culture vs. the search for truth
11 - 10/18 /17:59
What if your teenage daughter suddenly declared herself transgender. Should you acquiesce with the activists’ claim that she’s mature enough for medical treatments that will permanently affect her health, fertility and future? Or, could she possibly be influenced by societal pressure?
Dr Lisa Littman (MD, Brown University) doesn’t have the answer. Transgender activists didn’t even want her to ask the question.
Dr Lisa Littman (MD, Brown University) doesn’t have the answer. Transgender activists didn’t even want her to ask the question.
Dr. Littman’s study about transgender-identifying teens was published in the scientific journal PLOS One. She analyzed an uptick in parental reports that teens were suddenly and unexpectedly insisting their gender identity didn’t match their sex.
Since little is known about rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), Dr Littman surveyed 256 parents. She collected information about their teens’ mental health, friends and social-media use. 85% of the parents she surveyed reported their support for gay marriage.
Dr Littman’s findings suggested some ROGD young people may have been driven in part by “social and peer contagion” i.e., peer pressure. Nearly 70% of the ROGD teenagers belonged to a peer group in which at least one friend had recently come out as transgender. In some groups, the majority had done so. Nearly 65% of ROGD teens had increasingly spent time on pro-transgender websites and social media.
60% of parents who knew their ROGD child’s social status claimed their child coming out brought with it a popularity boost. These parents said their child’s friends frequently mocked people who were not gay or transgender. Parents also reported their children who had second thoughts about identifying as transgender expressed fear of social repercussion—being branded as fake or phony or even a traitor.
Dr Littman stated her study is not conclusive, more research is needed. Her detractors don’t want any research.
Such research “negates the experience of many transgender youth,” claims Diane Ehrensaft of the Child and Adolescent Gender Center Clinic at the University of California San Francisco’s Benioff Children’s Hospital.
Transgender activist Brynn Tannehill calls Dr. Littman’s research “a naked attempt to legitimize anti-transgender animus with a veneer of academic responsibility.”
Zinnia Jones of Gender Analysis, called rapid-onset gender dysphoria a “hoax diagnosis” perpetuated by those who would deny transgender children “acceptance and affirmation.”
TS Hailey Heartless @SadistHailey tweeted “The article was written using transphobic dog whistles (sex observed at birth, for example) so it’s most likely they have a transphobic contributor who knows exactly what they’re doing.”
PLOS One thanked @SadistHailey for “bringing this to our attention.” Editor-in-chief Joerg Heber announced PLOS One would subject the article to “further expert assessment on the study’s methodology.”
Brown University, where Dr Littman teaches, took down a news release as well as social-media posts about her study. Dean Bess Marcus acknowledged “concerns that the conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community.” Brown University then updated its statement, claiming ”this is not about academic freedom as some news outlets have made it out to be … this is about academic standards.”
Dr Jeffrey S Flier, MD is the Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard, and Higginson Professor of Medicine and Neurobiology. He’s also a former Harvard dean. He claims the attacks on Dr Littman’s research is all about limiting academic freedom and the pursuit of truth.
Dr Flier reports individuals invested in transgenderism petitioned PLOS One with accusations against Dr Littman’s methodology. These assertions—supported by a social media campaign—promoted PLOS One to announce an additional “expert review” of its previously peer reviewed article.
“As a physician, endocrinologist and medical researcher, I have a professional interest in gender dysphoria. Increasingly, research on politically charged topics is subject to indiscriminate attack on social media, which can pressure school administrators to subvert free academic inquiry.”
The dean of Brown University opines scientific faculty must take into consideration the personal perspectives of people. Dr Flier claims the letter written by Dean Bess Marcus implies Dr Littman was guilty of violating academic principles—“an implicit accusation for which no evidence is evident or adduced.”
In academia today, as in the medieval church, some inquiries are not allowed. You can’t even ask. ~
Blessings,
Dan Nygaard
Since little is known about rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), Dr Littman surveyed 256 parents. She collected information about their teens’ mental health, friends and social-media use. 85% of the parents she surveyed reported their support for gay marriage.
Dr Littman’s findings suggested some ROGD young people may have been driven in part by “social and peer contagion” i.e., peer pressure. Nearly 70% of the ROGD teenagers belonged to a peer group in which at least one friend had recently come out as transgender. In some groups, the majority had done so. Nearly 65% of ROGD teens had increasingly spent time on pro-transgender websites and social media.
60% of parents who knew their ROGD child’s social status claimed their child coming out brought with it a popularity boost. These parents said their child’s friends frequently mocked people who were not gay or transgender. Parents also reported their children who had second thoughts about identifying as transgender expressed fear of social repercussion—being branded as fake or phony or even a traitor.
Dr Littman stated her study is not conclusive, more research is needed. Her detractors don’t want any research.
Such research “negates the experience of many transgender youth,” claims Diane Ehrensaft of the Child and Adolescent Gender Center Clinic at the University of California San Francisco’s Benioff Children’s Hospital.
Transgender activist Brynn Tannehill calls Dr. Littman’s research “a naked attempt to legitimize anti-transgender animus with a veneer of academic responsibility.”
Zinnia Jones of Gender Analysis, called rapid-onset gender dysphoria a “hoax diagnosis” perpetuated by those who would deny transgender children “acceptance and affirmation.”
TS Hailey Heartless @SadistHailey tweeted “The article was written using transphobic dog whistles (sex observed at birth, for example) so it’s most likely they have a transphobic contributor who knows exactly what they’re doing.”
PLOS One thanked @SadistHailey for “bringing this to our attention.” Editor-in-chief Joerg Heber announced PLOS One would subject the article to “further expert assessment on the study’s methodology.”
Brown University, where Dr Littman teaches, took down a news release as well as social-media posts about her study. Dean Bess Marcus acknowledged “concerns that the conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community.” Brown University then updated its statement, claiming ”this is not about academic freedom as some news outlets have made it out to be … this is about academic standards.”
Dr Jeffrey S Flier, MD is the Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard, and Higginson Professor of Medicine and Neurobiology. He’s also a former Harvard dean. He claims the attacks on Dr Littman’s research is all about limiting academic freedom and the pursuit of truth.
Dr Flier reports individuals invested in transgenderism petitioned PLOS One with accusations against Dr Littman’s methodology. These assertions—supported by a social media campaign—promoted PLOS One to announce an additional “expert review” of its previously peer reviewed article.
“As a physician, endocrinologist and medical researcher, I have a professional interest in gender dysphoria. Increasingly, research on politically charged topics is subject to indiscriminate attack on social media, which can pressure school administrators to subvert free academic inquiry.”
The dean of Brown University opines scientific faculty must take into consideration the personal perspectives of people. Dr Flier claims the letter written by Dean Bess Marcus implies Dr Littman was guilty of violating academic principles—“an implicit accusation for which no evidence is evident or adduced.”
In academia today, as in the medieval church, some inquiries are not allowed. You can’t even ask. ~
Blessings,
Dan Nygaard