Why I fear the gender agenda is harming children
About time, too. this week Penny Mordaunt, the Equalities Minister, finally ordered an inquiry into one of the great mysteries of our age: why so many young people are seeking to change their gender.
ten years ago gender dysmorphia in children was a vanishingly rare condition. Even in 2009, for example, the number referred for gender treatment was 97. Last year it was 2,519. by far the steepest rise has been among girls: up from 40 to 1,806, the equivalent of a staggering 4,415 per cent increase.
And, of course, those numbers do not include those ‘self-identifying’ without medical supervision, of which there are many more.
I am not saying that many of these cases are not genuine — those that are deserve wholehearted support. but can such numbers really be down to better awareness of the condition, and the lifting of stigma surrounding it? or might there be other factors at play?
Factors such as the internet’s influence; and the fact that transgender rights have become such a fashionable cause, promoted by pop stars, models, Hollywood stars and, yes, politicians. to the naive and inexperienced mind, hungry for attention, redefining your gender may start to seem appealing.
these are children, after all, not adults whose decision to fundamentally alter their identity is the result of a long and anguished process. Yet they are being allowed to make irreversible choices that will affect them for the rest of their lives. there are girls in America who have had their breasts removed aged just 14 as part of transitioning. How long before britain follows suit?
As any mother knows, the teenage state of mind is one of inherent confusion and turmoil, of outward aggression and defiance that nevertheless masks a vulnerable underbelly. the struggle to fit in, the search for identity, the need to rebel against an older generation, the self-doubt; the desire to stand out, to be different, to be noticed — these are all part and parcel of what it means to be a young person today and since time immemorial.
From punk to student politics, the desire to kick back at the establishment is hardwired into the troubled teenage psyche. Dye your hair, get a piercing, have a tattoo, rip up your wardrobe — these are all ways in which the rebel heart finds expression.
My worry is that being transgender has now been added to that list — and that some of these young people are not so much in need of hormone therapy as just therapy.
Almost two-thirds of children and teenagers who say they want to change sex have previously been diagnosed with serious mental health disorders. Sixty-three per cent have had ‘ one or more diagnoses of a psychiatric disorder or neurodevelopmental disability’. And almost half have self-harmed or suffered a traumatic event in their lives, such as being the victim of bullying or sexual abuse.
I don’t belittle their torment for one moment.
But, teenagers being teenagers, it’s not inconceivable that some, in seeking a solution to their problems, may look at a world that lionises and idolises transgender icons such as Caitlyn Jenner and conclude that they, too, want to be part of that community. What better way to escape your trauma than a whole new identity?
And as we are all so scared of being branded bigots, no one challenges them.
Instead, aided and abetted by well- meaning but misguided professionals — themselves sometimes swayed by notions of political correctness and intimidated by the vocal transgender lobby — they’ll make irreversible decisions about their bodies that, in the long run, will not resolve any of their problems. they may even add to them.
As a society it’s our duty to protect vulnerable youngsters from making the wrong decisions. that includes stopping them from slicing their bodies up or pumping themselves full of hormones unless they are 100 per cent certain it’s right for them, now and for ever.