An explainer guide to the important distinctions between gender ideology and gender dysphoria and between gender activists and transgender or transsexual people.
Excellent points. As an "old-school" T*, I wholeheartedly agree. I see the marxist radical
"Trans Rights Activists" as creating nothing but public hostility against gender-nonconforming people. TRA's in my experience are weak minded, terminally insecure, and collectivist, and hence feel the need to force society to accept normalization, because that is the only way such insecure people can feel they will be able to accept themselves or feel confident. Their forcing it down people's throats however is a failure to acknowledge to sovereign domain of others (obviously, "normally gender sensed" individuals don't have any way to understand the experience. That is their RIGHT, every bit as much as the gender non conformer to make their way in life without suffering violence for being different. You want to create hostility and opposition, you are guaranteed to get that reaction if you try and force somebody to do/believe something against their will.
I have known far left and far left self-identified gays who always expressed strong hostility to Christian groups (out of resentment of non-acceptance), and I just see this as only having been further propagated, instilled, and actively encouraged amongst the TRAs. The extermity of TRA positions, such as undermining women's athletics, and the definition of biological women itself, as well as the promotion of transing of children who clearly are being manipulated by ideologically motivated adults (teachers, TRA's, left wing activists in general), as well as open sexualisation of children is all disgusting, reprehensible, and predictably polarizing. The political goal, is to create hostility against the LGBT* "community" (I hate to use that word, because I have never seen that in effect, it is more of a conformity cult), so that LGBT become politically ghettoized, have feel that the "left" is the only affiliation that will protect them from an increasingly hostile world.
I myself, I have never seen my non-conforming gender identity as political. I despise identity politics and the whole oppression olympics, victim identity, and the associated sense of entitlement that throws away any concept of merit, integrity, or capability. The TRAs and the radical marxists who promote all their related insanity are a menace to society, as well as LGBT people's ability to be quietly tolerated in society. Especially when they claim some imaginary "right" to inflict their madness on children through indoctrination in the schools, and undermining of parental rights. CRT and radical "gender theory" should be prohibited in the schools. The real objectives appear to be depopulation (at massive profits), destroying social cohesiveness, undermining family relations, and empowering the authoritarian state and collective irrational mob.
Anyways, Thank You for your nuanced analysis and explanation/clarification, so that hopefully more "normies" be able to keep a balanced perspective, and not be forced into absurd reaction by the lunatic left. I have always avoided these TRA lunatics, because I saw firsthand how they make pretend to be all about acceptance and love, but then ruthlessy and cruelly seek to destroy even members of their so-called "community" should they dare to question the irrational dogmas. I am not an "ally" to these leftist lunatics, and I don't pretend to KNOW what is the proper path for anyone but my own life, much less to feel the need to inflict it upon others under threat of violence or social coercion.
If you walk this path, you have to be psychologically strong enough to accept that not everyone, much less society will understand, agree or approve, and certainly the humility and honesty to realize you certainly can NOT force it (pronouns, radical delusions, whatever) upon anyone (much less their children), and that doing so is only provoking unnecessary trouble for everyone.
I agree with Mel. You have to consider the outsized power dynamic here. “Trans rights,” which are largely the usurping of the rights of women and girls (no one has the right to experimental cosmetic treatments on demand), have become a focus of the current administration. There hasn’t been one Democratic legislator that has spoken up in support of a precautionary approach to medicalization of minors — they won’t even meet with constituents. A large swath of Dem voters believe you can magically be born in the wrong body and/or that what trans activists are asking for is just a little dignity rather than a mandated belief in/adherence to their pseudo religion. Pretty much everyone I’m in contact with who oppose this ideology, and it’s a pretty decent-sized group, understand all of the definitions and the pretzel logic. We may be talking about a relatively small number of people who would be considered activists, but numbers aren’t the key point when it takes so little to influence so many (John Oliver is only one person) and the amount of damage they do is so significant.
I think these are important distinctions, but at the same time many people (like myself) who previously didn’t give a toss about people being trans, are now labeled “terf” “transphope” “fascist” and a number of other choice terms as we speak out against transgendered people invading women’s spaces and being obsessed with pushing their lifestyle on children. At this point I am so completely fed up with it that I have no tolerance. Is that fair to the sweet man who thinks he should be a lady and sticks to himself and doesn’t bother anyone? No. But I think we need to push the dial in the other direction and until we do I just don’t feel compelled to be tolerant.
A very clear thoughtful and important post. Thank you for this. As someone relatively new to a deep exploration of this topic this post is quite helpful. I'm a 71 year old retired clinical social worker who has always considered himself a "trans-ally" and who thought nothing of mentoring a young trans-male therapist way back in 2009 before trans activism became fashionable. It was all the threats of rape, assault and even death threats sent to J.K. Rowling that caused me to look into just what she had said that resulted in such a violent and abusive response. Imagine my surprise when I realized I quite agreed with Ms. Rowling and thus was now considered among the "gender ideologues" to be a "hateful transphobic bigot" although I'm nothing of the sort. In forty years of working with people I worked with countless female victims of rape, incest, and domestic violence. I am appalled to see the legal push to allow human beings with a penis to be able to occupy those safe spaces occupied by highly traumatized human beings with a vagina such as rape shelters and domestic violence shelters. It is literally beyond comprehension to me. We used to have a word for it when the "feelings" and "rights" of human beings with a penis - automatically trumped the "feelings" and "rights" of human beings with a vagina - "what was that word? (tip of the hat to Ms. Rowling) Oh, yeah, we called that "misogyny" and as a society we came to deplore it as retrograde reactionary and patriarchal. How on earth is it that such blatant "misogyny" has been rehabilitated by simply labeling it "trans-activism" and "trans-rights?" What utter madness. Thank you for reminding me that it is a relative few involved in promoting this madness and the gender ideology goals. That is a very important point for all of us to keep in mind.
"There are many transsexuals who do not deny their biology but choose to present in a way that makes them feel most comfortable, and they do not make requirements of anyone to call them by their preferred pronouns. They also fully agree that children are too young to understand and consent to the irreversible, life-altering effects of medical transition. It seems likely that more transsexuals who share these beliefs would speak up if they weren’t treated so cruelly by people on all sides of the debate. "
The perpetrators of the cruel treatment are overwhelmingly the TRAs.
It’s striking to me how violent and aggressive so many transgender women are in responding to, e.g., women who think there should be women-only spaces and women-only sports. You might be forgiven for thinking that this violence and aggression was a form of toxic masculinity.
We all have traits which do not conform with the Disney prince and princess stereotypes. What the "nice true transsexuals" fail to recognize is that they typically share personal histories of trauma, grief, sexual and physical abuse which explain why they obsessively desire to change their bodies. My ex-husband, who had genital surgeries in 1996, was beaten by his father as a young child, while physically having the coloring and smaller stature of his mother. His mother was not able to prevent this violent man from hitting their children. I knew him many years and he was unpleasant, had no friends and was financially unsuccessful. In my support group of 25-30 trans widows, we find that the majority observation regarding our ex-husbands' families are similar. The entire diagnosis has not been properly studied. I was emotionally abused, deeply affected by my husband's moods, selfishness, spending habits and inability to parent responsibly (serious sunburns, accidents, risky motorcycle behavior all occurred for our sons under his watch) As COO of his tech company, he comes off to the world as "one of the nice ones." You have no idea, Christina what has happened behind closed doors. It is especially distressing to have demands of sexual role play, described quite well in trans widow Shannon Thrace's memoir, 18 Months. I refused and was called "spunky and traditional" by Neddy's therapist, to my face. The full story is not known until the families have their stories told. Ute Heggen, author, In the Curated Woods
Should anyone of the male sex be using anything designated for females? Including words to describe ourselves. I believe not..but need to be accommodated in other ways. I’m tired of “true trans” whatever that means. Compassion fine, but allow 3rd spaces. No one is “checking genitals” but these men struggling with their sex need to respect the sex they can never be and stop encroaching..even passing makes no difference and we know hardly a one does.
Autogynephiles/transvestic fetishists who have 'gender dysphoria' don't display their dicks in women's restrooms and locker rooms and publicly show their aroused 'bulge' while cross-dressing -- all of which we have seen. AGPs want to dominate women and their predatory behavior by insisting they be allowed in women's spaces and occupy their sex-class makes that obvious--and women say NO. Having a fetish/paraphilia and supplanting another group's protected class and appropriating their rights and opportunities is not a civil right--it is male entitlement, aggression and misogyny--and women say NO.
I mostly agree with the gist of this article, but I'm not sure about the word "dependent" in this sentence:
"As depicted in the Venn diagram, holding ideological beliefs about gender is not dependent on having gender dysphoria, and having gender dysphoria is not dependent on holding ideological beliefs about gender.
One could read that as meaning that there's no correlation between gender ideology and gender dysphoria (That they're independent variables). I don't doubt that there are many gender dysphoric people who don't adhere to gender ideology, but it seems very probable that gender ideology increases your chances of acquiring gender related distress.
Do a google search on William Whitmore, now identified as "Lilly' and the plans HE was found with to conduct mass shootings with individual targets, schools and churches in the Colorado Springs area. We all experience the desire to be the opposite sex at times, when our own bodily functions present problems. The ideology has created this nightmare.
While you are pursing an honest goal with this, you are getting it fundamentally wrong, because you are 1) falsely asserting that there are no genetic or other biological determinants of diverse sex and gender - and by extension ignoring undeniable evidence that there in fact is a *physical* gender spectrum (see links below to evidence) and 2) *very* incorrectly defining 'gender dysphoria' and thereby creating a bogus strawman fallacy that dysphoria is only about the male and female polarities and identities - it isn't.
Gender dysphoria occurs any time an individual (nearly always for legitimate physical reasons) feels that their inner physical and emotional sexual experience does not conform to how others perceive them outwardly (usually because of their outward anatomy and traditional social norms).
Such dysphoria understandably happens to nearly every gay man or lesbian woman for obvious reasons. With people elsewhere on the gender spectrum, it is exactly the same. Gender dysphoria is a *normal* response to incorrect social assumptions, and resulting incorrect personal assumptions, about one's own sexuality.
If you are going to craft an *effective* argument to convince misled but open minded liberals that gender *ideology* has become a serious problem (and it definitely has) then you need to learn about and admit the science which shows that diverse sex, gender, and internal personal experiences of sexuality, have strong biological influences.
Liberals will not listen to you, if half of your argument fails to acknowledge clear physical reality.
Here is the link to an article (which came out in 2015 *before* the current gender ideology hysteria went viral) which clearly lays out the undeniable case that sex, gender and sexuality are highly diverse and fall on a *physical* spectrum.
"Sex redefined" - Claire Ainsworth, for the journal Nature
And here is a link to just one example of the science that shows such biological differences and how they can emerge. This research is centered on genetics and epigenetics. (Epigenetics is the complex interaction between genes and the environment, in which genes literally turn on and off in response to outside factors, and physically change how a human -or other animal- develops, not just in infancy and childhood, but throughout life.)
"Epigenetics Is Implicated in the Basis of Gender Incongruence"
This is a very interesting and thought-provoking essay with a lot of good points. However, a some of it is based on outmoded or inaccurate ideas about biological psychology. Let me suggest, for instance:
There is "Biological Evidence for Gender Identity..." but it’s not what you think
Bringing your arguments in line with the most recent understandings of how the brain works will not change any of your basic arguments or your points, but it will make them more rigorous and convincing.
I saw you in the Greenwald show and think you're very courageous and admirable. Perhaps you could reconsider a few more of your stands? There are a lot of medical conditions that don't have "blood, brain" or other objective tests (M.S., Chronic Depression, ASD, and more) that are still acknowledged to have a biological basis. For transgenders, there are twin studies that show 30-40% concordance. There's also the cloacal exstrophy paper from Hopkins that has evidence for gender ID. Joshua Safer talks about these in his standard speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4QM8xkEO6k.
First, I am a transsexual and Christina does not speak for us or anyone else in the trans community. Her history of working for one of the most hostilely transphobic news orgs. is problematic and her judgment should be scrutinized. Pieces like this should be filtered through that lens.
Christina claims that transsexuals have no brain differences compared to their cisgender counterparts which of course is total fiction. While it's unclear how the differences work, it is clear that there is clear differences. Acceptance of this is not controversial and even people critical of gender acknowledge that trans people are wired differently.
She is trying to paint a "good ones" and "bad ones" argument here so that people can do transphobic and hateful things and call anyone who protests an "activist".
This is not a new tactic. It was done during the civil rights movement, the marriage equality movement, and now it's dusted off and repackaged for the anti-trans activists to use against transpeople seeking equality.
Transpeople want simple things. Use a bathroom, get a job, access to health care, and mostly for you all to leave us the fuck alone and stop constantly questioning our our medicine, our lives, or our existence. Go live your life and leave us the fuck alone.
I see that autogynephilia, which occurs at the onset of puberty, is one of the main reasons behind gender identity disorder experienced by "ROGD boys".
Autogynephilia and "gender dysphoria" are not mutually exclusive: autogynephilia can cause "gender dysphoria". It is an odd misunderstanding amongst the anti-"gender identity" movement, that only the transsexuals they favour have "gender dysphoria", whereas others, who they dislike, are just pretending and have autogynephilia.
The truth is that many of the transsexuals who they favour likely also have autogynephilic "gender dysphoria", and that autogynephilia has become a slur, which was something researchers never intended.
Excellent points. As an "old-school" T*, I wholeheartedly agree. I see the marxist radical
"Trans Rights Activists" as creating nothing but public hostility against gender-nonconforming people. TRA's in my experience are weak minded, terminally insecure, and collectivist, and hence feel the need to force society to accept normalization, because that is the only way such insecure people can feel they will be able to accept themselves or feel confident. Their forcing it down people's throats however is a failure to acknowledge to sovereign domain of others (obviously, "normally gender sensed" individuals don't have any way to understand the experience. That is their RIGHT, every bit as much as the gender non conformer to make their way in life without suffering violence for being different. You want to create hostility and opposition, you are guaranteed to get that reaction if you try and force somebody to do/believe something against their will.
I have known far left and far left self-identified gays who always expressed strong hostility to Christian groups (out of resentment of non-acceptance), and I just see this as only having been further propagated, instilled, and actively encouraged amongst the TRAs. The extermity of TRA positions, such as undermining women's athletics, and the definition of biological women itself, as well as the promotion of transing of children who clearly are being manipulated by ideologically motivated adults (teachers, TRA's, left wing activists in general), as well as open sexualisation of children is all disgusting, reprehensible, and predictably polarizing. The political goal, is to create hostility against the LGBT* "community" (I hate to use that word, because I have never seen that in effect, it is more of a conformity cult), so that LGBT become politically ghettoized, have feel that the "left" is the only affiliation that will protect them from an increasingly hostile world.
I myself, I have never seen my non-conforming gender identity as political. I despise identity politics and the whole oppression olympics, victim identity, and the associated sense of entitlement that throws away any concept of merit, integrity, or capability. The TRAs and the radical marxists who promote all their related insanity are a menace to society, as well as LGBT people's ability to be quietly tolerated in society. Especially when they claim some imaginary "right" to inflict their madness on children through indoctrination in the schools, and undermining of parental rights. CRT and radical "gender theory" should be prohibited in the schools. The real objectives appear to be depopulation (at massive profits), destroying social cohesiveness, undermining family relations, and empowering the authoritarian state and collective irrational mob.
Anyways, Thank You for your nuanced analysis and explanation/clarification, so that hopefully more "normies" be able to keep a balanced perspective, and not be forced into absurd reaction by the lunatic left. I have always avoided these TRA lunatics, because I saw firsthand how they make pretend to be all about acceptance and love, but then ruthlessy and cruelly seek to destroy even members of their so-called "community" should they dare to question the irrational dogmas. I am not an "ally" to these leftist lunatics, and I don't pretend to KNOW what is the proper path for anyone but my own life, much less to feel the need to inflict it upon others under threat of violence or social coercion.
If you walk this path, you have to be psychologically strong enough to accept that not everyone, much less society will understand, agree or approve, and certainly the humility and honesty to realize you certainly can NOT force it (pronouns, radical delusions, whatever) upon anyone (much less their children), and that doing so is only provoking unnecessary trouble for everyone.
I agree with Mel. You have to consider the outsized power dynamic here. “Trans rights,” which are largely the usurping of the rights of women and girls (no one has the right to experimental cosmetic treatments on demand), have become a focus of the current administration. There hasn’t been one Democratic legislator that has spoken up in support of a precautionary approach to medicalization of minors — they won’t even meet with constituents. A large swath of Dem voters believe you can magically be born in the wrong body and/or that what trans activists are asking for is just a little dignity rather than a mandated belief in/adherence to their pseudo religion. Pretty much everyone I’m in contact with who oppose this ideology, and it’s a pretty decent-sized group, understand all of the definitions and the pretzel logic. We may be talking about a relatively small number of people who would be considered activists, but numbers aren’t the key point when it takes so little to influence so many (John Oliver is only one person) and the amount of damage they do is so significant.
I think these are important distinctions, but at the same time many people (like myself) who previously didn’t give a toss about people being trans, are now labeled “terf” “transphope” “fascist” and a number of other choice terms as we speak out against transgendered people invading women’s spaces and being obsessed with pushing their lifestyle on children. At this point I am so completely fed up with it that I have no tolerance. Is that fair to the sweet man who thinks he should be a lady and sticks to himself and doesn’t bother anyone? No. But I think we need to push the dial in the other direction and until we do I just don’t feel compelled to be tolerant.
A very clear thoughtful and important post. Thank you for this. As someone relatively new to a deep exploration of this topic this post is quite helpful. I'm a 71 year old retired clinical social worker who has always considered himself a "trans-ally" and who thought nothing of mentoring a young trans-male therapist way back in 2009 before trans activism became fashionable. It was all the threats of rape, assault and even death threats sent to J.K. Rowling that caused me to look into just what she had said that resulted in such a violent and abusive response. Imagine my surprise when I realized I quite agreed with Ms. Rowling and thus was now considered among the "gender ideologues" to be a "hateful transphobic bigot" although I'm nothing of the sort. In forty years of working with people I worked with countless female victims of rape, incest, and domestic violence. I am appalled to see the legal push to allow human beings with a penis to be able to occupy those safe spaces occupied by highly traumatized human beings with a vagina such as rape shelters and domestic violence shelters. It is literally beyond comprehension to me. We used to have a word for it when the "feelings" and "rights" of human beings with a penis - automatically trumped the "feelings" and "rights" of human beings with a vagina - "what was that word? (tip of the hat to Ms. Rowling) Oh, yeah, we called that "misogyny" and as a society we came to deplore it as retrograde reactionary and patriarchal. How on earth is it that such blatant "misogyny" has been rehabilitated by simply labeling it "trans-activism" and "trans-rights?" What utter madness. Thank you for reminding me that it is a relative few involved in promoting this madness and the gender ideology goals. That is a very important point for all of us to keep in mind.
"There are many transsexuals who do not deny their biology but choose to present in a way that makes them feel most comfortable, and they do not make requirements of anyone to call them by their preferred pronouns. They also fully agree that children are too young to understand and consent to the irreversible, life-altering effects of medical transition. It seems likely that more transsexuals who share these beliefs would speak up if they weren’t treated so cruelly by people on all sides of the debate. "
The perpetrators of the cruel treatment are overwhelmingly the TRAs.
It’s striking to me how violent and aggressive so many transgender women are in responding to, e.g., women who think there should be women-only spaces and women-only sports. You might be forgiven for thinking that this violence and aggression was a form of toxic masculinity.
We all have traits which do not conform with the Disney prince and princess stereotypes. What the "nice true transsexuals" fail to recognize is that they typically share personal histories of trauma, grief, sexual and physical abuse which explain why they obsessively desire to change their bodies. My ex-husband, who had genital surgeries in 1996, was beaten by his father as a young child, while physically having the coloring and smaller stature of his mother. His mother was not able to prevent this violent man from hitting their children. I knew him many years and he was unpleasant, had no friends and was financially unsuccessful. In my support group of 25-30 trans widows, we find that the majority observation regarding our ex-husbands' families are similar. The entire diagnosis has not been properly studied. I was emotionally abused, deeply affected by my husband's moods, selfishness, spending habits and inability to parent responsibly (serious sunburns, accidents, risky motorcycle behavior all occurred for our sons under his watch) As COO of his tech company, he comes off to the world as "one of the nice ones." You have no idea, Christina what has happened behind closed doors. It is especially distressing to have demands of sexual role play, described quite well in trans widow Shannon Thrace's memoir, 18 Months. I refused and was called "spunky and traditional" by Neddy's therapist, to my face. The full story is not known until the families have their stories told. Ute Heggen, author, In the Curated Woods
Should anyone of the male sex be using anything designated for females? Including words to describe ourselves. I believe not..but need to be accommodated in other ways. I’m tired of “true trans” whatever that means. Compassion fine, but allow 3rd spaces. No one is “checking genitals” but these men struggling with their sex need to respect the sex they can never be and stop encroaching..even passing makes no difference and we know hardly a one does.
Autogynephiles/transvestic fetishists who have 'gender dysphoria' don't display their dicks in women's restrooms and locker rooms and publicly show their aroused 'bulge' while cross-dressing -- all of which we have seen. AGPs want to dominate women and their predatory behavior by insisting they be allowed in women's spaces and occupy their sex-class makes that obvious--and women say NO. Having a fetish/paraphilia and supplanting another group's protected class and appropriating their rights and opportunities is not a civil right--it is male entitlement, aggression and misogyny--and women say NO.
I mostly agree with the gist of this article, but I'm not sure about the word "dependent" in this sentence:
"As depicted in the Venn diagram, holding ideological beliefs about gender is not dependent on having gender dysphoria, and having gender dysphoria is not dependent on holding ideological beliefs about gender.
One could read that as meaning that there's no correlation between gender ideology and gender dysphoria (That they're independent variables). I don't doubt that there are many gender dysphoric people who don't adhere to gender ideology, but it seems very probable that gender ideology increases your chances of acquiring gender related distress.
Do a google search on William Whitmore, now identified as "Lilly' and the plans HE was found with to conduct mass shootings with individual targets, schools and churches in the Colorado Springs area. We all experience the desire to be the opposite sex at times, when our own bodily functions present problems. The ideology has created this nightmare.
While you are pursing an honest goal with this, you are getting it fundamentally wrong, because you are 1) falsely asserting that there are no genetic or other biological determinants of diverse sex and gender - and by extension ignoring undeniable evidence that there in fact is a *physical* gender spectrum (see links below to evidence) and 2) *very* incorrectly defining 'gender dysphoria' and thereby creating a bogus strawman fallacy that dysphoria is only about the male and female polarities and identities - it isn't.
Gender dysphoria occurs any time an individual (nearly always for legitimate physical reasons) feels that their inner physical and emotional sexual experience does not conform to how others perceive them outwardly (usually because of their outward anatomy and traditional social norms).
Such dysphoria understandably happens to nearly every gay man or lesbian woman for obvious reasons. With people elsewhere on the gender spectrum, it is exactly the same. Gender dysphoria is a *normal* response to incorrect social assumptions, and resulting incorrect personal assumptions, about one's own sexuality.
If you are going to craft an *effective* argument to convince misled but open minded liberals that gender *ideology* has become a serious problem (and it definitely has) then you need to learn about and admit the science which shows that diverse sex, gender, and internal personal experiences of sexuality, have strong biological influences.
Liberals will not listen to you, if half of your argument fails to acknowledge clear physical reality.
Here is the link to an article (which came out in 2015 *before* the current gender ideology hysteria went viral) which clearly lays out the undeniable case that sex, gender and sexuality are highly diverse and fall on a *physical* spectrum.
"Sex redefined" - Claire Ainsworth, for the journal Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/518288a
And here is a link to just one example of the science that shows such biological differences and how they can emerge. This research is centered on genetics and epigenetics. (Epigenetics is the complex interaction between genes and the environment, in which genes literally turn on and off in response to outside factors, and physically change how a human -or other animal- develops, not just in infancy and childhood, but throughout life.)
"Epigenetics Is Implicated in the Basis of Gender Incongruence"
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2021.701017/full
So, you are spot on to strongly challenge gender ideology, but to effectively do so, you need to get the science right.
This is a very interesting and thought-provoking essay with a lot of good points. However, a some of it is based on outmoded or inaccurate ideas about biological psychology. Let me suggest, for instance:
There is "Biological Evidence for Gender Identity..." but it’s not what you think
https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/there-is-biological-evidence-for
Hallucinating Your Inner Trans-Reptile
https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/hallucinating-your-inner-trans-reptile
Bringing your arguments in line with the most recent understandings of how the brain works will not change any of your basic arguments or your points, but it will make them more rigorous and convincing.
Thank you for this essay, Frederick
I saw you in the Greenwald show and think you're very courageous and admirable. Perhaps you could reconsider a few more of your stands? There are a lot of medical conditions that don't have "blood, brain" or other objective tests (M.S., Chronic Depression, ASD, and more) that are still acknowledged to have a biological basis. For transgenders, there are twin studies that show 30-40% concordance. There's also the cloacal exstrophy paper from Hopkins that has evidence for gender ID. Joshua Safer talks about these in his standard speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4QM8xkEO6k.
First, I am a transsexual and Christina does not speak for us or anyone else in the trans community. Her history of working for one of the most hostilely transphobic news orgs. is problematic and her judgment should be scrutinized. Pieces like this should be filtered through that lens.
Christina claims that transsexuals have no brain differences compared to their cisgender counterparts which of course is total fiction. While it's unclear how the differences work, it is clear that there is clear differences. Acceptance of this is not controversial and even people critical of gender acknowledge that trans people are wired differently.
She is trying to paint a "good ones" and "bad ones" argument here so that people can do transphobic and hateful things and call anyone who protests an "activist".
This is not a new tactic. It was done during the civil rights movement, the marriage equality movement, and now it's dusted off and repackaged for the anti-trans activists to use against transpeople seeking equality.
Transpeople want simple things. Use a bathroom, get a job, access to health care, and mostly for you all to leave us the fuck alone and stop constantly questioning our our medicine, our lives, or our existence. Go live your life and leave us the fuck alone.
I see that autogynephilia, which occurs at the onset of puberty, is one of the main reasons behind gender identity disorder experienced by "ROGD boys".
Dr Blanchard recently retweeted my article on the topic https://twitter.com/BlanchardPhD/status/1636362020994809856
Autogynephilia and "gender dysphoria" are not mutually exclusive: autogynephilia can cause "gender dysphoria". It is an odd misunderstanding amongst the anti-"gender identity" movement, that only the transsexuals they favour have "gender dysphoria", whereas others, who they dislike, are just pretending and have autogynephilia.
The truth is that many of the transsexuals who they favour likely also have autogynephilic "gender dysphoria", and that autogynephilia has become a slur, which was something researchers never intended.