I've had this idea for a while that is based both on anecdote and logical connections to the known effects of porn addiction. Essentially it is that transgender rates have skyrocketed not because that many people were just trans before but could only admit it now, but because people are being programmed by our pornographic society to want to embody their fantasies, they see social utility or mobility in becoming a woman or a man, and because they are being collectively groomed to think that any depressive episodes (which are widespread considering industrialized societies have produced the highest suicide and depression rates in history by many magnitudes) is probably because they have gender dysphoria.
I have a friend who I knew my whole life and when he/she was 18, they told me they were trans. We were both incredibly helpless and depraved porn addicts. Its not until I recovered from my porn addiction about a year ago that I realized just how much porn was warping and poisoning my mind. I was into all kinds of disgusting kinks and fetishes when I was addicted that I have no interest in now and find very repulsive. I also thought I was a 'femboy' or even potentially could see myself as trans, but I am now very proud and grateful for the beautiful gift that is masculinity.
I wondered if perhaps my friend had been led to gender dysphoria by porn addiction. He would literally come home every day and lock himself in his room to browse and jerk off to porn for hours. Every day. And his fetishes got more depraved over time just like mine did because sex addiction depends on new stimuli and novelty to keep away tolerance. When I told my friend about my experience recovering from porn addiction and how much it was twisting my mind in a powerful way. he/she got extremely defensive and angry with me, like suggesting to a heroin addict that maybe they'd be better without heroin (and I didn't even tell them to stop or suggest that, I just shared my experience and how much better I felt after being porn-free).
I met another trans person a few years ago and got to know them. Male-to-female. Surprise surprise, raging porn addict sine 11 years old. This isn't too shocking, around 47% of 14 year olds today are porn consumers and its very rare to find someone who does not consume porn, and if they don't watch porn they are ostracized as prude.
I strongly think there is a large probability that the way porn poisons your mind is making way more people question their gender.
Some resources regarding masturbation, porn, and the brain:
Frequent masturbation lowers testosterone utilization
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alonso_Fernandez-Guasti/publication/6536830_Relationship_between_Sexual_Satiety_and_Brain_Androgen_Receptors/links/54b6c2970cf2e68eb27f0321/Relationship-between-Sexual-Satiety-and-Brain-Androgen-Receptors.pdf
Three weeks of abstinence increases testostorone levels
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11760788
Masturbation is associated with lower psychological health and reproductive well-being
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681994.2019.1677883
Masturbation decreases dopamine levels
https://sites.tufts.edu/emotiononthebrain/2014/11/18/postcoital-neurochemistry-the-blues-and-the-highs/
Watching porn reduces gray matter in prefrontal cortex
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574
Porn addiction has similar mechanism with substance addiction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4600144/
Masturbating 3 days in a row decreases sperm count by 20%
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2054949
Increasing ejaculation frequency decreases sperm count significantly
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15497706
Prevalence of erectile dysfunction doubled between 2004 and 2013
http://cir.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Genital-Image-Sexual-Anxiety-and-Erectile-Dysfunction-Among-Young-Male-Military-Personnel.pdf
Pornography consumption is associated with mental health issues
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6327603
