4thWaveNow

Medical “transition” is seen as the magic bullet. But here’s a thought: What if the other, very common, comorbid disorders are actually the cause of the body dissociation that is now celebrated and promoted as “gender identity”?  Why do we rush to hack up healthy young bodies and dose them with powerful hormones, rather than addressing the brain that erroneously thinks it should be attached to a different physical form? Why has it become taboo to pose the obvious hypothesis: Maybe we have it exactly backwards. It’s the brain that is mistaken–not the body.

Questions like these should not be controversial.  They should not generate a whole new avalanche of hate mail in my Tumblr inbox. Questions like these should spur thinking, caring people–people who claim to care about suicidal and troubled teens–to investigate deeper; to put the brakes on the headlong rush to drugs and surgery as THE solution to a complex intersection of mental health issues.

Trans activists, take heed.

Update: I am sharing, with her permission, a comment by an Irish reader from my WordPress blog. See the link above for more of the thread:

I never started medical transition but was on the path to and had been to a few doctors about it trying to get a referral to a gender therapist but in the meantime I found blogs like this one and they really opened my eyes.

I’m currently seeing a therapist that has some experience with trans people and shes really helped me with dealing with my dysphoria so im no longer looking to be referred on to the gender therapist. I think my autism has a lot to do with the dysphoria and body dissociation, the dysphoria was there as long as i can remember and got much worse during puberty and then the bodily dissociation started happening too along with depression.

I’ve also noticed alot of trans people have other conditions like depression or bipolar and they think its caused by being trans but i think its the other way around.

For those interested, above is the link to the Facebook page of Mark Angelo Cummings, the FTM who is campaigning against the medical transition of dysphoric kids, teens, and even (it appears) many adults.  It is chock-full of posts challenging the dominant trans paradigm.  Mark focuses a lot on mental illness and the importance of dysphoric individuals receiving mental health care to address underlying issues, vs. rushing to see a gender therapist.

In researching Mark’s past writings and appearances, it’s evident Mark has gone through quite a transformation in viewpoint. For instance, in a post yesterday, Mark linked to a piece by Sheila Jeffreys, author of Gender Hurts. Jeffreys has been “no platformed” for her gender-critical views, and it is quite something to see a prominent member of the trans community refer approvingly to her work.

In another post on 5/4/15, Mark says the following, and continues sparring in the comment thread:  

At the heart of the problem is confusion over the nature of the transgendered. “Sex change” is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder.

You must have a FB account to view posts.

Update (3:30 PM 5/6/15): Mark is battling by the minute in the YouTube comment thread, too. Clearly has no intention of shutting up:

lauren ;P 16 minutes ago

Yeah because two uneducated scrubs, who link a few fluff articles are the authority on everything trans…..

markangeloc 8 minutes ago

+lauren ;P uneducated? I have been an advocate for this deranged community since 2003, I am a medical professional and have done plenty of research as well as lived in the skin of a trans person. I know too well what goes on behind the curtains, I am being told to shut up, because truth is something this community does not want out.