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Joel Koss is an American game developer who took medical gender transition steps as an adult for a few months. After deciding that path was not bringing fulfillment, Koss made additional changes back toward an earlier identity.

Koss appears in the 2023 anti-trans film No Way Back, about the ex-transgender movement. Koss has apologized, saying “I didn’t know what I was a part of. Informed consent saves lives.”

Background

Koss has stated “horrible things” happened as a child, adding: “Around the time I was 11 or 12 I developed anorexia nervosa. And then years later, it led me to develop a body dysmorphia, which I falsely, wrongly attributed to being gender dysphoria.” According to Koss:

Ever since I was young, since I could remember, I have had an issue with my identity, mostly the way that I looked, talked, dressed. I think I got into my head growing up I would be happier if I was a woman, I’d be more satisfied with myself if I was a woman, I would love myself more if I was a different person.

I just know like how truly easy it is for you to go and get treatment if you live in an area with informed consent treatment. I literally made an appointment with the doctors office in Chicago. I live in Indiana. So I drove up to Chicago. I went to the doctor’s appointment that I had set up for two weeks prior. It was very quick. And then that day I received estrogen. There was definitely a honeymoon phase. In the beginning of hormone therapy, everything felt great. My body felt great. My mind felt clear.  I was also becoming an Internet influencer pretty quickly. 

Koss documented the transition on social media.

I am five months on hormones… about 5 1/2 months. And since my last update, there have been a lot of changes. So as many of you know, I take estrogen shots. But this one is particularly important. As I put this into my body., I will be six months on estrogen. Sometimes you never think that the things that you in life that you want are going to happen fully.

Three months later, Koss felt differently:

It turned out to make me more dysphoric. It turned out to make me uncomfortable. The more it happened to my body, the scareder I got. And I came to the realization that I don’t feel like I’m actually transgender. It’s a hell of a realization to have.

Koss soon gave additional updates:

What’s up my beautiful people? How are we doing today? If you’ve been around my channel for a minute, than you know that I am male to female to male. So I went through transition, and then, after about nine months, I came to the realization that, I am not transgender. 

In July 2020 I started realizing that hormone therapy was no longer having a satisfactory effect on my mental health and my physical health. But now at this point in time, I had a lot of social media followers, people that looked up to me and made me feel like I was important to them. And I felt like I couldn’t go back. And that the only option was to just keep pushing forward, which led me to spiral into a state of depression and being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. 

Response to No Way Back

Koss appears in the 2023 anti-trans film No Way Back and is credited as “Joel Kass” in some promotional materials. In April 2023, Koss posted:

I was interviewed for this documentary. I was actually used quite a bit for the documentary. I was told that it would shine a positive light on informed consent. And it did not. […] The full interview and testimony of my experiences that I gave was chopped up into little bits and sprinkled throughout the documentary, not fully reflecting my actual views and thoughts on transgender healthcare. I apologize, and I hope that it did no damage. I would hate to think that something I was a part of could be viewed by a legislator and impractically influence thought-making, decision-making processes, or just scare the shit out of parents of trans kids that come out to them. As always, every single one of you has my love and my support. 

Koss later added:

I am an advocate for trans rights, trans healthcare, everything to do with basic equality. I was approached by the director about April of last year. And when I asked about the scope of and the impact of the film, I was told it was going to be a positive film about informed consent. I was told that it was going to take an ethical and responsible perspective of getting proper mental healthcare before informed consent in terms of trans teens and not full-grown adults. I don’t know if I can take legal action because I signed a release. I gave very thoughtful, ethical, correct responses to interview questions, and every single thing I said was taken out of context, cut all apart, piecemealed into something that served the agenda of another party entirely. So I apologize. I didn’t know what I was a part of. I didn’t know what was being done. Informed consent saves lives. That’s it. […] I hope I did nothing damaging, and I that I can be forgiven.

References

Cormier, Alline (February 23, 2023). ‘Affirmation Generation’ tells truths about ‘trans youth’ the media won’t touch. Feminist Current https://www.feministcurrent.com/2023/02/23/affirmation-generation-tells-truths-about-trans-youth-the-media-wont-touch/

Factora, James (June 20, 2023) AMC Canceled Screenings of an Anti-Trans Documentary After Backlash. them. https://www.them.us/story/amc-theatres-no-way-back-documentary

Resources

Instagram (instagram.com)

TikTok (tiktok.com)

Blaire White is a conservative transgender activist and YouTuber. White hosts a “drama” channel focusing on the easiest targets, usually whatever trans person has done the most controversial thing that week. White also hosts a similar podcast called The Blaire White Project. White makes frequent appearances with other conservative trans people and anti-trans activists. White has been affiliated with extremist group Gays Against Groomers and is a favored source for conservative media outlets and anti-trans journalists.

Resources

YouTube (youtube.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Blaire White Merch Store (blairemerch.com)

Gloria Steinem is an American author and activist. Steinem is a key historic figure in second-wave feminism.

After publishing anti-transgender writings in the 1970s, Steinem revised some of those views and now supports trans-inclusive feminism.

Background

Gloria Marie Steinem was born March 25, 1934 in Toledo to Leo Steinem, a Jewish traveling antiques dealer, and Ruth Nuneviller Steinem, a Presbyterian homemaker. Steinem’s parents split in 1944.

Ruth Steinem grew increasingly unstable, leading Steinem to move in with older sibling Susanne Steinem Patch in Washington DC. After graduating from high school there, Steinem earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1956.

In 1957, Steinem had an abortion in London while traveling to India. After two years in India, Steinem returned to the United States and began researching and writing, publishing work in Help! Show, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and New York.

In 1972, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine. In July 1974, the magazine published an excerpt from trans travel writer Jan Morris, which led to backlash.

Throughout the 1970s, Steinem played a central role in the women’s rights movement and became a favored author and source on the subject.

Anti-trans views and reconsideration

In February 1977, amid increasing anti-trans sentiment surrounding transgender athletes in general and Renee Richards in particular, Steinem published an anti-trans article titled “If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Change the Foot.” Steinem claimed “transsexuals are paying an extreme tribute to the power of sex roles. In order to set their real human personalities free, they surgically mutilate their own bodies…” Steinem also embraced the conspiracy theory of “the transsexual empire” promoted by Janice Raymond.

In 2013, Steinem addressed “words circulated out of time and context” from those previous writings:

So now I want to be unequivocal in my words: I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned. Their health care decisions should be theirs and theirs alone to make. And what I wrote decades ago does not reflect what we know today as we move away from only the binary boxes of “masculine” or “feminine” and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.

Steinem (2013)

In 2021, Steinem signed an open letter supporting trans women and girls, saying, “I am proud to sign this letter because we all must fight against the unnecessary barriers placed on trans women and girls by lawmakers and those who co-opt the feminist label in the name of division and hatred.”

References

Morris, Jan (July 1974) Conundrum [excerpt]. Ms. pp. 57ff.

Steinem, Gloria (February 1977). If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Change the Foot. Ms. p. 76ff.

Steinem, Gloria (1983). Transsexualism. in Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. pp. 224–226. Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 978-0030632365

Robert, Monica (September 28, 2012). Gloria Steinem-Transphobe. TransGriot https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/09/gloria-steinem-transphobe.html

Steinem, Gloria (October 2, 2013). Op-ed: On Working Together Over Time. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time

GLAAD (March 31, 2021). Open Letter Supporting Trans Women and Girls. https://glaad.org/tdovletter/

Media

Holly Lawford-Smith [narrator]. (June 3, 2023). Gloria Steinem | Transsexualism (1977). Feminist Heretics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7IeYPYBnGY

Resources

Gloria Steinem (gloriasteinem.com)

National Women’s History Museum (womenshistory.org)

  • Gloria Steinem
  • womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/gloria-steinem

Instagram (instagram.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Melanie Anne Phillips is an American artist, author, musician, filmmaker, software developer, and activist. Phillips is one of the most important historical figures in online transgender resources.

Background

Melanie Anne Phillips was born on February 20, 1953 and grew up in Burbank, California. After attending film school at University of Southern California, Phillips worked in film and television, including directing a horror feature in 1985. Phillips married, and they had two children.

Phillips, Chris Huntley, and Stephen Greenfield began a narrative software project called Write Brothers, which evolved into Dramatica interactive story engine. In 1997, Phillips founded Storymind to develop additional narrative development products.

Transgender activism

In 1989, Phillips began a gender transition and kept a detailed journal of the process. Over time, Phillips published the journal online, gathered an extensive collection of transition resources, and produced instructional videos that were available on physical media.

Phillips was an important community leader at America Online (AOL) and helped build out the transgender resources available there. Phillips moved these resources to a standalone site called Heart Corps in 1997.

Phillips has lived in several communities on the West Coast and continues to create music, photography, writing, and art. Outside of this public online persona, Phillips is a very private person in real life.

References

For a full bibliography of all 86 books published to date, see the Amazon author page for Melanie Anne Phillips: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Melanie-Anne-Phillips/author/B0744CGDLV

Phillips, Melanie Anne; Huntley Chris (2004). Dramatica: A New Theory of Story. ISBN 9780918973047

Phillips, Melanie Anne (2013). Be a Story Weaver – NOT a Story Mechanic! ISBN 9781489503541

Phillips, Melanie Anne (2014). Images and Visions: The Photography of Melanie Anne Phillips. ISBN 9781495283321

Phillips, Melanie Anne (2017). Raised by Wolves: Volume One in the Transcendental Trilogies Nine-Volume Set. ISBN 9781521859551

Esocoff, Sarah (). “Melanie Speaks.Sounds Gay https://pod.link/1686975383/episode/27d697cd2d82b16116eb641e4da9f681

Resources

Heart Corps (heartcorps.com) [archive]

  • Journeys [archive]
  • heartcorps.com/journeys/index.htm

Melanie Anne Phillips (melanieannephillips.com) [archive]

Storymind (storymind.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Patreon (patreon.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Dramatica (dramatica.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Blogspot (blogspot.com)

Amazon (amazon.com)

Charlie Evans is a British writer and ex-transgender activist. Evans gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

Evans was born ~1991. Evans reportedly experienced abuse outside the family as a child. Evans also reportedly experiences generalised anxiety disorder and depression.

Evans has resided in Margate and Newcastle and reportedly has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology, with plans to seek a doctorate.

Ex-trans activism

Evans announced the Detransition Advocacy Network in November 2019.

Six months later, Evans reportedly took a full-time job as a COVID tester and announced a “retirement from the gender wars.” The website was deactivated in late 2021.

References

Stone, Gemma (April 23, 2021). Where is The Detransition Advocacy Network now? Medium https://medium.com/@notCursedE/where-is-the-detransition-advocacy-network-now-f01ec9c9682d

Comerford, Aidan (January 29, 2021). Update thread. https://twitter.com/AidanCTweets/status/1355188820854104069

Staff report (May 12, 2020). The media lies: “100’s of detransitioners” scam EXPOSED. Transiness https://www.transiness.com/post/the-media-lies-100-s-of-detransitioners-scam-exposed

Lockwood, Sally (October 5, 2019) ‘Hundreds’ of young trans people seeking help to return to original sex. Sky News https://news.sky.com/story/hundreds-of-young-trans-people-seeking-help-to-return-to-original-sex-11827740

Heuchan, Claire (January 23, 2020). I Am No Less of a Woman: Charlie Evans Interview. AfterEllen https://afterellen.com/charlie-evans-interview/

Walsh, Joani (November 16, 2019). Meet the ‘detransitioners’: the women who became men – and now want to go back. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/meet-detransitioners-women-became-men-now-want-go-back/

Staff report (November 2, 2019). News in detransition. Gender Health Query https://www.genderhq.org/blog/2019/10/17/news-in-detransition

Media

Women’s Declaration International (WDI) (October 27, 2019). Charlie Evans, Detransition Advocacy Network at WHRC “Inventing the Transgender Child” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I7hS3qrwXQ

Resources

Detransition Advocacy Network (detransadv.com) [archive]

Detransition Advocacy Network (detransadv.net)

Detransition Advocacy Network (thedetransitionadv.wixsite.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Medium (medium.com)

  • @charlie.evans/ [deleted]
  • https://medium.com/@charlie.evans/the-medicalization-of-gender-non-conforming-children-and-the-vulnerability-of-lesbian-youth-10d4ac517e8e

Patreon (patreon.com)

Crowdfunder UK (crowdfunder.co.uk)

  • Website for ‘The Detransition Advocacy Network’
  • https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/website-for-the-detransition-advocacy-network
  • Fundraiser for Debbie Harries
  • https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/support-debbie-harries
  • Sookie’s Travel to UK [2nd Detrans Meet]
  • https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/sookies-travel-to-uk-2nd-detrans-meet

Keira Bell is a British ex-transgender activist. Bell gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

Bell was born in 1997. At 15, Bell was referred to the Gender Identity Development Service, at the Tavistock and Portman clinic in London. At 16, Bell was prescribed puberty blockers, and at 17, Bell began taking hormones. Bell chose the name Quincy.

As an adult, Bell chose to get top surgery. Bell later had regret and made additional changes in identity and expression.

Bell brought a lawsuit against the Tavistock which ultimately helped lead to its closure in favor of the decentralized approach used in other countries.

Anti-transgender activism

Bell is an advisor to anti-trans groups Genspect and Sex Matters.

References

Bell, Keira (April 7, 2021). My Story. Persuasion https://www.persuasion.community/p/keira-bell-my-story

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Aaron Kimberly is a nurse and conservative transgender activist. Kimberly is an advisor to anti-trans group Genspect.

References

Laval, Mary (July 26, 2021). Transition in hindsight: Aaron Kimberly’s story. Genspect https://genspect.org/transition-in-hindsight-aaron-kimberlys-story/

Resources

Aaron Kimberly (aaronkimberly.com)

Gender Dysphoria Alliance (genderdysphoriaalliance.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Sinéad Watson is an ex-transgender activist. Watson gets money and attention by making it harder for others to access trans healthcare. Watson is affiliated with anti-transgender organization Genspect.

Background

Watson was born in ~1991 and reports being repeatedly sexually assaulted as a teen.

made a gender transition as an adult. Watson socially transitioned at age 20 and began medical transition at age 24. Watson had top surgery at age 26. In October 2019, at age 28, Watson made additional changes in identity and expression.

Ex-trans activism

Rather than taking personal responsibility for medical decisions made as an adult, Watson blames “the trans lobby.” According to anti-trans activist Julie Bindel:

Watson self-referred to the Sandyford in 2014, having spent time in a psychiatric unit following a severe mental breakdown. “I burned my house down while trying to kill myself,” she says, “and made out to the doctor it was because I was really a trans man and needed to transition. That was bullshit.” Watson was suffering from depression, dependent on alcohol, and struggling to accept that she was a lesbian.

Bindel (2022)

References

Thomas, Kim (April 29, 2023). The troubling truth about ‘gender affirming’ mastectomies. The Spectator https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-troubling-truth-about-gender-affirming-mastectomies/

Bindel, Julie (September 15, 2022). Scotland’s Tavistock must fall. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/09/scotlands-tavistock-must-fall/

Watson, Sinead (August 2, 2023). The trans lobby pushed me to have a double mastectomy and I bitterly regret it. That’s why Costa’s advert is so dangerous. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12366421/The-trans-lobby-pushed-double-masectomy-bitterly-regret-Thats-Costas-advert-dangerous-writes-SINEAD-WATSON-detransitioned-woman-double-mastectomy.html

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Daisy Strongin is an American ex-transgender activist. Strongin gets money and attention by making it harder for other people to get trans healthcare.

Background

Daisy Marie Chadra was born in April 1998. Chadra came out as trans on May 29, 2015 at age 17, using the name Oliver “Ollie” Chadra. As an adult, Chadra obtained hormones at Planned Parenthood. At age 20, Chadra had top surgery.

After graduating York Community High School, Chadra earned an associate’s degree from College of DuPage in 2019. Chadra then attended North Central College.

Chadra made additional changes in identity and expression in October 2020, at age 22.

Jason Strongin and Daisy Strongin were married on December 12, 2021. They had a baby named Gabriel in 2022.

Daisy Strongin converted to Catholicism in 2023.

Ex-trans activism

Stongin appears in the 2023 anti-trans media piece DETRANS by PragerU and has also appeared on shows by anti-trans activists Benjamin Boyce and Preston Sprinkle.

References

Bolar, Kelsey (September 22, 2022). After ‘Top Surgery’ & Hormones, Female Detransitioner Decided She Wanted to Be A Mom. Independent Women’s Forum https://www.iwf.org/identity-crisis-daisy/

Media

Benjamin Boyce (December 6, 2020). DeTrans Stories: The Authenticity Quest | with Daisy Chadra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EtS0146uQk

Benjamin Boyce (January 3, 2022). Authenticity Quest 2 | with the Ever Evolving Daisy Chadra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAPMCmnTToA

Preston Sprinkle (July 13, 2021). From Trans to Detrans: Daisy Chadra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k2IXBvuoM4

Time Capsule Show (Jun 2, 2021). What is Detransitioning? | Being FTMTF | Daisy Chadra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr2dNbLIKJ8 |

PragerU (October 25, 2023). DETRANS: The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care. https://www.prageru.com/video/detrans

Independent Women’s Forum (September 22, 2022) Identity Crisis: After Top Surgery & Hormones, Female Detransitioner Decided She Wanted to Be A Mom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkj05vi94RY

Resources

Instagram (instagram.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Camille Kiefel is an American “ex-transgender” activist. Kiefel gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

Keifel identified as nonbinary and medically transitioned as an adult.

Keifel is heavily invested in metaphors of disease and impairment as identity and reportedly has the following problems:

  • CPTSD
  • major depressive disorder
  • ADHD
  • generalized anxiety disorder
  • suicidal ideation

Anti-trans activism

In 2022 Kiefel announced a lawsuit against the healthcare providers who tried to help. Keifel filed another case in 2024.

Kiefel has made the rounds on conservative and fascist media promoting the ex-trans movement.

References

Reed, Erin (November 2, 2023). “Everyone Should Become Catholic”—PragerU $1 Million #DETRANS Ad Echoes Ex-Gays. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/everyone-should-become-catholicprageru

Kiefel, Camille (July 31, 2023). I Was Nonbinary. Now I Help Detransitioners. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/nonbinary-surgery-breast-removal-detransitioning-1816309

Jackson, Daniel; Knoll, James L. (July 12, 2023). Trauma and Transition Trajectories: The Risk of Caenisian Reversion. Psychiatric Times https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/trauma-and-transition-trajectories-the-risk-of-caenisian-reversion

Michels, Holly (January 27, 2023). 5-hour hearing shows emotional debate over bill to block gender care for trans minors. Independent Record https://helenair.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/5-hour-hearing-shows-emotional-debate-over-bill-to-block-gender-care-for-trans-minors/article_8b65c48b-124e-5900-b4e5-982021691545.html

Carnahan, Ashley (December 21, 2022). Detransitioner shares emotional story on why she’s suing doctors who performed double mastectomy. Tucker Carlson Tonight https://www.foxnews.com/media/detransitioner-shares-emotional-story-shes-suing-doctors-performed-double-mastectomy

Schlott, Rikki (December 3, 2022). Detransitioner: ‘I’m suing the doctors who removed my healthy breasts.’ New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/12/03/detransitioner-im-suing-the-doctors-who-removed-my-healthy-breasts/

Goldsberry, Jenny (December 3, 2022). Detransitioner who had breasts removed says she is suing doctors who approved surgery. Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/fairness-justice/former-nonbinary-patient-sues-social-worker-therapist

Buttons, Christina (November 18, 2022). Detransitioner Announces Lawsuit Against Oregon Gender Clinics For Expediting Surgery. The Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-announces-lawsuit-against-oregon-gender-clinics-for-expediting-surgery

Hathaway, Candace (November 18, 2022). Detransitioner sues Oregon gender clinics for ‘abhorrent misdiagnosis’ that ‘mutilated’ her body. The Blaze https://www.theblaze.com/news/detransitioner-sues-oregon-gender-clinics

Elmore, Erin (November 8, 2022). Oregon Woman Sues Gender Transition Care Providers over Rushed Treatment that caused ‘Irreversible’ Damage. Turning Point USA https://www.tpusa.com/live/oregon-woman-sues-gender-transition-care-providers-over-rushed-treatment-that-caused-irreversible-damage

Reinl, James (November 7, 2022). Oregon Woman Sues Carers for green-lighting double mastectomy. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11399015/Oregon-woman-sues-trans-care-team-abhorrent-misdiagnosis-left-MUTILATED.html

Media

Benjamin A. Boyce (January 24, 2023). “Health Care” (Minus Health, Care) | a Detrans Story with Camille Kiefel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW9s-UvOgog

Brently Kopopolous and Daniel de la FĂ© (January 20, 2023). Dangerous Rhetoric 99: Camille Kiefel Dangerous Rhetoric https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTjzPkUa-VI

Michael Ballantine (January 19, 2023). Detransitioner Camille Kiefel, Permanently Damaged By Lies. Woke Uphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtTC_A4oswA

Kallie Fell (Mar 14, 2023). Venus Rising with Camille: I Regret My Top Surgery. The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j2171JpQQM

Kallie Fell (May 23, 2023). Venus Rising with Camille Part 2. The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c75FqCjHBWA

Buck Angel (June 15, 2022). Detransitioner: “I Regret Cutting Off My Breasts” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogs-0onakU

Erin Brewer (October 9, 2022). Detransition: The Importance of Physical Health https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uyo-pR5iUc

Resources

Camille Kiefel (camillekiefel.com)