I'm sorry. I somehow missed your comment below of 1st March. We are plainly not going to agree. I do not think that mental disorders should be treated with (1) cross-sex hormones and (2) surgery. Cross-sex hormones do much more than just alter secondary sex characteristics: sex hormones control and guide every aspect of a person's metabolism, a fact which should be taught in schools. The surgical removal of perfectly healthy organs creates many problems both immediately and later. We need the organs we were born with! This should not need to be stated. And until the passing of the "Gender" "Recognition" Act 2004 it was exceptionally rare to remove healthy organs - why would any doctor do this - "First of all do no harm"? The cause of the disorder seems to be buried in self-loathing of the natal body because of its sexual characteristics. This leads to (reinforcing) severe mental trauma and finally dissociation into a second identity. In case of young girls the onset of puberty in a world saturated with on-line porn and "perfect body" advertising causes huge anxiety, particularly in adolescent girls who do not want to follow models of "femininity" and would normally become lesbians when mature. The doubts of boys depend on whether they will become homosexual or heterosexual transsexuals. Dr Ray Blanchard is the expert in this field (https://quillette.com/2019/11/06/what-is-autogynephilia-an-interview-with-dr-ray-blanchard/). The problem is STILL that no one can actually change sex. And any attempt to create a fictional "legal sex" - called "gender" - creates thousands of problems as the physical and social spaces reserved to women are threatened or actually invaded by would-be "women". Please note that some men are not averse to exploiting every available opportunity for advancement, particularly as "gender reassignment" does not require any physical changes, or even taking drugs, merely a "declaration". What an opportunity! I am referring, of course, to single-sex spaces such as toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards, women's prisons, political "all-women" shortlists, literary prizes, positions on company boards or university tenure, etc. Stonewall has been peddling lies since 2015 about the Equality Act 2010, stating falsely that "gender" not "sex" is a protected characteristic, and that anyone with the Protected Characteristic of "gender reassignment" can just waltz into any (woman's) space they like. The organisations who pay Stonewall for this advice (and the accolade of "Stonewall Diversity Champions" - all 800 of them!) are misunderstanding Equality Law. See https://legalfeminist.org.uk/2021/02/01/submission-and-compliance/ There is severe doubt about the legality of the advice supplied until recently by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (amazingly it is a Stonewall Diversity Champion!) on its website - to be challenged in court by the brave ex-Councillor in Cambridge, Ann Sinnott. And I have not mentioned women's sport yet, nor the Girl Guides, nor the astonishing "Hate Crime" legislation just enacted in Scotland which protects (male) cross-dressers but not women! There are good reasons why feminist groups of all political colours and with different campaigning aims are springing up all over the place.Please see this 2020 report written by Dr Jane Clare Jones called "The Political Erasure of Sex": https://thepoliticalerasureofsex.org/. In the appendix you will find the history of the preposterous ideology of "gender identity". Yes, this unfounded and unfalsifiable belief started in the US, in the 1950s, soon after the discovery of the chemical structures of oestrogen and testosterone. Dr John Money (sic) and Mr Alfred Kinsey decided to prescribe a little female hormone to troubled men... and the rest is history.
Una-Jane Winfield ● 2054d