Trans fem people can remove their facial hair without doing other medical transition steps.

The effects of hormone replacement are so slow that you can safely "try them out" for a month or two and not have a huge permanent burden.

You talk to people and think about it real hard and sleep on it for years. It looks sudden from the outside because there's such a stigma over saying "Hey I'm thinking about trying on a new gender, do you think it would work?"

It's not too different from other body modification like tattoos or vasectomies. You can't fully know for sure, but there is a point where you decide that the risk is worth it, because the potential payoff seems worth it. Then it usually turns out it is. Most "de-transition" cases are people who couldn't afford the monetary cost or social cost of presenting as transgender. It's un-common to transition and then find out you're actually cis.

This makes sense except the part about the slow acting hormones. If they are slow acting then one wouldn’t know their effects until later. How much later? And is it guaranteed that they will be reversible at that point?

Modulo what is above, in summary: you are saying there can be informed decisions because the teenagers can: - try out cross dressing - try out the hormone therapy to some point before it has non-reversible long term consequences

He would include in these groups people at all stages in their transitions, so those considering transitioning further could be informed and challenged by those who had gone the whole way with surgery and all.

https://thepinknews.com/2022/05/22/conversion-therapy-trans-...

First.

Hakeem [...] describes himself as a “gender critical psychiatrist”

Then the "sell"

Hakeem offers “specialist psychotherapy for gender dysphoria”, and says that he “does not try and persuade or dissuade anyone from pursuing physical sex interventions such as hormones or surgery but his role is to provide a neutral exploration space to think about sex and gender”.

Then the reality

“He made it clear from the very start that he was sceptical of my gender and expressed doubt that it could differ to [my] sex,”

So a great example of someone pathologizing trans people and not taking them seriously. I hope that was what you wanted to shed light on! Thanks!

Indeed, it's quite telling that the GMC, who have condemned actual conversion therapy, didn't accept the complaint against Dr Hakeem: https://sex-matters.org/posts/healthcare/conversion-therapy-....

Note also that Pink News' general editorial stance is that unconditional affirmation is the only valid approach, so it's not much surprise they jumped on this story.

I would still recommend giving that podcast a listen, it gives a much richer insight into Dr Hakeem's work than that article.

"I hear and validate your feelings and you have a lot of options in front of you, I'm here to help you to minimize the risk of regret with the irreversible options and that might lead me to ask uncomfortable questions, is that ok?"

Az probably:

"What on earth are you going about love? There's no such thing as gender! Gender is just sex. So you just go into the lavatory and check down your trousers, you see a willy down there? Yeees, then you are unfortunately a female, but a Johnson? Hooray! You are a man, then you can man the fuck up and skip out of here! NEEEEEEXT"