Transgenderism or Homophobia?

Back in the day transgenderism was considered to be a form of homophobia. A boy who felt that he was sexually attracted to males would be confused. Under the wrong influences he might have been persuaded that he was really a girl. He would then want to mutilate himself in order to correct God’s error.

Dr. Max Pemberton, a psychiatrist and a gay male himself, raises this issue in his Daily Mail column:

As a child, I was confused and scared because I had a strong sense that something wasn’t quite right. I didn’t understand about being gay, but even as a very young child, I knew that there was something I had to keep hidden and secret – something shameful and wrong.

Even before puberty I remember looking at men and being interested and attracted to them but also feeling this was wrong. I worry that if someone suggested I was trans, I would have pounced on this as an explanation for what I was feeling.

As it happens, and as the scientists have known for decades now, some young children do believe that they are really of the opposite gender. In the great majority of cases, they come to their senses around the time of puberty. Now, what happens if they are given puberty blocking hormones?

Pemberton recounts the case of Holly Branson, daughter of sometime astronaut Richard Branson.

Holly Branson had an unusual childhood. I don’t mean having a billionaire, famous father, jet-setting round the world or a lavish, private island to holiday on. 

For me, the striking thing about her childhood is that for a significant proportion of her life as a youngster she lived not as a girl but as a boy. In a recent Instagram post, she explained how as a child she ‘dressed like a boy’. She explained that from the age of three to about 11 she dressed in male clothing, refused to play with traditional girls’ toys, preferring instead boys’ toys and even peed standing up.

This ‘gender non-conforming’ behaviour is actually very common and the majority of youngsters grow out of it. For them, it’s usually a phase and signifies nothing more.

Holly is now a married mother of three.

Ought we not consider that those who want to inflict biochemical mutilation on confused children are homophobes and criminals?