David Arthur Kendall is an American sex offender and activist in the ex-transgender movement. Kendall gets money and attention by making it more difficult to get trans healthcare. Using the name “David Arthur,” Kendall is featured in the 2023 anti-trans film Affirmation Generation by Laura VanZee-Taylor and Penka Kouneva.
Background
David Arthur Kendall was born October 16, 1972. Kendall has alleged being sexually abused from around the age of 6 and contracting HIV/AIDS in 1986 at age 14.
After making a gender transition, this person used the name Paige Giannetto.
In 2002, Kendall was sentenced to two years and four months in Florida prison for violating Florida Statute 800.04 on May 1, 1995: “Lewdly fondle or assault, commit or simulate sexual acts on or in presence of a child under 16 in a lewd, lascivious or indecent manner.”
In 2004, Kendall was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to meet Florida’s mandatory community notification and registration requirements for sex offenders, among other crimes:
I was arrested on a probation violation for drugs, prostitution and robbing a gas station. I was also charged with failing to register (comply) at the time as well. During the sting operation it was discovered that my “boyfriend”, who was caught with me in our hotel room, was 15 years old. This did not look good for me as a convicted sex offender and I was given the option of another charge or “cash in” my probation for state prison time, I chose the latter. I chose to have no probation in place of prison time.
Kendall was released in 2006 and stopped identifying as Paige in 2012. Kendall has described “deliverance from a very dark life,” including
prostitution
sex-trafficking
gender confusion/transgenderism (dysphoria)
molestation
rape
drugs
alcohol
gambling
“full blown AIDS”
no immune system
infections in his brain & blood
severe progressive Osteoporosis
diabetes
etc.
After “the doctors sent him home to die,” Kendall experienced a “moment of grace.” Kendall has described being cured of many problems:
gender confusion
addictions
Chronic Major Depression
bipolar
anxiety
PTSD
lust-filled activity
the weight of sin
no longer used a walker
diabetes was gone
HIV/AIDS virus was no longer detectable
immune system returned
“rescued from the cesspools of gender dysphoria, the lgbTQia TransQueer Gender Cult”
Supreme Court brief
In 2019, Kendall participated in an amicus curiae brief in support of a funeral home that had fired a transgender employee. The brief was submitted by:
Public Advocate of the United States
Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund
Poll Watchers
I Belong Amen Ministries
David Arthur
Policy Analysis Center
Eagle Forum Foundation
Pastor Chuck Baldwin
Restoring Liberty Action Committee
Center for Morality
Relevant passages from Kendall:
I Belong Amen Ministries is a ministry headed by David Arthur, a former homosexual and former transgender person.
The good news is that transgender status is not immutable, and the mindâs perspective about the body can, and often does, change over time. Consider the situation of David Arthur, one of the amici curiae filing this brief. David Arthur was sexually abused from around the age of five. He was involved in homosexual behavior, and then worked as a transgender prostitute. He contracted HIV/AIDS at age 14, and by age 37 he was on his deathbed. That was in 2009. With his body weakening, in a hospital bed that was placed in his bedroom at home, David Arthur hit rock bottom and turned to God, who rescued him from the captivity of his addictions. Today, he is healthy and strong, and living proof that people are not immutably transgendered or homosexual. On his website,8 David summarized the matter as follows:
Using myself as an illustration, as a former homosexual, and former transgender person, with decades of experience in that world, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that homosexuality (including transgenderism) is absolutely mutable and curable!
God has created each one of us in a heterosexual design which cannot be altered. We are born male or female. Our DNA makes us male or female and no surgery in the world can change our DNA. Changing our sex/gender is not possible. Indeed, homosexuality is not truly a sexual orientation at all, but just one type of sin, and a type of bondage. Those who tell us that homosexuality is just one of many sexual orientations seek to keep us in bondage, whether they know it or not.
Once we embrace our heterosexual design, we can find the freedom from the bondage of homosexuality. Being set free from homosexuality (including transgenderism) is just as desirable, just as real, and just as common, as a drug addict being set free from the bondage and hold of drugs. Our âtrue selfâ is exactly who we were created to be from conceptionâŠ.
In 2022, Shawn McBreairty of the far-right Maine First Project teamed up with Kendall to attack trans people.
In April, McBreairtyâs podcast featured David Arthur Kendall, who describes himself as a former transgender woman and former prostitute. âChanging sex is not an option,â his website says. He describes being transgender as a type of âconfusionâ or âmental disorderââa compelling story for transphobic groups like Maine First Project.
McBreairty subsequently returned the favor by appearing on Kendallâs podcast.
In 2022, Kendall showed up at a local school board meeting to “gender identity movement is dangerous.”
Kendall said the LBGTQ agenda is dangerous because it can force sexual identity on children and lead to gender confusion.
Kendall described himself as being a transgender woman for years, and said he was seduced into the LGBTQ movement. He identifies as a gay man and said he is glad he wasnât placed on puberty blockers that would have affected his growth and development. He alluded to past behaviors and said he has since reformed his life.
âPlease let these children know itâs OK to be gay,â Kendall said. âThey donât have to run into the arms of a rainbow movement that is bound to destroy them, body and soul.â
Below are Kendall’s comments throughout the film before they were deleted:
As a child, what I didnât know, I didnât call it internalized homophobia because I didnât know the term for it, but thatâs when I started noticing the stigma over homosexuality. I recognized the guilting, the shaming of same-sex attraction within society and culture alone.
Because of the estrogen, I have severe bone loss. First, it was osteopenia then it turned into osteoporosis, and the bone loss was severe, so severe I was hunched over, couldnât stand up straight, walking with a walker.
Even though I didnât want it, I never wanted the full surgery, I was contemplating on going to Thailand to get the complete sexual reassignment surgery, which is what they called it then. Now itâs called gender affirming surgery. So first I was going to New York to get castrated and to get more work, more silicone, put in my body. I was on Coney Island with two trannies that had already had complete sexual reassignment surgery. And we are laughing and joking and having a good old time, and then they both looked at me, and one of them said, “Donât do it.” And I said, “Donât do what?” And he said, “All of my life I thought that if I could just become a woman, I would find peace and joy and happiness.” And he said, “And now that I am legally and medically a woman, I am more miserable now than I was my entire life.” He said, “I think about taking my life every day.” And the other one said “I think about taking my life several times a day every day.”
Everyone that knew me, they wouldâve argued with anybody that “Paige” was content and secure and happy, and just being the person she was meant to be. And none of them had a clue that I was depressed, that I was bitter, that I hated myself, that I attempted to take my life quite a few times. Even the young queens that looked up to me, that would come and stay at my apartment, they didnât know that. And then come to now, when I think back and I think, “Wow, how many of them felt the same way?” I recognize that I was just living a lie. I became the lie. I was the lie.
Itâs lonely enough being a detransitioner, and not having the support of a group of friends that you can go out and have fun with, right? Like when you were in that movement.
Thereâs no reasoning behind most of what is spewed by trans activists. No reasoning. And I know this because I was one, right? As a pawn for the movement, I was one. Not only was I a victim, I victimized young boys. I helped young boys into the movement. I watched boys be seduced into the movement and then passed around and profited off of. And then, when they were no more good, tossed out in the garbage, and then they became the groomers. And so I know that being that is just emotionally driven. Itâs all about thoughts and feelings, thoughts and feelings. There is no real reality in that world.
I think that one of my biggest goals is to make young people understand that you can just be gay, and itâs OK.
References
Supreme Court of the United States (August 23, 2019). Amicus Curiae in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-107/229226/20220630125559710_Harris%20Funeral%20amicus%20brief%20on%20the%20merits.pdf
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, Iâd 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 donât feel like Iâm actually transgender. Itâs a hell of a realization to have.
Koss soon gave additional updates:
Whatâs up my beautiful people? How are we doing today? If youâve 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 couldnât 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.
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.
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 Doesnât 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.
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. 224â226. Henry Holt & Co, ISBN 978-0030632365
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
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
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.
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.
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. âI burned my house down while trying to kill myself,â she says, âand made out to the doctor it was because I was really a trans man and needed to transition. That was bullshit.â Watson was suffering from depression, dependent on alcohol, and struggling to accept that she was a lesbian.
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.
Terrell was born in ~1984 and grew up in a conservative Evangelical Christian environment.
Terrell self-identifies as having a controversial disease called “autoandrophilia”: “I found gay men most attractive, and fantasized about being one.” Terrell transitioned in ~2011 and lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Activism
In 2021 Terrell was reportedly radicalized by J.K. Rowling.
Terrell co-founded the Gender Dysphoria Alliance website in 2020.