Recently, an opinion article was published on Corvinak.hu about a topic that is difficult to have a serious and emotion-free discussion about: transgenderism, including the reoperation of minors.
At the age of fifteen, a British teenager made up his mind and decided to embark on a long and painful transformation process to "become a man". On the recommendation of her doctors, she went to the Gender Identity Development Service at Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London. At the age of sixteen, after three appointments at the clinic, she was prescribed a puberty retarder, and at the age of seventeen, she was given hormones. At the age of twenty, she underwent a mastectomy, meaning her breasts were removed. At the age of 23, he bitterly regretted the transformation and filed a lawsuit against the clinic: - it is not possible for me to become a man, he concluded. In the end, he won the lawsuit, and the judges came to the conclusion that teenagers under the age of sixteen are not suitable for making such a weighty decision, and that starting sex change treatment over the age of 16 will require prior judicial permission.
Many lessons can and should be learned from the Keira Bell case. The first is precisely the harmful role of various forums and online platforms that spread superficial, biased and bellicose views on such a sensitive and complex issue. Immature teenagers, often with mental difficulties, are being brainwashed and manipulated by peddling half-information on the Internet. What's more, despite the irreversible consequences, they are being led astray. Some liberal NGOs are also responsible. A good number of them are urging and campaigning for the legal age limit for giving consent to be reduced to fifteen years or even lower, or for parents to be completely left out of the decision.
Amnesty International, for example, expressed its disappointment and concern at the ruling, which "particularly concerns the issue of consent and bodily autonomy". How can these exaggerated positions be supported, when more and more young transgenders are regretting the reassignment surgery, or are undergoing surgery again? Why do we ignore those experts, and especially adult transgender people, who warn about the weight of such a decision and point out that minors are not able to make it with sufficient awareness? Why is the lack of the most basic prudence so obvious when it comes to the physical health and best interests of adolescents?
According to the Tavistock Clinic's own data, the number of referrals rose from 77 in 2009 to 2,590 in 2018 in less than ten years, which represents an increase of more than 3,000%! These figures are staggering, and are in line with figures from the Swedish Board of Health and Welfare, which show a 1,500% increase in gender dysphoria diagnoses among young teenage girls over the same period.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Keira Bell's case is the recurring impression that ideology takes precedence over scientific analysis , conviction over fact, threat over debate, even scientific debate. Minors will pay dearly for all this. How many professionals prefer to keep their opinions quiet, fearing accusations of "transphobia". "The Biden administration is considering removing the words 'father' and 'mother' from the official language in order to be more 'trans-inclusive', the Keira case reminds us that this obfuscation and confusion will one day result in a harsh judgment . will attract you .” - says the author of the article.
Cover photo: Sam Tobin/PA.
