LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I am a 42-year-old St. Louis native, a queer woman, and politically to the left of Bernie Sanders. My worldview has deeply shaped my career. I have spent my professional life providing counseling to vulnerable populations: children in foster care, sexual minorities, the poor. All that led me to a job in 2018 as a case manager at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, which had been established a year earlier. I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care. Teenage girls, many with no previous history of gender distress, suddenly declared they were transgender and demanded immediate treatment with testosterone. This concerned me, but didn’t feel I was in the position to sound some kind of alarm back then. Frequently, our patients declared they had disorders that no one believed they had. We had patients who said they had Tourette syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but they didn’t); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t). But when I said the clusters of girls streaming into our service looked as if their gender issues might be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said gender identity reflected something innate. To begin transitioning, the girls needed a letter of support from a therapist—usually one we recommended—who they had to see only once or twice for the green light. To make it more efficient for the therapists, we offered them a template for how to write a letter in support of transition. The next stop was a single visit to the endocrinologist for a testosterone prescription. That’s all it took. Many encounters with patients emphasized to me how little these young people understood the profound impacts changing gender would have on their bodies and minds. But the center downplayed the negative consequences, and emphasized the need for transition. There are no reliable studies showing this. Indeed, the experiences of many of the center’s patients prove how false these assertions are. Here’s an example. On Friday, May 1, 2020, a colleague emailed me about a 15-year-old male patient: “Oh dear. I am concerned that [the patient] does not understand what Bicalutamide does.” I responded: “I don’t think that we start anything honestly right now.” Bicalutamide is a medication used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and one of its side effects is that it feminizes the bodies of men who take it, including the appearance of breasts. The center prescribed this cancer drug as a puberty blocker and feminizing agent for boys. As with most cancer drugs, bicalutamide has a long list of side effects, and this patient experienced one of them: liver toxicity. He was sent to another unit of the hospital for evaluation and immediately taken off the drug. Other girls were disturbed by the effects of testosterone on their clitoris, which enlarges and grows into what looks like a microphallus, or a tiny penis. I counseled one patient whose enlarged clitoris now extended below her vulva, and it chafed and rubbed painfully in her jeans. I advised her to get the kind of compression undergarments worn by biological men who dress to pass as female. At the end of the call I thought to myself, “Wow, we hurt this kid.” There are rare conditions in which babies are born with atypical genitalia—cases that call for sophisticated care and compassion. But clinics like the one where I worked are creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals—and most of these teens haven’t even had sex yet. They had no idea who they were going to be as adults. Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist. Besides teenage girls, another new group was referred to us: young people from the inpatient psychiatric unit, or the emergency department, of St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals. This was tragic, but unsurprising given the profound trauma some had been through. Yet no matter how much suffering or pain a child had endured, or how little treatment and love they had received, our doctors viewed gender transition—even with all the expense and hardship it entailed—as the solution. Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people. For example, one teenager came to us in the summer of 2022 when he was 17 years old and living in a lockdown facility because he had been sexually abusing dogs. He’d had an awful childhood: His mother was a drug addict, his father was imprisoned, and he grew up in foster care. Whatever treatment he may have been getting, it wasn’t working. During our intake I learned from another caseworker that when he got out, he planned to reoffend because he believed the dogs had willingly submitted. Somewhere along the way, he expressed a desire to become female, so he ended up being seen at our center. From there, he went to a psychologist at the hospital who was known to approve virtually everyone seeking transition. Then our doctor recommended feminizing hormones. At the time, I wondered if this was being done as a form of chemical castration. ‘I Want My Breasts Back’ In 2019, a new group of people appeared on my radar: desisters and detransitioners. Desisters choose not to go through with a transition. Detransitioners are transgender people who decide to return to their birth gender. We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong. One doctor wondered aloud why he would spend time on someone who was no longer his patient. One of the saddest cases of detransition I witnessed was a teenage girl, who, like so many of our patients, came from an unstable family, was in an uncertain living situation, and had a history of drug use. The overwhelming majority of our patients are white, but this girl was black. She was put on hormones at the center when she was around 16. When she was 18, she went in for a double mastectomy, what’s known as “top surgery.” Three months later she called the surgeon’s office to say she was going back to her birth name and that her pronouns were “she” and “her.” Heartbreakingly, she told the nurse, “I want my breasts back.” The surgeon’s office contacted our office because they didn’t know what to say to this girl. https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids?utm_source=substack&publication_id=260347&post_id=101682797&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 This center is now under investigation, yet these are all things I told @ICRockets2about and now they're coming to light. 1) I told IC that Trans is a mental illness. They think they are another sex because they are mentally ill. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals. Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people." 2) I told IC that his studies showing trans dont regret transitioning was wrong because the people collecting the data are biased. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data (on trans people who want to detransition) in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong." They don't want to collect that data because then that data can be used to show the truth!!! 3) I told IC that these poor insane Trans people are being transitioned with very little oversight. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist." These are the words from a queer trans ACTIVIST! Imagine whats REALLY going on in there! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 11 Remember this paragrapgh every time IC tries to quote some random study or doctor or psychiatrist: "Then I came across comments from Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who is a high official at the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The article read: “Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health, said that clinics are proceeding carefully and that no American children are receiving drugs or hormones for gender dysphoria who shouldn’t.” I felt stunned and sickened. It wasn’t true. And I know that from deep first-hand experience." Lesson: People lie. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I don't believe her, she's being paid to say this. That's how this works, right? Or are you guys the only ones who get to question a medical professional's motives? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 29 minutes ago, LiterateStylish said: Here’s an example. On Friday, May 1, 2020, a colleague emailed me about a 15-year-old male patient: “Oh dear. I am concerned that [the patient] does not understand what Bicalutamide does.” I responded: “I don’t think that we start anything honestly right now.” Bicalutamide is a medication used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, and one of its side effects is that it feminizes the bodies of men who take it, including the appearance of breasts. The center prescribed this cancer drug as a puberty blocker and feminizing agent for boys. As with most cancer drugs, bicalutamide has a long list of side effects, and this patient experienced one of them: liver toxicity. He was sent to another unit of the hospital for evaluation and immediately taken off the drug. Bicalutamide IS an antiandrogen drug. It's perfectly appropriate to use it as a puberty blocker. since it's a drug, it has side effects. This kid experienced one of them and was taken off the drug. This is how medicine works. Every single step of this process was appropriately executed. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Just now, ICRockets2 said: Bicalutamide IS an antiandrogen drug. It's perfectly appropriate to use it as a puberty blocker. since it's a drug, it has side effects. This kid experienced one of them and was taken off the drug. This is how medicine works. Every single step of this process was appropriately executed. You should read it again. The Trans center did NOT take him off the drug. The poor mentally ill kid had to to the hospital where a NON-trans unit took him off it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 7 minutes ago, LiterateStylish said: You should read it again. The Trans center did NOT take him off the drug. The poor mentally ill kid had to to the hospital where a NON-trans unit took him off it. He experienced a side effect, went to the part of the hospital that would address that side effect, and then he was taken off the drug. This is 100% routine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 Just now, ICRockets2 said: He experienced a side effect, went to the part of the hospital that would address that side effect, and then he was taken off the drug. This is 100% routine. Wrong. Experienced a side effect (which was never told to the kid or warned about), the trans center refused to do anything, so the kid had to go to the hospital. But yeah let's focus on this and not the real stuff she said. Like, how most trans people coming into the clinic are INSANE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 6 minutes ago, LiterateStylish said: Wrong. Experienced a side effect (which was never told to the kid or warned about), the trans center refused to do anything, so the kid had to go to the hospital. It doesn't say that at all. They were already IN the hospital because THAT'S WHERE THE GENDER CLINIC IS FUCKING LOCATED. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 I'm just gonna post this again since IC wants to ignore it. 1) I told IC that Trans is a mental illness. They think they are another sex because they are mentally ill. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals. Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people." 2) I told IC that his studies showing trans dont regret transitioning was wrong because the people collecting the data are biased. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data (on trans people who want to detransition) in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong." They don't want to collect that data because then that data can be used to show the truth!!! 3) I told IC that these poor insane Trans people are being transitioned with very little oversight. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist." These are the words from a queer trans ACTIVIST! Imagine whats REALLY going on in there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 8 minutes ago, ICRockets2 said: It doesn't say that at all. They were already IN the hospital because THAT'S WHERE THE GENDER CLINIC IS FUCKING LOCATED. READ the entire article. The paragraph above that talks about how the Trans activists told the doctors the kid should NOT be put on it. They put him on it anyway. “I don’t think that we start anything honestly right now.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Just now, LiterateStylish said: READ the entire article. The paragraph above that talks about how the Trans activists told the doctors the kid should NOT be put on it. They put him on it anyway. “I don’t think that we start anything honestly right now.” And the problem the kid encountered wasn't with the functionality of the drug, it was with a side effect. Do you think side effects are just The Thing That Happens If That Wasn't The Right Drug? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 2 minutes ago, ICRockets2 said: And the problem the kid encountered wasn't with the functionality of the drug, it was with a side effect. Do you think side effects are just The Thing That Happens If That Wasn't The Right Drug? I'm tired of going down your rabbit hole to ignore what you're actively trying to ignore. 1) I told IC that Trans is a mental illness. They think they are another sex because they are mentally ill. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals. Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people." 2) I told IC that his studies showing trans dont regret transitioning was wrong because the people collecting the data are biased. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data (on trans people who want to detransition) in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong." They don't want to collect that data because then that data can be used to show the truth!!! 3) I told IC that these poor insane Trans people are being transitioned with very little oversight. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist." 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 3 minutes ago, ICRockets2 said: I have no idea if that's true (the tweeter provides zero sources), but that does make complete sense. A left winger is not going to represent her because of the political backlash. She doesn't need to say anything more. The government is investigating now and we are about to find out what REALLY goes on in these places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Philly'sFinest Posted February 11 Popular Post Share Posted February 11 I'm amazed at how people keep trying to debate and discuss mental illness with a poster that suffers from mental illness This person doesn't accept that they themself suffer from it, so there's no way you can have this discussion and expect legitimate debate/discussion 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 WAIT. SHE'S A CASE WORKER??? lmao you're talking about someone WHO HASN'T EVEN GONE TO FUCKING MEDICAL SCHOOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 11 Just now, ICRockets2 said: WAIT. SHE'S A CASE WORKER??? lmao you're talking about someone WHO HASN'T EVEN GONE TO FUCKING MEDICAL SCHOOL! I'm sorry, have YOU gone to medical school? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 9 minutes ago, LiterateStylish said: READ the entire article. The paragraph above that talks about how the Trans activists told the doctors the kid should NOT be put on it. They put him on it anyway. “I don’t think that we start anything honestly right now.” Jamie Reed has no medical expertise. The doctors prescribed the puberty blockers because it's their job to do so and not hers whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Just now, LiterateStylish said: I'm sorry, have YOU gone to medical school? No, but I'm not the one you're saying should be listened to over people who have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 1 minute ago, ICRockets2 said: Jamie Reed has no medical expertise. The doctors prescribed the puberty blockers because it's their job to do so and not hers whatsoever. Does she has EYES? Can she read? If so, then she could see these things clearly. You're clinging to some random line about a drug because you want the focus off of this: 1) I told IC that Trans is a mental illness. They think they are another sex because they are mentally ill. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "The mental health of these kids was deeply concerning—there were diagnoses like schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and more. Often they were already on a fistful of pharmaceuticals. Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people." 2) I told IC that his studies showing trans dont regret transitioning was wrong because the people collecting the data are biased. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "We thought the doctors would want to collect and understand this data (on trans people who want to detransition) in order to figure out what they had missed. We were wrong." They don't want to collect that data because then that data can be used to show the truth!!! 3) I told IC that these poor insane Trans people are being transitioned with very little oversight. Notice what the trans ADVOCATE said: "Yet all it took for them to permanently transform themselves was one or two short conversations with a therapist." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICRockets2 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 lmao this whole thread is a fucking joke she isn't even a doctor have fun boys, I'm not paying attention to this retarded shit anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LiterateStylish Posted February 11 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 11 17 hours ago, ICRockets2 said: lmao this whole thread is a fucking joke she isn't even a doctor have fun boys, I'm not paying attention to this retarded shit anymore Oh man, he's spinning now. "Guys, this queer trans activist couldn't possibly see that all these trans kids were insane and were crying over wanting to detransition. Only doctors can see that stuff! They have super doctor goggles that only they can read if a kid is on anti-psychotic medicine or determine if theyre crying about wanting to detransition" 1 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichJ Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 1 hour ago, ICRockets2 said: I don't believe her, she's being paid to say this. That's how this works, right? Or are you guys the only ones who get to question a medical professional's motives? You are a man ICR. You are not queer. You are a strong male human being. Embrace the truth. Be healed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SackMan518 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I think only consenting and properly informed adults should be able to take the hormones and opt for surgeries. In other news, what happened to dudes over the past 80 years? 2 Quote Sack "The Buffalo Range's TRUSTED News Source!" “When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” ~ Dresden James Twitter: Zack518Mann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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