Jonni Skinner is an American ex-transgender activist. Skinner began a gender transition that included hormones as a teenager, then made additional gender changes as an adult. Skinner is an ambassador for anti-trans hate group Genspect and spoke at their 2025 conference.
Background
Jonathon Hunter Skinner was born on November 9, 2002 to entrepreneur Melissa Lei Mojica-Skinner and grew up in Michigan. They attended a fundamentalist Christian church.
Skinner was reportedly diagnosed with autism around age 4 and was homeschooled on and off during childhood after having troubles in the public school system. Around fifth grade, Skinner reportedly left school for a few years and was a ward of the state. Being isolated reportedly led Skinner to seeking friends online on Kik and Omegele, which led to problematic interactions with older men. Skinner reportedly began to feel uncomfortable with pubertal body changes, which intensified body and facial image issues.
In 2024, Skinner submitted a statement to the US Supreme Court as part of an amicus curiae brief in United States v. Skrmetti, filed by Joseph Burgo, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, and Genspect and prepared by Mitra N Forouhar. Forouhar had previously represented ex-trans activist July Carlan (“Shape Shifter”), and there are striking similarities between how Forouhar presents both Skinner and Carlan. Around age 12, Skinner reportedly began thinking about gender transition: “My tutor at the time, Hailey, who was in her early 20s, was transitioning female-to-male for similar reasons, a butch lesbian transitioning to become a ‘straight man.’ I had talked to her about some of my struggles and she encouraged the idea that transitioning was the right path for me.”
In around 2016, Skinner reportedly contacted University of Michigan’s gender program to inquire about services. Skinner reportedly made a social transition and began using feminine pronouns at 13 and using the name Scarlet at 14. Skinner came out to Melissa, started therapy, and started growing out hair. Following what Skinner now describes as an uncomfortable intake assessment with a therapist whom Skinner identified as “W” at the gender clinic, Skinner was referred to the prescribing clinician “Doctor S” and was placed on estrogen and spironolactone. Skinner was reportedly often unhappy with the answers from clinicians. Skinner reportedly got a puberty blocker implant after experiencing unwanted side effects from spironolactone. At around age 16, after around 2.5 years, Skinner reportedly had the implant removed as well due to unwanted side effects, including depression and urinary issues. Skinner was then reportedly noncompliant with spironolactone dosage, taking lower doses intermittently.
Skinner has reported and testified about having the following side effects from trans healthcare:
- “frequent fainting spells”
- “depression”
- “severe muscle pains”
- “spasms”
- “nausea”
- “hot flashes affecting even sleep”
- “extreme breast tenderness”
- “nipple leakage”
- “erectile dysfunction”
- “anorgasmia”
- “full body rashes”
- “hematuria”
- “near complete loss of appetite and nausea after eating”
- “muscle weakness”
- “numerous side effects that are not well understood and for which there is no known treatment”
- “deprived of having any sexual expression for the rest of my life”
- “my body fell apart”
- “brain fog”
- “chest pain”
- “urinating blood”
- “bladder ulcers”
- “too weak to attend school”
In the dating world, Skinner reportedly had a hard time finding romantic partners of the same age, continuing the earlier pattern of much older partners.
Around 2023, Skinner reportedly reduced hormone use over time, eventually stopping in late 2023. Skinner reportedly later found another doctor who Skinner felt was more upfront about side effects. Skinner was reportedly never interested in surgical options.
In May 2025, Skinner earned a GED from Bangor public schools, listed as Jonnie Skinner on the certificate.
Ex-trans activism
At age 18, Skinner did a livestream, and viewers questioned inconsistencies in the transition timeline Skinner presented. In 2024, Skinner appeared on anti-trans podcast Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad.
According to the promotional materials for the 2025 Genspect conference:
Jonni is a 22–year-old detransitioner who shares his personal experience and works to raise awareness about the complex intersections between childhood gender transition and conversion therapy. He began taking estrogen and testosterone blockers at the age of 13 and lived as a transgender girl until the age of 21. Since detransitioning, Jonni has become a vocal advocate against the medical transitioning of minors, dedicating his time to public education and advocacy.
In 2025, Skinner appeared on the Beyond Gender anti-trans podcast with Stella O’Malley and Bret Alderman. Skinner joined Erin Friday and other anti-trans activists testifying in opposition to California Assembly Bill 1540, a bill that called for restoration of the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s “Press 3” option for young LGBTQ+ people. Skinner also testified against California SB 934, which sought to extend the statute of limitation for people harmed by anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy.
On March 17, 2026, Skinner testified in opposition to California Bill AB 1876, the “Fair Care for All Act” that would prohibit health plans and insurers from discriminating against individuals by denying coverage for care, including transgender healthcare. Skinner stated:
“On behalf of Our Duty, I oppose AB 1876. I’m Jonni Skinner, a de-transitioner, and I was a gay kid who was harmed by so called gender affirming care. I was a very feminine boy. Everyone around me made it clear that that was not okay. I was called slurs. Males mocked me. From the time I was five, I knew I was different and didn’t like it. I just wanted to be normal and loved. When I was 12, I found trans influencers online who looked like me as kids. They said change your body and your life gets better, And I thought that’s my way out. At 13, my doctors told my mom she had a daughter, not a son. He told her sixty percent of trans kids kill themselves if they don’t undergo sex rejecting interventions. That wasn’t true. But my mom loved me and followed the doctor’s advice. The doctor told me I was too feminine to find love as a man and that gay men don’t want someone like me, that I needed to change my body if I wanted to find a husband. I was put on estrogen and blockers at the age of 13, and my body fell apart. Nipple leakage, brain fog, chest pain, depression. I was urinating blood and had ulcers in my bladder and was too weak to attend school. When I told my doctor how sick I was, he looked at me and said, welcome to womanhood. What they were doing has a name. It’s called “transing the gay away”, and there’s nothing wrong with being gay. This bill forces insurance companies to fund this cruel homophobia. It continues the lie that some children are born in the wrong body. Vote no.”
Video of the testimony circulated widely in anti-trans media.
References
Song, Kristie (March 19, 2026). LGBTQ+ youth mental health bill makes progress despite anti-trans advocacy. Los Angeles Blade https://www.losangelesblade.com/2026/03/19/lgbtq-youth-mental-health-bill-makes-progress-despite-anti-trans-advocacy/
Anti-trans coverage
Staff report (May 4, 2026). CA Bill Mandates Coverage of Sex-Rejecting Procedures for Minors. California Family Council https://www.californiafamily.org/2026/05/ca-bill-mandates-coverage-of-sex-rejecting-procedures-for-minors/
Edwards, Jonathan (May 3, 2026). The Human Cost of the Transgender Experiment on Minors. Jonathan Edwards, MD https://johnathanedwardsmd.substack.com/p/the-human-cost-of-the-transgender
Buchanan, Cecilia (April 30, 2026). Detransitioner Goes Viral After Opposing California Pro-Trans Law. BeliefNet https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/news/2026/04/detransitioner-goes-viral-after-opposing-california-pro-trans-law
Parks, Kristine (April 20, 2025). A detransitioner confronted a California lawmaker on the harms of gender transition. Here’s why he spoke out. Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/media/detransitioner-confronted-california-lawmaker-on-the-harms-gender-transition-heres-why-he-spoke-out
Sandoval, Natalie (April 8, 2026). Pervert Democrat Squirms When Confronted By Worst Nightmare. Daily Caller https://dailycaller.com/2026/04/08/scott-wiener-democrat-california-detransitioner-jonni-skinner-transgender-conversion-therapy-bill-sb-934/ alt headline Scott Wiener Squirms When Confronted By Detransitioner
Silverio, Nicole (April 8, 2026). California’s Most Degenerate Lawmaker Listens Stone-Faced As Man Describes Horrors Of Minor Trans Procedures. Daily Caller https://dailycaller.com/2026/04/08/scott-wiener-stone-faced-trans-procedures/
Aldaco, Soren (April 7, 2026). After Childhood Transition Left Him Bleeding and Debilitated, Trans Activists Called Him a Liar. Independent Women https://www.iwfeatures.com/commentary/after-childhood-transition-left-him-bleeding-and-debilitated-trans-activists-called-him-a-liar/
“Buttons, Christina” (November 14, 2025). The Essentialism Bias in Transgender Medicine. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/transgender-medicine-biological-bias-gender-affirming
Selected writing by Skinner
Skinner, Jonni (May 5, 2026). I De-transitioned. My Body Will Never Be the Same. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-de-transitioned-my-body-will-never-be-the-same
Skinner, Jonathon (October 5, 2024). Statement of Jonathon Skinner. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-477/328642/20241018123221107_FairSkrmetti_Amicus%20Other%20October%2018%202024%20EFILE.pdf
Media
Genspect with Soren Aldaco and Jonni Skinner (April 21, 2026). Jonni Skinner – Transitioned at 13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aic5adFaZ6U
Fox News / 3play Sameday (April 20, 2026). Detransitioner warns California: Gender medicine became its own ‘conversion therapy.’ https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393266257112
Genspect with Stella O’Malley and Jonni Skinner (January 10, 2026). The Cost of Early Medicalization: Detransition in Adulthood | Jonni Skinner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBFiRA0efDk
Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley, Bret Alderman, and Jonni Skinner (September 18, 2025). I Was Thirteen When They Put Me on Estrogen – Jonni Skinner (#39). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EFckKmYcgU
Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Scarlet Skinner (March 12, 2024). “My Entire Childhood Was Medicalized” with Scarlet | Episode 154. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s96WlMza2f0
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
Quora (quora.com)
The Free Press (thefp.com)
- Jonni Skinner
- thefp.com/w/jonni-skinner