Activism, the ‘conversion practices’ bill, and the search for common sense

“The ‘transgender child’ is not a naturally occurring figure external to current discourses and practices but is brought into being through gender medicine and transactivism”. [1]

There are growing attempts by activists and useful idiots to usurp children’s needs by pushing a rights argument which nullifies common sense and appropriate safeguarding. Based on vested interests, activists who are keen to state that men can become women and that children can change sex, continue to promote the concept of the autonomous child who knows his or her own mind and should be obeyed. This is perverse and arguably perverted. The draft ‘conversion practices’ bills in Scotland and England are testament to the extremes of wilful ignorance and twisted perceptions of activists, and those they have hoodwinked. It is entirely reasonable for a parent or professional to try to understand why a child might think that they want to change sex in order to support them.

Gender dysphoria is described by the diagnostic manual DSM 5, as the significant distress arising from an incongruence between one’s biological sex and perceived gender identity, lasting at least six months. The diagnostic manual states that feelings of distress are often accompanied by desires to alter primary or secondary sex characteristics. The diagnosis has various detractors; the main criticism being that the diagnosis is based on superficial and behaviourally observed criteria based on stereotyped sex role models. Additionally, there is no coherent definition of what the term ‘gender identity’ is and there is no evidence at all of its existence. There is a problem too with the term ‘transgender’; Stonewall defines it as an ‘umbrella term’ which covers anything from an adult fetish to a child experiencing discomfort while becoming aware of the ramifications of their sex during puberty. Jennifer Bilek describes transgender as the, ‘adult male fetish of transsexualism, rebranded for today’s youth.’ [2]

So, there is no such thing as a ‘transgender child’ or a third type of human called transgender. While there are significant numbers of children who experience and report feelings of anxiety and bodily discomfort, they are not indicative of a child needing to have healthy body parts tampered with or removed. And affirmation and social transitioning are not neutral acts. Children should never be misled into thinking that they can be something that they are not.

It is not just a case of the harm caused to young healthy bodies. There is psychological harm caused to any child who is manipulated into thinking that their body, or other people's bodies, need to change. Furthermore, the coercive demand on society to collude with ‘trans affirmation’, creates schisms within families; between different groups and communities; and across the western world. Via the denial of reality, it encourages the development of a toxic culture within organisations and erodes trust in public services.

Rather than supporting children and young people to like and accept themselves as they are, children who are susceptible, are being groomed via social media, schools and public services to feel that there is something wrong with them that needs to be adjusted or changed. There is significant evidence that, across our culture, social contagion and grooming is happening to children. Logic denotes that using the term ‘medical treatment’ in such a context is highly misleading and problematic; the focus of our studies really should be on social contagion, cultural influences and public services’ product placement of gender identity ideology.

Parents have a major role in safeguarding their children. Children need the care, love and space to explore their world and their relationships within it. They need to develop at their own pace into the well-adjusted individual they can become, supported by family and friends and hopefully, by public services which have retained some remnants of sanity. It is entirely unreasonable for a government, already imperilled, to have spent time and effort drafting a bogus bill which is in search of an unnecessary and harmful solution.

References

1. Moore, M. & Brunskell-Evans, (2018), Inventing Transgender Children and Young

People, Cambridge, P.8

2. Bilek, J., (2024), Transsexual Transgender Transhuman, Spinifex, P.1

Carolyn Brown ScotPAG Convenor