Last month, an old college friend posted the classic update on Facebook: “Our [daughter] is so brave and now wants to be known by [androgynous name]. We support them fully and their non-binary status.” The comments submitted below were all thoroughly positive and cheerful. “Way to go [androgynous name]!” “So glad to support you!”
I paused. I drank my cup of coffee. I battled with myself, and then I sent a private message to my old friend. “Hey, I saw your note about your kid. I’m sure you’ve been seeking lots of resources and info... I just wanted to draw your attention to the surveys that suggest non- binary girls have the highest rates of attempted suicide. I hope everything is okay...”
He responded privately. He implied she’d had some self-injury behaviors already. He expressed surprise that little ol’ me was up-to-date on the studies and the topic since I live in the Midwest (unlike him, in his East Coast progressive college town.)
I explained the 3/8 girls in my daughter’s class announced they were trans in the fall of 2020. 3/100th of the kids in our school’s senior class are socially transitioned. 2/4 of the 15 year-old-kids on my block have transitioned—one of them had a double mastectomy. And none of these stats include my child, who had a year of gender confusion, and is all good now, by the way.
A few months ago, my 20-something niece and I were discussing my concerns about socially transitioning kids, and she asked me accusingly: “Do you know any trans kids?” And I actually had to laugh. I know so many kids who say they are trans that I literally cannot keep track of them.
So – yeah – this gender dysphoria problem is across the nation. It’s everywhere. What are your stats? Post your kid’s classroom ratios and your state below.
It is confusing. I have raised a trans child, been to numerous trans health conferences, participated in many groups and have trans friends who I talk to freely on the topics of hormones and surgery. My experience is that most authentically trans people do not “want” to be trans. They ARE the “other” gender, but born in the wrong body. Gender queer people identify differently, and there is more vacillation there.
The teachers who have been in the classroom for 20 years or more HAVE to realize that something very bad is going on, because earlier in their careers there were few (if any) trans students in their classes, and now there are large numbers of them.
Teachers are really on the frontline of this madness.
SURELY, with their years of experience working with kids, long-time teachers know that all these recent trans-identifying students are NOT in fact trans but do have various other mental health issues that aren't even being looked at.
Why aren't teachers speaking out -- to their legislators, their boards of education, the media, the American Academy of Pediatrics??? All teachers can't be mindess Progressives who believe in affirmation-only, and they must care about children to have taught for that long.
I realize some can't speak out in fear of their jobs. But perhaps they could form a network that could do the speaking for them. And the retired teachers could at least do something.