Text for a mail-bombing, to be sent to director Maurizio Molinari m.molinari@repubblica.it
Dear Director Molinari,
read Michela Marzano's article, title 'No one touches gender identity', published in your newspaper on Sunday 5 February. And we cannot but note with dismay that thehe author addresses the sensitive issue of 'dysphoric' minors without any scientific referenceAmong other things, he argued that the 'suspension' induced by puberty-blocking drugs 'is temporary and reversible', that the use of such drugs 'allows time to pass, and thus gives adolescents the chance to mature, without forcing them to live with the deep despair that very often (and we know this!) leads to suicide'.
As for the supposed 'reversibility' of the effects produced by blockers, a fact refuted by several studies (see for example the article published by the British Medical Journal) as well as by clinical practice. One effect that is now established as irreversible is bone demineralisation: the study speaks of reduced growth in height and bone strength.
Even if the girl or boy (the administration is prepubertal, it is therefore children between 9 and 12 years old) suspended 'therapy', the bone problems and early osteopenia would be irreversible, as well as other possible effects being studied, from risks to fertility, the nervous system and others. In truth, the 'therapy' is hardly ever interrupted, given that the percentage of minors from the blocker cross-sex hormone intake far exceeds 90%, thus i blocker do not give 'time to time' but actually initiate the transition.
Another study published in the journal of theEndocrine Society highlights that physiological late puberty is associated with the risk of numerous diseases in adulthood, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems, in addition to the already mentioned osteoporosis and to problems of mental health. These risks also apply if puberty is deliberately delayed by the use of blockers.
Precisely on the basis of this and other evidence in many nations pioneering these treatments, there has been an abrupt change of course: the Tavistock Clinic in London, a centre of excellence in the UK, was closed after numerous scandals and the ensuing investigations, with much discussion in the major British newspapers - can it be that Marzano is not aware of this? The same fate befell its Swedish counterpart, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which has had to admit to ruining the health of children exposing them to the risk of 'serious injury'. e agreeing that there are not enough studies to show whether hormone treatment is useful and safe for minors. Hormone treatment, it is argued, should only continue to be administered as part of precise studies, which are currently lacking. It can therefore be stated without any doubt that therapy' with the puberty blocker is experimental. Based on the findings, the conclusion of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare is that the risks of anti-puberty treatment and sex confirmation hormone for under-18s currently outweigh the possible benefits.
They also brake in Norway, in Finland, in many American states, in Australia, even in Holland where the 'affirmative' drug-based model was invented in 2006 (it is referred to as the 'Dutch protocol') and where you go back to giving priority to the psychological and psychiatric approach.
As for 'giving time to time', as Marzano claims, to allow children 'to mature', it is the exact opposite: it is precisely the blockers that prevent physiological maturation, sexual development and a clearer understanding of self. This is explained by associations such as LGB Alliance e Lesbian United defining drug therapy on minors as essentially homophobic practice since a large proportion of these children would in time 'simply' turn out to be homosexual.
Finally, and there is much more to note, the suicide risk mentioned by Marzano: nthere is no study establishing an increased risk of suicide in minors with supposed gender dysphoria -supposedly because, as is now common knowledge, many of these minors suffer from autism spectrum disorders, depression or other mental problems- nor does it compare the suicide risk among 'dysphoric' minors who take blocker with that among minors who do not employ them. It cannot be argued that the blocker alleviate negative thoughts among children with dysphoria. It is about the lives and suffering of many children and their families, Marzano should not speak of suicide risk without precise evidence.
We hope that your newspaper will be able to host less sloppy interventions on such a sensitive issue, opening up a non-ideological and science-based debatesimilar to what occurs in the major international media. And also taking into account the fact that the ideological approach contributes to the 'epidemic' of dysphoria among minors, a social contagion even admitted by WPATH, world's leading association for transgender health, in a recent New York Times interview.
With request for publication
Network for the Inviolability of the Female Body
GenerAtionDassociation of parents of adolescents and pre-adolescents who have identified as transgender
