In other news: 94% of active Moonies report being very happy selling flowers on street corners, therefore nobody should worry about young people ditching their families and joining the Unification Church. (Am I doing this right?)
My latest for UnHerd is about the new US Transgender Survey data and how activists are already misusing that data:
Activists wasted no time in mobilising these latest results in service of the cause. But the USTS survey data doesn’t settle any of the arguments in which it will be enlisted. The survey evades critical questions about desistance and detransition, even as activists deploy the results as a “gotcha” to outlets reporting on negative outcomes of transition or pointing to the rapid rise of trans identification among adolescent females.
Sure, 94% of adult respondents describe themselves as a lot or a little more satisfied with their life after transitioning. But if you only survey people who currently identify as transgender (as the USTS does), you shut out negative outcomes. Ask active Moonies how they feel about the Unification Church and you may get similarly stellar results. Include former members and the picture will look quite different. And so 94% of currently trans-identified adult respondents do not, in fact, tell us anything about how many adolescents and young adults may regret transition in the future. That’s not to mention the highly persuasive effects of sunk costs. The sacrifices patients make on the altar of transition — removing healthy body parts, consigning future fertility and sexual pleasure — make it painful to reconsider whether transition is working.
Among respondents who reported having undergone “gender-affirming” surgery, 88% said they were “a lot more satisfied” post-surgery. But patient satisfaction is a notoriously unreliable measure of whether a procedure that is advertised as a treatment for a medical condition worked as intended. The use of patient satisfaction — rather than more reliable indicators such as ability to function in society and symptom management — strikes at the uncertain status of transgender surgeries. Activists argue these interventions are “life-saving”, but patient satisfaction is how we measure the results of cosmetic surgery, not actually life-saving interventions like insulin therapy or chemotherapy.
As a detransitioner whose partner grew up in the unification church, this article feels tailor made for me. We've both noticed a lot of similarities in different facets of our experiences, it's part of the reason I even started to view the trans movement as a cult.
I also literally took the USTS 2022 before detransitioning and reported satisfaction with my transition (which I believed at the time, but anyone in my life could probably tell you I was not happier). This data is so obviously useless, but activists don't seem to care much about actual science.
My testimony will not be reported by trans activists & enablers however I fear it is far too common. My gender transition to female identifying was initially successful and I had a good surgical outcome. I had transitioned with the mistaken belief that my lifelong inferiority complexes, social anxiety, and acute shyness were the result of being a woman in a man's body.(an old cliche but my transition was over 30 years ago!) I knew as an adult that I could not actually remanufacture my biological creation and as a 6ft 2in male with large extremities I had difficulty passing. I had actually believed my emotional problems would be resolved however instead my issues were amplified and I became an emotional prisoner of fear and guilt. I had lost my job because my anxieties and fears were hindering me from performing my tasks. I fell into a very dark place realizing my conscience was convicting me that I was not living truthfully. I had my own spiritual awakening and knew I had to restore my true male identity legally without any surgical intervention. I will keep my breasts as I don't need scars on my chest and my neo vagina has closed and I accept I cannot have sex but am with that. Again I feel compelled to warn that many people (esp. young girls) are venturing into the trans world seeking resolve to similar emotional issues that I had many years ago. There are people who are happy with their gender transition however I fear many are being deceived by gender propaganda that will not only destroy their lives but the lives of their families and others in their life.