When it comes to those who still defend others who believe medical interventions are necessary for prepubescent gender dysphoria sufferers, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling has a blunt message for them: They’re no better than those who prescribed lobotomies for mental illness in the 20th century.
Rowling made the series of posts on X after she shared a link to a peer-reviewed study — “Gender-affirming medical treatment for adolescents: a critical reflection on ‘effective’ treatment outcomes,” published Christmas Eve in the journal BMC Medical Ethics — which is a masterpiece of what she (not wrongly) called “obfuscatory language” by “gender activist medics” that she also compared to Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil” in her work “Eichmann in Jerusalem.”
She quoted an excerpt about the sterilized language of the Third Reich in her post: “The net effect of this language system was not to keep these people ignorant of what they were doing, but to prevent them from equating it with their old, ‘normal’ knowledge of murder and lies.”
“We’re all used to the obfuscatory language gender activist medics and their cheerleader, insist upon. ‘Gender affirming care/treatment’ is so much nicer sounding than ‘sterilisation, surgical mutilation and provision of toxic drugs to troubled minors,’” she wrote.
“But this paper breaks new ground. It acknowledges that by the usual medical standards (‘old normal knowledge’) transitioning minors has not been found to be the unqualified success many have claimed. The proposed solution? Jettison the old knowledge. Redefine success.”
This astounding paper reminds me of Hannah Arendt’s The Banality of Evil: ‘The net effect of this language system was not to keep these people ignorant of what they were doing, but to prevent them from equating it with their old, ‘normal’ knowledge.’ 1/5https://t.co/nPNlm033r6
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 28, 2024
‘Yes, some young people given irreversible surgeries and hormone regimes regret it. Yes, some have complex problems that transition doesn’t fix and may worsen. But hey, they wanted it and were given it. That should be the new metric of success!’ 4/5
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 28, 2024
Do you believe there is such a thing as “trans kids”?
This isn’t a mischaracterization, by the way; the study is too long to summarize here, but the TL;DR version is that if current studies don’t show measurable improvement in kids who receive medical interventions for gender dysphoria, what we really need to do is redefine “improvement.”
At some point during the debate, an unnamed individual responded, “I wish you would use your immense power for good. Your hateful focus on trans kids is hurtful and unnecessary.”
She posted a picture of the response along with her brutal riposte.
“There are no trans kids. No child is ‘born in the wrong body,’” she wrote on Saturday.
“There are only adults like you, prepared to sacrifice the health of minors to bolster your belief in an ideology that will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies and false memory syndrome combined.”
There are no trans kids. No child is ‘born in the wrong body’. There are only adults like you, prepared to sacrifice the health of minors to bolster your belief in an ideology that will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies and false memory syndrome combined. pic.twitter.com/yyc4MxgfOk
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 28, 2024
“Kids are watching TikTok videos of surgeons selling the idea that bodies can be modified like Lego,” she continued in the responses.
“Schools affirm kids’ trans identities behind parents’ backs. A certain kids’ charity in the UK sent out breast binders to pubescent girls without parental consent.
“Many parents are struggling to protect kids from a Zeitgeist telling them that anxieties about puberty, sexuality and growing up can be fixed by lifelong reliance on Big Pharma and by doctors who make Frankenstein look ethical.”
Not always. Kids are watching TikTok videos of surgeons selling the idea that bodies can be modified like Lego. Schools affirm kids’ trans identities behind parents’ backs. A certain kids’ charity in the UK sent out breast binders to pubescent girls without parental consent. Many…
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 29, 2024
And even though this isn’t the opinion of America’s left-of-center politicians or the self-proclaimed guardians of The Science™, this is what the vast majority of Americans believe.
“Despite her opinion rankling many on the left, the celebrated writer is actually in line with the majority of Americans when it comes to taking medical steps for trans-identifying youth, polls show,” the New York Post reported.
“A Washington Post-KFF Trans in America survey found that 68% of US adults are against providing puberty blockers to trans-identifying youth ages 10 to 14, and 58% oppose hormone treatments for those ages 15 to 17.”
And consider, too, that other countries which started this experiment earlier than we did are already backing away from it, like Rowling’s own United Kingdom.
But you’ve heard the line before: “Would you rather have a dead son or a living daughter?” Because apparently, these treatments for mental illness are effective whether the evidence says so or not. Of course, once upon a time, the medical establishment believed the same thing about lobotomies.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.