MSNBC recently published an article spotlighting comedian Jon Stewart’s interview with Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Stewart questioned Rutledge about her state’s recent decision to ban so-called “gender-affirming health care” for youth. Stewart, a staunch proponent of genital mutilation of children, contended that Arkansas’ ban flies in the face of the guidance of major medical associations that set the standards of “care” for the gender transition of minors. MSNBC comments:
“The interview was notable because Stewart called out the attorney general’s arguments in real time, such as when she tried to claim that 98% of all youth with gender dysphoria eventually grow out of it.
“That is an incredibly made-up figure,” Stewart replied, as Rutledge failed to name a single source for her claims.”
So, is the 98% figure completely made up? Scientific evidence about this topic is sparse, but numerous studies revealed that 80% of childhood gender dysphoria recedes with puberty. Other studies yield numbers as high as 90% of youth grow out of gender dysphoria as they grow up. However, and more importantly, it’s clear from the number of detransitioners coming forward regretting their life-altering medical decisions made as a youth, that many young people grow out of their gender dysphoria and learn to manage their discomfort with their bodies.
Recognizing the mistake in encouraging both medical and social transitions of children, other countries have moved to protect minors who may be vulnerable to the pressures of undergoing irreversible and life-altering medical treatment for their gender dysphoria. The Florida Board of Medicine is taking steps to protect minors, and Florida does not allow Medicaid funding to be used for puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries. Several other states, including Arkansas, are banning the mutilation of children, as well. It is truly a national shame that other American medical institutions, states, and the federal government are not doing the same. Instead, the President sits down for an interview with a man named Dylan Mulvaney, a Tik Tok star who creates content chronicling his transition from being male to “girlhood.” In that interview, the President also condemned the efforts of states to ban so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors.
In contrast to the complete disregard for science in favor of political activism taking place here, across the pond in England the National Health Service has admitted that most children who think they are transgender are just going through a “phase.”
The Telegraph reports:
“NHS England has announced plans for tightening controls on the treatment of under 18s questioning their gender, including a ban on prescribing puberty blockers outside of strict clinical trials.”
NHS even went so far as to advise against social transitions, such as encouraging a young person to use a new name, or pronouns, or alter the style in which they dress because it could have “significant effects” in terms of “psychological functioning”.
It is also worth noting just how many young adults are detransitioning a few years after they undergo a medical transition. The exponential growth of the subreddit group r/detrans which started with 100 members and has grown to more than 40,000 is just one practical illustration. As gender dysphoric people hit their mid-20s, when their brains are fully developed and they realize their attempt at transitioning to the opposite sex did not solve their mental health issues, there is often a desire to detransition. In a 2021 study of detransitioners, 60% of participants reported the reason they detransitioned was that “the respondent’s personal definition of male and female changed and they became comfortable identifying with their natal sex.”
To learn more about the devastating impact of gender ideology on families and young people, read and watch the stories told in IWF’s powerful Identity Crisis series.