“This is happening while the number of Americans identifying as L.G.B.T.Q. grows. Nearly one in 10 adults in the United States are not L.G.B.T.Q. according to a large analysis from Gallup released February 20, 2025. “
It appears to me that the text “not L.G.B.T.Q. should be “now” L.G.B.T.Q.
Unfortunately in California the tide is being blocked by a super-majority of Democrats. Two bills were introduced to protect female sports, but were shot down by those Democrats in control.
Thank you for such a succinct PITT article. I am left feeling hopeful after reading, so thank you! I am struck at how close the numbers are for supporting health insurance coverage of the range of medical interventions. While the survey question appears very simplified, the close divide indicates that the efficacy of these medical interventions is likely considered "positive" and "necessary", while we know it does not have a great success rate. I hope this question will change in future surveys to reflect a more diverse and nuanced approach to these issues.
"the close divide indicates that the efficacy of these medical interventions is likely considered "positive" and "necessary", while we know it does not have a great success rate"
This is a very important point. There is no evidence that these "interventions" are "positive" and "necessary". It's all spin for profit. Places like the FDA really need to say so. Maybe the Surgeon General could make a statement about this now that Admiral Levine is not assistant secretary of HHS?
The "restoration to sanity and the perseverance of women’s rights had to be accomplished via fiat?" Doesn't work that way. Trump's infamous executive orders can be reversed by the stroke of a pen, and definitely will be if Democrats end up back in power in 2028. The gender cult has to be defeated another way.
Well, right now the Trump administration is being sued by the ACLU for taking away "gender affirming care." Everyone on the far left is in a lather over Trump's declarations and bans. He isn't winning over anyone, and if anything, he's motivating them to work harder to take back the White House.
It's not enough to have public opinion on your side. The medical establishment, social justice groups, academia, and leftists in general are going to battle for "trans rights," and it may not appear likely in this political climate, but they have the power to win.
You want lasting change? It will take lawsuits spurred by detransitioners and whistleblowers to get the ball rolling. Actual scientific research must follow. And every single person who is outraged about trans ideology needs to find the courage to speak out. That goes for Democrats too. Dems, please join DIAG if you haven't already.
I do agree with many of your points. But as a lifelong Democrat who now wouldn't vote for my former party if my life depended on it, I just find it disingenuous to suggest that Trump is motivating the Left to fight even harder for Trans Toddlers. "Everyone on the far left" is going to be "in a lather" regardless of what he says or does. He could state females have two X chromosomes and males an X and a Y, and they can't help but go insane. The pathology existed long before Trump arrived on the scene: TDS only exacerbates it.
Admit it, the Democratic Party OWNS this issue. It is 100% responsible for it. And it appears to be "staying the course" in the best tradition of GW Bush. If anything, Trump has helped to create the political space for normal, sane people to find the courage to speak up for children, for women, for families, and for biological reality. And if the tide is indeed turning, Trump and his " infamous executive orders" deserve a lot of the credit.
You find it “ disingenuous" to suggest that Trump is motivating the Left on trans rights? You’re wrong. Of course the activists were here already, and they were always agitated, but he has CLEARLY solidified their resolve to fight. There’s nothing like having a common enemy to energize a movement. I (as a Democrat) see this all over social media. You can see it in the news:
And you believe the Democratic Party OWNS this issue? It is 100% responsible for transgender ideology? You couldn’t be more wrong. First, most Democratic voters don’t agree with the outspoken leftists in our party. Second, you need look way beyond the borders of the USA. Trans ideology is a worldwide phenomenon. Did you know most gender surgeries are performed in Thailand, not the US? Iran comes in second.
It should be clear to you by now that trans ideology and "gender affirming care" will not be stopped by Trump's executive orders. If only it were so simple.
Of course it's worldwide. It's been pushed by the Left. Here in the US that means the Democratic Party for all intents and purposes. Note I didn't say "voters". I didn't expect I'd have to add Party "officials" or "representatives" to be understood. I told you I agreed with many of your points. But to my one major point of contention....would you have preferred that Trump didn't sign the executive orders? They immediately shut down the pediatric gender clinic at the university I work at. Does that count? Or were you hoping that Harris would have an epiphany on the issue?
Okay, well then you agree that Democrats aren't 100% to blame, because they have no influence in other countries, Canada for example, where gender ideology is rampant. The extent of the problem goes way beyond Democrats and their policies. Why are once-respected medical institutions and much of the scientific community wrapped up in this? Why have trans rights become inextricably intertwined with all human rights organizations? This mess is huge, and executive orders won't fix it. I can see how you'd feel relieved about the gender clinic closing, but it may be short lived. Kids who are already receiving their "gender affirming care" are left in the lurch, and their parents are apoplectic. They're determined to find this "care" elsewhere. There will be many challenges to Trump's executive orders, and they are just getting started.
Thank you for this article. Many things are improving, but -
I don't understand why the FDA has not come out and said that Testosterone Harms the Female Body, for instance. It is so obvious. The "side effects" are not "effects". It is not equivalent to the "warnings on Advil". How can insurance still pay for cross sex hormones at all? Only a small number of young people would pursue the medical fantasy if they had to pay for it, IMO.
I agree that the problem begins in the schools with social affirmation/indoctrination. But, I doubt that the kids would persist if not for the basically free "medical magic" held out to them. Pharma and "Medicine" profit.
My young adult daughter has recently started the gel. She lives in a hopeless affirmation bubble. The only good thing is that she loves us and talks to us these days.
P.S. I think it is actually a cream, so it is just like putting on moisturizer!
Even this is bad because it feels like it is not even doing something major to poison your body. It makes it easy to harm the vulnerable - almost like giving candy to children.
I think the wives of the Reverend Jim Jones gave all the children in Jonestown poison candy before all the adults committed suicide with the poison grape Kool-Aid. I never understood why they all went through with the practiced mass suicide - but if their children were already dead... It is commitment gadgets (like new names and pronouns) all the way down.
I think that each step makes is psychologically more difficult to step off the Trans Train - even more so for a young person. So, the Woke push to "let them experiment' with names & pronouns - like at school - is very dangerous. After a time, taking T feels like a logical next step, etc. Each step makes you a little more committed. And, it feels hard to go back.
Charles Manson gave each of the women in his cult a new name, too. This messes with your identity and connection to what went before.
Yes. My daughter talked about wanting to "try" testosterone after some years of "social transition" (not by us!). It is hard for them to back off of names. "She can leave high school and go back to her name but this is a 'safe place' to experiment".
Now, she's recently on it and I know that the effects will not be reversible. So, the change in administration has not helped us any as yet. She's a young adult who was indoctrinated during high school. I don't understand why the current HHS/Surgeon General/FDA has not made a statement that could get cross sex hormones off of insurance? If you are a 50 year old dad who is willing to pay for it that could be another matter - but all these vulnerable young people...
I feel sure if this had not been not paid for by Insurance--and USAID in some cases--the iatrogenic run would have slowed and stalled out. I've been thinking and writing reflections on how "trans" ideation has many parallels with an earlier zeitgeist
Pls if you could say more about the WPATH tweet you referenced that was posted and taken down about detransition, I’d like to know more about what you may have directly observed or heard, that is really interesting info
i suspect it is misleading to lump BLTGQ together. i suspect that the proportion of the population that is homosexual is larger than the proportion who would be transgender, without the influence of online propaganda.
i also suspect that among actual homosexuals, some are strongly and singularly attracted to their own sex, while others are more flexible. those latter may sometimes identify as binary
and let's remember that 'identifying as' one or another demographic category is based on both internal perceptions and external reality.
The worst is surveys (I’ve seen some) that ONLY ask something like “do you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community” with no distinction drawn between sexual orientation and “gender identity.”
(2) Regarding the data about identity claims: among many young people, especially college students, being straight is regarded as boring, oppressively heteronormative, etc. It's easy to gain social acceptance (and much-coveted 'victim' status) by claiming to be, for example, 'non-binary'. For that reason, I regard the statistics with some degree of pessimism.
9.3% of American adults identifying as LGBT sounds odd. Where is Gallup getting their population sample from? A college town in LA? Hardly seems representative of the nation.
I am thinking it might be improper extrapolation from a small, biased sample, and/or possibly partly the 'Q'. The Q includes anyone who experiments with kink, basically, and since that has been promoted by fashion magazines for ages now, it's almost square to say "ick".
I wonder if another part of it might be activist-driven recategorization of endocrine disorders as "intersex", although that's going to still require the patient to have turned that into a self-importance-identity.
You're right--one of the main culprits is the Q, along with those who identify as asexual. There's evidence that prescription drugs, especially when taken since childhood or adolescence, stunt sexual development and can prevent those wires from even connecting in the first place.
Perhaps more of us here on PITT should participate in polls. I think some of those polling numbers on trans issues (especially medicalization) would shift.
Note to self: don't automatically block unknown numbers.
How many people truly realize how much gender ideology is entrenched in the law? People should not be able to change their sex marker on birth certificates or other legal documents.
Or, how easy it is to medicalize a trendy identity?
I just read a post on The Liberal Patriot: "New Insights on Why Harris Lost—and Why Democrats Are in Such a Hole" by Michael Baharaeen
This post reflects polling and it doesn't capture many of us who identify as liberal, formerly liberal, politically homeless--our views on the harms of transgenderism.
Of course voters are concerned about the economy.
Yet, parents who have lost children to The Cult are not represented. At best, we get a mealy-mouth question if a candidate is too liberal. Or, it is vaguely noted as ideological/cultural.
I try to get comments in on the many lamenting pieces in The New York Times on how the Democrats screwed up. It's possible to insert one remark about concern with "gender-affirming care". But dang, it won't get published if you mention great Substacks, organizations, and people to follow.
At this point, I just want my kids to be able to thrive. I want them to truly live, even if it means they never see me again. Do something & be productive. And as for the rest of the world, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done in unfolding this. It has been & continues to be social engineering at its best. As you point out, the numbers are still growing for new recruits. While established, still seen as credible news sources continue to push the trans agenda. Global BBC celebrating the first transgender marriage in India. Like that is an important news story to share around the world. And there are all the work arounds by doctors, coding the gender identity so they can prescribe supposed hormone deficiency. More exposure that this doesn’t work is great. I was confused about the WPATH officials tweet - a mistake then, that they recognized the prevalence? Wow
Can you please tell me the name of the WPATH doctor who tweeted the 1-30% detrans stat? I definitely bookmarked it, then realized it disappeared.
I wish I had taken a screenshot.
Anyway, do you know the name of the doctor?
Thanks
Can we please retire the ludicrous phrase "identify as"? Using nonsense words only encourages nonsense.
“This is happening while the number of Americans identifying as L.G.B.T.Q. grows. Nearly one in 10 adults in the United States are not L.G.B.T.Q. according to a large analysis from Gallup released February 20, 2025. “
It appears to me that the text “not L.G.B.T.Q. should be “now” L.G.B.T.Q.
Unfortunately in California the tide is being blocked by a super-majority of Democrats. Two bills were introduced to protect female sports, but were shot down by those Democrats in control.
Thank you for such a succinct PITT article. I am left feeling hopeful after reading, so thank you! I am struck at how close the numbers are for supporting health insurance coverage of the range of medical interventions. While the survey question appears very simplified, the close divide indicates that the efficacy of these medical interventions is likely considered "positive" and "necessary", while we know it does not have a great success rate. I hope this question will change in future surveys to reflect a more diverse and nuanced approach to these issues.
"the close divide indicates that the efficacy of these medical interventions is likely considered "positive" and "necessary", while we know it does not have a great success rate"
This is a very important point. There is no evidence that these "interventions" are "positive" and "necessary". It's all spin for profit. Places like the FDA really need to say so. Maybe the Surgeon General could make a statement about this now that Admiral Levine is not assistant secretary of HHS?
https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/index.html
I agree with you
The "restoration to sanity and the perseverance of women’s rights had to be accomplished via fiat?" Doesn't work that way. Trump's infamous executive orders can be reversed by the stroke of a pen, and definitely will be if Democrats end up back in power in 2028. The gender cult has to be defeated another way.
Right because California just voted to have trans athletes in Women's sports. Look to California to lead the (wrong) way.
what's the other way?
Well, right now the Trump administration is being sued by the ACLU for taking away "gender affirming care." Everyone on the far left is in a lather over Trump's declarations and bans. He isn't winning over anyone, and if anything, he's motivating them to work harder to take back the White House.
It's not enough to have public opinion on your side. The medical establishment, social justice groups, academia, and leftists in general are going to battle for "trans rights," and it may not appear likely in this political climate, but they have the power to win.
You want lasting change? It will take lawsuits spurred by detransitioners and whistleblowers to get the ball rolling. Actual scientific research must follow. And every single person who is outraged about trans ideology needs to find the courage to speak out. That goes for Democrats too. Dems, please join DIAG if you haven't already.
I do agree with many of your points. But as a lifelong Democrat who now wouldn't vote for my former party if my life depended on it, I just find it disingenuous to suggest that Trump is motivating the Left to fight even harder for Trans Toddlers. "Everyone on the far left" is going to be "in a lather" regardless of what he says or does. He could state females have two X chromosomes and males an X and a Y, and they can't help but go insane. The pathology existed long before Trump arrived on the scene: TDS only exacerbates it.
Admit it, the Democratic Party OWNS this issue. It is 100% responsible for it. And it appears to be "staying the course" in the best tradition of GW Bush. If anything, Trump has helped to create the political space for normal, sane people to find the courage to speak up for children, for women, for families, and for biological reality. And if the tide is indeed turning, Trump and his " infamous executive orders" deserve a lot of the credit.
You find it “ disingenuous" to suggest that Trump is motivating the Left on trans rights? You’re wrong. Of course the activists were here already, and they were always agitated, but he has CLEARLY solidified their resolve to fight. There’s nothing like having a common enemy to energize a movement. I (as a Democrat) see this all over social media. You can see it in the news:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2025/04/01/transgender-rights-activists-rally-in-detroit-amid-trump-orders/82741073007/
https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2025-04-01/missouri-transgender-rights-trans-day-visibility-trump
https://www.stlpr.org/race-identity-and-faith/2025-04-01/st-louis-transgender-rights-march-trump-federal-restrictions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC_e9hY98Jk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpmrTIfCQNI
https://abc7chicago.com/post/president-donald-trump-executive-orders-transgender-rights-advocates-aclu-gear-fight-binary-gender-directive/15823246/
And you believe the Democratic Party OWNS this issue? It is 100% responsible for transgender ideology? You couldn’t be more wrong. First, most Democratic voters don’t agree with the outspoken leftists in our party. Second, you need look way beyond the borders of the USA. Trans ideology is a worldwide phenomenon. Did you know most gender surgeries are performed in Thailand, not the US? Iran comes in second.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_transgender_people
https://www.magazine.medicaltourism.com/article/best-countries-in-the-world-for-gender-reassignment-surgery
It should be clear to you by now that trans ideology and "gender affirming care" will not be stopped by Trump's executive orders. If only it were so simple.
Of course it's worldwide. It's been pushed by the Left. Here in the US that means the Democratic Party for all intents and purposes. Note I didn't say "voters". I didn't expect I'd have to add Party "officials" or "representatives" to be understood. I told you I agreed with many of your points. But to my one major point of contention....would you have preferred that Trump didn't sign the executive orders? They immediately shut down the pediatric gender clinic at the university I work at. Does that count? Or were you hoping that Harris would have an epiphany on the issue?
Okay, well then you agree that Democrats aren't 100% to blame, because they have no influence in other countries, Canada for example, where gender ideology is rampant. The extent of the problem goes way beyond Democrats and their policies. Why are once-respected medical institutions and much of the scientific community wrapped up in this? Why have trans rights become inextricably intertwined with all human rights organizations? This mess is huge, and executive orders won't fix it. I can see how you'd feel relieved about the gender clinic closing, but it may be short lived. Kids who are already receiving their "gender affirming care" are left in the lurch, and their parents are apoplectic. They're determined to find this "care" elsewhere. There will be many challenges to Trump's executive orders, and they are just getting started.
DIAG? Define please for those who don't know!
Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender:
https://diagdemocrats.substack.com/
Thank you for this article. Many things are improving, but -
I don't understand why the FDA has not come out and said that Testosterone Harms the Female Body, for instance. It is so obvious. The "side effects" are not "effects". It is not equivalent to the "warnings on Advil". How can insurance still pay for cross sex hormones at all? Only a small number of young people would pursue the medical fantasy if they had to pay for it, IMO.
I agree that the problem begins in the schools with social affirmation/indoctrination. But, I doubt that the kids would persist if not for the basically free "medical magic" held out to them. Pharma and "Medicine" profit.
My young adult daughter has recently started the gel. She lives in a hopeless affirmation bubble. The only good thing is that she loves us and talks to us these days.
I didn't put this quite right when I said that "The "side effects" are not "effects"
I mean to say that The "side effects" are not "side effects" but the effects of girls/young women taking testosterone.
Lets get this stuff out of insurance with the tiny co-pays like it is "medicine" for an ailment.
P.S. I think it is actually a cream, so it is just like putting on moisturizer!
Even this is bad because it feels like it is not even doing something major to poison your body. It makes it easy to harm the vulnerable - almost like giving candy to children.
I think the wives of the Reverend Jim Jones gave all the children in Jonestown poison candy before all the adults committed suicide with the poison grape Kool-Aid. I never understood why they all went through with the practiced mass suicide - but if their children were already dead... It is commitment gadgets (like new names and pronouns) all the way down.
"commitment gadgets (like new names and pronouns) all the way down" = insightful
I think that each step makes is psychologically more difficult to step off the Trans Train - even more so for a young person. So, the Woke push to "let them experiment' with names & pronouns - like at school - is very dangerous. After a time, taking T feels like a logical next step, etc. Each step makes you a little more committed. And, it feels hard to go back.
Charles Manson gave each of the women in his cult a new name, too. This messes with your identity and connection to what went before.
That and the "try it" mentality, as if each step can be fully reversed
Yes. My daughter talked about wanting to "try" testosterone after some years of "social transition" (not by us!). It is hard for them to back off of names. "She can leave high school and go back to her name but this is a 'safe place' to experiment".
Now, she's recently on it and I know that the effects will not be reversible. So, the change in administration has not helped us any as yet. She's a young adult who was indoctrinated during high school. I don't understand why the current HHS/Surgeon General/FDA has not made a statement that could get cross sex hormones off of insurance? If you are a 50 year old dad who is willing to pay for it that could be another matter - but all these vulnerable young people...
I feel sure if this had not been not paid for by Insurance--and USAID in some cases--the iatrogenic run would have slowed and stalled out. I've been thinking and writing reflections on how "trans" ideation has many parallels with an earlier zeitgeist
Pls if you could say more about the WPATH tweet you referenced that was posted and taken down about detransition, I’d like to know more about what you may have directly observed or heard, that is really interesting info
Yes, “if we can get our kids back”, sniff.
You are full of beans, Cray Cray
Schadenfreude
The Tide IS Turning! Slowly, but steadily. Never give up. Never lose hope. Keep the home fires burning.
i suspect it is misleading to lump BLTGQ together. i suspect that the proportion of the population that is homosexual is larger than the proportion who would be transgender, without the influence of online propaganda.
i also suspect that among actual homosexuals, some are strongly and singularly attracted to their own sex, while others are more flexible. those latter may sometimes identify as binary
and let's remember that 'identifying as' one or another demographic category is based on both internal perceptions and external reality.
The worst is surveys (I’ve seen some) that ONLY ask something like “do you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community” with no distinction drawn between sexual orientation and “gender identity.”
yes bad science and innumeracy are sadly common
Two points:
(1) LGB needs to be separated from TQ+++.
(2) Regarding the data about identity claims: among many young people, especially college students, being straight is regarded as boring, oppressively heteronormative, etc. It's easy to gain social acceptance (and much-coveted 'victim' status) by claiming to be, for example, 'non-binary'. For that reason, I regard the statistics with some degree of pessimism.
Actually, I meant to say 'scepticism' rather than 'pessimism'...
9.3% of American adults identifying as LGBT sounds odd. Where is Gallup getting their population sample from? A college town in LA? Hardly seems representative of the nation.
I am thinking it might be improper extrapolation from a small, biased sample, and/or possibly partly the 'Q'. The Q includes anyone who experiments with kink, basically, and since that has been promoted by fashion magazines for ages now, it's almost square to say "ick".
I wonder if another part of it might be activist-driven recategorization of endocrine disorders as "intersex", although that's going to still require the patient to have turned that into a self-importance-identity.
You're right--one of the main culprits is the Q, along with those who identify as asexual. There's evidence that prescription drugs, especially when taken since childhood or adolescence, stunt sexual development and can prevent those wires from even connecting in the first place.
I didn't know that. That's horrific.
Those drugs are bad enough for other reasons already... numbing and distressing the kids forced to take them... so I have heard from kids who were.
The Rx companies' interference with side effect evaluation is such a crime, if society could be honest, they are capital crimes.
Perhaps more of us here on PITT should participate in polls. I think some of those polling numbers on trans issues (especially medicalization) would shift.
Note to self: don't automatically block unknown numbers.
How many people truly realize how much gender ideology is entrenched in the law? People should not be able to change their sex marker on birth certificates or other legal documents.
Or, how easy it is to medicalize a trendy identity?
I just read a post on The Liberal Patriot: "New Insights on Why Harris Lost—and Why Democrats Are in Such a Hole" by Michael Baharaeen
This post reflects polling and it doesn't capture many of us who identify as liberal, formerly liberal, politically homeless--our views on the harms of transgenderism.
Of course voters are concerned about the economy.
Yet, parents who have lost children to The Cult are not represented. At best, we get a mealy-mouth question if a candidate is too liberal. Or, it is vaguely noted as ideological/cultural.
I try to get comments in on the many lamenting pieces in The New York Times on how the Democrats screwed up. It's possible to insert one remark about concern with "gender-affirming care". But dang, it won't get published if you mention great Substacks, organizations, and people to follow.
Because they don't want their readers to know.
At this point, I just want my kids to be able to thrive. I want them to truly live, even if it means they never see me again. Do something & be productive. And as for the rest of the world, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done in unfolding this. It has been & continues to be social engineering at its best. As you point out, the numbers are still growing for new recruits. While established, still seen as credible news sources continue to push the trans agenda. Global BBC celebrating the first transgender marriage in India. Like that is an important news story to share around the world. And there are all the work arounds by doctors, coding the gender identity so they can prescribe supposed hormone deficiency. More exposure that this doesn’t work is great. I was confused about the WPATH officials tweet - a mistake then, that they recognized the prevalence? Wow