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How do you ensure that a piece of information is simultaneously public and secret? I have no idea, but I hope that someone can explain a reliable strategy because this story makes no sense in its absence.
EDIT: link to the policy in question.
TL;DR: The government of Saskatchewan just enacted a new policy that affects "preferred names" and pronouns for younger students (along with some other changes, which I'll skip over). It requires that teachers obtain parental consent before using new names/pronouns for students under 16 years old. The criticism is focused on two claims: First, being "out" is important. Second, it can be unsafe if a parent learns that their child is transgender.
The first claim has already been argued to death, and there's nothing new in this story.
The second claim is just bizarre in this context. What do they expect would happen in the absence of the new policy? Everybody starts using the child's new names/pronouns in everything from casual conversations to official reports...and the parents don't notice for >2 years?
If I knew that a child had information that could be dangerous if it got into the wrong hands, I wouldn't encourage them to spread it far and wide. In fact, I'd direct them to a professional that would help them to develop a strategy that minimized the damage from its release, or else cope with maintaining the burden of secrecy.
But maybe I'm missing something, so I'll repeat my question: how do you ensure that a piece of information is simultaneously public and secret?
Ahhh the Schrödinger parents - always knows what's best for their child if they decide to transition it, have absolutely no clue what's best for their child if there is any chance to oppose transition ...
Are you aware that psychologists and doctors are involved in this process?
The #1 institution in the world for convincing people not to transition is gender care clinics. Only a tiny fraction of people who come in for an initial consultation end up medically transitioning; most are dissuaded after talking to psychologists and doctors about whether it's actually the best path for them.
I love that you have a different opinion from most folks here. HOWEVER....
On just the basic face of it, why would a clinic whose entire existence revolves around providing medical procedures emphasize not doing those procedures?
There's culture war examples that are obvious. Planned Parenthood isn't going to tell you to have the baby. In a more pedestrian context, a "pain management" clinic isn't going to call you a pussy and push you out the door, and a laser eye specialist isn't going to say your eyesight is fine unless it's extremely good.
As others have mentioned I've personally seen zero evidence that gender clinics are operating with any reasonableness or rigor, and plenty that they aren't. With some exceptions for Nordic countries who have already swung around the horeshoe bend of going through aggressive pro-trans social changes a few years ago.
All of these organizations do all of these things all the time, though.
All medical providers have intake interviews where they see whether you are a good candidate for a given treatment. All of them turn people away when appropriate. Most of them have long batteries of screening institutions and specialists that make sure you're likely to be a good candidate before you ever get a referral to the actual care provider, which is precisely what the years of working with psychologists at gender care clinics before transitioning are for.
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