So Littman and Bailey are controversial. Not unethical. (Fyi Lisa Littman is herself a trans woman).

They do research on a specific sub group of trans women.

Bailey has done lots of other research on sexuality in the homosexual and bisexual area as well.

Bailey and Littmans findings make the trans community angry because the research supports that for some trans females, (not all but some) they transition due to a sexual kink. That they can only be sexually excited by being a woman.

He never said it’s true for all female trans people.

But his evidence is real.

And it’s not really surprising because there are people who cut off body parts because of sexual kinks. There are people out there who get fixated on things and are obsessed. Sexual fixation is an incredibly strong motivator.

Many in the trans community don’t like this research because it paints a picture that they are all just a bunch of perverts. Which is something that they already have to fight against. So many see it as smearing trans people or encouraging stereotypes.

And. Of course conservatives will absolutely use these types of studies to support their opinions on trans people. Weaponize it against them.

But I want to point out some things.

Unpleasant truths don’t make them false.

The concern of these types of studies being used as weapons is valid. But. Conservatives will use anything to validate their opinions. Regardless if it does or doesn’t. (Scientist still have a responsibility to report their research in a way to deter it being used to harm groups).

Baily says in every single one of the papers he is in, that the most effective way to treat gender dysphoria is to help the person transition to their preferred gender. He says this many times. He says it publicly. He advocates for it.

His intention is not to harm trans people but to understand them. Does he go about it in the most sensitive way. No. But intention does count.

Now bailey was also known for doing research on bisexual men. His controversial study found that self reported bisexual men actually showed a preference for men and weren’t pure bisexual. His conclusion was that bisexuality in men was likely just homosexuality. This was met with a lot of backlash. He met with people, heard concerns. And re evaluated his study methods and has since done additional studies and showed his original was flawed. (Mostly caused by the fact that men that are bisexual but prefer women more, are more likely to be closeted bisexuals and not volunteers in his studies).

Now I have personally met the guy. He taught statistics. I also attended a seminar on his work.

I never took his sexually courses. But I had heard of his work before attending the uni he was at.

I’ve actually read the papers.

I think most people who don’t like his work, have not. Or they are mis understanding statements.

Now his person is a different story and there is plenty to criticize in his past conduct.

He never makes negative statements about trans. And the last paper I read, was by one of his grad students who was herself, a trans woman.

Transvestite culture has been around for a very long time. Trying to pretend it’s not real because you don’t like the narrative is not the way forward.

Do I like bailys personality? Not particularly. I think he’s one of those people who like to challenge things , sometimes just to see other people squirm. A bit pretentious . But I can’t deny his research has merit to it. That’s why it keeps getting published. The methodology and statistics are sound science.

As a last point. I don’t care if the reason that people want to transition is because it’s a sex thing. To me that does not change anything. Adults have a right to full autonomy over their own body. They are the only ones who get to decide such things like their gender. It’s not up to me to decide if their reasons are valid or not.

I also couldn’t care less what weird kinks other people have. As long as it’s consenting adults, it’s none of my business.

That said, I realize though that my easy acceptance of people transitioning for whatever reason won’t be shared by the general public.

But I still say though that the people who will have a problem with it, currently have a problem with transitioning, even if the narrative is “I was born in the wrong body”.

Even that won’t satisfy them as a good enough reason.

So no point in pandering to them.

I do wish someone with more class and sensitivity was doing this line of research and not Bailey. But it is what it is.

Thank you for taking the time to write this

I also forgot to mention Littmans more recent research on adolescent girls(biological) being trans boys.

She investigates the possibility that some are following trends and social conformity.

This has also been controversial in the trans community because some see it as trying to prove that adolescents are confused about their gender identity and don’t deserve to have any autonomy over medical decisions like hormone treatments.

Now, as I said before. I believe that people have full autonomy over their own bodies. 100%. However, I don’t extend this to children.

I think children don’t understand the risks associated with hormone therapy.

And I , who was once a teenager myself, agree that many teenagers are prone to following fads and trends of their peers.

I don’t see how anyone can deny that happens at a high rate in children and teenagers.

I also don’t deny that a teenager is capable of knowing themselves. They can. They do.

But it’s a time of development. It’s a time of exploring oneself and Identity. It’s not the right time to make permanent, life long, risky decisions, that someone who has only been alive for 15 years can actually understand what that means.

We don’t let teenagers get plastic surgery, tattoos, buy alcohol, or even lottery tickets. Because we understand that they can’t evaluate risks yet.

Are there (hormone injection) exceptions to be made for some teens. Absolutely.

Littmans research aims to discover which trans teens will continue being trans and which will flip back to their biological based gender. That way the kids who will benefit from hormones get the hormone intervention and those that it will harm, get supportive therapy instead.

It helps reduce the risk of kids taking hormone injections and permanently disrupting their sexual development because for 6 months they thought maybe they wanted to be in a different body.

I honestly would think the trans community would support this type of research because it’s going to help reduce the risk of regret transitioners.

But as with all research on trans, it is often weaponized against the community. So their concern is valid on that front.

But if we ignore this type of research or try to stop it; What could happen is we get people who start suing medical doctors and maybe have bad relationships with their parents. Because as a teen who was exploring their identity, the adults in their life quickly suggested hormones and allowed that to start when it shouldn’t have.

“I really wish my parents didn’t let me take hormones when I was 15 and depressed, and thought transitioning would fix all my problems. Now I’m sterile and don’t have the body I should have had”.

-these stories are going to be way more damaging to trans rights and more specifically, adolescents trying to take hormones that do need them.

There already are such people on social media. And the number will grow if we don’t find better ways to evaluate kids.

We have to find ways to determine which kids feel this way consistently and long term. And those following trends.

Especially young girls turning to trans guys. Because many young women see how women are devalued in our society and don’t want to be on the oppressed side.

Lots of things may influence teenagers. We need research to better help them

This argument is the one that pisses me off more than anything any adult does (and I’m around 50): I made these mistakes when I was young so I think we need to stop you from making the same mistakes. It’s so patronizing.

I often hear it from conservatives explaining why young people are voting the wrong way. I’ve heard it from the religious when explaining why young people will eventually come (back) to Christianity. I’ve heard it from anti-drug people for why marijuana should be illegal.

We certainly could use studies on this sort of thing, but this statement alone makes me suspicious of your personal views on the subject because people I’ve heard make this sort of statement are always coming from a biased position and they never realize it because it’s so foundational to their opinion on the topic.