Our last two documentaries, The Detransition Diaries and Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender, deal extensively with the sensitive topic of the medical attempt to transition children’s bodies into the opposite sex. Gender activists are not pleased with the important bioethical questions we’re raising, and they often attempt to shut down conversation entirely via emotionally charged rhetoric. 

As we know a large number of our supporters find themselves in similar dilemmas, we thought it might be helpful for us to share with you some of the most frequent arguments we encounter and how we think it best to respond.

Response # 1: “Children will die because of your ignorance.”

  • There is no credible data to support the belief that children with gender dysphoria will kill themselves without affirmation therapy. On the contrary, science shows that the vast majority of children who present with gender dysphoria will make peace with the material reality of their biological sex if they are allowed to go through puberty.
  • The largest dataset on sex-reassignment procedures (hormones and/or surgery) illustrates that these measures do not improve mental health. The study initially reported that hormonal measures did nothing to improve mental health while surgery did improve it. But in 2019, the editors of the journal that published the study issued a correction which expressly stated, “the results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care.”

    If neither surgery nor hormones alleviate symptoms in any substantive way, can we really justify the use of these treatments on children too young to truly consent to the risks? These are the types of questions we hope our viewers will begin to ask.

Response # 2: “The effects of hormones and puberty blockers are totally reversible. They just buy kids more time to make decisions that are best for them.”

  • Our film Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender debunks this claim pretty thoroughly. To say that these drugs are completely reversible is false. You can’t reverse a permanently altered voice. Additionally, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have been shown to damage cardiovascular health, bone density, and reproductive functions, most often leading to lifelong sterilization for children who are much too young to give meaningful consent to such permanent decisions. An increasing number of medical professionals are beginning to stand up and publicly speak up against the medical transition of children. 
  • Puberty is not a disorder; it is an important part of human development, and children have a human right to experience it.

Response # 3: “But science says…”

  • Science, by definition, must remain open for rigorous questioning. If you can’t question it without fear, it’s not science; it’s ideology. 
  • There is no data or science that proves the efficacy or long term safety of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgical interventions for children experiencing gender dysphoria.
     
  • History is replete with examples of “proven science” that led to great harm. The man who invented the lobotomy won a Nobel Prize for it. Prenatal x-rays were deemed safe until they were linked to childhood cancers. When “science” is determined by the purse strings attached to #BigPharma, terrible things can sometimes happen. We owe kids thorough research before making them the subjects of medical experiments with lifelong consequences.

Response # 4: “No one is giving kids hormones or surgery.”

  • It’s a common misconception that hormones and surgery are rare prescriptions for kids with gender dysphoria. Here’s a link to Gender Mapper, which maps out the hundreds of clinics across the United States where these hormones and surgery referrals are freely available to kids. Puberty blockers are started as young as 8 years old. 14 year olds are getting elective double mastectomies.

    Reporter Brandon Showalter recently penned an article titled, “Yes, trans surgeries are happening on minors; here’s proof.” The article includes a list of credible citations that effectively dispel the myth that this is not happening. 

Response # 5: “My child is experiencing gender dysphoria, and I don’t feel comfortable agreeing to hormonal or surgical treatments. Are there any resources for parents like me?”

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