## Gender Identity Disorder: child abuse in a modern medical trend

When we read headlines or hear news stories about cultures in the world that allow the girls to have their genitalia butchered, or boys’ scrotums are forcefully squeezed daily, or girl babies are aborted or sold, or girls and boys are kidnapped for labor or sex trades, we’re disgusted at the news and think how awful it would be to live in societies that allow such things. And yet, the so-called civilized world, including the United States and other western civilizations, equally engage in barbaric practices on children. All under the guise of medical progress.

I’m referring to the highly controversial issue of chemical and surgical sex-change treatment for children. With all of the horrific mistakes the medical field has seen throughout history, haven’t they learned yet that just because something can be done does not mean it _**should** _be done?

The human brain does not fully mature until around 25-years-old. And yet, parents, under the encouragement of agenda-pushing medical and psychiatric professionals, make life-changing decisions for their children (as early as 2-years-old), on the basis that their child claims they are, or want to be, the opposite sex.

Most individuals, at some point during their childhood, wonder what it would be like to be the opposite sex. A large percentage of these people even fixate on the possibility of being the opposite sex; especially if they are going through a tough period. Or, if they perceive the traditional roles and treatment of one sex being better than the other.

For instance, a female I know vividly recalls how she and her sisters had to do far more chores than their brothers. And she clearly remembers wishing she was a boy. In fact, she had those thoughts from a young age until puberty. But once her body began to change those thoughts disappeared, and she’s been happy to be a female ever since.

It is impossible for a child to fully comprehend the consequences and life-changing ramifications of changing their sex. And when the average adult mistakenly believes sex and gender are the same thing, instead of having entirely different definitions, how do parents and medical professionals honestly believe children can make such life-changing decisions?

Two experts in the field at Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence S. Mayer and Paul McHugh, wrote a 143-page report that expressed their “alarm at the developing trend in the United States of parents declaring their children to be transgendered and subjecting the child to hormonal treatments, behavioral adjustments and surgery.”

They equally suggest no one can determine the gender identity of such young children (like the 2-4-year-olds being mentioned in articles now). And along with believing scientists have no real understanding of what it means “for a child to have a developed sense of his or her gender,” they are extremely alarmed that the “therapies, treatments, and surgeries seem disproportionate to the severity of the distress being experienced” by the children, and are “premature since the majority who identify as the gender opposite their biological sex will not continue to do so as adults.” Plus, they stress that there is a lack of reliable studies on the prolonged effects of these interventions.

While Mayer and McHugh strongly caution against such therapies, treatments, and surgeries, other medical professionals push the trend.

Dr. Norman Spack, director of one of the nation’s first gender identity clinics, at Children’s Hospital Boston, says, “Switching gender roles and occasionally pretending to be the opposite sex is common in young children. But these kids are different. They feel certain they were born with the wrong bodies.”

The trend shows a growing number of these children are being labeled with **_gender identity disorder_** , a psychiatric diagnosis.

Dr. Margaret Moon, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics bioethics committee, says, “Offering sex-change treatment to kids younger than 18 raises ethical concerns, and their parents’ motives need to be closely examined.”

Moon further claims, “Some kids may get a psychiatric diagnosis when they are just hugely uncomfortable with narrowly defined gender roles; or some may be gay and are coerced into treatment by parents more comfortable with a sex-change than having a homosexual child.”

Regarding parental motives: while I believe most of these parents’ want to do what’s right for their children they, unfortunately, buy into the PC, societal, and medical trends.

However, there are instances where parents have played on the publicity surrounding the issue: subjecting their children to life-changing therapies and treatments for personal gain.

There is at least one instance where siblings playing a practical joke convinced a young sister to keep claiming she was a boy or she would be kicked out of the family. And the parents bought it and put her into therapy (which was discontinued after the siblings confessed).

Isn’t it interesting that while Moon suggests the parents’ motives be closely examined, no one suggests the medical professionals’ motives be examined. After all, the entire history of medicine is littered with both unethical and immoral practices. Everything from graverobbing to drug dealing, double-billing to unnecessary surgeries, and malpractice to murder have made headlines in the medical field.

Some people may point out that the medical professionals are treating gender identity disorder quite differently than similar disorders.

An individual with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) mistakenly believes they are ugly. A female with anorexia nervosa (AN) mistakenly believes she is obese. An individual with body integrity identity disorder (BIID) mistakenly believes they are a disabled person trapped in a fully functioning body: some even seek surgical amputation of healthy limbs, or attempt to get their spines severed.

You do not see the medical and psychiatric professionals lining up for the “Trend Train” to fulfill the mistaken beliefs of those with BDD, AN, or BIID. So, why are so many hopping on board the “Transgender Trend Train?”

Can the prospect of creating an entire class of life-long patients be tempting? After all, we already see them going after children as young as 2-years-old. And once they have been indoctrinated through the alleged counseling to “accept” themselves as the opposite sex, they will be on puberty blocking drugs for several years, followed by sex-changing hormonal treatment for the rest of their lives (with or without the sex-change surgery). And greed has proven to be a powerful motivator throughout the history of medicine.

There are other medical and psychiatric professionals who are tempted more by the prestige of being on the cutting edge of the medical trend. They have new methods and they want to use them. And it clouds their minds to the moral and ethical issues regarding such life altering changes to children as young as 2-years-old.

Let’s look at Spack’s claim. He claims, the GID children “feel certain they were born with the wrong bodies.” Now, let’s recall that the human brain doesn’t fully mature until around age twenty-five; and at the age many of these kids are now being asked they are just as equally **_certain_ **that Santa Claus and Bugs Bunny are real, and when people die they simply brush themselves off and keep going like in the cartoons.

It is literally impossible for these kids to fully comprehend the life-long ramifications and consequences surrounding such a major decision.

Spack along with other trend pushing doctors, claim there is emerging research that suggests these children may have brain differences similar to the opposite sex.

Most of the alleged research involves brain imaging, but it’s flawed since the imaging is only done on the subjects (GID kids) after they’ve begun the therapies and treatments.

During my training in psychology I became familiar with the term **_neuroplasticity_**. Neuroplasticity is the capacity of the human brain to change in response to individual experience (including gained knowledge). Simply put, the brain image before an extended period of therapy and treatment is going to look different than the brain functions after the therapy and treatment.

In other words, the alleged emerging research Spack refers to does not prove cause and effect. It may show similar brain functions to the opposite sex, but since the images were taken after therapy and treatment, the therapy and treatment to “accept” themselves as the opposite sex can just as easily be the cause and effect for the change.

I’m equally sure that some of the medical professionals honestly think they are doing the right thing. They are humanists pushing the progressive agenda, with the alleged belief that if the GID kids are encouraged to “accept” their mistaken belief it will help them reach their “true potential.” Unfortunately, good intentions will never transform barbaric practices into something positive.

Remember my favorite Alpha quote: Intelligence without common sense is nonsense.

It doesn’t matter what excuses parents and medical professionals use to convince themselves that it’s okay to use behavior modification, drug treatments, and sex-changing surgery on anyone under the legal age (while the child is incapable of making such decisions)—it’s still wrong! And it will always be morally and ethically wrong; just like it’s wrong to mutilate female genitalia, and the other barbaric practices mentioned earlier.

Unfortunately, money talks, which is why trafficking of kids continues in the sex trade. And with the clear prospect of manufacturing life-long patients that can fund trendy new clinics and make careers, there will be no shortage of medical professionals hopping on board the “Transgender Trend Train.” And the child abuse under the guise of medicine will continue to build momentum.

## The lesser of evils

**[An Op-Ed piece: not our standard fare.]**

America will continue to decline in all areas as long as the collective social mentality keeps voting on the lesser of evils based on sound bytes instead of sound minds.

Throughout America the best leaders and employees are those with integrity, dignity, honesty, are not self-serving, they work well with others, plus they work hard and get the job done. But this society continually sends the exact opposite to the final political ballots in each party.

The media continues to bombard the nation with the candidates that they can get the most press from; the big names, big money, big egos, big mouths, big scandals, big controversy, with the biggest claims, and outright biggest liars. The most selfish, self-centered political puppets party politics can buy. Status Quo—which is why nothing changes, and nothing ever really gets done.

The party politicians, _**on every side**_ , spend their terms wasting time fighting each other in press seeking grandstand moves. Not one of them care about this country or the people. If they did they wouldn’t act like infantile children bickering on the playground. They would settle their differences like mature adults, or at least put them on the shelf until the next election in order to get things done during their time in office.

How long will it take before _**we the people**_ get fed up with the status quo? How long before we get tired of the power elite politics with _**every party** _using the closed-door money deals? How long before we have to stop choosing between the lesser of evils because we can’t get a decent candidate on the final ballots? Or at least one that’s not bought and paid for by the one-percenters—the political puppet masters behind the scenes.

In other words, how long before _**we demand**_ the system goes back to _**a government of the people, by the people, for the people?**_

**PS:** As a disabled vet, I am appalled for having shed blood for a country that has become so corrupted that it no longer cares about the people anymore. Not one party, not a single politician will put the country/the people above their own greed.