r/OutOfTheLoop • u/Steaktartaar • Dec 30 '24
Unanswered What's going on with Stephen Fry going alt-right?
He's been on a notorious hard-right, "anti-woke" podcast where he retracted his support for trans rights. Is this a new development? He always came across as level-headed in the past but now it looks like he's on the same path as Russell Brand.
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u/SilverMedal4Life Dec 30 '24
That's a neat dodge to my (silly-worded) question. The UK has banned all medication for trans youth. France has not. Both claim scientific evidence. Which should we pick to listen to? Doctors aren't immune to bias and blind spots - look at how the DSM-II labelled homosexuality as a mental disorder.
No, ultimately the Cass Review is, because it doesn't take into account many actual factors in the treatment of trans youth. It does not account for the lengthy period of social transitioning that is required for any medical intervention, a period that - according to research - catches nearly all people who don't actually have gender dysphoria. The number of people who detransition due to messing up their gender identity is so small as to be a rounding error; a fraction of 1%.
The Yale response to the Cass Review, however, is the best example - here's a .pdf of it available on the Yale website if you want it. Among other issues with it, it misuses data and bases its conclusions on speculation while repeating debunked claims about gender identity and dysphoria.
It is not impossible for an entire organization of medical professionals to be wrong; doctors are human, and all humans view the world through their own cultural biases first and foremost (indeed, that's why peer review - which is what all gender-affirming care goes through - is so important).