Revisiting the “Age of Realization and Disclosure of Gender Identity among Transgender Adults”

“Rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) describes a presentation in a recent cohort of adolescent and young adults who first became gender dysphoric or trans-identified during or after the onset of puberty (Littman, 2018, 2021).The ROGD hypotheses are, briefly stated, that this relatively new and distinct clinical presentation of late-onset gender dysphoria exists, and that psychosocial factors, including social influences (social media, social and peer contagion, etc.), maladaptive coping mechanisms, mental health conditions, and other stressors can contribute to its appearance in some individuals (Littman, 2018, 2021).

In “Age of Realization and Disclosure of Gender Identity Among Transgender Adults,” Turban et al. (2023a) claim to find evidence against ROGD. Relying on data from the U.S. Transgender Survey of 2015 (USTS-15) (James et al., 2016), Turban et al. divided respondents into two groups—early realization and late realization—based on whether they “realized their TGD [transgender and/or gender diverse] identities” before or after age 10. They found that 59.2% of respondents had early realization, and that the median time from realization to disclosure of their identities to others was 14 years. Thus, Turban et al. conclude, “it is likely that gender dysphoria experienced by many…TGD youth is not ‘rapid-onset,’ but rather that TGD youth disclose their TGD identities to their parents and others years after their personal realization.”

Continue reading the entire Letter to the Editor here at Archives of Sexual Behavior

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Leor Sapir is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Lisa Littman is a member of The Institute for Comprehensive Gender Dysphoria Research, Michael Biggs is a member of the Department of Sociology

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