Raking Our Children Over The Coals Of Hate

Nothing is off limits for the haters and bigots, they are willing to attack the most vulnerable of us, our children. They don’t care if they inflict wounds that last a lifetime as long as they create their hate.

Caught in the crossfireChildren are victims in the latest identity-driven culture warSome feminists and transgender activists are on opposite sidesThe Economist
November 16, 2017

[…]
The fiercest fire is left-on-left. Some feminists reject the claim that trans women (people registered male at birth who have made the transition to a female identity) are indeed women, rather than men who eschew stereotypically male behaviour. But to trans people being thus “misgendered” feels downright cruel. Such feminists are called “transphobes” and accused of hate speech. The hard words fly both ways: witness Germaine Greer declaring that “just because you lop off your dick” does not make you a woman.

None of this is edifying. What is unforgivable is that children are caught in the crossfire. Soaring numbers are seeking help for gender dysphoria—the distressing conviction that the sex on their birth certificate is the wrong one. If they are unlucky, what happens next will have more to do with an adult battle over identity than with what is right for them.
[…]
Won’t someone think of the children?
It is bad enough that doctors, parents and gender-dysphoric children must make high-stakes choices against time without good evidence about what will happen. Worse is that children’s plight is being used by adults as an opportunity for moral grandstanding. The child’s interests depend not on the feelings of transgender activists—nor those of feminists—but on facts that still need to be established. Doctors need to know more about how to tell when gender dysphoria is likely to persist. Until they have that information, they should not rush in with drugs. Before acting, doctors should have reasonable grounds for thinking that they are doing good.

It is true that there is a lack of longitudinal studies but there are studies that have shown the trans children when properly diagnosed have a positive outcome. I say “properly diagnosed” because some of the studies quoted by the right did not adhere to the DSM and Standard of Care diagnoses. The studies included boys who liked to play with dolls and other non-typical masculine activities. They also counted as being detransitioners those who dropped out of the study.

Real the Economist should stick with topics on the economy.