Milton Thomas “Milt” Edgerton, Jr. was an American plastic surgeon who served our community. Edgerton is widely considered one of the most important American plastic surgeons of the 20th century.
Background
Edgerton was born in Atlanta on July 14, 1921 and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Emory University in 1941. Edgerton earned a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1944. Following a surgical residency, Edgerton joined the United States Army and operated on injured World War II veterans.
Edgerton joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1951 and got tenure in 1962. In 1970 Edgerton was recruited to the University of Virginia to found the Department of Plastic Surgery, working and teaching there until retiring in 1994.
Edgerton had many students and colleagues who served our community as well, including Howard W. Jones, Jr. and John Gale Kenney. Edgerton was author of four books and over 500 scientific papers on plastic surgery. As shown in the selected bibliography below, Edgerton’s articles when read from earliest to latest read like an unfolding of the history of our community.
Edgerton died at age 96 on March 17, 2018. The Milton T. Edgerton, M.D. Professorship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins is named in Edgerton’s honor.
Selected publications
Edgerton MT. Plastic surgery: its roots and rewards. Ann Plast Surg. 2003 Mar;50(3):240-3. PMID: 12800898
Edgerton MT. Early plastic surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2002 Jul;110(1):229-33. PMID: 12087260
Edgerton MT. Plastic surgery: the rainbow profession. Ann Plast Surg. 1997 Mar;38(3):197-201. PMID: 9088453
Edgerton MT, Langman MW, Pruzinsky T. Plastic surgery and psychotherapy in the treatment of 100 psychologically disturbed patients. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1991 Oct;88(4):594-608. PMID: 1896531
This paper reviews the senior author’s long-term experience with the surgical-psychiatric treatment of 100 aesthetic surgery patients with significant psychological disturbances. Patients with psychological disturbances of a magnitude generally considered an “absolute contraindication” for surgery were operated on and later assessed to determine the psychological impact of surgery. Patient follow-up averaged 6.2 years (maximum follow-up 25.7 years). Of the 87 patients who underwent operation (7 patients were refused surgery and 6 voluntarily deferred surgery), 82.8 percent had a positive psychological outcome, 13.8 percent experienced “minimal” improvement from surgery, and 3.4 percent were negatively affected by surgery. There were no lawsuits, suicides, or psychotic decompensations. Patients with severe psychological disturbances frequently benefited from combined surgical-psychiatric treatment designed to address the patient’s profound sense of deformity. This study suggests that plastic surgeons are “passing up” a significant number of patients who may be helped by combined surgical-psychological intervention. Comment in: * Plast Reconstr Surg. 1992 Aug;90(2):333-5.* Plast Reconstr Surg. 1992 Jun;89(6):1173-5.
Edgerton MT Jr, Langman MW, Pruzinsky T. Patients seeking symmetrical recontouring for “perceived” deformities in the width of the face and skull. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 1990 Winter;14(1):59-73. PMID: 2330857
This article describes plastic surgery patients who sought symmetrical recontouring of the width of the face and skull. The basic demographic and personality characteristics of these facial width deformity (FWD) patients and the surgical procedures performed on them are discussed. Details of the surgical and psychological management of three representative cases are given. Speculative conclusions regarding the general characteristics of the FWD population are offered. Suggestions are proposed for a combined surgical-medical psychotherapeutic collaboration in managing these patients.Comment in: * Aesthetic Plast Surg. 1990 Fall;14(4):299-300.
Pauly IB, Edgerton MT. The gender identity movement: a growing surgical-psychiatric liaison. Arch Sex Behav. 1986 Aug;15(4):315-29. PMID: 3741090
The evaluation and treatment of individuals with gender identity problems has resulted in an interesting and productive collaboration between several specialties of medicine. In particular, the psychiatrist and surgeon have joined hands in the management of these fascinating patients who feel they are trapped in the wrong body and insist upon correcting this cruel mistake of nature by undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Over the last two decades, some 40 centers have emerged in which interdisciplinary teams cooperate in the evaluation and treatment of these gender dysphoric patients. The model for this collaboration began at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where the Gender Identity Clinic began its operation in 1965 (Edgerton, 1983; Pauly, 1983). This “gender identity movement” has brought together such unlikely collaborators as surgeons, endocrinologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, and research specialists into a mutually rewarding arena. This paper deals with the background and modern era of research into gender identity disorders and their evaluation and treatment. Finally, some data are presented on the outcome of sex reassignment surgery. This interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted in the birth of a new medical subspecialty, which deals with the study of gender identification and its disorders.
Edgerton MT. The role of surgery in the treatment of transsexualism. Ann Plast Surg. 1984 Dec;13(6):473-81. PMID: 6524842
The increasing use of surgery for sex reassignment in the treatment of transsexualism is described. The author’s early experience over a twenty-year period with the Gender Identity teams at The Johns Hopkins University and The University of Virginia is summarized. Many of the reasons for slow acceptance of this type of surgery by many members of the medical profession are analyzed. The satisfactory subjective results described by patients who have received sex reassignment continue to exceed the results obtained by other methods. The author concludes that further study of surgical treatment is justified, but that it should be limited to established multidisciplinary teams working in academic settings. Physicians are urged to withhold judgment on the role of surgery in gender disorders until they have had significant personal experience with these desperate and complex patients.
Edgerton MT Jr, Langman MW, Schmidt JS, Sheppe W Jr. Psychological considerations of gender reassignment surgery. Clin Plast Surg. 1982 Jul;9(3):355-66. PMID: 7172587
Edgerton MT, Sheppe WM Jr, Turner UG 3rd, Thorup OA. Transsexualism. An insight into the power of psychologic gender–a panel discussion. Pharos Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Med Soc. 1978 Oct;41(4):31-6. PMID: 724795
Turner UG 3rd, Edlich RF, Edgerton MT. Male transsexualism–a review of genital surgical reconstruction. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1978 Sep 15;132(2):119-33. PMID: 356612
Transsexualism is a poorly understood, uncommon, and controversial entity of recent interest to the lay public and medical profession. Important features of the condition are discussed, surgical procedures for genital conversion in male transsexuals are compared, and our experience at the University of Virginia where 53 patients have been treated surgically is presented. All patients have made satisfactory postoperative psychosocial adjustment despite a surgical complication rate approaching 50 per cent. It is concluded that alternative (better) surgical procedures for male transsexuals should be explored.
Bralley RC, Bull GL, Gore CH, Edgerton MT. Evaluation of vocal pitch in male transsexuals. Commun Disord. 1978 Sep;11(5):443-9. PMID: 730836
A 49-year-old male-to-female transsexual was administered voice therapy following surgery. Tape recordings were made of her speech prior to and each week during therapy. Selected sentences from these reocrdings were analyzed. Results indicate that changes in both fundamental frequency and perceptual judgments of femininity were statistically significant and supportive to the client. The voice of the client was still discernible from that of a female speaker, although less so than before therapy. It is suggested that a composite treatment program combined with laryngeal modification through surgical intervention may be necessary.
Thomson JA Jr, Knorr NJ, Edgerton MT Jr. Cosmetic surgery: the psychiatric perspective. Psychosomatics. 1978 Jan;19(1):7-15. PMID: 622436
Edgerton MT. Liquid silicone injections to improve scars: is this a solution to the problem? Clin Plast Surg. 1977 Apr;4(2):311-9. PMID: 852228
Edgerton MT. The surgical treatment of male transsexuals. Clin Plast Surg. 1974 Apr;1(2):285-323. PMID: 4609668
Edgerton MT. Transsexualism–a surgical problem? Plast Reconstr Surg. 1973 Jul;52(1):74-6. PMID: 4713823
Edgerton MT, Bull J. Surgical construction of the vagina and labia in male transsexuals. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1970 Dec;46(6):529-39. PMID: 4923947
Edgerton MT, Knorr NJ, Callison JR. The surgical treatment of transsexual patients. Limitations and indications. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1970 Jan;45(1):38-46. PMID: 490284
Knorr NJ, Hoopes JE, Edgerton MT. Psychiatric-surgical approach to adolescent disturbance in self image. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1968 Mar;41(3):248-53. PMID: 5644617
Knorr NJ, Edgerton MT, Hoopes JE. The “insatiable” cosmetic surgery patient. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1967 Sep;40(3):285-9. PMID: 6037160
Turner, Edlich & Edgerton, 1978
Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottville, VA, USA
In structure and representation this publication is closely related to the one of Edgerton & Meyer (1973), that is, it is no follow-up study with reliable data. Related are mostly surgical techniques for MFTs and surgical complications. Under historical viewpoints it is an interesting statement that Edgerton was already in 1963 the director of the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic in Baltimore, MD, while everywhere else the founding of this institution is generally dated two years later. Also it is interesting that a psychologist is given a key role or a veto right to the indication to surgery. For the rest, the necessity for a successful one-year-long “Real-Life-Test” as it was already in Edgerton & Meyer (1973), the experimental surgical breast enlargement is recommended as a step if the patient and treatment provider are insecure regarding the stability of the female identity of the patient. In how far the statement: “The only justification for the ongoing evaluation of surgery as a definite treatment entity is that patients with this condition have proved resistant to psychotherapy and drug therapy” (p. 121) is a general postulate or if the corresponding possibility has been tested with those who underwent surgery is not to be discerned by the publication.
It is reported about 53 gender reassignment surgeries of MFTs that Edgerton made after changing from Baltimore to Virginia.
Forty seven females came to the follow-up study in the first year after surgery. Globally it is said that all were subjectively happy and self-secure and socially better adjusted. “Psychological testing has substantiated these subjective claims” (p. 128). Suicide attempts after surgery or desires to role re-reversal were not observed. Eighteen females had gotten married and six had adopted children.
In the series of the first 20 surgically treated, 14 females required corrective surgery; in the series of the second 20, only eight. The most frequent complication was the stenosis of the vagina. Injuries of the urethra or rectum with corresponding fistulae did not occur.
References
Smith, Harrison (July 16, 2018) Milton Edgerton, trailblazing plastic surgeon for children and transgender patients, dies at 96. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/milton-edgerton-trailblazing-plastic-surgeon-for-children-and-transgender-patients-dies-at-96/2018/07/16/28bcae0a-8836-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html
American Society of Plastic Surgeons (May 22, 2018). Craniofacial groundbreaker Milton Edgerton, MD, passes at age 96. https://www.plasticsurgery.org/for-medical-professionals/education-and-resources/publications/psn-extra/news/craniofacial-groundbreaker-milton-edgerton-md-passes-at-age-96
Morgan RF, Morgan EA (2019). Milton T Edgerton, MD: A Pioneer of Surgery of the Hand. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery: March/April 2019 – Volume 30 – Issue 2 – p 303–305 https://doi.org/10.1097/SCS.0000000000005063
Resources
Archival contact information:
- University of Virginia Medical Center, Gender Identity Clinic, P. O. Box 376 Charlottesville, VA 22908 USA
- Phone: (434) 924-5068
Scott Leibowitz is an American pediatric psychiatrist best known for working with gender diverse youth and with anti-trans journalists.
Like many psychologists and psychiatrists who get paid to do them, Leibowitz promotes “comprehensive psychological assessments,” a form of gatekeeping used for over a century to delay or deny medical transition options for trans and gender diverse people.
Leibowitz is a key source for journalists who feel it has become too easy for adolescents and young adults to get hormones and surgery, covering trans healthcare like an unfolding medical scandal. Leibowitz participated in numerous articles about the ex-transgender movement, most notably pieces by anti-trans activists Jesse Singal in The Atlantic and Emily Bazelon in the New York Times. Those pieces have been cited in proposed legislation banning trans healthcare.
Leibowitz was a signatory on the 2023 Statement Regarding Laws Restricting Gender Affirming Medical Care, signed by a number of other healthcare professionals who litigate their views in the press.
Leibowitz believes that science, medicine, and journalism can somehow be separated from politics. In 2024, despite Leibowitz’s objections, Ohio passed HB 68 banning the care that Leibowitz offers in that state.
Background
Scott Farrell Leibowitz was born on May 20, 1978 in Smithtown, New York. Leibowitz earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a medical degree from the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine New York State/American Program. Leibowitz completed residencies at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Long Island Jewish Health System. Leibowitz then did a Fellowship at the children’s gender clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital with colleague Laura Edwards-Leeper. In 2013 Leibowitz took a similar position at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. In 2015 Leibowitz was recruited to Nationwide Children’s in Columbus, Ohio.
2018 Atlantic article
Leibowitz was quoted throughout a 2018 Atlantic article by Jesse Singal on the ex-transgender movement. Similar to the ex-gay movement, the people who promote the medicalized concepts of “desistance” and “detransition” believe that interest in gender transition is a disease that can resolve on its own or through medical intervention. Proponents of these loaded terms make several assumptions that are not value-neutral and therefore not scientific.
[Laura] Edwards-Leeper is hoping to promote a concept of affirming care that takes into account the developmental nuances that so often come up in her clinical work. In this effort, she is joined by Scott Leibowitz, a psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents. He is the medical director of behavioral health for the THRIVE program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, in Columbus. Leibowitz has a long history of working with and supporting TGNC youth—he served as an expert witness for the Department of Justice in 2016, when President Barack Obama’s administration challenged state-level “bathroom bills” that sought to prevent trans people from using the public bathroom associated with their gender identity. Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz met at Boston Children’s, where Leibowitz did his psychiatry fellowship, and the two have been close friends and collaborators ever since.
While it’s understandable, for historical reasons, why some people associate comprehensive psychological assessments with denial of access to care, that isn’t how Leibowitz and Edwards-Leeper view their approach. Yes, they want to discern whether a patient actually has gender dysphoria. But comprehensive assessments and ongoing mental-health work are also means of ensuring that transitioning—which can be a physically and emotionally taxing process for adolescents even under the best of circumstances—goes smoothly.
[…]
Scott’s assessment process centered mostly on the basic readiness questions Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz are convinced should be asked of any young person considering hormones.
[…]
But progressive-minded parents can sometimes be a problem for their kids as well. Several of the clinicians I spoke with, including Nate Sharon, Laura Edwards-Leeper, and Scott Leibowitz, recounted new patients’ arriving at their clinics, their parents having already developed detailed plans for them to transition. “I’ve actually had patients with parents pressuring me to recommend their kids start hormones,” Sharon said.
[…]
Leibowitz noted that a relationship with a caring therapist may itself be an important prophylactic against suicidal ideation for TGNC youth: “Often for the first time having a medical or mental-health professional tell them that they are going to take them seriously and really listen to them and hear their story often helps them feel better than they’ve ever felt.”
[…]
“Would you rather have a live daughter or a dead son?” is a common response to such questions. “This type of narrative takes an already fearful parent and makes them even more afraid, which is hardly the type of mind-set one would want a parent to be in when making a complex lifelong decision for their adolescent,” Leibowitz said.
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a physician who specializes in pediatric and adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and who is the medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development, is one of the most sought-out voices on these issues, and has significant differences with Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz. In “Mental Health Disparities Among Transgender Youth: Rethinking the Role of Professionals,” a 2016 JAMA Pediatrics article, she wrote that “establishing a therapeutic relationship entails honesty and a sense of safety that can be compromised if young people believe that what they need and deserve (potentially blockers, hormones, or surgery) can be denied them according to the information they provide to the therapist.”
[…]
Perhaps a first step is to recognize detransitioners and desisters as being on the same “side” as happily transitioned trans people. Members of each of these groups have experienced gender dysphoria at some point, and all have a right to compassionate, comprehensive care, whether or not that includes hormones or surgery. “The detransitioner is probably just as scarred by the system as the transitioner who didn’t have access to transition,” Leibowitz told me. The best way to build a system that fails fewer people is to acknowledge the staggering complexity of gender dysphoria—and to acknowledge just how early we are in the process of understanding it.
2022 New York Times article
In 2022, Leibowitz was the central figure and framing device in an article by Emily Bazelon. Like many journalists, Bazelon was clearly more empathetic to primary source Leibowitz. Bazelon also presents Leibowitz as a “scientist under seige,” a cliché common in journalism about conservative cisgender people involved in transgender research.
The story is about the editing of the WPATH Standards of Care 8 chapter on youth.
Leibowitz, [Annelou] de Vries and their co-authors held their ground on assessments. The final version of their chapter said that because of the limited long-term research, treatment without a comprehensive diagnostic assessment “has no empirical support and therefore carries the risk that the decision to start gender-affirming medical interventions may not be in the long-term best interest of the young person at that time.”
References
Korry, Elaine (August 19, 2016). Transgender Youth Using Puberty Blockers. KQED https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/226462/transgender-youth-using-puberty-blockers https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/puberty-blockers-may-improve-mental-health-transgender-adolescents
Moroney, Murphy (February 8, 2021). A Pediatric Psychiatrist Explains the Best Way to Talk to Kids About Gender and Pronouns. Popsugar. https://www.popsugar.com/family/how-to-discuss-gender-preferred-pronouns-with-kids-48135634
Borchardt, Jackie (February 11, 2020). Ohio bill would punish doctors who help transgender kids transition. Opponents decry ‘fear-mongering.’ Cincinnati Enquirer. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/02/11/ohio-bill-would-punish-doctors-who-provide-gender-affirming-treatment-transgender-kids/4715761002/
Savage, Rachel (November 25, 2019). U.S. lawmakers weigh bans on trans youth treatments. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-health-trfn-idUSKBN1XZ26C
Gurvis, Sandra (November 21, 2018). Dr. Scott Leibowitz is Caring for Transgender Youth. Columbus Monthly https://www.columbusmonthly.com/lifestyle/20181119/caring-for-transgender-youth
Ford, Zack (July 5, 2018). Scholars dismantle the myth policing trans kids’ genders. ThinkProgress https://archive.thinkprogress.org/scholars-dismantle-the-myth-policing-trans-kids-genders-55f78df59c50/
[from original version] In his Atlantic story, Singal also justified his skepticism of letting kids transition by relying heavily on two care providers, Scott Leibowitz and Laura Edwards-Leeper, who believe in the desistance myth, and whom Singal has cited in the past. Despite the fact that their views are shared by few other experts, Singal has suggested in the past that their theory is mainstream.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referenced child and adolescent psychiatrist Scott Leibowitz and his colleague Laura Edwards-Leeper in a context that misrepresented their work. It has been updated to remove reference to them.
Singal, Jesse (July 2018). When a child says she’s trans. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/
Perry, Kimball (November 5, 2017). Love and acceptance help transgender teen’s journey. The Columbus Dispatch https://www.dispatch.com/news/20171105/love-and-acceptance-help-transgender-teens-journey
Association of American Medical Colleges (October 2015). Teaching Gender Identity and Transgender Health with Scott Leibowitz. AAMC https://www.aamc.org/what-we-do/diversity-inclusion/lgbt-health-resources/videos/teaching-gender-equity-leibowitz
Shute, Nancy (November 12, 2014). Training The Next Generation Of Doctors To Get LGBT Health Right. NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/11/12/363319642/training-the-next-generation-of-doctors-to-get-lgbt-health-right
Pappas, Stephanie (February 20, 2012). Mental Health Problems Plague Transgender Kids. LiveScience https://www.livescience.com/16110-transgender-teen-mental-health.html
Media
Association of American Medical Colleges (October 2015, uploaded March 20, 2019). Teaching Gender Identity and Transgender Health with Scott Leibowitz. https://vimeo.com/325520415
Publications
Simons LK, Leibowitz SF, Hidalgo MA (2014). Understanding gender variance in children and adolescents. Pediatr Ann. 2014 Jun;43(6):e126-31. https://doi.org/10.3928/00904481-20140522-07
Edwards-Leeper L, Leibowitz SF, Sangganjanavanich VF (2016). Affirmative practice with transgender and gender nonconforming youth: Expanding the model. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 3(2):165-172 https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000167
Calzo JP, Melchiono M, Richmond TK, Leibowitz SF, Argenal RL, Goncalves A, Pitts S, Gooding HC, Burke P (2017). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent Health: An Interprofessional Case Discussion. MedEdPORTAL. 2017 Aug 9;13:10615. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10615
Janssen A, Scott Leibowitz SF, eds. (2018). Affirmative Mental Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth: A Clinical Guide. ISBN 9783319783079
The research term for this is desistance. This has become a rather controversial discussion because the studies themselves vary in the populations they included and how they handled the children that were lost to follow up.
Strang JF, Powers MD, Knauss M, Sibarium E, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, Sadikova E, Wyss S, Willing L, Caplan R, Pervez N, Nowak J, Gohari D, Gomez-Lobo V, Call D, Anthony LG (2018). “They Thought It Was an Obsession”: Trajectories and Perspectives of Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Dec;48(12):4039-4055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3723-6
Strang JF, Janssen A, Tishelman A, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, McGuire JK, Edwards-Leeper L, Mazefsky CA, Rofey D, Bascom J, Caplan R, Gomez-Lobo V, Berg D, Zaks Z, Wallace GL, Wimms H, Pine-Twaddell E, Shumer D, Register-Brown K, Sadikova E, Anthony LG (2018). Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov;57(11):885-887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.04.023
Leibowitz SF, Lantos JD (2019). Affirming, Balanced, and Comprehensive Care for Transgender Teenagers. Pediatrics. June 2019, 143 (6) e20190995 https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-0995
Leibowitz, Scott (June 14, 2020). OPINION: J. K. Rowling and her inaccuracies about trans youth. Thomson Reuters Foundation News https://news.trust.org/item/20200614160303-acghe/
Leibowitz, Scott (June 16, 2023). Gender-Affirming Care for Adolescents: Separating Political Polarization From Medicine. Psychiatric Times https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/gender-affirming-care-for-adolescents-separating-political-polarization-from-medicine
Exhibit 37: Expert Declaration of Scott F. Leibowitz, MD. United States of America v. State of North Carolina, et al. (2017). No. 1:16-cv-00425 [PDF] https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/de_076-37_-_leibowitz_decl_iso_mot_for_pi_us_07-06-2016.pdf
Leibowitz SF, Telingator C (2012). Assessing gender identity concerns in children and adolescents: evaluation, treatments, and outcomes. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2012 Apr;14(2):111-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0259-x
Leibowitz SF, Norman Spack (2011). The development of a gender identity psychosocial clinic: treatment issues, logistical considerations, interdisciplinary cooperation, and future initiatives. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2011 Oct;20(4):701-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.07.004
Stoddard J, Leibowitz SF, Ton H, Snowdon S (2011). Improving medical education about gender-variant youth and transgender adolescents. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2011 Oct;20(4):779-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.07.008
Resources
Twitter (twitter.com)
Nationwide Children’s (nationwidechildrens.org)
Association of American Medical Colleges (aamc.org)
Teaching Gender Identity and Transgender Health with Scott Leibowitz
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Laura Edwards-Leeper is a conservative American psychologist best known for working with gender diverse youth. Edwards-Leeper has become a favored source for journalists promoting the ex-transgender movement and a leading voice in a faction of therapists who have “concerns” that affirmative models of care for trans youth do not have enough gatekeeping. Edwards-Leeper believes trans people and their families should pay someone like her before getting access to medical transition options.
Background
Laura Ann Edwards-Leeper was born on January 18, 1975. Edwards-Leeper earned a bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark College in 1997, then attended Bowling Green State University, earning a graduate certificate in 2003 and a doctorate in 2004. Edwards-Leeper did internships through Montana State University, Bozeman at Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital and through Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School.
Edwards-Leeper is married to Todd Steven Edwards-Leeper (born 1973).
Transgender youth
Edwards-Leeper worked closely with endocrinologist Norman Spack at Boston Children’s Hospital. Spack is an innovator in offering medical options to gender diverse youth, founding the Gender Management Service (GeMS) there in 2007. Edwards-Leeper and Spack co-authored several articles through 2012, when Edwards-Leeper left GeMs for a similar role at Seattle Children’s Hospital. After a year, Edwards-Leeper went into private practice.
After 2012, Edwards-Leeper began publishing on the correlation between neurodiversity and gender diversity.
2018 Atlantic article
Edwards-Leeper was quoted throughout a 2018 Atlantic article by Jesse Singal on the ex-transgender movement. Similar to the ex-gay movement, the people who promote the medicalized concepts of “desistance” and “detransition” believe that being trans is a disease that can resolve on it own or through medical intervention. Proponents of these loaded terms make several assumptions that are not value-neutral and therefore not scientific.
Singal presents Edwards-Leeper and fellow clinicians Erica Anderson and Dianne Berg as therapists who have “concerns” that more affirming care for minors may lead to negative transition outcomes. Edwards-Leeper’s assessment methods had led to a controversial reputation, Critics reportedly “nearly threw things” at Edwards-Leeper at conferences:
Those conference troubles signaled to Edwards-Leeper that her field had shifted in ways she found discomfiting. At one conference a few years ago, she recalled, a co-panelist who was a well-respected clinician in her field said that Edwards-Leeper’s comprehensive assessments required kids to “jump through more fiery hoops” and were “retraumatizing.” This prompted a standing ovation from the audience, mostly families of TGNC young people. During another panel discussion, at the same conference with the same clinician, but this time geared toward fellow clinicians, the same thing happened: more claims that assessments were traumatizing, more raucous applause.
Edwards-Leeper isn’t alone in worrying that the field is straying from its own established best practices. “Under the motivation to be supportive and to be affirming and to be nonstigmatizing, I think the pendulum has swung so far that now we’re maybe not looking as critically at the issues as we should be,” the National Center for Gender Spectrum Health’s Dianne Berg told me. Erica Anderson, the UCSF clinician, expressed similar concerns: “Some of the stories we’ve heard about detransitioning, I fear, are related to people who hastily embarked on medical interventions and decided that they weren’t for them, and didn’t thoroughly vet their decision either by themselves or with professional people who could help them.”
Singal (2018)
Via Jenny Cyphers, an activist in the ex-trans movement:
Two of the most important aspects of my family’s experience that are not adequately addressed in the Atlantic article, are: 1) my daughter was given a clinical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, so she was just as “truly trans” as the next kid, and 2) it was my insistence that my child wait to medically transition, not her therapist’s. My teen’s therapist, Laura Edwards-Leeper, listened to me and agreed. We were lucky. While there are some cautious, thoughtful providers, the current situation in the US is that there is also no oversight. The most vocal professionals are firmly in the affirmation camp which believes, without any long-term data to validate, that withholding hormonal interventions is tantamount to abuse.
2021 60 Minutes segment
Edwards-Leeper appeared on a 60 Minutes segment about the ex-transgender movement and was presented as a practitioner of “comprehensive assessment” in a way that suggested some colleagues were not doing this. When CBS’s Lesley Stahl asked about “this whole area of accepting what young people are saying too readily,” Edwards-Leeper said:
Yes, everyone is very scared to speak up because we’re afraid of not being seen as affirming or supportive of these young people or doing something to hurt the trans community. But even some of the providers are trans themselves and share these concerns.
This is a reference to conservative trans therapist Erica Anderson, who also appeared in the segment.
2021 Washington Post op-ed
Edwards-Leeper again joined fellow conservative clinician Erica Anderson to denounce what they consider insufficient gatekeeping in healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth.
In response, DC-area parents Rachel Cornwell and Liz Matthews wrote:
As parents of transgender youths, we are deeply concerned by Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson’s Nov. 28 Outlook essay, “The mental health establishment is failing trans kids.” Though we agree with their conclusion that improvements in care for gender-diverse youths are needed, their alarmist concerns about insufficient psychological evaluations for gender-affirming care are unfounded and sensationalized.
The writers based their opinion on anecdotal experiences and even admitted that “providers and their behavior haven’t been closely studied.” They pointed to a single study of an extremely small number of people who have detransitioned to support their argument in favor of delaying or even denying gender-affirming medical care to gender-diverse youths. They recklessly conflate safe, reversible medical interventions such as hormone blockers with more permanent gender-confirmation treatments such as surgeries, which are typically not performed on minors in the United States. And they dangerously play down the risk of suicide that can result from denying gender-affirming care.
Thousands of trans youths are now thriving because of gender-affirming care. Thankfully, our children are among that number because of the intervention of mental health providers and physicians, as well as the support of our communities. Trans kids need all the support they can get because they live in a world that too often denies and degrades them. That is why it’s such a shame that the authors would increase barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, rather than expand access for all who need it.
Clinician AJ Eckert, who was identified in the piece, wrote:
The essay misrepresented gender-affirming care, which is nuanced, complex and comprehensive. The writers mischaracterized transgender youths and pushed a damaging pseudoscientific narrative that serves to further limit health care for an already underserved, marginalized and vulnerable population. The writers leaned on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s standards of care but failed to note that the standards acknowledge the damaging and irreversible consequences of an incongruent puberty, reject the stereotype of trans psychopathology and include harm-reduction strategies.
Contrary to the anti-trans arguments spread throughout mass media and repeated by the writers, research shows that detransition and regret are rare, trans youth suicide rates are alarmingly high, and trans children supported in their identities have better mental health outcomes. One of their most egregious lies was that those opposed to gender-affirming care are being silenced. This article was proof that isn’t true.
Trans children deserve love, support and thoughtful medical care as much as cisgender children do. Pieces such as this are responsible for the closure of gender clinics, anti-trans sentiment and the spate of laws and regulations targeting trans youths.
References
Paul, Pamela (February 2, 2024). As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/opinion/transgender-children-gender-dysphoria.html
Sibarium, Aaron (October 4, 2023). Planned Parenthood is Helping Teenagers Transition After a 30 Minute Consult. Parents and Doctors are Sounding the Alarm. Washington Beacon https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/planned-parenthood-is-helping-teenagers-transition-after-a-30-minute-consult-parents-and-doctors-are-sounding-the-alarm/
Bazelon, Emily (June 15, 2022). The Battle Over Gender Therapy. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/magazine/gender-therapy.html
Beard, McKenzie (May 16, 2022). Some clinicians stress mental health care for kids questioning their gender. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/16/some-clinicians-stress-mental-health-care-kids-questioning-their-gender/
Ghorayshi, Azeen (January 13, 2022). Doctors Debate Whether Trans Teens Need Therapy Before Hormones. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/health/transgender-teens-hormones.html
Respaut, Robin; Terhune, Chad; Conline, Michelle (December 22, 2022). Why detransitioners are crucial to the science of gender care. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-outcomes/
Stahl, Lesley (May 23, 2021). State bills would curtail health care for transgender youth. 60 Minutes / CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-health-care-60-minutes-2021-05-23/
Francis, Mike (March 11, 2021). Psychology Professor Laura Edwards-Leeper Tapped as Expert on Youth Gender Dysphoria and Related Issues. Pacific University Oregon https://www.pacificu.edu/about/media/psychology-professor-laura-edwards-leeper-tapped-expert-youth-gender-dysphoria-and-related-issues
Edwards-Leeper, Laura; Anderson, Erica (November 28, 2021). Opinion: The mental health establishment is failing trans kids. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/24/trans-kids-therapy-psychologist/
Cyphers, Jenny (June 25, 2018). What I wish the Atlantic article hadn’t censored. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2018/06/25/what-i-wish-the-atlantic-article-hadnt-censored/
Singal, Jesse (July 2018). When a child says she’s trans. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/
Mapes, Diane (February 20, 2012). More transgender kids seeking help, getting treatment. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/more-transgender-kids-seeking-help-getting-treatment-flna1c6435989
Selected publications
Strang JF, McClellan LS, Raaijmakers D, Caplan R, Klomp SE, Reutter M, Lai MC, Song M, Gratton FV, Dale LK, Schutte A, de Vries ALC, Gardiner F, Edwards-Leeper L, Minnaard AL, Eleveld NL, Corbin E, Purkis Y, Lawson W, Kim DY, van Wieringen IM, Rodríguez-Roldán VM, Harris MC, Wilks MF, Abraham G, Balleur-van Rijn A, Brown LXZ, Forshaw A, Wilks GB, Griffin AD, Graham EK, Krause S, Pervez N, Bok IA, Song A, Fischbach AL, van der Miesen AIR (2023). The Gender-Diversity and Autism Questionnaire: A Community-Developed Clinical, Research, and Self-Advocacy Tool for Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Young Adults. Autism Adulthood. 2023 Jun 1;5(2):175-190. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0002
Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, Brown GR, de Vries ALC, Deutsch MB, Ettner R, Fraser L, Goodman M, Green J, Hancock AB, Johnson TW, Karasic DH, Knudson GA, Leibowitz SF, Meyer-Bahlburg HFL, Monstrey SJ, Motmans J, Nahata L, Nieder TO, Reisner SL, Richards C, Schechter LS, Tangpricha V, Tishelman AC, Van Trotsenburg MAA, Winter S, Ducheny K, Adams NJ, Adrián TM, Allen LR, Azul D, Bagga H, Başar K, Bathory DS, Belinky JJ, Berg DR, Berli JU, Bluebond-Langner RO, Bouman MB, Bowers ML, Brassard PJ, Byrne J, Capitán L, Cargill CJ, Carswell JM, Chang SC, Chelvakumar G, Corneil T, Dalke KB, De Cuypere G, de Vries E, Den Heijer M, Devor AH, Dhejne C, D’Marco A, Edmiston EK, Edwards-Leeper L, Ehrbar R, Ehrensaft D, Eisfeld J, Elaut E, Erickson-Schroth L, Feldman JL, Fisher AD, Garcia MM, Gijs L, Green SE, Hall BP, Hardy TLD, Irwig MS, Jacobs LA, Janssen AC, Johnson K, Klink DT, Kreukels BPC, Kuper LE, Kvach EJ, Malouf MA, Massey R, Mazur T, McLachlan C, Morrison SD, Mosser SW, Neira PM, Nygren U, Oates JM, Obedin-Maliver J, Pagkalos G, Patton J, Phanuphak N, Rachlin K, Reed T, Rider GN, Ristori J, Robbins-Cherry S, Roberts SA, Rodriguez-Wallberg KA, Rosenthal SM, Sabir K, Safer JD, Scheim A… (2022). Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8. Int J Transgend Health. 2022 Sep 6;23(Suppl 1):S1-S259. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644
Spivey LA, Edwards-Leeper L (2019). Future Directions in Affirmative Psychological Interventions with Transgender Children and Adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2019 Mar-Apr;48(2):343-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1534207
Strang JF, Janssen A, Tishelman A, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, McGuire JK, Edwards-Leeper L, Mazefsky CA, Rofey D, Bascom J, Caplan R, Gomez-Lobo V, Berg D, Zaks Z, Wallace GL, Wimms H, Pine-Twaddell E, Shumer D, Register-Brown K, Sadikova E, Anthony LG (2018). Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov;57(11):885-887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.04.023
Chen D, Edwards-Leeper L, Stancin T, Tishelman A. Advancing the Practice of Pediatric Psychology with Transgender Youth: State of the Science (2018), Ongoing Controversies, and Future Directions. Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol. 2018 Mar;6(1):73-83. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpp0000229
Strang JF, Meagher H, Kenworthy L, de Vries ALC, Menvielle E, Leibowitz S, Janssen A, Cohen-Kettenis P, Shumer DE, Edwards-Leeper L, Pleak RR, Spack N, Karasic DH, Schreier H, Balleur A, Tishelman A, Ehrensaft D, Rodnan L, Kuschner ES, Mandel F, Caretto A, Lewis HC, Anthony LG (2018). Initial Clinical Guidelines for Co-Occurring Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gender Dysphoria or Incongruence in Adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2018 Jan-Feb;47(1):105-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1228462
Shumer DE, Reisner SL, Edwards-Leeper L, Tishelman A (2016). Evaluation of Asperger Syndrome in Youth Presenting to a Gender Dysphoria Clinic. LGBT Health. 2016 Oct;3(5):387-90. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2015.0070
Tishelman AC, Kaufman R, Edwards-Leeper L, Mandel FH, Shumer DE, Spack NP (2015). Serving Transgender Youth: Challenges, Dilemmas and Clinical Examples. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2015;46(1):37-45. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037490
- Tishelman AC, Kaufman R, Edwards-Leeper L, Mandel FH, Shumer DE, Spack NP (2015). Reply to comment on “Serving Transgender Youth: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Clinical Examples” by Tishelman et al. (2015). Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2015 Aug;46(4):307. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000029
Children and adolescents with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center. Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L, Feldman HA, Leibowitz S, Mandel F, Diamond DA, Vance SR. Pediatrics. 2012 Mar;129(3):418-25. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0907
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2012). Psychological evaluation and medical treatment of transgender youth in an interdisciplinary “Gender Management Service” (GeMS) in a major pediatric center. Journal of Homosexuality, 59 (3), 321-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2012.653302
Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L, Feldman HA, Leibowitz S, Mandel F, Diamond DA, Vance SR (2012). Children and adolescents with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center. Pediatrics, 129 (3), 418-425. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0907
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2012). Psychological Evaluation and Medical Treatment of Transgender Youth in an Interdisciplinary “Gender Management Service” (GeMS) in a Major Pediatric Center. Journal of Homosexuality 59(3):321-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2012.653302
Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L (2011). Medical treatment of the transgender adolescent. In Fisher M, Alderman E, Kreipe R, Rosenfeld W (Eds). Textbook of Adolescent Health Care. American Academy of Pediatrics, ISBN 9781581102697
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2011). Gender identity disorder. In Augustyn M, Zuckerman B, Caronna EB (Eds.), The Zuckerman Parker Handbook of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics for Primary Care (3rd ed., pp. 229-233). Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-1608319145
Resources
Dr. Laura Edwards-Leeper, PhD (drlauraedwardsleeper.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Pacific University (pacificu.edu)
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Rya Jones is an American former publishing executive who has espoused conservative transgender views. Jones posted many videos expressing conservative or religious views about gender, many of which were later deleted.
Background
Rya Jones was born on June 24, 1974. Jones graduated from high school in 1992, then earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996. Jones served as CEO of Jones Publishing, Inc. It was founded by Jones’ parents in 1986 and has produced a number of specialty periodicals:
- Religious (via Crosslife LLC): Today’s Christian Living, Today’s Pastor
- Aircraft: Pipers Magazine, Cessna Owner Organization
- Small business: Smart Retailer, Handmade Business
- Arts and crafts: Sunshine Artist, Dolls, Doll Costuming, Doll Crafter, Dollmaking, Popular Ceramics, Ceramics Arts and Craft, Teddy Bear Review
Jones transitioned in around 2015. Jones’ time as CEO ended in 2016. In 2017, JP Media LLC purchased Jones Publishing, Inc. in a planned transfer of the company from Joe and Maggie Jones to Diana Jones, Rya Jones’ former spouse. Rya and Diana Jones had seven children who were home-schooled. Jones has served as an ordained pastor in Cornerstone Churches in Wisconsin and studied part-time for a Master’s in Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jones now identifies as a “former pastor.” Jones has been involved with Madison Community Cooperative and has been licensed as a health insurance agent with Humana.
Online activity
Jones uses several online handles, including:
- Rya N.T. Jones
- HeyThisIsRya
In around 2017, Jones published a number of videos on YouTube about various gender-critical topics including a possible “detransition” before removing all of the videos. One video, titled “I am an autogynephile,” led to Jones being listed on this site as an autogynephilia activist. Jones claimed in the 2025 statement below that the provocative title was to generate engagement and was not a statement of identity.
Starting in September 2022, Rya Jones and parent Joe Jones produced dozens of episodes of a podcast titled TranDescendant.
Statement from Rya Jones
In June 2025. Jones sent the following statement for publication on this profile:
I am not, nor have I have I ever been, an “Autogynephilia activist.” On November 3, 2017, I published a video arguing that gatekeeping in the transgender community needed to stop. I told the story of my interaction with a straight trans woman who told me I was not really trans because I am attracted to women instead of men. I then made the point that some people that call my condition autogynephilia in order to marginalize us. The point I intended to make was that, no matter what you choose to call me, it does not make me less authentically-trans. The thumbnail had a picture of me with the phrase, “Not Trans Enough.”
But then almost as an afterthought, I titled it “I am an autogynephile.” I knew that YouTube likes controversy, and that using such a title would almost certainly get more views. Once people saw the video, I reasoned, they would hear my argument and stop belittling women like me. That was almost certainly the wrong decision, because nearly everyone, from transphobes to trans people, took the title at face value. Ironically, some people used it as an admission that I was not really trans after all.
It didn’t help that I posted some similarly provocative videos, including one where I talked about challenging gender norms by “detransitioning” but continuing to present female. I regretted the idea almost instantly after I published the video. I used my very next video to explain why I was wrong. Some commenters accused me of broadcasting internalized transphobia on that channel. I did my best not to do so. Looking back, they were probably right. I don’t think I ever described myself as Gender Critical, but I was certainly trying to engage a Gender Critical audience in order to change their minds. When I realized that approach was never going to work, I quit the channel.
To those I hurt with my words, I am sincerely sorry. I cannot change that I said those things. But I did unpublish the channel years ago. I reject Ray Blanchard’s widely-rejected hypothesis of autogynephelia. And I most certainly would NEVER describe myself as a “man trapped in a man’s body.” If there’s anything more I can do to right the wrongs I may have caused, please email me at rya dot nt dot jones at gmail.
References
MacGregor, Ilsa (August 20, 2018). ‘I am not a Woman’ – Transsexuals and Transgender Women Speak Out. Tasmanian Times https://tasmaniantimes.com/2018/08/i-am-not-a-woman-transsexuals-and-transgender-women-speak-out-d1/#google_vignette
Media
Miranda Yardley and Rya Jones (July 12, 2017). ‘TERF’ and ‘Cis’: Misogyny and Homophobia in Transgender Culture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUP2csDBG-E [deleted]
Female Erasure Anthology with Rya Jones and Ruth Barrett (Oct 2, 2017). A trans-identified male interviews Ruth Barrett, editor of ‘Female Erasure.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulemepEkohg
Resources
Jones Publishing (jonespublishing.com) [archive]
JP Media LLC (jpmediallc.com)
TranDescendant (transdescendant.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
- heythisisrya7702
- most videos from previous channel deleted, including
- I HATE BEING TRANSGENDER
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wxt0XfplPM
- Why I Didn’t Realize I was Transgender for Most of My Life
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oyc_Aq4llI
- A Transgender Woman Talks About the Pressures of Gender Conformity
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn_Wo5NzRo4
- WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO WITH THIS CHANNEL | A chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakFBxmD7aY
- DO OUR OPPRESSORS DESERVE TO HAVE US LISTEN TO THEM? | A Thougtful Response to Riley J. Dennis
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gDgEz6BAOc
- ARE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE POSSESSED? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMzsv8ab4W8
- WHEN YOUR DAD GOES FROM FUNDAMENTALIST TO TRANSGENDER | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L96esw36h8Q
- HOW TO OVERCOME THE COTTON CEILING | A Transgender Response to Arielle Scarcella
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_VXfZE0Hg8
- Are Trans Women Biologically Male?
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXHeifREMbA
- THE TRUTH ABOUT TERFS | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrOudAt-yUs
- WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A WOMAN? | A Chat With Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaXbqvYU5iQ
- STOP CALLING PEOPLE TERFS! | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGUBfoTAJ5Y
- IS IT OKAY TO HAVE WOMEN-ONLY SPACES THAT EXCLUDE TRANS WOMEN? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB-R3o5fQ0w
- WHY AREN’T TRANS FOLKS LISTENING?! | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDM92WgrmI0
- FIRST KISS AT THE ALTAR | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnU6DdxjwKo
- GENDER IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giAOLuibmNg
- I’M A TRANSGENDER TERF? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY_8SWBUvoc
- ARE TRANSWOMEN WOMEN? | A Chat with Miranda Yardley
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUNuD8WUSY
- CAN A TRANS PERSON HIT PEAK TRANS? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggX-lvgErc
- People are FREAKING OUT about Miranda Yardley’s Attack on Transgenderism
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi021G9lls
- WHY I ADORE RILEY J. DENNIS, YOUTUBE’S MOST HATED TRANS PERSON | A Chat With Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNs8A4pAIoY
- WELL THIS WAS A HUGE LET DOWN | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioJsfXLbDs4
- DOES THE BIBLE CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h9d8OC7KZQ
- ‘TERFS’ DON’T HATE TRANS PEOPLE! | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtOKFUe7JBg
- I DEBATE MY FUNDAMENTALIST SELF FROM 17 YEARS AGO | A Chat With Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcMSZEIekW8
- DO RADICAL FEMINISTS HATE TRANSPEOPLE? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-jVhZdJEg
- I AM AN AUTOGYNEPHILE | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ferdf6iRTOg
- WARNING: TRANS LEGISLATION IS DANGEROUS (But Not for the Reason You Think) | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0WLFOLO7vE
- A FEMINIST RESPONSE TO THE CURRENT STATE OF THE TRANS MOVEMENT | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_oKPUZxEBA
- ARE TRANSWOMEN WOMEN? | A Battle to the Death Between Rya Jones and Miranda Yardley
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwlQLBfknE
- TERFS | A response to ContraPoints
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh0E_gM_Sf4
- HAS THERYN MEYER LOST IT? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVrm96aX4NE
- RESPONDING TO TROLLS | A Chat With Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWgsWCNaG40
- I’m Sick of Being a TERF | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evnXBNjqVI
- I MIGHT DE-TRANSITION (Not Clickbait) | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRpxHA7p9wQ
- MY DECISION ABOUT DE-TRANSITIONING | A Chat With Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcqpJY-W7p0
- YOUR GENITAL PREFERENCES MAKE JESUS CRY | A Response to Ash Hardell and Arielle Scarcella
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0xkAG4bOA
- I’M SO SICK OF THIS!!! | A Rant from Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rtkPYyHyzI
- 10 BOOKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFwDYRzir6Q
- WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SKYLAR BAKER-JORDAN
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvUe7cUVk0Y
- WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MY MELTDOWN LAST WEEK | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dZcsIhWQ5Y
- DO TRANS WOMEN HAVE FEMALE BRAINS? | A Chat with Rya
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciAFCe6V0sU
- AESTHETICS ARE OVERRATED | A Response to Contrapoints
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTbjiWA-Gz4
“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)
