Mick Hartley

Journalist Hadley Freeman, who has written about her past anorexia, says she spoke to clinicians, including some at the Tavistock gender clinic, who told her–

"Yes, [trans/non-binary] is the new way for girls to express fear of womanhood and it's being socially validated and…

— Bernard Lane (@Bernard_Lane) September 18, 2024

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Journalist Hadley Freeman, who has written about her past anorexia, says she spoke to clinicians, including some at the Tavistock gender clinic, who told her–

"Yes, [trans/non-binary] is the new way for girls to express fear of womanhood and it's being socially validated and the parents are going along with it, which is a big difference from anorexia."

Like anorexia, some gender distress is thought to be socially transmitted online and through peer groups. #ROGDAwarenessDay

But unlike anorexia, trans gets the validation it demands and has society-wide effects on free speech and the integrity of institutions.

Freeman talks about the problem in progressive institutions–say, The Guardian newspaper (her former workplace), academia or centre-left political parties–where articulate, middle-class parents have a teenage girl who identifies as a boy.

"There's a lot of parents at those organisations who have what they call a 'trans kid' and therefore no one at the organisation is allowed to critique child gender stuff," Freeman says.

"Again this is different from anorexia. It's not like if there'd been a whole load of journalists at The Guardian in the 90s who had anorexic teenage girls, then the paper would have to run loads of articles praising anorexia."