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ex-trans movement

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The International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners (IATDD) is an anti-transgender front group. Its members are key figures in “gender critical” anti-transgender activism.

IATDD supported the “ex-transgender” movement, people who describe themselves as “desisters” and “detransitioners.” They sell their services to parents who do not want their children to make a gender transition, known as the “parental rights” movement.

Background

Like many of these official-looking “associations,” it was just a website, part of a web farm of similar sites run by a small fringe group of therapists supporting anti-transgender efforts.

The site went online in December 2020 and went offline in January 2022.

Key people

Resources

IATDD (iatdd.com) [archive]

Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG) is an anti-transgender front group. It is part of an anti-trans web farm of similar sites. YouTube designates their videos as “conversion therapy content.” In 2025, CAN-SG became heavily involved in trying to stop NHS from conducting clinical trials on puberty blockers.

Background

CAN-SG was incorporated on June 14, 2023. They weigh in on the following topics:

  • Children and young people’s gender services
  • Puberty blockers
  • Social transition
  • Ethics
  • International perspectives
  • Sex and gender in language, medicine, science and healthcare
  • Conversion therapy

People

Officers

Members include

Contributors cited include

2023 Guardian letter

Following a 2023 Department for Education draft guidance regarding gender questioning children, CAN-SG members expressed conditional support for the draft. Signatories were:

  • Az Hakeem, consultant psychiatrist
  • Sinead Helyar, nurse
  • Louise Irvine, GP
  • Tessa Katz, GP
  • Stella Kingett, consultant psychiatrist
  • Jane Martin, psychiatrist (retired)
  • Aileen O’Brien, consultant psychiatrist
  • Stella O’Malley, psychotherapist
  • Juliet Singer, consultant child psychiatrist
  • Bob Withers, psychoanalyst

2024 conference

In March 2024, CAN-SG held a conference in London called “Do No Harm.” It featured many key opponents of healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth.

The event was held at 30 Euston Square, the headquarters of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). Following protests from members and the public, RGCP requested that CAN-SG remove all references that suggested RCGP were involved or endorsed the event, which was reportedly booked by Searcys, the venue’s event manager.

RCGP leaders stated:

The RCGP is one of 20 health organisations that have signed a memorandum of understanding opposing conversion therapy, so we were very vocal opponents of the Government’s proposal to ban the practice for lesbian, gay and bisexual people in England and Wales but not for trans people. When the document was updated to include gender identity, we worked with other signatories to ensure the memorandum was clear that being opposed to conversion therapy did not mean opposing appropriate clinical and psychological interventions for trans and gender-questioning people and that it is entirely possible to deliver a ban on conversion therapy that protects all LGBTQ+ people.

RCGP (2024) [emphasis mine]

Three pro-trans protesters were arrested for actions outside the venue.

Promoted organizers, speakers, and panelists:

References

Hawthorne, Kamila; Holmes, Mike; Thomas, Mark (February 14, 2024). Statement from Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of Council, Professor Mike Holmes, Chair of Trustees, and Mark Thomas, Acting Chief Executive Officer re: CAN-SG conference. https://www.rcgp.org.uk/News/can-sg-conference-statement

Parr, Eliza (February 12, 2024). RCGP under pressure to cancel ‘gender critical’ conference. Pulse https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/mental-health-and-addiction/rcgp-under-pressure-to-cancel-gender-critical-conference/

Selected anti-trans writing by CAN-SG

CAN-SG (July 4, 2025). Gender affirming surgery: a systematic medical deception. https://can-sg.org/2025/07/04/gender-affirming-surgery-a-systematic-medical-deception/

CAN-SG (December 31, 2023). Letter: Parents must hold schools to account on gender. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2023/dec/31/parents-must-hold-schools-to-account-on-gender-observer-letters

Block, Jennifer (2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ, p382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382

Media

Wallace, Nick (March 3, 2025). The Times at One radio interview with Louise Irvine on UK puberty blocker trial. https://genderblog.net/dr-louise-irvine-the-case-against-the-nhs-puberty-blocker-trial/

Resources

Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (can-sg.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk)

Genspect is an anti-transgender extremist group primarily opposed to medical consensus on healthcare for gender diverse youth. Founder Stella O’Malley is a global ringleader in anti-transgender extremism. Genspect is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Genspect positions include

  • opposing transition for transgender people under 26 years old
  • opposing laws that would ban conversion therapy on the basis of gender identity
  • supporting the disputed diagnosis “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD)
  • supporting the “parental rights” movement of unsupportive parents of gender diverse youth

Background

Genspect was founded in 2021 by Stella O’Malley.

Genspect is part of an anti-trans web farm that includes:

In 2025, Genspect announced that Jennifer Lahl had stepped down from the Center for Bioethics and Culture to run Genspect USA.

Team

Advisors

2022 Wall Street Journal response

The president of the 67,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) countered a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by anti-trans activists Julia Mason and Leor Sapir:

AAP advises pediatricians to offer developmentally appropriate care that is oriented toward understanding and appreciating the youth’s gender experience. This care is nonjudgmental, includes families and allows questions and concerns to be raised in a supportive environment. This is what it means to “affirm” a child or teen; it means destigmatizing gender variance and promoting a child’s self-worth. 

O’Malley responded to their response:

I am encouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics’ statement in its letter that gender-affirming care “doesn’t push medical treatments or surgery; for the vast majority of children, it recommends the opposite.” Unfortunately, this is not the experience of families of gender-distressed children.

Genspect represents thousands of parents of gender-questioning children and young people around the world. We are not aware of any cases in the U.S. or Canada in which children seeking “gender-affirming care” were not given the option of puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

The AAP should recognizes this fundamental point: There is no consensus and no evidence base on which to confidently declare what is “medically appropriate” for gender transitioning of children.

Media Matters for America has noted how writer Katie J. M. Baker of the New York Times has laundered Genspect’s anti-trans views into their publication:

The latest piece — another entry in the genre of New York Times articles that start from the premise that trans people are perhaps too accepted in society — covers “a network of internet support groups for ‘skeptical’ parents of transgender children, some with thousands of registered members” without noting that the groups are run by Genspect, an organization that opposes bans on conversion therapy and has numerous members who support banning gender-affirming care for trans people under 25. 

April 2023 Ireland conference

O’Malley organized a conference in Ireland on April 27-29 2023 and featuring many anti-transgender activists.

Attendees included Malcolm Clark, Laura Becker, Colin Wright, Wesley Yang, Jo Bartosch, Camille Kiefel, Robin Ion, Sarah Vaci, Corinna Cohn, and Róisín Michaux.

November 2023 Denver conference

Scheduled participants included:

Attendees also included “in_detransit,” “Phil Illy,” “Shape Shifter,” Luka Hein, David Boettger, Julia Malott, Laura Becker, Christina Buttons, Jennifer Block, Pamela Garfield-Jaeger, Jennifer Lahl, Lisa Marchiano, Soren Aldaco, Jessie Mannisto, Leslie Elliott Boyce, and Elliot Kaminetzky.

Australia/New Zealand online event

  • “An anonymous NZ doctor”
  • Joe Burgo
  • Margaret Curnow
  • Alasdair Gunn
  • Sue Middleton
  • Jan Rivers
  • Linde Rose
  • Jillian Spencer
  • Ngahuia te Awekotuku
  • Simon Tegg

September 2024 Lisbon event

Scheduled speakers include

September 2025 Albuquerque event

Genspect’s 2025 conference was announced in July 2025. Scheduled speakers include:

  • Lisa Duval
  • Eldur Smári Kristinsson
  • Nancy McDermott
  • Mariah Burton Nelson
  • Jared Ross
  • Shawn Thierry

References

Genspect USA (January 21, 2025). Introducing Genspect USA’s New Director. Genspect https://genspect.org/introducing-genspect-usas-new-director/

Piper, Ernie (July 25, 2023). ‘Focus relentlessly on under 25’: Leaked chats reveal influential gender-critical group’s plan to use children to push for bans on transitioning. Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/debug/genspect/

Szilagyi, Moira (August 21, 2022). Academy of Pediatrics Responds on Trans Treatment for Kids. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/trans-gender-pediatric-aap-kids-children-care-surgery-affirm-treatment-11660942086

Drennen, Ari (February 8, 2023). The New York Times helped fuel an anti-trans panic in 2022. Will 2023 be any better? Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/new-york-times/new-york-times-helped-fuel-anti-trans-panic-2022-will-2023-be-any-better

Baker, Katie J. M. (January 23, 2023). When Students Change Gender Identity, and Parents Don’t Know. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/us/gender-identity-students-parents.html

-https://genspect.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Conference-Schedule-Denver.pdf https://genspect.org/the-bigger-picture-continues-denver-colorado/

Dixon, Hayley (June 26, 2021). CBBC’s trans messaging is damaging children, says mother. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/06/26/cbbcs-trans-messaging-damaging-children-says-mother/

Resources

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

  • Genspect
  • transdatalibrary.org/organization/genspect

Genspect (genspect.org)

Genspect Unheard (genspectunheard.org)

Stats for Gender (statsforgender.org)

Beyond Trans (beyondtrans.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Regret is rare among people who make a gender transition. In 27 studies totaling 7,928 surgery patients, the regret rate was about 1%: “Pooling data from numerous studies demonstrates a regret rate ranging from .3 percent to 3.8 percent. Regrets are most likely to result from a lack of social support after transition or poor surgical outcomes using older techniques.”

A 2024 study from Perth Children’s Hospital in Perth, Australia found low regret rates among minors:

In this cohort study of 548 individuals with closed referrals to a pediatric gender clinic, 29 (5.3%) reportedly reidentified with their birth-registered sex before or during assessment. Two of these individuals reidentified during medical treatment, which corresponds to 1.0% of all patients who initiated medical treatment.

Cavve et al. (2024)

Sometimes a person who makes a change in gender identity or gender expression will make more changes later. That is a key goal of our political movement. You should be able to change your gender identity and expression as often as you want.

There is no shame in questioning your gender and not being sure what to do. As with most big life choices, making a gender transition is a leap of faith, and it is good to look before you leap! No one wants to live a life of regret, whether it is regret about not transitioning sooner, or regret after making a gender transition. The best way to lower the chances of regret is to think carefully about what will give your life fulfillment.

Many people see gender changes on a spectrum. Some people only see them as a binary. You can always transition in any direction, and it is not all or nothing. Every person should feel free to be themselves in their own way. That can change over time. There is no shame in changing your identity or expression more than once. It is not a “failure” to change direction. It is not bad to change your mind. Many of us support you no matter what you choose. We want you to live a life full of purpose and joy. We will fight for your right to be your true self.

Most people who make more gender changes have no regrets about their earlier transition. The choices you make and the actions you take always carry some risk. Some people will feel they made a mistake. It is important not to focus on your mistakes. We all make them, even on big things. When you feel you made a mistake, you have to let it go, forgive yourself and others, and move forward. When you dwell on your mistakes and regret, you are looking backwards to the past.

Being transgender is hard. It is difficult for many people to reach their expectations for transition. They may be dissatisfied with the results or unwanted side effects from medical transition. They may have a hard time moving through the world because of how they look or act. They may have a hard time with acceptance at work, school, or home. It is important to consider the experiences of people who regret transition when deciding what is right for you. Most people who discuss their regrets do so because they want to help others avoid the same regret.

Making more changes

Gender transition is mostly social. All social changes can be changed more than once. All legal changes like name or gender marker can be changed more than once. Many medical changes can be changed more than once. If you undertsand the possible benefits and side effects, it is OK to try hormones or hormone blockers for a little while and stop. Because surgery is a significant step, you need to be very sure before you have surgery. Experts who reviewed 27 studies with a total of 7,928 patients who had surgery found a pooled prevalence of regret of just 1%.

Researchers at Cornell University looked at peer-reviewed studies published between 1991 and 2017:

We identified 55 studies that consist of primary research on this topic, of which 51 (93%) found that gender transition improves the overall well-being of transgender people, while 4 (7%) report mixed or null findings. We found no studies concluding that gender transition causes overall harm. 

What We Know Project (2018)

The ex-transgender movement

Of the estimated 240 million trans and gender diverse people worldwide, there are only a few dozen public ex-trans activists worldwide. Each person in the core group of ex-trans activists in the media is literally one in a million.

Most people who decide to make more gender changes still support transgender people. Some just want to share their stories. They want others to learn from their experiences. Even most people who regret making a gender change feel it should be an option for others.

In rare cases, a person who has regret about a gender transition also decides to get money or attention by joining the “ex-trans” movement, also called “political detransition.” Some work to limit or even end access to trans health services for others. Some even work to take away trans people’s other rights. They usually blame others for their transition instead of taking personal responsibility for their own decisions.

The people they blame can include:

  • Supportive family
  • Supportive friends
  • Supportive educators
  • Supportive transitioners
  • Supportive organizations
  • Supportive strangers
  • Supportive media (especially social media)
  • Supportive therapists
  • Supportive healthcare providers

In other words, they often blame the people who tried to help them.

Political strategy

The ex-trans movement focuses on these controversial concepts:

“Desistance“

  • Typically used for children, this usually means someone who stopped identifying as transgender before taking medical or legal steps.

“Detransition“

  • Typically used for adults, this usually means someone who took social, medical, and/or legal transition steps, then took more steps in another direction later.

Litigation

  • Ex-trans activists often sue healthcare providers to make money and to have a chilling effect on options for our healthcare.

Historic ex-trans activists

Despite their small numbers, ex-trans activists have been a cisgender media fixation for nearly a century. Some notable older “ex-trans” people include:

Ex-trans people often join the movement following a political or religious conversion. For others, they get involved as a form of attention-seeking behavior, or as a way to make money. Beginning in 2021, the fringe ex-trans movement began to get more politically organized through connections with other conservative and fascist movements.

Confirmed ex-trans activists

The following people have engaged in ex-trans activism and have independently confirmed identities. They are ordered by their real surnames, with fake names and handles also listed.

  • KathyGrace Duncan
  • Kasey Emerick / “KC Miller” / “dyke_in_denial”
  • Charlie Evans / charlie_sci / DetransAdv
  • Mel Jeffries
  • Laura Reynolds
  • Heath Atom Russell
  • Ememlie Schmidt / “Emelie” / Emmie / SullivanStar221 [Twitter] [YT]
  • Laura Perry Smalts
  • Oliver Squire / “Oli London” / “OliLondonTV”
  • Amanda Stewart
  • Daisy Strongin / “Daisy Chadra”
  • Phillip Martine Suarez-Hamilton / “OfTheFutureArt” / “Estella”
  • Miles Yardley

Unconfirmed ex-trans activists

Many alleged ex-trans activists use fake names and usernames, making it impossible to confirm their claims independently. The following people claim online to be ex-trans activists.

General Twitter/X accounts

Media bias

People who express regret are vastly overrepresented in the media. They are often presented the way “ex-gays” used to be presented and are primarily uplifted by conservative and gender critical media figures.

References

Thornton SM, Edalatpour A, Gast KM (2024). A systematic review of patient regret after surgery- A common phenomenon in many specialties but rare within gender-affirmation surgery. The American Journal of Surgery https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.04.021

Reed, Erin (April 26, 2024). Landmark Systematic Review Of Trans Surgery: Regret Rate “Remarkably Low.” Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/landmark-systematic-review-of-trans

Astor, Maggie (May 16, 2023). How a Few Stories of Regret Fuel the Push to Restrict Gender Transition Care. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/us/politics/transgender-care-detransitioners.html

Cavve BS, Bickendorf X, Ball J, Saunders LA, Thomas CS, Strauss P, Chaplyn G, Marion L, Siafarikas A, Ganti U, Wiggins A, Lin A, Moore JK (2024). Reidentification With Birth-Registered Sex in a Western Australian Pediatric Gender Clinic Cohort. JAMA Pediatrics https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0077

Statista (2023). Share of people identifying as transgender, gender fluid, non-binary, or other ways worldwide as of 2023, by country. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1269778/gender-identity-worldwide-country/ ” three percent of respondents from 30 countries identified themselves as transgender, non-binary/non-conforming/gender-fluid, or in another way. “

What We Know Project, Cornell University (2018). What does the scholarly research say about the effect of gender transition on transgender well-being? (online literature review), 2018. https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/

We identified 55 studies that consist of primary research on this topic, of which 51 (93%) found that gender transition improves the overall well-being of transgender people, while 4 (7%) report mixed or null findings. We found no studies concluding that gender transition causes overall harm.

Narayan SK, Hontscharuk R, Danker S, Guerriero J, Carter A, Blasdel G, Bluebond-Langner R, Ettner R, Radix A, Schechter L, Berli JU (2021). Guiding the conversation—types of regret after gender-affirming surgery and their associated etiologies. Ann Transl Med 2021;9(7):605. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-6204

-https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HpGRzJ5nc7gecyXUKVRdCeXS1TYXe0w12A7Y9I2JIsE/edit#gid=0

Media

Keffals (April 27, 2022). CRINGING at Incredible DETRANSITIONER grift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QqS8eaE57U 

Vaush (October 13, 2022) The Detransitioner Grift https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_a-iSRMjY

Archival resources

sexchangeregret.com [archive]

helpmereversemysexchange.org [archive]

trans-detransition.com [archive]

tradingmysorrows.com [archive]

sexchangeinfo.com [archive]

Dysconnected: The Real Story Behind the Transgender Explosion is a film made by people from several factions of the anti-transgender movement, including ex-transgender activists, parental rights activists, gender critical activists, and conservative Catholic/Protestant activists.

Background

The film is distributed by Catholic publisher Ignatius Press. It’s produced by Runaway Planet Pictures and Don Johnson Media.

The film had its world premiere October 8, 2022 at the Freed Theater in Garden Grove, California.

Synopsis

According to Johnson:

Over the past few years, a transgender tsunami has swept the nation, completely overtaking the medical, educational, and counseling industries, and forever altering hundreds of thousands of young girls’ lives. What is going on? How did it come to this? Who is behind it? And what is coming next? Filmmaker and father Don Johnson traveled the country to find out.

Dysconnected is about exposing the truth behind the gender ideology industry, one that allows children to make life-altering decisions for themselves without any parental consent, explores why there is an explosion of young girls identifying as transgender, seeking to understand why the medical and counseling industries are not pushing back on gender ideology, and highlighting stories of people who have detransitioned.

People

Filmmakers

  • Donald J. “Don” Johnson
  • Kendra Johnson
  • Kevin Wandra

Participants and supporters

Resources

Dysconnected (dysconnectedmovie.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Ignatius Press (https://ignatius.com/disconnected-dism/)

Don Johnson Media (donjohnsonmedia.com)

Runaway Planet Pictures (runawayplanetpictures.vhx.tv)

“Shape Shifter” is the stage name of July R. Carlan, an American accountant and ex-transgender activist who gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

July Roxella Carlan was born on July 11, 1990. Carlan had a “consensual” sexual experience at age 11 and came out as gay to unaccepting parents at 16.

At age 22 in graduate school, Carlan learned about nonbinary identities and booked an appointment at Fenway Health in Boston on November 15, 2012. At the initial consultation, Carlan described a pattern of high-risk sexual behavior as well as incidents of anti-LGBT discrimination and assault. Carlan also expressed a desire to become pregnant.

Affter signing an informed consent form on December 27, 2012, Carlan began hormones via Fenway Health. In a follow-up appointment in March 2013, a therapist noted Carlan’s “internalized transphobia,” because Carlan wanted to “be seen as more than a trans woman.”

By mid-December 2013, Carlan reported inconsistent use of hormones in order to regain sexual function and engage in high-risk sexual behavior. In December 2014, Carlan reported:

  • depression and anxiety
  • seeking validation through sex
  • struggles with sexual compulsivity and hopes that GRS will reduce sexual urges
  • did not want to take hormones in order to enjoy sex
  • could not find a job in finance and had “begun a career in strip dancing”

In the first half of 2015, Carlan had multiple therapy sessions and received clearance for bottom surgery.

After getting elective bottom surgery as an adult, Carlan “realized I was just a castrated man.” Carlan has sometimes identified as a “homosexual transsexual,” a term promoted by anti-transgender activists.

On or about May 10, 2022, at age 31, Carlan publicly announced plans to make additional gender changes. Carlan no longer identifies as a trans woman, “but as a gender-non-conforming man.” Carlan reportedly just liked feminine clothing and makeup.

Carlan is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts. Carlan is in a relationship with a “sugar daddy” who is nearly 50 years older. Howard Carlan (born December 6, 1941) goes by “Cat Man” in their videos.

Anti-transgender activism

Carlan has regret about taking some medical gender transition steps and has found an anti-trans audience who wants to amplify these rare cases of regret.

In 2022, Carlan testified against healthcare for trans youth before the Florida Board of Medicine.

In addition to numerous media appearances about regret, Carlan has also been critical of trans athletes and supports misinformation and conspiracy theories about trans healthcare.

On October 12, 2023, Carlan filed a lawsuit against Fenway Community Health Center. On March 28, 2025 Judge Myong J. Joun entered a decision that “Fenway is dismissed from this action.”

On April 2, 2025, Carlan filed an appeal.

References

Justia (April 2, 2025). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc., et al. Case No. 25-1315. https://dockets.justia.com/docket/circuit-courts/ca1/25-1315

Staff report (November 13, 2023). MA Lawsuit Claims Trans Medical Care is Gay Conversion Therapy. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/ma-lawsuit-trans-care-gay-conversion

Mitra N. Forouhar. Shape Shifter v. Fenway Health. https://mnf-law.com/lawsuits/ pdf: https://mnf-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ShapeShifter-v-Fenway.pdf

Sapir, Leor; Figliolia, Joseph (November 8, 2023). Medicine with a “Transgender Bias.” City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/medicine-with-a-transgender-bias

Court Listener (Oct. 12, 2023). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc. 1:23-cv-12361, (D. Mass.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67878127/carlan-v-fenway-community-health-center-inc/

Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc. US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Case 1:2023cv12361 https://rilawyersweekly.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2023/11/Carlan-v.-Fenway-Community-Health-Center.pdf

Gordon, James (August 27, 2022). ‘I was brainwashed by the trans community’: Detransitioner reveals he regrets having his penis removed and says woke doctors didn’t warn him of negative consequences because it would be ‘bad for business.’ Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11151433/Detransitioner-says-brainwashed-having-gender-reassignment-surgery-woke-doctors.html

“Shape Shifter” (June 22, 2022). The Boy Who Shifted Shapes: A Detransitioner’s Story. Reduxx https://reduxx.info/opinion-the-boy-who-shifted-shapes/

Sum News (November 2016). New Members. mscpa.org https://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?i=355533&p=20&view=issueViewer

Media

Daniel Moon (April 6, 2024). Shape Shifter: The DE-TRANS Truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnOL1Lx_jW4

Soft White Underbelly (March 23, 2023). Ex (Detransitioning) Trans Woman interview-Shape Shifter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsbtaXqfg1o

Cat Cattinson (December 6, 2022). “Being trans wasn’t my authentic self.” – Interview with Shape Shifter, detrans man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB_m8f60tr4

Tomi Lahren – Outkick (November 21, 2022). Trans ‘Shape Shifter’ doxxed by LGBTQ community, Michael Farren performs & Trump’s return to Twitter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LGXnptuKYE

The Get Better Researcher (October 31, 2022). Detransitioner Shape Shifter Florida Board of Medicine Testimony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko_MJln6c_4

Transparency with Aaron Kimberly and Aaron Terrell (August 29, 2022). EP46 – Owning Male Femininity – with Shape Shifter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoUE23la-uo

Blaire White (July 3, 2022). Detransitioner: “My Penis Is Gone Forever & I Regret it” | Emotional Interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRh80xSI8QQ

Arielle Scarcella (June 5, 2022). “I Miss My Penis” : Brave Detrans Men Speak Out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRLpJ1uIzw

Benjamin Boyce (June 4, 2022). When Transition Goes Wrong | with Shape Shifter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MorvzXI2uw

Jubilee (April 2, 2023). Should Minors Transition? Detransition vs Trans | Middle Ground. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0LZZFos-g

Resources

CPA Directory (cpadirectory.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • ShifterofShapes [deleted]

YouTube (youtube.com)

GoFundMe (gofundme.com)

reddit (reddit.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

TikTok (tiktok.com)

  • shifterofshape [deleted]

No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care is anti-transgender propaganda focusing on the ex-transgender movement. It is directed by Laura VanZee-Taylor and produced by Penka Kouneva. The 2023 project is controversial for including convicted sex offender David Arthur Kendall as one of the original ex-trans activists featured. 

Background

The project was originally titled Affirmation Generation: The Lies of Transgender Medicine.

It is produced by Panacol Productions dba PKS, Inc. [Penka Kouneva Studios] and is released by Deplorable Films. Prior to No Way Back, Deplorable has distributed three propaganda pieces criticizing progressive racial policy and one criticizing progressive firearm policy.

Synopsis

Via their promotional materials:

Detransitioners Michelle, Laura, Cat, David, Joel and Abel tell the stories of their gender distress, transgender medicalization, and subsequent detransition. Without diagnostic clarity or mental health evaluations, their doctors quickly affirmed them as “transgender,” and mindlessly ushered them along the path of medical transition. (The “gender-affirming care” is the only treatment recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.) These young people were harmed irrevocably by the doctors they trusted. AFFIRMATION GENERATION demonstrates how the “one-size-fits-all” medicalization – the “gender-affirming care” – has failed these patients.

The stories of the detransitioners are examined by twelve leading experts with decades of clinical practice treating gender-distressed patients: psychotherapists Lisa Marchiano, Sasha Ayad, Stella O’Malley, physician-scientist Lisa Littman, endocrinologist Dr. William Malone, MD; Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Stephanie Winn, sociologist Dr. Michael Biggs, pediatrician Dr. Julia Mason, NYT best-selling writer Lisa Selin Davis, and LGB activist & lifelong Liberal Democrat Joey Brite, among others. The 90-minute documentary cites 45 peer-reviewed medical and journalist articles.

People

They describe themselves as “life-long West Coast liberal Democrats in the entertainment industry. To take credit for this passion project would, at the very least, risk our careers.”

They collaborated with anti-trans group LGB United to make it available after it was deplatformed by Vimeo in 2022.

Organizations

Filmmakers

Ex-transgender activists:

Note: Joel Koss appears in the film but has denounced it.

“Parental rights” activists

AMC screenings and cancellation

AMC promoted one-day-only screenings of No Way Back on June 21. Cielo Sunsarae of the Queer Trans Project led a successful campaign to get the screenings canceled.

References

Factora, James (June 15, 2023). AMC Theatres Is Hosting an Anti-Trans Documentary During Pride Month. them. https://www.them.us/story/amc-theatres-no-way-back-documentary

Osborne, Duncan (June 17, 2023). Anti-trans film nixed after facing backlash. Gay City News https://gaycitynews.com/anti-trans-film-nixed-no-way-back/

Prestigiacomo, Amanda (June 18, 2023). AMC Theatres Cancels De-Transitioner Film Following Trans Group’s De-Platforming Campaign. Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/news/amc-theatres-cancels-de-transitioner-film-following-trans-groups-de-platforming-campaign

Emmons, Libby (June 17, 2023). EXCLUSIVE: Producers of ‘No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care’ speak out after AMC Theaters cancels film screenings. Post Millennial https://thepostmillennial.com/exclusive-producers-of-no-way-back-the-reality-of-gender-affirming-care-speak-out-after-amc-theaters-cancels-film-screenings

Stone, Sasha (June 18, 2023). AMC Pressured to Pull a Film Labeled “Anti-Trans.” Awards Daily https://www.awardsdaily.com/2023/06/18/amc-pressured-to-pull-a-film-labeled-anti-trans/

Dawes, L.E. (February 17, 2023). Opinion | Filmmaker: I believed in gender affirming care. Then I saw what happened to my son. Dallas Morning News https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/02/18/i-made-a-film-about-transgender-kids-that-doesnt-align-with-my-politics/

New York International Film Awards (2023). Finalists January 2023: Affirmation Generation, Director L. E. Dawes https://newyorkinternationalfilmawards.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/FINALISTS-NYIFA-January-2023.pdf

Buttons, Christina (February 22, 2023). Vimeo Deplatforms Another Documentary Critical Of ‘Gender-Affirming Care.’ Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/news/vimeo-deplatforms-another-documentary-critical-of-gender-affirming-care

Osborne, Matt (February 20, 2023). Affirmation Generation: The Lies Of Transgender Medicine. The Distance https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/affirmation-generation-the-lies-of

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s1pg7UByoU

-https://twitter.com/2022affirmation/status/1646924000126439424

-https://twitter.com/GrownTomboy/status/1634249769135792128

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkzBEM5RLis

https://jdiff2023.eventive.org/films/642365131dc3780039a95c6a

Resources

No Way Back (nowaybackfilm.com)

Affirmation Generation [original site] (affirmationgenerationmovie.com)

Deplorable Films (deplorablefilms.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Vimeo (vimeo.com)

Ky Schevers is an American writer and activist who left the transphobic “ex-trans” movement. Schevers states on the Reclaiming Trans website:

Ky Schevers played a significant role creating and promoting the radical feminist detrans women’s community. Under the name CrashChaosCats, she wrote, made videos, presented workshops and gave media interviews in order to talk about her experiences detransitioning and promote anti-trans feminist ideology. Eventually she became disillusioned with the radical feminist movement and recognized her detransition as a harmful anti-trans conversion practice. She writes now to raise awareness of the harms of ideologically motivated detransition and the role transphobic detrans communities play in organized transphobia.

Background

Gender critical troll Katie Herzog featured Schevers prominently in a widely criticized 2017 article about “detransition” that appeared in The Stranger. Schevers is given the pseudonym “Cass” in Herzog’s piece. For seven years, neither Herzog nor The Stranger updated the original piece or covered the subsequent developments. In 2024, The Stranger republished Schevers’ 2021 update.

Schevers was also mentioned in the 2018 profile of ex-trans activist Carey Callahan in the documentary that accompanied the transphobic Atlantic piece on “detransition” by Jesse Singal. Schevers is called “CrashChaosCats” or “Crash” in that publication.

Herzog claimed that many people in the ex-trans movement “detransition” because they have a harder life from less social acceptance:

That may be true for some detrans people—especially trans women, who generally have a harder time passing and who lose the benefits inherent with appearing male in society—but it wasn’t the case for Cass, a 31-year-old detrans lesbian in California. Cass was severely bullied as a gender nonconforming kid and says transitioning actually made life easier. She started taking testosterone at 20, and her community was largely supportive. She didn’t have a hard time finding work or people to date. “People were definitely nicer to me after I transitioned and they saw me as a man instead of a butch dyke,” Cass said.

Three months before Cass started taking testosterone, her mom committed suicide. “Transitioning was kind of a survival strategy,” Cass said. And that worked for a while, but over time, she started to sense that her dysphoria was rooted more in the trauma of her mother’s death and her own internalized misogyny than in gender identity. As an adolescent, she had been masculine, butch. “I got a lot of very harsh, negative messages about what it meant to be a woman,” Cass said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t see myself as a woman without feeling the horror other people felt toward me. Living as a man provided a kind of refuge until I was ready to dive into all that.”

When she was ready, Cass, like Jackie, looked online for advice, and she met a woman a few years older who had detransitioned. Her experiences were the same—from childhood bullying and internalized misogyny to the sense that transitioning hadn’t really solved her dysphoria at all. They became friends, talking over the course of a few months, and then, after nine years living as a man, Cass came out as a woman.

It’s been four years since Cass detransitioned. She changed the gender marker on her driver’s license back to female and asked her friends and family to call her by her birth name, but she still passes as male, with a deep voice and a shade of hair on her cheeks.

“Psychologically, it was harder to detransition,” she said. She compares it to the process of working through her mom’s suicide. “It involved a lot more dealing with my trauma and facing the self-destructive parts of myself. It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.”

Cass still hasn’t told the health-care providers who helped her through her transition about the change. In some ways, she faults them for enabling her transition, even though it’s exactly what she wanted at the time. She writes about her experience online, and in one post, she says that a favored therapist “helped me hurt myself. That definitely wasn’t her intention but that’s still what happened. This contradiction is difficult to face and understand.”

In addition to her writing, Cass recently started posting videos to YouTube, where there are a growing number of detransitioning confessionals. In one video, which has been watched nearly 900,000 times, a young man reflects on his decision to detransition after living as a woman. He’s beautiful and androgynous, with long lashes framing bright-blue eyes. “I’m not like every other boy,” he said. “I can accept that now.”

There’s an offline community of detransitioners as well: In 2014 and 2015, Cass led a workshop on detransitioning at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. (Michfest, as it was known, had a contentious history with the trans community due to its long-held “women born women” policy. The festival closed after nearly 40 years in existence in 2015.) Last year, Cass and 15 other detransitioned women got together on the West Coast for a weekend of workshops, meditation, and shared experience. Cass thinks it was the first gathering of its kind.

In the comments, Schevers wrote in 2017:

As one of the detransitioned women (“Cass”) interviewed for this article, I want to say I’m happy with how it came out and am glad women like me are finally getting more representation. I think it’s a very balanced and well researched piece of writing and best of all gives a marginalized group of people a chance to be heard. I’m very excited that detransitioned people are getting more opportunities to speak about our own experiences rather than having other people talk about what they think we are and what we mean. This is one of few articles out there that actually represents my life as a detransitioned woman.

I’m dismayed but not surprised by how some people are reacting to the issues this piece has raised. My life is not transphobic and making lives like mine more visible is not transphobic either. Reading that experiences like mine should not be talked about in public is infuriating. I get to be open and honest about my life and I get to work to make my experience and community more visible. There are people out there who need to know that there’s resources and support for them if they end up detransitioning. They need to know they’re not the only ones.
I made a video in response to the article and people’s reactions to it that can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuI5rBWD…

I would encourage people to also watch videos other detrans women made in response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqN_9rM8…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN6N6F6A…

Since leaving the ex-trans cult

Schevers later teamed up with Lee Leveille to form Health Liberation Now! It is “a free, trans-run resource analyzing the social and political forces acting in opposition to health liberation for transgender, detransitioned, retransitioned, and gender diverse people, as well as those questioning their gender. We pair these analyses with collections of proactive resistance strategies that community organizers can use in pursuit of trans health liberation.”

References

Schevers, Ky (June 24, 2024). The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2024/2024/06/05/79545098/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-the-stranger

Urquhart E (February 1, 2021). An “Ex-Detransitioner” Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/02/detransition-movement-star-ex-gay-explained.html

Schevers K (December 20, 2020). Detransition as Conversion Therapy: A Survivor Speaks Out. An Injustice! Magazine https://aninjusticemag.com/detransition-as-conversion-therapy-a-survivor-speaks-out-7abd4a9782fa

Herzog, Katie (July 3, 2017). A Response to the Uproar Over My Piece, “The Detransitioners.” The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/07/03/25262759/a-response-to-the-uproar-over-my-piece-the-detransitioners

Herzog, Katie (June 28, 2017). The Detransitioners: They Were Transgender, Until They Weren’t. The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/06/28/25252342/the-detransitioners-they-were-transgender-until-they-werent

Resources

Health Liberation Now! (healthliberationnow.com)

Reclaiming Trans (reclaimingtrans.com)

Medium (medium.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

WordPress (wordpress.com)

  • Reclaiming Trans
  • reclaimingtrans.wordpress.com
  • CRASHCHAOSCATS (2013-2019, removed 2020)
  • crashchaoscats.wordpress.com [archive]

Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.

Grace Branham is an American “ex-transgender” activist.

Branham served as treasurer for anti-trans organization Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (GCCAN).

Background

Branham earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 2018 and a graduate certificate from University of Kansas in 2022. Following a stint at a dog daycare facility, in 2022 Branham took a job at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as an animal research technician.

From the GCCAN site:

Grace Branham is a post-operative detransitioner who received gender care from the ages of 15 to 21. S/he did not feel adequately supported by providers before, during, or when ending treatment and believes all consumers deserve high-quality care whether they are considering transition, in the process, or detransitioning. S/he hopes GCCAN’s work will help providers better understand the varied experiences of consumers so they may better serve sexuality- and gender-diverse communities.

References

Alumni spotlight: Grace Branham. IU Department of American Studies. https://americanstudies.indiana.edu/about/alumni-grace.html

Resources

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (gccan.org) [archive]

  • Who We Are [archive]
  • gccan.org/who-we-are

S. Ding Lab (sdinglab.wustl.edu)

Lee Leveille is a former member of the “ex-transgender” movement. In January 2021, Leveille and partner Ky Schevers launched the organization Health Liberation Now!

Background

Leveille was born in June 1988 on a military base in San Diego, California. They moved to Sumner, Maine in around 1997. Leveille has a sibling who is four years younger. Leveille earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Maine at Machias. Leveille is an intentional peer support (IPS) specialist.

Leveille converted to Judaism in 2016 and identifies as disabled and trans androgynos.

Activism

Following a gender transition, in the late 2000s Leveille became active in disability justice, trans rights, and opposing psychiatric oppression. Leveille experienced vision loss during a change in gender identity and expression.

Following a “detransition,” Leveille was a founding director of Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (GCCAN), an anti-trans organization.

Leveille resigned from the group in 2020 and has since been heavily involved in exposing anti-trans activists, particularly those who exploit and uplift “detransition” narratives.

Leveille is a coauthor of the 2023 CAPTAIN report by Southern Poverty Law Center that traces the origins of 21st-century anti-transgender extremism.

References

Leveille, Lee (May 19, 2022). My Resignation Letter to Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (GCCAN). Medium https://thatweirdolee.medium.com/my-resignation-letter-to-gender-care-consumer-advocacy-network-gccan-59596eb53f96

Leveille, Lee (January 20, 2021). I’m A Trans Person That Helped Found a “Detransition Advocacy” Organization Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/01/20/im-a-trans-person-that-helped-found-a-detransition-advocacy-organization/

Student interviewer (March 14, 2019). Lee Leveille. Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/41/

Resources

Health Liberation Now! (healthliberationnow.com)

Reclaiming Trans Butch (reclaimingtransbutch.com) [archive]

Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (gccan.org) [archive]

  • Who We Are [archive]
  • gccan.org/who-we-are

Medium (medium.com)

Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)