Actually, these are both very popular opinions.
Unless the person has specifically requested them, scented candles, picture frames, and blank journals are default “I had to get something” gifts IMHO.
What would a child even need hormones for, before puberty?
One of my cousins took puberty blockers, but not because she’s transgendered. It’s because she started going through puberty (specifically, she suddenly developed BO and sprouting pubic hair) at the age of 6. :eek: When other causes (tumors, etc.) were ruled out, she was put on a puberty-blocking regimen until she was about 9 years old, at which time she was within a normal age range for this and it was discontinued.
Isn’t it? I may be a bit terse in my replies due to trying to re-explain something I’ve explained prior in much greater detail, but I must assure you that I’m not holding rancor towards you.
I work directly within the system as a professional, and from the public relations standpoint as a member of the media. I work directly with transgender children and their parents, schools, physicians, attorneys - as does my wife Fierra, who in some ways works more in-depth with the parents. I’ve interviewed the physicians and counselors and parents and kids on my radio show, and worked on panels on this subject at medical conferences. I’m appealing to authority here, just to simply say that your fears may have a just root cause, but the reality is such that they are unfounded.
Again, because I’m a scientist I shall not say that NO kids anywhere are not being mistreated by the “system.” But the system as such is one of extensive counseling, validation, and verification that the gender identity is persistent, consistent, and insistent.
I’ve also seen the body count when transgender children are denied proper treatment. I’ve met the parents face to face whose transgender child took their life when mom and dad said “no, we don’t care what all these doctors have said for years about you - you’ll just grow out of this when you find a nice boy/girl.” I’ve met the transgender sex workers on the streets, talked to them face to face, who got into the life ONLY because they were thrown out of their homes for being transgender, or even left to escape constant physical and emotional abuse from their parents.
I’m passionate about this not because I want the world to be transgender. Gods, no! I don’t want ANYONE to be transgender. Because being transgender sometimes REALLY, REALLY sucks ass. But if one is transgender, I want to do whatever I can to help, support, and give that person the aid and treatment that I was denied when I went through unmitigated hell as a child.
Do children sometimes have gender confusion? Of course they do; it would be dishonest to say otherwise. But that confusion does not stand the three tests; those of persistency, consistency, and insistency. A staged approach of counseling, working with the parents and schools and careworkers, introduction to gender roles by change of gender presentation, puberty blockers to give more time to decide, and then finally, if it turns out they are transgender hormones, has the best chance of reducing the body count. And not just the death of the body, but the death of the mind and spirit of a person who goes through life suffering with their gender dysphoria, without treatment, without love and support, and without hope.
Like I once was.
This. Some recoil in horror at the concept of puberty blockers, thinking that it will somehow “transition” a child. Like we tell people in our presentations, puberty blockers are a “pause” button, not transition.
So what are the effects of puberty blockers? I mean, are there long term complications, can you stop at any time, etc? That’s what I would worry about.
Like I said, it’s mostly the drugs that would concern me, not the transitioning itself.
This cousin is now about 40 years old, so whatever she took was probably not as sophisticated as the regimen used nowadays, and quite likely had unpleasant side effects.
If I recall, puberty blockers were originally used on children who were developing too fast, who had precocious puberty which can lead to stunted adult height, mental disorders (because you wind up with a 7 year old in the body of an adult, that is, 18 or 20 and people treat such children badly, either assuming retardation and/or hypersexuality, among other things), and things like a five year old giving birth (given that she was unable to name the father and she was so underage we’re talking about at least one instance of rape and child sexual abuse).
Can they have long-term effects? Well, yes, you’re altering the hormones in the body, that usually does come with some side effects. Wikipedia lists a few from a common one but keep in mind that not everyone is going to experience everything on that list, and most will find what is experienced tolerable.
Keep in mind that these drugs often have other uses - Lupron, the one I linked to above, is used to treat prostate cancer, breast cancer, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids in addition to blocking puberty. This is actually a fairly common drug and its effects are well understood.
Also keep in mind that the children given puberty blockers are given them only for a few years at most. Once they’re discontinued regular hormones for their biological body will resume and puberty will occur, just a bit later than it would have otherwise. Or else the child begins transition, but that’s a different track.
Given the alternative - the high rate of suicide among trans teenagers that aren’t treated, the problems of transitioning after going through the non-identified gender’s puberty (meaning more surgery, more risks from surgery, and less than ideal outcomes leading to continuing psychological and social problems) puberty blockers have less risk of adverse outcomes than not using them. Even if it turns out the child is NOT transgender the long term side effects will be either minimal or non-existent - the children will achieve normal height and intellectual development, go through a normal (if delayed) puberty, be able to have children, and so forth.
And yes -*** you can stop treatment at any time.***
Great answer, Broomie.
Broomstick gave a great answer, but one must remember that even if there are side effects, we have to consider the net benefit.
Right now we are working with a family with a transgender boy, who is about to enter puberty. The boy has said that he is starting to feel breast growth, and it’s measurable, and he is horrified by it. The parents will not allow puberty blockers, and very recently he has told his therapist that if his parents do not allow him to pause puberty, he will self-mutilate or take his own life. Note he’s not asking for a mastectomy, just time to pause the feminizing effects of his natural estrogen.
We are very afraid the parents will continue to refuse. Which leaves us with a few options. The boy will run away from home and get hormones or blockers on the streets, the boy will self-mutilate, the boy will take his own life, or perhaps the worst of all - the boy will keep on keeping on, suffering enormous psychological harm inside, invisible to the rest of us, and impacting him his entire life, even if at age 18 he can try to undo the damage.
I also have the unpopular opinion that parents have the responsibility of not letting their kids’ delusions ruin their lives, no matter how much the kids believe them. Letting your kids go down a path of 20x risk of suicide is not what parents should do.
How do you suggest the parents divert them?
Mike Pence has endorsed variations of this; that’s all I’m going to say about it. :smack:
Yikes. I hope something can be done to help that poor kid. 
Yep. I have a friend was an ADA (prosecuting attorney) in Brooklyn for a number of years.
She said it was easier to convict a rapist when the jury was all, or mostly, men. All female juries, according to her, were more likely to blame the victim.
Can’t say whether she was right or not, but she did have some experience upon which to base her opinion.
The same way parents do all they can for their kids. If my daughter stops eating because “she’s a skinny person trapped in the body of a fat one” I’ll do everything in my power, even if she would hate me for life, to stop her from damaging herself. Any parent that wouldn’t do it is a bad parent.
I imagine he also eats hamburgers, what’s your point.
Hitler may have been a vegetarian.
Cognitive dissonance of the cause and effect right here.
You, have a very, very ill-informed position on this. I can barely comprehend your thought process.
In fact, it angers me.
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One hundred years ago (or less), many people citing tradition would use manipulation, force, and more to “protect” their children from mixed race or mixed religion marriage. How do you know that you’re not as deluded as they were?
The number one thing keeping black people down these days is black people. When scenes like this are representative of your “culture”, there is a major problem.
Tying into the above, Bill Cosby is innocent - he was framed by the black “leaders” who didn’t like the truth he spoke.
“My people” can do a lot better than this crap.
- I didn’t mention tradition. I mentioned the moral obligation of parents to protect their children from harm, especially the one they would do to themselves. If you think that’s a dangerous proposition then there’s nothing I can do to convince you.
- If you’re trying to teach that some ideas can be perverted, you’re losing your time. Some people citing personal feelings would use manipulation, force, and more to “protect” their children from biology and mental health.
Should I let my daughter kill herself due to her body-image delusion?
Should I let my daughter kill herself due to her body-image delusion because other people harm their children trying to protect them?
I don’t think having 3 or 4 drinks makes me drive any worse at all. I know we were all told at school that it would, but it’s not true in my case.