Researchers argue ‘rapid onset gender dysphoria’ does exist, despite narrative against it

Although many transgender activists argue that gender dysphoria is innate or even biological to justify medical transitions in children, adolescent girls who identify as transgender The surge has drawn the attention of researchers who say people may be experiencing “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”

Manhattan Institute Fellow Leor Sapir, along with researchers Lisa Littman and Michael Biggs, letter Last year, the academic journal Archives of Sexual Behavior criticized a study conducted by Jack Turban, an adolescent psychiatrist at the University of California.

turban published research In March 2023, based on 2015 survey data called US transgender surveyIn it, he claims to have found evidence for “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), the idea that young people who have no prior experience of gender troubles experience gender confusion. There is.

Turban and his team believe that what may seem like a sudden onset of gender dysphoria or transgender identity to parents is actually a delayed manifestation of a previously formed trans identity or internalized gender issues. They claimed that they believe that this, in turn, negates the existence of ROGD. .

“The main argument against ROGD is that when parents say, “My child suddenly came out as transgender at 14 years old, and it was sudden…” activists say, “No, no, my child “She always knew she was transgender, but she kept it a secret from her parents for years and only revealed it when she was 14,” Sapir told Fox News Digital. told.

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“This, coupled with other claims that transgender identity is innate and perhaps biological, in turn justifies an entire medical approach to treating gender-related distress in children. “It will be,” he added.

Sapir and his fellow researchers have reviewed the data that Turban analyzed to formulate his hypothesis, and believe the study can refute his assertion that transgender identity is innate. They claim that this shows that what is true and possibly biological is not actually true. .

Lisa Littman, a physician and researcher who collaborated with Sapir on a letter to the editor mentioning Turban’s research, published three hypotheses about ROGD in 2018.

First, she argued that it is a relatively new phenomenon for adolescents and young adults who have not experienced gender issues in childhood to develop gender dysphoria or transgender identity. Second, many teenagers and young adults who identify as transgender have gender issues related to conditions such as autism or ongoing mental health issues that make them aware of being transgender. She said she uses it as a coping mechanism to make sense of psychological distress. Third, she argued that gender dysphoria is often the result of peer pressure and social contagion.

“I think it’s important to understand why the transgender movement rejects RODG so adamantly. The reason is that, at least in the United States, activists believe that being transgender is innate and cannot change. Because we place a lot of importance on the idea of ​​what you get,” Sapir said. “It’s something that comes from within you and you can’t control it. You’re born that way, so to speak. As you can probably tell, this story is about justifying medical conversion, especially for minors. It is essential as a basis for doing so.”

“So the suggestion that transgender identity can be caused by something other than this kind of immutable essence within us, because it suggests that transgender identity is not real. , which must be summarily rejected, is a mental shortcut to dealing with transgender identity and other issues, he added.

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Based on research and data from gender clinics in the United States and abroad, Dr. Sapir said the clinical presentation of patients with symptoms associated with ROGD is more common in adolescent women, who have higher rates of mental health problems. He said he could see it.

“It wasn’t until the late 2000s that this demographic began to attract the attention of adolescent medicine and mental health clinics, and it wasn’t until the mid-2010s that it really started to increase among teenagers.” said. “This is a survey of adults conducted in 2015, and the first thing that struck me was that this survey is so outdated. How can it be used to shed light on the phenomenon among teenagers of the time?”

A protester holds a placard outside the Kansas State Capitol after a rally for transgender rights on Transgender Visibility Day, March 31, 2023. (AP Photo/John Hannah)

Additionally, Sapir noted that respondents must currently “identify as transgender” to participate in the survey, so if a person identified as transgender as a teenager, but was 18 years old He explained that those who stopped doing so by then will be automatically excluded.

“While ROGD does not necessarily involve gender reassignment or detransition, it is certainly possible that people who identify as transgender due to social pressure may no longer do so by the time they reach maturity,” he said. Stated.

“People who were in their 40s and 50s in 2015 were not yet teenagers when social media emerged and the transgender movement began to gain national attention,” he added.

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Sapir believes Turban’s research is not a good source of accurate information about transgender youth, but newspapers and journalistsIt’s always amplifying.” He gave his opinion as an expert in their work. He also said activists view many medical journals regarding transgender discussions as ideological.

“Most of them were handed over to be captured by ideologues,” he said. “For people who haven’t seen this up close, who haven’t worked in this field, who haven’t followed this discussion or read the literature… it’s very conspiratorial to say that activists have taken over all these organizations. It sounds cliché, but it’s true,” he said. “When you look at what kind of research gets published, what gets rejected, and how broken the peer review process is, the kinds of mistakes that are tolerated in that process are astonishing.”

A transgender rights advocate holds a sign outside the Ohio Statehouse during a rally. (Stephen Zenner/SOPA Images/LightRocket, Getty Images)

He argued that research is currently driven by the narratives that scholars seek to prove and promote.

“We sent an abridged version to the journal that published Mr. Turban’s paper, the Journal of Adolescent Health, and they immediately rejected it,” he said. “When our letter came out and I posted it on It’s incredible.”

Thor D. Berg, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Adolescent Health (JAH), told FOX News Digital that while the paper does not comment on rejections or letters to editors of other journals, “JAH is no longer available. “I don’t use Twitter,” he added. , so I don’t know what Leoa Sapir is saying there. ”

However, Sapir shared a screenshot of her account showing that it was blocked by JAH’s X account.

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Mr. Turban did not respond to requests for comment.