By the end of 2021, we saw cracks in the gender industry. The first and largest gender clinic in Texas, GENECIS, disbanded at the end of 2021, noting that they would no longer give puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for children with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. This is one of hundreds of clinics dispensing these medications, and we hope the rest will soon follow in closing their doors. Part of the Children's Medical Center in Dallas, the clinic was a magnet for distressed families across the Southwest. The case of James Younger at this clinic has gained significant attention over the years, as legislators and officials have signaled their brief interest, then walked away, allowing the harm to this child and family to continue.
Also in late 2021, for those intimately involved in creating a counter-narrative to gender identity affirmation, we saw two noteworthy fissures in the professional landscape. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) solicited public comment on their draft of Version 8 of the Standards of Care, and the deadline was even extended for comment by an additional month, with comments now due January 16, 2022. That coincided with an op-ed in the Washington Post on November 24, 2021 by two doctors, Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper and Dr. Erica Anderson, both holding leadership positions in WPATH and USPATH, respectively, and centrally involved in making decisions about the treatment of transgender-identified children. The doctors explained that children are being treated with “sloppy, dangerous care,” and they suggest that “trans youth” (which is never defined or distinguished as a wholly unique class of children) are receiving “substandard mental health care” by incompetent providers.
Many, many have been saying the same for years—shining a light on this dark industry. Light is getting through these cracks.
In order to rid ourselves of the darkness that is the gender industry--a system of misinformed, misguided, and unethical professionals harming children and families emotionally, psychologically, physically, and financially--we must elevate the lighthouses of courage that have been built.
In 2022, Partners for Ethical Care wants to highlight those who were fearful, but they pushed through that fear and built something that helps us all see through the fog of gender ideology. There are doctors, therapists, teachers, parents, detransitioners, and concerned citizens, who have answered when courage called. They used their tools and built lighthouses. While children are being tossed about on the rocky seas, grasping to the hulls of their boats, seasick and looking to drop anchor anywhere just to have a sense of stability, it is these lighthouses that have been and are being built that will guide them back to shore, back to stable ground.
In the coming weeks, we will draw your attention to the articles, books, videos, podcasts, court cases, legislation, and actions that have been a beacon of light in these dark times. When you need courage, look to the lighthouses, and we hope that you will be inspired to build your own or join others to build one together.
If you have been inspired by the work of someone, please send us a note and let us know what has shined a light on this topic for you. What have you read, watched, or heard that made a difference in how you see the gender industry? We have our own long list of lighthouses of courage, but we invite you to share your ideas with us at support@partnersforethicalcare.com
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