originally posted by: Grenade
Teaching my children fact from fiction, truth from lies, right from wrong etc etc.
So if your kid suffered from something like clinical anxiety, depression or other emotional problems would you tell them this was all fiction, just in
their head and it was wrong so they should just snap out of it? How about something like being on the autism spectrum, having a learning disability,
Tourettes or some other sort of problem. Would you just lay down the law, tell them what’s true for you in your reality and that they should sit
down, shut up and fly right?
Do you think this makes you a good parent?
Having gender dysphoria is a medically diagnosable condition with serious lifelong mental and physical health consequences that you simply cannot
dismiss or ignore. Even for those kids that are able to sublimate and suppress and repress their feelings to make their parents happy or to avoid
bullying, punishment or shaming that can reconcile the dichotomy what sex they are and what sex their core sense of self tells them that they are will
commonly grow up to just be butch lesbians or effeminate gay men are still always going to feel their gender is off or that something somehow is wrong
with them because even gender expression outside of the expected typical male/female binary isn’t considered normal.
What can happen with boys most often in this situation that do repress their feelings and feel such shame and guilt for even having them or are in
intolerant families is to put on a good show that to them feels like living a lie to make other people happy even if they’re secretly miserable.
They often pursue hyper-masculine or dangerous careers to prove their masculinity and manhood to others and themselves. Transgender people join the
military at twice the rate of non-transgender people and some even become famous Olympic athletes. Many commonly get married and have kids to keep up
the façade living their lives to other’s expectations until the turmoil and struggle of dealing with this repressed inner conflict grows to become
unbearable. The average age adult transitioners is between 40 and 45 and in most cases their gender dysphoria ruins their lives and destroys families
and careers and they rarely are able to successfully assimilate into society as anything except as transgender. This has got to be some sort of living
hell?
Letting them choose the direction of their life at 7 years old for example is BAD parenting.
If a child genuinely has severe and diagnosable gender dysphoria, describing this as distressing to them is a gross understatement and by 7 years old,
no amount of sit down talks telling them how it is going to be or taking them to a psychiatrist or preacher is going to make it go away and I think
everyone can agree, not addressing or denying such a serious problem is only going to exacerbate the frequent co-morbidities of depression, anxiety,
suicide ideation, substance abuse or other forms of self harm. Most authentic trans people hate being trans and would rather not be. Who wouldn’t
having to deal with crap like this?
Research has shown that allowing these children to express themselves in the ways they feel is best for them even if their feelings do desist as they
get older is far healthier in the long run than forcing them into an unwanted box that can be so psychologically damaging. It can’t be said enough
or enough so that people believe it but parents do not force being transgender on their children. Most parents that do allow their young children or
grade schoolers to socially transition that do follow the affirming model of care are counseled to let the child lead with this with the expectation
that if they do desist, that’s equally fine too and they will still be loved and accepted regardless. Typically and almost universally, a child
expressing cross-gender identification as a toddler that still feels that way at puberty is going to feel that way for life.
Truly gender dysphoric children like the one in this story that has persistently, consistently and insistently expressed their cross gender identity
over time, years in this case, they and their parents are involved in intense counseling, evaluation and monitoring because this is a serious medical
condition that can and does cause lifelong hardship.
Gender dysphoric transgender children are who they say they are and their sense of gender is as stable and as solid as other children.
Transgender Kids Show
Consistent Gender Identity Across Measures
Op-ed: Finally, Some Reliable Research on
Trans Kids Like Mine
Trans kids massively benefit from being allowed to
socially transition
The pernicious junk science stalking trans kids
6 Facts About
Affirming Therapy for Trans And Gender Non-Conforming Youth
Transgender kids are being offered drugs which harm their development and endanger their life. Isn't that akin to encouraging a heroin
addiction?
For the umpteenth time, children are not given drugs or surgical intervention at least until they have started natal puberty and it is at that time,
after often after many years of careful professional evaluation and counseling, are the use of puberty suppressing drugs considered and the potential
health risks weighed against the potential benefits. If a young prepubescent trans girl has socially transitioned and integrated well in their
cross-gender role, the signs of and fear of developing the secondary sex characteristics of their natal sex is absolutely horrifying to them and many
feel that they would rather die than have that happen to them.
Those of you with daughters, imagine their distress if their voices deepen, their Adam’s apple grows, they sprout facial and body hair and develop
a masculine build. As a parent, wouldn’t you want to do something to help them if you felt they could have happier and more successful lives without
having to go through a trauma like this even if there are risks involved? I noted earlier, for some puberty blockers are the lesser of two evils.
Do I think all kids should go this route? Absolutely not and I do think too many kids are being put on this protocol that may later have regrets,
especially natal females but do we deny medical help to those it truly is life saving for and can be greatly helped by it because there are some
negative outcomes? Chemotherapy and surgery for cancer kills a lot of people so should we stop doing it for those that can be helped because it
doesn’t always work and can make things worse? I don’t think so.
Please try to have a little understanding and compassion for these kids that can suffer painfully with their gender dysphoria and for their parents
that are put in a tough situation for how to help them deal with it. Still think a good hard talk or swift kick in the rear end is going to solve this
problem? Think again.