Common myths about trans people

Misinformation about transgender people is widespread and often relies on oversimplifications that ignore decades of scientific research. This article examines some of the most common myths, comparing them with the available evidence in the peer-reviewed literature.

“Being trans is against nature”

This claim presupposes that gender variance is a recent or exclusively cultural phenomenon. The evidence indicates the opposite.

Gender identity has documented biological bases in genetics, neuroscience, and endocrinology studies [1]. Twin research shows significantly greater concordance for transgender identity in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins, indicating a substantial hereditary component [1][2]. Neuroimaging studies have identified brain patterns in trans people that show characteristics typical of the experienced gender rather than the sex assigned at birth [1].

From a historical and anthropological perspective, gender variance has been documented in diverse cultures across every continent and every historical period: the hijra in the Indian subcontinent, the two-spirit in Native American cultures, the fa’afafine in Samoa, and the muxe in Mexican Zapotec culture. This is a constant of human diversity, not a recent anomaly.

“It’s just a phase or a trend”

This argument is often applied to young people and suggests that transgender identity is transitory or influenced by social trends.

Longitudinal data tell a different story. Gender identity tends to be stable over time: follow-up studies show that most adolescents with persistent and intensifying gender dysphoria during puberty maintain their identity into adulthood [8]. A 2014 study published in Pediatrics followed young adults after treatment with puberty blockers and subsequent hormone therapy, finding a significant improvement in psychological well-being and no cases of regret in the sample [9].

The detransition rate — often cited to support the idea of a “phase” — is low according to available systematic reviews [10]. A 2021 narrative review found that detransition is a complex phenomenon, often motivated by external social pressures rather than a change in gender identity [10]. It is important to distinguish between detransition due to an actual resolution of dysphoria and that caused by discrimination, lack of support, or difficulties accessing care.

The increase in gender dysphoria diagnoses in recent years largely reflects greater awareness and accessibility of services, a pattern historically observed for many conditions when clinical and social recognition improves.

“Biology is simple: either male or female”

The idea that biological sex is a strictly binary system is an oversimplification that is not supported by the complexity of actual biology.

As documented in an influential article in Nature in 2015, biological sex is a set of characteristics — chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, anatomical, and neurological — that in most people are aligned, but which can present significant variations [3]. Intersex conditions (variations of sex characteristics, or DSD) affect approximately 1-2% of the population, a prevalence comparable to that of red hair [3].

There are people with a 46,XY karyotype who are phenotypically female (androgen insensitivity syndrome), people with a 46,XX karyotype who develop masculine characteristics (congenital adrenal hyperplasia), and numerous other chromosomal variations (XXY, X0, mosaicisms) that escape binary classification.

This does not mean that biological sex is not a useful category: in the vast majority of cases, the system functions in a bimodal manner. It does mean, however, that biology is more complex than a rigid binary opposition, and that people who do not fit neatly into this bimodality — including transgender and intersex people — are not “errors” but expressions of natural variability.

“Trans people are mentally ill”

The World Health Organization removed “transsexuality” from the classification of mental disorders in the ICD-11, which came into effect in 2022 [4]. The condition was reclassified as “gender incongruence” and moved to the chapter on conditions related to sexual health, explicitly recognizing that it is not a mental disorder.

This decision is based on scientific evidence accumulated over decades: transgender identity itself is not associated with impairment of cognitive or psychological functioning [4]. The psychological distress that some trans people experience — gender dysphoria — is linked to the discrepancy between identity and body, and is significantly reduced with access to appropriate treatments, as documented by numerous studies [5][9].

The elevated rates of depression and anxiety in the transgender population are largely attributable to social stigma, discrimination, and lack of access to care, not to gender identity itself. This is known in the literature as the “minority stress model” and has been documented robustly [7].

The importance of informational rigor

Combating misinformation does not require an ideological stance, but a commitment to scientific accuracy. Claims about complex topics like gender identity should be evaluated in light of the available evidence, recognizing both what research has established with reasonable certainty and the areas where knowledge is still evolving.