stemforth

I find it interesting that they distinguish between fa'afafine and fa'afatama as descriptions of who fulfils this social role, with the former being male and the latter being female.

That doesn't really map onto the recent idea of 'non-binary', where one's sex is supposed to be entirely ignored, and the idea of someone being a 'non-binary man' or a 'non-binary woman' is generally considered wrong or even offensive to believers of this ideology.

I think this is not universally true. There are reports from the US of testosterone being prescribed to gender dysphoric girls (i.e. who express a desire of wanting to be boys) after only one or two sessions with a medical professional.

Some are, and this should be reviled - but is there evidence that this is a widespread practice amongst believers, as one might expect if it was a cult behaviour?

I got the impression that it is only a handful of individuals who are doing this, for example that guy who recently had a large cloud services provider shut down a website that exposed his unsavoury activities in this space.

I think they may be referring to the contemporary activism that promotes the 'gender identity' model of transsexualism, which does bear some hallmarks of cult-like behaviour.

There is historical evidence of cross-dressing, and of people (mostly men) being prescribed different societal roles that were apparently based on being effeminate. As far as I am aware, there is no evidence that such people were treated as if they were actually the opposite sex, as gender activists these days propose.

> My opinion is that there is a hard and maybe unsolvable problem at the heart of the matter; trans children/teenagers clearly exist, and it may be that puberty blockers are useful for people who will eventually transition.

I think it would be fairer to say that people who desire to be the opposite sex (or both, or neither) exist, and if this reaches the point of significant distress, then it fits the criteria for a medical diagnosis, with which they may be offered certain hormonal drugs and surgeries, as an attempt to alleviate that distress.

Whether this makes them "trans", an ideological viewpoint under which they are treated as if they are the opposite sex (expressed concisely in slogans such as "trans women are women") in various contexts, is a different matter.

Which makes this issue two separate but related questions:

- Are hormone blockers, exogenous hormones and surgery an effective treatment for this group of people? (And if so, how do we tell who is actually in this group? Does it include children?)

- Should people who desire to be a different sex to what they are, be considered as such in law and policy? (And if so, should there be limits to this? And how do we balance the rights of others who don't share this ideological viewpoint?)