The Ediacaran Period overlaps but is shorter than the Vendian Period (650 to 543 million years ago), a name that was earlier, in 1952, proposed by Russian geologist and paleontologistBoris Sokolov.
The Vendian concept was formed stratigraphically top-down, and the
lower boundary of the Cambrian became the upper boundary of the Vendian.
The Vendian in its type area consists of large subdivisions such as Laplandian, Redkino, Kotlin and Rovno regional stages with the globally traceable subdivisions and their boundaries, including its lower one.
The Redkino, Kotlin and Rovno regional stages have been
substantiated in the type area of the Vendian on the basis of the
abundant organic-walled microfossils, megascopic algae, metazoan body fossils and ichnofossils.
The lower boundary of the Vendian could have a biostratigraphic substantiation as well taking into consideration the worldwide occurrence of the Pertatataka assemblage of giant acanthomorph acritarchs.
Upper and lower boundaries
The 'golden spike' (bronze disk in the lower section of the image) or 'type section' of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Ediacaran SystemThe 'golden spike' marking the GSSP
The Ediacaran Period (c. 635–538.8 Mya) represents the time from the end of global Marinoan glaciation to the first appearance worldwide of somewhat complicated trace fossils (Treptichnus pedum (Seilacher, 1955)).
Although the Ediacaran Period does contain soft-bodied fossils,
it is unusual in comparison to later periods because its beginning is
not defined by a change in the fossil record. Rather, the beginning is
defined at the base of a chemically distinctive carbonate layer that is referred to as a "cap carbonate", because it caps glacial deposits.
This bed is characterized by an unusual depletion of 13C that indicates a sudden climatic change at the end of the Marinoanice age. The lower global boundary stratotype section (GSSP) of the Ediacaran is at the base of the cap carbonate (Nuccaleena Formation), immediately above the Elatina diamictite in the Enorama Creek section, Brachina Gorge, Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
The GSSP
of the upper boundary of the Ediacaran is the lower boundary of the
Cambrian on the SE coast of Newfoundland approved by the International
Commission on Stratigraphy as a preferred alternative to the base of the
Tommotian Stage in Siberia which was selected on the basis of the ichnofossil Treptichnus pedum
(Seilacher, 1955). In the history of stratigraphy it was the first case
of usage of bioturbations for the System boundary definition.
Nevertheless, the definitions of the lower and upper boundaries of the Ediacaran on the basis of chemostratigraphy and ichnofossils are disputable.
Cap carbonates generally have a restricted geographic distribution (due to specific conditions of their precipitation)
and usually siliciclastic sediments laterally replace the cap
carbonates in a rather short distance but cap carbonates do not occur
above every tillite elsewhere in the world.
The C-isotope chemostratigraphic characteristics obtained for
contemporaneous cap carbonates in different parts of the world may be
variable in a wide range owing to different degrees of secondary
alteration of carbonates, dissimilar criteria used for selection of the
least altered samples, and, as far as the C-isotope data are concerned,
due to primary lateral variations of δ l3Ccarb in the upper layer of the ocean.
Furthermore, Oman presents in its stratigraphic record a large negative carbon isotope excursion, within the Shuram Formation that is clearly away from any glacial evidence strongly questioning systematic association of negative δ l3Ccarb excursion and glacial events. Also, the Shuram excursion is prolonged and is estimated to last for ~9.0 Myrs.
As to the Treptichnus pedum, a reference ichnofossil for
the lower boundary of the Cambrian, its usage for the stratigraphic
detection of this boundary is always risky, because of the occurrence of
very similar trace fossils belonging to the Treptichnids group well
below the level of T. pedum in Namibia, Spain and Newfoundland, and possibly, in the western United States. The stratigraphic range of T. pedum overlaps the range of the Ediacaran fossils in Namibia, and probably in Spain.
Subdivisions
Outcrops of Ediacaran micaschists and marble (c. 600 Ma) in the eastern Pyrenees (commune of Fontpédrouse, France).
The Ediacaran Period is not yet formally subdivided, but a proposed scheme recognises an Upper Ediacaran whose base corresponds with the Gaskiers glaciation, a Terminal Ediacaran Stage starting around 550 million years ago, a preceding stage beginning around 575 Ma with the earliest widespread Ediacaran biota
fossils; two proposed schemes differ on whether the lower strata should
be divided into an Early and Middle Ediacaran or not, because it is not
clear whether the Shuram excursion (which would divide the Early and
Middle) is a separate event from the Gaskiers, or whether the two events
are correlated.
Absolute dating
The dating
of the rock type section of the Ediacaran Period in South Australia has
proven uncertain due to lack of overlying igneous material. Therefore,
the age range of 635 to 538.8 million years is based on correlations to other countries where dating has been possible. The base age of approximately 635 million years is based on U–Pb (uranium–lead) and Re–Os (rhenium–osmium) dating from Africa, China, North America, and Tasmania.
The fossil record from the Ediacaran Period is sparse, as more easily
fossilized hard-shelled animals had yet to evolve. The Ediacaran biota
include the oldest definite multicellular organisms (with specialized tissues), the most common types of which resemble segmented worms, fronds, disks, or immobile bags. Auroralumina was a cnidarian.
Most members of the Ediacaran biota bear little resemblance to modern lifeforms, and their relationship even with the immediately following lifeforms of the Cambrian explosion is rather difficult to interpret. More than 100 genera have been described, and well known forms include Arkarua, Charnia, Dickinsonia, Ediacaria, Marywadea, Cephalonega, Pteridinium, and Yorgia.
However, despite the overall enigmaticness of most Ediacaran organisms,
some fossils identifiable as hard-shelled agglutinated foraminifera (which are not classified as animals) are known from latest Ediacaran sediments of western Siberia. Sponges recognisable as such also lived during the Ediacaran.
Four different biotic intervals are known in the Ediacaran, each
being characterised by the prominence of a unique ecology and faunal
assemblage. The first spanned from 635 to around 575 Ma and was
dominated by acritarchs known as large ornamented Ediacaran microfossils.
The second spanned from around 575 to 560 Ma and was characterised by
the Avalon biota. The third spanned from 560 to 550 Ma; its biota has
been dubbed the White Sea biota due to many fossils from this time being
found along the coasts of the White Sea. The fourth lasted from 550 to 539 Ma and is known as the interval of the Nama biotic assemblage.
There is evidence for a mass extinction during this period from early animals changing the environment, dating to the same time as the transition between the White Sea and the Nama-type biotas.Alternatively, this mass extinction has also been theorised to have been the result of an anoxic event.
Astronomical factors
The relative proximity of the Moon at this time meant that tides
were stronger and more rapid than they are now. The day was 21.9 ± 0.4
hours, and there were 13.1 ± 0.1 synodic months/year and 400 ± 7 solar
days/year.
Documentaries
A few English language documentaries have featured the Ediacaran Period and biota:
An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual.
Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least
because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria,
few of them widely accepted, have been proposed to define what an
organism is. Among the most common is that an organism has autonomous reproduction, growth, and metabolism. This would exclude viruses, despite the fact that they evolve like organisms. Other problematic cases include colonial organisms; a colony of eusocial insects is organised adaptively, and has germ-soma specialisation, with some insects reproducing, others not, like cells in an animal's body. The body of a siphonophore, a jelly-like marine animal, is composed of organism-like zooids, but the whole structure looks and functions much like an animal such as a jellyfish, the parts collaborating to provide the functions of the colonial organism.
The evolutionary biologists David Queller and Joan Strassmann
state that "organismality", the qualities or attributes that define an
entity as an organism, has evolved socially as groups of simpler units
(from cells upwards) came to cooperate without conflicts. They propose
that cooperation should be used as the "defining trait" of an organism.
This would treat many types of collaboration, including the fungus/alga partnership of different species in a lichen, or the permanent sexual partnership of an anglerfish, as an organism.
Etymology
The term "organism" (from the Ancient Greekὀργανισμός, derived from órganon, meaning 'instrument, implement, tool', 'organ of sense', or 'apprehension') first appeared in the English language in the 1660s with the now-obsolete meaning of an organic structure or organization. It is related to the verb "organize". In his 1790 Critique of Judgment, Immanuel Kant defined an organism as "both an organized and a self-organizing being".
Whether criteria exist, or are needed
One criterion proposes that an organism cannot be divided without losing functionality. This basil plant cutting is however developing new adventitious roots from a small bit of stem, forming a new plant.
Among the criteria that have been proposed for being an organism are:
noncompartmentability – structure cannot be divided without losing functionality. Richard Dawkins stated this as "the quality of being sufficiently heterogeneous in form to be rendered non-functional if cut in half". However, many organisms can be cut into pieces which then grow into whole organisms.
individuality – the entity has simultaneous holdings of genetic uniqueness, genetic homogeneity and autonomy
"anti-entropy", the ability to maintain order, a concept first proposed by Erwin Schrödinger; or in another form, that Claude Shannon's information theory can be used to identify organisms as capable of self-maintaining their information content
Other scientists think that the concept of the organism is inadequate in biology;
that the concept of individuality is problematic;
and from a philosophical point of view, question whether such a definition is necessary.
Problematic cases include colonial organisms: for instance, a colony of eusocial insects fulfills criteria such as adaptive organisation and germ-soma specialisation. If so, the same argument, or a criterion of high co-operation and low conflict, would include some mutualistic (e.g. lichens) and sexual partnerships (e.g. anglerfish) as organisms. If group selection occurs, then a group could be viewed as a superorganism, optimized by group adaptation.
Another view is that attributes like autonomy, genetic
homogeneity and genetic uniqueness should be examined separately, rather
than requiring that an organism possess all of them. On this view,
there are multiple dimensions to biological individuality, resulting in
several types of organism.
Organisms at differing levels of biological organisation
A lichen consists of a body formed mainly by fungi, with unicellular algae or cyanobacteria (green) interspersed within the structure, and a bacterial microbiome. The species are mutually interdependent, like cells within a multicellular organism.
Differing levels of biological organisation give rise to potentially different understandings of the nature of organisms. A unicellular organism is a microorganism such as a protist, bacterium, or archaean, composed of a single cell, which may contain functional structures called organelles. A multicellular organism such as an animal, plant, fungus, or alga is composed of many cells, often specialised. A colonial organism such as a is a being which functions as an individual but is composed of communicating individuals. A superorganism is a colony, such as of ants, consisting of many individuals working together as a single functional or social unit. A mutualism is a partnership of two or more species which each provide some of the needs of the other. A lichen consists of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria, with a bacterial microbiome;
together, they are able to flourish as a kind of organism, the
components having different functions, in habitats such as dry rocks
where neither could grow alone. The evolutionary biologists David Queller and Joan Strassmann
state that "organismality" has evolved socially, as groups of simpler
units (from cells upwards) came to cooperate without conflicts. They
propose that cooperation should be used as the "defining trait" of an
organism.
Queller and Strassmann's view of organisms as cooperating entities at differing levels of biological organisation
Free-living unicellular amoebae for most of lifetime; swarm and
aggregate to a multicellular slug, cells specialising to form a dead
stalk and a fruiting body
Samuel Díaz‐Muñoz and colleagues (2016) accept Queller and
Strassmann's view that organismality can be measured wholly by degrees
of cooperation and of conflict. They state that this situates organisms
in evolutionary time, so that organismality is context dependent. They
suggest that highly integrated life forms, which are not context
dependent, may evolve through context-dependent stages towards complete
unification.
A virus such as tobacco mosaic virus is not a cell; it contains only its genetic material, and a protein coat.
Viruses are not typically considered to be organisms, because they are incapable of autonomous reproduction, growth, metabolism, or homeostasis. Although viruses have a few enzymes
and molecules like those in living organisms, they have no metabolism
of their own; they cannot synthesize the organic compounds from which
they are formed. In this sense, they are similar to inanimate matter. Viruses have their own genes, and they evolve.
Thus, an argument that viruses should be classed as living organisms is
their ability to undergo evolution and replicate through self-assembly.
However, some scientists argue that viruses neither evolve nor
self-reproduce. Instead, viruses are evolved by their host cells,
meaning that there was co-evolution of viruses and host cells. If host
cells did not exist, viral evolution would be impossible. As for
reproduction, viruses rely on hosts' machinery to replicate. The
discovery of viruses with genes coding for energy metabolism and protein
synthesis fuelled the debate about whether viruses are living
organisms, but the genes have a cellular origin. Most likely, they were
acquired through horizontal gene transfer from viral hosts.
There is an argument for viewing viruses as cellular organisms. Some
researchers perceive viruses not as virions alone, which they believe
are just spores of an organism, but as a virocell - an ontologically mature viral organism that has cellular structure. Such virus is a result of infection of a cell and shows all major physiological properties of other organisms: metabolism, growth, and reproduction, therefore, life in its effective presence.
Evolutionary emergence of organisms
The RNA world
is a hypothetical stage in the evolutionary history of life on Earth
during which self-replicating RNA molecules reproduced before the
evolution of DNA and proteins.
According to this hypothesis “organisms” emerged when RNA chains began
to self-replicate, initiating the three mechanisms of Darwinian
selection: heritability,
variation of type and differential reproductive output. The fitness of
an RNA replicator (its per capita rate of increase) would presumably
have been a function of its intrinsic adaptive capacities, determined by
its nucleotide sequence, and the availability of external resources.The three primary adaptive capacities of these early "organisms" may
have been: (1) replication with moderate fidelity, giving rise to both
heritability while allowing variation of type, (2) resistance to decay,
and (3) acquisition of and processing of resources
The capacities of these "organisms" would have functioned by means of
the folded configurations of the RNA replicators resulting from their
nucleotide sequences.
The philosopher Jack A. Wilson examines some boundary cases to demonstrate that the concept of organism is not sharply defined. In his view, sponges, lichens, siphonophores, slime moulds, and eusocial colonies such as those of ants or naked molerats, all lie in the boundary zone between being definite colonies and definite organisms (or superorganisms).
Jack A. Wilson's analysis of the similar organism-like nature of siphonophores and jellyfish
Scientists and bio-engineers are experimenting with different types of synthetic organism, from chimaeras composed of cells from two or more species, cyborgs including electromechanical limbs, hybrots
containing both electronic and biological elements, and other
combinations of systems that have variously evolved and been designed.
An evolved organism takes its form by the partially understood mechanisms of evolutionary developmental biology, in which the genome
directs an elaborated series of interactions to produce successively
more elaborate structures. The existence of chimaeras and hybrids
demonstrates that these mechanisms are "intelligently" robust in the
face of radically altered circumstances at all levels from molecular to
organismal.
Synthetic organisms already take diverse forms, and their diversity will increase. What they all have in common is a teleonomic
or goal-seeking behaviour that enables them to correct errors of many
kinds so as to achieve whatever result they are designed for. Such
behaviour is reminiscent of intelligent action by organisms;
intelligence is seen as an embodied form of cognition.
Common false claims include that most people who transition regret it; that most pre-pubertal transgender children cease desiring transition after puberty; that gender dysphoria can be socially contagious, have a rapid-onset,
or be caused by mental illness; that medical organizations are pushing
youth to transition; and that transgender youth require conversion therapies such as gender exploratory therapy.
Misinformation has affected the decision of the United Kingdom to reduce the use of puberty blockers for transgender individuals. Elected officials in Central and South America
have called for legislative bans on trans healthcare based on false
claims. Misinformation has been platformed and amplified by mainstream
media outlets. Medical organizations such as the Endocrine Society and American Psychological Association, among others, have released statements opposing such bans and the misinformation behind them.
Origins
Transgender
healthcare misinformation primarily relies on manufactured uncertainty
from a network of conservative legal and advocacy organizations. These organizations have relied on techniques similar to those used in climate change denialism, generating exaggerated uncertainty around reproductive health care, conversion therapy, and gender-affirming care.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the hub of the pseudoscience movement is the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, whose personnel have a large overlap with Genspect and the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA). GETA later changed its name to Therapy First. A report by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine
described them as spreading "biased and unscientific content" and
"without apparent ties to mainstream scientific or professional
organizations".
Detransition is the process of halting or reversing social, medical,
or legal aspects of a gender transition, partially or completely. It can
be temporary or permanent. Detransition and regret over transition are
often erroneously conflated, though there are cases of detransition
without regret and regret without detransition. Detransition also does
not require a reversal of transgender identity.
Data suggests that regret and detransitioning—however defined—are rare,
with detransition often caused by factors such as societal or familial
pressure, community stigma, or financial difficulties.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, conservative media
outlets and the Alliance Defending Freedom have promoted high-profile
detransitioners and advocacy groups who claim that detransition and
transition regret are prevalent. The global anti-gender movement
has justified anti-trans rhetoric and policies by pointing to
detransitioners, arguing they prove transitioning is a hoax or
necessitate protecting transgender people from medical transition,
distorting the findings that detransition is rare and often caused by
social pressure.
States in the United States have primarily relied on anecdotes to argue
that detransition is cause for bans on gender-affirming care. Detransitioner Chloe Cole has supported several such state bans as a member of the advocacy group Do No Harm. Former detransitioners Ky Schevers and Elisa Rae Shupe
have detailed how they were recruited by organizations and activists
who used their stories to limit transgender rights before they
retransitioned and started working against them.
The desistance myth is the theory that the majority of
pre-pubertal youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria will stop desiring
transition by adulthood without intervention based on biased research
from the 1960s–80s and poor quality research in the 2000s. The myth relies on studies that had serious methodological flaws such as low sample sizes, usage of conversion therapy on the sample population, outdated diagnostic frameworks that conflated gender non-conformity with transgender identity, and poor definitions of desistance. Most youth sampled in these studies never identified as transgender nor desired to transition, but were counted as desisting.
The desistance myth has often been used to support the criminalization of gender-affirming care. The term desistance was first used for trans children by Kenneth Zucker in 2003, who borrowed the term from its usage in oppositional defiance disorder; there, it is regarded as a positive outcome, a history that reflects the pathologization of transgender identities. The myth was primarily popularized in a commentary by James Cantor
in 2020, who argued based on outdated studies that most children
diagnosed with gender dysphoria will grow up to be gay and lesbian
adults if denied such care.
A 2022 systematic review found that the term was poorly defined.
Some studies did not define it at all, while others conflated the
desistance of transgender identity with the desistance of gender
dysphoria. The review also noted that none of the definitions allowed
for dynamic or nonbinary gender identities and that most of articles
published were editorial pieces. It concluded that "'desistance' should
be removed from clinical and research frameworks, as it does not allow
for the varied and complex exploration of gender that is more reflective
of reality".
Recent work has found the vast majority of pre-pubertal children who
express transgender identities and socially transition with parental
support continue to do so in adolescence.
Transgender identity as a mental health condition
Legislative
efforts to ban gender-affirming care in the United States have relied
on the unfounded narrative that gender dysphoria is caused by underlying
mental illness, trauma, or neurodivergence, such as autism and ADHD.
Though transgender people have higher rates of mental illness, there is
no evidence these cause gender dysphoria and evidence suggests this is
due to minority stress and discrimination experienced by transgender people.
The American Psychological Association states "misleading and unfounded
narratives" such as "mischaracterizing gender dysphoria as a
manifestation of traumatic stress or neurodivergence" have created a
hostile environment for trans youth and led to misconceptions about the
psychological and medical care they require.
Illustration
by Catherine Lockmiller of the cyclical pipeline between transgender
healthcare misinformation and anti-trans legislation featuring ROGD as a
case study
In 2018, Lisa Littman authored a study that has since been heavily
corrected, arguing modern youth are experiencing rapid onset gender
dysphoria (ROGD), a new type of gender dysphoria spread through social
contagion and peer groups.
The study relied on anonymous parental reports on transgender children
collected from websites known for anti-trans misinformation and gender-critical politics who were informed of the study's hypothesis.
The hypothesis has been heavily referenced in discourse about
transgender youth despite the absence of empirical evidence to support
it.
As a result, a coalition of psychological professional bodies issued a
position statement calling for eliminating the use of ROGD clinically
and diagnostically in 2021. It stated that "there is no evidence that
ROGD aligns with the lived experiences of transgender children and
adolescents" and that "the proliferation of misinformation regarding
ROGD" had led to "over 100 bills under consideration in legislative
bodies across the country that seek to limit the rights of transgender
adolescents" predicated on ROGD's unsupported claims.
Psychotherapy and conversion therapy
Proponents of bans on gender-affirming care in the United States have
argued that youth should receive psychotherapy instead of medical
treatments – including gender exploratory therapy (GET), a form of conversion therapy.
Practitioners of GET frame medical transition as a last resort and
argue that their patient's gender dysphoria may be caused by factors
such as homophobia, social contagion, sexual trauma, and autism. Some practitioners avoid using their patients' chosen names and pronouns while questioning their identification.
There are no known empirical studies examining psychosocial or medical outcomes following GET.
Concerns have been raised that by not providing an estimated length of
time for the therapy, the delays in medical interventions may compound
mental suffering in trans youth,
while the gender-affirming model of care already promotes
individualized care and gender identity exploration without favoring any
particular identity. Bioethicist Florence Ashley
has argued that framing gender exploratory therapy as an undirected
exploration of underlying psychological issues bears similarities to gay
conversion practices such as reparative therapy.
Multiple groups exist worldwide to promote GET and successfully
influence legal discussions and clinical guidance in some regions.
Therapy First (TF), previously named the Gender Exploratory Therapy
Association (GETA), asserts that "psychological approaches should be the
first-line treatment for all cases of gender dysphoria", that social transition is "risky", and that medical interventions for transgender youth are "experimental and should be avoided if possible". All of TF's leaders are members of Genspect, and many are also members of the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), both of which promote GET and argue that gender-affirming care should not be available to those under 25.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Ray Blanchard developed a theory and typology
of transfeminine people, classifying them as either "homosexual
transsexuals" – straight transgender women who are alleged to be
homosexual men who transitioned to seduce straight men – or
"autogynephilic transsexuals", who medically transition due to an
alleged sexual fantasy or fetish of being a woman. It was popularized in 2003 by J. Michael Bailey in his book The Man Who Would Be Queen and heavily promoted by the far-right Human Biodiversity Institute of which Blanchard is a member.
There is little to no evidence for the theory and it has been criticized on numerous grounds.Blanchard did not empirically derive the subtypes; instead, he grouped
trans women based on sexual orientation, disregarded their lived
experiences, ignored that cisgender women also report autogynephilia,
sexually objectified trans women, and assumed causality – that
transgender women have gender dysphoria and desire to transition due to
their fantasies – rather than their fantasies being due to their
identity. Studies have criticized the conceptual flaws and empirical errors in the theory. Transfeminist Julia Serano
has summarized the debate: "If proponents of autogynephilia insist that
every exception to the model is due to misreporting, then
autogynephilia theory must be rejected on the grounds that it is
unfalsifiable and therefore unscientific. If, on the other hand, we
accept that these exceptions are legitimate, then it is clear that
autogynephilia theory's two-subtype taxonomy does not hold true."
Untrustworthiness of medical organizations
Though
every major medical organization endorses gender-affirming care,
proponents of gender-affirming care bans in the United States argue that
the mainstream medical community is untrustworthy, that it ignores the
evidence, and that doctors are pushing transgender youth into transition
due to political ideology
and disregard for their well-being. This extends to claims that
standards of care and guidelines from reputable medical organizations do
not reflect clinical consensus.
Children are transitioned too quickly
Opponents
of trans rights and trans healthcare have argued that
gender-nonconforming youth are being pressured into transitioning.
However, such care generally requires dual parental consent, a period of social transition,
psychiatric assessments, and health provider approval. There are also a
limited number of medical providers who provide gender-affirming care
to youth.
This has included claims that the medical transition of transgender
youth is decided upon their own, incapable consent, though scientific
literature demonstrates that clinical decisions heavily value
communications with parents.
This also extends to claims that minors are being given
gender-affirming genital surgeries routinely. However, records of minors
with such surgeries are very rare, and most of the recorded minors have
been 17 years old with full parental support.
Prior to the onset of puberty, children are only eligible for social
transition, and puberty blockers are not given until puberty's onset.
In June 2023, the Endocrine Society released a statement
emphasizing that "pediatric gender-affirming care is designed to take a
conservative approach". It explained that younger children are supported
in exploring their gender identity as needed, while medical
interventions are reserved for older adolescents and adults, tailored
individually "to maximize the time teenagers and their families have to
make decisions about their transitions". They concluded that major
medical organizations agree on waiting until individuals are their
country's age of majority for genital surgery.Schools are medically transitioning children
In 2024, then US presidential candidate Donald Trump attended a Moms for Liberty
rally and stated children were being given gender-affirming surgery at
school during his election campaign, and continued to repeat the claim.
As of September 2024, there was no evidence that any school in the
United States had provided gender-affirming surgery to a student.
European nations are banning gender-affirming care
Among anti-trans activists and Republican
politicians in the United States, a common talking point used to
justify outright bans on gender-affirming care for minors is the idea
that other countries, particularly European countries, have banned the
treatments outright. This misrepresents the cautionary stance adopted by
a few European countries: some medical groups have taken a more
cautionary stance, discouraging or limiting the use of puberty blockers without banning or criminalizing the treatments, unlike many US states.
In 2023, the Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board, an
independent non-governmental organization, issued a non-binding report
finding the evidence for the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex
hormone therapy in youth insufficient and recommended changing to a
cautious approach. The board is not responsible for setting healthcare policy; the Directorate of Health,
the governmental body responsible for healthcare policy in Norway, is
considering but have not implemented the recommendations. Misinformation that Norway had banned gender-affirming care proliferated on social media.
The child and adolescent gender dysphoria KID-clinic at Sweden's Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm,
the second-largest hospital system in the country, announced that from
May 2021 it would discontinue providing puberty blockers or cross-sex
hormones to children under 16. Additionally, Karolinska changed its
policy to cease providing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to
teenagers 16–18, outside of approved clinical trials. On February 22, 2022, Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare stated that puberty blockers should only be used in exceptional cases and that their use is backed by uncertain science. This new guidance is a recommendation and is not comparable to a ban on the treatments.
Additionally, other providers in Sweden continue to provide
puberty blockers, and a clinician's professional judgment determines
what treatments are recommended or not recommended. Youth are able to
access gender-affirming care when doctors deem it medically necessary.
Sweden has not banned gender-affirming care for minors and it is offered
as part of its national healthcare service.
However, misinformation that Sweden had banned gender-affirming care
for minors proliferated on social media, and some Republican politicians
in the United States have used this misinformation to justify their outright bans on the treatments.
Impact
Legislative impacts
Australia
Australian
legislators and media have increasingly spread misinformation and
disinformation about detransition rates since 2022, relying on the
efforts of apparently astroturfed
organizations such as Genspect and the Society for Evidence-Based
Gender Medicine and local groups such as Binary Australia and the Australian Christian Lobby.
Europe
According to Transgender Europe, as of 2024, member states of the European Union
were broadly not moving towards bans and there was "significant
disinformation around the real state of affairs" of trans-specific care
in Europe, though transgender people were still often pathologized and
mandated to undergo psychiatric diagnosis.
Norway
In
2024, a false claim that Norway had banned gender-affirming care for
minors was widely circulated on social media. An independent
non-governmental Norwegian healthcare board proposed increased
restrictions on such care, but not an outright ban. It did not have the
power to implement these policies, and the governmental body for
medicine, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, did not implement any
bans and was only considering the recommendations.
NHS England commissioned the Cass Review,
an independent review of the trans healthcare it provided. The review's
final report (published April 2024) recommended tighter restrictions on
gender-affirming care, such as restricting medical interventions to
clinical trials, stating the evidence in favor of them was limited. The Cass review was welcomed by part of the UK's medical establishment,
though some professional organizations, transgender health providers,
and LGBTQ rights groups criticized the findings internationally. Besides criticism of its process for lack of transparency and exclusion of transgender expertise,the review was also criticized for its report's allegedly pathologizing language, claims that the evidence suggests the majority of pre-pubertal children with gender incongruence desist, endorsement of gender exploratory therapy, and implying poor mental health causes children to be transgender. UK charity Mermaids said that the Cass Review had been misrepresented in the press as supporting a ban on transition. Amnesty International
UK criticized "sensationalized coverage" of the review, stating it was
"being weaponized by people who revel in spreading disinformation and
myths about healthcare for trans young people".
In March 2024, NHS England restricted the use of puberty blockers
in treating children with gender dysphoria, only allowing them in
clinical trials; and in May, the UK government enacted an indefinite ban on puberty blockers based on the Cass Review.
Latin America
Mexican federal deputyTeresa Castell [es] of the conservative National Action Party had repeatedly claimed that gender dysphoria resulted from mental illness or perversion and required psychological treatment.
One party deputy pushed an initiative to ban transgender healthcare for
minors and criminalize pressure from "an adult for the determination of
sexual identity ... contrary to their biological identity" arguing that
minors are incapable of knowing their gender identity.
In late September 2024, Colombian far-right groups and organizers
who successfully lobbied against a national ban on conversion therapy
spread a hoax that their Superintendent of Health had promoted genital
surgeries for three-year-olds. Despite fact-checking from independent
reporters, the President (Gustavo Petro), and the Superintendent of Health (Luis Carlos Leal), the hoax has continued to be popular.
In November 2024, many Brazillian politicians and political
candidates relied on anti-trans rhetoric and misinformation during their
elections, including claims that transgender children don't exist or
are being co-opted into being trans by advocacy organizations.
Map of US state laws regarding trans healthcare access for youth as of March 8, 2025 based on data from Movement Advancement Project
Misinformation and disinformation have led to proposed and successful
legislative restrictions on gender-affirming care across the United
States.
As of November 1, 2024, 26 states in the United States have passed bans
on gender-affirming care for minors while 16 have passed shield laws
and executive access protecting such care. In December, the Supreme Court of the United States considered United States v. Skrmetti,
a case on the constitutionality of Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming
care for minors. Multiple doctors such as Stephen B. Levine and James
Cantor—who have previously been dismissed by courts for promoting
misinformation about transgender healthcare—testified in support of the
ban together with various SPLC-designated anti-LGBTQ groups.
Media impact
Mainstream media outlets such as The Atlantic, Washington Post, and The New York Times have platformed and amplified misinformation, with the New York Times's coverage of transgender healthcare particularly criticized. In November 2022, WPATH released a public statement criticizing misinformation in a commentary from the New York Times. In February 2023, over 1000 NYT
contributors signed an open letter criticizing the paper's coverage,
which was signed by an additional 30,000 supporters within a week. They
argued the paper "treated gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix
of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing
reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its
sources" and noted how its articles had been used to support anti-trans
healthcare bans. A second letter from GLAAD signed by over 100 LGBTQ and civil rights groups including the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG was released the same day arguing that the New York Times platformed fringe theories and "dangerous inaccuracies".
Bomb threats against Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Children's Hospital was subject to bomb threats following disinformation about the hospital's gender-affirming care.
In August 2022, Chaya Raichik, owner of the far-right social media account Libs of TikTok, claimed that Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) and Children's National Hospital (CNH) were providing gender-affirming bottom surgeries to minors.
With the BCH-related content, Raichik included a BCH video that
featured one of the hospital's gynecologists explaining the procedure. While USA Today, NPR, and PolitiFact concluded that the BCH claim was false, several conservative outlets—including The Daily Caller and The Post Millennial—republished the claims. After the Libs of TikTok posts, both hospitals faced harassment of employees and bomb threats, though it was unclear whether either of the threats was related to the harassment. NBC News described Libs of TikTok as "one of the primary drivers of the harassment campaign" against BCH.
In February 2024, the American Psychological Association released
a policy statement urging that the spread of disinformation be curbed
via more abundant and more easily accessible scientific research,
describing it as essential for protecting access to gender-affirming
healthcare.[2] It further stated:
[T]he spread of misleading and
unfounded narratives that mischaracterize gender dysphoria and affirming
care, likely resulting in further stigmatization, marginalization, and
lack of access to psychological and medical supports for transgender,
gender diverse, and nonbinary individuals [...]
[T]he APA opposes state bans on gender-affirming care, which are
contrary to the principles of evidence-based healthcare, human rights,
and social justice, and which should be reconsidered in favor of
policies that prioritize the well-being and autonomy of transgender,
gender-diverse, and nonbinary individuals[.]
In December 2024, the National Advisory Commission on Biomedical
Ethics in Switzerland said that public outrage over gender-affirming
care, often stimulated by people without the necessary knowledge and
experience, was harming young people and impeding "objective and
evidence-based discussion of the social and medical framework required
to ensure that they receive the best possible support and care".
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![Illustration by Catherine Lockmiller of the cyclical pipeline between transgender healthcare misinformation and anti-trans legislation featuring ROGD as a case study[21]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Misinformation_-_Legislation_Pipeline_for_Trans_Healthcare.png)
