A new study, coauthored by researchers at Boston’s Fenway Institute and Harvard Medical School at Mass. General Hospital, found that 13.1 percent of people who currently identify as transgender have “detransitioned” at some point in their lives — and 82.5 percent of them say they did so because of pressure from their families, non-affirming school environments and/or increased vulnerability to violence, including sexual assault. A recent Fenway Institute news release reported the findings.
“For most people, it appears detransition is forced upon them. Our results highlight the extreme barriers transgender people in the U.S. face when trying to live their lives authentically,” said study coauthor Dr. Jack Turban in the news release, which reports that:
A growing body of literature shows that exposure to discrimination and stigma increases the risk of poor mental health outcomes among transgender and gender diverse people. But findings from “Factors Leading to ‘Detransition’ Among Transgender and Gender Diverse People in the United States: A Mixed-Methods Analysis” suggest that stigma and discrimination should also be understood as obstacles to safely living in one’s gender identity and expression. …
The most common reason cited for detransition was pressure from a parent (35.5%), pressure from their community or societal stigma (32.5%), or trouble finding a job (26.8%). Other reasons included pressure from medical health professionals (5.6%) or religious leaders (5.3%). Detransition was significantly associated with male sex assigned at birth, nonbinary gender identity, or bisexual sexual orientation, which is consistent with prior research finding that these factors are associated with lower rates of societal acceptance. Only 2.4% of transgender people who reported past detransition attributed this to doubt about their gender identity, while only 10.4% attributed their past detransition to fluctuations in gender identity or desire.
For more, read the complete release from Fenway here.
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