I believe the vast majority of this community has moved past the "feeling like xyz gender because of abc social norm, im so confused, it's making me miserable, im wallowing on it" mindset that has almost universally plagued all of our pasts and it's really exhausting to see the "questioning" flair because I know it's almost always going to be a rant where some combination of extremely sexist ideas and narcissism push someone to make a conclusion about themselves that absolutely defies logic, and then asks for advice on how to proceed.

This sub is one of the few places I feel comfortable on account of the fact that most people here have been in the throws of denial and self-doubt and came through it and are supporting each other through a more rational approach to life. So it's very overwhelming to see people write here who still think in this way as if it's our obligation to reason with them, when in fact most of us came to these conclusions by virtue of our own critical thinking.

It's just not what the sub is for in my opinion. It overwhelms the minds and hearts of people who are trying to rest.

Absolutely agree with the last paragraph, this whole notion that women can be men and vice versa has been a disaster for the West ideologically.

I remember clearly a moment when I was considering detransitioning. Id been having panic attacks for a couple months relating to "always being stuck like this; committed to this decision," and I was at work one night, dwelling on how this girl I liked had gotten a girlfriend. I pulled up a picture of them and thought, "I'll never have what she has," referring to being an actual woman, obviously.

And then I just heard a voice in my head go, "no shit." I was never going to be a woman. I had sat down there all prepared to rag on myself and pity myself, but it all felt so clear once I had that one ridiculous thought. "Of course I'm never going to be a woman! Why would something be wrong with that??"

From that point on, I was much more assured in my decision. I detransitioned maybe a month later. Probably less. Maybe my storytelling didn't do it justice but I remember surprising myself with the acceptance and compassion I had towards myself realizing I'd never be her. It was an extremely pivotal moment in my mindset about gender.

It's been over 6 months now and I'm very assured and confident in myself as a straight man these days. I can't believe we all were roped into this at one point.

I can't speak to within the trans community, but I do sense things pointing to the beginning of the end for the unchecked and unquestioned growth of the ideology. I see people talking about it in places where they wouldn't previously. I listen to interviews with countless researchers and doctors that leave academia to talk about a return to healthy debate and critical thought. Sporting organizations beginning to once again ban bio males and females competing against each other. I just see a lot of movement where previously it was being suppressed more effectively.

But there's another thing that I think will play a big role. I'm 20, and I'm noticing a large but quiet resurgence in centrist, non-partisan values among young people 15-25. Slightly older people like millennials seem surprised when I bring this up, but I've definitely noticed it happening in the two places I've lived which are both massive hotspots for slightly older liberals to relocate to, and I know I'm not alone in noticing it. People my age being slightly more conservative than their older siblings or young parents if they have them. "Hippie culture," nihilism, and "child-free" attitudes are all massively on the decline among people my age. The AVERAGE 20-year-old in my area seems much less tolerant of their peers engaging in self-deprecation or maladaptive thinking or nihilism than the average 30-year-old. I think this is going to play a role in trans policymaking as the people my age become more established.

Obviously some 20-year-olds are Tate fans and others spend their whole lives in TikTok. I'm not talking about them. I've lived in both Boulder and LA and I see a quiet resurgence in critical thinking among the average young person in those areas. We've watched people a decade older than us move into our native homes and turn them upside down with partisan thinking. We get sad that kids a mere 5 years younger than us are living in a whole different world because of it. We're starting to think about the families we'll have in another decade and there's a resurgence in the desire to have real, healthy conversations about how it's going to play out long-term. I hope I'm right.

I'd recommend learning about the opioid epidemic in the US and challenging people to draw comparisons. I enjoyed the "Painkiller" series. While I want to be careful not to oversimplify this dark chapter in history or draw insulting false comparisons, the amount of parallels I see between how the opioid epidemic played out and the trans craze is hard to ignore.

The key point is that we've learned from the opioid epidemic that all someone needs to sell a profitable product like billable trans healthcare and hormones is a moral argument that, however flawed, is able to change hearts of doctors and educators. After that, the product sells itself downstream. Purdue Pharma learned this early on by telling doctors that it was only humane to "treat pain as a disease, not a symptom" and that anything else would be non-compassionate. We see this closely paralleled by the idea that, despite NO real data, "access to trans healthcare is life-saving" and implications that kids would be killing themselves without access to it. Data shows that both pain and dysphoria ARE nothing but symptoms, but massive profit lies within convincing doctors and educators otherwise.

With this idea being planted into minds and hearts, as OP pointed out, American medical billing is structured in such a way that anyone who is even remotely involved in the supply chain of hormones, therapies, or surgeries is MASSIVELY financially incentivized to lobby for legal support and information campaigns that bend opinion towards affirming-only care. It's SO profitable. And the free market supply chain is so complex that there will be thousands of players whom this benefits. PP and, somehow, Target in particular have had massive returns on this bet.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist nor a massive disbeliever in capitalism, but it is very important to think critically here and consider that there are large actors at play that have done much more for much less within the confines of our system, and they will happily do it again.

The issue is that this is not a space for them. It is really unfortunate that trans communities are an echo-chamber, but that doesn't mean our sub has to be some kind of refugee camp for people who want to be "one of the good ones". In my view, the issues of trans people and detrans people are completely separate. The majority of the people here don't believe in gender ideology, and so any issues people may be facing by actively subscribing part or all of it aren't really appropriate here.

This is coming 2 (?) days after a person "asked" for advice only to leave replies personally insulting most who tried to help. Throwing a rope to someone who's sinking is a noble thing to do, but it shouldn't be viewed as a community obligation especially in a place like this.

I got a ban from the "actual" sub because a therapist was looking for advice on how to handle detransitioning and I made a comment pointing out that most of the replies she was receiving were from trans people, not detrans people, and to take that into consideration with the answers. Rip 30 of my Karma. I responded to the ban DM with "thank god" as that sub had basically become time-wasting rage bait for my purposes. Trans ideology is rooted in a sense of entitlement to control over how people are viewed. It's no wonder they feel so entitled to invade our spaces too.

I think a lot of (especially younger) detrans guys that were part of the social contagion instead of having AGP really cringe when they look back and realize that's how they were viewed. Definitely been my experience. I never had a fetish, i transitioned because it was the cool thing to do at the time. And my god I can't get over thinking about how insulting it must have been to the women in my life.

I realized that despite being a trans woman I couldn't take other trans women seriously, and that made me realize what a ridiculous ask it was to be asking others to take me seriously when I couldn't take myself seriously. I had a class with this trans woman and I couldn't fucking stand him. His voice and demeanor and the way he talked about the world. I couldn't stand the idea that everyone saw me the way I saw him. After this revelation I started having panic attacks about feeling like I was living lying to everyone around me and after a couple months I couldnt take it anymore. Never looked back post detrans.

I don't understand why it would be a big issue. "I went through a phase," "I had an identity crisis," especially if you are physically recovered entirely. Young men do weird stuff all the time. I'm pre-op off HRT a month now after a couple years and i'm very optimistic about dating as a straight man in the near future. Every day I get more masculine, it makes me feel so confident.

When you go over it in your head, what do you imagine them saying? Why do you believe it would be an issue for any women?

Because I'm cis. Not gay, no AGP, I just wanted to fit in with my mostly-female friend group as they all started "coming out" in 9th grade. The type of overwhelming support and pride they offer is like a drug to someone who is otherwise struggling socially. Needless to say, none of those people are around with that same kind of support today anymore.