About a year ago, I wrote an article for World Magazine called, “The Tragedy of Transgenderism.” I encourage you to review the short piece, written to introduce people to the oncoming phenomenon of gender distress and self-chosen identities I knew we would witness. What strikes me in re-reading the article is how the official incidence of gender dysphoria I cited now seems quite low compared to what we are seeing.
I need to make a correction to that article: The figures I used (1 in 10,000 to 13,000 men and 1 in 20,000 to 34,000 women), I now realize in
reviewing my sources, were not from DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as I stated, but from a study done in the American Journal of Public Health on Veterans (2013), and earlier studies from the Netherlands and Belgium. But the DSM-5 figures on incidence of gender dysphoria are not so different: more like 1 in 7,150 to 20,000 adult men and 1 in 33,000 to 50,000 adult women. These rates are lower but come along with a disclaimer from DSM-5 that they might be underestimates.
“Might be” today should be “certainly are.” Granted these numbers were for adults, but the children are following the adults. Chances are, no matter where you live, there is at least one case in your local school of a trans-kid battling the rest room or wrestling rules (and probably several). Is anybody seeing what this rapid rise implies?
The percentage of people experiencing inner alienation is making a massive climb before our very eyes. Far more children than ever before, encouraged by parents and school administrators, are feeling like they are trapped in the wrong body. What has obviously occurred is that the common gender questioning of many children as they cry out for guidance on their identities is being amplified into a medical diagnosis.
Though last month the president rescinded the previous administration’s transgender directive, the Supreme Court will soon hear oral 
arguments in the Gloucester County School Board v. G.G. (Virginia high school bathroom) case. So the issue will remain pressing.
This culture-induced condition of inner gender conflict was entirely predictable from the Supreme Court decision to legalize monogendered marriage. Why? Because—please say it with me now—when you lose gender in relationship, you lose gender.
The tragedy of transgenderism deepens.
Do you know a trans-kid case near you?
A Facebook friend posted this wonderful story that supports your viewpoint; thought you might enjoy it if you haven’t seen it: http://lindsayleighbentley.com/2014/06/30/i-am-ryland-the-story-of-a-male-identifying-little-girl-who-didnt-transition/
Quite a story of what can happen gender-wise. You know, Lindsay Leigh Bentley says that she never went to college, but she writes better than many who did.
Your reference to gender questioning being common in children reminds me of a day in my childhood. My brother, who is a year younger than me, approached my sister and I when he was about six years old. He told us he wanted to be a girl. My sister and I thought this was great. We put a dress on him, curled his hair, and renamed him Susie. We were teaching him how to walk like a girl, when my parents discovered what was happening. I still remember being puzzled that they seemed so concerned about what, to my sister and I, was a fun game. They sat my brother down and asked him a bunch of questions, and that’s all I remember. He seemed to have forgotten the whole thing by the next day. I was thinking about this incident recently after seeing a story on the news about a mom fighting for the “rights” of her five year old son who says he wants to be a girl. What if my parents had had a certain culturally influenced bias or their own agenda? What if my brother had made his comment in 2017 instead of 1972?
Thank you, JM and Linda. These are poignant stories.