What is Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), and is it real? (Updated)
You may have heard the term “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” in the press or media, usually with regards to transgender young people, and in particularly AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) trans masculine young people.
In this short article we will take a look at what ROGD is, and why it should be disregarded.
(Note - the first part of this article was written in Nov 2020 and remains unchanged. Additional information has been added following the original article)
What is Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria?
Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, often shortened to ROGD, is a proposed explanation for the increase in the numbers of young people revealing themselves to be transgender, published in a single study by trans hostile researcher Lisa Littman from Brown University in the PLOS-1 Journal in 2018.
The term itself first appeared on a number of trans hostile websites, originating with Littman herself, in 2016.
At it’s heart is the old idea that being transgender is “new”, that young people are being “infected” by this dangerous new idea in the form of “social contagion” - exposure to transgender identities through their peers, friends and the internet - to the point they suddenly decide they are transgender and suffer from Gender Dysphoria.
It is often used as justification in the denial of transgender identities and in treatment for transgender young people, and is often misrepresented as a medical condition that is officially diagnosed - “i.e. my child has been diagnosed with ROGD”
It is, in reality, an excuse for parents to suppress or deny their young people the opportunity to explore their gender identity.
Or simply put, it is nothing more than a modern rehash of the myth that being transgender is a fad, phase, or trendy, using scientific sounding language.
What’s wrong with the study?
The study itself is a masterclass in what is known as “confirmation bias” - that is the process of having a theory and then using only evidence that supports that theory, ignoring all other evidence.
The study was beset with problems too numerous to mention in this short article, but the biggest issues were around both poor methodology and review process.
How was this done?
The first thing to note is that the study did not directly study transgender people. Yes, you read that correctly.
This study actually looked at the parents of transgender young people and their reactions, rather than the trans young people themselves. Even more specifically, it looked only at parents of trans young people who were hostile to the idea of their offspring being transgender.
Secondly, and as importantly, it gathered evidence only from sources that were hostile to transgender young people, thus confirming the “theory”. It did not use evidence from any source that was supportive of transgender people.
Those two things alone are enough to completely discount it as they are fundamentally dishonest.
Controversy, retractions, corrections and apologies
In fact the study was so bad that the publishing journal itself published a major correction & formal apology regarding it, and major transgender professional organisations such as WPATH and AusPATH have issued statements denouncing it.
Brown University, where the research originated, distanced itself from the study and surrounding controversy and pulled the study.
Why should ROGD as a “theory” be ignored?
As mentioned previously, it is simply nothing more than a rehash of the myth that being transgender is somehow a phase or fad.
This myth itself relies on another myth that all transgender people “know and display” that they are transgender from extremely early ages.
It is a well established fact in transgender research and healthcare that people identify and come to accept that they are transgender at any stage in life, as is evidenced in the current WPATH Standards of Care (2011, “Phenomenology in Adolescents”) which states:
“Yet many adolescents and adults presenting with gender dysphoria do not report a history of childhood gender-nonconforming behaviors (Docter, 1988; Landén, Wålinder, & Lundström, 1998). Therefore, it may come as a surprise to others (parents, other family members, friends, and community members) when a youth’s gender dysphoria first becomes evident in adolescence.”
And also in the DSM-5 diagnosis for Gender Dysphoria (published in 2013):
“Late-onset gender dysphoria occurs around puberty or much later in life. Some of these individuals report having had a desire to be of the other gender in childhood that was not expressed verbally to others. Others do not recall any signs of childhood gender dysphoria. For adolescent males with late-onset gender dysphoria, parents often report surprise because they did not see signs of gender dysphoria during childhood.”
Now, there is nothing actually fundamentally wrong about the idea of Gender Dysphoria suddenly appearing in a trans person - indeed some trans people experience a revelation when all the clues suddenly come together and they finally realize they are transgender.
But as shown in the passages above which describe the parents “surprise” - the word “rapid” doesn’t always refer to speed in which an individual’s Gender Dysphoria appears, but rather other people suddenly being faced with the fact that that someone they know is transgender and suffering from it.
A clear distinction needs to be drawn between what is rapid or sudden as experienced by a transgender person, and the perception of suddenness or rapidity as perceived by someone else.
The reasons why transgender people don't tend to disclose they are transgender, despite many years of actually experiencing Gender Dysphoria prior to doing so are many, but often can be summarised as a lack of language / inability to describe what they are experiencing, social stigma, shame, hostile home environment, or a combination of some or all of those factors.
On a personal note, I “knew” at 10 or 11 that I was different, but lacked the language to describe how I felt, which was coupled with seeing people like myself demonised and made fun of in the press and on TV. When placed in context of the 1980’s at the height of the “gay panic”, it is easy to see why I did not disclose the fact that I felt different, let alone have the courage to explore that.
And as a result of that shame and stigma, I denied who I was for more than 35 years.
“Theories” like ROGD are designed by those opposed to transgender people to perpetuate harmful myths, stereotypes and social stigma around transgender people, to deny healthcare and help, which in turn generates a culture of ignorance, hate and fear.
And that is why it should be ignored.
Update 4/5/21
Since writing this original article there have been several other studies looking at the idea of ROGD - all of which further undermine Littman’s original “theory” as unsound and methodologically biased.
Which is unsurprising, given that Littman effectively only studied one half of the phenomenon of “coming out” as transgender for young people - the half that dealt solely with parental perception, and exclusively trans hostile parents. As mentioned previously, Littman completely failed to investigate the experiences of affected trans young people at all - the missing half of the equation.
This study - Factors Associated With Age of Presentation to Gender-Affirming Medical Care - Sorbara et al. (2021) addressed these failings in methodology by surveying both parents and trans young people attending a gender clinic.
This study asked respondents to evaluate:
The perceived age of self-recognition as transgender
The age that this was first disclosed to others
It found:
Which means that an experience that actually occurred over the course of 2-3 years for the trans young person, was perceived to take place over 5 months by those not experiencing it.
Or, using Littman’s language - gender self recognition & disclosure appeared to be sudden, or “rapid onset” by external perception, not by internal experience.
This differential between gender self recognition & disclosure by trans people is already well understood and documented in multiple other studies:
In a study of trans young people aged between 15-21:
Trans girls felt “different” around 7.6 years old, self recognised their gender at 13.4 years old, and disclosed at 14.2 years old.
For trans boys this was 7.5 years old, 15.2 years old, and 17 years old respectively.
A study of trans women aged between 16-29 found:
Initial gender realisation occurred around 9.9 years old, and disclosure occurred around 15.8 years old.
It also found that this group began expressing their femininity (ie through clothing) privately around 12.9 years old, and publicly around 17.4 years old.
A study of trans young people found:
Trans girls self identified their gender around 9.9 years old, and disclosed around 12.2 years old.
For trans boys this was 10.7 years old and 13.1 years old respectively.
Mental Health and Timing of Gender-Affirming Care - Sorbara et al. (2020)
This study sample of 300 trans young people found a typical delay of around 4.5 years between their initial gender realisation and disclosure to others
This study looked at two different generational groups - Millennials and Gen Z.
The Millenial group felt “different” around 11.6 years old, identified at 19, started living part time at 20.8 and full time 22.2.
For the Gen Z group this was 11.5, 15.2, 16.1 and 17 respectively.
A different study : Deferral: the sociology of young trans people’s epiphanies and coming out - Kennedy 2020, looks at the social reasons behind the delay between realisation and disclosure.
It establishes a “Timeline of Revelation”, by analysing trans experiences and breaking down the key phases, understandings and actions between initial feelings of being “different”, clearly identifying experienced gender, and disclosure, finding commonalities between trans people including lacking the language to describe their experiences and feelings.
Conclusions:
Given that “ROGD” or “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” is demonstrably false as the above studies clearly show - so are the attributed “causes” it postulates.
Which is unsurprising given that the “causes” - chiefly “social contagion” and “peer pressure” - effectively the idea that being exposed to information that shows trans people exist is harmful and contagious - are common tactics used by trans hostile people to deny and suppress transgender existence and identities.
ROGD remains “junk science” of the worst type.
Further Reading:
Everything you need to know about Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria - Julia Serano
Origins of “Social Contagion” and “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” - Julia Serano
“Rapid onset gender dysphoria”: What a hoax diagnosis looks like - Zinnia Jones
'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria' Is Biased Junk Science -Brynn Tannehill