Rapid-onset gender dysphoria controversy

Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is a scientifically unsupported hypothesis that claims some young people experience gender dysphoria because of peer influence. No major professional associations recognize ROGD as a valid diagnosis due to lack of evidence, methodological issues in exiting research, and stigmatization of care for transgender youth.Broderick, Timmy (August 24, 2023). "Evidence Undermines 'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria' Claims". Scientific American. Retrieved 2024-02-13."ROGD Statement". Coalition for the Advancement & Application of Psychological Science. 26 July 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021
In 2021, the American Psychological Association and 61 other healthcare associations signed a letter supporting the elimination of the term.CAAPS Position Statement on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), Coalition for the Advancement & Application of Psychological Science
==History==
Lisa Littman proposed ROGD as a gender dysphoria subtype in 2018. Littman surveyed parents recruited from anti-trans websites.Kesslen, Ben (August 18, 2022). "How the idea of a "transgender contagion" went viral—and caused untold harm". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022. The paper was revised with a correction issued that ROGD has not been clinically validated. Despite the flaws in the research, the anti-trans agenda has often used the paper as ammunition to restrict the rights of transgender people to medical care.
A retracted 2023 study recruited parents who believed their children had ROGD. These parents, who tended to express reluctance to accept their transgender children's identities, claimed that transition had been bad for their children.Diaz, S., Bailey, J.M. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible Cases. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1031–1043 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02576-9 The paper's authors disagreed with the retraction.Retraction Note: Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible Cases
==Evidence==
"It is not rapid-onset gender dysphoria. It’s rapid-onset parental discovery." Diane Ehrensaft, director of mental health at the University of California, San Francisco, Child and Adolescent Gender CenterExperts have described ROGD to be "junk science."How Junk Science Is Being Used against Trans Kids, Scientific AmericanWhy ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’ is bad science, The Conversation
A Canadian study examined the validity of ROGD. It found that over 98% of youths asking for hormone suppression or replacement had known they were transgender for at least 1 year. In fact, anxiety was higher in those who had gone longer without treatment. There was no evidence found supporting ROGD.Do Clinical Data from Transgender Adolescents Support the Phenomenon of “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria”?
The higher rates of bullying victimization for trans youth compared to cisgender LGB youth, and substantial amount of trans youth who also identify as LGB, contradicts the claim that LGB youth may choose to transition to avoid homophobia.Turban, Jack L.; Dolotina, Brett L.; King, Dana (August 3, 2022). "Sex Assigned at Birth Ratio Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents in the United States". Pediatrics. 150 (3). doi:10.1542/peds.2022-056567. PMID 35918512. S2CID 251282056.
== See also ==
* Gender Dysphoria and Transgender/Nonbinary Identities
* Gender Identity Disorder
* Ego dystonic homosexuality
== References ==
Category:2010s
Category:2020s
Category:LGBTQIA+
Category:Controversies