Is Being Transgender the Result of Propaganda?

Two concepts of gender identity

For a long time, gender identity was considered through one of two concepts:

1. The sociocentric theory of “psychosexual neutrality”, which claimed that gender could be taught or imposed.
2. The theory of sexual differentiation of the central nervous system, according to which gender results from characteristics of CNS functioning and therefore cannot be “artificially” determined on someone else’s behalf.

Accumulated data from modern neuroendocrinology, molecular genetics and functional neuroimaging has provided confirmation that gender identity develops before birth under the influence of various factors.

Being transgender is not an arbitrary decision. Gender identity has a stable biological foundation. A person can decide how and when to tell others about themselves or transition; these are separate decisions.

Research suggests that genes and hormonal processes before birth may influence gender identity development. Science continues to investigate the details, but increasingly favours the second hypothesis.

Why conversion therapy does not work

Accordingly, medical approaches to trans people have shifted decisively away from attempts to change identity towards gender-affirming care, whose therapeutic value is supported by extensive evidence.

Unfortunately, conversion therapy for trans people is still practised in many countries, where their identity is forcibly “changed” in an attempt to make them “choose to be cisgender”. A slide in the original post includes a TGEU map of European countries where trans people have legal protection from conversion therapy.

Attempts forcibly to change gender identity have no reliably demonstrated effectiveness. Besides the case of David Reimer, discussed in our previous publication, countless people have been harmed by the belief that being transgender or homosexual is a “choice”. Research instead links such experiences to worse psychological health and a greater likelihood of suicide attempts.

For example, a 2009 APA task force review found insufficient high-quality evidence that conversion practices reliably change sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a 2015 study in the “Journal of Counseling Psychology”, researchers surveyed 1,612 people who had undergone attempts to change their sexual orientation. Only 3.2 per cent reported even “slight changes in sexual orientation”.

A 2020 review in “Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice” found that reports of successful outcomes often had methodological limitations, such as biased samples or retrospective designs, weakening their validity or preventing generalisation. Many studies reported negative outcomes, including depression and relationship dysfunction.

Genes, hormones and brain development

Remember the Wachowski sisters? In a combined sample of 463 twin pairs, both twins were much more likely to identify as transgender or non-binary among identical twins, at 21.2 per cent, than among fraternal twins, at 8.7 per cent. This supports a genetic contribution as one potential determinant of the need for gender-affirming care.

In 2010, Savić, Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab reviewed research on the brain, hormones and sexual development. Genitals and sex-related brain characteristics probably develop at different stages of pregnancy. Hormonal signals may therefore affect these processes differently. Under this model, brain development may not fully correspond to expectations based on genital anatomy. The authors consider this a possible biological explanation of being transgender.

Measurable brain characteristics

In 1995, researchers examined brain tissue from 42 deceased people, including six trans women. They measured the BSTc, a region inside the brain — not to be confused with BTS.

In the male control group, this region was larger on average than in the female group. Among trans women, its average volume was approximately half that in the male group and did not differ statistically from the female group. The researchers therefore found a specific anatomical characteristic that, in this small sample, corresponded to the trans women’s gender identities.

In 2008, researchers examined another small region, INAH3 in the hypothalamus. This time, they measured its volume and counted neurons, or nerve cells. The study used post-mortem tissue samples from 42 people, including eleven trans women.

In the male control group, the region was on average 1.9 times larger and contained 2.3 times more neurons than in women. Among trans women, both measurements were the same as in the female group. The similarity therefore concerned both the region’s size and the number of cells inside it. Such measurable characteristics help researchers investigate the biological component of gender identity.

What MRI does and does not show

A small study of eighteen trans women found differences in particular areas of brain white matter before hormone therapy. These differences therefore cannot be explained by taking HRT.

The researchers used a special MRI technique that shows how water molecules move within tissue. Water moves differently along and across nerve fibres. These differences allow the organisation of the fibres to be assessed indirectly.

The study does not establish when the differences arose or what caused them. Nor do “intermediate measurements” mean a “half-female” identity: MRI measures tissue properties and does not express gender as a percentage.

Science continues to investigate the human brain and trans people’s health. Even what we already know, however, shows that being transgender and gender identity are not choices and cannot be forcibly determined from outside.

Sources

• Emancipation NGO’s original Instagram carousel.
• APA: Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation (2009).
• Twin study (2025).
• Savić, Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab (2010).
• Zhou et al. (1995): BSTc.
• Garcia-Falgueras and Swaab (2008): INAH3.
• White matter study before hormone treatment.
• Dehlin, J. P., Galliher, R. V., Bradshaw, W. S., Hyde, D. C., & Crowell, K. A. (2015). Sexual orientation change efforts among current or former LDS church members. Journal of Counseling Psychology.
• Przeworski, A., Peterson, E., & Piedra, A. (2021). A systematic review of the efficacy, harmful effects, and ethical issues related to sexual orientation change efforts. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 28(1), 81–100.

With support from

Published with support from TGEU — Trans Europe and Central Asia.