Tucker Carlson’s coming out with two of his propaganda films that he calls “documentaries” on the Fox streaming channel.  One is the (ahem) dangerous! reduction in testosterone levels in men which has a very homoerotic promotion circulating online.  (There are many medical theories for lowering testosterone rates; Carlson likely won’t discuss any of them and say it’s a lib scandal to emasculate good ol’ ‘Murican Budweiser-drinkin’, pickup-truck drivin’, cow-punchin’ Real Men… like the bowtied prep school alum Tucker Carlson, a man who’s never played a contact sport in his life unless you consider fencing a contact sport.)

As ridiculous as that topic is, Carlson’s other “doc” is dangerous.  Carlson takes on the “controversy” of transgenderism–meaning he’ll bring out every outlier doctor and patient to show how “fake” transgenderism is and how it’s a scam by libs to get counselors and doctors and schools and (probably) unions and antifa money.  It’s Carlson:  you know he’ll spew bullshit.

In promos for the piece (posted at the end of this piece), Carlson features a young woman named Helena Kerschner who did what’s known as “detransitioning”–at 15, she decided she was a cis gender straight white girl, so she began experimenting with various gender identities and experiencing unhappiness with her body–y’know, teenage shit.  Her counselors during this journey: a community of posters on the social media site Tumblr.

Yeah, you noticed the first problem with this story:  she was getting peer pressure from a social media site.  The group she frequented, she says, was very much into social justice issues like LGBTQ rights and racial justice, and as she said, as a cis gender straight white girl, she felt she didn’t fit in.  To fit in, she decided to become non-cis-gender.  

And boy oh boy, did she. She went from demi-girl to demi-boy to nongendered to taking hormone therapies for trans men.  And she identified as a trans man.  Struggling as a trans man, she decided she wanted to go back to being a woman, and stopped taking the hormones.  Now, she’s living as her birth-assigned gender, a woman of 23.

There are a lot of problems with this woman’s account–and I’m not saying she’s not telling the truth.  The issue is, she never got counseling.  She got hormones, yes, but she never actually had long-term therapy to address her underlying issues.  She self-diagnosed, with the input from The Internet Psychology and Medical Science Academy and Kosher Deli held on Tumblr.  

Carlson exploits this woman’s unique story and pretends that it’s the same with every transgender teen:  “They’re not really trans.  They’re going through a phase.”

The problem with this is, this girl had real psychological problems.  She was being bullied by her online community.  And she obviously had no proper medical care, let alone mental health care.  (I’ll echo a repeated conservative talking point:  “Where were her parents?”)  Carlson won’t mention that, nor will he correct her when she makes sweeping generalizations stemming from her personal experience.  

I’m not a doctor or a psychologist; in that regard, Tucker Carlson and I have the same credentials to discuss this woman’s situation.  But unlike Carlson, I’m a journalist and I have a trans relative.  What Carlson is doing isn’t journalism; it’s exploitation.  And it’s dangerous.

Teens who are going through the discovery of their gender identity and sexuality have myriad questions and problems–particularly those who identify as trans.  Yes, they need psychological help–but not for the reason Carlson promotes.  They need someone to guide them to support them and to assess their readiness for the transition.  

I have no figures on this, but I’m sure that in counseling, many people who believe they are trans realize in therapy that they’re not actually trans.  That’s good!  That means the system works.  

Carlson’s show won’t be seen by trans youth–unless they’re tied to a chair by their parents who demand they watch it.  But the fact that those conservative parents will watch it and take it as an absolute–because Tucker Carlson would never lie to us.  And those conservative parents won’t support their children; they’ll demand they confirm to what the parents want.  Or just as bad, they’ll think that it’s just a phase their children will snap out of…. eventually.  Maybe by Christmas, right?

Trans kids have one of the highest suicide rates because of the lack of support they get.  They don’t want to be dismissed or disciplined.  They want support.  They need to go through this journey to find their own path, as Kerschner will tell you, without being told what they are.  

Following the Carlson–and DeSantis–model of just ignoring LGBTQ people won’t make them not exist.  It’ll make it harder to help.