Oregon public library hosts secret 'transition closet' for minors

Driftwood Public Library and Taft High (and Middle) School in Lincoln City, Oregon, have teamed up to create a "gender-affirming closet," to help conceal students’ supposed "transgender" identities from their parents. Transition closets are designed to socially transition minors without their parents' knowledge by providing students with clothes they can change into while at school that matches their "gender identity."

Popular social media account Libs of TikTok reported on Monday a statement made on the public library’s website: "A gender affirming closet at Taft High has been in the works for the past couple of months. What this means is that there will be a room full of clothes, makeup, and accessories for students to request."

The donation "kickoff" is on Thursday, August 4, where people will be asked to donate their clothes and other items to the Driftwood Public library. The library website also advertises a "guest speaker, free face painting, photo booth with props, an auction, snacks, scavenger hunt with prizes and free pride flags and stickers" for attendees of the event.

Their philosophy is explained on the library website, "Many students that are transgender and/or nonbinary are not supported by their parents nor can showcase it with their daily clothing choices. These students will be able to go into the closet and take anything that they may need to identify however they are comfortable within their clothing. It will also have makeup brochures and different resources that they can reach out to."

But while transition closets are often portrayed as a benign way to allow children to express their true selves, there may be good reasons to doubt this narrative.

"Schools that have a ‘transition closet’ are actively participating in the social transition of a child without their parent's knowledge or consent," says evolutionary biologist Colin Wright. "This is a medical intervention that often leads to more invasive treatments like puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries."

Psychologist and sexologist Ken Zucker found that socially transitioning children dramatically increased the rate of gender dysphoria persistence and frequently led to drastic medical treatments, like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries.

Zucker published his research in an academic journal for the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. The abstract reads, "A gender social transition in prepubertal children is a form of psychosocial treatment that aims to reduce gender dysphoria, but with the likely consequence of subsequent (lifelong) biomedical treatments as well (gender-affirming hormonal treatment and surgery).

"Gender social transition of prepubertal children will increase dramatically the rate of gender dysphoria persistence when compared to follow-up studies of children with gender dysphoria who did not receive this type of psychosocial intervention and, oddly enough, might be characterized as iatrogenic."