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Youth Trans Critical Professionals vs. transgender people

by Andrea James Reviewed August 31, 2026 4 min read

Youth Trans Critical Professionals was a group blog that served as an early networking hub for anti-trans therapists and unaccepting parents of gender diverse children.

It is one of three sites, along with 4thWaveNow and Transgender Trend, where several anti-trans strategies for attacking trans healthcare for young people were workshopped and developed.

Background

Youth Trans Critical Professionals (YTCP) was founded by “a psychotherapist” (later revealed to be Lisa Marchiano) and “a university professor.” Marchiano is described by 4thWaveNow founder Denise Caignon as the “parent of a girl who discovered the trans-trend on social media.” In 2016, Marchiano wrote:

“The alien mind control device made its way into my home about two years ago when my then eleven-year-old daughter begged me for a Tumblr account since her friends all had one. Foolishly, I consented without looking into it further. I wish I hadn’t. This trend toward all things pan/bi/non binary/gender fluid/trans, etc. has generated a huge amount of energy among kids my daughter’s age.

[…] Probing further, she admitted that she has been binding, and has asked her friends at school to call her by a gender-neutral name. She also told us that she had begun researching testosterone. Luckily, her interest in this started just a few weeks ago, as best as I can tell.

Finally, “social contagion trans” brought me to this site. […] I have decided that the cult indoctrinators have had free access to her beautiful thirteen year-old-brain for two years now, and that it is time that I intervene and fight for my daughter. I am so grateful for the clarity I have found on this site.

In a 2016 interview with Denise Caignon, Marchiano made a number of statements about YTCP’s philosophy and goals:

  • “Our main concern is with medical intervention in children and young people that leaves their bodies permanently altered and/or sterilized.”
  • “First of all, there is no question that there has been a huge increase in kids identifying as trans. Much of this increase is certainly due to social contagion.”
  • “I am familiar with the view that when someone transitions as a child, they have a better chance of “passing” in adulthood, but given the very real risk of later regret, I think we might decide that medical transition is a choice to be made by full-fledged adults only.”
  • “Initially, we are hoping to solicit posts from 100 professionals writing on the trans child trend from how they see it. By doing this we aim to assemble the first collection of voices of Youth Trans Critical Professionals to evidence our mutual concern. There is a meeting being planned, and we are also discussing the possibility of co-authoring a book.”
  • “I would hope to delay medical intervention until the person was at least 25 years old.”
  • “We know it’s easier said than done, but disconnecting them from the internet, especially social media, does give space for developing more self-reliant thinking. For some families it may be possible to remove a young person from their environment completely. Three months spent in nature away from screens, or overseas, or volunteering in a challenging environment may serve as a ‘hard reset,’ allowing them to focus on something other than themselves. (After all, gender dysphoria is in essence very solipsistic.)”

2018 YTCP closure

Starting in July 2017, Marchiano became increasingly concerned about being outed as a co-founder of YTCP. On July 1, researcher Zinnia Jones revealed the three sites surveyed for Lisa Littman’s study on “rapid onset gender dysphoria” and commented on social media about a blog post on The Jung Soul, published under Marchiano’s real name. Jones did not connect Marchiano to YTCP at the time. Marchiano requested private information published about Jones.

On April 7, 2018, Marchiano responded to an inquiry about why YTCP was taken private, writing: “I did that. Just rethinking the blog a bit. I may change some things. It’s not gone. Stay tuned.” The blog never went live again.

2023 identification of Marchiano

Starting in 2019, biologist and author Julia Serano began tracing the origins of several anti-trans political strategies, including the framing of increased trans visibility as a “social contagion” and the creation of novel disease “rapid onset gender dysphoria.”

In March 2023, hacker Maia arson crimew released a massive trove of emails leaked by former ex-trans activist Elisa Shupe. Researcher Zinnia Jones did extensive research on the leak and connected Marchiano to YTCP.

Both Jones and Serano then published extensive analysis of Marchiano’s anti-trans efforts.

References

Serano, Julia (March 26, 2023). more evidence that Lisa Marchiano invented “transgender social contagion.” Whipping Girl https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2023/03/more-evidence-that-lisa-marchiano.html

Serano, Julia (May 31, 2023). Understanding the Anti-Trans Parent Movement. Medium https://juliaserano.medium.com/understanding-the-anti-trans-parent-movement-90d126de1fc9

Serano, Julia (March 24, 2023). Did Lisa Marchiano Invent “Transgender Social Contagion” and “No Transition Before Age 25”? Medium https://juliaserano.medium.com/did-lisa-marchiano-invent-transgender-social-contagion-and-no-transition-before-age-25-c74f26e2f0f9

Serano, Julia (February 20, 2019). Origins of “Social Contagion” and “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.” Whipping Girl https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2019/02/origins-of-social-contagion-and-rapid.html

Ford, Zack (August 19, 2016). Fake Medical Organization Publishes Lie-Ridden Manifesto Attacking Transgender Kids. ThinkProgress https://thinkprogress.org/american-college-pediatricians-transgender-kids-falsehoods-384716df13c5/

Anti-trans coverage

[Caignon, Denise] (April 5, 2016). Do No Harm: An interview with the founder of Youth Trans Critical Professionals. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2016/04/05/do-no-harm-an-interview-with-the-founder-of-youth-trans-critical-professionals/

[Caignon, Denise] (February 29, 2016). Tumblr snags another girl, but her therapist-mom knows a thing or two about social contagion. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2016/02/29/tumblr-snags-another-girl-but-her-therapist-mom-knows-a-thing-or-two-about-social-contagion/

Resources

Gender Analysis (genderanalysis.net)

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

Youth Trans Critical Professionals (youthtranscriticalprofessionals.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

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