Nearly 40 Dutch websites being used to spread disinformation about transgender people
There are at least 38 Dutch websites kept online by a single administrator that appear to offer help to people with questions about their gender identity, but in fact contain disinformation about transgender people and the care available to them, Pointer discovered.
At first glance, the sites seem to provide factual information, but closer inspection reveals that they mainly criticize the medical route available to transgender people in the Netherlands and tout the “damage of gender ideology,” Poiniter wrote after its own research.
One of the 38 sites, which has been online since May of this year, claims that 30 percent of trans people regret transitioning and that gender dysphoria would pass without treatment. The websites also claim that a medical transition does not reduce suicidal symptoms.
Pointer presented the websites, their claims, and the sources cited to Radboudumc endocrinologist Christa van Bunderen. “The figures mentioned cannot be found in the cited sources,” she told the program.
One of the sites explicitly discourages parents from taking their child to their house doctor if they question their gender identity. “They refer to a gender-friendly psychologist or gender clinic, and the process there is largely fixed,” the site claims.
Several experts called that claim ridiculous. The Health Council also recently concluded that the care for trans people in the Netherlands is carefully organized. "Potential treatment with puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones is only considered after extensive diagnostics and indication assessment."
The process is not fixed and does not always end up being medical, psychologist Philip Janssen, affiliated with a gender team, told Pointer, “When someone comes into the gender clinic, there are initial consultations with the psychologist, and an assessment is always made of the underlying causes of the gender question, how sustainable a desire for transition is, or what else is at play. If there are concerns that something else is going on, such as depression, that is always treated first. Sometimes people also choose a path other than the medical route.”
In addition to the incorrect information, several websites also link to a “transgender check,” an online questionnaire that promises “an honest result immediately on your screen, without a healthcare professional pushing you in a certain direction.” Pointer completed the check over 10 times with very diverse answers and always received the same outcome: nothing is wrong, or something else is going on.
Pointer also asked two trans people to complete the check. One said: “If I had taken this check at age 10 and this was the result, I would have been even more confused.”
The creator of the websites and the transgender check told Pointer that his name was ‘Edward Janssen,’ but the program discovered that this was a pseudonym. He told the program that he created the sites out of frustration because he has a child who is transgender, and he is against the care the Netherlands offers. He is convinced that a medical transition would not make his child happier. On his own website, the man also states that he does not believe in being transgender.
He told Pointer that his transgender check, which always says that you’re not transgender, is not harmful. What is harmful is “that a child at the gender clinic is always told that they have gender dysphoria,” he said. “My test might only have one outcome, but that is exactly the same as an official examination.”
Several experts also called that claim - that doctors immediately diagnose children with gender dysphoria - incorrect. “It is not true that you get a diagnosis and surgery at a gender clinic in no time,” said Van Bunderen. “Months of consultations precede the moment someone is even allowed to start medication. And you won't get surgery before you turn 18 anyway. If there are concerns about a child that it might be a phase, or that it is caused by the environment, as is sometimes suggested, all of that is extensively investigated together with an experienced psychologist."
According to her, the man’s transgender test is absolutely harmful. “A medical transition is not the solution for everyone. But if you imagine vulnerable young people, who are struggling with themselves, filling this out and receiving this result, then I find that concerning. We know from research and from practice that trans people who do not receive care suffer much more frequently from depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies."
