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gender identity change efforts

I Was Your Client, Not Your Debate Opponent

By Anonymous

Content notes: discussion of conversion practices targeting trans youth and young adults, childhood sexual abuse, transphobia, gaslighting and manipulation.

The following is an anonymous submission to our Can You Hear Us? project by a former client of James Cantor, the American-Canadian sexologist who has become a prolific anti-trans “expert” in American courts. We offer this story to give people an idea of what it’s really like to experience the “care” of anti-trans clinicians who are currently trying to oppose affirmation models of care.

If you need supports related to conversion practices, you can find information at Born Perfect (1-800-528-6257 (US)). Additional supports for trans and gender diverse people who are distressed or in crisis can be found at the Trevor Project (youth and young adults up to age 24, (866) 488-7386 (US)) or Trans LifeLine (adults, available in English and español, (877) 565-8860 (US) or (877) 330-6366 (CA)).

By the time I decided to go to gender exploratory therapy, I had been questioning my gender for many years. My fear, shame, and confusion had become unbearable after such a long time and I expressed to my parents that I would like professional help. They chose James Cantor as my therapist and I was grateful. I went willingly. I hoped that he would help me understand my own gender and decide whether transitioning was right for me.

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A New Era: Key Actors Behind Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy

Editor note 6.4.2022: A previous version of this report stated in the Methodology section that the threshold for identifying notable figures was four or more connections. The correct threshold is five or more, as noted throughout the rest of the report. This error has since been corrected.

Over the past six years, a new cottage industry has emerged promoting what’s now being called “gender exploratory therapy” as the first line of care for trans and gender diverse people. This push stems from a central web of anti-trans groups whose leadership bases, citations, and collaborations interconnect. As the spread of targeted anti-trans conversion practices continues, Health Liberation Now! (HLN) investigated the relationships between fifteen prominent anti-trans groups or projects that have significant interest in “exploratory therapy” and international influence. The following report serves as a pair to our Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence, detailing our findings of the data behind the network map and what it means for trans and gender diverse people around the world.

Click below to read online or via PDF.

Content Notes and Definitions

This report contains detailed discussion of anti-LGBTQ+ conversion practices of secular and faith-based varieties, with a particular focus on anti-trans conversion practices. There is also brief reference to childhood sexual abuse (including child sexual abuse material), grooming, and pornography. Some quotes or citations may be upsetting for survivors.

This piece is published by trans survivor advocates in the name of public interest. It should not be construed as legal advice. If you’re from the United States and need supports related to conversion practices, you can find information at Born Perfect. Additional supports for trans and gender diverse people who are distressed or in crisis can be found at the Trevor Project (youth and young adults up to age 24, (866) 488-7386 (US)) or Trans LifeLine (adults, available in English and español, (877) 565-8860 (US) or (877) 330-6366 (CA)).

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Read More »A New Era: Key Actors Behind Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy

Littman Tries to Prove ROGD by Surveying Detransitioners, Fails Spectacularly

Note: We are looking to connect with trans academics or researchers to develop a formal response to this paper. If this sounds like you, you can contact us here.

Update 10.23.2021: For the compilation of this analysis and future work, we retain a copy of the original questionnaire in full. This information has been confirmed to be legitimate by Lisa Littman. We are releasing the transcript of the questionnaire to the public in the interest of open science. Full screenshot verification can be provided directly to interested, reputable researchers and academics. Enormous thanks to Mallory Moore for dedicating the time to compile this for us.

Lisa Littman, a US-based researcher famed for popularizing “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), recently released a new paper on detransition titled Individuals Treated for Gender Dysphoria with Medical and/or Surgical Transition Who Subsequently Detransitioned: A Survey of 100 Detransitioners.[1] Analysis of the paper, its questionnaire, and its recruitment pool reveals a number of methodological and factual errors. The errors demonstrate a clear attempt to find support for the existence of ROGD. In actuality, the data collected contradicts Littman’s conclusions and, in the process, identifies a key shift in the political climate on trans health when ideological detransition emerged as a narrative.

Read More »Littman Tries to Prove ROGD by Surveying Detransitioners, Fails Spectacularly

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.

Click below to read online or via PDF.

Read More »When Ex-Trans Worlds Collide

Tell Amazon to Stop Selling PEC’s Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Book

Originally posted on Reclaiming Trans

On April 7, an anti-trans organization called Partners for Ethical Care released a book called Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult by Maria Keffler, one of the organization’s co-founders. This book is currently being sold by Amazon, among other online retailers. The book accuses the trans community of being a cult indoctrinating vulnerable young people and promotes conspiracy theories about a “billion-dollar gender industry” preying on children. It claims to “[provide] a roadmap to help families navigate the treacherous terrain of gender indoctrination, and bring their children back to reality and safety.” In other words, it’s a conversion therapy manual for transphobic parents, claiming to provide them with psychological techniques for coercing their trans children into “desisting”.

Upon learning of the book’s release and listing on Amazon, I attempted to raise awareness among trans people and our allies, urging them to contact Amazon and express their disapproval of Amazon’s willingness to profit from a transphobic book that promotes not only baseless conspiracy theories but conversion therapy for trans young people. Amazon briefly unlisted the book before reinstating it, claiming it had been taken down by mistake. In between the book’s unlisting and reinstatement, PEC went to the right-wing media and rallied their supporters to contact Amazon and urge them to resume selling the book.

Read More »Tell Amazon to Stop Selling PEC’s Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Book

Ideologically-Motivated Detransition as a Conversion Practice – A Personal Account

I am a genderqueer transmasculine butch who went through something akin to conversion therapy combined with ideological radicalization coming from a transphobic radical feminist perspective. According to that ideology, trans identities are false and the product of living in a patriarchal society, so I tried to “de-trans” myself in order to fit the radical feminist ideal of lesbian womanhood.Read More »Ideologically-Motivated Detransition as a Conversion Practice – A Personal Account