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“A spiritual war in a way”: How Detrans Radical Feminists Influenced WPATH

Editor note: This report is paired with a catalog of email communications between julie graham, a gender therapist with the San Francisco Health Department, and a small network of anti-trans detransitioned radical feminists that developed around 2013. Using the liberal, more moderate presentation of another detransitioned woman, the network built a strategy on how to covertly influence discussion on trans health care and informed consent while hiding their true motivations. The communications resulted in a laundered presentation of their anti-trans politics into the first USPATH conference, unknown to many of the practitioners there. Over the past decade this strategy has been used to extend the network’s reach, including into liberal mass media.
Full emails: (PDF, raw text transcript)
Powerpoint presentation: Link

From 2013 to at least 2017, detransitioned radical feminists worked with a gender therapist in WPATH named julie graham. Both parties were attempting to use the other to reshape trans healthcare. graham was concerned about the numbers of young transmasculine people transitioning, believed it was too high and wanted to use detransitioned people to advocate for more caution and develop assessments that would supposedly help distinguish between those who would benefit from medical transition and those who would regret it and/or detransition. She wanted to use detransition as many medical professionals in favor of gatekeeping have used it over the decades. Detrans radical feminists oppose medical transition and ultimately want to replace it with “alternative treatments” for gender dysphoria. We were willing to work with graham in order to increase restrictions on who could access transition and influence how medical professionals understand and treat gender dysphoria, hoping to normalize “psychological treatments”, i.e. conversion practices, with the hopes that those would one day replace medical transition as the standard treatment for gender dysphoria. We were deceptive and manipulative towards graham but some who spoke with her directly made their opposition to transition and transphobic views clear. graham was not totally ignorant our of overall political agenda, though she might not have been aware of how extreme our views were or our ultimate aims in working with her.

More recently, some of the same detransitioned radical feminists formed Are You Asking Why? which testified against a pediatric transition ban in Ohio, HB 68, in December 2023. Carey Callahan, a more liberal detrans woman who previously worked with detrans radical feminists and julie graham also testified against the ban. Callahan likely encouraged Are You Asking Why? to testify in Ohio since she’d already been working with some members of the group for close to a decade. This doesn’t mark a change in detrans radical feminists’ opposition to transition as much as it expresses their hostility to conservative politicians and organizations and rejection of legal bans as a strategy. Much of their testimony still expressed negativity towards transition and a desire for alternatives or praised extensive assessments and other forms of gatekeeping already in place in Ohio. More background knowledge of members of Are You Asking Why? and Carey’s prior actions cast doubt on whether their true intentions and goals ultimately align with those of trans people, especially those who seek maximum bodily autonomy and control over our healthcare.

The following is an account of my old detrans radical feminist group’s interactions with julie graham, from when she first contacted me in 2013 to when she helped organize a detransition panel at the 2017 USPATH conference, where a member of our group Carey Callahan presented and showed short videos made by three other members of our group, two of whom had undergone religious conversion practices. I also include information about my old group’s involvement with lesbian feminist and feminist neopagan communities and how this led to our views becoming more extreme and anti-trans over time. Noting this influence is in no way meant to imply that we weren’t responsible for our actions. If anything engaging in reactionary neopagan feminism made us feel more entitled to act in selfish ways that harmed others. It also gives a sense of what kind of “alternative treatments” we wanted to replace transition with.

Read More »“A spiritual war in a way”: How Detrans Radical Feminists Influenced WPATH

The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From

This is part two of a five-part series describing the TAnon phenomenon as it spreads in the United States. Parts include “What is ‘TAnon’?,” “Where it Came From,” “How the Hell We Got Here,” “Key Players and What to Watch For,” and “Strategies Moving Forward.” Each section has been separated due to length and will be accumulated into a full document for distribution at a later point.

It goes without saying that this series will be extremely upsetting to targeted marginalized groups (particularly trans + youth, women, Jews, and people of color), as well as survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sex trafficking, police brutality, and/or fascist/white nationalist violence. This piece in particular includes material referencing the assault and murder of Brandon Teena, in which he is deadnamed as well as having his identity and the nature of the transphobic hate crime against him erased in favor of psychological pathologization. There is also reference to the appearance of identified fascists at protests outside clinics providing care to trans youth, as well as brief coverage of the fascist-led, police-enforced Wi Spa protest on July 3rd. Hate material is cited extensively. Please read with care and take breaks as needed.

Author note 9.11.2021: The 7.3.2021 listing for Wi Spa has been updated to reflect new information about charges filed by the Los Angeles Police Department.

To understand TAnon, it’s necessary to trace the history of a number of key concepts and their origins, as well as the social context that they developed within. This section does so by creating a timeline that connects the threads between transphobic theories surrounding “body dissociation”, “follow[ing] the money” (which inevitably leads to Jewish funders), and detransition and how it connects to gender affirming care for youth and women’s rights. In doing so, the progression from theory-crafting to on-the-ground anti-trans actions becomes evident on a national and international level. The evolution of these theories and actions influence legislation, media coverage, and psychological and/or medical care.

For trans and trans-supportive readers who are still learning about detransition as a concept, it’s important to remember that anti-trans detransition narratives and talking points are a small, albeit highly influential, minority that does not represent everyone who could be or has been labeled as detransitioned. Prior to the formation of the anti-trans detransitioned women’s community in 2013, the term (particularly as a counter-argument against trans people’s right to self-identify) was practically unheard of. Many trans people and people exploring their identity have a history of detransition and view it as part of their overall path to understand themselves. The references that are included are meant to illustrate where certain talking points originated from and how the social conversation surrounding detransition has changed. This was primarily accomplished through the influence of key figures within the anti-trans detransitioned women’s community and the anti-trans feminist and parent groups they subsequently networked with. Readers should also be mindful that many such narratives include personal trauma that can have real, lasting impact for the individual. We can simultaneously hold empathy for the impact of that trauma and firm boundaries on how it is used in individual and collaborative political pursuits at the expense of trans people.

In addition, the concept of “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) and social contagion is periodically referenced because of its profound influence in all three of the aforementioned spheres, though it is by no means comprehensive. For timelines and in-depth breakdowns of this particular concept, see the writings from Zinnia Jones, Julia Serano, and Florence Ashley in the Additional Resources section. There is also occasional reference to “institutional capture” and “trans lobby,” though these weren’t expanded on in detail due to length.

Through the course of this research, it became evident that there are three phases characterizing the proliferation of TAnon: formation, solidification, and escalation. In the formation phase, spanning from 2010 through 2015, the aforementioned concepts begin to emerge and are slowly coalesced into theory. In the solidification phase from 2016 through 2019, theories become more concrete, key publications are released, talking points become more steadily implanted into the media and political climate, and foundational organizing efforts begin. The escalation phase, from 2020 onwards, involves the rapid expansion of increasingly extreme conspiracies in social media and the press, progressive fascist creep connecting with the fusion with QAnon, and “grassroots” actions targeting legislation, trans-supportive businesses, and medical infrastructure.

Read More »The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From

The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is “TAnon”?

This is part one of a five-part series describing the TAnon phenomenon as it spreads in the United States. Parts include “What is ‘TAnon’?,” “Where it Came From,” “How the Hell We Got Here,” “Key Players and What to Watch For,” and “Strategies Moving Forward.” Each section has been separated due to length and will be accumulated into a full document for distribution at a later point.

It goes without saying that this series will be extremely upsetting to targeted marginalized groups (particularly trans + youth, women, Jews, and people of color), as well as survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sex trafficking, or fascist/white nationalist violence. In addition, one famous #Save campaign regarding the care of a trans minor is referenced in this piece. As there are multiple #Save campaigns, it is referenced once by name and then censored out of respect for the trans youth. Hate material is cited extensively. Please read with care.

On January 29th, I came across something peculiar: a public, crowd-sourced Google map tracking over 700 clinics providing gender affirming care worldwide, many for minors. Called the “Gender Offenders” map, it aimed to “[n]ame and shame the gender clinic offender.” A Twitter account appeared just two weeks later, combining screenshots of the map with graphic descriptions, aggressive rhetoric, and even identifying specific clinics.

This was alarming but not exactly surprising. After all, we had just had an armed insurrection in DC after several years of increasing extremism, hate rallies, mass shootings and church or community center arsons targeting primarily Black and Jewish communities, and, well, Trump. The past year alone saw a dramatic increase in disinformation as COVID-19 spread, sometimes paired with harassment towards clinicians, Asians, and Jews (sigh – again). And then there was the weird “save our children from the international pedo ring that doesn’t exist” thing targeting Comet Ping Pong, which subsequently got stormed by Edgar Maddison Welch armed with his trusty AR-15 on a mission to save the kids.[1]

Yet the more we researched, the more disturbing it became. This wasn’t something on the fringes, it was part of a larger network of activity and overall pattern that could easily turn violent. The overlap with the aforementioned patterns had already begun and it was bound to get worse.

Let me introduce you to TAnon. Brace yourself; it is a shitshow of a ride.
Read More »The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is “TAnon”?

Early Correspondence Between A Detrans Radical Feminist and the Founder of FourthWaveNow

Originally published on Reclaiming Trans

Denise C, the founder of FourthWaveNow, corresponded with detransitioned radical feminists before she started her Tumblr and WordPress blogs. This correspondence took place between December 26th-27th 2014. Denise started her blogs in March of 2015.

Below are emails between Denise and Devorah Zahav, the detrans woman who blogs as Redress Alert. Zahav is a very important figure in the radical feminist detrans women’s community. In addition to writing a popular and influential blog, she engaged in much detrans organizing and activism, including helping to create the first online spaces for detrans and re-identified women and organizing the first in-person gatherings. She played a very influential role in creating the detrans radical feminist community and spreading a transphobic feminist interpretation of detransitioning and detrans womanhood.Read More »Early Correspondence Between A Detrans Radical Feminist and the Founder of FourthWaveNow

Telling the Whole Story: A Closer Look at the Detrans Women in When Children Say They’re Transgender

Many articles about detransitioning present an incomplete and misleading view of the detrans community by failing to address the beliefs and politics of its members. An example of this is Jesse Singal’s Atlantic article When Children Say They’re Transgender which features three detrans women, Max Robinson, Carey Callahan, and Cari Stella. Robinson’s and Callahan’s stories are told in much greater depth than Stella’s, who is briefly mentioned and quoted. In the article, they are presented as women who used to think they were trans, transitioned and later came to detransition and believe that they had underlining issues that they wish had been explored. They are cited as a reason for requiring more psychological assessment before allowing people to transition. While the article mentions that there is a growing community of detransitioned women, it doesn’t mention that many in this community believe and promote transphobic radical feminism. All of detrans women featured in the article were at least sympathetic to transphobic feminism if not enthusiastic proponents of it. All of them knew each other, promoted each others’ work and engaged in organizing and activism. Additionally, they all have connections to anti-trans organizations such as FourthWaveNow and some have worked with anti-trans researchers and conversion therapists.Read More »Telling the Whole Story: A Closer Look at the Detrans Women in When Children Say They’re Transgender

Gender Ideology? Up Yours!

By Mallory Moore

Originally posted on Medium. Cross-posted with permission.

Editor notes: this post notes an important date correlation in the UK, namely the increase in propaganda material immediately surrounding the proposal to review the Gender Recognition Act in 2016. This pattern is also important in the US, as it overlaps with the election campaign of Donald Trump that relied heavily on rightwing media support. His campaign and eventual presidency served as a petri-dish for more cross-over between the right and left in following years.

Additionally, some links are in the process of being updated and replaced with archive links. This is due to them being broken, a desire to reduce traffic to transphobic sites, or protection against both. Any dead links that couldn’t be located will be noted.

Author note: updated 31st January 2019. Some amendments and typo fixes were made in response to feedback, where possible these have been annotated as such

I’ve been feeling recently a bit like the popular online discourse around transphobia and trans liberation is living in another world and to the extent that social media is very much still a media world that’s the truth. This was prodded most abruptly by yesterday seeing Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (I’ll call them TERFs from now on) visibly annoyed that prominent Queer Theorist, Judith Butler, had written an article for the New Statesman on Gender Ideology and hadn’t condescended to mention them even once!

This gave me some pause for thought about the last several months worth of campaigning in both legacy and social media and the gap from my experiences offline regarding the wider issue of the fight over what is being billed as “Gender Ideology” in general.

Read More »Gender Ideology? Up Yours!

I’m A Trans Person That Helped Found a “Detransition Advocacy” Organization

Content note: This post and several of its links involve several sensitive topics, including but not limited to transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and childhood sexual abuse. They’ve been added as evidence of the connections between groups. Read with caution and take care of yourself as needed.

On December 1st, the landmark ruling on the British case Bell v. Tavistock sent shock waves throughout the world. After a several year long battle, the new claimant Keira Bell won her case against the only gender clinic in Britain providing care to trans youth, doing so in collaboration with GIDS whistleblowers Susan and Marcus Evans. As a result, all British minors under age 16 must receive a court order before getting puberty blockers or gender affirming hormone therapy, adding to an already arduous process that takes years to dredge through.

For trans people in the UK, especially trans youth, this is obviously bad news. The crux of the argument was that Keira Bell was young and wasn’t given adequate information, therefore being incapable of providing informed consent for gender affirming care. What’s worse, these same supporters are pushing for it to be implemented in other countries, including the United States, and there’s already calls to “moderate” information in schools and online in attempts to counteract social contagion. And, to top it all off, Stephanie Davies-Arai of Transgender Trend (and, by extension, Bell) is pushing to expand the ruling to ages 18–25, arguing that college education and culture is transing vulnerable young adults.

What people don’t know is that this isn’t a one-off case. Small, international networks of well-connected activists and health professionals are using their credentials, social and economic capital, and personal experience to harm trans and detrans people who lack access to evidence-based supports for our health outcomes and any resulting trauma when that goes awry. They take genuine concerns about medical neglect or malpractice in transgender health care and twist them into claims that we’re “too delusional to know what’s good for [us]” and therefore have to be cleared by shrinks and courts or, worse, subject us to conversion therapy during our most vulnerable points. And I’m sorry to say I had a hand in it.

Read More »I’m A Trans Person That Helped Found a “Detransition Advocacy” Organization