RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Good morning ,

I don't want to go on about 'gender medicine' too much as there are other things to cover, but I thought I should share with you some of the letters I have received after the last RSAD: 

• "I congratulate you on your responses to the letters received. I simply could not agree more as would the majority of my medical colleagues; just as there are medical practitioners who practise naturopathy and some who are anti-vaccinations, there are those who support “gender-affirming care”, a term that reminds me of another recent term that proved very successful in the development of the Opioid Epidemic ie “Pain management is a human right”(ref: Empire of Pain by Patrick Keefe).
• "Many years ago, when I was working at a hospital in Melbourne, I met a psychiatrist who was prominently involved in transgender psychiatric care which eventually expanded into private practice, however recently that psychiatrist has been deregistered by the medical board for unprofessional practices in that field.
• "I was a physician occasionally who saw some of the medical complications (hypertension, stroke and pulmonary embolism etc) related to high dose oestrogen use in patients of male sex undergoing “gender reassignment”. I also recall that the head of plastic surgery at that hospital resigned over the use of plastic surgery under such “treatment” circumstances.
• "I recall at my meeting with this psychiatrist I had asked her how things such as irreversible surgical procedures for these people could be ethically justified, her response was interesting, but equally disturbing, “Yes, [XXX], they’re all mad, but a bit less mad once they’ve had the operation“. 

• "Just a note to say your views on the above are correct and timely. My second daughter is also medically qualified and has an interest in psychology. She ran a clinic specifically for those with gender issues. She told me that true complete gender dysphoria is very real but also very rare."

• "Thanks for speaking up on the problem of ‘gender medicine’ Meredith, and transgender ideology more generally. I was a psychiatric nurse for 20 years ...
• "The way I see it, people with gender dysphoria, or more accurately, sex dysphoria, do see their sex as a problem. 
• "Of course people get distressed if we do not agree with or affirm their beliefs, as with religious people, getting upset when we disagree with their supernatural claims. But are we helping those people and others with similar experiences if we affirm their delusions, distorted perceptions? In the short term we may help reduce their level of distress, but long term it appears me we’re creating bigger problems, socially, culturally, and of course for individuals. 
• "I can see why some people may view ‘transgender medicine’ as a suicide prevention strategy for those who are distressed by their sex dysphoria, and like you say, in a small number of cases hormones and surgery can lower levels of distress and prevent suicide , however the social contagion that’s occurring influencing young people and even older vulnerable adults needs to be addressed.
• "It seems to me that some people are quick to prescribe hormones and surgery (influenced by activists as you say) rather than take the time to perform a thorough assessment and explore other treatments like long therapy to address the underlying issue(s). 
• I have nursed several people who have severed their own hands due to a belief that their hand did not belong to them. Having those hands caused them extreme distress to the point of removing them. Should we help those people by removing their hands through surgery via ‘informed consent’ or focus on treating the underlying problem causing their distorted feelings’ ? 
• "I agree with you that we need to stick to the science and reason, rather than give into demands from ideologically and irrationally driven activists."

Short summary video

If you don't have time to read the "WPATH Files" report (it is 242 pages!), do watch this 10 minute interview with the report's authors. It includes excerpts from the leaked WPATH video conference where some WPATH members admit to patients not being mature enough to understand the prospective effects of their treatment. The interviewer (quite properly) comments that those in the video were not formal representatives of WPATH and that WPATH might well dispute the analysis and conclusions of the report. Representatives of WPATH were invited to contribute to the program but declined.

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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