Paul McHugh again? Seriously? Why the hell are newspapers so damned quick to publish this bigot's opinions to cause a debate where there is none, and let people keep de-humanizing trans people?
Here's a quote from a rebuttal about who this guy is: (from the article
"Lies, Damned Lies, and Lies about Transgender People")
"
"Dr. Paul McHugh, retired from psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital..."Yes, let's talk about Dr. Paul McHugh.
He's an octogenarian, self-described
orthodox Catholic whose anti-LGBT bias is
well documented. He spent years defending the Catholic Church from sexual abuse allegations. In his role as part of the USCCB's Review Board, McHugh pushed the idea that the Catholic sex abuse scandal was not about pedophilia but about
"homosexual predation on American Catholic youth."McHugh refers to homosexuality as
"erroneous desire," filed an amicus brief arguing in favor of Proposition 8 and making the erroneous claim that
homosexuality is a "choice." Additionally, McHugh defended
forcing a pregnant ten-year-old girl who'd been raped by an adult relative to carry the pregnancy to term. He describes post-surgical transgender women as
"caricatures of women."If you want a detailed analysis of how Dr. McHugh has misrepresented data, rigged studies, left out significant details in his research, and is nothing more than a poorly-regarded fringe element in his own field, you can read about it
here, here,
here,
here,
here, and
here. No secular medical or mental health organization
agrees with him, because every other available study shows that access to health care improves outcomes for transgender patients.
Even McHugh's own (former) academic department denounced his anti-trans stance in testimony before the Maryland Senate this past year, stating that they follow the
WPATH Standards of Care. Court cases looking at transgender medical issues have consistently found his work unpersuasive.
In short, Paul McHugh is the
Mark Regnerus of transgender issues."
