PC too far, the world is mad! Transgender Children?

[DavidinSouthampton]

Why does this thread need to come under a PC label.

And I have every sympathy with those kids (and parents) who have to go through this sort of thing. It would not be something that anybody would take lightly.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Stop being a dick. You clearly rarely have any interaction with children and as for putting the children of loving and caring parents on the 'at risk list' - really, utter lunacy. I'll ask again, how have these parents actions affected YOU ? Ah, they haven't .... you're just being a bigoted tw@t.

Never had you down as a social worker leftie!

 

[BLOCK F]

I must say I watched the LT documentary, and I got the impression that some of the children may simply be going through a "phase" which they probably picked up from the contemporary awareness of LGBT issues. It must surely be a mistake giving some of those kids hormone therapy, an irreversible solution which could potentially mess them up for life.

Yes,we watched it as well,and found ourselves changing opinions about the rights and wrongs, throughout the programme.
A very difficult question, but whatever one's views, it did appear that the parents of the children involved genuinely wanted the best for their offspring.
Never going to be an easy one and some mistakes will be made whatever course of action is decided.
Would be interesting to re-visit the parents and children in ten or so years time.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

I could not agree more with the original post..... As mustafa said above, the help that most kids need is how to get through the phase and not be exploited by transgender advocates & the media!

 

[LamieRobertson]

Yes,we watched it as well,and found ourselves changing opinions about the rights and wrongs, throughout the programme.
A very difficult question, but whatever one's views, it did appear that the parents of the children involved genuinely wanted the best for their offspring.
Never going to be an easy one and some mistakes will be made whatever course of action is decided.
Would be interesting to re-visit the parents and children in ten or so years time.

Bbc magazine prog on the bbc news channel on now covering 2 children who are transgender and there parents ..a couple of comments by posters appear to be totally ignorant of reality

 

[pishhead]

Louis Theroux is an absolute treasure. His documentaries whilst usually covering emotive issues always remain impartial and allow the viewer to make up their own mind on the subject matter.

 

[Notters]

There is no "wrong body", only a wrong mind. A rise if 400% in six years cannot possibly be caused by an evolutionary change.

It's not a rise in incidence though is it, it's a rise in a) awareness and b) people becoming comfortable enough to discuss it in public; much like homosexuality.

 

[Notters]

The conversation probably went something like this:

Sexual Counsellor: When did you first start to get feelings that you might be a girl in a boy's body?

Elder Child: When my mother told me that I might be.

Sexual Counsellor: And when did you start to get similar feelings?

Younger Child: When my friend told me that he/she had them.

Total fxxking joke! Kids of six really have no sense of sexuality, unless imposed on them by society around them. That could be wider society in general, or their more localised society, ie. their family. Those children should be on an at risk list from their own parents.

Gender and sexuality are completely different things!

 

[gregbrighton]

Having known pre/post op transgender people here in Brighton; it can be difficult to put yourself in their shoes to understand the often emotional anguish and biological situation they go through.

To label it as 'PC' just shows how uninformed and ignorant the OP is about this condition. Thankfully the NHS today has a greater awareness and the ability to act when people wish to change their gender.

I didn't see the Louis Theroux programme but I can imagine it must be harder for children to deal with it as they seek acceptance and belonging. In the past they would have had no-one to talk to/explore their feelings. It can only be a step forward if parents and children can get the support from the relevant agencies.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Never had you down as a social worker leftie!

Has nowt to do with my politics and everything to being a caring and understanding human being who accepts others are different from me but still human beings.

 

[BadFish]

Yes,we watched it as well,and found ourselves changing opinions about the rights and wrongs, throughout the programme.
A very difficult question, but whatever one's views, it did appear that the parents of the children involved genuinely wanted the best for their offspring.
Never going to be an easy one and some mistakes will be made whatever course of action is decided.
Would be interesting to re-visit the parents and children in ten or so years time.

You really have to hope and trust in the support and medical team that are involved in this process. I didn't see the documentary but i am guessing that to get to the point they did they would have had to go through a huge process, full of assessments, psych tests etc etc. They sure as hell know far more about the details of it than we do.

 

[Nibble]

My problem isn't with the article, or the concept that gender confusion can occur in children. My problem is with the need to lock down and label that child at the age of six. Let them play with pink sparkly stuff, let them be a bit confused. A friend of mine had gender reassignment surgery and absolutely was the correct thing for her, there is no need for a medical diagnosis at the age of 6.

 

[NooBHA]

You didn't watch Louis Theroux then? It's good to know the NHS are helping these people.

I watched the Louis Thereaux programme and it was very inbteresting and I am all for these people being given all the help and support they need.

The interesting case however was the one where the young girl/boy in question sees herself as a girl at the moment but she sees herself in the future as getting married and having a wife and children.

The patents see things differently. The father still sees the child as a boy and retains as much as possible the male personna. The mother on the other hand tries to enhance the child's female personna. Normally in this situation I would come down on the side of the mother but she seemed to be promoting, medicating the child to stop the male hormones taking over during puberty. The father on the other hand was rejecting this on the grounds that it would be irreversable, hence he wanted the child to make the decision much later in life.

That to me is very responsible by the father and irresponsible by the mother. I was quite surprised by myself coming down on the side of the father on that issue because normally I think fathers who take that stance do so just because they do not want an effeminate son. He on the other hand was very well aware of the Child's needs but was also aware that the child had some indecisions on the matter

 

[wellquickwoody]

Has nowt to do with my politics and everything to being a caring and understanding human being who accepts others are different from me but still human beings.

i am happy to accept others for what they are, but feel that at the ages of 6 and 8 it is far too easy for actions too be taken which may or may not be appropriate for those individuals in later life. Just give kids a chance to grow up before we adults allow our values to influence them?

 

[NooBHA]

i am happy to accept others for what they are, but feel that at the ages of 6 and 8 it is far too easy for actions too be taken which may or may not be appropriate for those individuals in later life. Just give kids a chance to grow up before we adults allow our values to influence them?

100% Correct...............and if that means the end up looking like Concitta Wurst then that OK as well

 

[spring hall convert]

i am happy to accept others for what they are, but feel that at the ages of 6 and 8 it is far too easy for actions too be taken which may or may not be appropriate for those individuals in later life. Just give kids a chance to grow up before we adults allow our values to influence them?

The point here is though, that in some cases, this can be done at that age. I can't imagine the tests aren't sufficiently rigourous enough to root out the confused from the certain. This cuts both ways - the less time a transgendered child can spend as the wrong gender, the better it is for that individual. For a lot of trans people the emotional/psychological damage is done well before they reach adulthood, imagine banging your head against that brick wall for your entire childhood.

I don't think it helps the overall debate that there is a real lack of understanding about trans and even today a worrying level of transphobia from high profile members of the mainstream media, including voices that you would consider as traditonally left and socially liberal as they come.

It's not an easy one.

 

[spring hall convert]

I also think it is extremely hard for straight, white, cis, males (which I assume makes up the majority of this forum) to really empathise with the issues at play here. It's not our fault, it's just that we will never fully understand how it feels to grow up trans or black or gay. Perhaps if we did, we might see things differently.

 

[edna krabappel]

I doubt that whatever support is offered, it's a case of "all in" at that age anyway. The medical sorts certainly aren't going to leap in and ply a six year old with hormones because they've briefly decided they like being a girl, for example. As with adults, it's got to come from a deep seated conviction that something isn't right, and even children are capable of that. It takes place over a long period of time, not the day after they turn up at their GP.

As an aside, I believe the rates of suicide and self harming are particularly high amongst the transgender community. Perhaps these parents have concluded that they'd much rather get used to looking at their son/daughter in a different way, than deal with a child/teenager/adult who is deeply unhappy to the extent that suicide seems a reasonable option.

 

[symyjym]

My problem isn't with the article, or the concept that gender confusion can occur in children. My problem is with the need to lock down and label that child at the age of six. Let them play with pink sparkly stuff, let them be a bit confused. A friend of mine had gender reassignment surgery and absolutely was the correct thing for her, there is no need for a medical diagnosis at the age of 6.

Yep 6 is an age when children don't like peas just for attention, but if it is because the parent/s really have the problem they would be tested as much as the child if not more. I think it is probably good for the NHS to be able to observe where the problem lays because the cases where it is a parent problem, it would still handy for the child, and they can diagnose the parent/s with munchausen syndrome instead.

 

[brakespear]

Total fxxking joke! Kids of six really have no sense of sexuality, unless imposed on them by society around them. That could be wider society in general, or their more localised society, ie. their family. Those children should be on an at risk list from their own parents.

gender does not equal sexuality. hth.