ive said this before but; there isn't a broad consensus, and I think if you explained what was happening to the average democrat they would be opposed to it.
it has consensus within highly education spaces dominated by progressives.
so despite their small number they have disproportionate impact in places like medicine,academia, activist groups and in the media.
you can see this by in how willing so many basically ideologically progressive media institutions and activist group
are willing to distort informational space in order to validate the these ideas.
for example recently the University of Washington medical team put out a press release for a new study.
stating that that gender-affirming care "dramatically reduces" depression and suicidality.
but careful analysis showed of the that actual
paper doesn't support claims nearly that strong,
and might actually say the opposite.
emails leaked of UW reachears conceding the headlines might be too strong,
but because of the positive media coverage they don't correct the record.
"FYI, I read through his exceedingly long (very, very long) article, which claimed the research was flawed or, at worst, made up,
but given the extremely positive pick up by mainstream media, I would agree and just let this be."
there's countless example, the sloppiest and most flat out wrong reporting you will find
is anything in a progressive outlet that covers trans topics.
studies with tiny sample sizes, and inconclusive findings, or fundamentally broken methodologies are CONSTANTLY touted by progressives as being definitive.
and then you have people like Jon Stewart who open debate with implicit framing that there is no debate or controversy surrounding these treatments.
it's nasty.
the problem is that was the old cohort that typically presented with gender dysphoria,
it was generally male, typically very young, and persistent gender dysphoria that did not desist over time.
now we have a total flip in the demographics and age of the people presenting,
many people are still using this mental model to think about trans issues, when it isn't true anymore
you now have huge numbers of pubescent girls with various other mental health issues. presenting with gender dysphoria.
and there is no way to know if the dysphoria will go away as people hit puberty or will persist.
and we do not have good data on the rates of people who will regret what ever harm they do to their body via transition.
not acknowledging this, or spreading this idea that, there we know definitively that there are low regret rates and if you say you are trans you are
is dangerous mis information that has lead to real and truly heart breaking stories.
and when you add in the entrepreneurial nature of the american health care system.
it's a recipe for disaster.
To be clear, I consider gender ideology to be absurd. self id relies on circular logic and the concept of some knowble gender ghost that lives in your body that you have to seek out is what is absurd imo.
gender affirming surgery can be a life saver FOR SOME PEOPLE. it is not absurd in all circumstances.
also if gyno surgery could cause the destruction of your endocrine, the total loss of sexual function, sterility, and a massive risk of complications
I would hope that there would incredibly rigorous gate keeping of any minor wanted to access that surgery.
and I certainly would not accept a child self reported diagnosis as the deciding factor.
these are difficult questions without easy answers,
I think there are people who would really benefit from early intervention.
but i dunno my read of the evidence I think that number is probably really really really small.
I think there needs to be an acknowledgement, that transition is really risky, it has lots of side effects both physically and socially
and it should be the absolute last resort after all other therapeutic non surgical options are explored.
and despite what some people will tell you, this is not currently the case.
and most of all people should not obfuscate the risks, and problems with the gender affirming care model.
