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When Ex-Trans Worlds Collide

Content notes: discussion of conversion practices (both secular and faith-based), suicidal ideation, child kidnapping, pedophilia, and child abuse.

Disclaimer: This piece is published by advocates in the name of public interest. It should not be construed as legal advice. If you’re from the US and need legal or other supports related to conversion practices, you can find information at Born Perfect.

Ideologically motivated detransitioned activists joined forces over the summer with leaders of ex-LGBT ministries to target class action suits demanding equitable health coverage for trans people in Arizona. Filing an amicus brief on July 7th,[1] notable figures such as Keira Bell, Sinéad Watson, and Carol Freitas collaborated with Kathy Grace Duncan of Portland Fellowship, a group that has been under fire for practicing faith-based conversion therapy on gay and trans people.[2] The brief was filed alongside one from Society for Evidence Based Medicine (SEGM), whose membership is closely linked with conversion therapy groups and practitioners.[3] The collective effort signals an organized attempt to undermine access to gender affirming care in ways that leave both trans and detrans people with limited medical or psychological support, all while conversion efforts towards trans people are on the rise.

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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