WPATH Lost Over 60% of Its Members. A Look at 2023 Could Explain Why.

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is an organization geared toward gender dysphoria and gender treatment. It was founded in 1979 as the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association and is membership-based and mostly funded through members and donations.

Most members of WPATH are regarded as professionals in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, social work, counseling, sociology, anthropology, sexology, and more. According to WPATH’s standards of care, their objective is to “promote health, research, education, respect, dignity, and equality for transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people in all cultural settings.”

In January of 2023, WPATH had 4,119 global members. Within a year, however, membership dropped more than 60%, with only 1,590 members remaining as of January 2024. U.S. membership alone, which constitutes as 78% of the global membership, dropped from 3,104 to 1,234. “The future for gender affirming healthcare at a global level now looks rather uncertain,” wrote Peter Jenkins, a member of Thoughtful Therapists.

But the reality of “gender-affirming healthcare” is that it’s no health care at all. And so, for those who understand that reality, these statistics come as good news. But the question remains: Why the sudden, dramatic drop in WPATH members in the first place?

WPATH is made up of professionals who, for 45 years, have been determined to advance gender identity delusions. And the last couple of years, they’ve been accompanied by the cultural tsunami of transgenderism. A lot has changed since their founding, but you’d think that transgenderism’s current trendiness would only strengthen their ranks.

There may not be a concrete answer to why WPATH’s membership has dropped, but there are many things that have happened in the last year that we can consider.

Walt Heyer, a detransitioner and a Family Research Council senior fellow, shared with The Washington Stand three crucial aspects from the last year worth reflecting on. First, “The media [has highlighted] several medical malpractice cases that have been filed in the last year.” Second, he pointed out, “More young people are publicly speaking out about the regrettable consequences of taking hormones and undergoing surgical procedures.” And third, “More whistleblowers from inside the gender clinics [in] last 12 months are publicly speaking out about witnessing the regrettable outcomes they see from inside the clinics.”

That’s the bird’s eye view. But let’s look deeper.

September 2022 could be considered a starting point in the shift. That’s when WPATH decided to “remove all age guidelines regarding the appropriate time to start puberty-blocking drugs and undergo surgeries to remove healthy organs.” WPATH did not provide an explanation for this change, and controversy only grew when it was discovered children as young as four were reportedly given cross-sex hormones.

In April of 2023, Project Veritas (PV) produced undercover videos revealing that gender transition procedures were being pushed on minors, and that pediatricians were advising children that puberty blockers have no harmful side effects. A series of videos filmed by an undercover PV journalist exposed a pediatrician who claimed “14 is a reasonable age” to start cross-sex hormones, and that “most kids are mature enough to make a relatively informed decision” in this matter. But over time, research continues to confirm the fact that puberty blockers do cause harm, and most of the damage is permanent.

Numerous detransitioners have also spoken out in the last year about their horrendous experiences with “gender-affirming” care. Detransitioner Chloe Cole, for instance, was put on puberty blockers when she was 13. She underwent a double mastectomy at age 15 and started her detransition by age 16. She is prominently known for traveling the U.S. and warning legislators about the dangers of gender transition procedures — dangers, she points out, that few doctors inform their patients of. Cole even filed a lawsuit against the hospitals that abused her vulnerability.

More patients who’ve undergone these procedures are also suing, now that they can no longer get pregnant, feel permanently detached from manhood, or are suffering from chronic infections, rashes, and pain that resulted from their procedures. In the last year, at least a dozen lawsuits have been filed by detransitioners who were deceived by “medical professionals.” And experts say this is “only the beginning.”

U.S. states have also done more to push back against transgenderism this past year than any year prior. As schools continue their attempt to hide students’ gender identities from parents, as well as push explicit books in children’s libraries, several districts have begun to pull back on trans policies. Moreover, teachers who stood against the woke agenda and were put on administrative leave are slowly being reinstated.

But wait, there’s more.

The year 2023 was also marked by powerful grassroots boycotts of woke companies like Bud Light, Target, Skittles, and other brands that went all-out with their trans progressivism. This wave of protest marked a dramatic sea change in how consumers responded to the radicalism forced on them by major brands.

For the third straight year, the Biden administration made transgenderism a priority in everything from the military to immigration policy.

All of this (and more) has occurred in the same year WPATH lost 60% of their members. So, maybe the question isn’t, “Why did WPATH lose so many members?” I think the question, more accurately crafted, could be this: Have people finally had enough? Has the transgender movement finally reached a point where the masses — even some members at WPATH — are unwilling to go along with it?

 No one knows for sure. But perhaps we should let the current events speak for themselves.