The WPATH Files , published by journalist Michael Shellenberger and written by Mia Hughes are the result of leaked behind the scenes communications from The World Professional Association of Transgender Health. The leaks reveal an organization making medical recommendations based on the advocacy of non-medical activists. The WPATH Standards of Care are held up as the medical standard for "gender medicine" for "gender confused" adolescents and adults. Shellenberger sees the WPATH Files along with the announcement from the UK National Health Service of the discontinued use of puberty blockers as the end of gender affirming care. While I hope that I am just being cynical, he is clearly wrong. I say this based on experience. To paraphrase Jonathan Swift, do not assume that any medical procedure started absent evidence can easily be stopped by evidence. I had not given much thought to the idea of adolescent transition until 2019. To the degree that I had thought of it, I
I started writing about the idea of identity and its unintended trap but, as often happens, my writing was overtaken by real world events that necessitated considering those events in the writing. It is obvious why writing about identity should consider the implications of the implosion of the Ibram X. Kendi led Center for Antiracism Research at Boston University. I have struggled in the past to read Kendi because I find his writing nonsensical, but have addressed his underlying premise that MLK is wrong , the color of a man's skin matters more than his character. The predictable immolation of a center based on his ideals of an antiracism that reifies racial identity provides a clear example of the true strength of identity. Although it is counterintuitive, the strongest identity is that which is most ephemeral. The connection to the other event may seem less immediately obvious. However, in a nutshell, the terrorist attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas and Israel's military re