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Author Archive: danabevan
Dana Jennett Bevan holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a Bachelors degree from Dartmouth College both in experimental psychology. She is the author of The Transsexual Scientist which combines biology with autobiography as she came to learn about transgenderism throughout her life. Her second book The Psychobiology of Transsexualism and Transgenderism is a comprehensive analysis of TSTG research and was published in 2014 by Praeger under the pen name Thomas E. Bevan. Her third book Being Transgender was released by Praeger in November 2016. She can be reached at danabevan@earthlink.net.
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Dana Bevan follows up on a couple of stories she previously reported on in her blog. One is the fallout from the paper by Dr. Lisa Littman purporting to prove that Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria is a thing, and is being caused by kids following trends and experiencing peer pressure to claim they are transgender. The second is the rise in stories about “transgender regret” or “detransitioning.” The conservative media latches onto any story about a transgender person transitioning and then having regrets and going back to their birth gender. Dana has facts to refute those claims.
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You are undoubtedly stressed, how are you coping? It all mounts up. There are the 98 attacks on transgender people by the current administration as documented by GLAAD. Then there are the half dozen states that make us feel unwanted and endanger us if we travel there because we might be denied emergency healthcare or […]
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As spring approaches Dana Bevan wants you to prepare for a Spring Offensive. Not to say she wants you to offend anyone. It’s a call for all good trans people to get out there into society and make your presence known. Not by waving signs or marching but by being there where the cisgender people go. Dining in a restaurant. Setting next to them at the movies. Picking up the dry cleaning or at a car wash scrubbing your ride. Show the world your beautiful wonderful self and promote understanding that trans people are people. Read all 3 of Dana’s Spring Offensive in today’s post.
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One of the most popular posts on TGForum is Dana Bevan’s post on breast development. Each week many trans women who are interested in growing their own breasts read Progesterone for Breast Development? which was published in 2014. Since then there has been research providing new information on the use of HT for breast development and there have been changes in the process of acquiring hormone therapy. Today Dr. Bevan gives you an update to her 2014 post.
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Aunt Dana wants you! To participate in research on why transgender people are transgender. She feels that more and more researchers are looking into what makes us tick. If we don’t participate in their research studies how will the results of those studies stand up? And Dana realizes that many trans people will be reluctant to share any information about themselves with researchers. Dana shares the guideline followed by researchers and one of those guidelines is about confidentiality. She comments on all the guidelines and gives you good reasons why you should consider being a part of the research into why we are who we are.
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On resident science contributor Dana Bevan recently attended the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Symposium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She filed a report on her arrival and the preliminary social activities on November 5 and now that the symposium is concluded she has a full report on what was discussed at the event. From recognition that some people only need vulvoplasty and adjustment of the body mass index requirements for genital surgery, to the need for “communications therapy” and the debunking of a connection between the transgender condition and autism, Dana fills you in on what came out of this important meeting.
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Dr. Dana Bevan is in Argentina for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Symposium 2018. She was recently elected to the USPATH Board of Directors, WPATH’s USA subsidiary and decided to attend. While she is there she is filing reports on what goes on. Today she tells us about her flight and arrival in Buenos Aires. The conference gets underway today (Monday) and Dana will file a report on the full conference next week.
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Our resident scientist Dana Bevan has explored the phenomena of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists and their attacks on trans women, characterizing them as not women. Today she delves deeper into feminism to find the basis of the arguments used by TERFs to make their case that someone born with a penis can never be a woman, even when that individual’s spirit is feminine from birth. This research introduces Dana to the concept of “kyriarchy” which is the oppression of all women and minorities by a thing greater than the patriarchy. See how it all comes together as Dana gives you her research.
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Dr. Dana Bevan digs into the story behind Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. If you’ve been paying attention to your TWIT news column you know that a woman named Lisa Littman of Brown University published an article warning of a rise is the number of children announcing they were transgender and attributing it to early trauma, rather than recognize that the children may actually have been born trans. She then went on to attempt to discredit affirmative treatment for trans children. Dr. Bevan digs into the claims made by Littman, which were of course picked up and amplified by conservative websites and news outlets, and gives you the facts.
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Our science writer, Dr. Dana J. Bevan, has embarked on the USPATH. That’s the US Professional Association for Transgender Health. She has been elected to join the USPATH by the U.S. members of the WPATH, The World Professional Association for Transgender Health which publishes the Standards of Care (SOC) document for transgender health and treatment. As a new USPATH member Dana is looking to the community for help in identifying issues of importance to the trans community.
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Back in 2014 Dana’s transition was about to take off. She had been on hormone therapy for a few years and the rest of her plan was set to implement. Then, because life is not predictable, she had to put the brakes on transition. What Dana calls “transitionus interruptus.” When something else in life keeps you from moving ahead with transition it is called a “flight.” It can be a family obligation, military service, getting that advanced degree, or any other thing that keeps one from moving forward with their gender transition. Read on and learn how various “flights” kept Dana trapped between genders.
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Dana Bevan has been asked to write a science book for doctors and other providers to help treat transgender patients. Her first step before writing a single word was to go out and assess the current state of health care provider/transpatient encounters. Her post today consists of three sections (1) State of provider education, (2) State of healthcare for non-transitioning transgender people (3) State of healthcare for transitioning transgender people.
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In 2014 Dana Bevan asked the question, “Whatever Happened to Transgender Support Groups and Conventions?” Since then she has been collecting answers and putting together this report on the state of the transgender community. What did she find? That, like all things, the transgender support group scene has been evolving. Read “Transgender Support: Found:” and learn how it has evolved.
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Autogynephilia is a term created by Dr. Ray Blanchard. It purports to be a motivation for males to go to great lengths, even gender reassignment surgery, so they can see themselves as women. Blanchard claims that this is sexually driven. That rather than seeing another human or some object as a sexual fetish the male who has autogynephilia becomes his own sexual fetish. Many in the transgender community vehemently object to this idea as it reduces their need to express themselves in their true gender to nothing more than a paraphilia. Dr. Dana Bevan is one who has scoffed at the theory. Today she scoffs again while revisiting the subject.
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In today’s post Dana Bevan refutes the main points in the book “When Harry Became Sally.” The author of the book, Ryan Anderson, uses junk science, and quotes, or points to people, who are firmly anti-transgender. Dana believes his agenda is to marginalize and sideline trans people while affirming the belief system of conservatives who feel a man is a man and a woman is a woman, and if you don’t fit neatly into one of those two genders then you’re a sinner, an abomination, or worse. See how Dana reduces all of Anderson’s arguments with logic and science.
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Why do fools fall in love? Who knows but as far as everyone else is concerned there is scientific evidence to show why people get together. Since such evidence exists it is only right that our science lady, Dr. Dana Bevan, be the one to present it to you. Dopamine, oxytocin and vasopressin factor are just a few of the things she will explain, and don’t worry, it will all make sense. In the end you will gain information on the signals a cisgender woman produces to invite a man to make his move. That should make it easier to avoid, or encourage, male attention.
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Constant vigilance is necessary as the media are often not through in researching who they use as an “expert” in shows dealing with trans issues. Dana Bevan is always on the look out for the inclusion of discredited “experts” and she recently caught one on the TLC show I Am Jazz. The offender in question was Susan Bradley, formerly of the Clarke Institute which morphed into the now closed Canadian Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) center. Bradley is against allowing trans kids to be the gender they feel. Read on and find out what other misinformation the show allowed to air.
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There is a way to avoid contracting HIV and developing AIDS. Even for people who are sexually active with multiple partners. Of course if you are active you should take all steps to avoid infection. Always use condoms, for instance. But Dana Bevan has important information on another method of protection called “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or PrEP for short. PrEP is a pill taken every day. The drug is similar or identical to drugs used to treat HIV, except the PrEP drug is used to prevent the HIV virus from taking hold rather than lowering existing HIV levels. Learn more in Dana’s column.
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Our resident scientist Dana Jennett Bevan has spent time studying the behavior of many different segments of our culture. Everything from BDSM players to combat pilots have been subjected to her scrutiny. Today she plunges headlong into the realm of tech lesbians. That is, she explores the subculture of lesbians who work in the Atlanta tech industry. Not to give it away but she concludes that hanging out with tech lesbians can be fun.
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LGBT is an “initialism.” Of course LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. But of late the initials have been added to as more identities have been recognized. At the moment we are up to “LGBTQQIAAP” which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual. That’s getting to be quite a mouth full and there are some in mental health and medical circles who want to chop the unwieldy initials back down to three to five letters. Dana Bevan doesn’t think that’s a good idea and today she explains why.
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Dr. Dana Bevan discusses the reasons the administration’s ban on trans people in the military is futile. As a former member of the U.S. military Dr. Bevan knows what it was like to serve while hiding her trans nature. That’s what will occur is trans people are banned. She also talks about why letting trans personnel serve openly is a good idea and goes into just how difficult it will be for the armed services to discharge the 15-20 thousand people now serving.
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A gender clinic in Canada was diagnosing children as transgender and then subjecting them to “reparative” therapy. The clinic claimed that their therapy was effective in getting eighty percent of the children to stop acting out trans behavior. There was only one major flaw in their data (along with several small flaws). The majority of the children were not transgender. Dr. Dana Bevan looks at the studies based on data from the now-closed clinic and shows why it was wrong and how it has been used to dismiss the accepted fact that being trans is something you are born with.
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When “scientific studies” present conclusions about the nature or occurrence of transgenderism our resident scientist Dr. Dana J. Bevan digs into the data and takes a closer look at the numbers. Recently conservatives have based their opposition to treating trans children by giving them hormone blockers and letting them express their true gender by saying that there is no evidence that trans children won’t “grow out of it.” They base this assertion on “clinical data” from psychiatric gender clinics. Dr. Bevan examines that clinical data and comes to a different conclusion.
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Here at TGForum we have always used the word “transgender” as a term that covers all “trans” activity from fetishistic crossdressers enjoying lingerie in the privacy of their own homes to trans women, fully transitioned and making their mark on the world. Between those two extremes is a broad spectrum of behaviors, identities, and gender expression. To help sort things out and provide some definitions to terms that have come into use over the years Dr. Dana Bevan has written an informative post on Transgender Definitions.
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Get your notebooks out and prepare to pay attention. Dr. Dana Bevan’s lecture today is all about the science of choice. Some people say that transgender individuals choose to be trans. Trans people say that being trans is not a choice. If it was a choice many say it is not a choice they would make since being trans can bring so much stress and so many problems. So what does the science say? Today Dana writes about choice and touches both scientific and philosophical views on whether or not we consciously chose anything, at all.
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A non-transsexual transgender person is someone who leads a double life, presenting as their birth gender for much of the time but expressing their “secret” gender whenever they can. Statistics tell us that there are at least 10 times more non-transsexual transgender people (non-TS TG) than transsexuals so today Dana Bevan talks about the issues faced by the non-TS TG and discusses ways to offer support that addresses those issues.
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