I just finished reading Lydia Polgreen’s opinion piece, “Born This Way? Born Which Way?" I found myself wondering if I was really reading a piece in arguably one of the most respected newspapers in the world? It certainly did not feel like that, rather, it felt like I was reading a child’s fantasy rendition of a world in which there is no harm and there is the ability to create a world completely of your liking.
I think the original ariticle is a specimen of a new genre of writing I'd call "Fantasy Science," not old fashioned science fiction. It appears as factual science reporting, papers, or explanatory journalism when it is complete fabrication. Scientific American's publication on "sex as a spectrum" is another version. 60 Minutes is also generally an excellent generator - "This 16-year old may just.have figured out how to clear plastic from the ocean!" NTY lost me in the early 2000's with a "factual" review of Exorcism "challenges" - https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/us/13exorcism.html#:~:text=There%20are%20only%20a%20handful,to%20respond%20to%20the%20demand.
People are so bamboozled - "dysphoria" aka "unhappiness". It's all very sad.
When will liberal institutions put young staffers in their place and stop letting them dictate policy? I can't help but think that we owe Lydia Polgreen's piece to the trans sympathizers at the Times who were seeking to even the score after the newspaper finally published a few pieces that did not toe the trans party line right down to the last millimeter.
I love this article. The original one was a disgrace. One note you said that “Data now exists that shows that once a child is socially transitioned, that child will likely follow a path of pubertal suppression, and then almost certainly continue on to taking cross sex hormone.” I don’t think this is exactly true. The data shows that once a child is socially transitioned, their identity will become concretized and they will likely continue to identify as trans. A problem in itself. Social transition leads to an unchanging, trans identity; it’s pubertal suppression that leads definitively to taking wrong-sex, hormones. I believe the data shows most trans identified kids do not medicalize. If we’re going to fight this nonsense, we need to be precise with what the data says. Please correct me, with data, if I’m wrong. Thank you for fighting the good fight.
"Affirming Care" guidelines push for "trans children" to be placed on puberty blockers.
Once the child has identified as "Trans" and seeks medical or psychological care, they and their parents are pressured to get on Puberty blockers. That is the danger of concretizing an identity. It is a dangerous slippery slope. It is evident that puberty blockers are now standard of care for these gender clinics.
I wondered about that too. It is different to say that the pathway to puberty blockers is first to socially transition, and (insert percent here) go on to puberty blockers, than to say they will likely go no to puberty blockers. The non-binary identity being lumped in with trans really messes with knowing this information clearly too I think?
Unrelated to the article, but I just wanted to say I’m really glad I discovered this Substack. NGL, when I saw the name of it I was a little worried because “Courage” is also the name of a Catholic group that’s a conversion therapy organization in all but name only (although they wouldn’t say
LGBT, they’d use demeaning euphemisms like “suffering from same-sex attraction”), but when I clicked on it I was so glad to see another heterodox gay blog.
I think the original ariticle is a specimen of a new genre of writing I'd call "Fantasy Science," not old fashioned science fiction. It appears as factual science reporting, papers, or explanatory journalism when it is complete fabrication. Scientific American's publication on "sex as a spectrum" is another version. 60 Minutes is also generally an excellent generator - "This 16-year old may just.have figured out how to clear plastic from the ocean!" NTY lost me in the early 2000's with a "factual" review of Exorcism "challenges" - https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/us/13exorcism.html#:~:text=There%20are%20only%20a%20handful,to%20respond%20to%20the%20demand.
People are so bamboozled - "dysphoria" aka "unhappiness". It's all very sad.
Omg do I hate the ideology that supports child transition. I’m praying that it will go away due to lawsuits. It’s harmful in so many ways.
When will liberal institutions put young staffers in their place and stop letting them dictate policy? I can't help but think that we owe Lydia Polgreen's piece to the trans sympathizers at the Times who were seeking to even the score after the newspaper finally published a few pieces that did not toe the trans party line right down to the last millimeter.
The child-sterilizing cult is losing, they know it, so now they are making excuses.
I love this article. The original one was a disgrace. One note you said that “Data now exists that shows that once a child is socially transitioned, that child will likely follow a path of pubertal suppression, and then almost certainly continue on to taking cross sex hormone.” I don’t think this is exactly true. The data shows that once a child is socially transitioned, their identity will become concretized and they will likely continue to identify as trans. A problem in itself. Social transition leads to an unchanging, trans identity; it’s pubertal suppression that leads definitively to taking wrong-sex, hormones. I believe the data shows most trans identified kids do not medicalize. If we’re going to fight this nonsense, we need to be precise with what the data says. Please correct me, with data, if I’m wrong. Thank you for fighting the good fight.
"Affirming Care" guidelines push for "trans children" to be placed on puberty blockers.
Once the child has identified as "Trans" and seeks medical or psychological care, they and their parents are pressured to get on Puberty blockers. That is the danger of concretizing an identity. It is a dangerous slippery slope. It is evident that puberty blockers are now standard of care for these gender clinics.
I wondered about that too. It is different to say that the pathway to puberty blockers is first to socially transition, and (insert percent here) go on to puberty blockers, than to say they will likely go no to puberty blockers. The non-binary identity being lumped in with trans really messes with knowing this information clearly too I think?
Unrelated to the article, but I just wanted to say I’m really glad I discovered this Substack. NGL, when I saw the name of it I was a little worried because “Courage” is also the name of a Catholic group that’s a conversion therapy organization in all but name only (although they wouldn’t say
LGBT, they’d use demeaning euphemisms like “suffering from same-sex attraction”), but when I clicked on it I was so glad to see another heterodox gay blog.