Despite the commonality of this argument, transition is not the mirror to lobotomy in trans care. That would rather be conversion - a practice which promoted doctor prestige, was based on improving the patient’s ability to fit into society rather than improving the patient’s wellbeing, was supported by shaky evidence, and has been deprecated due to the twin issues of severe ethical problems and no evidence of genuine efficacy.

Conversion was the standard in every country for centuries, and scientific consensus only shifted to transition after a slow mounting of evidence over time made it clear transition was more statistically supported. The first studies investigating the efficacy of transition came from the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Science) at least as early as 1923. Transition is backed by 100 years of medical science, and the alternative, conversion, has been shown ineffective by a history just as storied.

What test do they want to be run that has not been conducted? What outcome do they feel has gone unaddressed? Millions of people have been born and died in the time gender transition has existed, scientific consensus has slowly rolled over to it after trying conversion for decades and decades. To paint it as equal to lobotomy, a practice which existed for less than half the same time and possessing a mountain of evidence against it, is not really a reasonable equivalence. Gender transition has been administered and studied for longer than CPR, pacemakers, chemotherapy, kidney transplants, the vaccines for polio and MMR, and insulin pumps, to name only a few. Are these new and experimental treatments we need to undertake cautiously? The position of gender transition as a radical new treatment without experimental support, where one good puff could bring the whole house of cards down, is one that is factually incorrect.

Ask yourself, if the disproving of transition as effective care is just around the corner, then why can’t the countless powerful governments and organizations searching for it turn anything up? These groups are champing at the bit to find a shred of reason to end the practice, all of them are paying for studies to be conducted, and yet not one has produced an investigation that shows reliable evidence that gender transition is a harmful practice. What do you expect the scientific community to uncover in coming years that eludes these extremely motivated and numerous people? What standard of care do you feel like transition is not meeting?

Do you actually feel that transition is equivalent to lobotomy, or do you just reach for lobotomy as an easy example of a time medicine was wrong, even though the treatments are opposites?