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Reverend Alexander Faludy is is a British Anglican priest who has written about trans issues in Hungary.

Background

Alexander “Alex” Faludy was born in 1983 and is grandchild of Hungarian poet György Faludy. Faludy is the youngest student admitted to Cambridge despite living with dyslexia. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Faludy did graduate studies at Oxford, then trained for the priesthood at Mirfield. Faludy served as parish priest in Newcastle from 2008 to 2018.

Trans coverage

Faludy has discussed the anti-LGBTQ policies enacted under Fidesz, Hungary’s right-wing populist party. They have rules prohibiting “promotion to minors” of subjects related to LGBTQ people. Faludi described in UnHerd how Hungary has also made legal change of gender impossible:

A global health emergency is an odd time to occupy a national legislature with votes on the definition of gender in domestic and international law. At the end of March, deputy PM Zsolt SemjĂ©n, leader of Fidesz’s Christian Democrat/KDNP satellite party, tabled a bill to parliament, a clause of which replaced the ‘gender’ category of the Civil Registry (and ID documents deriving from it) with one entitled ‘sex at birth’ — effectively making the legal dimension of gender transition impossible. This stirred up an international controversy — attracting extensive hostile coverage in the UK from media outlets like BuzzFeed and The Guardian.

The timing of the SemjĂ©n bill’s initial presentation, within a day of the Enabling Act’s passage, was strategic. It successfully diverted world media attention from the specifics of the Act and the structural damage inflicted by decrees made under it. It’s the reassigning of tax receipts more than gender identity that Fidesz really cares about.

References

Faludy, Alexander (May 21, 2020). How Viktor OrbĂĄn plays his enemies. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2020/05/how-viktor-orban-plays-his-enemies/

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Miquel Missé Sånchez is a Spanish sociologist. Missé, who is transgender, has been published in anti-trans publication UnHerd.

Background

Miquel MissĂ© SĂĄnchez was born in 1986 in Barcelona. MissĂ© graduated from Universitat AutĂČnoma de Barcelona.

Missé has written several works about the intersection of gender and medicine:

  • El gĂ©nero desordenado: crĂ­ticas en torno al patologizaciĂłn de la transexualidad (Egales: 2010)
  • PolĂ­ticas trans. Una antologĂ­a de textos desde los estudios trans norteamericanos (Egales: 2015)
  • Transexualidades, otras miradas posibles (Egales: 2013)
  • A la conquista del cuerpo equivocado (Egales: 2018)

The Myth of the Wrong Body

In 2018 MissĂ© published The Myth of the Wrong Body (A la conquista del cuerpo equivocado). As philosopher Talia Mae Bettcher and author Janet Mock have explained, the “wrong body” metaphor has a number of versions:

  • born in the wrong body
  • trapped in the wrong body
  • soul of a [woman] in the body of a [man] (or vice versa)

Unfortunately, many cisgender people and some trans people take these metaphors literally. Critics will retort “no one is born in the wrong body.”

Most trans people reject all forms of the “wrong body” idea. That’s why this convenient and lazy description is mainly used by cisgender people, gender-diverse children, and low-information trans adults.

As I wrote in the academic journal Gender Medicine in 2006:

Gender identity and expression take on different meanings within different systems of thought. Because medical technologies are available to assist in the somatic expression of these identities, several medicalized disease models of the phenomena have developed. 

Both Missé and I are critical of these medicalized approaches to gender identity and expression. Being transgender is a trait, neither good nor bad. Disease models are a major historical source of our oppression.

The traditional focus on the so-called “triadic therapy” of hormones, genital surgery, and living “in role” has diminished in my lifetime. Trans and gender diverse people have many more choices for how to express themselves. Unfortunately, some people believe that medical transition will make them a new person or solve problems it can’t. As my therapist once said, “There’s never a happy ending to an unhappy journey.”

The reason anti-trans publication UnHerd excerpted MissĂ©’s book was because they had just published “You can’t be born in the wrong body” by Ellen Pasternack. They felt that MissĂ© backs this up. UnHerd also promotes the anti-transgender conspiracy theory that transgender healthcare is a money grab by Big Pharma and greedy surgeons who are luring people into expensive medical options.

Missé does have a point that under consumer capitalism, some medical professionals are guilty of profiting off trans insecurity. Unfortunately, many trans people are gender schematic, meaning they very much believe in a rigid gender binary and traditional gender roles. These are people most likely to believe medical interventions will make them happy. In many cases, they might. Missé is right to question these assumptions and criticize the unethical, inept, and predatory healthcare providers selling a bill of goods to anxious and insecure trans people.

If UnHerd editors grasped the more radical ideas underpinning what MissĂ© is saying, they would almost certainly not have published this excerpt. You do not need hormones or surgery to claim your identity as a man, woman, or any other identity. Trans people existed long before those technologies were available, and we are the vanguard of humanity’s future possibilities.

References

Halberstram, Jack; MissĂ©, Miquel (March 18, 2022). Jack Halberstam: «There are many different ways of being masculine, but do we know how to bring the structure that we call ‘masculinity’ down?» Idee No. 54: Rethinking Masculinity to Transform Society. https://revistaidees.cat/en/jack-halberstam-there-are-many-different-ways-of-being-masculine-but-do-we-know-how-to-bring-the-structure-that-we-call-masculinity-down/

Missé, Miquel (June 1, 2022). The doctors profiting from trans surgery. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/06/the-doctors-profiting-from-trans-surgery/

Bettcher TM (2014). Trapped in the Wrong Theory: Rethinking Trans Oppression and Resistance. Signs Vol. 39, No. 2 (Winter 2014), pp. 383-406 https://doi.org/10.1086/673088

Mock, Janet (2012). Unlearning the ‘Trapped’ Narrative & Taking Ownership of Our Bodies. https://janetmock.com/2012/07/09/josie-romero-dateline-transgender-trapped-body/

Resources

Miquel Missé (miguelmisse.com)

Wikipedia (es.wikipedia.org)

CCCB (cccb.org)

Imara Jones is an American journalist. Jones was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people of 2023.

Background

Jones was born on May 9, 1972 and grew up in the Atlanta area.

Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1994 and a master’s degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

Jones held posts at Viacom, which included work on the campaign “Know HIV/AIDS and Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself” which garnered two EMMY Awards and a Peabody Award.

Jones was a Soros Equality Fellow and chaired the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on Gender Diversity. 

Jones’ Translash podcast did a limited series titled “The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality.” The series profiles a number of key anti-trans activists. Season 2 examines how through “the disinformation ecosystem constructed by the Christian Nationalist movement, anti-trans lies are laundered through some of the biggest and most respected news rooms in the country, and how this effort creates a  world where the existence of trans people is questioned.”

References

Jones, Imara (June 25, 2021). My life growing up Black and trans in 1980s Atlanta. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/opinions/growing-up-black-trans-1980s-jones/index.html

Jones, Imara (June 16, 2019). Trans, black and loved: what happened when I returned to the deep south after transitioning. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jun/26/trans-black-deep-south-return-translash

Coan, Jamie Shearn (April 25, 2019). Imara Jones. New York Trans Oral History Project https://nyctransoralhistory.org/content/uploads/2021/12/NYC-TOHP-Transcript-144-Imara-Jones_UPDATED.pdf

Tourmaline (April 13, 2023). Imara Jones. TIME 100 https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269470/imara-jones/

Taylor, Savannah (March 17, 2023). Translash Media’s Imara Jones talks about true liberation and uplifting the trans community. Ebony https://www.ebony.com/translash-media-imara-jones-uplifting-the-trans-community/

2003 Peabody Awards Know HIV/AIDS and Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself Campaigns https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/know-hiv-aids-and-fight-for-your-rights-protect-yourself-campaigns/ https://vimeo.com/160099072

Kaiser Family Foundation (October 1, 2004). HIV/AIDS Public Education Campaign Wins Emmy. https://www.kff.org/hivaids/event/hivaids-public-education-campaign-wins-emmy/

Resources

Imara Jones (imarajones.com)

Translash (translash.org)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Colorlines (colorlines.com)

The Last Sip (thelastsip.org)

Caffeineator (caffeineator.com) [archive]

Slavery Blog (slaveryblog.org) [archive]

Ralph Leonard is a British-Nigerian writer who writes on international politics, religion, culture, and humanism.

2020 UnHerd article

Using a question India Willoughby posed on Big Brother about dating transgender people, Leonard wrote for anti-transgender publication UnHerd about the so-called “cotton ceiling” debate about cisgender women who won’t date trans women.

Unfortunately, two years on, the ethics of refusing transsexual people as dating partners remains a fraught subject: questions such as “Is it transphobic for lesbians not to date trans women?” are being discussed online. Again, they tend to arouse strong reactions. Some lesbians, for instance, have expressed concerns that raising the question of whether they ‘should’ be attracted to trans women is a surreptitious attempt to pressure, manipulate and guilt trip them into shifting their sexual boundaries into unwanted sex in the name of being more ‘open’.

Of course, there are lesbians who are reluctant to date trans women because they believe they are not actually women (or at least not women in the same way biologically born women are) . But it’s worth remembering that lesbians have endured a long history of attempts to control their sexuality, whether through hideous practices such as religious indoctrination, conversion therapy or ‘corrective’ rape to “make them straight”. And why focus the attack on lesbians, when many straight men would also reject trans women as a potential mate?

This obviously provokes a wider question: when does a preference become a convenient cover for bigotry and prejudice? On some level, as this tweet declares, “dating is discrimination”. But the question provoked by that Big Brother episode was: when is discrimination acceptable, and when is it unacceptable?

References

Leonard, Ralph (October 7, 2020). Is dating discrimination? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2020/10/the-dangerous-politics-of-desire/

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Medium (medium.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Ritchie Herron is a British ex-transgender activist. Herron gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare. Herron uses the handle “TullipR” online and frequently appears in conservative or fascist media.

Background

Richard “Ritchie” Herron was born on May 25, 1987. Herron is a child of divorce who claims to have been bullied at school.

After spending time on UK-based The Angels forum, Herron purchased hormones as an adult from a private pharmacy. At age 25, Herron began transition and began using the name Abby. In 2018, at age 30, Herron got vaginoplasty. Five years later, at age 35, Herron made additional gender changes, largely due to dissatisfaction with vaginoplasty results.

Herron is a Newcastle-based civil servant.

In June 2022 Herron claimed lawyers in Liverpool were preparing a legal case against Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Ex-transgender activism

Similar to the ex-gay activists of the 20th century, people like Herron get money and attention by claiming to be no longer trans.

Herron is heavily invested in metaphors of disease and impairment, identifying as disabled and mentally ill. This is a kind of attention-seeking behavior. Rather than take personal responsibility for life decisions made as a 30-year-old adult, Herron chooses to blame those who tried to help.

Herron’s alleged disorders, diseases, “comorbidities,” and maladies include:

  • “depression, OCD and latent homosexuality”
  • autism
  • “hated myself because I am gay”
  • “an ear infection that led to deafness”
  • a series of breakdowns
  • substance misuse issues
  • “no skill or co-ordination”

Here is how Herron describes the surgical results and complications:

  • “nearly bled to death”
  • “It literally looked like an animal had got on my crotch and it just went to town on it”
  • “like my arsecrack has been extended all the way to the front”
  • “under constant supervision for ongoing complications related to the deeply invasive surgery”
  • feel mostly nothing in “my flesh cavity” aside from “occasional stabs of pain”
  • crotch is numb, ‘shell-shocked’
  • scars “still sometimes weep” and “occasionally become inflamed and cause crippling pain”
  • “my body aches”
  • “lifelong pain”

Herron claims these long-term problems:

  • “killed my confidence”
  • cannot walk long distances
  • cannot ride a bike
  • infertile
  • incontinent
  • can’t use the toilet properly
  • “takes ten minutes to empty my bladder”
  • sex drive “is long gone”
  • “reliant on synthetic hormones”
  • “lifelong medical patient”

Herron has discussed ex-trans activism in conservative or fascist outlets that include National Review, Rebel News, Daily Mail, Daily Record, Spiked, The Lion, World News Group, The Times, The Critic, The Washington Examiner. The Telegraph, The Christian Institute, Christian Post, and Christian Broadcasting Network.

Herron also frequently appears on channels featuring anti-trans content:

Herron also does collaborations with other ex-trans activists and conservative trans people:

References

Schneider, Jillian (February 1, 2023). ‘It’s disgusting, I’m disgusting’: Male detransitioner explains why no one – not even adults – should have cross-sex surgery. The Lion https://readlion.com/its-disgusting-im-disgusting-male-detransitioner-explains-why-no-one-not-even-adults-should-have-cross-sex-surgery/

Herron, Ritchie (September 13, 2022). A Detransitioner’s Perspective: Awakening from the Dream of Gender Utopia. Human Events https://humanevents.com/2022/09/13/a-detransitioners-perspective-awakening-from-the-dream-of-gender-utopia

Griffiths, Sian (June 4, 2023). ‘NHS trans surgery damaged my body for ever — it’s not safe.’ The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-trans-surgery-damaged-my-body-for-ever-its-not-safe-jt2hhbrgk

Dixon, Hayley (October 22, 2022). I’ve been betrayed by medics who left me in pain because I didn’t want to be gay, says detransitioner. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/22/betrayed-medics-who-left-pain-didnt-want-gay-says-detransitioner/

Staff report (October 22, 2022). Man who had sex change operation paid for by NHS says medics ‘betrayed’ him and left him in lifelong pain because he did not want to be gay. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11343887/Man-sex-change-operation-paid-NHS-says-medics-betrayed-him.html

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Substack (substack.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Note: an earlier version had a typo in Herron’s birth year.

Naomi Salama is a Finnish civil engineer and “autogynephilia” activist.

Naomi Salama on suomalainen rakennusinsinööri ja “autogynefilia”-aktivisti.

Background

Salama was born on July 7, 1998 and grew up in Espoo.

Under the name Janus Syndrome, Salama released an electronic dance music album titled MMXIV in 2014.

Salama attended Aalto University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2020 before continuing on to a master’s degree. In May 2022, Salama began medical transition.

“Autogynephilia” activism

Like a few other neurodiverse trans people with poor social skills, Salama became fixated on an obscure disease model of gender identity and expression created in 1989 by Ray Blanchard. It classifies transgender women into two types: gay men (homosexual transsexuals) and paraphilic men (“autogynephilic” transsexuals). Salama claims to be the “autogynephilic” (AGP) type, which according to Blanchard means Naomi Salama is more likely to be sexually attracted to children, corpses, feces, animals, or have other “paraphilias.”

Most experts and trans people consider this fringe terminology to be scientifically biased and unfalsifiable, but a few isolated activists with personality problems embrace the idea.

“Autogynephilia” as a taxonomy appeals to a very specific type of person: neurodiverse, fixated on collecting and categorizing, socially isolated/eccentric, rigid thinking.

In June 2023 Salama sent me a message titled “add me to your stupid agp activist list you hack.”

hello!

I demand an explanation! why am I overlooked for your ridiculous agp activist list? after all, I seem to be an activist in this in the very literal word — very different to for example the researchers on the list.

I have repeatedly defended Blanchard, Bailey and Hsu and interact with all of them quite frequently. I am also friends with multiple other people on the list — such as Phil Illy or Naxela (why you would add him before me is beyond my comprehension, for example my twitter account @Naozymandias is way larger and I speak of agp way more and more publicly — even being retweetes by Blanchard occasionally)

as an academic myself, tho of different field of study, some of the researchers have urges me to do study into agp myself too, perhaps informally. I plan to do this after first finishing my thesis relating to urban economics.

I am also known to have created multiple “memes” relating to autogynephilia, folder of these has also been shared with multiple people on your list.

as you can clearly tell, I am invested in the subject and certainly should be considered an activist of sorts. this baffles me, why am I not on your list??? that feels rather insulting 

thus, I demand to be added immediately ?
regards
undoubtedly in some sense of the word your enemy,
autogynephilic transsexual,
and student of urban planning and economics
Naomi Salama

Salama spoke with romantic partner Alice Chizita about these bizarre beliefs, then sent a second message clarifying:

while *I* would be glad to be added, my girlfriend hopes I am not, as she would feel bad of that — because she is not in agreement with the typology and “Blanchardism” makes her feel bad and dysphoric. 

Hopefully Alice can explain why this ideology is an unhealthy fixation and get Salama professional help. Perhaps Alice can also guide this person toward a better understanding of science. If that is not possible, perhaps Alice can get far away from this toxic person.

References

Salama, [Naomi] (May 3, 2020). HÀmeenlinna Skylines: Cities Skylines osallistavan kaupunkisuunnittelun vÀlineenÀ. Aalto-yliopisto https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/47289

Resources

Facebook (facebook.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

ResearchGate (researchgate.net)

Soundcloud (soundcloud.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

“Layla Jane” is the stage name of Kayla Lovdahl, an American ex-transgender activist. Lovdahl gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

Kayla Michelle Lovdahl was born August 20, 2004. Lovdahl’s parents are Desiree M. Baggett Lovdahl (born July 11, 1984) and Kevin Allen Lovdahl (born September 30, 1976). Desiree got pregnant at age 19, and they married during the pregnancy on January 28, 2004.

Kayla Lovdahl grew up in the Lodi, California area, and has these problems according to a lawsuit filed by Lovdahl’s lawyers against Kaiser Permanente:

  • recurrent intense anxiety and panic
  • extreme mood fluctuations
  • self-harm
  • problems at school resulting in suspensions
  • oppositional behavior
  • defiant behavior
  • interpersonal peer relationship problems
  • anger
  • depression
  • crying spells
  • significant appetite changes
  • irritability
  • agitation
  • decreased energy
  • panic with hyperventilation
  • confusion
  • nausea
  • nightmares
  • explosive temper outbursts
  • poor concentration
  • gender dysphoria
  • symptoms “compatible with undiagnosed and untreated bipolar disorder”
  • “erroneous belief that she was transgender”
  • mood swings
  • sadness
  • lack of known triggers
  • would write sad notes at age 6-7
  • does not get much sleep
  • sleep has been irregular since being a baby
  • sees figures or things passing on the side when she doesn’t get enough sleep
  • strange reoccurring nightmares
  • symptoms of depression
  • mania
  • abuse from peers
  • obesity
  • poor social skills
  • few friends

2023 lawsuit

The same conservative activists representing Chloe Cole/Brockman are also representing Lovdahl.

Defendants:

  • Lisa Kristine Taylor, MD, pediatric endocrinologist
  • Winnie Mao Yiu Tong, MD, plastic surgeon
  • Susanne E. Watson, PhD, gender therapist
  • Mirna Escalante, MD, pediatric endocrinologist

The lawyers claim Lovdahl “now has deep physical and emotional wounds and severe regrets” and “has suffered physically, socially, neurologically, and psychologically.” They describe it as:

  • “mutilation to her body”
  • “fertility risks”
  • “health risks”
  • “lost opportunities for social and physical development along with her peers, and at key developmental milestones that can never be regained”

The complaint alleges in part:

When Kayla was 11, on or around April 26, 2016, Dr. Meridee Loomer saw Kayla and reviewed her file. Dr. Loomer noted that Kayla’s mother had been requesting mental health services beginning in 2011, when Kayla was around 6 years old, due to school issues and because Kayla had written on her papers about wanting to die. Dr. Loomer also noted that there had not been any consistent psychotherapy services for Kayla.  She informed Dr. Loomer privately at her April 26, 2016, visit that she was a boy and that she preferred to be named “Kyle.” 

Around September 14, 2016, Kayla had a visit with Dr. Doreen Samelson, who counseled them that since Kayla was past Tanner Stage II (the first stage of puberty), she was not a candidate for puberty blockers and was not ready for cross-sex hormones. Kayla received a contraceptive shortly thereafter to reduce her periods. 

The lawsuit cites treatment notes from Lovdahl’s doctor:

[Patient] is currently at maternal grandmother’s home, and Mom intends to pick him up to bring him directly into the Stk Cpy office to be seen today. When asked about concerns re: self/other harm, she states that he has made statements such as “what’s the point,” or “I should just drink bleach” recently but not today. 

“Patient presented to urgent services after his mother called Kaiser Psychiatry Triage yesterday and today reporting concerns over her son’s agitation/labile behavior, mood fluctuations, and potential for self-harm/harming others. Patient’s reported that her son has been having unprovoked anger outbursts where he’s been lashing out (i.e. cursing) at her mostly and others. 

Lovdahl then had counseling and the doctors got signed parental consent:

On July 11, 2017, Kayla had counseling regarding fertility. On September 22, 2017, after Kayla just turned age 13, Dr. Tong performed a double mastectomy on her. 

Kayla stopped injecting testosterone around the middle of 2021, while beginning a period of detransition. Thereafter, she stopped all contact and services with the Kaiser Proud Clinic where she had been receiving ongoing evaluation for her transition. 

In 2022 Kayla was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder and Mood Disorder with depressive features. 

Ex-transgender activism

Lovdahl heard Chloe Cole’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Kaiser and decided to get in on the action.

In March 2023, Lovdahl was among the handful of ex-trans activists at what was billed as their biggest event ever:

Lovdahl said:

“I was a mentally ill child, and I was able to consent to removing my breasts permanently. And I also heard more – or less… I heard more people telling me I would regret this tattoo than I would regret getting my breasts permanently removed at such a young age. So that is why I felt necessary to speak. Thank you for hearing me out.”

Lovdahl told Laura Ingraham in March:

“Overall, I really want to say that I don’t think I should have been allowed to change my sex before I could legally consent to have sex. Overall, I don’t think I’m better off for the experience, and I think that transition just completely added fuel to the fire that was my preexisting conditions.

I was given no information on rates of desistance or anything like that. Really, the surgery and the treatments were kind of pushed as the only way forward.

Between the age I was at and the headspace I was in, I don’t feel like I should have been any place to make those kinds of decisions. And I think proper information and all the side effects, it was really glossed over for my parents.”

Media

In June 2023, producers arranged a meeting with ex-trans activist Chloe Cole:

References

Buttons, Christina (June 15, 2023). Second Lawsuit Filed in US Against Medical Transition of Minors. Reality’s Last Stand https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/breaking-second-lawsuit-filed-in

Center for American Liberty (June 15, 2023). https://libertycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Complaint-06-15-23.pdf

https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/2004/09/04/vital-statistics/50695436007/

Chloe Cole (June 3, 2023). The Unseen Side of Early Transition, Mastectomy at 13 Years Old | Layla Jane Fights Back! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZWslwe3W1c

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

“Michelle Alleva” is the stage name of Michelle Zacchigna, a Canadian ex-transgender activist. Zacchigna gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare.

Zacchigna has used a number of aliases and handles:

  • “Scarlett P”
  • “Michelle Alleva”
  • somenuanceplease
  • sumenuancepls

Zacchigna transitioned as an adult and made additional identity and expression changes ten years later.

Background

Zacchigna was born in 1988. Zacchigna reports being bullied in school, especially from ages 8 to 13. After a close adolescent friendship ended, Zacchigna experienced even more social isolation. Zacchigna alleges having the following problems as a teen:

  • developmental trauma
  • dissociation
  • low self-esteem
  • self-harm
  • anxiety
  • depression
  • 2008 suicide attempt
  • dated older people “who didn’t seem to have my best interests at heart”

At age 20, Zacchigna identified as asexual:

Although I had never had gender dysphoria before, the more I thought about gender and how I wanted to present myself, the more self-aware I became about my body, and the more I wanted to change it. I thought about my past and became convinced that I had been bullied because I was trans and just didn’t know it.

In spring 2010, at age 21, Zacchigna went to the Gender Journeys support group at Toronto’s Sherbourne Health. Two years later, in 2012, Zacchigna saved up and then paid out of pocket for elective top surgery in Florida.

Because transition doesn’t make you a new person or change who you are, Zacchigna felt better for a while, but then reported problems started again:

  • social anxiety
  • still difficult to make friends
  • depression
  • gender dysphoria
  • couldn’t cry anymore “because of the hormones”
  • uncontrolled acne
  • poor self-care
  • gained about 70-80 pounds
  • fired for “inconsistent” work output
  • irregular sleep schedule
  • stopped caring about appearance
  • became low income
  • moved back in with family
  • failed out of college
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • ADHD
  • post-traumatic stress symptoms
  • major depressive disorder
  • medical trauma
  • low voice
  • male-pattern balding
  • facial hair
  • an enlarged clitoris
  • a flat chest
  • the inability to ever become pregnant
  • “among other things”

Following a 2017 evaluation that added to Zacchigna’s long list of problems, in 2018 Zacchigna had a “medically unnecessary” partial hysterectomy because “it was covered by provincial insurance, and I liked the idea of not having any more periods or pap exams.”

Zacchigna is upset and angry “that I wasn’t screened for the diagnoses I later received before I was prescribed hormones.” Zacchinga was screened prior to the hysterectomy but still blames others for that decision made at age 30.

Anti-transgender activism

Now based in Orillia, Ontario, Zacchigna’s income is now supplemented by making it harder for other adults to get trans healthcare:

“I have spent the last 18 months involved in health care advocacy related to this topic. I’ve presented at webinars, spoken at universities, been featured in news articles, appeared on Podcasts, and written blogs semi-regularly sharing my experiences and my thoughts about how this could have happened.”

In 2022 Zacchigna announced a planned lawsuit:

“I’ve been holding this card close to my chest for a while, and I’m ready to show it. In November 2022, I commenced legal action against the Canadian healthcare providers that facilitated my medical transition in Ontario,”

Zacchigna is now a source for a number of anti-trans activists and outlets, including Michael Shellenberger, the National Post, and Western Standard. Zacchigna is also active in the anti-trans “parental rights” movement, appearing in Lighthouse and the 2023 film No Way Back.

References

Oldcorn, Christopher (February 23, 2023). Ontario woman sues healthcare professionals over irreversible gender transition. Western Standard https://www.westernstandard.news/news/ontario-woman-sues-healthcare-professionals-over-irreversible-gender-transition/article_28765010-b3a4-11ed-9dca-7f4bb5988028.html

Murphy, Madeline (November 2, 2022) Michelle Alleva Shares Her Story of Detransitioning. Irish Rover https://irishrover.net/2022/11/michelle-alleva-shares-her-story-of-detransitioning/

GD Alliance (June 30, 2021). Meet Scarlett P. Gender Dysphoria Alliance https://www.genderdysphoriaalliance.com/post/meet-scarlett-p

Humphrey, Adrian (February 22, 2023). Ontario detransitioner who had breasts and womb removed sues doctors. National Post https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/michelle-zacchigna-ontario-detransitioner-sues-doctors

Alleva, Michelle (May 2022). “Removing my completely healthy uterus is my greatest regret.” Michelle Alleva’s Story: Detransition. Lighthouse https://www.lighthouseforum.ca/stories/michellealleva

Shellenberger, Michael (March 22, 2023). Why This Detransitioner Is Suing Her Health Care Providers. Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-this-detransitioner-is-suing

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

GiveSendGo (givesendgo.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Substack (substack.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

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 mind’s 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 “true self” is exactly who we were created to be from conception
.

Public Advocate of the United States (2019)

Maine First Project

In 2022, Shawn McBreairty of the far-right Maine First Project teamed up with Kendall to attack trans people.

In April, McBreairty’s podcast featured David Arthur Kendall, who describes himself as a former transgender woman and former prostitute. “Changing sex is not an option,” his website says. He describes being transgender as a type of “confusion” or “mental disorder”—a compelling story for transphobic groups like Maine First Project.

McBreairty subsequently returned the favor by appearing on Kendall’s podcast.

Goforth (2022)

Maine School Administrative District #1

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 wasn’t 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. 

“Please let these children know it’s OK to be gay,” Kendall said. “They don’t have to run into the arms of a rainbow movement that is bound to destroy them, body and soul.”

Brewer (2022)

No Way Back

Kendall is featured in the 2023 anti-trans film Affirmation Generation by Laura VanZee-Taylor and Penka Kouneva.

Below are Kendall’s comments throughout the film before they were deleted:

As a child, what I didn’t know, I didn’t call it internalized homophobia because I didn’t know the term for it, but that’s 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, couldn’t stand up straight, walking with a walker.

Even though I didn’t 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 it’s 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, “Don’t do it.” And I said, “Don’t 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 would’ve 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 didn’t 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. 

It’s 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.

There’s 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. It’s 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 it’s 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

Brewer, Paula (May 20, 2022). School board allows registered sex offender to speak at meeting. The County https://thecounty.me/2022/05/20/news/education/school-board-allows-registered-sex-offender-to-speak-at-meeting/

Goforth, Claire (May 31, 2022). Far-right organization in Maine obsessed with ‘grooming’ in schools accidentally platformed a convicted sex offender. Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/debug/maine-first-project-platformed-sex-offender-schools/

Christine Niles (May 20, 2023). Ex-Trans Prostitute Exposes LGBT ‘Cult.’ Forward Boldly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2BuMg0zzPY

Resources

Florida Sex Offender Registry (offender.fdle.state.fl.us)

Maine Sex Offender Registry (sor.informe.org)

I Belong Amen Ministries (ibelongamen.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

  • david-kendall-b9a06263 [deleted]

Substack (substack.com)

Abel Garcia is an American ex-transgender activist. Garcia gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare.

Background

Garcia was born in 1997. According to Garcia, this is the timeline:

  • 2009 (age 12) began thinking about transition
  • 2015 (age 18) began looking for help to transition and found a therapist, attending sessions for over a year
  • 2016 (age 19) moved out of the family home and began transition
  • 2017 (age 20) legal name and gender change
  • 2018 (age 21)
    • got breast implants; was initially happy, had regrets a few months later
    • turned away from that “lifestyle” following a “salvation from God”
    • began looking for help to “detransition”
  • 2019 (age 22) found a new therapist
  • 2020 (age 23) had implants removed and began socially “detransitioning”
  • 2021 (age 24) planned follow-up surgery to remove unwanted breast tissue

Ex-transgender activism

Since embracing religious conservatism, Garcia is featured in a number of anti-trans projects, including the 2023 film No Way Back.

Garcia has been interviewed by gender critical activists including

Garcia has been interviewed by other ex-trans activists including:

Garcia has been interviewed anti-trans-front groups including:

Garcia appears in the 2023 anti-trans media piece DETRANS by PragerU.

References

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

Fell, Kelly (Nov 8, 2022). Venus Rising With Detransitioner Abel Garcia. Venus Rising / The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwytvt5bPsA

Cole, Chloe (April 20, 2023). Detransitioner Abel Garcia speaks in ATX on detransitioning as a male. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK_gad4nR0Y

Hernandez, Drew (Nov 2, 2022). DETRANSITIONED: The Abel Garcia Story. FRONTLINES https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXxQ48XbNvE Part Two https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0XNJPnZ9s

Partners for Ethical Care (Oct 26, 2022). First Do No Harm Unity Rally- Detransitioner Abel Garcia Speaks Out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnkOn0i8LuI

Ortiz, Brittany (January 18, 2022). Abel Garcia: Conversion Therapy and Medical Detransition with Detrans Man. A Slightly Twisted Female https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROhaA9uHeo

Brewer, Erin (Jul 11, 2022). Transjacked: Abel Garcia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thEXWfLOg5U

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

Resources

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