Talk:World Professional Association for Transgender Health

Recently released court documents

Not sure if this is/can become relevant. Recent article in The Economist:

"Court documents recently released as part of the discovery process in a case involving youth gender medicine in Alabama reveal that wpath’s claim was built on shaky foundations. The documents show that the organisation’s leaders interfered with the production of systematic reviews that it had commissioned from the Johns Hopkins University Evidence-Based Practice Centre (epc) in 2018. From early on in the contract negotiations, wpath expressed a desire to control the results of the Hopkins team’s work."

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/27/research-into-trans-medicine-has-been-manipulated 77.183.21.16 (talk) 14:04, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Reversion of objective edit

Raladic, you reverted my addition of important criticism of this organization from 2 very reliable sources, The Economist and The New York Times. In particular, The Economist describes how WPATH leaders interfered with the production of systematic reviews that they had commissioned from Johns Hopkins University. Also, both The Economist and NYT report that WPATH removed minimum ages for the treatment of children under the pressure from Dr. Rachel Levine. [1] [2] [3] These are not some fringe sources, but well respected publications. You wrote that there is a consensus not to include this information. Could you please explain where the consensus was reached not to include into this particular article the information about the John Hopkins story and WPATH being criticized for developing recommendations under pressure from an official? Regarding WP:CRITS essay, which is not a rule, we can incorporate the above information under a different title or make it part of another section of the article. It does not mean that notable criticism should not be mentioned in the article. Sean Waltz O'Connell (talk) 06:53, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

You may read previous discussions in the archives. Keep in mind one of Wikipedia's core policies of WP:NOTNEWS and as it appears, the Economist piece was not picked up by any other reliable source, so it doesn't appear to have had enduring notability and thus is undue for inclusion.

Further, as I already stated in the reversion as well, some of this criticism on age centers on the Standards of Care, which is a publication from WPATH, and so the content (if due) belongs there. And you will find the discussion around age is already included in the article there in the SOC8 section. Raladic (talk) 15:25, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your response.

I reviewed the discussions in the archives but couldn’t find any previous mention of the Johns Hopkins story. It’s also worth noting that The Economist article has been referenced and discussed by several other mainstream media outlets, indicating its notability.

For example, an op-ed in The Washington Post directly cites the Economist article:

"Last week, The Economist reported that other documents unsealed in the Alabama case suggest something has gone wrong at WPATH itself, which reportedly commissioned evidence reviews from Johns Hopkins University, then tried to meddle with the result. Internal communications suggest that research should be 'thoroughly scrutinized to ensure that publication does not negatively affect the provision of transgender health care in the broadest sense.' Now, assuming this is true, I’m sure WPATH sincerely believed it was doing its best for gender-dysphoric kids. But such meddling makes it harder to find out whether the group is right about that."

[4]

Similarly, an op-ed from The New York Times notes:

"The World Professional Association for Transgender Health... blocked publication of a Johns Hopkins systematic review it had commissioned that also found scant evidence in favor of the gender-affirming approach. Recently released emails show that WPATH leaders told researchers that their work should 'not negatively affect the provision of transgender health care in the broadest sense.'"

[5]

While op-eds aren’t used as primary sources in Wikipedia articles, the fact that this story has garnered attention from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Guardian highlights its significance:

"Evidence has since emerged suggesting that WPATH actually tried to suppress the systematic reviews that it commissioned from Johns Hopkins University because the results undermined its preferred approach... WPATH was pressured by the Biden administration to remove minimum ages for treatment from its 2022 standards of care."

[The Guardian, August 2024 - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/04/bma-stance-on-puberty-blockers-defies-first-principle-of-medicine-first-do-no-harm-cass-review]

Furthermore, The New York Sun also covered the story:

"Wpath wielded a heavy hand after it in 2018 commissioned from evidence-based medicine experts at Johns Hopkins University a series of systematic literature reviews... After some of the Hopkins teams’ findings raised concerns among Wpath leadership that they might 'negatively affect the provision of transgender health care,' Wpath compromised the independence of the Hopkins researchers."

[6]

Given this widespread coverage, it seems inaccurate to claim that The Economist article lacks enduring notability, as the information provided by the Economist article has been referenced or discussed by several other mainstream media outlets, indicating its notability.

Regarding the age limits, the information that WPATH removed these under political pressure was not available during the discussions on this page in early June 2024. Therefore, there couldn’t have been a consensus against including information that wasn’t known at the time. The key issue here is not the appropriateness of the age limits but rather that WPATH’s decisions may have been influenced by political pressure, a concern reported by both The Economist and The New York Times. Sean Waltz O'Connell (talk) 06:14, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

As you said yourself and are aware, we generally discount opinion pieces, especially when it appears that the authors may have an agenda that has been called out before, as for the Guardian article (who itself has a strong anti-trans bias, there has been discussions of starting a RSN for its reliability on the topic), it cites SEGM on this, a known anti-trans hate group as tracked by the Southern Poverty Law Center, so we take that reporting with a large grain of salt as those motivations are very questionable.

So, it looks like it may be a concerted smear campaign effort by transphobic groups, which is why it appears not have been picked up by more neutral news organizations and thus is WP:UNDUE at this point in time as enduring notability of it is questionable and Wikipedia is WP:NOTNEWS. Raladic (talk) 16:25, 16 August 2024 (UTC)

Opinion pieces were cited not in order to be used in the article, but to show that the information provided by the Economist was picked up by other mainstream media, who dedicated space to its discussion. "Smear campaign" is your personal, subjective opinion. So far no serious source accused the Economist and NYT of engaging in a smear campaign on this topic. It is highly unlikely that liberal news outlets such as WP, NYT or the Guardian could be accused of anti-trans bias. Especially since there is little to no ideological incentive for such a news outlet to do so. Objective criticism can only be considered biased, if the one making the presumption is doing so through a subjective lens. And neutral reporting requires presentation of all points of view, that is what a professional reporter would do. However I do not see that the Guardian cited SEGM, it only linked to a repost of the Economist article at the SEGM website, maybe because the original Economist article is paywalled. The Economist and NYT are highly respected news outlets, known for fact checking and accuracy, and are listed as generally reliable at WP:RSP. If the information got so much attention in the mainstream media, it shows the enduring notability, and it seems clear that WP:UNDUE doesn't apply here. Sean Waltz O'Connell (talk) 09:12, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

If there are no further objections or valid concerns to address, I will proceed with reinstating the deleted information to the article. Sean Waltz O'Connell (talk) 08:05, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

I have objected, with our policy-based reasoning for why it is undue. Opinion pieces are not "picked up by other mainstream media", especially not when the authors have questionable motives as I explained. Also yes, the Guardian did cite SEGM as that is what they linked to for the part you're trying to add, and SEGM is not RS. You questioning above that "maybe because its paywalled" is WP:OR and irrelevant, they cited it to SEGM.

And per WP:RSOPINION, opinion pieces are not generally reliable because they usually do not get fact checked by the newspaper, they just get published, so they can not be used for statements of facts.

It appears this is your first time editing a WP:Contentious topic, I have just placed an introduction of what that mean on your talk page. Note that on contentious topics, special extra care has to be taken, with strict adherence to our policies, which again, as I explained means that this piece is WP:UNDUE due to the policies already cited as wikipedia is WP:NOTNEWS. Raladic (talk) 15:19, 20 August 2024 (UTC)