Fatal Flaws in Transgender Brain Studies

Source: Colin Wright, "Transgender Brain Studies are Fatally Flawed," City Journal, 14 March 2025.

"The notion that males can have 'female brains,' and vice versa, rests on a flawed interpretation of 'brain sex' studies that in no way demonstrate or even suggest a definitive biological basis for 'gender identity.'”

"The theory is advanced for relatively straightforward reasons. Civil rights lawyers, activists, and researchers contend that people who identify as transgender possess a “brain sex” misaligned with their physical body, thereby establishing a biological basis for “gender identity” akin to immutable traits like race. This framing carries significant legal weight, as U.S. civil rights law offers strong protections for characteristics considered “innate” or rooted in biology."

"The idea of a brain-body mismatch has permeated popular culture, resonating with the 'born this way' narrative embraced by many in the LGBT community."

"The central flaw in current research purporting to validate the cross-sex brain hypothesis is an inconsistent—or complete lack of—control for individuals’ sexual orientation. ... This raises serious methodological concerns about the extent to which sexual orientation might confound or interact with the neurobiological markers that “brain sex” studies routinely attribute to gender dysphoria. ... If one properly controls for sexual orientation, the reported neuroanatomical shifts in transgender brain-scan studies diminish greatly or vanish entirely."

"It would not logically follow that a brain scan can capture a person’s 'gender identity'—just as brain scans cannot ascertain a person’s sexuality. ... Brain scans therefore cannot verify whether a person is homosexual; nor could they verify whether a person 'is transgender.' Brains, like most physical traits apart from primary sex organs, are not discretely sexed ..."