Book review: “Tranny: Confessions of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout” by Laura Jane Grace

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Zinnia Jones

by Heather McNamara

Heather McNamaraOverall book review: 3/5

Transgender narrative: 5/5

I began reading Tranny with very little knowledge of Laura Jane Grace or Against Me! I knew Lauren had been to one of her concerts. She’s got a picture of herself smiling with Laura Jane Grace somewhere in her twitter history. I remember the Cosmo article about Laura’s transition with the photos of her together with her wife and daughter. I liked Laura’s smile. There’s something inviting about it, like she’s up for whatever you’ve got in mind as long as it involves some degree of trouble. Continue reading →

Posted in Book reviews | 2 Comments

Evidence of health benefits of medical transition: Gender dysphoria, body image, sexual functioning, and quality of life

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Zinnia Jones

Zinnia JonesMedical transition for the treatment of gender dysphoria, including hormonal and surgical treatment, is linked to improvements in health in many areas of trans people’s lives. Transition is known to be effective in resolving gender dysphoria itself, and is associated with better body image and congruence, sexual functioning, quality of life, and overall mental health, along with reductions in self-harming behaviors and suicidality. For these reasons, major professional organizations in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, endocrinology, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology recognize the efficacy of medical transition for appropriately diagnosed patients and support the availability of these procedures.

Despite clear and consistent evidence that transition is beneficial to the health of trans people, much public discussion and private consideration of transition remains focused on potential negative outcomes, such as fertility loss, unsatisfying results, the (largely overblown) specter of regret, and various concerns often based on outright myths. As a result, the full scope of the likely benefits of transition is frequently glossed over and not adequately taken into account. This well-established evidence should be highly relevant to the general public’s beliefs regarding the value and importance of gender transition, as well as personal decisions by trans people about the suitability of transition in their own lives. A comprehensive understanding of what transition can offer us requires more than concerns about the possible downsides – it must also incorporate an appreciation of the highly probable benefits. Continue reading →

Posted in Gender dysphoria, Outcomes of transition, Trans youth, Transgender medicine | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Entitled to Sex? Says Who?

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Zinnia Jones

by Penny Robo

A spectacularly widespread claim is that of the aggressive trans woman demanding sex, lest the demandee be slapped with the label of “transphobic”.

When radical feminists parade this narrative, it’s presented as evidence of an inherent and unavoidable nature of trans women as coercive and rapey, as proof that trans women are, until price otherwise, manipulative perverts eager to play any card that gets us laid.

There’s just a slight problem: that doesn’t happen. People have asked, statistics on sex crimes with trans women as the perpetrator have been examined, and the deafening silence that’s found in the vacuum of evidence beyond the anecdotal is almost (almost) hilarious in contrast to the claims. Continue reading →

Posted in Sexuality, Transphobia and prejudice | Tagged , | 1 Comment

I Tried Detransition and Didn’t Like It

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Zinnia Jones

UnnHappy, sad, mad, Unnspeakable blue red Unnsunshining and hot and cool and red hot and ice cold

— Nicole Maines, age seven

Zinnia JonesDetransitioning – undergoing a social or medical gender transition, and later choosing to reverse this – is a subject of perennial media attention and widespread public fascination. Although systematic studies have found that regret over transitioning occurs at a rate of 2% or less (Dhejne et al., 2014; Johansson et al., 2010), individual stories hold greater emotional resonance than abstract statistics, particularly at a time when many still do not accept the basic validity of cross-gender identity and are itching to find anything that can be leveraged as ammunition against recognizing and affirming trans people.

Some individuals choose to misrepresent the phenomenon of detransitioning as an argument against anyone transitioning, and in doing so they erase the complex nuances of those who’ve detransitioned: the ones who came to realize they didn’t need to transition but do not regret their cross-gender experience; the ones who detransitioned due to pressures from their family or community but maintain a cross-gender identity; the ones forced to detransition for their safety in institutional settings or to access services such as homeless shelters; the ones who transition once again. All of these personal and systemic factors are wiped away in service of the myth that detransitioners are universally misdiagnosed cis people, that they all regret their transition, and that trans people are almost certainly mistaken about who we are and we might as well skip a step and just never transition.

But suppose, as a trans woman, I were to entertain this idea – that transitioning is always and forever a terrible mistake, I’ve obviously been dead wrong for the past five years about the clear improvement I’ve seen in my life, and I’d be much happier “accepting reality” (I simply cannot put enough quotes around that). What if, contrary to all available evidence and professional diagnoses, I really would be better off ceasing transition and doing something else? Continue reading →

Posted in Depersonalization, Gender dysphoria, Personal, Regret and detransition, Transphobia and prejudice | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Rejecting Your Own Progress? Why People Fight Their Own Cause

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Zinnia Jones

by Penny Robo

Throughout our history, it seems that any social changes have been met with resistance. And I do mean any change. Really, who hasn’t personally experienced being told that spending time on your phone is a symptom of humanity’s decline into boundless, world-ending narcissism and a sign that our generation is irreparably damaged?

And that’s just a phone! A device that permits mobile access to the majority of human knowledge and culture, connecting people across the world and allowing us to learn and share in ways not practical a handful of years ago, and positively inconceivable just a few decades ago. So when people can find fault in changes with a demonstrable increase in speed or quality or efficiency, is it any wonder that people jump on the chance to fight changes they can’t immediately, viscerally experience the benefits of?

No, it’s not a wonder, but is it ever frustrating. And, as it turns out, there are some theories for explaining the human urge to fight progress, even when it would directly benefit the person arguing against it. Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology and psychiatry, Transphobia and prejudice | Tagged , | 1 Comment