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Helena Kerschner and transgender people

Helena Kerschner is a conservative American “ex-transgender” activist. Kerschner is part of Pique Resilience Project, an anti-transgender group that includes Chiara Caignon-Lewis, Dagny Walton, and Kerschner’s ex-lover Jesse Hinty.

Kerschner works for anti-trans hate group Genspect.

Background

Helena Elise Kerschner was born July 24, 1998 in northern Kentucky and grew up in the Cincinnati area. Kerschner’s parent Magdalena E Kerschner (born 1960) is a physician who ran a pain clinic. Kerschner’s parent William P. “Will” Kerschner (born 1959) was an executive at a large consumer goods company. Both are retired.

Kerschner had a childhood of immense privilege and was involved in figure skating and other expensive hobbies like horse riding. As a teen, Kerschner was a compulsive Tumblr user:

[…] By the time I was thirteen, I was isolating myself, self-harming, and had developed an eating disorder. In eighth grade, I lost touch with most of my school friends, and was too self-conscious and preoccupied with my eating disorder to put myself out there again. I started skipping school, spending lunch in the bathroom, and in general just keeping my head down, trying to get through the day unnoticed.

[…] When I was fifteen, I was introduced to gender ideology on Tumblr and began to call myself nonbinary. Over the next few years, I would continue to go deeper and deeper down the trans identity rabbit hole, and by the time I was eighteen, I saw myself as a “trans man”, otherwise known as “FtM”. Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I made an appointment at a Planned Parenthood to begin a testosterone regimen. At my first appointment, I was prescribed testosterone, and I would remain on this regimen for a year and a half. It had an extremely negative effect on my mental health, and I finally admitted what a disaster it had been when I was 19, sometime around February or March 2018. 

[…] Between sharing photos, drawings, and fanfiction, these girls were posting about their lives and going into deep detail about their struggles. Many were social outcasts like me, also struggling with things like self-harm and eating disorders. Finding a community of such like minded people felt amazing, and I quickly began spending nearly every waking moment on Tumblr or messaging some friend I had met on there. If I had any remaining motivation to integrate myself into real life, I lost that here. 

Kerschner (2022)

Kershner became sexually attracted to and obsessed with boyish pop culture figures like Elvis and Justin Bieber. Kershner eventually wanted to embody them. This erotic interest in masculinization was not well documented prior to LiveJournal, Tumblr, the “shipping” phenomenon, and anime fandoms frequented by fujoshi {“rotten girl”) obsessives.

Kerschner met Hinty via tumblr, and they eventually lived together. Kerschner started hormones as an adult on August 15, 2016. According to an interview with Daily Wire, Kerschner’s new name was Vincent Lucas “Vin” Jaszczak. Jaszczak was a family name.

While most people who make additional changes in gender identity or expression remain supportive of the process, some choose to get money and attention by joining the ex-trans movement. According to friends, Kerschner was drawn into alt-right ideologies via toxic online communities including now-banned subreddits like r/The_Donald and r/GenderCritical.

I finally bit the bullet and looked into radical feminism. This happened because during a suicidal mental break down, I went to the only community online that I had found supported detransitioned people (the trans community often demonizes and erases us), which was r/GenderCritical on Reddit. I was met with an overflow of love and support, and they showed me that radfems are not the monsters the trans tumblr community makes us out to be. Though their politics were extremely shocking to me, someone who spent the last 5 years intensely believing in genderist ideology, after a while things started making sense and I realized just how horrible trans ideology is, and how it nearly destroyed my life.

With the help of radical feminism, which has taught me an immense level of self respect, I am slowly crawling out of rock bottom.

Kerschner soon became fixated on alt-right figures like Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in ways that mirror previous fascinations with Elvis and Justin Bieber.

Kerschner has spoken at a number of anti-transgender events and has appeared on fascist and conservative media outlets, including interviews with Tucker Carlson, Benjamin Boyce, Alex Kaschuta, Keri Smith, Gender Dysphoria Alliance, Tim Pool, The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, Jennifer Lahl, Michael Laidlaw, Colin Wright, Preston Sprinkle, Carole Hooven, Rod Dreher, Michael Knowles, and Ben Shapiro.

Kerschner testified in support of Ohio legislation HB 454, the “Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE)” Act. Kerschner also works extensively behind the scenes with Denise Caignon, owner of anti-trans site 4thWaveNow.

Kerschner announced a step back from ex-trans activism in February 2023.

Coverage in anti-trans media

Doak, Emile (Sep 9, 2024). Resist the Cult. [review of Detrans: True Stories of Escaping the Gender Ideology Cult, by Mary Margaret Olohan, Regnery]. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/resist-the-cult/

Cuomo, Andrew (December 15, 2022). 3 teens who thought they were trans explain why they detransitioned. NewsNation https://www.newsnationnow.com/lgbtq/3-teens-who-thought-they-were-trans-explain-why-they-detransitioned/

Kamman, Samantha (September 12, 2022). Detransitioners share regrets, speak out against body mutilation in ‘Transgressive’ documentary. The Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/detransitioners-share-regrets-speak-out-in-documentary.html

Olohan, Mary Margaret (July 25, 2022). Catholic Chicago Hospital Chose Ideology Over Biology In Treating Biological Girl Who Believed She Was Male, De-Transitioner Says. Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/news/catholic-chicago-hospital-chose-ideology-over-biology-in-treating-biological-girl-who-believed-she-was-male-de-transitioner-says

Showalter, Brandon (July 13, 2022). ‘There’s a lot of money to be made’: Detransitioners blast doctors they blame for maimed bodies. The Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/detransitioners-blast-doctors-they-blame-for-maimed-bodies.html

Schlott, Rikki (June 18, 2022). ‘I literally lost organs:’ Why detransitioned teens regret changing genders. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/06/18/detransitioned-teens-explain-why-they-regret-changing-genders/

Staff report (May 11, 2022). Detransitioner: ‘The internet influences young people to believe they are trans.’ The Christian Institute https://www.christian.org.uk/news/detransitioner-the-internet-influences-young-people-to-believe-they-are-trans/

Kamman, Samantha (May 6, 2022). Detransitioner says Planned Parenthood gave her max dose of male hormones, led to hospitalization. The Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/planned-parenthood-gave-gender-confused-teen-max-dose-of-cross-sex-hormones.html

Jackson, Mary (April 21, 2022). Web of deception: The “fake reality” and peer contagion of the internet are leading many teen girls into transgenderism. World https://wng.org/articles/web-of-deception-1650419703

Gentles, Ginny (April 20, 2022). Helena Kerschner Wants to Protect Children from Medical Malpractice. Independent Women’s Forum https://www.iwf.org/2022/04/20/helena-kerschner-wants-to-protect-children-from-medical-malpractice/

Weiss, Suzy (April 19, 2022). The Testosterone Hangover. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-testosterone-hangover

Ault, Alicia (March 14, 2022). Doctors Have Failed Them, Say Those With Transgender Regret. Medscape News https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/970223

Selected writing by Kerschner

Kerschner, Helena (February 23, 2023). Another Update. Substack https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/another-update

Kerschner, Helena (2023). Testimony of Helena Kerschner to Kentucky Legislature. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/362/22848/03%2014%202023%20General%20Testimony.pdf

Kerschner, Helena (February 19, 2022). By Any Other Name: The story of my transition and detransition. Substack https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name

Kerschner, Helena (May 19, 2022). Proponent: HB 454 Banning affirming care for minors (The SAFE Act). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P58fW6Lb7Wo

“Fortunately, I was not on [testosterone] long enough to suffer long-term physical effects…”

Equality Ohio (May 2022). HB454 https://equalityohio.org/legislation/the-safe-act/

Kerschner, Helena (August 5, 2020). At What Cost? Trans Healthcare, Manipulated Data, and Self-Appointed Saviors. Medium https://medium.com/@helenakerschner/at-what-cost-trans-healthcare-manipulated-data-and-self-appointed-saviors-dc81c4be7ae2

  • republished at New Discourses August 6: https://newdiscourses.com/2020/08/trans-healthcare-manipulated-data-self-appointed-saviors/

Kerschner, Helena (July 23, 2020). Advice Column Introduction. Medium https://medium.com/@helenakerschner/advice-column-introduction-a8ea2027ce13

Kerschner, Helena (March 20, 2019). Tumblr — A Call-Out Post. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2019/03/20/tumblr-a-call-out-post/

Media

Timcast with Tim Pool and Helena Kerschner (May 3, 2022). Timcast IRL – Left Promotes HORSE MEDICINE To Give Abortions, Call For REVOLUTION w/Helena Kerschner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZBbwjOsBbc

Fox News with Tucker Carlson and Helena Kerschner (April 18, 2022). 23-year-old woman to Tucker: I regret transitioning as a teen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibq3ld087Y4

Ben Shapiro with Helena Kerschner (April 28, 2022). Former Transgender Teenager Shares POWERFUL Story About Going In and Out of Transgenderism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwVyozpWWAU

Michael Knowles with Helena Kerschner (March 25, 2022). A Story Of Detransitioning | Michael Knowles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HbPzJy9gkY

THINQ Media (April 25, 2021). My Story of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria | Helena Kerschner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjOmko-9hSg

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Sasha Ayad, and Helena Kerschner (Aug 15, 2020). Sasha & Helena Stream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwoKpmGZd8s

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Helena Kerschner (August 2, 2020). helena, the problematic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2HYucdoUuk

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Helena Kerschner (March 2019). Detrans Retrospective: Helena Kerschner, 2019. [reposted April 4, 2024] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK11Suo-alI

Resources

Substack (substack.com)

Reddit (reddit.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Medium (medium.com)

Spotify (spotify.com)

Duolingo (duolingo.com)

Tumblr (tumblr.com)

Twitter

Discord

  • posts under many names including “slavic steppe wife”

Instagram (instagram.com)

Snapchat (snapchat.com)

  • parscilla [deleted]

Curious Cat (curiouscat.me)

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