The horrific
shooting
at the Covenant School in Nashville has further escalated the debate regarding transgenderism and its connection to mental health. According to law enforcement, the killer
had an
“emotional disorder” and was receiving treatment. The shooter, a biological female, identified as a male. In the rampage, six innocent lives were taken, including three children.
The transgender subject is at the forefront of discourse in America. There is a major focus on what is essentially a minor segment of the U.S. population,
approximately
1.6 million people. The subject matter is deeply personal. Because it involves identity, many hesitate to address it in an upfront, honest manner. But that is exactly what we should do. Affirming feelings instead of treating root causes may seem like a solution, but it only masks the true reason for the discomfort and the self-hatred.
WHEN A MASS KILLER IS TRANSGENDER, LIBERAL MEDIA SUDDENLY LOOK AWAY
The surging rate at which children in the United States are struggling with and seeking help for gender and identity problems is extremely alarming. In 2017, new gender dysphoria diagnoses for children ages 6-17 numbered 15,172. In 2021, that number was 42,167.
Care takes the form of “social recognition of a preferred name and pronouns to medical interventions such as hormone therapy and, sometimes, surgery,”
according
to Reuters. “A small but increasing number of U.S. children diagnosed with gender dysphoria are choosing medical interventions to express their identity and help alleviate their distress.”
The skyrocketing rate of transgenderism among minors grows as a fad, aided by peer pressure, social media, and adults who would prefer to calm the waters and appease them through hormonal or surgical “solutions.” But these solutions are anything but that.
In his recent essay at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Ryan Anderson
writes
the following:
“When it comes to medical interventions — so-called ‘medical transition’ or ‘gender-affirming “care”‘ — physicians are deploying bad means (mutilation) in the service of bad ends (affirming falsehoods). Administering high doses of estrogen to a man who rejects his male reality for some alternative identity (whether as a woman, non-binary, gender-ambidextrous, etc.), or administering high doses of testosterone to a woman who rejects her female reality for some alternative identity (whether as a man, non-binary, etc.), or removing reproductive organs and using plastic surgery to create orifices or appendages that resemble those of the other sex (or neither, or both), mutilates the body in an effort to reinforce beliefs at odds with reality. This is a misdirection of the medical profession, a violation of sound medical ethics.”
That medical and mental health professionals would prescribe or suggest surgery to treat what is essentially a mental health condition, not connected to reality, is a gross injustice. The soaring rate of minors being diagnosed with and treated for gender dysphoria is climbing because these professionals are reinforcing the entire dynamic. They offer unbridled support that gives young people what they want instead of prescribing what they need.
In 2019, a study titled “Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study” was released. The study was meant to show that gender-affirming surgery improves mental health among patients.
Less than a year later, a
correction
was issued, emphasis mine: “Upon request, the authors reanalyzed the data to compare outcomes between individuals diagnosed with gender incongruence who had received gender-affirming surgical treatments and those diagnosed with gender incongruence who had not. While this comparison was performed retrospectively and was not part of the original research question given that several other factors may differ between the groups, the results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care visits or prescriptions or hospitalizations following suicide attempts in that comparison.”
Whether it’s pronouns, hairstyles, clothing, attitude, or surgery, nothing can change a man into a woman or a woman into a man. The mere suggestion that someone can transition to the opposite sex is a false narrative built on emotion. Because actual gender reassignment is impossible, those struggling with dysphoria will not be helped by hormonal or surgical promises. The biological identity remains, no matter what.
If medical and mental health professionals want to meet the needs of their gender dysphoric patients, they should approach each with an unbreakable combination of facts and kindness. Otherwise, they are not truly working to improve physical or mental health. If the rage present in society is any indication, ignoring the truth will only make things worse for everyone.
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Kimberly Ross (
@SouthernKeeks
) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
