Why Do So Many Young People Today Decide to Change Genders?

            I have wondered numerous times over the past few years why there are so many people seeking to change their genders today. So, I was interested when I saw an article at Psychology Today titled “Why Is Transgender Identity on the Rise Among Teens?” by Samuel Paul Veissière, Ph.D. 

            Veissière defined transgender identity as being “characterized by experiencing distress with, or an inability to identify with one’s biological sex, usually prompting a desire to live one’s life as the opposite sex.” According to the DSM-5 (the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals), this condition is known as “gender dysphoria.” This classification is not a moral judgement on anyone experiencing gender dysphoria.        

            One point of factor emphasized by Veissière is that gender dysphoria is not a new condition and that “conditions akin to … ‘transgender identity’ have been known to occur in all societies with varying degree of acceptance, suppression, or even encouragement.” “There has been widespread acceptance of individuals who were born males and dress and live as females” in India, Thailand, Philippines, and Brazil. This acceptance “long predates the current transgender movement in the West.”

            Veissière stressed the “culturally recognized incidences of pre-modern transgender individuals” introduced another puzzle piece to understanding the phenomena. All “the culturally recognized incidences of pre-modern transgender individuals … involve natal males who transition to female.” According to Veissière, the DSM-5 gives prevalence rates of gender dysphoria for males as approximately twice that of females. He stated that this difference corresponds to approximately twice as many male homosexuals as lesbians worldwide. He shared other findings that he considers to be “clearly puzzling.”

As attested by current controversies, rates of transgender identity appear to be on the rise, particularly among young people. Increased social acceptance of a previously stigmatized condition likely plays a role in this process, but other findings are clearly puzzling: Transgender identity is now reported among young natal females at rates that clearly exceed all known statistics to date.

In a recent survey of 250 families whose children developed symptoms of gender dysphoria during or right after puberty, Lisa Littman, a physician and professor of behavioral science at Brown University, found that over 80 percent of the youth in her sample were female at birth. Littman’s study reported many other surprising findings. To meet the diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria, a child typically needs to have shown observable characteristics of the condition prior to puberty, such as “a strong rejection of typically feminine or masculine toys," or “a strong resistance to wearing typically feminine or masculine clothes." Again, 80 percent of the parents in the study reported observing none of these early signs in their children.

           One question is, “Why are so many young females interested in changing their gender?”Veissière shared results of a study that showed several reasons. “First, many of the youth in the survey had been directly exposed to one or more peers who had recently ‘come out’ as trans.” A second reason reported by 63.5 percent of the parents surveyed was that the youth “exhibited a marked increase in Internet and social media consumption” prior to announcing that they were trans. Another finding of the study was that after coming out, the youth had “an increase in distress, conflict with parents, and voiced antagonism toward heterosexual people and non-transgender people.” The parents also described their child as “sounding scripted,” “reading from a script,” “wooden,” “like a form letter,” “verbatim,” “word for word,” or “practically copy and paste.”

            Veissière shared Littman’s cautions “about encouraging young people’s desire to transition in all instances.” Littman coined a new term for what she discovered in her study – “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD). This condition “appears to be a novel condition that emerges from cohort and contagion effects and novel social pressures.” She hypothesized that “ROGD can be cast as a maladaptive coping mechanism for other underlying mental health issues.” ROGD seems to afflict females more than males. In other words, peer pressure may be causing many young females to think that they are in the wrong body.

            I came across another article are this topic. Although this source is not professional, it is illuminating on the topic of children not having the wisdom or the maturity to make life-changing decisions without parental guidance. “The Andy Griffith Show” that aired on November 13, 1961, was titled “Opie’s Hobo Friend.”

            Jared Miller explained that Sheriff Taylor, played by Andy Griffith, discovered that his son, Opie, was adopting some strange ideas and learned that they were coming from a hobo, played by Buddy Ebsen. The sheriff located the hobo and discussed the effect that he was having on Opie. “There seems to be something wrong with his thinking. He’s gotten a little twisted on things lately, like being able to tell the difference between right and wrong.”

            The sheriff suggested that the hobo move along, and the hobo responded with an appeal to moral relativism, “Maybe I do look at things differently than other people. Is that wrong? Who’s to say that the boy would be happier your way or mine? Why not let him decide?”

            The hobo made a good try, but the sheriff replied, “No, I’m afraid it don’t work that way. You can’t let a young’n decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter it’s hard to convince ‘em that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is say ‘wait,’ ‘trust me’ and try to keep temptation away.”

            The hobo understood the sheriff’s statement and agreed to leave, but not before saying, “That wasn’t so difficult. Your problem is solved.”

            The sheriff replied, “My problem is just beginning. You left behind an awful lot of unscrambling to be done.”

            The trans movement – or moment, as some people say – has some twisted views also. Parents today send their children to school to become educated, but they are being indoctrinated by post-modernist teachers. Parents must understand that such false teaching is taking place and remove their children from danger. Otherwise, they will be doing a lot of unscrambling – or worse if they are too late. If anyone needs help, they can watch Sheriff Taylor at this site.