"Olson and her coauthors could have designed their study with controls—for instance, by comparing a group of kids who had undergone early social transition with

"Olson and her coauthors could have designed their study with controls—for instance, by comparing a group of kids who had undergone early social transition with a group with similar psychological profiles that did not undergo social transition. If it turned out that the first group was much more likely to proceed to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone injections, then this would suggest that social transition is not a treatment for but rather a cause of persisting gender dysphoria. “Affirming” these kids would therefore be locking in an “identity” that might otherwise have proved temporary."