This is such an important point, and it doesn’t just affect what people like you or me are allowed to say, it affects people who struggling with these issues. All they hear, all that they are allowed to hear, is how “transitioning” is the way to happiness.
There are numerous examples of the impact this is having on society. One is Walt Heyer’s story, where he says
Had I not been misled by media stories of sex change “success” and by medical practitioners who said transitioning was the answer to my problems, I wouldn’t have suffered as I have. Genetics can’t be changed. Feelings, however, can and do change. Underlying issues often drive the desire to escape one’s life into another, and they need to be addressed before taking the radical step of transition.
You will hear the media say, “Regret is rare.” But they are not reading my inbox, which is full of messages from transgender individuals who want the life and body back that was taken from them by cross-sex hormones, surgery and living under a new identity.
After de-transitioning, I know the truth: Hormones and surgery may alter appearances, but nothing changes the immutable fact of your sex.
For a laundry list of examples of how these laws fuel pressure for people to become transgender, Abigail Shrier’s new book is full of them.
The impact laws and attitudes like the ones being discussed are going to have in a few years is going to be truly devastating to a lot of people. People who have body modification scars and drastic hormone imbalances.