"There's a great irony in that the same people chanting 'protect trans kids' are advocating for [puberty blocker drugs] that could permanently impair [kids'] ability to enjoy sex as adults before they're even able to comprehend what that means." US journo Katie Herzog #AusPol 1/
Herzog, who wrote one of the earliest articles on detransition, used to believe that puberty blockers, which interrupt natural sex hormones, may be beneficial in strictly limited cases. She has changed her mind after an admission by top US transgender doctor Marci Bowers.
Dr Bowers, famous as the surgeon for reality TV star Jazz Jennings, says that if male-born patients begin hormone suppression early in puberty (around age 11 at Tanner stage 2), they may never be exposed to enough testosterone to experience orgasm.
twitter.com/DonovanCleckley/status/1521625518394773505?s=20&t=tl7zTo7anqYEgPznqAYw1w
Talking to Nellie Bowles @thehonestlypod, Herzog says: "Activists will tell you over & over that puberty blockers are totally reversible but that isn't actually true. To me, this comes down to an issue of consent." She cites side-effects such as bone thinning & infertility.
"I think people [eg parents supporting puberty blockers] are genuinely well-meaning, but I also think that this is absolutely a scandal & in 5, 10 or 15 years we're going to look back at this the same way we look back at lobotomies," Herzog says.
"The problem is that [parents are] getting messaging from their own doctors, from gender clinics, medical organisations & activists saying that if you don't give your kid puberty blockers, your kid is going to kill themselves."
"The data doesn't bear that [suicide narrative] out. It's very dangerous messaging."
Herzog & Bowles talk puberty blockers from the 19:50min mark twitter.com/thehonestlypod/status/1522587898180251648?s=20&t=67rnzx7eZhaU7QIChexjOw
Bowles: "It boggles my mind ... several thousand kids are being neutered by doctors right now & we're all sort of living as if it's totally OK, & the Biden administration is putting out memos saying that puberty blockers [are best practice]."
quillette.com/2022/05/13/joe-bidens-faulty-gender-diktat/
"I have a hard time believing that we've gotten to this place of 1000s of young people looking at an adulthood where they will never reach sex maturity & never be able to have an intimate sexual relationship, without [thinking of] something darker going on in our society ..."
"I almost think there's a push to de-sex young gay boys [at least in some cases] .. It's like a modern day 'sending your slightly effeminate young boy to join the church, it's a way of a saying, you're never going to reach sexual maturity." Katie doesn't believe harm is intended.
This week, an Australian paediatrician, Dr Dylan Wilson, wrote an open letter explaining why he would *never* refer a child to the gender clinic at his local children's hospital.
drdylanwilson.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-australias-doctors?r=130uly&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
He knew his intervention in an election campaign might be controversial. One candidate, Katherine Deves, shot to prominence because of (uninformed) media & political outrage over tweets in which she had lamenting that children were being surgically mutilated and sterilised.
In his letter, Dr Wilson says: "There is a simple reason why Ms. Deves tweeted about children being surgically mutilated and sterilised. It’s because children are being surgically mutilated and sterilised".
Dr Wilson explains carefully & clearly the ethical & clinical issues at the heart of the international debate over medicalised gender change for minors. I urge you to read his letter & share it widely.
He says: "We are in the midst of a medical scandal ... We are all somewhat complicit ... we have blindly assumed that a children’s hospital must be doing the right thing simply because it’s the children’s hospital. We haven’t asked questions. Or we’ve been too afraid to".
News reports here genderclinicnews.substack.com
Bernard Lane
@Bernard_Lane
Journalist covering the international debate over youth gender clinics | genderclinics@gmail.com | genderclinicnews.com | May contain traces of poetry
