A new poll found that nearly 80% of American voters believe that minors should be required to wait until they are adults to pursue transgender procedures.
The national survey, conducted by Convention of States Action, in partnership with The Trafalgar Group, polled over 1,000 likely 2022 election voters in October. When asked if they “believe underage minors should be required to wait until they are adults to use puberty blockers and undergo permanent sex change procedures,” the poll found that 78.7% of all respondents comprising Democrats, Republicans, and non-partisan affiliations said they should “wait.”
“The idea that young people have to be 16 to drive, 18 to vote, and 21 to drink, and yet can undergo life-altering medical procedures in middle school defies common sense, and the American people see that clearly,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States.
The overwhelming majority of Republican and independent voters oppose gender change treatments for minors, while Democrats were divided. 96.8% of Republican voters, 84.6% of independent voters, and 53.2% of Democrats said that minors should wait until they are adults to pursue medical transition.
The majority of respondents belonged to the 45-64 age bracket, at 36.5%, followed by 65 and over, at 26.6%. Age brackets 35-44 and 25-34 constituted 14.9% and 14.2%, respectively. Finally, 7.7% of respondents were in the 18-24-year-old category.
Remarkably, 92.3% of the 18 to 24-year-old respondents said that minors should wait until they are adults to medically transition. Additionally, 62.8% of 25-34 year olds, 77.4% of 35-44 year olds, 78.5% of those between 45-64 and 80.4% of the 65 and over category all answered that medical transition is a decision that only adults should be allowed to make.
As for ethnicity demographics, 100% of Asians, 73.4% of Hispanics, 80.6% of black voters, 78.4% of white voters, and 80.2% of respondents of unspecified ethnicity all indicated that minors should be required to wait until they are adults to access transgender treatments.
Although puberty blocking drugs are frequently touted as “reversible” and a “pause button” on puberty, this relies entirely on referencing their approved on-label use to treat precocious puberty in young children, not how they are increasingly being prescribed off-label to treat gender dysphoria in adolescents. There are no long-term studies to support its use in this context and they are not FDA approved for their off-label use.
Far from being “reversible,” children who begin taking puberty blockers during the first signs of puberty and go on to take cross-sex hormones, which constitutes the vast majority, will become sterilized and may never be able to achieve orgasm. Transgender surgeon Dr. Marci Bowers famously conceded that out of her approximately 2,000 patients, none have been able to achieve sexual satisfaction.
Additionally, puberty blockers stunt development of the male genitalia and have been shown to have serious side effects, which include a decline in bone density, neurological effects, and psychiatric problems.
GnRH agonists, known to most as puberty blockers, stop the pituitary gland from making the hormones that stimulate the production of sex hormones. While they are frequently prescribed off-label to stop secondary sex characteristics from developing in pubescent youth, they are also prescribed off-label to trans-identifying adults in conjunction with cross-sex hormones.
As for GnRH agonists, “the results are different depending on what stage of life the person is in,” endocrinologist Dr. Mike Laidlaw explains. “If the medication is taken during adolescence, then the low testosterone and estrogen levels that result will stop puberty for the male and the female respectively.”
“In gender-affirmative therapy for the male body, it may be used to block testosterone release while the person simultaneously takes estrogen,” said Dr. Laidlaw. “The result in the male will be very low levels of testosterone. This then allows estrogen to become the primary sex hormone of the body.”
“As for females who have already gone through puberty, the medication will result in very low estrogen levels,” he added. “The medication will also stop menstrual cycles. It appears to be used in females who are transitioning for this purpose, to stop menstrual function, probably as a ‘bridge’ to testosterone.”
Permanent sex change procedures may include cross-sex hormones, which may cause irreversible changes to the body, and surgeries such as bilateral mastectomies in teenage girls.
A recent Reuters investigation found that between 2019-2021, at least 776 mastectomies and 56 genital surgeries were performed in the U.S. on patients ages 13 to 17 who identified as transgender, which Reuters explained was likely a “significant undercount” since the review only examined insurance claims.
The leading transgender health association recently released new Standards of Care guidelines, removing their minimal age recommendations for minors to obtain puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, leaving the decision up to the discretion of physicians.
