Childcare experts slam Joe Biden as trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney's fanbase rises to 8.4M after WH debut
WASHINGTON DC: Childcare experts have criticized President Joe Biden for skyrocketing the popularity of transgender TikToker Dylan Mulvaney after her White House debut, adding that social media is leading to a surge in teens seeking gender reassignment.
Experts claim that the social media sensation's fanbase on TikTok grew to 8.4M after her White House appearance. They worry that her reach and influence could be impressionable on teens and sway those who are questioning their own gender identity which could cause an alarming uptick in teen gender transitioning.
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"They’re called social media influencers because they influence people," said Lisa Marchiano, a clinician with the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association, a group of therapists.
"It’s very concerning to see social media influencers get this kind of attention, being asked to visit the White House, celebrated and valorized without any critical appraisal or explanation or alternative viewpoints, and that could affect people," reported Daily Mail.
(Dylan Mulvaney/ Instagram, Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Experts argue that social media trends are becoming a primal cause of gender dysphoria with many teens opting to transition with drugs and surgery as the medium. Whilst experts claim adolescents believe these irreversible treatments could be conventional while ignoring the growing cohort of de-transitioners who have come to regret their procedures. Candice Jackson, a lawyer and US-based spokesperson for Genspect, a global coalition of clinicians and parents against some so-called ‘gender-affirming’ care, also called Mulvaney’s White House debut worrying.
"Young people look up to celebrities and politicians, and if they only hear one side, with no cultural counterweight, they're hearing that transitioning is somehow consequence free and risk-free," said Jackson. "That’s ignoring the growing cohort of de-transitioners who come to regret their procedures." Dylan Mulvaney who originally identified herself as "nonbinary" told followers in March that she was a girl. The transgender female met President Joe Biden to discuss her transition and transgender issues in the country. In the interview, Democrat vowed to protect 'gender-affirming care,' saying states should not limit access to transgender treatments.
However, childcare experts are distressed about the sudden rise of transgender children in America and whether to allow young people to take puberty blockers, hormones or undergo surgery has become a controversial issue. Researchers from Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, this month found that the number of chest reconstruction surgeries being performed on trans children shot up nearly five-fold between 2016 and 2019, when it reached 489 .A report by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), published this year found that 300,000 US children aged between 13 and 17 identified as transgender in 2020 doubling in number from 2017. Republican officials in Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas have sought to limit access to such procedures.