According to a major new report published in the journal, The New Atlantis, the leading narratives regarding sexual orientation and gender identity have no basis on scientific evidence. The report, titled, “Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences” discusses over 200 peer reviewed studies in the biological, psychological and social sciences and focuses on exactly what scientific research shows and does not show regarding the issues revolving around the LGBT community.
The report was co-authored by two leading scholars on Mental health and Sexuality in the United States of America, Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, Ph.D., a biostatistician and epidemiologist now a scholar in residence at Johns Hopkins University; and by Dr. Paul R. McHugh, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
The report challenges the narratives that have dominated public discourse and even contributed towards determining public policy on the issues regarding the LGBT community. One of the most fundamental claims that the report challenges is sexual orientation as a fixed innate characteristic of an individual.
The report says, “While there is evidence that biological factors such as genes and hormones are associated with sexual behaviors and attractions, there are no compelling causal biological explanations for human sexual orientation.” The report suggests that it is likely that a combination of biological, experiential and environmental play a critical role in determining sexual orientation and identity.
Furthermore, it seems sexual orientation isn’t as immutable as we have been led to believe. The report observes that, “Longitudinal studies of adolescents suggest that sexual orientation may be quite fluid over the life course for some people, with one study estimating that as many as 80 percent of male adolescents who report same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults.” The results are similar for females but not as striking.
The report also states that there’s no scientific evidence to suggest that there’s any basis for gender identity as an innate immutable characteristic of an individual independent of biological sex. Hence, the entire range of rhetoric about ‘Man trapped in a woman’s body’ is just that, rhetoric, with no basis in reality.
The report cites research that indicates “only a minority of children who experience cross-gender identification will continue to do so into adolescence or adulthood.” Consequently, the report notes, “There is no evidence that all children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender.”
After rigorous evaluation, scientific research and evidence dictates that we view sexual reassignment with healthy scepticism. As the doctors observe, “scientific evidence summarized suggests we take a sceptical view toward the claim that sex reassignment procedures provide the hoped for benefits or resolve the underlying issues that contribute to elevated mental health risks among the transgender population.”
Contrary to the narrative that has been forced down our throats, sex reassignment procedures provide little or no help to those suffering from Gender Dysphoria and might as well cause more harm than good.
Again, the report observes, “One study found that, compared to controls, sex-reassigned individuals were about five times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide.”
People who identify themselves as LGBT also suffer from higher risks of adverse physical and mental health outcome such as ‘depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and most alarmingly, suicide.’ The report summarizes its observations, “Members of the non-heterosexual population are estimated to have about 1.5 times higher risk of experiencing anxiety disorders than members of the heterosexual population, as well as roughly double the risk of depression, 1.5 times the risk of substance abuse, and nearly 2.5 times the risk of suicide.”
Among transgendered people, “the rate of lifetime suicide attempts across all ages of transgender individuals is estimated at 41 percent, compared to under 5 percent in the overall U.S. population.” The report notes that such risks associated with the LGBT community cannot be attributed to social stigmas and prejudices alone.
Further, the report notes that non-heterosexual individuals are two to three times more likely to have suffered sexual abuse as a child. However, more research is required before claiming a link between childhood sexual abuse and non-heterosexual attractions.
In light of recent revelations made by Dr. Mayer and Dr. McHugh, it would be wise to reconsider the popular LGBT narrative that is driving public policy on the issue. As a result of the narrative that has been allowed to propagate unfettered, and without any scientific evidence, children as young as four year old have been allowed to undertake sex reassignment programs.
Without consensus of experts on the field regarding the ability of aforementioned procedures to contribute positively to the wellbeing of the individual and with good reason to believe that it affects individuals adversely contrary to popular belief, it might tantamount to child abuse to allow a child as young as four year old to attempt to change his or her sex.
Excessive political correctness and public shaming of individuals who raise valid concerns have led to a situation where children are being sacrificed at the altar of pseudoscience and ideology. It might be prudent to follow Dr. McHugh’s example that put an end to the practice of Sex Reassignment surgery at the John Hopkins Hospital during his tenure as psychiatrist-in-chief after realizing it didn’t have the benefits patients and doctors had hoped for.
The correct course of action on the basis of the report would be to not try and normalize a mental health crisis with pseudo-scientific concepts such as Gender Identity. Common sense demands that we formulate public policy based on its effectiveness and not how people feel about but common sense, like facts, is not allowed to contaminate the beautiful vision of the Left.
It is imperative that sex reassignment procedures for minors be banned with immediate effect and the word of the experts are heeded on the matter and not that of the propagandists. As the doctors ask everyone to promote a flourishing mental health, they conclude, “More research is needed to uncover the causes of the increased rates of mental health problems in the LGBT subpopulations.”
And for the people who would rather gloss over critical facts for the sake of protecting offended feelings, the doctors put it perfectly, “Everyone—scientists and physicians, parents and teachers, lawmakers and activists—deserves access to accurate information about sexual orientation and gender identity.”