President of Leading Trans Org Admits Social Contagion is Driving Surge in Kids Identifying as Transgender
Excerpts:
Jan. 24, 2023
by Mia Ashton
The president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has admitted that social contagion is a factor in the dramatic increase in children and adolescents identifying as transgender.
Dr. Marci Bowers, a trans-identified male and president of the leading transgender health organization that pushes for affirmation and medical intervention for youth who believe themselves to be members of the opposite sex, made the comments in a recent interview with the (Link): New York Times.
“There are people in my community who will deny that there’s any sort of ‘social contagion’ — I shouldn’t say social contagion, but at least peer influence on some of these decisions,” Bowers told the New York Times. “I think that’s just not recognizing human behavior.”
This is not the first time Bowers has made such comments. In 2021, the celebrity gender surgeon who has performed more than 2,000 vaginoplasties acknowledged the possibility that the surge in teenage girls identifying as boys was a social trend.
“I think there probably are people who are influenced. There is a little bit of ‘Yeah, that’s so cool. Yeah, I kind of want to do that too’,” Bowers said in an interview with Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage.
This didn’t stop WPATH from removing all lower age requirements from its latest Standards of Care guidelines, nor did it cause the internationally respected transgender health group to reconsider advising clinicians to immediately affirm every child who declares a transgender identity.
The social contagion hypothesis was first documented by researcher Lisa Littman in 2018. She noted that there had been a striking change in the demographics of patients presenting to pediatric gender clinics over the past decade, from predominantly natal males experiencing gender dysphoria from early childhood to mostly natal females with a sudden onset of gender distress at puberty.
She observed that most of these girls also had serious coexisting mental health issues, such as eating disorders, autism, ADHD, or a history of self-harm.
Littman named this phenomenon “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) and suggested that peer influence and social media may be a factor driving this change.
For this, she faced enormous backlash from trans activists, was driven out of her position at Brown University, and her paper was retracted only to be quietly republished at a later date with just minor corrections.
The evidence to support Littman’s hypothesis has only grown since her paper was published, with nations all over the world reporting huge surges in teenage girls being referred to gender clinics. …
An independent review of England’s youth gender service also observed the same significant increase in teenage girls identifying as boys and expressed concern about the possibility that social media usage plays a role. …
Last year, Dr. Nicholas Christakis, the person who is arguably the world’s leading expert on social contagion, stated that he believes there is an element of social contagion to the current explosion of young people identifying as transgender.
…Another leading figure in the field of gender medicine to acknowledge the social contagion factor is Dr. Erica Anderson, a trans-identified clinical psychologist who has treated hundreds of children and adolescents for gender dysphoria.
Last year, Anderson wrote about the power of trans influencers on TikTok and YouTube encouraging young people to identify as transgender.
Related:
(Link): Retired Navy SEAL Made Famous After Coming Out as Trans Announces Detransition: ‘Destroyed My Life’
(Link): One Woman’s Story of Becoming a Trans Boy and Later Detransitioning
(Link): Trans-Identified Suspect Admits to Setting Historic Church on Fire After Hearing Voices in Head
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