Pro-trans advocacy in a post-truth world
For roughly a decade, a small group of outlier physicians, under the tutelage of a few discredited older so-called experts, has been lobbying for an end to gender-affirming care for young people. Using techniques perfected by the climate-denial lobby, this handful of anti-trans campaigners has created the illusion of a grassroots movement opposing the expert medical consensus. In 2024 they went mainstream, having influenced the Cass Review via a “gender critical” UK government. The result has been a wave of reckless healthcare bans and a media narrative of false equivalence.
For those seeking to advocate for trans young people, undistort.com is a roadmap for navigating this post-truth environment. Crucially, this requires more than actual truths. Though advocates will find such truths here, truths alone will not win the debate. Rather, the following techniques are of equal importance:
- Contextualise the narrative. No discussion of gender-affirming care for young people should take place without acknowledgement of the decade-long disinformation campaign. The propaganda is the story.
- Interrogate pro-trans claims. Every claim advocates make must be verifiable. Statistics should only be cited by those familiar with their sources. All the other side need do is generate sufficient doubt.
- Understand the enemy. No claim should be made without anticipation of the likely counterclaim. Advocates can’t win the debate if they don’t listen to the other side.
In addition to the online resource, Undistort offers workshops, training, and consultancy with a focus on neutralising – not merely correcting – false claims. Advocates working with families are a special focus, though the techniques described extend to media and to anywhere this topic is debated.
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Authors of HHS Review revealed
Not a single one of the HHS Review’s authors has any experience in the field of trans healthcare and every one (and all but one of its commissioned peer reviewers) is either a well-known anti-trans activist or has publicly espoused anti-trans views.
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Nine objections to the QLD ban
The Health Minister claims the new directive is in the public interest, but offers no evidence as to why that might be the case. The closest he gets is to namedrop the Cass Review, but the Cass Review cites no new evidence of harms attributed to puberty blockers.
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QLD ban NOT in public interest
“These findings demonstrate that — regardless of a person’s political beliefs — if you live in a state that has passed an anti-transgender law, transgender, nonbinary young people in your home state are significantly more likely to attempt to take their own life.”
Book a workshop
With disinformation now widespread, some parents of trans young people are in danger of making poor decisions. Since lack of parental support is the biggest predictor of poor mental health in trans young people, reaching parents is a high priority. But what do we say once we reach them? Advocates are invited to train in neutralising disinformation, so that they can more constructively respond to parents’ concerns.