Puberty Blockers

I’ve spent a lot of time (too much many would say) responding to YouTube comments from folks that support bans on puberty blockers, call them dangerous and even evil, and claim that there’s some wave or push for kids to start taking them. So, I went for a dive to find some information about what they are, how they are used, and what the side effects are, to make my responses more well-informed than just what I’ve gleaned from our Transistance coverage. I’ll eventually use this as a basis for a Puberty Blockers information page, but here’s what I found to start.

Puberty blockers are widely believed by the medical community to be safe and very helpful in the case of gender dysphoria, particularly in mitigating depression and suicidal ideation as patients grow into young adults. A quick google search on “Puberty Blockers” and reading the articles on the medical sites (like Mayo Clinic and Children’s Hospital St. Louis and many others) seems to provide decent evidence that they are safe when monitored regularly by doctors including bone density tests and supplements to ensure healthy bone development.

Lupron, a puberty blocker (that is commonly used in BC for gender dysphoria) was studied (and I assume has been used) as an alternative to surgical castration in male pedophiles because it blocks the release of testosterone. Hence the claims we hear that puberty blockers are used in chemical castration. However, it isn’t a one and done. It’s a shot administered every month and because of the decreased testosterone, patients reported significantly reduced pedophelic urges (as confirmed by polygraph tests). Info taken from the summary paragraph of this clinical trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00220350

I did find several spots saying there aren’t currently enough studies of long term affects, as well as the statement that drug companies are hesitant to submit data to the FDA due to the current political firestorm, which means there is more information out there that we don’t get to see because of this anti-trans wave.

I found this article of some females who took Lupron as a puberty blocker and had some nasty bone-related side effects. https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/02/lupron-puberty-children-health-problems/ But again, there isn’t evidence in this story that bone density was monitored and I suspect it’s cases like these that lead to the rigor around puberty blockers and bone density monitoring.

So, my conclusion:

  • Is it the “wild west” when it comes to puberty blockers? No
  • Do we know everything we need to know about long term affects? No
  • Is there enough evidence to label these drugs as “dangerous” (or “evil”)? No
  • Should these drugs be taken/administered with great care and regular monitoring and follow-up? Yes

Emily Kleckner
Founder & President
The Transverse

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The Transgender Show is now a podcast

Great news, we can finally check one of our big priorities off of the to-do list. The Transgender show is now available as a podcast! Episode one of the show with MainlyMaddison went live 4/11/22. New episodes of the show are available every Monday at noon Eastern.

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I Know What You Did Last Summer

This episode of the Nothing to Fear podcast contains spoilers for the movie we are discussing.

Take a trip back to those heady days right before the New Millennium as we visit the small fishing village of North Shore South Carolina. Or was it South Shore North Carolina? Who knows. Certainly not us. What we do know is that we watched I Know What You Did Last Summer and we had a great fun time talking about the stars, the plot and the fashion of those late 90s days. Join along, why don’t you.

Time Codes (as close as I can get them)
00:00:27 Introduction
00:09:15 Trailer
00:10:23 Post movie discussion
00:54:34 & 01:12:00 Small TWs for Suicide. Not too long
01:18:45 Scariest Part
01:20:28 Ratings
01:24:22 Something to Cheer
01:30:02 Credits

Next week we are watching “Us

Thanks for listening and downloading. Rating and reviews are appreciated and if you wanna check out our merch stores (TeePublic, Society6) it would be extremely rad of you.

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Insidious 2

This podcast contains SPOILERS and also a big Trigger warning. There is a large section of this movie that deals with gender presentation and the idea of a man in a dress as a serial killer and we talk about it. It’s a good conversation but it’s understandable if any of the trans and gender diverse part of the audience would like to skip it. Check the time codes and check in with yourself. We love you, listeners. In addition to that we spend some time discussion the manufacture of rocking horses, the importance of FOIP and a plea to let people use their regular accents in movies if they are not the best at impersonating another one.

Time codes
00:00:23 Introductions
00:11:48 Trailer

00:13:45 Post movie discussion
00:41:08-01:02:45 Talking about gender representation in movies and the weird twist this movie uses that is almost entirely negative to the plot.

01:28:22 SPOTEM

01:31:14 Ratings and would we watch again

01:41:41 Something to Cheer Section!

Next week we take a dive back into that wild wild time of the late 1990s and watch the meta movie to end all meta movies, Scream.

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50th Episode Bonus Bonanza!

Wow! Y’all. We hit a huge milestone for us with 50 episodes of Nothing to Fear.

In this very special bonus episode the hosts with the ghosts talk about their top five favourite movies that we’ve watched so far. Please do listen and enjoy! 

Note. There will likely be spoilers for MANY of the movies we have watched in the past year.

Thanks to everyone for being loyal listeners as we learn a bit how to put together a show. Can’t wait to see what the next 50 episodes have in store for us!

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The Lighthouse

This Podcast contains spoilers.

Have we been doing this show for 50 episodes or 2? No way to know but that won’t stop us from talking about Robert Eggers’ 2019 film, The Lighthouse. You may be asking yourself just how many times can three people say the word ‘Protean’ in a single podcast. You will have to listen along to answer that question.
Also, stay tuned for some special fun cameo appearances by Luke’s spooky door, his sister Joelle and, introducing, random dude who came to buy something they had put on kijiji. It’s certainly more fun than being mad at a one-eyed seagull that’s for sure.

After you’ve listened, support us on the show by leaving us a rating and a review and subscribing or heading on over to TeePublic and buying one of our shirts. OR we have some of those merch items available on Society6 as well. 

Episode Time Codes
00:00:23 – Introduction
00:07:35 – Trailer
00:08:57 – Post movie chats
00:42:28-00:45:00 – TW abuse/alcoholism talks
00:58:11-01:02:41 – TW alcoholism talks
01:28:08 – SPOTEM
01:29:55 – Ratings/Would you watch this again
01:37:26 – Something to Cheer
01:39:55 – Reviews/Thanks/Credits

Next week we are going a bit The Further and watching Insidious II. 2nsidious? Insid-two-us. We’ll work on it.

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The Descent

This podcast contains spoilers.

Grab your old, out of date climbing gear, throw away that guidebook and come down to explore some caves as a way to forget about the trauma of the last time you went on an adventure. This week we’re talkin about The Descent and, hoo boy, this episode has it all. Hunting for cheeseburgers, Billie threatening to quit the pod and a couple of Lord of the Rings references just to chance the flavour of nerdiness on here. Don’t worry. There’s still a Star Wars reference.

Time Codes
00:00:23 Hello, everyone!
00:12:35 Trailer
00:14:05 Movie chats
01:11:01 SPOTEM
01:15:16 Ratings
01:18:08 Something to Cheer
01:23:40 Reviews/Credits/Thank you

Love the show? Buy some of our merch over there on TeePublic or Society6. It would really help us out!

Next week we’re taking a 19th Century ship to take up a four week long post on…. The Lighthouse

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His House

This podcast contains spoilers! And this is a 2020 film so consider your self warned.

Don’t worry. Nothing was stolen from an Apeth in order to record this episode. So we’re all good on that front. This is an interesting one for us here at NtF. Billed as a horror movie, we ask and try to answer the question, “Did this story NEED to be a horror movie?” You’ll have to listen to find out. This movie deals with a lot of heavy topics around immigration, refugees, loss and PTSD so it may be on the heavier side, content wise. It’s a clever take on a horror movie to mix it in with the trauma of fleeing war torn regions of the world and settling in a land that seems hostile and confusing in different and unexpected ways. We hope that you enjoy!

Time Codes
00:00:23 Introduction
00:07:39 Trailer
00:09:49 Post Movie Discussion
01:35:55 Scariest Part (SPOTEM)
01:42:28 Ratings (out of broken window handles this week)
01:46:12 Something to Cheer Section
01:50:13 Credits/Thanks/Reviews

Next week we are watching The Descent!

If you would like to support one of the agencies that works to help out refugees in various parts of the world, follow the links below. As always, you are encouraged to do your own research to see how well these agencies align with your own personal values.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

International Rescue Committee (IRC) (US based)

Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) (Not Creedence Clearwater Revival) (Canadian based)

The Hummingbird Project (UK Based)

Other agencies are available.

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