Elon Musk Takes a Clear Stand on a Difficult and Controversial Topic

"This is super messed up," the billionaire says.

Making public statements on controversial positions has never been something from which Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report owner and CEO Elon Musk shies away.

Now he is wading into more rough waters in a sea of sensitivity.

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The billionaire, who also owns Twitter, replied to a tweet posted by user @ZubyMusic about an unfortunate incident in which an 18-year-old reportedly died following complex gender-change surgery.

"This is super messed up," Musk wrote. "Mature, consenting adults should do as they wish, so long as they do not harm anyone else, but this child was too young for any kind of consent."

Writer and social media personality Brian Krassenstein replied to Musk's comment with a tweet of his own. 

I completely understand the argument here. With that said, isn't an 18-year-old a "consenting adult?" I think the whole Trans debate gets blown out of proportion from both sides. Democrats merely believe that parents, along with doctors and psychologists should have the right to decide what is best for these often-depressed, sometimes suicidal mid-late teens, rather than the Federal or state government. Every case is different and every teenager is different.

Research has shown that providing puberty blockers to those over a certain age (usually reversible) can have a significant impact on depression and suicide rates. Hormone treatment and puberty blockers can actually save lives. I understand that those away from the issue believe some of the more extreme incidents represent the norm, but that's not the case.

I would rather listen to some of the best psychologists and doctors out there if it was my kid, rather than a politician who is politicizing it for their own gain.

Musk clarified his position in a subsequent tweet responding to Krassenstein.

"What research?" Musk asked. "Every child goes through an identity crisis, but leaping to a permanent solution that sterilizes them for life before they could possibly consent for themselves is wrong. Plain and simple."

Musk then pointed to some published research that he said showed increased suicide among transexuals.

"Comprehensive study in Sweden shows increased suicide," he wrote. "Death for sex-reassigned persons was higher than for controls of same birth sex, particularly death from suicide. They also had increased risk for suicide attempts and psychiatric inpatient care."

Krassenstein again replied, this time by explaining what he believes to be the problem with that study. He added a link to a Cureus study that he says contains a more accurate portrayal of the data.

So here's the issue with this study, as I interpret it. It has been shown that Transgender teens are often up to 200-300% more likely to be diagnosed with depression and also 600-700% more likely to consider suicide than the general populace.

The study you present appears to compare transgender individuals, who have transitioned, to that of the general populace as a control. So if you have an individual who is already 2-3X as likely to be depressed and 6-7X as likely to be suicidal, before transitioning, they can still continue to have higher rates than the control group post-transition, even though those rates dropped for them personally. What the study should have looked at is a comparison between transitioned transgender individuals and non-transitioned transgender individuals. Here's a newer study which does that.

"73.3% of the sample reported a history of suicidal ideation; this percentage dropped to 43.4% following the initiation of gender-affirming treatment. Prior to treatment initiation".

Also feel free to community-notes me if I am reading either study incorrectly!

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