Trans lobby fails to block gender dysphoria study
A US IVY League college has stood by research which suggested gender dysphoria was spreading among children, in a victory over transgender activists, who campaigned for the study to be pulled.
An academic journal last night republished the peer-reviewed paper, which hypothesised that teenagers who came out as transgender were more likely to have friends who were transitioning and were influenced by Youtube videos and social media.
The research concluded “social and peer contagion” was a plausible explanation for “cluster outbreaks” and a high number of cases where the majority of children in a friendship group became “transgender-identified”.
Although an apology was issued for failing to make clear the research was “observational” rather than providing a clinical diagnosis for “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), the publishers confirmed “the study and resultant data … represent a valid contribution”.
Dr Lisa Littman, the report’s author from Brown University School of Public Health, said: “It is a reframing of the presentation to clarify this was an observational study of parental reports to avoid any misinterpretation of ROGD as a clinical diagnosis but the findings remain the same. I am delighted my work has withstood this extensive peer review process.”
Dr Littman’s research was originally published in August last year by PLOS ONE, an open-access academic journal. But it was withdrawn following a backlash from transgender activists who complained the research was flawed.
PLOS ONE has now republished the paper with a different headline, reflecting that ROGD was “perceived” in children and clarifying the language used. A PLOS ONE spokesman said: “We
‘The findings remain the same. I am delighted my work has withstood this extensive peer review’
stand by the paper but felt it needed additional context because ‘rapid onset gender dysphoria’ is not a validated clinical term. We asked Dr Littman to revise the article so as not to overreach what could be concluded from this story of parental reports.”
The move comes after the Tavistock Centre, the UK’S only gender identity service for children, saw a 2,500 per cent rise in referrals from 97 in 2009 to 2,519 in the year to April 2018.
In Dr Littman’s study, 87 per cent of the parents reported that, along with ROGD, their child either had an increase in their social media/internet use, belonged to a friend group in which one or multiple friends became transgender-identified during a similar time frame, or both.
In 37 per cent of cases, parents said the “majority” of their child’s friendship groups were transgender-identifying, while 63 per cent reported at least one mental health or neurodevelopmental disorder in their child.
Critics raised concerns about the political stance of the 256 parents who took part because they had been sourced from online discussion groups including British site Transgender Trend and US site 4thwavenow.
Comments on the original article described the sites as “politically bent websites” which hold a “variety of antilgbt stances common to the religious right”. Susie Green, the CEO of British charity Mermaids, which supports young transgender people, had complained that the methodology of the study was “completely flawed”.
But Transgender Trend insisted on Twitter: “Desperate attempts to undermine Lisa Littman’s important #ROGD study include defamation of the websites where parents were recruited.”
Dr Littman’s paper acknowledged that the interviewees “might be more oppositional to transgender-identified individuals”, but added that questions indicated they had a similar level of support for the rights of transgender people as the rest of the population.