Bad Times for Gender Ideology

Should this be a wink from the Archangel Gabriel? In any case, the study published by the Oxford Journal of Sexual Medicine on March 24, 2025, heralds a real bombshell in the swamp of gender ideology: surgeries modestly called "gender transition" pose major risks to patients' mental health.

The study, conducted on 107,583 American patients between 2014 and 2024, is of unprecedented scale. It compares the psychological outcomes of people who underwent transition surgeries with those who did not. The conclusions are clear: among men who underwent "feminization" surgeries, the depression rate reached 25.4%, compared to 11.5% for others.

Among women who opted for "masculinization," the rate was 22.9%, compared to 14.6%. Suicidal ideation, anxiety, and substance abuse followed similar trends, with significantly increased relative risks: 3.47% of suicide attempts were observed among surgical patients compared to 0.29% among non-surgical patients.

As for anxiety disorders, they were observed in 12.8% of surgical men (compared to 2.6%), and in 10.5% of surgical women (compared to 7.1%). Even more worrying, substance use disorders were also significantly higher among surgical patients. These results are not isolated.

A 2024 study published in the same journal reported a 12-fold higher risk of suicide attempts among people who had undergone gender transition surgery compared to the general population. The study then covered 90 million American patients. These data paint a grim picture of the psychological consequences of gender transition surgeries and contradict the blissful optimism of promoters of so-called "gender-affirming" treatments.

This gap between the illusions offered by gender ideology and clinical reality illustrates a fundamental truth: humankind, created in the image of God with a body and soul united according to a divine design, cannot find happiness by mutilating its nature. Pope Pius XII, in a 1951 address to surgeons, reminded us that "man does not have unlimited power over his body."

Therefore, applying irreversible treatments to young people according to a pattern that neuroscience shows is essentially correlated with birth sex stems from recklessness, a fact that the Oxford study supports: the disastrous psychological consequences are not limited to adults, but extend to those who undergo these interventions too early.

Indirectly, the truly humanist vision of Christianity finds confirmation in this recent study: by distancing themselves from their nature, individuals expose themselves to increased distress, as if their soul, created in harmony with their body, were protesting against this imposed dissonance. These revelations come in a context of growing polarization around the so-called "rights" that society should grant to transgender people.

In the United States, the recent return of Donald Trump to the White House has led some states to tighten their legislation. Similarly, on the Old Continent, questions are beginning to be raised here and there about the merits of the practice, particularly in Sweden, where some surgical procedures of this type have been suspended for minors.

While the unwitting advocates of gender ideology may, through the Oxford study, once again denounce the exploitation of scientific data for political ends, the fact remains that "contra factum, non fit argumentum"; you cannot argue against facts. In a world that has lost its ethical bearings, the Church offers answers of a different order by reminding us that true peace will not come from a violent external transformation, but from an internal conversion.