Of course it is social contagion. Trans people are lauded to the ends of the earth for being brave and stunning, all the homophobic parents are so ecstatic at the idea of them not having a gay child anymore whilst still being "woke", everything about transition is sold as the eternal fix for all the BDD and self-esteem issues that young people go through, "queer culture" is idealised and envied, horny teens can live out their fantasies, the idea of permanently destroying your body is brushed over, all of your internal conflicts are now perfectly explained as "dysphoria", and you can happily ignore the harsh reality that oh so unfortunately exists.

All you have to do is take the magic hormone pills. To a depressed teen, is there any better deal?