1d ago

The Tiny Percentage of Trans People Who “Detransition” Largely Do So Because of Transphobia: Report

www.them.us

The largest-ever survey of trans Americans reaffirms what the trans community has been saying for ages: trans people who go back to living as their sex assigned at birth do so because of transphobia, not because of doubts about gender or transition.
Approximately 92,329 binary and nonbinary trans Americans aged 16 and older — including 84,170 adults — participated in the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey (USTS), which was spearheaded by the trans rights organization Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE). Researchers then used survey findings to compile a trans health report titled “Health and Wellbeing: Findings from the 2022 US Trans Survey.”
Only 9% of respondents said that they had gone back to living as their sex assigned at birth at some point in their lives. Of that 9%, the most common reason for doing so was that it was “just too hard to be trans in my community” (41%). Meanwhile, 37% cited pressure from a parent, 24% cited pressure from other family members, and 33% cited facing too much harassment or discrimination for being trans.
“Social and structural explanations dominated the reasons why respondents reported going back to living in their sex assigned at birth,” the report reads. “[...] Only 4% of people who went back to living in their sex assigned at birth for a while cited that their reason was because they realized that gender transition was not for them. When considering all respondents who had transitioned, this number equates to only 0.36%.”

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Okay... there's not really any serious question that de-transition is often a result of transphobia, and that the vast majority of those who explore the gender squiggles at some point in their lives do not detransition. But this survey and this article are making an argument using awful, bullshit science and should be called out for it.
This is a survey done on trans people. This does not include those who did explore transition and then came to the conclusion they were cis. There is no valid means for these authors to draw any conclusions about the claim they are making. And, those who are anti-trans could easily take a bad-faith reading of this which is "9% of people who transition questioned their decision before remaining under the trans ideology, which confirms that this is something our children are being pressured into."
We need people to stop doing fake pseudo-science bullshit analysis and calling it trans science.
- Reading the article, I'm not entirely sure the survey authors are claiming that. The quote they pulled sounds like it just says among the people surveyed (who are known to be trans), those stats apply. They're definitely very easy to misuse though. I feel like it would be nice to actually have good stats for people who detransition, but it seems almost impossible without someone trying to bias the results at this point.
  
  Only 4% of people who went back to living in their sex assigned at birth for a while cited that their reason was because they realized that gender transition was not for them. When considering all respondents who had transitioned, this number equates to only 0.36%.
  I will grant you that the survey includes the information in a much better context compared to the article. However, this paragraph from the survey I take issue with. Those who de-transition are the only subcategory that is compared to the total population in the written text in this way, even if the percentages are subsequently present in a chart.
  Taken together, 82% of those who went back to living as their sex assigned at birth at least for a little while
  The conclusion on the following page also clearly identifies that de-transition on the basis of identity is uncommon. It also uses "at least for a little while" as though it's a portion of a larger demographic, which it is not. Perhaps they mean it as compared to those who are currently not living as the gender they identify with, but I think that's a strained interpretation.
  I think it's disingenuous to attempt to make a claim about the occurrence rate of something which can't be captured in your survey without noting the incompleteness. Especially so given the controversial nature of detransition within the broader conversation about trans issues. While it is technically true that the claim is made only of survey respondents, I still feel that the way the section is drafted provides/implies a broader framing.
  My opinions here are clearly quite pedantic. However, the topic is one where it's critical that care be taken to avoid giving opponents any reason to discredit the larger work.
  
  There is never going to be a Perfect Study that eliminates transphobia, and if nitpicking is what is keeping someone from supporting trans rights, I don’t think they were ever going to be much of a supporter to begin with.
  If 10% of people detransitioned because they no longer consider themselves trans it wouldn’t matter, because expressing your gender identity is a basic right everyone has as a human being, regardless of what regrets other people have about their own choices. Nobody is ever going to be able to guarantee you’re not going to wind up regretting any given action you take, that’s just life.

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