New York Times Undermines “Detransitioners” Who Shares Stories of Trans Regret
“Ms. Cole and fewer than 10 activists like her — people who transitioned and then changed course — have become the faces of the cause.”
A piece in the New York Times last week highlighted the voices of “detransitioners” whose voices have been used in favor of laws banning so-called “gender-affirming” treatments for minors, arguing that the minority of their voices makes Republican-backed legislation unfair.
Reporter Maggie Astor focuses on formerly transgender activist Chole Cole and “fewer than 10 activists like her” which she laments have been made the voice of the GOP cause seeking to restrict such treatments for minors.
“As Republican-controlled state legislatures have passed over a dozen bills banning transition care for minors this year and have moved to restrict care for adults,” she writes. “Ms. Cole and fewer than 10 activists like her — people who transitioned and then changed course — have become the faces of the cause, according to a New York Times review of news coverage and legislative testimony.”
Astor argues that Cole and her cohorts represent such a small minority compared to medical industry interest groups and transgender individuals as to be unfairly representative of the issues being discussed when trans treatment for minors is being legislated.
“Their stories of regret and irreversible physical transformation have tapped into strong emotions about rapidly shifting gender norms — from hardened prejudice to parental worry,” her report notes. “Lawmakers have used these accounts to override objections from all major medical associations, which oppose bans on transition care, as well as testimony from the far larger number of transgender people who say transitioning improved their mental health.”
Astor quotes one 17-year-old in Missouri who reports a positive experience with transitioning and claims that Republican lawmakers “don’t really care” when hearing testimonies in favor of gender-affirming treatments for youth.
No mention is made of how Democrat lawmakers respond to testimonies from detransitioners like Cole.