They are denied the valuable lessons that participating in sports programs teaches, as well as the benefits that physical activity has for mental and physical health.
