(LifeSiteNews) — For several years now, the consensus among conservatives, moderates, and a certain portion of old guard leftists (such as the radical feminists) has been that the transgender movement will eventually run out of steam — that at some point, nature will angrily assert herself and the trend will be over. The transgender movement — at least as it pertains to minors — will end in a flurry of malpractice lawsuits, scrambling scientists, and a repudiation of the extremes of gender ideology by the mainstream. When it is all over, many predict, we will see transgenderism as the worst crime backed by the scientific community since the eugenics movement, condemned by the mutilated boys and girls left in its wake.
That might very well be the case, and there are good indications that these predictions may play out. Hundreds of families are banding together to sue the National Health Service’s gender clinic in the United Kingdom. An 18-year-old de-transitioner in the U.S. is suing the surgeon who mutilated her. Other de-transitioners are telling their stories publicly and calling on lawmakers to take action against the practices that left them with permanent physical damage. Legislators in some American states have heeded that call and passed laws; a backlash has begun in some European countries, as well. Those who are optimistic that the transgender movement will inevitably fail have good reason to believe that their hopes are coming to pass.
READ: Renowned psychiatrist debunks ‘deeply flawed’ research pushing genital mutilation of children
But as I noted in an interview and several columns a couple of years ago, there is another way this might play out. LGBT activists could simply say that the phenomenon of “de-transitioners” is due to society’s opposition to gender ideology — and that those who have begun to detransition had those doubts planted in their mind by the opposition of parents, or Christians, or anyone else who dares to suggest that changing sexes is either a bad idea or downright impossible. In this scenario, the very people who have been warning about the irreversible damage and the devastating fallout from the transgender movement will be blamed for that fallout. If it weren’t for those who oppose gender ideology, there would be no de-transitioners, and everyone would be happy.
As it turns out, they’re already working on that narrative. From a LSN report this week:
A left-wing study conducted in the Netherlands attempts to dismiss people who regret their attempts to “transition” to the opposite sex by claiming that they do so because of “internalized transphobia.”
The study, published last month in MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) as part of the organization’s “Special Issue on LGBTQI+ Health,” focuses on “identifying coping strategies” used by those who pursue cross-sex hormones and surgeries as they try to “transition” to the opposite sex.
Based on the experiences of 19 participants, the five researchers claimed that dissatisfaction with medical “gender transition” is a “maladaptive” coping mechanism grounded in so-called “internalized transphobia.” They stated that the “increased number of stressors transgender [sic] individuals experience” can be categorized as either “distal (e.g., discrimination)” or “proximal (e.g., internalized transphobia).”
READ: Canadian public schools are indoctrinating kids in transgender insanity without parental consent
To make the case that cultural dissidents who reject the transgender movement are responsible for the crimes perpetrated by that movement, LGBT activists need studies and “science” to prove that sex change regret is the fault not of those who encouraged and facilitated these treatments but those who opposed those treatments. And what of those de-transitioners who are telling their stories in very different terms and speaking for themselves? They are simply erased from the very body of work that activists use to make their blood libel:
Despite the reports of clearly regretting their decisions to permanently change their physical appearance, the researchers never refer to these feelings as genuine regret or remorse. Rather, they are categorized as the result of “stereotypical images” and “focusing on gender-incongruent characteristics” based in transphobia against themselves.
“Thoughts that reflect internalized transphobia were also repeatedly observed,” the study continues. “Some participants described internalized negative attitudes towards other transgender individuals in general, and/or towards being transgender themselves. This included internalized disapproval towards transgender individuals, uneasiness with disclosing one’s identity to others and discomfort with being compared to other transgender individuals.”
Got that? If someone who “transitions” regrets that transition, the fault lies with those who opposed transitioning to begin with. This is gaslighting, but I’ve suspected that it was coming for some time. There’s no guarantee that this play will be successful. Of course, de-transitioners like Chloe Cole are incredibly articulate and charismatic and can speak for themselves. But studies like this are being conducted to produce conclusions that LGBT activists can use to defend themselves as evidence of the devastation they have wrought mounts. At the end of the day, we can be assured of one thing: They will never, ever take responsibility for what they have promoted and what they have done, just like the supporters of eugenics. Instead, they will try to blame those of us who said it would end this way to begin with.
