Re: There's no such thing as a transgender two-year-old

Bob Duncan <[email protected]> wrote in 
news:[email protected]:

> Rudy Registered Sex Offender wrote
> 
>> Anybody who supports transgenders is a pedophile.

Stonewall is in trouble again. At the weekend the LGBT charity tweeted the 
extraordinary claim that ‘research suggests children as young as two 
recognise their trans identity’. The tweet linked to an article in the 
Metro, written by the mother of a four-year-old who says that her 
daughter’s nursery does not respect her ‘gender non-conformity’. Within 
hours of being posted, the tweet attracted scathing criticism from 
politicians across the political spectrum, fellow charities, medical 
professionals and child-safeguarding specialists.

Let us separate fact from dangerous fiction. Extraordinary claims require 
extraordinary evidence. And tellingly, neither Stonewall nor the Metro 
actually pointed to this ‘research’, or any other evidence, to support 
their claim that two-year-olds can have a ‘trans’ identity. The simple 
reason for this is that such research does not exist.

What the studies in this field actually demonstrate is that young children 
develop an awareness and a recognition of biological sex – both of their 
own and that of others – at some point between the ages of one and three. 
These same studies also demonstrate that children develop an understanding 
of gender stereotypes. This is uncontroversial and has been known for some 
time.

However, there is absolutely nothing in these studies to suggest that a 
child as young as two can be ‘trans’. Stonewall’s tweet completely 
misrepresented the scientific position on this topic.

Certainly, a child may, during these formative years, exhibit behaviours 
and traits that are considered gender atypical. However, to extrapolate 
from this to suggest that a gender-atypical toddler has a ‘trans identity’ 
is dangerous and regressive.

So what are the facts in relation to ‘trans children’? Some children 
suffer from gender dysphoria, a mental-health condition. There are 
significant harms that can come with this – from trauma and internalised 
homophobia to an increased likelihood of being bullied. There is often an 
overlap between gender dysphoria and autism. As distressing as gender 
dysphoria can be for young people, 95 per cent of children suffering from 
it will, if given time and the right support, settle into their bodies.

Yet we are told by organisations such as Stonewall that we should ‘affirm’ 
a child’s ‘trans identity’, irrespective of his or her age. Stonewall even 
provides guidance on how parents and schools can enable young children to 
‘socially transition’ – that is, to live as their chosen gender. But 
studies have shown that for children who socially transition prior to 
puberty, their gender dysphoria is more likely to persist, meaning they 
will be less likely to settle into their bodies.

Just as more and more children are being encouraged to socially 
transition, younger and younger children are being placed on puberty-
blocking drugs. This can, in combination with the eventual use of cross-
sex hormones, lead to sterility in adulthood.

As adults, it is our duty to protect children from irreversible harm and 
regret. We know, having been children ourselves, that children can be 
convinced of many things that they later completely change their minds 
about. That is a child’s prerogative. It is easy to see the danger that is 
lurking if society adopts Stonewall’s position that a child as young as 
two can be ‘trans’ and that he or she should be affirmed as such.

In the same tweet that claimed two-year-olds can be trans, Stonewall also 
stated that ‘LGBTQ-inclusive and affirming education is crucial’. It 
claimed that too many schools and nurseries teach a ‘binary understanding 
of pre-assigned gender’. Again, this is a complete inversion of the truth. 
In reality, far too many schools in Britain have been ideologically 
captured by the trans lobby.

For instance, I have seen teaching materials for primary schools that 
incorrectly suggest that sex is ‘assigned at birth’ by doctors, rather 
than simply observed as a fact.

Many of the school resources around gender rely on crass gender 
stereotyping. One set of teaching resources asks children whether they 
live on ‘Planet Boy’ or ‘Planet Girl’, which is determined by whether they 
like ‘girly’ or ‘boyish’ things. The book Pheonix Goes to School was 
recently promoted by Essex Library. It tells the story of a ‘gender non-
conforming, transgender seven-year-old girl who was assigned male at birth 
(AMAB) and currently identifies with she / her / hers pronouns’. Phoenix’s 
love of ‘flowers’ and ‘dresses’ is apparently evidence enough that this is 
a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

Contrary to what Stonewall claims, gender ideology is rife in British 
schools and it is causing enormous confusion and harm to children.

Despite the madness of many of Stonewall’s claims, the charity still 
exercises a huge amount of influence on public life. Last year, BBC 
podcast Nolan Investigates Stonewall lifted the lid on Stonewall’s 
influence over numerous large UK organisations and even across government, 
mainly through its Workplace Equality Index and Diversity Champions 
programmes.

However, change is in the air. With each worrying statement that comes 
from Stonewall, more and more organisations are distancing themselves from 
the charity. In the past, whenever an organisation left one of Stonewall’s 
schemes, it would do so quietly, clearly fearful of a backlash. These 
days, organisations shout it from the rooftops. Just last week, minister 
Martin Callanan tweeted that he was ‘delighted’ that the Department for 
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had cut all formal ties with 
Stonewall.

Many of us who hold grave concerns about Stonewall have gone to great 
efforts to raise awareness of the dangers posed by the ideology it 
promotes. But when Stonewall is tweeting about the trans identity of two-
year-olds, it seems it is doing a far better job of this than we ever 
could.

James Esses is co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists

<https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/07/25/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-
transgender-two-year-old/>