The Supply and Demand of Trans: How About a Little Help from the Kids?

At PITT, we’re hard at work on the supply side, trying to slow down the torrent of hormones dangled in front of our kids, to hold practitioners accountable for the experimental nature of their medical gender “transition” treatments. We’re shining a light on the negligence of therapists, practitioners and gender clinics who, with only “very poor” quality data to go on, medicalize our children’s puberty. The day is not far from now when the legal cost of trans medicine will be too high for these unethical predators to bear—in fact, providers of gender services are already beginning to blow the whistle in an attempt to save what’s left. When the balance tips, insurance companies and providers will slam on the brakes, and regulatory authorities will step in, to curb the “affirmation only” approach, along with emplacing long overdue restrictions on access to harmful social media and pornography aimed at minors.

However, when it comes to demand for trans medicine services, (which is shockingly high, teens are clamoring for hormones) there’s not much the parents can do. Because, as everyone knows, by the cardinal rule of parent/child relations, if we come up with the idea, it will be dead on arrival. Whatever we try to push, however objectively right we are, will only further encourage our kids to do the opposite. They are, after all, rebellious teenagers.

Back in the 80s, Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign started the conversation about de-popularizing drug use for kids. I remember watching those “this is your brain…. this is your brain on drugs” commercials, with their visceral imagery of the cracked egg frying in the pan.

As a 13 year old, I saw those eggs and the idea of frying my brain cells with drugs or alcohol was instantly sickening. I was a nerd, my brain power was my identity and there was no way I was going to make myself dumber by ingesting drugs or alcohol. I became a vocal preacher against alcohol, an ardent prohibitionist, much to my parents’ dismay. I shamed them out of their martinis (for a time at least). I was the buzz-kill at many gatherings of adult family and friends. My parents were annoyed with me—at first. But later, I could see that they were also secretly proud of my passion for something beneficial. All the while, I reveled in my moral superiority as a smart person who knew better than to mess up my life with drugs.

As an adult, I’ve been known to indulge in alcohol once in awhile, but that teetotaler zeal was core to my being back then and it had the dual side effects of making me popular within a set of similarly nerdy and like-minded kids, and keeping me out of trouble as a teen.

I bet there are some kids/teens/young adults looking at the trans movement right now, thinking, ummm, nope, not for me. These kids MUST see the pink and purple hair, the drugs, the compelled pronouns, the lusting for unnecessary surgery, the narcissistic self-absorption and think, I’m not messing up my brain and body like that.

Back in the 80s and 90s, the cool kids were smoking, drinking, and snorting cocaine. Today, we have the cool kids injecting wrong sex hormones and planning body deforming surgeries. A flat chest through euphemistically named “top surgery”, the power rush from the powerful drug testosterone, or the mood-stabilizing euphoria of estrogen are how kids get their kicks. They are admired and love bombed as they drug and surgery their way into the cult of self-harm that is trans.

It’s not just their bodies that are being damaged. That sizzling egg from the “Just say no” commercials holds equally true for wrong sex hormones. It’s like putting the wrong gas in your engine. Your brain shrinks, blood flow changes, there are impacts to executive function and, of course, to emotional stability. “This is your brain. This is your brain on hormones” today’s commercials (or rather insta ads) might say.

I have to believe there are smart kids out there that get this and see it for what it is. C’mon kids - I know you’re out there!

So, are there any youth groups or college clubs that want to take this on? Healthy, natural bodies and minds— how’s that for a trend? Can’t some of our kids and young adults champion that lifestyle? Can’t we be good with the bodies we have, dress with whatever style we like, and embrace the joy of self-improvement the old fashioned way? Aren’t there any demand-side trend setters out there who want to stand up for our younger generations and role-model exercise, healthy eating, healthy living, and a rejection of the shackles of social media that manipulate and influence them?

Anyone?