Dr. Miriam Grossman #fundie

Dr. Miriam Grossman #fundie miriamgrossmanmd.com

Three Questions for the American Academy of Pediatrics

Regarding your June 24 policy statement on "Sexual Minority Youth":

1. You state that a teen who questions if he is male or female, or who wants his genitalia removed, is "normal, just different."

Given the physical differences between male and female are more substantial than between races, if an African American teen is convinced she is really Caucasian, is she also "normal, just different?" Should her pediatrician affirm her belief, and support her wish for facial surgery and skin bleaching?

2. If my son thinks he's a girl, you recommend I find him a therapist who will respect and affirm his belief.

But if my son is attracted to boys, and his urges feel foreign and distressing, you advise me to find a therapist who will tell him, "this is who you are, accept it."

Honestly, does that make sense?

3. You are calling on all pediatricians to fight homophobia and heterosexism. Per the FBI, the number of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias is similar to those motivated by religious bias.

Will the AAP be calling on its members to fight society's irrational hatred of God-fearing people?

27 comments

old comment by Doubting Thomas

if an African American teen is convinced she is really Caucasian, is she also "normal, just different?" Should her pediatrician affirm her belief, and support her wish for facial surgery and skin bleaching?

Outside of Michael Jackson, I'm not aware of any cases like this.

But if my son is attracted to boys, and his urges feel foreign and distressing, you advise me to find a therapist who will tell him, "this is who you are, accept it."

Honestly, does that make sense?

Yes, because accepting your own sexuality is far better than unsuccessfully trying to change it. That only leads to sham marriages while meeting strangers in public restrooms for sex, pretending to be straight but just suffering from "same sex attraction," or in extreme cases self-loathing and suicide.

You are calling on all pediatricians to fight homophobia and heterosexism.

You homophobes really need to get over this idea that acceptance of homosexuality is an attempt to force people to not be heterosexual.

old comment by Nemo

1. Beyond skin color and a few superficial traits, there is no basis for the existence of different races. By contrast, gender differences have been recorded across all cultures. That doesn't mean that if you are male, that you ARE _________, of course, since people are always individuals first. But it does mean that your analogy fails, since any traits associated with a particular race will not be reproduced by an infant raised away from that culture.

2. Something tells me you're strawmanning. I'm pretty sure therapy for transgenders would have a little more basis than "randomly thinks he's a girl". As it happens, the knowledge of being different than most people would probably explain why your son is somewhat distressed at being attracted to boys. Then there's the homophobia that I suspect he's been exposed to by the parents....

3. Citation needed.

old comment by Yossarian Lives

1 & 2: It's far healthier for the individual to confront his personal grievances over something that they cannot change, and is not unhealthy or immoral, than to face the mental anguish that would be a consequence of a supposed therapist that tries to convince them that they're something that they are not. Besides, what is normal? It is something that represents the usual, it is just something that happens to be the most common in the context in which it is being used. I'm sure there are aspects of you that goes against the norm, and homophobia can only be found in one species, so this could be argued to be abnormal.

3: Did your imaginary FBI uncle tell you this? Regardless, come back when homosexuals refuse you custom because of your beliefs, and when there is no bias towards calling yourself in the hierarchy of your career, especially if it is a politician.

old comment by OHP

1. Two issue with this stupidity (what a start you're off to) Firstly "race" is nothing more than an artificial distinction based upon where one is born/grows up and regional prominence of nigh meaningless physical traits. Or do you contend that one can't really change their citizenship? Secondly there are, in fact, genetic/developmental issues that can affect that color of one's skin such that it doesn't accurately reflect their immediate heritage (heritage of defective genes aside).

2. Because it's literally saying the EXACT same thing -- that he is who he is. The only reason he'd feel distressed by his natural inclinations is people like you saying that there's something wrong with him for feeling them.

3. Probably not since -- as you just demonstrated for us -- you take an active stand against people who have the audacity to be different from what you personally think they should be. If you don't like how society views you (as if you were actually in a minority, you lying, melodramatic little sack of shit) then you should stop screaming your bigotry in the streets, trying to write it into law and just generally making a monster of yourself.

old comment by Passerby

Being kind of fucked up I might have odd views on gender but I'm not so certain there are clear definitions of male and female insofar as mentality is concerned.

I am however a staunch believer in personal identity.

It took me a while to get the significance but I do get it now. (Or close enough that I'm of a mind to fight on behalf of it.) Whatever the state of your body, if you identify as one gender I will take pains to make sure I acknowledge you as such. If you identify more strongly with a culture you were not born to I am not going stamp my feet and insist you should be more like the national stereotype of your birth. I'm going to treat you the same way I will anyone else. I will not mock you or hail your bravery. If I think a dress in unflattering on you I will say so regardless of your gender but conversely I'll flash a thumbs up if you rock it like you own every catwalk that ever existed. If you have a hobby that is traditionally considered to be either masculine or feminine I will consider only your skill and enjoyment of the activity. If you like strawberries more than bannanas that is your business and about as relevant to me as whether you believe in God or the Great Gazoo. You are like anyone else. I will treat you like you were anyone else. Nothing more or less.

That is all I believe, and I'm counting on you to call me out on it if I can't live up to that.

old comment by Basiorana

See, here's the thing. It is precisely BECAUSE there is less of a difference between the races that "racial dysphoria" is not treated with changing the race. Because within the brain, there is zero difference between races.

But there is a difference in brains. No, men are not smarter, women are not more nurturing, etc. Those are stereotypes. But there are differences, real differences, in wiring. In function. And we cannot fix the brain. You see, when a person thinks they are trans, the first thing a psychiatrist does is try to figure out if they are delusional. A delusional person will never have one specific delusion that doesn't go away, they have many delusions about many things, so you can tell the difference with some investigation. And some people who go to a psychiatrist thinking they are trans come out with another diagnosis, and some get better, some don't, at the same rate as any other person with that diagnosis (in my experience, dissociation is a common alternative diagnosis).

But if you really ARE trans, there is nothing we can do to make your brain act like the gender you were assigned at birth. It's impossible. No therapy will accomplish it. It's actually very easy to make a person who is not okay with their race accept their race, because race does not have to be integral to one's identity.

Personally, I think "normal, just different" is the wrong way to put it. They have a birth defect, is all.

Also, if a child with a penis thinks they are a girl, you should find them a therapist who will rule out other diagnoses and then accept and affirm their belief.

If a child with a penis beleives they are attracted to boys, you should find them a therapist who will rule out other diagnoses (there are none) and then accept and affirm their belief.

It's logically consistent, like it or not.