An explosive new Ivy League university study is being suppressed because it concludes that today's exceptionally rapid growth in cases of transgenderism among children and teens is very likely a result of "social contagion."

The Brown University study is titled "Rapid-onset gender dysphoria in adolescents and young adults: A study of parental reports."

An in-depth report by the Federalist summarizes the study's conclusion, saying "'Rapid-onset gender dysphoria' among teens and young adults may be a social contagion linked with having friends who identify as LGBT, an identity politics peer culture, and an increase in internet use."

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However, the Federalist added, "The study was quickly yanked from Brown's news releases after a transgender activist feeding frenzy, and the journal it was published in is reconsidering the publication."

The study looked at gender referrals in the United Kingdom, anecdotal and news reports, and the "rapid recent growth in transgender treatment centers," circumstances that are all present in the U.S. as well, the report said.

Supporting the study by Brown University social science professor Dr. Lisa Littman is an online petition led by parents and researchers, stating: "[T]he parental reports in this study offer important and much-needed preliminary information about a cohort of adolescents, mostly girls, who with no prior history of dysphoria, are requesting irreversible medical interventions, including the potential to impair fertility and future sexual function."

The petition adds: "In any other group of children, these grave consequences would be seen as human rights violations unless there was significant and overwhelming evidence these procedures would be beneficial long-term."

And yet, Brown University, under pressure by LGBT activists, has essentially apologized for releasing the study, stating: "Brown community members express[ed] concerns that the conclusions of the study could be used to discredit efforts to support transgender youth and invalidate the perspectives of members of the transgender community."

Bess Marcus of Brown's school of public health, tried to explain the University recalling its own study, saying, "The spirit of free inquiry and scholarly debate is central to academic excellence. At the same time, we believe firmly that it is also incumbent on public health researchers to listen to multiple perspectives and to recognize and articulate the limitations of their work."

The Federalist translates: "The reason trans activists went nuts is that the study reinforces what plenty of parents, public health experts, and doctors have been saying: Transgenderism looks a lot like a dangerous fad. It’s telling that their response was to demand suppressing the results. It’s also telling that Brown chose to prioritize the unreasonable demands of a tiny minority above the potential well-being of children and the process of scientific inquiry."

Littman conducted the original work after her interest was sparked by parents describing clusters of gender dysphoria outbreaks among friend groups.

She recruited several hundred children ages 11 to 27 who filled out a 90-question survey that took about 30-60 minutes to complete.

"Littman found a number of things that make transgender narratives look terrible. For example, she explored the horrifyingly irresponsible lies anonymous internet users frequently offer to confused kids who were apparently free to browse for this information online," the Federalist reported.

Bottom line: Nearly 90 percent of those young people who "became gender dysphoric" did so after some of their friends did.

"This makes it obvious why transgender activists do not want this information public," the report noted. "It suggests many gender dysphoric young people hit a rough patch in life (or several), have poor or immature coping skills, and got the message from peers, online, or both that transgenderism was a handy, simple explanation for their feelings that also offered instant social acceptance and attention."