14 when he knew
The Beeb rushes to chat with a “trans man” about how hurty it all is.
Trans young people say they feel “disappointed” and “ignored” by the Cass Review into gender care.
No, really??!
They’ve been taught to feel that, Beeb. They’ve been taught by you among others. You’re teaching more people by writing this stupid story.
Sean Donovan was 14 when he knew he had gender dysphoria, but was not able to access puberty blockers which he said could have saved him “so much trauma”.
Or could have wrecked “his” life.
The review recommended a “holistic assessment” of a child’s needs, including “screening for neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, and a mental health assessment”. Mr Donovan said none of this would have helped him, he just needed transition support.
And of course Mr Donovan knows that with absolute certainty and there is no way “he” could be wrong about any or all of it.
The BBC has gotten so used to the mantra that (clap) trans (clap) kids (clap) are (clap) who they say they are (clap clap clap) that they can’t shake it even when reporting on a story about how the medicine actually doesn’t say that.
Imagine if a report came out that said that it appeared that oncologists were over-prescribing chemotherapy, and that the medical evidence strongly shows that it’s not appropriate in many cases in which it’s being used.
Would the BBC rush to interview cancer patients for their “opinions” on the medicine? No doubt some patients would have opinions (“I had chemo, and I think it saved my life!”), but would they be newsworthy? Would they be relevant to a story about what the medical practice should be?
When mainstream media outlets report on anti-vaxxers, they usually make an effort to draw the contrast. It’s not “immunologists and virologists and public health experts say the COVID vaccines are safe and effective, but American football star Aaron Rodgers says otherwise, so who can say?”
A brutal reality check awaits the “I was absolutely certain at 14” cohort as their echo chamber collapses and it becomes impossible for them to tune out the fact that, if they had gotten proper treatment in their own childhoods, their adult outcomes would have been far better. In my arguments with trans people online, I’ve always gotten a strong sense that many activists are crabs in a bucket, clawing back down the ones trying to climb out, because they can’t bear to see how well the ones that got away are doing.
The reckoning is going to be cataclysmic.
Excellent metaphor.
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