‘Support, Not Puberty Blockers’: Detransitioner on How to Help Teenagers With Gender Dysphoria

Lee Hazel was a detransitioner, and according to her, society’s perception of trans-identified people was flawed.

Standing on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on March 24, she told the crowd at the #WomenWillSpeak rally that the current push to medically transition children with gender dysphoria was not what they needed.

“It’s easy to think that the typical trans-identified person is a narcissist who wants to get undressed with young girls,” said Ms. Hazel, an advocate for Detransitioners Australia and a research fellow at the University of Melbourne.

“But, the typical trans-identified person is a teenage girl.”

“She’s highly distressed. She probably identified as non-binary and bisexual or queer, but she’s still figuring out her identity. She’s got a good chance of being autistic, and she’s probably gonna go out to be same-sex attracted.”

“She hates her body because males make her sexual objects. She just realised that as a girl, she doesn’t have agency anymore, because she’s an object.”

Ms. Hazel added, “This young girl has a 95 percent chance of having a mental disorder.”

What Do The Studies Say?

Studies have reported an overrepresentation of mental illness among people with gender dysphoria. According to a 2023 study of more than 900,000 adolescents published in Pediatrics, young people with autism are three times more likely to have co-occurring gender dysphoria than peers without autism.

Meanwhile, a study in 2018 found that autistic adults who expressed the desire to be of the opposite gender often experienced more mental health challenges, including autistic symptoms, compared to those without such desires.

Despite advocacy from transgender activists for medical intervention to improve the mental health outcomes of transgender youths, emerging research suggest otherwise.

A large-scale study published in the British Medical Journal, which surveyed 2,083 adolescents referred to gender clinics from 1996 to 2019, found that “medical gender reassignment does not have an impact on suicide risk.”

It noted that the suicide mortality of both those who proceeded and did not proceed to gender reassignment (GR) “did not statistically significantly differ from that of controls.”

“This does not support the claims that GR is necessary in order to prevent suicide. GR has also not been shown to reduce even suicidal ideation, and suicidal ideation is not equal to actual suicide risk.”

In addition, contrary to the claims that transgender youths have higher risks of suicide, the study found that gender dysphoria “does not appear to be predictive of all-cause nor suicide mortality when psychiatric treatment history is accounted for.”

The Swedish National Board of Health went further, stating that the risk of using hormonal treatment on children outweighs the benefits. Similarly, the UK’s National Institute for Health said in two of its systematic reviews that puberty blockers lead to little or no improvement in gender dysphoria, mental health, body image, and psychosocial functioning.

‘I Had Been That Girl’

Ms. Hazel said the “sensible approach” to gender-confused children is to offer them help, not puberty blockers.

“These young girls, who are our daughters, your daughter, they need proper healthcare, they need exploratory therapy. They do not need to be affirmed, they need help, they want help, they want to talk about how they’re feeling,” she said.

Ms. Hazel added, “I had been that girl and I reckon she needs a couple of good friends.”

“She needs a sense of agency, she needs support, she doesn’t need puberty blockers, she doesn’t need testosterone. And she will miss her breasts.”

Feelings of regret have often been reported among people who detransitioned. According to a study in 2021, some detransitioners cited internal factors for their decision, including realising that gender dysphoria was a “maladaptive coping mechanism” to trauma.

Additionally, nearly 70 percent of participants reported feeling dissatisfied with their decision to transition while over 30 percent felt they were harmed by the clinicians and healthcare systems that facilitated it.

The #WomenWillSpeak event was met with a large group of pro-transgender protesters, who clashed with police after attempting to get closer to the rally.

Footage on social media shows officers restraining at least two protesters before resorting to using pepper spray.