Recent from talks
Transgender health care misinformation
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Transgender health care misinformation
False and misleading claims about gender diversity, gender dysphoria, and gender-affirming healthcare have been used to justify legislative restrictions on transgender people's right to healthcare. The claims have primarily relied on manufactured uncertainty generated by various conservative religious organizations, pseudoscientific or discredited researchers, anti-trans activists and others.
Common false claims include that most people who transition regret it; that most pre-pubertal transgender children cease desiring transition after puberty; that gender dysphoria is socially contagious, can have a rapid onset, or is caused by mental illness; that medical organizations are pushing youth to transition; and that transgender youth require conversion therapies such as gender exploratory therapy.
Elected officials in Central and South America have called for legislative bans on trans healthcare based on false claims. Misinformation has been platformed and amplified by mainstream media outlets. Medical organizations such as the Endocrine Society and American Psychological Association, among others, have released statements opposing such bans and the misinformation behind them.
Transgender healthcare misinformation primarily relies on manufactured uncertainty from a network of conservative legal and advocacy organizations. These organizations have relied on techniques similar to those used in climate change denialism, generating exaggerated uncertainty around reproductive health care, conversion therapy, and gender-affirming care.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the hub of the pseudoscience movement is the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), whose personnel have a large overlap with Genspect and Therapy First (formerly known as the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association). The SPLC has also accused the American College of Pediatricians of sharing misinformation and disinformation about trans healthcare.
A report by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine described SEGM and Genspect as spreading "biased and unscientific content", and SEGM as "without apparent ties to mainstream scientific or professional organizations". It described SEGM's 14 core members as a "small group of repeat players in anti-trans activities", who often write non-peer reviewed letters to the editor of mainstream scientific publications, and who frequently serve on the boards of other organizations which "feature biased and unscientific content".
These efforts have been aided by scientists who were once dominant in transgender care, but are now fringe, such as Ray Blanchard, Stephen B. Levine, and Kenneth Zucker. Misinformation and disinformation about transgender health care sometimes relies on biased journalism in popular media.
Detransition is the process of halting or reversing social, medical, or legal aspects of a gender transition, partially or completely. It can be temporary or permanent. Detransition and regret over transition are often erroneously conflated, though there are cases of detransition without regret and regret without detransition. Detransition also does not require a reversal of transgender identity. Prevalence of regret for receiving gender-affirming care is very low. Regarding gender-affirming surgery (GAS) in particular, a 2024 review stated, "When comparing regret after GAS to regret after other surgeries and major life decisions, the percentage of patients experiencing regret is extremely low." Data suggests that detransition—however defined—is rare, with detransition often caused by factors such as societal or familial pressure, community stigma, or financial difficulties. Studies did not control for such outside influences (which likely inflated rates of detransition) and found prevalence of discontinuation—before any treatment, while under puberty blockers, and during hormone therapy—to range 0.8–7.4%, 1–7.6%, and 1.6–9.8% respectively.
Hub AI
Transgender health care misinformation AI simulator
(@Transgender health care misinformation_simulator)
Transgender health care misinformation
False and misleading claims about gender diversity, gender dysphoria, and gender-affirming healthcare have been used to justify legislative restrictions on transgender people's right to healthcare. The claims have primarily relied on manufactured uncertainty generated by various conservative religious organizations, pseudoscientific or discredited researchers, anti-trans activists and others.
Common false claims include that most people who transition regret it; that most pre-pubertal transgender children cease desiring transition after puberty; that gender dysphoria is socially contagious, can have a rapid onset, or is caused by mental illness; that medical organizations are pushing youth to transition; and that transgender youth require conversion therapies such as gender exploratory therapy.
Elected officials in Central and South America have called for legislative bans on trans healthcare based on false claims. Misinformation has been platformed and amplified by mainstream media outlets. Medical organizations such as the Endocrine Society and American Psychological Association, among others, have released statements opposing such bans and the misinformation behind them.
Transgender healthcare misinformation primarily relies on manufactured uncertainty from a network of conservative legal and advocacy organizations. These organizations have relied on techniques similar to those used in climate change denialism, generating exaggerated uncertainty around reproductive health care, conversion therapy, and gender-affirming care.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the hub of the pseudoscience movement is the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), whose personnel have a large overlap with Genspect and Therapy First (formerly known as the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association). The SPLC has also accused the American College of Pediatricians of sharing misinformation and disinformation about trans healthcare.
A report by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine described SEGM and Genspect as spreading "biased and unscientific content", and SEGM as "without apparent ties to mainstream scientific or professional organizations". It described SEGM's 14 core members as a "small group of repeat players in anti-trans activities", who often write non-peer reviewed letters to the editor of mainstream scientific publications, and who frequently serve on the boards of other organizations which "feature biased and unscientific content".
These efforts have been aided by scientists who were once dominant in transgender care, but are now fringe, such as Ray Blanchard, Stephen B. Levine, and Kenneth Zucker. Misinformation and disinformation about transgender health care sometimes relies on biased journalism in popular media.
Detransition is the process of halting or reversing social, medical, or legal aspects of a gender transition, partially or completely. It can be temporary or permanent. Detransition and regret over transition are often erroneously conflated, though there are cases of detransition without regret and regret without detransition. Detransition also does not require a reversal of transgender identity. Prevalence of regret for receiving gender-affirming care is very low. Regarding gender-affirming surgery (GAS) in particular, a 2024 review stated, "When comparing regret after GAS to regret after other surgeries and major life decisions, the percentage of patients experiencing regret is extremely low." Data suggests that detransition—however defined—is rare, with detransition often caused by factors such as societal or familial pressure, community stigma, or financial difficulties. Studies did not control for such outside influences (which likely inflated rates of detransition) and found prevalence of discontinuation—before any treatment, while under puberty blockers, and during hormone therapy—to range 0.8–7.4%, 1–7.6%, and 1.6–9.8% respectively.