Trans People in Sports

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5357259/
• Meta-analysis covering prior research on trans individuals’ performance in sports and preexisting sports policies concerning trans people
• Findings show there is no consistent or direct research indicating transgender women have an unfair athletic advantage at any stage of their transition.
• Additional findings show most sports policies are not evidence-based and trans individuals experience substantial discrimination from sports institutions.

Medical Consensus

An incomplete list of the reputable scientific & social organizations which affirm the validity of transgender people (that transness is not an illness, that trans people are deseving of respect and equal rights, etc). This also serves as a list of the institutions which recognize the difference between sex and gender.

• American Psychological Association
• American Medical Association
• American Psychoanalytic Association
• Human Rights Campaign
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• United Nations
• United Kingdom’s National Health Service

The following organizations have also made public statements expressing support for transgender people, the detials and citations of which are compiled by Transcend Legal

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Academy of Nursing
• American College of Nurse-Midwives
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Physicians
• American Counseling Association
• American Osteopathic Association
• American Psychiatric Association
• American Public Health Association
• Endocrine Society
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Commission on Correctional Health Care
• World Medical Association

READ MORE:

• American Psychological Association
• World Health Organization
• Stanford Medical
• American Pediatrics Association
• National Institutes of Health
• [Canadian Institute of Health Research](http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48642.html
• Scientific American
• American Psychiatric Association
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Medical Transition

Medical transition decreases dysphoria, suicide attempts, and improves depression and anxiety

• Cornell University

• ENORMOUS meta-analysis on transgender people and the effect gender transition has on their mental health

• Of 56 studies, 52 indicated transitioning has a positive effect on the mental health of transgender people and 4 indicated it had mixed or no results.

• ZERO studies indicated gender transitioning has negative results

• This pretty much ends the argument right here.

• Murad et al. 10

• Meta-analysis of 28 studies on transition and hormones

• Sex reassignment/hormonal improvements:

• 80% of individuals reported significant improvement in dysphoria

• 78% of individuals reported significant improvement in psychological symptoms

• 72% of individuals reported significant improvement in sexual function

• Positive results across the board, EVEN IN 15-YEAR FOLLOWUPS

• Lower quality evidence, see methodology. Still significant and helpful findings regardless.

• Vries et al. 14

• Longitudinal study on the effectiveness of puberty suppression, hormones, and later sex reassignment surgery on trans individuals in improving mental outcomes

• Unambiguously positive results - results indicate puberty suppression, support of medical professionals & SRS have markedly beneficial outcomes to trans individuals’ mental health and productivity.

• These indicators were “similar to or better than same-age young adults from the general population”

• The Endocrine Society 15

• “A new study has confirmed that transgender youth often have mental health problems and that their depression and anxiety improve greatly with recognition and treatment of gender dysphoria”

• Nobili 18

• Longitudinal meta-analysis which indicates transgender people have a lower quality of life than the general population.

• However, that quality of life raises dramatically with ‘Gender Affirming Treatment’, the nature of which is detailed extensively in-text.

• WIP

• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23553588_Long-term_Assessment_of_the_Physical_Mental_and_Sexual_Health_among_Transsexual_Women

• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-014-0453-5

Social Transition

Social transition improves depression, anxiety, and psychological function

• Journal of Adolescent Health: Connolly et al. 16

• Analyzes consensus on the effectiveness of social transition

• “Gender-affirming medical therapy and supported social transition in childhood have been shown to correlate with improved psychological functioning for gender-variant children and adolescents.”

• American Academy of Pediatrics: Olson et al. 16

• Socially transitioned transgender children who are supported in their gender identity have:

• Normative levels of depression

• Minimal elevations in anxiety

• Lower rates of internalizing psychopathology (a spectrum of conditions characterized by negative emotion) then non-socially transitioned people

• Trujillo et al. 17

• Helping trans individuals cope with harassment and rejection, particularly by drawing on social support, may promote better mental health, which could help reduce suicidality in this population.

• Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Durwood et al. 17

• Children who socially transition report levels of depression and anxiety which closely match levels reported by cisgender children, indicating social transition massively decreases the risk factor of both.

Puberty Blockers

Puberty blockers are safe, well-studied, completely reversible, endorsed by credible medical and endocrinological associations, and effective at reducing dysphoria, anxiety, and depression.

• Public Broadcasting Service News: Korry 16

• Everything you need to know about puberty blockers

• Full-blown puberty is irreversible

• Taking a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist, secretion of the sex hormones can be stopped and the onset of puberty suppressed, so that the body does not develop secondary sex characteristics

• This has been done safely for decades to suppress sex hormones in children who develop too early, a condition known as precocious puberty. Suppressors have also been used to treat endometriosis, uterine fibroids and prostate cancer.

• It was only in 2008 that the Endocrine Society approved puberty suppressors as a treatment for transgender adolescents as young as 12 years old. The Society, with members in more than 100 countries, has since declared that the intervention appears to be safe and effective.  In 2011 the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), also issued Standards of Care for the treatment of patients with gender dysphoria, which include puberty suppression.

• Vries et a. 14

• Smaller Dutch study on puberty blockers

• All 55 participants were on par with or better than others their age when it came to things like anxiety, depression and body image, and none of them expressed regret as adults about their transitions or the choice to delay puberty.

• Since puberty suppression is a fully reversible medical intervention, it provides adolescents and their families with time to explore their gender dysphoric feelings, and [to] make a more definite decision regarding the first steps of actual gender reassignment treatment at a later age

• Human Rights Campaign et al. 16

• BIG report on trans youth and transition

• Endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, American Academy of Pediatrics & the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians which affirms the validity of transgender youth, encourages appropriate care and respect for their transness and provides resouces on how to do so.

• Outlines TYPES OF TRANSITION: hormone blockers are the ONLY treatment used on adolescents and are COMPLETELY reversible.

• 

• International Journal of Transgender Health 2020

• Key finding is “that provision of puberty delaying medications

to adolescents with gender dysphoria is not experimental,

• Hormone blockers are not new

• “Since the mid 1990s, puberty delaying medications have been prescribed to some adolescents (not prepubertal children) with severe and persistent gender dysphoria, in cases in which such distress was aggravated by pubertal development.”

• “The Royal College of Psychiatrists, in 1998, recommended delaying puberty in young adolescents who experienced  strong and persistent ‘cross-sex  identification’ and distress around the physical body that intensifies with the onset of puberty.”

• “Puberty blockers are not ‘novel' treatment. They were recommended by prominent bodies of medical opinion in the UK and internationally over two decades ago, and have thus been part of standard medical treatment for many years.”

• “GnRHa has been used in the treatment of gender dysphoria since the mid 1990s, and their efficacy in delaying puberty in adolescents is documented by numerous studies and scientific publications” (21 scientific studies are then listed)

• Karalexi et al. 20

• Study on the cognitive side-effects of puberty blockers

• “Current evidence does not support an adverse impact of gender-affirming hormone therapy on cognitive performance in birth-assigned either male or female transgender individuals”

• “An enhanced effect on visuospatial ability following post-pubertal hormone therapy was shown in assigned females”

• “Pooling data from cross-sectional studies showed a higher performance in verbal working memory in treated assigned males”

• Endocrine Society Guidelines: Hebree et al 17

• A clinical practice guideline for puberty blockers

• “Puberty suppression typically relives distress for trans adolescents by halting progression of physical changes such as breast growth in trans males and voice deepening in trans females and is reversible in its effects”

• “Puberty suppression medication is reversible”

• Giordano et al. 20

• Article on why puberty blockers are prescribed and whether or not they are experimental.

• “Puberty delaying medications are currently provided off label to adolescents affected by gender dysphoria and this particular use cannot be investigated by a RCT. We have shown that this does not mean they are experimental drugs or are provided experimentally. Whether or not these (or even approved drugs) are ethically prescribed depends on whether they are likely to serve the patient’s health interests based on the evidence available at the time of prescription.”

• Turban et al. 20

• Study on the long-term outcomes of puberty suppression

• “Pubertal suppression for transgender adolescents who want this treatment is associated with favorable mental health outcomes.”

• “Those who received treatment with pubertal suppression, when compared with those who wanted pubertal suppression but did not receive it, had lower odds of lifetime suicidal ideation”

• “Growing evidence base suggesting that gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is associated with superior mental health outcomes in adulthood.”

Common Puberty Blocker Myths

1. CLAIM: “Blockers are harmful to bone density”

The Endocrine Society found that medical intervention in transgender adolescents appears to be safe and effective and that hormone treatment to halt puberty in adolescents with gender identity disorder does not cause lasting harm to their bones. These findings have been found in more recent studies, too.

2. CLAIM: “Young people wouldn’t want to take puberty blockers if they knew the risks”

Vrouenraets et al. 16 found that the few negative effects of puberty blockers do not change children’s minds and most adolescents stated that the lack of long-term data did not and would not stop them from wanting puberty suppression. They said that being happy in life was more important for them than any possible negative long-term consequence of puberty suppression.

3. CLAIM: “Puberty blockers will give trans kids osteoporosis and make them sterile”

Heger et al. 99 found that long term puberty blocker treatment of precocious puberty girls preserved genetic height potential and improved FH significantly combined with normal body proportions. No negative effect on bone mineral density and reproductive function was seen.

4. CLAIM: “Children are too young to know they are trans and are pushed to take blockers by parents / social media / peer pressure”

There are multiple accounts by parents and older trans people who observe that they/their child knew that they were transgender from a young age – Here is one such account and another article explaining how transgender kids aren’t rushed into transitioning

5. CLAIM: “It is not ethical to give puberty blockers to transgender children”

Focusing strictly on the ethicality of puberty blockers, Giordano argues that the general improved quality of life, including substantially reduced risk of suicide, outweighs the ethical considerations of disrupting puberty. Puberty blockers can be used to relieve stress from a patient and give them more time to get an accurate diagnosis of the situation, as was the case here - certainly more ethical to go forward with an accurate diagnosis than without one.

Discimination, Bullying, & Suicide

Suicidality is heavily influenced by bullying, discrimination, and poor treatment. Suicide attempt rates are also far higher among individuals who experience substantial discrimination or harrassment. The 40% suicide rate statistic is inaccurate.

• National Transgender Discrimination Survey: Grant et al. 11

• 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population

• These rates rose for those who:

• lost a job due to bias (55%)

• were harassed/bullied in school (51%)

• had low household income

• were the victim of physical assault (61%)

• were the victim or sexual assault (64%)

• Virupaksha et al. 16

• Broad meta-analysis of 21 studies on the trans suicide attempt rate (it’s quite high).

• The suicide ATTEMPT rate ranges from 32% to 50% across countries

• The following were found to have an impact on the suicide attempt rate

• Gender-based victimization

• Discrimination

• Bullying

• Violence

• being rejected by the family, friends, and community

• harassment by intimate partner, family members, police and public

• discrimination and ill treatment at health-care system

• Zeluf 18

• Swedish study on trans sucide prevention

• 37% of respondents reported that they have seriously considered suicide during the past 12 months and 32% had ever attempted a suicide

• Suicide ideation is assiated with:

• Offensive treatment

• lifetime exposure to trans-related violence

• less satisfaction with contacts with friends and acquaintances and with one's own psychological wellbeing

• lack of practical support

• Williams Institute: Haas et al. 14

• Massive demographic analysis which codifies the many social & institutional factors which contribute to trans suicide rates

• Prevalence of suicide attempts is elevated among those who:

• disclose to everyone that they are transgender or gender-non-conforming (50%)

• among those that report others can tell always (42%) or most of the time (45%) that they are transgender or gender non-conforming

• The suicide attempt rate was associated with mental health factors and experiences of:

• Harassment

• Discrimination

• Violence

• Rejection

• [Video] Socialism Done Left: a good video debunking the 40% suicide statistic

• 40% statistic comes from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, which says that 40% of respondents have ATTEMPTED suicide in their lifetime. Attempting suicide is not the same as having a successful suicide though, which is why the 40% statistic as it is commonly used is misleading

• European Union LGBT Survey 13

• LGBT folks’ self-reported perceptions of discrimination

• Regarding trans people, finds high levels of perceived discrimination across the board, including:

• 46% felt discriminated against or harassed within the past year for being trans

• 29% felt discriminated against when it came to looking for employment

• 70% hid being trans during schooling before becoming 18 years old

• 55% had an incident of violence within the past year in part or whole because of them being trans

• WIP

• http://www.pfc.org.uk/pdf/EngenderedPenalties.pdf

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2016.1142495

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19361653.2014.910483

Transgender People are Valid

• Forward - an incomplete list of the reputable scientific & social organizations which affirm the validity of transgender people (that transness is not an illness, that trans people are deseving of respect and equal rights, etc). This also serves as a list of the institutions which recognize the difference between sex and gender.

• American Psychological Association

• American Medical Association

• American Psychoanalytic Association

• Human Rights Campaign

• American Academy of Pediatrics

• American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians

• United Nations

• United Kingdom’s National Health Service

• https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender

• American Psychological Association pamphlet on transgender issues

• Affirms psychological consensus - that transgender people are valid, have existed throughout history, are subject to discrimination, and that transness is not a mental disorder.

• https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-gender-identity.pdf

• A 2008 Gender Identity Resolution by the American Psychological Association which expands upon the premises listed in the annotation above and supports total equality for transgender people - affirmation of the institutional legitimacy of transness in psychology.

• https://www.apa.org/about/policy/orientation-diversity

• Identical to the above, essentially, except pertaining to trans and gender-nonconforming youth.

• https://www.apa.org/about/policy/booklet.pdf

• Booklet on LGBTQ issues from the American Psychological Association, outlining their policy and attitudes towards aforementioned communities.

• Expressly positive.

• https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf

• Human Rights Campaign document published with the American Academy of Pediatrics & the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians which affirms the validity of transgender youth, encourages appropriate care and respect for their transness and provides resouces on how to do so.

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/

• The UK’s National Health Service report on gender dysphoria, which affirms the validity of trans people and discusses ways in which gender dysphoria can be alleviated, the best of which is said to often be social and physical transition.

• http://www.apsa.org/content/2012-position-statement-attempts-change-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-or-gender

• The American Psychoanalytic Association’s statement on gender identity, in which transness is validated, social stigma against transgender people is cited as a serious cause of harm and ‘reparative therapy’ - attempts to suppress one’s transness and force them to live as the gender they were assigned at birth - is medically invalid.

• https://time.com/5596845/world-health-organization-transgender-identity/

• The World Health Organization recently stopped classifying transness as a mental disorder.

• https://www.babcp.com/files/About/Press/Memorandum-of-Understanding-on-Conversion-Therapy-in-the-UK.pdf

• Multilateral condemnation of ‘conversion therapy’ from essentially every medical institution in the United Kingdom, with reasons provided.

• https://www.unfe.org/about/

• Transphobia? The United Nations says no.

Gender Transition has a Positive Effect on Trans People

• https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/

• ENORMOUS meta-meta-analysis on transgender people and the effect gender transition has on their mental health

• Of 56 studies, 52 indicated transitioning has a positive effect on the mental health of transgender people and 4 indicated it had mixed or no results.

• ZERO studies indicated gender transitioning has negative results

• This pretty much ends the argument right here.

• https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/4/696

• Longitudinal study on the effectiveness of puberty suppression & sex reassignment surgery on trans individuals in improving mental outcomes

• Unambiguously positive results - results indicate puberty suppression, support of medical professionals & SRS have markedly beneficial outcomes to trans individuals’ mental health and productivity.

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03625.x

• Meta-analysis of studies concerning individuals who underwent sex reassignment surgery

• 80% of individuals reported significant improvement in dysphoria

• 78% of individuals reported significant improvement in psychological symptoms

• 72% of individuals reported significant improvement in sexual function

• https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext

• Children who socially transition report levels of depression and anxiety which closely match levels reported by cisgender children, indicating social transition massively decreases the risk factor of both.

• https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-03/tes-sdc030615.php

• “A new study has confirmed that transgender youth often have mental health problems and that their depression and anxiety improve greatly with recognition and treatment of gender dysphoria”

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223813/

• Longitudinal study which indicates transgender people have a lower quality of life than the general population.

• However, that quality of life raises dramatically with ‘Gender Affirming Treatment’, the nature of which is detailed extensively in-text.

• https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/SOC%20v7/Standards%20of%20Care_V7%20Full%20Book_English.pdf

• Extensive and incredibly interesting document on the standards of care for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals.

• A good read, but won’t win you any arguments.

Family Support

Family support decreases suicide attempts and drug usage

• Klein and Golub 16 (non-paywall)

• Family rejection linked to suicide, drug use, and overall detriments to health

• To cope with transgender-related discrimination:

• 42.3% of the sample reported a suicide attempt

• 26.3% reported misusing drugs or alcohol

• “After controlling for age, race/ethnicity, sex assigned at birth, binary gender identity, income, education, and employment status, family rejection was associated with increased odds of both behaviors. Odds increased significantly with increasing levels of family rejection.”

• Cornell University

• A META-ANALYSIS of 42 peer-reviewed studies that analyzed the links between family support and the health and well-being of LGBT youth

• 25 studies found that accepting behavior by parents toward their children’s sexual orientation or gender identity is linked to the health and well-being of LGBT youth.

• The other 17 studies found that family support in general (i.e. not necessarily in response to children’s sexual orientation or gender identity) is linked to the health and well-being of LGBT youth.

• Trans PULSE (subsidiary of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

• From Ontario (not international scope) but academically credible and VERY widely cited

• Analysis of the ways in which parental support affect elements of disadvantage experienced by transgender youth.

• Strong parental support decreases the likelihood of a suicide attempt within the past year from 57% to just 4%.

• WIP

• https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/2018-YouthReport-NoVid.pdf

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3722435/

Chosen Name Usage

The use of trans people’s chosen name decreases suicide ideation, severe depression, and suicide attempts

• Journal of Adolescent Health: Russell ST, et al. 18

• Compared to those without chosen name usage, trans people with chosen name usage experienced:

• 71% drop in severe depression

• 34% drop suicidal ideation

• 65% drop in suicide attempts

Bathroom Bills

Evidence for the public safety argument in regards to bathroom bills is unsubstantiated in data.

• Hasenbush et al. 19

• Analysis of crime & privacy violations as they relate to concerns raised by those who advocate for ‘trans bathroom bills’

• Analysis indicates there is no empirical evidence to support these concerns; such crimes & privacy violations are exceedingly rare.

• Calls for trans bathroom bills are fearmongering, plain and simple.

• Bianco 15

• Zero reported cases of transgender people harrassing cisgender people in the bathroom, according to multiple organizations

• Experts agree that bathroom bills are unsubstantiated and driven by fearmongering

• Suggests that bathroom bills perpetuate violence against transgender people by placing them in discriminatory situations

• British Social Attitudes: Swales & Attar Taylor 17

• Regardless of baseless fear mongering, most people in the UK are fine with transitioned transgenders using the restroom of their gender - "Women tend to be more comfortable with this than men, with 72% of women saying they are “very” or “quite comfortable” with a transgender woman using a female toilet, compared with 64% of men saying they are comfortable with a transgender man using male toilets. Around 1 in 6 (14% of women, and 15% of men) say they are not comfortable with this." (pg 14)

• This one excludes the "Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable" answer which was another 14% from the 2017 survey

• Media Matters: Percelay 15

• Non-academic source with liberal leanings; nonetheless legitimate findings

• Organization contacted officials at the largest school districts in 12 states with gender identity protections on the books

• School districts were asked if there were “any incidences of harassment or inappropriate behavior” as a result of “allowing transgender students to access facilities they're comfortable with.”

• 0 school districts (which represent over 600,000 students) have had any increase incidents of harassment or inappropriate behavior after the law passed

Specific Debunks:

• Colorado high school incident - claimed that a trans woman was harassing other girls in a high school bathroom

• Debunk - an interview with the school’s superintendent confirms that this never happened

• Joey Salads experiment - Salads dresses up how he thinks a trans woman would, and goes into a women’s restroom, receiving negative responses from others in the scene

• [Video] Debunk - Salads misrepresented the behaviour of trans women and used a single-person restroom, so his whole experiment was probably staged. A replication of the experiment got no negative responses from others in the scene

• Dallas incident - Trans women allegedly taking photos of children in women’s restrooms

• Debunk - the website’s about page says “And here we are today, to bring you nothing but pure horse shit... This should go without saying, but everything on this website is purely for entertainment purposes. We are in no way affiliated, or trying to look like we are affiliated with any local news station.”

• Steven Crowder experiment - Crowder dresses up how he thinks a trans woman would, and goes into a planet fitness

• Debunk - Former Right-Winger Hunter Avallone debunks all of Stevens Attempts to be transphobic

Logical Argumentations:

• If a male at birth wanted to use the bathroom as an excuse to rape women, he doesn't have to fake being a woman to go in there. The law won't physically prevent him from going in there.

• Rape and sexual harassment are already illegal, so if your primary concern is women being sexually harassed or raped by men in the bathroom, then there's already laws to address your concerns.

Depiction in Media

Trans and LGBT people are generally depicted either negatively or in shallow, stereotypical ways.

• Colorado State University: Matthews 16

• Interesting (and long) qualitative analysis on the depiction of transgender people in Sports Illustrated over past decades.

• Finds disproportionately negative depictions (of course).

• McInroy 16

• Finds that LGBT folk are usually depicted in media in stereotypical ways, which could limit their perception of their possible future

Sterilization

Forced sterilization is an obstacle faced by trans people internationally

• TGEU 18

• 16 countries in Europe & Central Asia still require sterilization before transgender peoples’ gender identity can be legally recognized

• This number was 24 countries in 2013

Trans Athletes

Trans athletes are at no significant advantage in athletics, especially since hormones reverse any strength discrepancies, yet face substantial discrimination in athletics.

• Jones et al. 17

• Meta-analysis covering prior research on trans individuals’ performance in sports and preexisting sports policies concerning trans people

• “There is no direct or consistent research suggesting transgender female individuals (or male individuals) have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition

• (includes cross-sex hormones, gender-confirming surgery)

• competitive sport policies that place restrictions on transgender people need to be considered and potentially revised.

• Additional findings show most sports policies are not evidence-based and trans individuals experience substantial discrimination from sports institutions.

• National Collegiate Athletic Association: Griffin et al. 10

• “Any athletic advantages a transgender girl or woman arguably may have as a result of her prior testosterone levels dissipate after about one year of estrogen evidence.”

• University of Leicester: Bethany et al. 16

• Study that notes how all earlier studies did not check trans women who have https://acleddata.com/2020/09/03/demonstrations-political-violence-in-america-new-data-for-summer-2020/been prescribed testosterone blockers which is now a common practice; indicates that the results of such studies cannot be used as proof that trans women have an advantage

• “The athletic advantage transgender athletes are perceived to have appears to have been overinterpreted by many sport organisations around the world, which has had a negative effect on the experiences of this population.”

• University of Leicester: Hargie et al. 15

• “It is primarily the lack of public understanding regarding transgender people that remains the greatest cause of their exclusion”, not some preceived advantage among athletes.

• The study found interconnecting themes among all its participants to substantiate the prominence of public exclusion:

• the impact of alienating sports experiences at school

• the intimidating nature of the changing room environment

• the fear of public space and how this drastically constrained their ability to engage in sport and physical activity

• the overall impact of their exclusion in terms of being denied the social, health and well-being aspects of sport

Gendered Behavior

At a young age, children learn and copy perceived gendered behavior, which in many cases leads to the limiting of children’s expression.

• Early Childhood Education Journal: Chick et al. 02

• Evaluation of a childcare facility suggests that gender role development is socially constructed and learned from birth.

• Aina and Cameron 11

• Gendered stereotypes were found to affect children’s perception of gender and appropriate behavior and proliferate through certain influences:

• Consumer products

• The Media

• Early childhood education

• Relationships with parents

• Lee 08

• A study of Korean immigrant girls and gender stereotypes

• Korean immigrant girls admired princesses based on beauty or singing voice while boys admired princes based on chivalry, courage, or actions. Combined with a tradition of female subservience in Korean culture, these young girls appeared to accept their disenfranchisement.

• Korean immigrant girls perceived that a woman could not be President of the United States because a classroom poster depicted all male presidents.

• Freedman 07

• Observed children between the ages of 3-5

• Children predicted parents would consistently apply these stereotypes as reflected by their approval or disapproval of children’s choices to play with gender stereotyped or cross-gender toys.

• As early as 3-5 years, children recognize stereotypes about gendered play and subconsciously account for social disapproval

• Saltmarsh 09

• One paper which details how children, from a young age, are subject to stereotyping and perceived gender differences, and the poststructuralist outlook

• WIP

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3169128/

They/Them Pronouns

Singular “they” is grammatically correct

• Grammarly - Mora 18

• They/Them Pronouns are academically approved

• As of 2019, most big style guides—including the Associated Press, the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA style manual, and the APA style manual—accept the usage of the singular they.

• Oxford English Dictionary

• Traces singular they back to 1375, demonstrating a large historical precedent.

• “They” is grammatically similar to “You,” which “was a plural pronoun that had become singular as well.”

Sex is Not Binary

Modern science endorses a bimodal model in its understanding of sex

• Scientific American: Montañez 17

• Graphic describing the many characteristics which factor into one's sexual identity.

• Helpful in indicating the ambiguous and bimodal nature of sex/responding to people who believes it’s as simple as XX/XY

• New York Times: Fausto-Sterling 18

• NY Times Op-Ed from a professor of biology & gender studies

• Explains the biological complexity of sex and the ways in which the Trump Administration’s attempts to legislate that complexity of existence are both immoral and unscientific.

• Legato 18

• Description of modern scientific attitudes towards human sex.

• “The view that the world’s population can be separated into a clearly defined dyadic unit of male and female is defunct; not only clinical observations, but molecular biology has established that sexual identity is on a continuum, with an enormous potential for variance”

• WIP

• https://www.who.int/genomics/gender/en/index1.html

Neurology

Some trans individuals neurologically reflect cisgender people of their desired gender, indicating a neurological component to their experiences. This suggests that gender has some biological basis, but not necessarily that gender is 100% biological. There’s obviously a sociological basis to gender and gender roles which complement its biological aspects.

• European Society of Endocrinology 18

• BRAIN SCANS show that (many) transgender inviduals neurologically reflect their identity, not their assigned gender at birth.

• The study included both adolescent boys and girls with gender dysphoria and used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to assess brain activation patterns in response to a pheromone known to produce gender-specific activity.

• The pattern of brain activation in both transgender adolescent boys and girls more closely resembled that of non-transgender boys and girls of their desired gender.

• Note: this is for more of a transmed-focused argument. Better as an “even if” arg since you shouldn’t need to prove a biological basis for transness since gender is a social category.

• WIP

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763415002432

Other studies which show brain differences (with care made to exclude studies with especially small sample sizes):

General Detransition

While detransitioning is rare in the first place, it is overwhelmingly driven by various forms of descrimination, not uncertainty with regards to identity.

• Turban et al. 19

• Research on 27,715 transgender adults living in the US, 3,869 of whom had been exposed to gender identity conversion efforts

• They found that quote “exposure to [gender identity conversion efforts] before age 10 years was significantly associated with several measures of suicidality, including lifetime suicide attempts”.

• They also found no significant difference when comparing religious or secular conversion attempts. So it’s not a case of finding the right way to do it, there is no right way to do it.

• National Center for Transgender Equality: U.S. Transgender Survey 15

• “De-transitioned” is defined as having “gone back to living as [one’s] sex assigned at birth, at least for a while.”

• Note that this isn’t just about people who detransition permanently, it also includes people who, socially or medically, reverted their transition temporarily.

• Under this broad definition, only 8% of respondents reported having de-transitioned at some point.

• Of these “detransitioners,” only 5% did it because they realized it was not for them, accounting for a mere 0.4% of the overall sample.

• Other, more prominent reasons include:

• Pressure from a parent (36%)

• Discrimination and harassment after beganing to transition (31%)

• Trouble with getting a job (29%)

• Pressure from other family members (26%)

• Pressure from spouse or partner (18%)

• Pressure from an employer (17%)

• Pressure from friends (13%)

• Pressure from a mental health professional (5%)

• Pressure from a religious counselor (5%)

• Financial reasons (3%)

• Medical reasons (2%)

• Note about the survey report: “The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) is the largest survey examining the experiences of transgender people in the United States, with 27,715 respondents from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. military bases overseas”

• Landén et al. 98

• Found that only 3.8% of trans people regretted SRS

• Keep in mind that this data was taken during a time in which being trans was less socially accepted than they are now, so that number has probably decreased over time

Trans Kids and Detransition

• HuffPo: Tannehill 16

• Several studies over a long period of time came to the conclusion children simply grow out of being trans, those studies use extremely terrible methodology

• The methods being used were 30 years out of date

• The clinic assumed that all gender variant children need to be clinically “fixed” (i.e. they used coercive behavior modification on queer kids to make them act straight)

• The clinic emphasized  tests, treatment, methods with no scientific basis in evidence based medicine

• CAMH staff asked prepubescent children questions that were highly sexual in nature

• Former patients, parents, and therapists of former patients described the treatment as “disturbing” and “harmful”

• CAMH hid affirming community and medical resources from patients

• Dr. Zucker regarded being cisgender, heterosexual, and gender conforming as the “best” outcome

• Dr. Zucker and his team could not conclusively demonstrate that what they were doing was not reparative therapy

In a 2014 German study, 13 experts in treatment for gender identity were asked if CAMH’s methods were ethical. 11 said no. The two who said yes were Dr. Zucker and another CAMH staffer.

• Gender Cognition in Transgender Children 15

• “our findings refute the assumption that transgender children are simply confused by the questions at hand, delayed, pretending, or being oppositional. Instead, transgender children show responses that look largely indistinguishable from those of cisgender children, who match transgender children’s gender expression on both more- and less-controllable measures Further, and addressing the broader concern about transgender individuals’ mere existence raised at the outset of this article, the data reported here should serve as evidence that transgender children do indeed exist and that their identity is a deeply held one.”

• Gülgöz et al. 2019

• the largest ever conducted on transgender children to date

• researchers surveyed 317 transgender kids ages 3 to 12 who had "socially transitioned," or who live as the gender they identify with. They also surveyed 189 of their siblings and 316 unrelated children who are cisgender, or whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

• The researchers found no significant differences between the trans and cis kids' gender development, or how they grew to understand and formulate their gender. The findings also revealed that transgender children gravitate toward the same gendered toys, clothing items, and friends as cisgender participants, regardless of how long they had been socially transitioned.

• Williams Institute 17

• The portion of teens who are trans isn’t much different from portion of adults who are trans (0.7% vs 0.6%), suggesting that there’s not a significant amount of detransition once trans teens become adults - and consequently that trans teens aren’t going through a phase

• 

• The slight decline in trans people in older age groups could be explained by older trans people feeling less comfortable with coming out around their peers, as older populations tend to be more anti-trans

• WIP

• https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf

• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118269978.ch13

• https://www.psypost.org/2017/12/many-transgender-kids-grow-stay-trans-50499

• https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/441784/the-controversial-research-on-desistance-in-transgender-youth

History of Gendered Terms

We didn’t always hold the same attitudes or use the same terminology for genders that we do now.

• History Extra: BBC

• Interesting origins of gendered terms and raising children

• “Nor have boys always even been called boys. Until the late 15th century the word ‘girl’ simply means a child of either sex. Boys, where they had to be differentiated, were referred to as ‘knave girls’ and girls in the female sense were called ‘gay girls’. Equally a boy could be a ‘knave child’ and a girl a ‘maiden child’. The term ‘boy’ was reserved for servants or ‘churls’, the meaning ‘young man’ probably deriving from the latter as a pejorative term but not occurring before 1440.”

• Newman 15

• It used to be considered manly to cry - not just in one place at one time, but in multiple societies at different points in history

• Note: Non-academic and non-expert, but still useful

• WIP

• http://www.familiesandsocieties.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/WP11OlahEtAl2014.pdf

Canada’s C-16 Bill

C-16 is about hate crimes, not pronoun usage. Misgendering doesn’t cross the threshold for being a hate crime in Canada.

• The contents of the bill: “The bill is intended to protect individuals from discrimination within the sphere of federal jurisdiction and from being the targets of hate propaganda, as a consequence of their gender identity or their gender expression. The bill adds "gender identity or expression" to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act and the list of characteristics of identifiable groups protected from hate propaganda in the Criminal Code. It also adds that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on a person's gender identity or expression constitutes an aggravating circumstance for a court to consider when imposing a criminal sentence.”

• Essentially, hate crimes against people based on gender identity/expression will be treated legally at the same level as other hate crimes, e.g. racially motivated hate crimes

• Not once are pronouns or misgendering explicitly brought up in the bill

• This provides some further clarity on the bill’s purpose: “The recognition of the rights of gays and lesbians has evolved in some measure through the recognition of the right to be free from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Sexual orientation does not necessarily protect those whose gender does not align with their sex assigned at birth, or who do not consider themselves to fit in with conventional conceptions of gender. Bill C-16 seeks in part to add the grounds of gender identity and gender expression to broaden the recognition of the rights of other members of sexual minority groups.”

• Torontoist: Cumming 16

• This article includes a legal expert who comments on C-16 and Jordan Peterson’s takes

• Jordan Peterson, an active critic of C-16, is likely misunderstanding or mischaracterizing the bill

• The threshold for a hate crime in Canada is likely too high for misgendering to be considered a hate crime

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Dragicevic 18

• Good brief on what C-16 actually does

• Bill C-16 added the words “gender identity or expression” to three places:

• Canadian Human Rights Act, joining a list of identifiable groups that are protected from discrimination. These groups include age, race, sex, religion, disability, etc.

• A section of the Criminal Code that targets hate speech — defined as advocating genocide and the public incitement of hatred — where it joins other identifiable groups.

• A section of the Criminal Code dealing with sentencing for hate crimes. If there’s evidence that an offence is motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, it can be taken into account by the courts during sentencing.

• Being jailed for repeated misgendering would be very difficult to do even with C-16 in place

Specific Debunks:

• CLAIM: Father in British Columbia found guilty of ‘family violence’ for misgendering his trans son

• Case was unrelated to C-16 and had far more to it than misgendering

• The father was actively bringing his trans son’s personal issues to light in public interviews, and brought up personal details during those interviews

• The father was also actively contributing to worsening the child’s mental health (the son had already attempted suicide in part because of his father, for example)

• Original source in regards to this case, provides more context

• CLAIM: Anti-gay activist William Whatcott fined $55,000 for misgendering trans activist Morgane Oger

• Unrelated to C-16, dealt instead with section 7 of British Columbia’s Human Rights Code (keep in mind C-16 was national legislation, not provincial legislation)

• Whatcott was spreading anti-trans misinformation in general, specifically targeting Oger who was running for political office at the time and lost by a small margin

• Original source in regards to this case, provides more context — C-16 not cited in it, aside from the Canadian Human Rights Act being brought up once in 104 pages

Additional Resources

• ASAP Science: "The Science of Being Transgender"

• A more concrete, scientific approach towards how we view the causes and meaning of gender identity.

• American Psychological Association

• American Psychological Association pamphlet on transgender issues

• Affirms psychological consensus - that transgender people are valid, have existed throughout history, are subject to discrimination, and that transness is not a mental disorder.

• More food by APA

• American Psychological Association 08

• Gender Identity Resolution which expands upon the premises listed in the annotation above and supports total equality for transgender people - affirmation of the institutional legitimacy of transness in psychology.

• American Psychological Association 14

• Identical to the above, essentially, except pertaining to trans and gender-nonconforming youth.

• American Psychological Association Policy

• Booklet on LGBTQ issues from the American Psychological Association, outlining their policy and attitudes towards aforementioned communities.

• Expressly positive.

• NHS

• The UK’s National Health Service report on gender dysphoria, which affirms the validity of trans people and discusses ways in which gender dysphoria can be alleviated, the best of which is said to often be social and physical transition.

• American Psychoanalytic Association 12

• The American Psychoanalytic Association’s statement on gender identity, in which transness is validated, social stigma against transgender people is cited as a serious cause of harm and ‘reparative therapy’ - attempts to suppress one’s transness and force them to live as the gender they were assigned at birth - is medically invalid.

• Time: Haynes 19

• The World Health Organization recently stopped classifying transness as a mental disorder.

• United Nations

• Transphobia is cringe, according to the UN

• Williams Institute 16

• Estimates a transgender population of around 0.6%, or 1.4 million people, in the United States

• This is double the amount estimated by a 2011 study (0.3%) which had limited data to work with

• Trans Mental Health Study 2012

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