“A Psychiatrist’s New Pitch for Talking About Gender Identity”

Dr. Jack Turban tries to spin a bit of propaganda into trans gold

Dr. Jack Turban

On July 8, 2024, the New York Times published an op-ed piece by Dr. Jack Turban entitled “A Psychiatrist’s New Pitch for Talking About Gender Identity”.

For those who don’t know much about so-called “trans kids” or who are still sitting on the fence or unsure what all of this means, Turban’s position may seem reasonable, even if a bit nonsensical and over-simplified. But as this article is clearly labeled as an “opinion” Turban really should have stated his personal bias in this arena as well as listing his very heavy investment in WPATH’s (World Professional Association of Transgender Health) latest Standards of Care. No less than seven of his professional papers are listed as references for this document. Far from being a “professional association” of anything at all WPATH has been shown to be no more than a well-funded lobby group for advancing the trans agenda.

How can WPATH claim any to be any sort of professional group when, according to their own website, “Joining WPATH is easy”? There are no requirements that restrict members to be any more than an interested member of the public; literally anyone who pays a membership fee can join.

Turban claims to want to engage in discussions about gender to help everyone to understand that this can be a very complicated issue. But reading his “scientific” research it soon becomes clear that he has at best a hazy grasp of evidence-based medicine and at worst thinks that practice that is based on actual facts and evidence is subjective, rendering it no more reliable than what he thinks about things.

Dr. Turban must think this is an actual photo of this mythical beast. Image by Ray Shrewsberry • from Pixabay

I proffer the thought that for most of us mammals, the one feature that determines our future prospects from the moment of birth till we draw our last breath is not an ill-defined and (according to some) an ever changing gender, but our embodied sex, which is fixed before our mothers knew they were pregnant, is immediately apparent to everyone in the room at birth, and is immutable and impossible to alter at any point in our development.

By featuring the feeling of gender over the reality of sex, Turban is able to spin his tales unencumbered by the physical limits of our actual bodies.

Clearly, Turban is a man unaccustomed to being told no as he starts his propaganda piece by putting scare quotes around “mutilated and sterilized”, even though factually speaking, these are the results of starting children on puberty blockers and carrying on with cross sex hormones. And yes, I think that young girls having their healthy breasts (Turban calls them “chests”) removed due to no more than confused thinking is mutilation.

He also doesn’t like the term “social contagion”, even though this is a well-documented human phenomenon and really the best way to account for the rapid spread of a trans identity which is often observed in discreet friend groups or in school settings. If anyone is turning “gender diversity” into a “disease”, it’s not those of us alarmed at the damage being done to children.

He states that, “Gender identity, for all of us, isn’t simple or binary; it’s neither just biology nor just a social construct.” Hmm, maybe but what about those of us who don’t claim a gender identity at all because we recognize that we are subject to the very binary categorization of sex? Gender “identity” now often has no relationship to biology and is a total social construct.

Too bad there doesn’t seem to be any room to widen the definition of gender identity so that boys who like nail polish aren’t told they must really be girls.

I now have a visceral reaction to the word “cis” as the entire purpose of using this term is to convince us that trans is a valid identity. Yet these are merely Latin terms meaning this side of, and on the other side of.

I feel that us gender critical types are the only ones left with “nuance and clarity”. We are clear that there are only two sexes, and you can’t change what you are and there is no nuance in ignoring the pleas of women who don’t want to see penises in public changing rooms.

“The most basic part of gender identity is what I call our transcendent sense of gender. In a way that goes beyond language, people often just feel male or female, and some more strongly than others.” And “it’s hard to describe this transcendent feeling in words.” If a trained and experienced psychiatrist can’t find the words to describe emotional states, should he remain in practice?

Some days I feel like a materially rich person and some days like a poor one. My bank balance never changes in response to how I feel. Is this guy a doctor or an alchemist? If he has a patient who identifies as another animal or as some famous historical figure, what does he do? Affirm delusional thinking or support his patient back to reality?

“I’ve had patients, for example, who hate the expectations placed on women in American society. They began using they/them pronouns as a way to express rejection of those expectations.”

And that’s it folks, that’s his entire commentary on the effects on girls of growing up in our hypersexualized society. No criticisms of using sex to sell everything or on the unreasonable expectations on girls and young women to present as perpetually sexy (for men), but at the same time, get an advanced STEM degree. I assume that he thinks it’s easier for women to claim a different identity than for men like him working to change our culture to be less misogynistic. If using they/them pronouns really worked perhaps women in Afghanistan would not be in such peril from men.

“Others are distressed by their gendered physical attributes. They may feel that their deepening voices or the shapes of their chests are at odds with their senses of self.”

Being upset with one’s body used to be considered just one of those things that happens when humans are teenagers. I can remember being distressed by facial acne, but sane parents bought some Clearasil® to put on pimples and assured us that when we were a bit older, this problem would solve itself.

“This incongruence can lead to eating disorders, anxiety or depression, which is when doctors may consider gender-affirming medical interventions.”

Anorexia is not treated with diet pills and a gym membership. Anxiety is not treated by encouraging you to worry more and depression is not treated with a cheery “hey, lighten up!” But according to Turban children who are confused about their “gender” need to be affirmed in their inaccurate self-perceptions.

Given that many children who identify as trans are in the process of discovering they are same sex attracted and another sometimes overlapping cohort are autistic, encouraging these children to think there is indeed, something wrong with them, but no problem, we can fix this, is bordering on the criminal.

In all my dealings with the mental health system and mental health patients, I have found mental health care professionals to be united by a goal of bringing people back to reality, not encouraging them to remain detached from what is achievable.

I did agree with this, “it is essential for young people to have comprehensive mental health evaluations before initiating any gender-affirming medical intervention”, but a quick Google search will show that this hardly ever happens. There are now many detransitioners telling their stories and one universal feature of them all is that no one evaluated them for any mental health issues. They presented to an office appointment (or sometimes just “met” over Zoom) and whatever the problem was, it could be fixed by receiving a diagnosis of “being trans”.

If you want to read some thorough and rational critiques of Turban’s research, I recommend you go here and here.

“Gender identity is complex.”  It sure can be, especially when it serves as little more than a Trojan horse for gender ideology. As this ideology is only based on feelings and beliefs and is largely disconnected from biological realities, it is really not of much practical value to real humans leading real lives.

Personally, I think I’ll stick to definitions of sex, which for well over 99% of the population is a thing of beauty for its inherent simplicity. There are only two categories of sex, and we have to find ways to cope with what we were born as, because there is no dilemma here and no choice to be made.