A former case manager at a pediatric gender clinic has accused medical providers of deliberately misdiagnosing mentally distressed youth with gender dysphoria. Informed consent is critical in any significant medical decision, where doctors and patients should make decisions together while considering appropriate treatment options. Gender-focused hormonal therapies can have serious side effects, such as hair loss, permanent voice change, nipple discharge, blood clots, heart problems, decreased libido, bone loss, erectile dysfunction, inability to orgasm, and even infertility. Therefore, it’s essential to weigh the risks and benefits of gender-affirming care plans before deciding. European countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the UK are pursuing science-based policies. In contrast, the Vermont Principals’ Association is only listening to biased, unscientific opinions from ideological activists, advocate groups, and medical professionals/institutions with financial conflicts of interest. Accurate scientific evidence and informed consent should be considered when making policy decisions related to transgender athletes.
The Vermont Principals’ Association is making policy decisions that contradict current scientific research while ignoring the progressive policies of European countries. In countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the UK, policymakers have stepped back from “affirming” transgenderism for minors because research has shown that many children who believe they are transgender are actually experiencing other challenges such as autism, ADHD, depression, social anxiety, social isolation and loneliness, or gender nonconformity. Minors who undergo transgender medical interventions but later regret their actions are now suing the medical organizations responsible for misdiagnosing and misprescribing those interventions.
Claims that trans identification is a proxy for suicidality typically involve comparing rates of suicidality among youth who identify as trans or who suffer from gender dysphoria with rates among youth in the general population. However, these comparisons are flawed as they are not apples-to-apples comparisons. A recent study found that when comparing suicidality rates among gender-distressed and non-gender-distressed youth with similar mental health comorbidities, the disparities in suicidality between the two groups all but disappeared.
For instance, 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). The Vermont Principals’ Association should consider this research when making policy decisions related to transgender athletes in order to ensure that their policies are based on accurate scientific evidence rather than biased and unscientific opinions.
Recent allegations have been made by a former case manager at a pediatric gender clinic, who claims that mentally distressed youth with gender dysphoria were deliberately misdiagnosed. The issue of informed consent is essential in any significant medical decision, where doctors and patients should make decisions together while considering appropriate treatment options. Failure to obtain informed consent can lead to legal liability for medical providers.
Informed consent means that the patient must have the capacity to reason and make judgments, the decision must be made voluntarily and without coercion, and the patient must understand the risks and benefits of proposed treatment alternatives or non-treatment, along with the nature of the disease and prognosis.
Gender-focused hormonal therapies can have serious side effects, such as hair loss, permanent voice change, nipple discharge, blood clots, heart problems, decreased libido, bone loss, erectile dysfunction, inability to orgasm, and even infertility. Therefore, it’s essential to weigh the risks and benefits of gender-affirming care plans before deciding.
It is also crucial to consider the decision-making capacity of minors when making life-altering decisions. Minors are unlikely to make informed decisions, particularly when they are not informed about the risks and alternative treatments available to them.
It’s essential to help children who genuinely suffer from gender dysphoria, but it’s also wrong to force minors into unnecessary confusion or severing of parent-child relationships, ultimately leading to irreversible physical mutilation and even suicide. Additionally, anyone who does not pledge allegiance to a particular religion or ideology should not be punished.
European countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the UK are pursuing science-based policies. In contrast, the Vermont Principals’ Association is only listening to biased, unscientific opinions from ideological activists, advocate groups, and medical professionals/institutions with financial conflicts of interest.
Therefore, it’s crucial to consider accurate scientific evidence and informed consent when making policy decisions related to transgender athletes to ensure that decisions are based on factual data rather than biased opinions. More information on transgenderism in schools is available for the Vermont Principals’ Association or anyone who seeks to learn more about this topic.
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