I found this regressive leftist propaganda thread called "15 Bad Faith Arguments made Against the Use of Puberty Blockers for Trans Adolescents", and everything said was either irrelevant or lies and this is a list of responses to every point
#1 “They are new and untested”: They’ve been used since 1988 for Trans adolescents, with follow up studies for 20 years. We've summarised over 30 academic papers: https://archive.is/GQbqI
- Claims that your enemies do not know how old the procedure is are lies, everything else is irrelevant.
#2 “Kids are too young to have Puberty Blockers”: They are only used with Trans Adolescents from the start of puberty to block puberty & give 'thinking time'. There’s no moral panic in their use for precocious puberty at a much younger age.
- Acknowledges absolutely nothing and is therefore a bad faith argument.
#3 “They are powerful cancer drugs”: They are used to stop testosterone and oestrogen. This can be useful to stop puberty, or also can be useful when certain cancers are exacerbated by testosterone or oestrogen. Calling them a "cancer drug" is bad faith & misleading scaremongering
- We do not care they are used in some cancer treatments as several other drugs are used for various purposes, claiming otherwise is a lie.
#4 “They are irreversible”: False. They're medically & physically reversible. If they're stopped, puberty continues. “What about psychology? If adolescents have blockers, they can’t turn back time to have never had them”. Well every action we take is irreversible. Bad faith.
- Blatantly lies about irreversibility as hormones have various physiological effects that cannot be legitimately fixed via surgery
#5 "They're used "off label". That means they're experimental": 75% of medicines in neonatal intensive care are "off-label". 25% of children's medicines in hospital are “off-label”, 10% medicines prescribed for children in the UK are off-label or unlicensed https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/199958/National_Service_Framework_for_Children_Young_People_and_Maternity_Services_-_Medicines_for_Children_and_Young_People.pdf
- Tons of drugs are used off label,
#6 “The existing evidence is not high quality”.: Sample sizes are small as very few trans adolescents have been treated to date. Want larger sample sizes? Then lower barriers to access. Dr's, adolescents & their families want the best standard of evidence possible.
- There is evidence now, and there are a ton of cases of wrongful transition that your shitty ideology is responsible for.
#7 “There's not been Randomised Control Trials”: A score of experts have time & again stated Randomised Control Trials are unethical & would unfeasible. Bad faith commentators 'require' a Blind RCT – as if trans adolescents wouldn’t notice progressing through puberty! Bad Faith.
- Irrelevant to discussion
#8 “Z Value Bone Density decreases when adolescents are on blockers”: "Z value Bone Density" compares bone density to expected age-based norms. Bone density rises as an effect of puberty. Those on puberty blockers will not have this rise at the same time as those not blocked, This means bone density compared to their non puberty blocked cis peers decreases (however their actual bone density continues to rise at a relatively slower rate). If puberty resumes (by stopping blockers or starting HRT), bone density increases at a higher rate.
- Lies, see 4.
#9 “We don’t know the impact on brain”: Bad faith. There are many many things we do not know about the human brain. Blockers have been studied for their impact on many different variables, kidney function (fine), well-being (it improves), mental health (it improves), Impact on gender dysphoria (stays same, HRT improves dysphoria). Blockers have even been studied for effect on Executive Functions (no negative impacts). There's much evidence of benefits & no evidence of harm. Medical decisions are made based on the current evidence.
- They're the one making the bad faith arguments as hormones are documented to affect psychology, also drugs will strain organs no mater what.
#10 “Do nothing until there is much more evidence”: Doing nothing is not a neutral decision. Puberty for trans adolescents causes significant harm. Puberty blockers are proven to be beneficial. Withholding beneficial medical care is not a value-neutral ethical decision. Bad Faith.
- Wrongful transition is worse, thus another bad faith argument by regressives.
#11 Use of Biased / fringe 'medical' sources: These include hate group designated 'American College of Pediatricians'. Former GIDS psychoanalysts (with no medical qualifications & an axe to grind). Niche studies on brain scans of sheep & blogs from Evangelical funded groups.
#12 Citing non-peer reviewed opinion pieces in "respected" journals. E.g. Employee of BMJ who also works for BBC using a BMJ blog as evidence for a BBC 'investigation'; Then hiring a colleague with no expertise in gender health to write a critical summary citing the same blog.
#13 Further signs of bad faith include: Failure to report the clear well-being benefits of timely blockers including avoidance of acute distress & pain, of adolescents not dropping out of school / failing in school, benefits to teens of learning, growing & enjoying adolescence.
#14 Yet more signs of bad faith include: Failure to state the global medical consensus which supports the use of puberty blockers for trans adolescents including the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Paediatrics, the World Professional Association of Transgender Health.
#15 Failing to clarify if the preferred medical outcome for trans youth is denial of medical support & instead psychotherapy to "help them accept themselves as they are". This is conversion therapy. It causes immense harm. There is no place for it in modern medical practice.
11-15 is just the writer spewing propaganda about people ignoring/denying their junk science.
source: https://archive.is/cljrm
I love how they literally fabricate a bunch of nonexistent arguments to make their list seem more impressive and larger than it actually is. Almost none of what they're saying is based in reality, and is, in fact, cherry-picked data that obfuscates or completely misrepresents reality.
They're so dumb that they don't understand that "consensus" does not mean something is true. At one point, all scientists in the world believed the earth was flat. That was common "consensus." That in no way means that the earth was indeed flat. It's stupid.
Furthermore, you'll notice an inability to articulate their own points, and instead, a total reliance on what they're becoming known for: an argument from authority; or authoritarianism.
The "science" that they point to is in no way synonymous with actual science. The conclusions reached are almost always anecdotal, opinions, false equivalencies, outright lies, etc.
Just because they've crybullied people into agreeing with them does not validate their position. The fact they have to threaten to ruin people's lives if they don't conform on the topic scientifically only demonstrates the pure lack of confidence they have in what they pretend to be true.
But since they have a science boner (lol), let's get into science!
First, these are children we're talking about. At that age, abstract ideas such as their sexuality and how they identify is nonexistent.
Why?
It has to do with our species having a high encephalization quotient.
Species are divided into two categories: precocial and altricial.
Humans are altricial, due to the aforementioned high EQ. This means that it takes vastly longer for our brain to develop and for us to have a grasp of the world around us. At young ages, we lack certain skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and abstract thought, which isn't some shocking revelation to anyone who can practice basic common sense; however, there are actual biological reasons for that as well. While we still have much of our mid-brain and instinctual programming from when we were less developed, with the advent of cooked meat, we developed at an astonishing rate, allowing our bodies to provide more nutrients to our brain's development, giving us higher brain functions, which in turn, also helped create the large amount of gray matter — evolving into what would become brain present in humans today.
Precocial animals, are the opposite. They're born with typically low EQ and are ready to rock from the moment they're born. They tend to lack any complex thoughts and run more-or-less off of instinct alone.
This is a primary reason that the clownfish and seahorse arguments that they so frequently love to point to are objectively silly and a complete waste of time; a false equivalency.
Do they know why certain precocial animals change sex?
It's a biological imperative for the further propagation of their species; in other words: survival.
In addition, when that transition happens, their bodies do it naturally and physically change to properly accommodate that function.
It's all to serve one very important goal for them overall: to procreate — to have children. Unlike humans, with their higher cognitive capabilities, there is no choice involved in the matter — at all.
On the other hand, the higher the EQ of an altricial species, such as humans, the longer they need to be nurtured.
At the age of the children they're speaking of, the ideas being inculcated into their heads are pernicious. They don't actually understand them on a meta level. They lack the critical thinking and problem solving skills to question what they're told. As we're often told, they're "blank slates." This is self-evident through things that children are very open to believing — like "Santa" or the "Easter Bunny." They're very good at parroting and repeating what they've been told, and may even ask cute naive questions, but having any sort of abstract view more than a surface level understanding of what they're being taught is completely out of the question. This is reality and a known truth. These views aren't naturally occurring; they are views being forced into them by mendacious adults looking to push their ideological views or reaffirm their own beliefs. It's truly disgusting.
Their arguments almost always fall into one of the categories already mentioned. They're intellectually dishonest and care more about themselves and seeking validation than objective reality and the harm these types of things may cause.
An activist-driven belief built on manipulation, intimidation, and lies.
Another good example is when they bring up chromosomes — it all becomes even sillier. They point to those who lay outside XX and XY as somehow confirming their beliefs. The very simple truth is that genetic anomalies exist. That isn't a sign of some mysterious new type of person who falls outside of what exists; it's a sign of genetic anomalies; a mutation. They're not in any way representative of the whole, nor are the typically reproducible. The people who experience it also typically manifest traits that are indicative of one sex or another anyway, making those who may appear in between even more rare. In reality, the overwhelming majority of people participating in these movements who identify as trans don't even fall into this category to begin with. It's taking something and twisting it to fit their belief system — which is absurd.
&nsbp;
Much of what's happening today is a result of trend chasing anyway. In 2007, there was only one Gender Clinic in America. In 2021 there are now over 300. The industry is close to becoming a new billion dollar industry and it's a niche market that's lining the pockets of many people who are willing to exploit others for person gain. No matter the mental gymnastics used, nor any of the other things mentioned, objective reality remains exactly what it is.
Besides the obscenely high attempted suicide rate, there are now also countless people seeking help with detransitioning, speaking out about how messed up the process was, how they were offered no support or resistance, and how what's taking place is truly harming countless young people, all in the name of "tolerance."
Good/interesting post, but 1 gripe: I don't like the use of "blank slate". It implies tabula rasa- as if people are born capable of becoming anything regardless of biological characteristics/factors.
What children are is pliable, easily manipulated/misled, ignorant. Even babies a few hours old will have different preferences according to their sex- boys show increased interest in mechanical or moving objects while girls will look at faces or colourful objects.
I think the relevant info is in the 1st video of the Hjernevask (Brainwash) documentary: https://youtu.be/m3tiDr4E4LM?list=PL8KHbn62XtUaJpFoFwXH2Mya9RjXHJqNm&t=1337