“Social transition” involves a change of name, pronouns, hair, clothes, style and mannerisms as an attempt to change one’s social identity. A child or adult may do this to express themselves in a way that they believe best matches their inner sense of “gender identity.”
Social transition may also involve a child or adult announcing themselves as transgender to their school, family, friends, coworkers and community. A social transition demands the participation of other people in the person’s social network, so the responses of others are significant factors in how the person experiences their desire to take on the new identity.
Not All Kids with Gender Dysphoria Want to Transition in Adulthood
There is no long-term, peer-reviewed evidence on the impact of social transition. Notably, the Cass review1 concluded it is difficult to determine if more intense and persistent gender dysphoria is correlated with social transition or vice versa. Singh2 found that some children who outgrew their desire to be the opposite sex scored similarly on gender dysphoria scales as those who did not, raising concerns about reinforcing trans identities in these children.
A 5-year study demonstrated that 93% of children who socially transitioned between the ages of 3-12 continued to identify as transgender 5 years later, and the majority of those children went on to progress to medical interventions3. This indicates social transition increases the likelihood of persistence of gender dysphoria and that it can interfere with children’s natural psychosocial development, as studies indicate a majority of children outgrew gender dysphoria in the past. Some clinicians believe that early social transition will prevent pre-gay/lesbian children, who often experience gender dysphoria in childhood4, from adjusting to their sex5. Living in a social transition for years may make it very difficult for a child to change their mind.
“I predict, therefore, that in contemporary cohorts of children who experience a GST [gender social transition] prior to puberty that the rate of GD persistence will be substantially higher than that reported in the follow-up studies to date.” –Dr. Ken Zucker6
General Impacts on Children
Normalizing “born in the wrong body” messaging and reinforcing gender stereotypes has the potential to confuse all children, particularly very young ones who think rigidly in terms of these stereotypes, as this researcher in developmental psychology notes.
“Children know what they like. When society and the world tells them that the things they like are those that boys like — but they have been told in words that they are a girl — well, that’s easy. They already know that having short hair makes you into a boy. They know that playing with cars makes you into a boy. So it’s easy! Boy all the way. And their version of the world, at their age, means that changing sex is totally possible.”7
The burden of affirming a child’s declared gender is currently falling on the other children around them. Adults in school settings and elsewhere are forcing them to believe untruths that feel confusing or wrong to them. Some children are being punished for this.
Toddler’s Suspension for ‘Transphobia’ Sparks Global Controversy
What About Kids Who Persist In Their Desire To Transition?
Gender atypical children who will persist in their desire to transition into adulthood need protection from bullying and quality, reality-based social and mental health support, not quick fixes to their complex issues. Trans-identified youth and adults who have been fully “affirmed”, who live in countries with trans-friendly policies and access to medical interventions, still have high rates8 of mental health problems. Children and teenagers need love and support and to express their personalities and interests. They need to learn that they can’t control how others perceive them and how to regulate difficult emotions. They cannot comprehend the negative health consequences9 and social ramifications of rejecting one’s body while their brains are not fully mature10.
Conclusion
Due to the inherent risk of medicalization, and the damage to fertility and health that comes with it, we do not advocate for social transition.
1 Cass, H. (2024) “The Cass Review: Independent Review of gender identity services for children and young people”
2 Singh, D., Bradley, S. J., & Zucker, K. J. (2021). A Follow-Up Study of boys with Gender Identity Disorder. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.632784
3 Olson, K.R. et al (2022) “Gender Identity 5 Years After Social Transition” Pediatrics 150(2) https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-056082
4 Cantor, J. (2016, January 11). Do trans- kids stay trans- when they grow up? Sexology Today. http://www.sexologytoday.org/2016/01/do-trans-kids-stay-trans-when-they-grow_99.html
5 Gender Health Query. (2019). Do children and teens with serious gender dysphoria ever outgrow gender dysphoria? Yes. https://thehomoarchy.com/trans-children-dysphoria-desistance-gay
6 Zucker, K. J. (2018). The myth of persistence: Response to “A critical commentary on follow-up studies and ‘desistance’ theories about transgender and gender non-conforming children” by Temple Newhook et al. (2018). International Journal of Transgenderism, 19(2), 231-245. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15532739.2018.1468293
7 Alcock, K. (2022, February 23). Young children, reality, sex and gender – Katie Alcock – Medium. https://medium.com/@katieja/young-children-reality-sex-and-gender-3421f4f165f1
8 Dhejne, C., Lichtenstein, P., Boman, M., Johansson, A. L., Långström, N., & Landén, M. (2011). Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden. PLoS ONE, 6(2), e16885. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885
9 Gender Health Query. (2019). Consequences & Permanent Side-Effects That Result From The Use Of Hormone Blockers. https://thehomoarchy.com/trans-youth-side-effects-hormone-blockers-surgery
10 Sapoloski, R. (2014, July 4). Dude, Where’s My Frontal Cortex? Nautilus. doi:http://nautil.us/issue/15/turbulence/dude-wheres-my-frontal-cortex