There’s a curious talking point that won’t seem to die right now that just got a major boost from everyone’s least favorite author. In shorthand, you’ll most likely see the narrative referred to as “medicalized homophobia”, which posits a conspiracy theory that asserts that gender transition of any kind is an elaborate attempt to convert lesbians and gay men to heterosexuality through hormones and surgical intervention. Despite being baseless on its face, it’s an incredibly popular talking point and certain to come up in any discussion where an anti-trans campaigner wishes to dodge the accusation of being anti-LGBTQ.

Beginning with Jean-Martin Charcot, modern psychiatry began largely with the study and control of the other. A French neurologist, Charcot routinely saw women of all ages in his clinic for any manner of perceived ills. And ultimately, in part due to his now infamous student Sigmund Freud, It was his focus in this area that gave rise to psychoanalysis.