20 votes

Critics claim gender clinics are seeing an excess of trans boys. New data show that isn't true.

Posted by DefinitelyNotAFae
Tags: transgender, transmisogyny, trans women, trans men, trans children, transition care, gender affirming care, healthcare, clinics, children, teenagers, data, author.ken pang, author.anja ravine, source.the conversation
https://theconversation.com/critics-claim-gender-clinics-are-seeing-an-excess-of-trans-boys-but-new-data-suggest-otherwise-257817

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Authors
Ken Pang, Anja Ravine
Published
Jul 27 2025
Word count
735 words

3 comments

  1. DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link

    What do these findings mean?

    Previous surveys from Sweden, Belgium and the United States indicate the proportion of people assigned male and female at birth who are transgender is roughly equal.

    Assuming these two groups share a similar desire to access gender clinics, you would expect the number of referrals to be around the same over the course of a lifetime.

    Our new findings are consistent with this expectation but the likelihood of referral to gender clinics seems to be influenced by both the sex a person was assigned at birth, as well as their age. While those assigned female at birth are more likely seek referral as adolescents, those assigned male “catch up” in later years.

    So rather than an over-representation of those assigned female at birth, adolescent referral patterns most likely reflect an under-representation of assigned males.

    During adolescence, trans girls experience higher rates of bullying and victimisation than trans boys and cisgender peers.

    During adulthood, trans women remain at high risk of abuse and violence. They are also more likely to encounter housing discrimination, homelessness, unemployment and poverty than the general population.

    Faced with such daunting prospects, it seems much harder for trans girls to reveal their gender identity as adolescents at an already uncertain time of their lives.

    12 votes
  2. [2]
    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    Sadly, that checks out to me. Boys are often subjected to bullying for not being "manly enough", so that alone would likely deter trans girls from seeking care. Hell, men are kind of discouraged...

    Sadly, that checks out to me. Boys are often subjected to bullying for not being "manly enough", so that alone would likely deter trans girls from seeking care. Hell, men are kind of discouraged from being emotional, so I imagine many trans girls don't analyze their feelings enough to recognize and accept they're transgender until they're older. And that's before taking into account the many gross claims that trans women are just perverted men. Meanwhile girls don't get nearly the same amount of backlash for liking boy stuff, so it's easier for them to explore their gender identity. We even have "tomboys" but don't really have "tomgirls".

    One other factor that also probably plays a BIG role: people assigned female at birth mature faster than males. That means trans boys get to experience menstruation from an early age, which has to be hell for gender dysphoria. At best, they get a monthly reminder that their bodies don't match their gender. At worst, they get physically debilitating periods that hinder their ability to live a normal life on top of gender dysphoria. They also develop breasts, which change their bodies and how people perceive and treat them, which has to add a whole other layer of mental dissonance.

    Male puberty also causes physical changes that can trigger gender dysphoria, but I don't think trans girls have it shoved in their face quite as hard. So it's likely easier for them to try to ignore dysphoria or avoid confronting it, so the feelings instead build up for years.

    8 votes
    1. sparksbet
      Link Parent
      I am myself transmasc, so I definitely don't want to downplay the dysphoria-inducing changes of estrogen-based puberty. That said, I do think you're overlooking a lot of really obvious physical...

      I am myself transmasc, so I definitely don't want to downplay the dysphoria-inducing changes of estrogen-based puberty. That said, I do think you're overlooking a lot of really obvious physical changes that transfems go through that are hugely dysphoria inducing. Sure, the chapter on "female" puberty in any health textbook is gonna be longer, but that doesn't make testosterone-based puberty any easier on transfems. While I haven't experienced it myself, I can certainly imagine one's voice changing and the growth of new body hair being just as distressing for a young trans girl as growing breasts was to me.

      And honestly, while having a period does suck, dysphoria-wise it's like a raindrop compared to the ocean that was having breasts. Dysphoria can vary a lot person to person, due not just to differences in their physical realities but also natural variation in people's subjective experiences.

      13 votes