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Lesbian transgender couple declares their plan to transition their 5-year-old son

1235

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,070 ✭✭✭Franz Von Peppercorn


    Then you appear to be understanding my analogy just fine because that there is EXACTLY my point. Unless we know the underlying cause, we can not simply arbitrarily classify it. Or at least we should not. We can not just scream "Mental Illness" at it, unless we know the underlying causes of it to make that call. Just like I can not scream "Viral Infection" at red blotches on your skin unless I have some reason to think a virus and not, say, a chemical burn is in play.



    Well yes. Quite possibly. Just like when we take the perfectly functioning arm off someone with BID and it alleviates their suffering. We might in fact be doing exactly what you say here.

    But what other choice do we have at this time? If we find the underlying causes and concoct a treatment we can OFFER that to them too. That would be great. But until that day we have people presenting as miserable and we have one treatment to help them it seems. So why not offer it?

    I would MUCH rather reach into the brain of someone with BID and correct their Body Map to stop the negative feedbacks which cause their perfectly functioning arm to be a horror to them that they want removed. I can not do that. No one can. So do we let them go on in misery for the rest of their life? Or do we offer them the ONLY thing we know could actually help?

    That's the question many doctors agonise over and debate. Hacking off a perfectly functioning arm goes against the ethics of many doctors. And not others. But I know few of them, regardless of which side they are on, who scream "Mental Illness" at the issue just because it all seems a bit mad.

    It was, to be fair, a mental illness until 2013. Then it wasn’t.

    But we seem to be stuck on adults once again. Which isn’t the topic here.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,480 ✭✭✭AllForIt


    I have heard many transgender folk in the last year talk about how from a very very young age that they felt the way they do. I find this quite interesting psychologically.

    As a male ghey which has noting to do with transgenderism I did bake as a teenager. I never liked football or boxing. I am interested in sport, just not the more macho team sports. I always just wanted to do what I liked, things that interested me and to hell with social conventions. At secondary school in the 80's I ditched Mechanical Drawing for Home Economics which entailed cooking and sewing. I was interested in cooking, not the sewing but I had to do it anyway. 3 other heterosexual guys joined me in my decision and we were the first guys in the school to do this in the 80's, in our school. I recall being a little embarrassed about the sewing as it seemed like a very 'girly' thing to do. As it turned out it is quite handy to be able to use a needle and thread and indeed a sewing machine. Made a shirt at school, horrible thing it was and threw it into the bin when it was marked.

    Anyway whats the point. Well, my experience informs me that fashion (dresses, long hair), interests (baking, sewing, football), has absolutely noting to do with one's gender, rather just social conventions that have come about by the way human society developed over eons. In other words playing with a doll, or sewing, does not make you a woman and so on.

    Over the last few decades where homosexuality has been accepted, and women are not bound to the kitchen and are driven to show they can do anything a man can do, society has come to realize that superficial gender roles, apart from roles played in procreation, are just that, superficial. We all all just humans at the end of the day with minuscule differences between the genders.

    But the transgender folk in this era of equality seem to disagree with all that which I find to be both fascinating and bewildering. To say one wishes to be 'treated as a woman' seems to me to be a massive backward step. Exactly what does that mean? That men would open doors for you? Pay the restaurant bill after a date? Cisgender woman don't wan't to be 'treated as a woman' anymore, except of course in specific issues that concern their biology.

    So to tie my comments into the point of this thread - I have heard over the last year a lot of transgender adults talk about their experience where they say they felt the way they do from a very very young age, even younger than 5. I believe a child is capable at that age, as they are capable of picking up a language, to be aware of gender stereotypes. I believe it's quite possible for a child mentally to either have a extreme aversion to the gender stereotypical role to which they feel expected to fulfill in society, or an extreme affinity to their opposite stereotypical biological gender, or a mixture of both. In which case I would call that a psychological mental condition, not an illness as such.

    Now I know my comments might come across as hurtful to some on this, they are not intended to be, but the fact remains there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there is such a thing as a female mind in a male body or visa versa. Just like Nozz says there is no evidence that it is a mental illness either.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,482 ✭✭✭Gimme A Pound


    circadian wrote: »
    The Blaze is economical with the truth, at best.
    Aye, but it's lifted from the Daily Mail. Now I know the default reaction to that is "Boo, the Daily Mail" but the parents were interviewed, their quotes were included (and they weren't selective) and it's mentioned that social workers determined there was nothing to be concerned about. It's plain as day what the story is being used for, but it is a factual one.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    I'd be generally in agreement with most of your post A, but..
    AllForIt wrote: »
    but the fact remains there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that there is such a thing as a female mind in a male body or visa versa.
    There are some interesting hints that there are a) some general differences between male and female brains and b) that some folks may have more of a "male" brain in a woman's body and vice versa. Here's an example of where they imaged men and women, gay and straight.

    The upshot was in their words:

    The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.

    I've even read studies where they found that of all things the fingerprints of people are gendered to quite a degree and that Gay folks more resemble the prints of straight people of the opposite sex. My personal opinion is that these are hints and somewhat overblown and most certainly not the whole picture, but I find it interesting nonetheless. It would certainly show that the notion that being Gay was a "lifestyle choice" was a nonsense.

    Now if one imagined this brain difference was very extreme in one direction in some folks then you could literally have a "female" brain in a man's body.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,398 ✭✭✭StinkyMunkey


    I believed in santa and the Easter bunny at age 5. I was totally oblivious to gender identity.

    My mothers and fathers job was to protect me against anything harmful, whether that be from outside influences or myself.

    I'm all for letting people choose their own identity, once their brain is developed enough to make an informed decision.

    Are we in an age that promotes cosmetic surgery for 5 year olds??? Because no matter what you call it, that's what transitioning is, you will still die biologically the sex you were born regardless of what that thing between your ears say.

    The beauty of 5 year olds is the innocence of being five years old. You don't have to suppress how your child feels or wants the act within reason, but I'd be fcuked if I'd allow my five year old to choose to transition.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,348 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    The whole thing is more then just a bit mad in fairness!

    To you. Which is what my point has been all along. It being mad TO YOU is meaningless to anything but you. It is certainly not the basis upon which we should be making classifications of Mental Illness.

    As I said before, the same could be said about homosexuality. People thought that was a madness too at some point. For no apparent actual reason it seems. It just all seemed a bit mad TO THEM.

    Thankfully our classification methodologies have been getting better over time. Some people simply have not kept with that program.
    To not accept the gender your given threw birth and to change your body in ways that sometimes ruins your entire appearance I just dunno where to start with the issues someone must have.

    No clearly YOU do not.

    To not accept the arm you were given at birth and change your body in ways that ruins your appearance..... same thing huh? Yet we DO know where to start with the issues those people have. Because we are starting to get an idea on what causes things like BID.

    The place to "start" with the issues of these people is by understanding them. The place NOT to start is to subjectively think it all seems mad to you, and hence must be a mental illness.

    However just on your direct point about people accepting the gender of their birth. These people would tell you that IS what they are in fact doing. That they are accepting and embracing their gender. But that their body is the one out of line with it. What you, to their mind, are asking them to do is not accept the gender of their birth but accept the gender dictated to them entirely and solely by their genitalia. And they do not see a reason to have to do that any more than they would if they were a homosexual man and you shouted at them that their male genitals dictate they should have sexual interest for people with female genitals. Who and what they are is not founded solely on the contents of their pants.
    Maybe it's best left at that because there's nothing either of us can say to change opinions here.

    Speak for yourself.
    It was, to be fair, a mental illness until 2013. Then it wasn’t.

    That is my point exactly. We are getting better at classification of these things. We are not simply lumping things that seem a bit mad into one big bag "Mental Illness". We are starting to ask what exactly Mental Illness even means, and then looking at things to see if it actually fits in some way.

    Homosexuality was in the DSM at one point too. Having spent time around people with Tourette they can seem entirely off their rocker at times as well. But as I said to a user above, the more we base our classifications off underlying causes and not symptoms, the more we will get a classification that actually means something.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    Don't get the constant conflating of trans with homosexuality for comparison. Two entirely different things.

    The idea of male / female brain does not explain very sudden increases in reported feeling of gender incongruence, up to 3% in parts of US. More likely it is social fashion, contagion and education programs that are unscientific. If an objective factor is to be sought outside of brain plasticity or social conditioning I would incline more towards endocrine disruption from xenohormones. Which aught to be seriously studied.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,536 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Homosexuality was in the DSM at one point too. Having spent time around people with Tourette they can seem entirely off their rocker at times as well. But as I said to a user above, the more we base our classifications off underlying causes and not symptoms, the more we will get a classification that actually means something.


    It was only removed from the DSM in my lifetime. Not exactly ancient history.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,628 ✭✭✭klaaaz


    I believed in santa and the Easter bunny at age 5. I was totally oblivious to gender identity.

    My mothers and fathers job was to protect me against anything harmful, whether that be from outside influences or myself.

    I'm all for letting people choose their own identity, once their brain is developed enough to make an informed decision.

    Are we in an age that promotes cosmetic surgery for 5 year olds??? Because no matter what you call it, that's what transitioning is, you will still die biologically the sex you were born regardless of what that thing between your ears say.

    The beauty of 5 year olds is the innocence of being five years old. You don't have to suppress how your child feels or wants the act within reason, but I'd be fcuked if I'd allow my five year old to choose to transition.

    Good for you turning out fine in your gender identity, a tiny tiny minority do not and do know from an early young age that something is genuinely amiss.

    There is no surgery performed on 5 yr olds in transition, another myth.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,038 ✭✭✭circadian


    Aye, but it's lifted from the Daily Mail. Now I know the default reaction to that is "Boo, the Daily Mail" but the parents were interviewed, their quotes were included (and they weren't selective) and it's mentioned that social workers determined there was nothing to be concerned about. It's plain as day what the story is being used for, but it is a factual one.

    I don't see why you only quoted that part of my post when I clearly said that "I'm sure there's a story there" I don't disagree that there is a base story nor do I disagree that it's being used to enrage.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,482 ✭✭✭Gimme A Pound


    circadian wrote: »
    I don't see why you only quoted that part of my post when I clearly said that "I'm sure there's a story there" I don't disagree that there is a base story nor do I disagree that it's being used to enrage.
    Oh sorry, I didn't mean that - was agreeing with you that the publication it appears in looks dodge.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,038 ✭✭✭circadian


    Oh sorry, I didn't mean that - was agreeing with you that the publication it appears in looks dodge.

    Ha, fair enough no worries.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,206 ✭✭✭✭B.A._Baracus


    Read that twice and still not sure which side of the argument you're on....!

    As in live and let live.
    I think this is madness. I think this is messed up to clarify. But who cares. There's 7+ Billion people on this planet. I, or anyone else, can't care what some randomers do.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,663 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    As in live and let live.
    I think this is madness. I think this is messed up to clarify. But who cares. There's 7+ Billion people on this planet. I, or anyone else, can't care what some randomers do.

    Well, thank you for taking the time to log into an opinion forum to express a complete lack of an opinoin!

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭professore


    Wibbs wrote: »
    I've even read studies where they found that of all things the fingerprints of people are gendered to quite a degree and that Gay folks more resemble the prints of straight people of the opposite sex. My personal opinion is that these are hints and somewhat overblown and most certainly not the whole picture, but I find it interesting nonetheless. It would certainly show that the notion that being Gay was a "lifestyle choice" was a nonsense.

    Gender is now a lifestyle choice ie a "social construct" - but you are born straight, gay or trans. Total bull**** again. Why not have this boy play with boy toys and socially construct the girl out of him????


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,663 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    professore wrote: »
    Gender is now a lifestyle choice ie a "social construct" - but you are born straight, gay or trans. Total bull**** again. Why not have this boy play with boy toys and socially construct the girl out of him????

    Sounds like some modern form of "pray away the gay".

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    Few days later after this got posted, I opened other article linked in the main story ... to see a picture of the family: imo this dad is far from looking like usual dads do. May be lacking biological connection, and I am not convinced such father can ever get in the role of a dad (that includes putting his foot down). So this child might be looking for attention // having absent father does cause all sorts of problems.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,206 ✭✭✭✭B.A._Baracus


    Well, thank you for taking the time to log into an opinion forum to express a complete lack of an opinoin!

    You want to know something... that response you gave is so lazy, been done to death on the forums and it really makes you come off as lacking in intelligence. Because it REALLY has been done to death sooo much. Someone posts how they dont care, another smartar*e comes along and says "well.. you obviously cared that much since you replied" - its moronic.

    If I was a douchebag I could have twisted it on to you - saying some guff like "well it took the same amount of effort for when you replied to me" - but that would be cheap.

    But what I am going to do is see through your BS. See, when you first quoted me you were unsure of where I stood. But you wanted me to be some lesbian or transgendered hating jerk. That's why you quoted me ;) looking for a good old internet argument (which is sad by the way!) But when my response wasnt to your liking you still gave me some ol' mustard.

    Because i'm willing to bet youve posted a lot in this thread and it's very personal to you. But being how we're so many pages deep in the thread you gotta poke people to keep the argument going right ;)


  • Registered Users Posts: 530 ✭✭✭Hedgelayer


    You want to know something... that response you gave is so lazy, been done to death on the forums and it really makes you come off as lacking in intelligence. Because it REALLY has been done to death sooo much. Someone posts how they dont care, another smartar*e comes along and says "well.. you obviously cared that much since you replied" - its moronic.

    If I was a douchebag I could have twisted it on to you - saying some guff like "well it took the same amount of effort for when you replied to me" - but that would be cheap.

    But what I am going to do is see through your BS. See, when you first quoted me you were unsure of where I stood. But you wanted me to be some lesbian or transgendered hating jerk. That's why you quoted me ;) looking for a good old internet argument (which is sad by the way!) But when my response wasnt to your liking you still gave me some ol' mustard.

    Because i'm willing to bet youve posted a lot in this thread and it's very personal to you. But being how we're so many pages deep in the thread you gotta poke people to keep the argument going right ;)

    Lol I was here a few years ago and I remember the types who'd goad people then get them banned.
    Fortunately they don't seem to be here anymore.

    There's some right wicked people out there, like dog's with bones.

    Facts unfortunately don't work with some people, they're constantly triggered emotionally rather than factually.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16 Questioning sacred Cows


    I feel very sorry for that poor child. :( This is just so wrong on so many levels,


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  • Registered Users Posts: 9,348 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    mvl wrote: »
    imo this dad is far from looking like usual dads do.

    What does appearance have to do with parenting, or the ability to parent?

    Also last time I looked around a number of different fathers they all looked pretty diverse to me. So what is this "usual" you are referring to?

    Further, the best parent I ever knew was a man in a wheelchair who entirely lacked legs. Did he looks like "usual dads do"? Was it relevant? No.
    mvl wrote: »
    I am not convinced such father can ever get in the role of a dad (that includes putting his foot down).

    What is the "role of a dad" exactly? What do you mean "putting foot down" as if mothers do not do that too? Can you list the "roles of a dad" which are not actually equally the roles of a mother?
    mvl wrote: »
    having absent father does cause all sorts of problems.

    None that I know of. More generally being a child of a single parent causes troubles that we know of. Which quite a lot of people then pretend is because of the specific gender that is absent.

    But when you normalise for the known issues of single parenting the absence of a specific gender in two parent configurations seems pretty irrelevant.

    The children of homosexual parents for example seem to be doing pretty well in every study I have seen. In fact the children of lesbian parents in some studies even appear to fare slightly better. Not having a "father" there appears to be absolutely no hindrance whatsoever. Nor does the lack of a "mother" seem significant in studies on homosexual men parenting either.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    There is an article in the UK Times today by Andrew Gilligan, which is based on a leaked report by Dr David Bell, who was the medical director of the NHS trust which runs England's only child gender clinic (Tavistock).

    (Dr David Bell is a past president of the British Psychoanalytic Society. He currently is a consultant psychiatrist in the Adult Department of the Tavistock and Portman where he directs a specialist unit for serious/enduring complex disorders. )

    Unfortunately I cannot read the article in full behind the paywall, as I have reached my 2 article limit, but I have read several extracts and quotes.


    It says staff are under severe pressure from trans activists groups such as Mermaids, that the children are being coached online in what to say, that their stories are often word for word regurgitated, that they can hear parents in the corridors reminding children what to say, that it often takes only one appointment to get puberty blockers, that there are examples of homophobia where parents would prefer a trans child rather than a gay child, that there is evidence of children trying to please parents who have been bereaved of a child of the sex they will transition to, that trans pressure groups create an atmosphere of ''significant persecution'' against staff at the clinic.

    DzjoqZ0WwAAxuGA.jpg:large
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzjoqZ0WwAAxuGA.jpg:large

    DzjsoJmXQAI7tAn.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzjsoJmXQAI7tAn.jpg
    England’s only NHS gender clinic for children is exposing young patients to “long-term damage” because of its “inability to stand up to the pressure” from “highly politicised” campaigners and families demanding fast-track gender transition, some of its own doctors say.

    The Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London, is providing “woefully inadequate” care, according to a report by a senior clinician and former governor of the trust. Some staff have “very serious ethical concerns” about children making life-changing decisions with “inadequate” examination and consent.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/staff-at-trans-clinic-fear-damage-to-children-as-activists-pile-on-pressure-c5k655nq9


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    What does appearance have to do with parenting, or the ability to parent?
    Also last time I looked around a number of different fathers they all looked pretty diverse to me. So what is this "usual" you are referring to?

    None that I know of. More generally being a child of a single parent causes troubles that we know of. Which quite a lot of people then pretend is because of the specific gender that is absent.
    But when you normalise for the known issues of single parenting the absence of a specific gender in two parent configurations seems pretty irrelevant.

    What I mean by appearance: in this situation the "mom's partner" still has female features and I'd think this can be confusing for a 5 yo, they don't need to spell it for the boy. But also, researchers are after finding DNA segments that influence paternal behavior, guess you can't get that when transitioning.

    On effects of absent dads: plenty of papers, this is not a new subject; for example, the book "Fatherless America- Confronting our most urgent social problem" published in 1996.
    Some statistics on fatherless kids - https://www.liveabout.com/fatherless-children-in-america-statistics-1270392
    -> Behavioral Disorders: 85 percent of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,663 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    You want to know something... that response you gave is so lazy, been done to death on the forums and it really makes you come off as lacking in intelligence. Because it REALLY has been done to death sooo much. Someone posts how they dont care, another smartar*e comes along and says "well.. you obviously cared that much since you replied" - its moronic.

    If I was a douchebag I could have twisted it on to you - saying some guff like "well it took the same amount of effort for when you replied to me" - but that would be cheap.

    But what I am going to do is see through your BS. See, when you first quoted me you were unsure of where I stood. But you wanted me to be some lesbian or transgendered hating jerk. That's why you quoted me ;) looking for a good old internet argument (which is sad by the way!) But when my response wasnt to your liking you still gave me some ol' mustard.

    Because i'm willing to bet youve posted a lot in this thread and it's very personal to you. But being how we're so many pages deep in the thread you gotta poke people to keep the argument going right ;)

    Easily offended for someone who had no opinion on the topic!!

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,482 ✭✭✭Gimme A Pound


    Sounds like some modern form of "pray away the gay".
    I think he's just rubbishing the notion of gender as entirely a social construct. And he has a point. If it's a social construct, why the drive to transition via drugs and surgery?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl




  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,628 ✭✭✭orourkeda1977


    F*ck political correctness.

    This is plain wrong and needs to be stopped.

    Anyone who participates in this needs to be prosecuted for child abuse.

    We're talking about little more than an infant here.

    This is f*cking disgusting and needs to be stopped immediately.

    Have people lost their minds completely? What is wrong?

    If the child wants to do their own thing when thy're an adult then go for it. However, forcing a child into this is a non runner as far as I'm concerned.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,663 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    F*ck political correctness.

    This is plain wrong and needs to be stopped.

    Anyone who participates in this needs to be prosecuted for child abuse.

    We're talking about little more than an infant here.

    This is f*cking disgusting and needs to be stopped immediately.

    Have people lost their minds completely? What is wrong?

    If the child wants to do their own thing when thy're an adult then go for it. However, forcing a child into this is a non runner as far as I'm concerned.

    What is wrong is that fact that it's not actually happening. There IS no transition, despite he alarmist headline the OP put on it.

    Everyone is actually on the same side here: forcing a transition on a child of five would be abusive. And illegal.

    What some people don't realise is that there IS Nno transition happening. It can't happen for a good few years.

    Wearing a dress is not transitioning. Discussing the idea is not transitioning.


    At the end of the day the question needs to be asked: who exactly is in favour of forcing this child into a gender role they may not be comfortable with?

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,365 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    Zorya wrote: »
    There is an article in the UK Times today by Andrew Gilligan, which is based on a leaked report by Dr David Bell, who was the medical director of the NHS trust which runs England's only child gender clinic (Tavistock).

    (Dr David Bell is a past president of the British Psychoanalytic Society. He currently is a consultant psychiatrist in the Adult Department of the Tavistock and Portman where he directs a specialist unit for serious/enduring complex disorders. )

    Unfortunately I cannot read the article in full behind the paywall, as I have reached my 2 article limit, but I have read several extracts and quotes.


    It says staff are under severe pressure from trans activists groups such as Mermaids, that the children are being coached online in what to say, that their stories are often word for word regurgitated, that they can hear parents in the corridors reminding children what to say, that it often takes only one appointment to get puberty blockers, that there are examples of homophobia where parents would prefer a trans child rather than a gay child, that there is evidence of children trying to please parents who have been bereaved of a child of the sex they will transition to, that trans pressure groups create an atmosphere of ''significant persecution'' against staff at the clinic.

    DzjoqZ0WwAAxuGA.jpg:large
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzjoqZ0WwAAxuGA.jpg:large

    DzjsoJmXQAI7tAn.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzjsoJmXQAI7tAn.jpg



    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/staff-at-trans-clinic-fear-damage-to-children-as-activists-pile-on-pressure-c5k655nq9

    Here is the full text of the article. Worrying to say the least






    England’s only NHS gender clinic for children is exposing young patients to “long-term damage” because of its “inability to stand up to the pressure” from “highly politicised” campaigners and families demanding fast-track gender transition, some of its own doctors say.

    The Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in north London, is providing “woefully inadequate” care, according to a report by a senior clinician and former governor of the trust. Some staff have “very serious ethical concerns” about children making life-changing decisions with “inadequate” examination and consent.

    An official review drawn up in response to the report accepts some criticisms and makes 26 recommendations. However, Gids insisted that the service was “safe and operating in line with best practice internationally” and there was no evidence of poor care.

    The report was compiled late last year by David Bell, then staff governor, whose role was to present staff concerns. It says some children “take up a trans identity as a solution” to “multiple problems such as historic child abuse in the family, bereavement . . . homophobia and a very significant incidence of autism spectrum disorder” after being “coached” online and by trans activist groups.

    The true histories of “highly disturbed or complex” child patients were not properly explored by Gids clinicians struggling with “huge and unmanageable caseloads” and afraid of being accused of transphobia if they questioned the “rehearsed” surface presentation. The report says the concerns voiced by staff are shared by Sonia Appleby, who is in charge of safeguarding at the trust.


    Some youngsters were referred for puberty-blocking hormones — which are usually followed at 16 by cross-sex hormones causing irreversible change and lower fertility — after just one session, the report says. The trust denied this.

    Examples of cases in the report include a girl from a family with a history of abuse of females. The mother’s anxiety about having a daughter was transmitted to her child, who resolved to change gender. Another girl felt “deeply guilty” after her brother died tragically, so she decided to give her parents “their son back” by changing gender. Some openly homophobic parents sought transition for their children because they were gay.

    In other cases, uncomfortable feelings that are normal for adolescents are being “relabelled as to do with wishing to change gender, a position . . . which the service is unable to challenge”. Gids has “close relationships with organisations that are identified as part of the pro-trans lobby such as Gendered Intelligence and Mermaids, and [went] to some lengths to placate them,” the report says.

    Gids sources pointed out that Mermaids, a charity that campaigns for children to be given sex-change treatment, has been critical of the service, falsely claiming that its refusal to treat children more quickly leads many to attempt suicide. “We are caught in the middle,” one staff member said. “We are accused of going too quickly by some people and too slowly by others.”

    Ministers have expressed concern after the number of children referred to Gids rose by 700% in the past five years, from 314 to 2,519 — almost three times the rise for adult gender transition.

    The report says clinicians felt a pressure to “process referrals rapidly” rather than “develop any deeper understanding of the children and their families”. It triggered a review by the trust’s medical director, Dinesh Sinha. The trust’s board considered both documents last week.

    Sinha’s review says Gids has “significant strengths” and most staff feel diagnosis is given “a significant degree of thought”, but staff caseloads were “excessive” and there were “repeated concerns from a minority of clinicians about being subject to bullying”. Lobbying by pressure groups created “an atmosphere of significant persecution”. Several staff were unsure whether young people truly understand “issues such as fertility and its impact on their adult lives”. Gids’ leadership was “unable to act, due to the intense scrutiny”.

    The Bell report is sympathetic to children questioning their identity but says many “have learnt through online resources [or] coaching from parents or peers exactly what to say in order to get the results they want”. Some children had “virtually no freedom to express their own view”.

    One staff member says: “You suddenly see groups of kids who at initial interview give exactly the same version of transition decisions, reasons, etc . . . I have overheard them in the corridor, parents coaching children before the interview and chiding them. I feel I have let down a large number of children.”

    This weekend the trust said its medical director had “found the service to be safe and operating in line with the best practice in this field internationally. He did not find evidence to support the concerns raised about standards of care. In the light of the review, the trust is developing an action plan to enable it to meet current demand and future challenges.”


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Here is the full text of the article. Worrying to say the least

    Thanks Ceadaoin,

    Yeah, that's some serious sh1t, there, and from the horses mouth. Note that the new supervisor Sinha (I think?) is not on board with Bell's concerns, though even they have to admit there is real trouble.

    The people who have been gung ho pushing this for kids are really going to have to seriously look at themselves sometime soon. Including posters who have condemned people as transphobic for having any concerns.

    And I say that after having watched quite a few videos of adult trans people (for my own research). I have genuine sympathy for many. Some of those people come across as really lovely, kind people who I truly sympathise with. They transitioned, some including surgery, as young/older adults. These ones speak of how serious a process this is and that people have to be very careful.

    There is also however quite a significant cohort of neurotic, attention-seeking, obviously troubled narcissists, and they get a lot of air time. They seem to be driving the issue.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,365 ✭✭✭ceadaoin.


    Zorya wrote: »
    Thanks Ceadaoin,

    Yeah, that's some serious sh1t, there, and from the horses mouth. Note that the new supervisor Sinha (I think?) is not on board with Bell's concerns, though even they have to admit there is real trouble.

    The people who have been gung ho pushing this for kids are really going to have to seriously look at themselves sometime soon. Including posters who have condemned people as transphobic for having any concerns.

    And I say that after having watched quite a few videos of adult trans people (for my own research). I have genuine sympathy for many. Some of those people come across as really lovely, kind people who I truly sympathise with. They transitioned, some including surgery, as young/older adults. These ones speak of how serious a process this is and that people have to be very careful.

    There is also however quite a significant cohort of neurotic, attention-seeking, obviously troubled narcissists, and they get a lot of air time. They seem to be driving the issue.

    It must be so frustrating for parents who know their child has been groomed or are identifying out of their gender due to abuse. The fact that there are people advocating for children to be taken away from the protection of their parents if they don't validate this is beyond sinister.

    Wearing a dress is not transitioning. Discussing the idea is not transitioning.


    At the end of the day the question needs to be asked: who exactly is in favour of forcing this child into a gender role they may not be comfortable with?

    Why can't a boy just wear a dress without a discussion happening about whether he is really a girl? It's just clothes


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    It must be so frustrating for parents who know their child has been groomed or are identifying out of their gender due to abuse. The fact that there are people advocating for children to be taken away from the protection of their parents if they don't validate this is beyond sinister.

    Extremely sinister. There are even laws in some places in US to have children removed, or in Canada to be medically treated without parental permission. Schools in Scotland are told not to tell parents of social transition of child.
    Anyway, you and I know all this.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,663 ✭✭✭✭Princess Consuela Bananahammock


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Why can't a boy just wear a dress without a discussion happening about whether he is really a girl? It's just clothes

    My point entirely. But I'm not entirely sure some people understand the difference between that and taking estrogen pills.

    Everything I don't like is either woke or fascist - possibly both - pick one.



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,348 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    mvl wrote: »
    What I mean by appearance: in this situation the "mom's partner" still has female features and I'd think this can be confusing for a 5 yo

    You think it, or you have any evidence at all that this is in fact true? Because I think it sounds like a whole LOT of the former and absolutely none of the latter. I suspect you are merely projecting onto children what exists only in your head.

    5 year olds are damn hard to confuse. They simply accept their reality as their reality most of the time. They have not got YOUR preconceived notions of what their mother or father or other guardian is meant to look like. That is all you. So I doubt a 5 year old is likely to be confused by deviations from preconceptions only YOU have.

    We hear the "kids will be confused" argument on occasion though, usually with the same lack of substantiation of conviction you throw yours out with. Children of homosexual parents will be "confused" for example. Only guess what, the studies show it is not happening there either.
    mvl wrote: »
    On effects of absent dads: plenty of papers, this is not a new subject; for example, the book "Fatherless America- Confronting our most urgent social problem" published in 1996.

    Wow you think given I warned you BEFORE you threw out a link, you might not have fallen into the trap I pre-warned you about. But nope, so desperate were you to dig down on your nonsense you threw yourself into the trap anyway. But let me remind you I just wrote above:

    "None that I know of. More generally being a child of a single parent causes troubles that we know of. Which quite a lot of people then pretend is because of the specific gender that is absent. But when you normalise for the known issues of single parenting the absence of a specific gender in two parent configurations seems pretty irrelevant. "

    and your article clearly states

    "35 percent of children under 18 live in a single-parent home as of 2016."

    As I 100% predicted in other words you have offered NO DATA AT ALL showing that the abscence of a given gender is relevant at all. All you have is data showing that children in single parent homes specifically have issues. Which A) We already knew and B) no one here is actually disagreeing with.

    You are presenting data that does not at all support your narrative.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    Wow you think given I warned you BEFORE you threw out a link, you might not have fallen into the trap I pre-warned you about. But nope, so desperate were you to dig down on your nonsense you threw yourself into the trap anyway.

    .

    Hmmmmm, some posters can give out ''warnings'' on boards to other posters about what they can and cannot post lest they fall into ''traps''....

    Sounds like a cunning plan! I am going to make it my modus operandi henceforth. To the Batmobile, Robin!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    You are presenting data that does not at all support your narrative.


    Oh, well ... I won't be spending my time replying to any of your accusations, as I have better things to do.

    - That also means anything you write (and you can write alot) can't change my opinion about parenting: the father is as important as the mother is for children to grow up in a balanced environment;

    But on this story: I can see an issue how this 5YO BOY doesn't have a father figure with this setup (unless the biological father is making an effort, but doesn't talk to the media), this is not just a detail.

    - But have a good day nozzferrahhtoo, I am off to work !


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,536 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Zorya wrote: »
    Hmmmmm, some posters can give out ''warnings'' on boards to other posters about what they can and cannot post lest they fall into ''traps''....

    Sounds like a cunning plan! I am going to make it my modus operandi henceforth. To the Batmobile, Robin!


    Good job on completely misreading the post you quoted.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,348 ✭✭✭nozzferrahhtoo


    Zorya wrote: »
    Hmmmmm, some posters can give out ''warnings'' on boards to other posters about what they can and cannot post lest they fall into ''traps''....

    I see it as a courtesy.

    When someone posts a common trope I have heard 100 times before, and the people trying to support it misquote the same research EVERY TIME to support it.... then I see it as basic decorum to point out that they might be about to make the same error.

    That the user then ignored that and went STRAIGHT into making the same predicted error again.... is their failing not mine. It was not me that dropped the ball there.
    mvl wrote: »
    Oh, well ... I won't be spending my time replying to any of your accusations, as I have better things to do.

    Clearly getting evidence that actually supports your claims is not one of them.
    mvl wrote: »
    That also means anything you write (and you can write alot) can't change my opinion about parenting

    Well how very close minded of you. To declare up front that nothing will ever change your opinion is quite a declaration to make. I for one am ALWAYS open to having my opinions changed if new knowledge comes in, or if previous knowledge was shown to be erroneous.

    To pre-declare that I just know I am write and nothing you say could ever change my position? My mind is just not that fundamentalist I guess.
    mvl wrote: »
    the father is as important as the mother is for children to grow up in a balanced environment

    And yet there simply is no evidence whatsoever to support that. And there is counter evidence AGAINST it which I have already mentioned in that the children of homosexual parents fare just as well, and in some studies actively better.

    So when no evidence supports X, but some evidence goes against X..... then holding on to X is pretty dogmatic at best. And self delusional at worst.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,628 ✭✭✭klaaaz


    mvl wrote: »
    But on this story: I can see an issue how this 5YO BOY doesn't have a father figure with this setup (unless the biological father is making an effort, but doesn't talk to the media), this is not just a detail.

    The trans-man in this story is the father figure.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    klaaaz wrote: »
    The trans-man in this story is the father figure.


    and you're very welcome to believe it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,987 ✭✭✭Pauliedragon


    When I was seeing a neurologist the first he did was explain the different parts of the brain and the frontal part of the brain which doesn't fully develop until adulthood is responsible for judgement, decision making etc. This is also the part alcohol numbs which explains why we make stupid decisions when drunk. The reason we restrict a lot of things to over 18s is because until then we are incapable of making rational decisions.. Why so would be let someone make a life changing decision when the brain doesn't have the capacity do so? If at 18 they want to go ahead good luck to them.


  • Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    When I was seeing a neurologist the first he did was explain the different parts of the brain and the frontal part of the brain which doesn't fully develop until adulthood is responsible for judgement, decision making etc. This is also the part alcohol numbs which explains why we make stupid decisions when drunk. The reason we restrict a lot of things to over 18s is because until then we are incapable of making rational decisions.. Why so would be let someone make a life changing decision when the brain doesn't have the capacity do so? If at 18 they want to go ahead good luck to them.

    And even at that the brain doesn't reach full development until about 25. It's a very complex piece of machinery.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    ceadaoin. wrote: »
    Here is the full text of the article. Worrying to say the least

    Another article by Gilligan in the Times. The response to the leaked Bell report, that was covered in the last article is that another Governor of the NHS Trust that runs the Tavistock child gender clinic has resigned. I will quote a chunk as it is behind paywall. The second part is a reiteration of the earlier article.
    A governor of the NHS trust that runs England’s only gender clinic for children has resigned in protest at its “blinkered” and “one-sided” response to doctors who had raised the alarm about “woefully inadequate” care.

    Marcus Evans, a consultant psychotherapist at the Tavistock and Portman trust with three decades’ experience, told The Sunday Times that the trust had said things that were “not true”, had created a “climate of fear” and was trying to “dismiss or undermine” concerns raised by its own clinicians.

    “I am sad to be ending my proud 34-year association with the trust,” Evans wrote in his resignation letter. “However, I do not have confidence that these serious issues . . . are going to be sufficiently addressed and dealt with in a thorough, thoughtful and balanced way.”

    Twenty-five other clinicians at the trust have signed a letter protesting against how it had handled the concerns of medical staff. The 25 said the attitude of managers was “not acceptable”.

    In a report leaked to this newspaper last week, some staff at the Tavistock’s gender identity development service (Gids) said it was exposing young patients to “long-term damage” because of its “inability to stand up to the pressure” from “highly politicised” campaigners and families demanding fast-track gender transition.

    .....

    After the leak [of the Bell Report}, the trust published a statement on its website claiming Bell’s report was “unsubstantiated”, the case studies were “hypothetical” and he had “no expertise in this field”.

    It did so even though a review it had commissioned in response to Bell’s report, by the trust’s medical director, Dinesh Sinha, had found that some of the concerns were valid.
    .....

    A Gids clinician who contributed to Bell’s report but asked to remain anonymous said last week that the case studies were real and they had personally treated some of the children described.

    Evans said: “Things in that statement simply were not true.” He added that Bell, a former president of the British Psychoanalytic Society, had “one of the biggest reputations in the Tavistock yet he’s treated like he’s some sort of charlatan in order to defend their position”. The statement has now been removed from the trust’s website.

    Separately, a group of academics in the field of gender has written to The Sunday Times attacking the trust’s attempt to “discredit” Bell and saying that for the sake of “the health of thousands of children” it should “encourage scientific investigation and ethical debate”.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    Zorya wrote: »
    Another article by Gilligan in the Times. The response to the leaked Bell report, that was covered in the last article is that another Governor of the NHS Trust that runs the Tavistock child gender clinic has resigned. I will quote a chunk as it is behind paywall. The second part is a reiteration of the earlier article.

    Wow so if I read that correctly he stood down because political pressure is being exerted on the clinic to push children through fairly damaging reassignment process without the right checks and balances.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    Calhoun wrote: »
    Wow so if I read that correctly he stood down because political pressure is being exerted on the clinic to push children through fairly damaging reassignment process without the right checks and balances.

    The original Bell report by David Bell, which Ceadaoin linked to in the post of hers I quoted above, outlines the story. Pressure from activists on clinicians. Now this is another governor who is reacting because it is not being handled correctly. Scroll back or click the arrow in the link to C's post and you can read the last article.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,447 ✭✭✭Calhoun


    Zorya wrote: »
    The original Bell report by David Bell, which Ceadaoin linked to in the post of hers I quoted above, outlines the story. Pressure from activists on clinicians. Now this is another governor who is reacting because it is not being handled correctly. Scroll back or click the arrow in the link to C's post and you can read the last article.

    Wow that is fairly damning, the joke of it all is that any negative criticism is being seen as trans-phobic. If these people are left unchallenged we will have a repeat of the likes of the church scandal down the line.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    We can say the transhumanist revolution & acceptance is here, isn't it ?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    mvl wrote: »
    We can say the transhumanist revolution & acceptance is here, isn't it ?

    Personally I see a strong transhumanist element but that view is not widely accepted, at least not without a raised eyebrow in your direction :pac:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭Zorya


    Apologies if this has been linked already.
    Conclusions -
    There are significant problems with how the evidence for Gender-affirming cross-sex hormone has been collected and analysed that prevents definitive conclusions to be drawn. Similar to puberty blockers, the evidence is limited by small sample sizes; retrospective methods, loss of considerable numbers of patients in follow-up. The majority of studies also lack a control group (only two studies used controls). Interventions have heterogeneous treatment regimes complicating comparisons between studies. Also adherence to the interventions are either not reported or at best inconsistent. Subjective outcomes, which are highly prevalent in the studies, are also prone to bias due to lack of blinding, and many effects can be explained by regression to the mean.

    The development of these interventions should, therefore, occur in the context of research. Treatments for under 18 gender dysphoric children and adolescents remain largely experimental. There are a large number of unanswered questions that include the age at start, reversibility; adverse events, long term effects on mental health, quality of life, bone mineral density, osteoporosis in later life and cognition. We wonder whether off label use is appropriate and justified for drugs such as spironolactone which can cause substantial harms, including death. We are also ignorant of the long-term safety profiles of the different GAH regimens. The current evidence base does not support informed decision making and safe practice.

    Carl Heneghan
    Editor in Chief BMJ EBM, Professor of EBM, University of Oxford

    Tom Jefferson
    Senior Associate Tutor University of Oxford
    Visiting Professor Institute of Health & Society, Faculty of Medicine, Newcastle University

    https://blogs.bmj.com/bmjebmspotlight/2019/02/25/gender-affirming-hormone-in-children-and-adolescents-evidence-review/


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,229 ✭✭✭mvl


    Ahh - this can also show how activists may be moderate in UK (for now).
    - Just amazed how activism triggered academic censorship is a thing in US.
    - But something else, before getting to decide treatment options, should parents not take into consideration the ratio of persisters/desisters ?
    Quote from a very good article on the subject (linked below):
    And while the numbers vary, there is a general consensus among the various studies that anywhere between 60 and 90 percent of children with gender dysphoria who receive no medical interventions desist when they reach adulthood. In short, children who are treated using a "watchful waiting" approach largely desist, no longer identify as transgender, and accept their bodies. Those who are subjected to medical intervention do not.


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