People believing that masses of children are literally getting surgery, circumcision notwithstanding, is a result of a persistent campaign to cause panic.
And it's the same hucksters selling fear to the same religious reactionaries. New day, new apocalyptic scapegoat.
It's happening regardless of the disingenous "it's not happening" claims. Here's some reading for you. There are many more examples. Cute swipe at religion though.
Children don't receive elective surgery. It's just not a thing, in any medical guidelines or ethics rules, anywhere in the country. Older teens, _extremely rarely_, are allowed to have top surgery, but it's case by case.
Children _can_ receive puberty blockers, which _by definition_ are 100% completely reversible. The process to start treatment is universally difficult and involves multiple years of therapy and concurrence of multiple medical providers over time.
No, puberty blockers are not 100% reversible and they are not harmless, either. Surgeries are not rare, either - at least it is debatable what should be considered "rare".
Risks are comparative, moral panic is not and ignores this. Banning something because it is not 100% harmless is just not something that is done without extra considerations, such as a moralizing. E.g. Pain killers cause significantly more societal harm than puberty blockers but are still widely available.
As to the real risks, time and again it has been shown that the comparative risks of a) receiving puberty blockers vs b) growing up a gender you do not feel you are, strongly points to puberty blockers being a significant net benefit. Those taking puberty blockers rarely regret it; whereas those growing up a gender they do not identify with mostly regret it are are significantly more prone to abuse, mental health issues and suicide.
Kids get fed mountains of acetaminophen every year. Why do you suppose that acetaminophen packages have prominent warnings about not exceeding dosages?
It's because acetaminophen is extremely hepatotoxic at levels not very far above the recommended dosages.
> Hepatic injury and subsequent hepatic failure due to both intentional and non-intentional overdose of acetaminophen (APAP) has affected patients for decades, and [...] remains a global issue; in the United States, in particular, it accounts for more than 50% of overdose-related acute liver failure and approximately 20% of the liver transplant cases.
I would assert that acetaminophen is far more likely to be dangerous to far more children than puberty blockers and yet I don't see any moral panic over children's Tylenol.
Circumcision is one of those things that make me pessimistic about any societal change. It's an unthinkable act in most of the world, and broadly considered medically unnecessary for something like 99.9% of penises. With the exception of some religious nuts, no one does this to their son in countries like mine, but in the US the status quo means that the chance you'll lose your foreskin as a baby is about that of calling heads on the flip of a coin.
It just doesn't seem to be about facts at all.
The apparent fact that the people who are pushing for personhood of embryos and rage against people reading a book in drag seem perfectly fine with male genital mutilation really highlights that this isn't about the welfare of the children at all.
As the father of a young son: damn, people are stupid.
Yep, cultural inertia is a powerful thing. Very little about human decision making is about facts. People largely come to an emotional decision based on group identity, prior bias, etc... and then do post hoc justification with curated "facts" from sources they approve of.
Belief perseverance. For anyone who thinks (like I used to) "but not me, right? I'm rational" [this experiment](https://www.jstor.org/stable/3233529) was done on people with PhDs.
Yes, it is - but that would upend the 'only two genders/sexes' status quo and we can't have that. Imagine the mass panic and moral decay that would ensue.
Why bother loving your kid for who they are when you can just ask the docker to slice them up before they can consent? Or deny them access to Healthcare based on your own feelings because you really like your kids genitals...
And it's the same hucksters selling fear to the same religious reactionaries. New day, new apocalyptic scapegoat.