Study: Most Children Who Transition Gender Identity Stick With It
Essentially the study, which looked at 317 young people aged 3 to 12 years old over a five year period, found that gender identities developed at a young age tend to "stick" — 94% of the youngsters still identified with their new gender five years later. The report sharply contradicts recent political rhetoric, and new laws around gender health care for young trans people.
ABC News:
Most Children Who Have Socially Transitioned Still Identify As Transgender Years Later: Study
Amid a political debate about offering gender affirming medical care to transgender children, a new study suggests that among children who have already socially transitioned very few are likely to "retransition" to their gender at birth. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, followed 317 socially transitioned children who had already been living as their authentic gender for more than a year, finding that almost 95% continued to identify as transgender five years later. (Kennedy Meltzer, 5/4)
AP:
Early Transgender Identity Tends To Endure, Study Suggests
Children who begin identifying as transgender at a young age tend to retain that identity at least for several years, a study published Wednesday suggests. The research involved 317 youngsters who were 3 to 12 years old when they were recruited to the study. Five years later, at the study’s end, 94% were living as transgender and almost two-thirds were using either puberty-blocking medication or sex hormones to medically transition. Most children in the study were from white, high-income families who supported their transitions. On average, the kids began identifying as transgender at around age 6. (Tanner, 5/4)
Houston Chronicle:
Texas Children’s Chief's Exit Triggers Fear From Trans Community
Some parents of transgender children are expressing fear and disappointment after the sudden resignation of Texas Children’s Hospital’s chief pediatrician, who has been a vocal advocate for continuing care for transgender patients being targeted by a recent statewide order. Dr. Catherine Gordon, who served as the hospital’s chief pediatrician for seven months, has been aligned with the broader medical community in supporting care that helps children transition from their assigned sex at birth to their affirmed gender. (Gill, 5/3)
On other transgender matters —
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
GHSA To Vote On Transgender Athletes’ Ability To Play High School Sports
The Georgia High School Association will vote Wednesday on a proposal to define an athlete’s gender based on birth certificate and ban transgender athletes from choosing sports consistent with their gender identity. If passed by the GHSA’s 75-member executive committee, the proposal would replace bylaw 1.47 (b), which allows each GHSA member school to make its own rule determining gender for sports. “We’re approaching this as a competitive-balance issue,” said GHSA executive director Robin Hines, who submitted the proposal. “We don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but that includes biological girls. There are competitive imbalances generally between biological females and biological males.” (Holcomb, 5/3)
