Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

When research is done we want science to lead the way. Trials and tests should lead to conclusions. But at Brown University researchers landed themselves in hot water when a particular research topic touched a nerve and led to them squelching their findings. The topic: gender dysphoria. Brown University nixed a press release regarding gender dysphoria in adolescents. The study suggested it could be a social contagion. Researchers found evidence that, "like eating disorders and drug use, sudden transgender identification, called “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” can be a “maladaptive coping mechanism” linked to social interaction and increased internet usage. This study would have been helpful for a society struggling to find answers for the increase in gender dysphoria but transgender activists shut it down. Which reminds us that research shouldn't be influenced by public opinion.