Gender-Affirming Care

by Jim Buckley

From Lobotomy to Bottom Surgery

Nearly three years ago, I wrote a column, some of which appeared in the now-gone and sorely missed Santa Barbara News-Press on what I called the Transgender Explosion. In it, I wondered how it was that so many boys and girls, young men – and particularly young women –, seemed obsessed with the idea of “transitioning” to the opposite sex. High-profile celebrities – mostly in the entertainment business living mostly in liberal enclaves such as Hollywood and Manhattan – loudly and proudly exhibited their “transgender” offspring as if they were prizes awarded to only the most “progressive” and/or “caring” parents.

I proffered that what we were witnessing – “gender-affirming” transformations of perfectly formed little humans into surgical aberrations – had a lot in common with lobotomy, a procedure that enjoyed some prominence when it first appeared. From 1949 to 1952 – its heyday – some 60,000 pre-frontal lobotomies were performed. It was seen by many as a medical miracle finally able to “cure” the most difficult patients.

The procedure (originally called a “leucotomy”) was invented in the mid-1930s by Dr. Antonio Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, who performed the very first such operation by drilling two holes in a patient’s skull and injecting pure alcohol through those holes into the frontal lobe of the patient’s brain, thus destroying both tissue and nerves, after which, miraculously, the patient became submissive and quiet. In 1949, Dr. Moniz was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his inventive technique.

Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman, an American physician, began using the procedure in 1936, and soon modified it. His method was less time-consuming but just as effective. He would insert an ice pick into the inside crease between the eye and the bridge of the nose of a patient, and then slowly turn it as the device reached the brain, destroying tissues and nerves. His new take, which he labeled “lobotomy,” took ten minutes, as opposed to the one-hour or more of Moniz’s Nobel Prize-winning “leucotomy.”

Lobotomy was such a smash (money-making) hit that Dr. Freeman toured psychiatric hospitals demonstrating the remarkable results of the simple operation to crowds of astonished and gullible mental health professionals, ready and eager to try their hands at this lobotomy stuff.

By the mid 1960s, however, and after some 60,000 lobotomies worldwide, the procedure had been completely discredited.

It wasn’t, after all, as useful as it had first appeared.

“Transitioning” Online and in School

What with the birth and popularity of social media, something similar has taken hold in the world of sexual instability, particularly among youngsters under 18. Soothing descriptions of “gender affirming care” and “gender transition surgery” are given space online to promote the “transitioning” process and offering positive reinforcement, and encouragement to confused and vulnerable… let’s call them what they are: children.

You are ready for the real thing!

And, in a relatively short time, “Gender Affirming Surgery” had become big business. According to a June 2019 report cited in the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine from the American Society for Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), sex-reassignment surgery was the fastest growing surgery in 2016-2017.

In other words, there were big bucks in doing this stuff.

My column delved into a little history of “gender dysphoria” but stopped short of describing the actual “gender transition” operation and what is involved.

I’m doing that now, for two reasons; 1) because it’s increasingly difficult to find a social-media site that offers anything other than positive and “transgender-affirming” psychological advice (Thank you Facebook and Google!), and 2) because too many children and young adults have been mesmerized by these soothing appeals.

Once on this transgender road, it is extremely difficult to get off. Powerful drugs and hormones, along with regular and frequent doctor visits, become a part of everyday existence for anyone who’s chosen to “transition,” even non-surgically.

Records indicate that up to 25% of people who identify as transgender eventually opt for the complete surgical route; the following information outlines some of the details of that “route.”

Ask Your Doctor if the Surgical Route is Right for You!

The first thing one notices about so many of these gender-affirming websites is how soft the introductory language is. For example: “Transgender and intersex people follow many different paths to realize their gender expression (including chest reconstruction and facial feminization surgery),” stated a London hospital website that specialized in these kinds of surgeries. You’ll be advised that “people in search of realizing their gender expression may also decide that bottom surgery – also known as genital surgery, sex reassignment surgery (SR), or preferably, gender confirmation surgery (GCS) – is the right choice for them (italics added).”

The right choice?

Sounds like a harmless prescription medication commercial rather than what it really is: an irreversible, all-inclusive surgical procedure that will change your life forever and turn you into a pill-popping needle-injecting ward of a team of doctors. Your life henceforth will revolve around various infections, medicines, surgeries, and a plethora of doctor visits.

At least those pervasive prescription medication TV commercials one can’t avoid uniformly contain warnings of some counter-indications of their joyfully promoted pills, up to and including death.

Bottom Surgery to “alleviate” Gender Dysphoria

You are reassuringly advised that “many individuals view transfeminine bottom surgery as a necessary step toward alleviating their gender dysphoria (italics added).”

Really?

Oh, by the way, “the possible risks of transfeminine bottom surgery include, but are not limited to, bleeding, infection, poor healing of incisions, hematoma, nerve injury, stenosis of the vagina, inadequate depth of the vagina, injury to the urinary tract, abnormal connections between the urethra and the skin, painful intercourse and anesthesia risks.”

No need to worry, as “the final results of transfeminine bottom surgery can help alleviate the feelings of gender dysphoria that some individuals may experience.”

“Help alleviate?”

That’s it?

Wait; there is more: “Over time, the new vagina will settle into position and the scar lines will improve, although they'll never disappear completely. There are trade-offs, but most transwomen feel these are small compared to the large improvement in their quality of life and the ability to look and feel like a woman.”

Oh, and doctors do not remove a transgender woman’s prostate gland, though they do advise that because their patient (who is, after all, a man) continues to have his prostate gland, it is advised that “careful monitoring of prostate health through exam is essential to your long-term health.”

And “if you experience shortness of breath, chest pains, or unusual heartbeats, seek medical attention immediately. Should any of these complications occur, you may require hospitalization and additional treatment.”

So, now young man, you are ready for what is euphemistically called “bottom surgery.”

Here goes:

You’ve already been fed a menu of female hormones and most likely have had several surgical procedures to turn you from looking like a young man into looking like a young woman.

You are ready for the real thing!

Playing God with Surgical Tools

First, you’ll be placed on a gurney and pushed into the operating room; you’ll be completely sedated.

First things first, so your testicles are surgically removed.

Then the skin along the shaft of the penis is removed from the penile tissue and preserved to create the new vagina.

A small portion of the glans of the penis, along with the corresponding nerves and blood vessels, are dissected off the penile tissue and preserved to create the clitoris.

The remainder of the penile tissues are removed from the body. A space is subsequently created between the bladder and rectum. The skin of the penis that was preserved is inverted and placed into this space. A conformer is placed inside the new vagina to maintain the position of the skin. The urethra and preserved glans of the penis are placed in the female position. The scrotal skin is rearranged and used to create the labia majora.”

Easy, right?

No, but it’s too late to tell your team of “gender-affirming” doctors that this isn’t what you signed up for.

There is no turning back, but, hey, it may be “right for you.”

There are several additional surgical procedures that may also be “right for you.” They include thyroid cartilage reduction (Adam’s Apple), forehead reduction/contouring, jawline/chin contouring, rhinoplasty, voice surgery, and, well as they say in the commercials, lots more.

What has just happened to you is ugly and deforming but, again, you are warmly reassured that “Gender Confirmation Surgery of the Genitalia works by immediately correcting the gender you were assigned with at birth, thereby ensuring your body is perfectly aligned with your gender identity. For many transgender men, having a body that corresponds to the way they feel about themselves is incredibly profound.”

I guess it’s good to be God, I thought, or at least to be playing one. I did have a conversation with someone who told me “No, these ‘doctors’ aren’t playing God; they are doing the work of the Devil.”

There is, of course, surgery for women who want to be men. For this, you’ll have to consider whether phalloplasty is “right for you.” This “bottom surgery” is even more repulsive and deforming.

Look it up if you’re not sick already.

I’m neither a doctor nor a law enforcement officer and don’t claim to be one, but introducing the concept of gender transitioning in a positive manner to a child under the age of 18 should be a criminal offense.

The best advice anyone could give to a gender-confused minor would be to tell him or her learn to live with what they’ve got.

Please.

For God’s sake (and yours).

After all, no matter how many surgeries a boy or a man undergoes, he’ll never be more than a female impersonator.

Now, the Good News

The American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued the following statement last week (June 7, 2024) calling on major medical professional organizations in the U.S. to stop socially, hormonally, and surgically transitioning children:

Let’s hope this public appeal by a large group of respected professionals spells the beginning of the end of the lucrative yet ultimately destructive “gender-affirming” industry in the U.S.

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