Taboo Science

Good intentions, it turns out, are not the same thing as good allyship — and sometimes they can actually make things worse. In this season finale, diversity consultant Davey Shlasko breaks down the unconscious assumptions that make pronouns harder than they should be, why trying harder often backfires, and what being a genuine ally actually looks like in practice. Woven through his advice, you'll hear from the community voices you've met all season talking about what it feels like to be on the receiving end. We cover the science of why you "miscategorize" trans people, how to recover from misgendering without making it about yourself, and how to show up for trans people even when there are no trans people in the room. Plus: a pronoun exercise that is genuinely kind of fun. If you've listened to this whole season, this episode is where it all lands. 

Resources from Davey Shlasko:
Trans Allyship Workbook: https://bookshop.org/p/books/trans-allyship-workbook-building-skills-to-support-trans-people-in-our-lives-davey-shlasko/3f4e67304056522a
Think Again Training: https://www.thinkagaintraining.com/
Citations & transcript: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-how-to-be-an-ally-without-making-it-weird/

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(00:00:00) Trans 101: What Detransitioners Want You to Know

(00:03:44) What Is Detransition?

(00:08:52) Maddie's Story

(00:13:40) Eri's Story

(00:21:00) The Healthcare Dilemma

(00:27:14) Who Detransitions?

(00:32:27) Moving Forward

If you support trans people, you probably believe that detransition almost never happens and when it does, it's only due to discrimination. But new research shows that's not the full picture—and avoiding the conversation isn't protecting anyone. This episode explores the largest study ever designed to understand detransition, featuring two people with completely opposite experiences. One transitioned in her twenties and later regretted it, losing her entire friend group not when she detransitioned but when she admitted the regret. The other was blocked from hormones by a gatekeeping therapist and spent 13 years forced to live as the wrong gender before finally retransitioning. One needed more scrutiny before accessing care, the other needed fewer barriers—yet both were failed by the system. Researcher Kinnon MacKinnon breaks down what the data actually shows and why preventing detransition might be the wrong goal entirely. This isn't ammunition for either side of the political battle. It's about what happens when we're too afraid to acknowledge complexity.

More from Kinnon MacKinnon:
The One Percent on Substack: https://theonepercentdetrans.substack.com/
Website: https://www.kinnonmackinnon.com/
Citations and transcript: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-what-detransitioners-want-you-to-know/

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How many studies does it take for something to be "settled science"? For trans athletes—who face state bans across the country, which recently reached the Supreme Court—there's hardly any research at all. In this episode, we're digging into what that research actually found, and it's way more complicated than the “fairness” advocates would have you believe. Dr. Blair Hamilton walks us through findings showing that trans people gain some advantages and lose others after transitioning. Champion triathlete Chris Mosier talks about what trans kids actually lose when they're banned from sports—and why the real threats to women's athletics have nothing to do with trans people. Whether you’re against trans athletes competing or you’re just trying to understand why politicians are obsessed with a few dozen athletes, this episode will uncover the nuance in the noise.

00:00:00 - Introduction: Where Support Falls Apart
00:01:20 - How Sports Became the Wedge Issue
00:04:08 - The "Settled Science"
00:10:24 - How Many Trans Athletes Actually Exist
00:13:23 - Can't Win by Losing, Can't Win by Winning
00:15:11 - Why Ban Chess and Darts?
00:16:35 - The Playbook of Using Women's Safety
00:18:00 - Genital Inspections and Racial Targeting
00:19:35 - What's Lost: Community, Belonging, and Identity
00:25:17 - Solutions: Sport-Specific Analysis and Evidence-Based Policy
00:27:06 - Why We Celebrate Some Advantages But Not Others
00:29:11 - Conclusion

More from Blair Hamilton:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blair90x/?hl=en 
X: https://x.com/BlairH_PhD 
More from Chris Mosier:
Website: https://www.thechrismosier.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechrismosier/
Buy the book “Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports” https://thenewpress.org/books/fair-game/ 
Citations and transcript: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-trans-athletes-what-the-science-actually-says/

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Every notification is a gamble: Is this a genuine connection or another person who swiped right just to tell you you're disgusting? Welcome to dating while trans. In this episode, we're exploring the disclosure dilemmas, infrastructure failures, and stigma that make dating "super hell" for trans people—featuring author and theorist Julia Serano (Whipping Girl). You'll hear why the design of dating apps fails trans people, how anti-trans stigma poisons relationships even when the attraction is real, what "chasers" are and why the fetish mindset is so harmful, and why trans women face wildly different (and more dangerous) dating experiences than trans men. Not attracted to trans people? Nobody’s gonna force you to change that—but we are going to help you examine whether your feelings come from you, or from the stigma society planted in your head.

Plus, stick around until the end of the episode for a bonus clip all about trans sex from Sex Ed with DB. You can listen to that full episode here.

More from Julia Serano:
Julia’s website: https://juliaserano.com/
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/julia-serano/whipping-girl/9781541604520/ 
Julia’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/juliaserano 
More from Oliver Haimson: 
Oliver’s website: https://oliverhaimson.com/ 
Trans Technologies book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262551861/trans-technologies/
Trans Technologies Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/transtechnologies/

Citations and further reading: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-dating-while-trans-with-julia-serano/

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When someone in your family comes out as trans, what do you actually do? Turns out "I love you, I believe you" goes a long way—but it's also way more complicated than that. In this episode, we're exploring why parents have the hardest time with transition, why aunts and grandmothers often step up when parents can't, and whether families who reject ever come back around (most do!). We'll hear from parents about those pivotal coming-out moments and the fears that kept them up at night, break down why rejection usually isn't sudden and why extended family tends to be more accepting than you'd expect, and talk to trans people about what it's like when your family doesn't accept you—and how some are thriving anyway. This episode won't sugarcoat how hard the current moment is, but it will show you that family acceptance isn't the only path to a good life.

Listen to the Transparently Speaking podcast: https://transparentlyspeakingpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ 

Learn about the Family Housing and Me project, cofounded by Amy Stone: https://www.instagram.com/fhamproject/ 

See citations and a transcript here: https://www.tabooscience.show/trans-101-when-a-loved-one-comes-out-what-should-you-do/

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Website: https://www.tabooscience.show/ 
Loved this episode? Leave a review and rating here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/taboo-science/id1533606473