[Saeko]

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2016/03/25/ ... use-321212

The American College of Pediatricians issued a statement this week condemning gender reclassification in children by stating that transgenderism in children amounts to child abuse.

“The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality.”

The policy statement, authored by Johns Hopkins Medical School Psychology Professor Paul McHugh, listed eight arguments on why gender reclassification is harmful.

1. Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: “XY” and “XX” are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder.

2. No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one.

3. A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking. When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such.

4. Puberty is not a disease and puberty-blocking hormones can be dangerous. Reversible or not, puberty-blocking hormones induce a state of disease – the absence of puberty – and inhibit growth and fertility in a previously biologically healthy child.

5. According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.

6. Children who use puberty blockers to impersonate the opposite sex will require cross-sex hormones in late adolescence. Cross-sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) are associated with dangerous health risks including but not limited to high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke and cancer.

7. Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery, even in Sweden which is among the most LGBQT – affirming countries.

8. Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful as child abuse.



The left, as one might expect, reacted swiftly with claws fully extended.

Think Progress described the American College of Pediatricians as a “hate group masquerading as pediatricians.”

The Huffington Post said that “Once again, Paul McHugh has used the ever more tarnished name of Johns Hopkins to distort science and spread transphobic misinformation.”

McHugh, who formerly served as Johns Hopkins’ psychiatrist in chief, issued an opinion last year stating the transgenderism is a “mental disorder” and sex change is a “medical impossibility.”

The statement was also signed by Drs. Michelle A. Cretella, M.D., president of the American College of Pediatricians, and Quentin Van Meter, M.D., the organization’s vice president.

gg tumblr.

[Saeko]

https://thinkprogress.org/hate-group-ma ... .n0jxt6lkv

Hate Group Masquerading As Pediatricians Attacks Transgender Youth
CREDIT: AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICIANS

The American College of Pediatricians (ACP), which utilizes the totally convincing slogan “Best for Children,” has issued a new position statement claiming that respecting transgender children’s identities causes them harm and conservative groups are already latching onto it.

If the claim sounds peculiar, it’s because it’s a claim completely refuted by all available scientific evidence. It’s also because the ACP is not a legitimate medical organization; its name is designed to be mistaken for the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is a national organization with some 60,000 members. The ACP, by contrast, is estimated to have no more than 200 members, and it has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its anti-LGBT positions.

“The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex,” the statement reads. “Facts — not ideology — determine reality.” The “facts” that follow actually reflect a social conservative ideology that rejects the very reality of what transgender children experience.

For example, the statement not-so-subtly concludes that all transgender people must be mentally ill. “A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking,” the statement reads. “When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such.”

The 36,000-member American Psychiatric Association, which defines mental illnesses through its Diagnostics and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), says the exact opposite, explaining, “It is important to note that gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder.” It is only distress associated with such an identity that should be treated — and treated with affirmation.

The statement also relies on several myths about transgender people that have been debunked. For example, it reiterates the desistance myth, the claim that most “gender confused” children “eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.” This is a claim based on research that conflated children with some gender-variant behavior with children who actually asserted a different gender. The children in those studies who “desisted” in their identities were the kids who weren’t actually transgender to begin with. A recent study found that trans kids whose parents embrace their identities are as happy and healthy as their peers.

ACP also claims, “Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery, even in Sweden which is among the most LGBQT — affirming countries.” The Swedish study so often cited to reinforce this myth didn’t actually find evidence that undergoing surgery contributed to higher suicide rates. Indeed, the lead researcher of that study has specifically spoken out that anybody using it to draw such conclusions is misrepresenting it. A much more compelling connection has been found between suicidal ideation and experiences of discrimination.

As trans activist Brynn Tannehill pointed out in her own debunk of ACP’s statement, it appears to have been spearheaded by Dr. Paul McHugh of Johns Hopkins University. He is one of the only prominent doctors in the country that rejects transgender equality, distorting and rejecting research as is necessary to do so. Conservatives regularly rely on him to prop up their anti-trans talking points and he in turn contributes columns to their publications.

The ACP statement may already be propagating harm. Plenty of conservative publications have already promoted it, taking it at face value to claim that the “transgender agenda” constitutes “child abuse.” Tannehill notes, “I’m also already hearing from parents of transgender children that relatives and people hostile to them in the community are using this position statement to threaten to report them to child protective services and take their children away.”

Conservative advocacy groups are also quickly embracing the statement. For example, the group Stop Common Core in Michigan sent out an alert on Monday using the ACP’s position to rally opposition to guidelines drafted by the Michigan Department of Education that would protect transgender students. The Illinois Family Institute and Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) have also promoted the policy statement. WFA president Julaine Appling praised the statement as coming from a “medical group.”

That happens to be a “medical group” that requires its members to abide by a mission, vision, and values that assert an anti-LGBT, anti-choice, anti-sex agenda in spite of any scientific evidence that might contradict it.

[mikema63]

The ACP is a socially conservative group, that aside from the trans issue, pushes ex gay therapy and gays are pedophile theories.

That of course doesn't say anything about them being correct or not on this issue but it's important to note that they are primarily an anti LGBT organization not a medical one.

[Heisenberg]

I remember watching a very good Louis Theroux documentary on transgender kids, and the decisions they and their parents have to make. I recommend that everyone watch it:

[youtube]6OiqEpSZEHU[/youtube]

It's an incredibly complicated issue, and blanket statements one way or the other can only be harmful. It really should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. One the one hand, you have cranks like the ACP who quite obviously don't have trans kids' best interests at heart. On the other, you have some parents who are trying so hard to earn liberal street cred that they misinterpret their children. In the middle are the parents who listen to their children with sensitivity and understanding - who, unsurprisingly, end up with the best adjusted kids.

For example, there's a kid in the documentary called Cole, whose female "alter-ego", if you like, is Crystal. His parents are getting divorced, having a custody battle, and have different views on whether he should live the rest of his life as Cole/Crystal. But when Louis Theroux actually talks to the kid and listens, you realise he's essentially a drag queen, rather than a trans girl. But neither of the parents seem interested in that - they're more concerned with their own squabble, and it could very well ruin the kid's life.

[Decky]

That isn't a child Heisenburg that's a dog. How far has this trans business went now?

[Heisenberg]

[maz]

Minors should not legally be able to consent to gender reassignment procedures just like they are not legally able to consent to sex with adults.

[noir]

Never understand how they encourage this

[Deutschmania]

It should first be understood that Dr. Paul H. McHugh is known to have a social conservative Catholic agenda https://www.glaad.org/cap/paul-mchugh , so his remarks should be taken with a grain of salt , with that in mind . But with that being said the issue of fully transitioning in minors is a controversial one , even among transgender affirming authorities . http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/when-transgender-kids-transition-medical-risks-are-both-known-and-unknown/ , https://psmag.com/why-transgender-kids-should-wait-to-transition-c989b21c9179#.29k7fbkx7 . By the way , I am aware of this one famous German transwoman , whom transitioned as a teen http://www.salon.com/2009/02/05/young_sex_change/ , and today you'd never know that she ever was born biologically male .

[maz]

It should first be understood that Dr. Paul H. McHugh is known to have a social conservative Catholic agenda https://www.glaad.org/cap/paul-mchugh , so his remarks should be taken with a grain of salt , with that in mind.

Just curious, what is the agenda of the Catholics? Also, Dr. McHugh isn't the only doctor to sign of on the letter. There is also Michelle A. Cretella, M.D. and Quentin Van Meter, M.D. Are they part of the Catholic agenda too?

But with that being said the issue of fully transitioning in minors is a controversial one , even among transgender affirming authorities . http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/when-transgender-kids-transition-medical-risks-are-both-known-and-unknown/ , https://psmag.com/why-transgender-kids-should-wait-to-transition-c989b21c9179#.29k7fbkx7.

I skimmed that article. Girls were pretty rare in my extended family and the first few were tomboys that eventually grew to be very feminine. I heard in the UK and Canada, they are letting children as young as three be the wrong gender. That's fucked up. It's criminal.

By the way , I am aware of this one famous German transwoman , whom transitioned as a teen http://www.salon.com/2009/02/05/young_sex_change/ , and today you'd never know that she ever was born biologically male .

Yes I am familiar with "her." She's not the average transgender; she's a celebrity, who is probably upfront with guys she meets regarding her gender. I wonder how upfront the average "passing" transgender is with young men.

My sister showed me a photo of this guy she went to school with who is trans, and she lamented that the trans had a better body than she did. It seems like there have been leaps of advancements in changing men into convincing facsimiles of women.

I'm not an old guy, but I'm not exactly young either so the chances of me actually meeting an attractive transgender in my age range is unlikely.

I would hate to be a young man in my late teens and early 20s and trying to navigate the dating scene. Between catfishing, traps, thots and transgenders, it's an absolute disgusting minefield.