Do “Most Gender Confused Children Grow Out Of It”?
Despite the headlines, the answer is probably not.
A new study has come out looking at transgender identification in children. This has, of course, resulted in a swathe of headlines, because the world is never more focused on children’s lives than when they do something that is steps out of the well-understood bounds of social norms. It’s a bit like the time that people were angry at the new rock music all the young people were listening to so they invented the belief that songs were playing secret subliminal messages to convert children to Satanism.
Frankly, we should probably all find something better to care about.
That being said, the headlines are pretty remarkable. The Daily Mail in particular believes that this study is strong evidence: “Most gender-confused children grow out of it, landmark 15-year study concludes — as critics say it shows being trans is usually just a phase for kids”. Among other things, this has led to a swathe of outrage on social media:
This is problematic, because the study definitely does not show that “being trans is usually just a phase for kids”. If…
