Julian Spiessberger

Mr. Maleshewski

IB English HL

27 September 2023

Pastiche Paper

I heard a story in the news one time, about a woman being interviewed on how she felt

about her child almost committing suicide. In the interview, when she was asked if she would do

anything to help her child, she first hesitated befor answering. When a parent is asked to do what

it takes to save their child, especially when the child’s life is at stake, the response should be,

without hesitation, yes. However, after a thoughtful pause on the mother’s end, she said no, she

would not in fact do anything to stop her from killing herself. The simple ask of the mother in

this case was accepting the identity of her daughter, after she told her mother that she felt more

like a woman than a man. The backlash and hate that she then received from her mother and

community was enough to drive her to death, or at least a close attempt. The mother, if she can

really be called that, hated the idea of having a trans child so much that she admitted she would

rather have a dead child than a trans one. This story is unfortunately not unique, or even

uncommon.

In the United States, over 50% of trans and non-binary youth, from 13 - 24 years old,

have heavily considered suicide in 2019 based on a study done by The Gaurdian. This study,

called the Trevor Project, recorded data from 34,000 LGBTQ youth across all states. The records

show the “alarmingly high rates” of suicide attempts and mental health issues like depression

and sever anxiety present in the people participating in the study, a result of their community’s
reaction to how they want to present themselves. These symptoms are naturally higher in

southern states like Texas and Arkansas, where bigotry and racism have always been very

prevalent and issues still faced by minorities today. However, the statistics show how even in

more progressive states like California and New York the number of cases are not much smaller.

In California, which is often thought of as the most accepting and safe state for trans people,

rates of suicide contemplation is exceptionally high, being at 54%, and actual suicide attempts at

19%. Furthermore, 70% of LGBTQ youth have reported that they do not have access to mental

healthcare, leading to mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

The Washington Post stated that in 2022, the highest number of anti-LGBTQ bills

were introduced than ever before in the nation's history; 150 in total. Many of these were

specifically targeted towards restricting the lives of trans youth. For example making it harder to

receive gender affirming healthcare. Statistics show the astoundingly low regret rates for gender

affirming surgery, one study reported by CNN finding it to be less than 1%. In this study, 60% of

the participants reported their thoughts on the surgery, and the median regret rate on a 100 point

scale, with 100 being the most, was 0. I have often heard people opposed to gender affirming

surgeries give their reasons for their disapproval, the most common being “you’ll regret it later”.

Based on the study, this does not seem to be the case.

In many states, 5 - 10% of trans youth have been forced to undergo conversion therapy, a

practice that luckily has been drastically reduced since its origins with the church. Like the

discrimination of LGBTQ youth, hate against trans people is rooted in religion. Many scriptures,

like the Bible, talk about gender roles and how both men and women should act. Furthermore,

religious people make claims like “god made you as he saw fit”, and that changing that part of

yourself is an insult to him. But hypocrisy is often present in claims like these. Those same
people change physical aspects of themselves, like dying their hair to stop it from graying or

wearing glasses to improve their otherwise “god-given” eyesight. Beyond religion, however, are

people who simply do not understand the feeling of body dysphoria that trans people go through.

This is obvious when these kinds of feelings are being invalidated and brushed aside, how

parents and other adults say that it's just a phase, how you will grow out of it like one does with a

bad habit. This kind of ignorance, while possibly with no mal intentions behind it, causes the

suppression of dysphoria in people, chronically leading to depression and often suicide.

Negative attitudes like disapproval and invalidation towards trans youth are the reason for

such poor mental health states across the U.S.. Changing this mindset into something positive is

crucial in helping the trans community. Simple things like being accepting, even if you don’t

understand what that person might feel, or not discriminating against someone just because of

how they choose to present themselves can be what saves a young trans person who feels like

they don’t belong.

Sources:

Christensen, J. (2023, August 9). Transgender and nonbinary patients have no regrets about top

surgery, small study finds. CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/health/top-surgery-no-regrets-transgender-nonbinary-st

udy/index.html

Levin, S. (2022, December 17). More than 50% of trans and non-binary youth in US considered suicide this

year, survey says. The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/16/us-trans-non-binary-youth-suicide-mental-heal

th

Julian Spiessberger
Mr. Maleshewski

IB English HL

4 October 2023

Rhetorical Analysis

The focus of this paper is the treatment of trans people by their community, focusing on the

impact it has on younger members of the trans community.

I open my pastiche paper by establishing that the discrimination against trans youth is a present

and relevant issue in the U.S.. Firstly, through an emotional anecdote, I emphasize a public

opinion people have on trans youth, that being a resentful one. “...hated the idea of having a trans

child so much that she admitted she would rather have a dead child than a trans one.” By

describing the opinion a mother has on her own child, I suggest the deeper hate that some people

have towards trans children who are strangers to them. I imply this in order to exemplify that

many people cause “The backlash and hate” that drive many trans individuals to attempt suicide.

I go on to say that such stories are “unfortunately not unique, or even uncommon.”. This puts to

scale the seriousness of this topic through pathos, requiring a change of mindset from society.

I further my argument by enumerating statistics from various sources, like data taken during a

study of the regret rates of transitional surgeries volunteered by trans people. This resonates with

the analytical part of the reader's brain, dispelling the notion that feeling body dysphoria is a

passing phase grown out of in time. “The median regret rate on a 100 point scale, with 100 being

the most, was 0.” This kind of data is present in order to dismiss an opinion that people have

regarding the validity of trans people. This then trivializes one of the reasons for the hate that

trans people get.