Brown University and PLoS ONE: Defend academic freedom and scientific inquiry

Unfortunately we need to stay anonymous for now as our 16-year old daughter's well-being is endangered by trans activists. Our story is scaringly similar to Dr. Littmann's findings.

protect academic freedom of expression

Facts are not transphobic, science must not how to politics.

As a gay man with a trans best friend, I believe this is an appalling attack on research.

this is a hugely important area of study and the paper provides valuable initial insights into ROGD.

There's an epidemic of teenage girls with autism, depression, PTSD or eating disorders, believing they are trans. Parents see this. Teachers see this. Clinicians see this. Only trans activists don't. We live in times when British children are ENCOURAGED to question their identity and choose new pronouns, many schools have sex-ed programs written by trans activists from organizations like Mermaids or LGBT Youth Scotland. They focus on rare disorders of sex development, blow them out of proportions and normalize them. This is a social and medical experiment on children. We'll see what happen in 10-15 years when all of these purposely misdiagnosed kids start detransitioning. One thing I know for sure: we will remember who supported this unethical experiment.

Published papers are always criticised as part of general debate in academia. however, they are not pulled from circulation due to pressure from activists. This is unheard of.

Support free speech and science.

If there were a sudden spike in smoking among adolescent girls, would it be proper to let the tobacco industry shut down a study linking the spike to social pressure and contagion? The question might seem silly but that's what is happening with Dr. Littman's study. Activists with a vested interest in narrowing the range of speech regarding children and gender dysphoria are attempting to suppress information that lies outside the accepted range. To bow to that pressure works an injustice to children's health and, in the larger scheme of things, to the pursuit of truth.

I write from the UK. My concern is that there seems to be a concerted effort to close down freedom of thought around the issue of transgender studies. While this is bad in the UK, my impression is that this is absolutely toxic in the SA (and Canada). I have no dog in the fight as to transgender issues; however I am concerned for freedom of thought.

I have not read the study yet. Regardless, it underwent peer review, was deemed of sufficient quality to publish by those responsible for making that decision, and was published. If its wrong, let someone produce evidence that it is wrong. Until that time, if the research pisses some people off, who cares? Galileo and Darwin pissed people off too. Brown U should be ashamed of itself for caving to sociopolitical pressure. Science denial, anyone?

do not suppress this important research

Suppressing research that is needed to help get children the right care for their individual situations, research that's recognizing and studying the unprecedented shift in the numbers and sex of children identifying as trans, helps no one, least of all children with gender dysphoria. Also, caving to the demands of a handful of loud, unqualified, disingenuous critics is slap in the face to families dealing with this and academic freedom alike.

Censorship of biological facts is silencing and erasure of women. STOP THE TRANS MADNESS> you should be ashamed of yourselves.....

Brown University, by seeking to squelch this research, you are abandoning your mission as academics to seek the truth. Shame on you.

We've been here before, with researchers and clinicians of high standing being defamed by a small group of trans activists who don't want to certain research to be true - and who will go to great lengths to suppress this research and public discussion of it (including leveraging false allegations of misconduct against researchers). Their strategy has been to cynically position themselves as victims fighting against a shadowy conspiracy of transphobic scientists. Unfortunately people of good will and compassion have often been duped by this ploy. These activists do not speak on behalf of most trans people and they certainly not guided by genuine concern for academic rigor. They don't want this research to exist - and they don't people to talk about it.

I have a daughter that transitioned very rapidly on testosterone at age 18 with no diagnostics or counseling.

The research is needed for an open debate. As a society we must not agree to experimentation on children - I want to know why it’s sudden escalation re girls?

Stop the corruption of science by the PC culture

Suppressing research to mollify aggressive activists is akin to book burning We need to defend women children and trans people from this online mania mostly generated by psychologically damaged men