Crosstalk: May 19, 2016

All across America the Obama administration and activist LGBT groups have forced the matter of transgenderism. It's impacting schools, communities, places of business, houses of worship, our military, and out of necessity, has become part of family discussions. But is the term 'transgender' even an accurate one? Can a person really change their gender? In light of the recent tidal wave forced by the Obama administration, what impact does this have on the public safety of all? Joining Jim to discuss this issue was Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet. Dr. Vliet is a medical doctor and is chief medical officer of Med Expert Chile, an international medical consulting company based in Santiago, Chile. She is also past director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and has an active U.S. medical practice in Tucson, Arizona, and Dallas, Texas. Dr. Vliet noted that when she is treating a male who has had gender reassignment surgery, that patient still has a prostate gland and she has to measure PSA because the patient, like all males, is still at risk for prostate cancer. In other words, the 'she' is still biologically a 'he'. Jim referenced a CNS News article regarding Dr. Paul McHugh, Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University and former Psychiatrist in Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The article indicated that he studied transgender people for 40 years and that it's a scientific fact that transgender men do not become women and transgender women do not become men. They become feminized men or masculine women; counterfeits or impersonators of the sex they identify with. Dr. Vliet explained that Dr. McHugh eventually asked the following question: Is it worth the cost and risk of surgery and what are the outcomes? In other words, since one motto of physicians is 'Do no harm', is the risk worth the benefits? Long-term studies were then designed to see what the outcomes would be for such patients. Interestingly, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has also looked at this issue. They've conducted the largest study of transgender patients in the world. They studied 324 patients who had transgender surgery over 30 years. What they found was that later in life there was a 20 fold greater risk of suicide for those who had reassignment surgery compared with those who did not. Dr. McHugh didn't find a higher rate of suicide in the Johns Hopkins studies but he did find that post surgically the results were no better psychologically in terms of social adjustment, depression and other measures. That led Dr. McHugh to the recommendation that Johns Hopkins should stop doing gender reassignment surgeries. Jim also noted that the American College of Pediatricians is urging educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. They feel that parents who harm a child with dangerous hormones or sterilization surgery are committing child abuse. Dr. Vliet communicated that this was a very powerful and constructive statement because contrary to the ideology and political correctness on this issue in the media, what the data shows is that of children who appear to be confused about their gender, more than 80% of them grow out of it in a few years. She also believes that to give a child puberty suppressing drugs actually sets that child up for many serious health risks later on and can lead to permanent infertility. Much more is shared as Jim and Dr. Vliet circumvent the media 'spin' and look at the medical facts that affect this issue on this vital edition of Crosstalk.