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In March, Public published my essay, “Why Are We Sterilizing Children?” It argued that the sudden explosion of adolescent girls identifying as transgender in recent years is a “social contagion,” much like anorexia before it. 

Scientific support for that hypothesis comes from a 2018 study by Brown University’s Lisa Littman. She found that girls suffering from gender dysphoria, or confusion about whether they were male or female, tended to have one or more peers who identified as transgender, and suffered from preexisting mental health issues. 

The study was hugely controversial. Trans activists attacked Littman and demanded the paper be retracted. Under pressure from the journal, Littman revised her paper, but it was little matter: Brown University, under intense pressure, severed its relationship with Littman.

But in March of this year, new scientific support for Littman’s hypothesis emerged in the form of a new study published by the Archives of Sexual Behaviour: “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: Parent Reports on 1655 Possible Cases,” by Dr. Michael Bailey and Suzanna Diaz.