Just posting this here, because.

TL;DR: Transgender people are valid according to science, gender dysphoria is not a mental illness, transitioning has positive effects, high suicide rate is due to oppression.


# Science Supports Transgender People

[1] An incomplete list of the reputable scientific & social organizations which affirm the validity of transgender people (that transness is not an illness, that trans people are deseving of respect and equal rights, etc). This also serves as a list of the institutions which recognize the difference between sex and gender:
- American Psychological Association
- American Medical Association
- American Psychoanalytic Association
- Human Rights Campaign
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians
- United Nations
- United Kingdom’s National Health Service

[2] [American Psychological Association pamphlet on transgender issues Affirms psychological consensus - that transgender people are valid, have existed throughout history, are subject to discrimination, and that transness is not a mental disorder. ](https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender)

[3] [A 2008 Gender Identity Resolution by the American Psychological Association which expands upon the premises listed in the annotation above and supports total equality for transgender people - affirmation of the institutional legitimacy of transness in psychology.](https://www.apa.org/about/policy/resolution-gender-identity.pdf)

[4] [Identical to the above, essentially, except pertaining to trans and gender-nonconforming youth.](https://www.apa.org/about/policy/orientation-diversity)

[5] [Booklet on LGBTQ issues from the American Psychological Association, outlining their policy and attitudes towards aforementioned communities. Expressly positive.](https://www.apa.org/about/policy/booklet.pdf)

[6] [Human Rights Campaign document published with the American Academy of Pediatrics & the American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians which affirms the validity of transgender youth, encourages appropriate care and respect for their transness and provides resouces on how to do so.](https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pdf)

[7] [The UK’s National Health Service report on gender dysphoria, which affirms the validity of trans people and discusses ways in which gender dysphoria can be alleviated, the best of which is said to often be social and physical transition.](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/)

[8] [The American Psychoanalytic Association’s statement on gender identity, in which transness is validated, social stigma against transgender people is cited as a serious cause of harm and ‘reparative therapy’ - attempts to suppress one’s transness and force them to live as the gender they were assigned at birth - is medically invalid.](http://www.apsa.org/content/2012-position-statement-attempts-change-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-or-gender)

[9] [The World Health Organization recently stopped classifying transness as a mental disorder.](https://time.com/5596845/world-health-organization-transgender-identity/)

[10] [Transphobia? The United Nations says no.](https://www.unfe.org/about/)

# Gender Transition Has a Positive Effect on Trans People

[1] [ENORMOUS meta-meta-analysis on transgender people and the effect gender transition has on their mental health. Of 56 studies, 52 indicated transitioning has a positive effect on the mental health of transgender people and 4 indicated it had mixed or no results. ZERO studies indicated gender transitioning has negative results.](https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/)

[2] [Longitudinal study on the effectiveness of puberty suppression & sex reassignment surgery on trans individuals in improving mental outcomes. Unambiguously positive results - results indicate puberty suppression, support of medical professionals & SRS have markedly beneficial outcomes to trans individuals’ mental health and productivity.](https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/4/696)

[3] [Children who socially transition report levels of depression and anxiety which closely match levels reported by cisgender children, indicating social transition massively decreases the risk factor of both.](https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567%2816%2931941-4/fulltext)

[4] [“A new study has confirmed that transgender youth often have mental health problems and that their depression and anxiety improve greatly with recognition and treatment of gender dysphoria”](https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-03/tes-sdc030615.php)

[5] [Longitudinal study which indicates transgender people have a lower quality of life than the general population. However, that quality of life raises dramatically with ‘Gender Affirming Treatment’, the nature of which is detailed extensively in-text.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223813/)


# Queer People are Still Oppressed (And That’s Why Their Suicide Rate is Higher)

[1] [2018 LGBTQ Youth Report. HUGE collection of data concerning difficulties LGBTQ people face. 67% of LGBTQ youth hear their parents make negative statements about LGBTQ people - rises to 78% if child is in closet. 48% of LGBTQ youth say their family makes them feel bad for their identity.](https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/2018-YouthReport-NoVid.pdf?_ga=2.134619825.1102244158.1526302453-846000759.1523970534)

[2] [Broad international study of trans suicide rate (it’s quite high). “Gender-based victimization, discrimination, bullying, violence, being rejected by the family, friends, and community; harassment by intimate partner, family members, police and public; discrimination and ill treatment at health-care system are the major risk factors that influence the suicidal behavior among transgender persons”.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5178031/)

[3] [Massive demographic analysis which codifies the many social & institutional factors which contribute to trans suicide rates. Surprise surprise, discrimination & abuse play a huge role. Read the summary.](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/AFSP-Williams-Suicide-Report-Final.pdf)

[4] [Analysis of the ways in which parental support affect elements of disadvantage experienced by transgender youth. Most notably, strong parental support decreases the likelihood of a suicide attempt within the past year from 57% to just 4%.](http://transpulseproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Impacts-of-Strong-Parental-Support-for-Trans-Youth-vFINAL.pdf)

[5] [Analysis of crime & privacy violations as they relate to concerns raised by those who advocate for ‘trans bathroom bills’. Analysis indicates there is no empirical evidence to support these concerns; such crimes & privacy violations are exceedingly rare. Calls for trans bathroom bills are fearmongering, plain and simple.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13178-018-0335-z)

[6] [16 countries in Europe & Central Asia still require sterilization before transgender peoples’ gender identity can be legally recognized](https://tgeu.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MapB_TGEU2019.pdf)

[7] [News article - June 2019. Trump Administration rejecting requests from US embassies to fly the rainbow pride flag on embassies’ main banner during Pride Month.](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-admin-tells-u-s-embassies-they-can-t-fly-n1015236)

[8] [LGBTQ youth are 120% (2.2x) as likely to experience homelessness as cisgender and heterosexual youth. Up to 40% of the homeless youth population is LGBTQ. Cited possibility for this discrepancy being LGBTQ youth getting kicked out of the home by unwelcoming/openly hostile family.](https://www.hrc.org/blog/new-report-on-youth-homeless-affirms-that-lgbtq-youth-disproportionately-ex)

[9] [Discrimination is still far from a settled issue. A point of note - in 2017, the Trump Administration used the Department of Justice to revoke an Obama-era Title VII policy which protected transgender employees from discrimination (since reversed by Supreme Court, but still shows intentions of current administration.)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_employment_discrimination_in_the_United_States)

[10] [June 2020 Article - Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/12/868073068/transgender-health-protections-reversed-by-trump-administration)

[11] [Trump is proposing a rule allowing federally funded homeless shelters to turn away trans and gender non-conforming people — in the midst of the highest unemployment rates our country has seen in decades.](https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1278426853720678400?s=20)