Whatever the opposite of a brain trust is has been meeting on Twitter today to discuss trans issues, and it’s gone exactly as you’d expect. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elon Musk have been piling in on trans people in the name of “protecting children,” a firm favorite excuse of people who hate something and want to scream about it, but don’t want to do any actual research on the topic. The fear that children are being maimed argument is a bit weird too, considering Musk’s ties to known child sex trafficker Epstein, and Greene’s implicit support of people like Jim Jordan, who covered up the sexual abuse of young people for years. But consistency and logic aren’t exactly strong points for the politician and emerald heir, so it’s not that big of a surprise to see them invoke the health and safety of society’s most vulnerable in their culture war.
The thread began with a Twitter post by rapper and management consultant turned culture warrior Zuby (who this writer had the misfortune of working with at Accenture, which in turn led to having to watch him perform his terrible songs in a tiny bar on a weekday night, with six other people in the audience). The failed musician retweeted a post about an allegedly botched gender reassignment surgery, captioning it in a predictably emotive way to frame the issue as one of child abuse instead of a failed medical procedure. The article was also from The Post Millenial, a Canadian conservative magazine known for poor journalistic standards and ties to far-right movements, and the surgery discussed in the piece took place in 2016. So, not a great start when it comes to making a coherent argument – but you don’t get far in right wing culture war circles without being disingenuous, so this is hardly news.
Musk, ever the attention seeker (even off his main account) added his own ignorant two cents, before posting a flawed study that he claimed proved sex-rassignment surgery increased the risks of suicide. As many pointed out in the replies, the numbers in the study compared trans people to cisgender people, which means it doesn’t quite prove the point Musk thinks it does. Thanks to a number of factors, many of which are societal, trans people are much more likely to suffer from suicidal ideation than cisgender people at all points throughout their lives, even after receiving gender-affirming treatment.
Investigative reporter Brian Krassenstein pointed this out, before adding that: “73.3% of the sample reported a history of suicidal ideation; this percentage dropped to 43.4% following the initiation of gender-affirming treatment. Prior to treatment initiation.”This idea — that trans people who go through gender-affirming treatment are less likely to be suicidal — has been proven by multiple studies. Musk, instead of apologizing, or even just replying, ignored the research that didn’t fit with his world view. Now where have we seen that before?
Sadly, the idiocy didn’t stop there. Georgia’s most ridiculous congresswoman had to get involved, because like Musk she’s a consummate attention seeker. She used the thread’s popularity to point out that she has a dubiously named Protect Children’s Innocence Act up for a vote, and implored her fellow Republicans to pass it. This act would make it a felony to perform sex reassignment surgeries on people under the age of 18 — which, ironically, wouldn’t have actually changed anything about the article that started the whole thread, as the person receiving the surgery was 18, and was also not a U.S citizen. But the truth has never stopped Greene from stamping her feet and whining.
Another bit of information that shows how useless Greene’s act is that most trans people under that age don’t get gender-affirming surgery until they’re much older. This is thanks to a number of reasons, including prohibitive costs. As per Reuters, only 56 children aged 13 – 17 underwent genital surgery between 2019-2021, and just over 700 had mastectomies in that same time. Considering there are over 14 million U.S citizens aged between 10-19, it’s clear to see that this is a very niche issue being blown well out of proportion. More recent research has affirmed just how vanishingly small of an issue this is, even now with greater access to resources for trans kids.
Greene has long been thumping the transphobic drum, whereas Musk’s transphobia seems to stem from the fact he has a trans kid who despises him — or, because his entire personality is that of a twelve year old edgelord. Both know that anti-trans activism is an excellent issue to drive engagement, and therefore bring them attention, which frankly seems to be the thing that the pair care about most in the world.
However, there’s no doubt all their bleating has come at a huge cost to trans people, and especially trans teens. Trans people in general are much more likely to be victims of violence than cisgender people, and are also twice as likely to be unemployed, which many experts argue stems from bigotry much like Greene and Musk’s. Neither Musk nor Greene seem to be aware that this kind of bullying and societal pressure is a huge reason for the rates of suicidal ideation among trans teens, instead pointing to things like people detransitioning to “prove” transgenderism isn’t a “real thing.” This, of course, ignores the fact the most common reason given for detransition is societal and familial pressures, and not dissatisfaction with the results of gender-affirming treatment.
While various so-called gender critical posters continue to harrass and demean trans people online, the community is finding ways to fight back, even as conservative legislators across various western countries seek to destroy the gains made in helping trans people of all ages to feel more comfortable in their bodies. However, as long as big names with large followings, like Greene and Musk, continue to spread harmful misinformation and hateful rhetoric, trans people (and especially teens) will continue to suffer more than they need to. And that’s the real tragedy in all of this.