Richard Anumene is an American ex-transgender activist. Anumene gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get transgender healthcare.
Anumene has used different names and aliases, including:
- Rika Ilay Abbir
- Ben Avraham-Avinu
Background
Richard Ikechukwu Anumene was born in August 1994 to parents who emigrated from Nigeria. Anumene has one sibling.
Anumene reportedly experienced “frequent physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of my parents and brother” that led to therapy at age 7.
Anumene graduated from Sacramento High in 2010.
Anumene’s alleged disorders, diseases, “comorbidities,” and maladies include:
- major depressive disorder
- suicidal ideation
- bipolar manic episodes
- PTSD
- schizophrenia
- “gender confused behaviors”
- drug use
- distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior
- flashbacks and nightmares
- changes in mood, energy, and ability to function lasting days to weeks
- feeling sad or having a depressed mood
- loss of interest or pleasure in activities
- changes in appetite
- weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
- trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
- loss of energy or increased fatigue
Anumene testified that “various treatments were tried, including medications, inpatient and outpatient hospitalizations, and even a witch doctor in Nigeria. Growing up I had no positive male role models, which only reinforced my hatred of being a male and growing up into a man. Sexual abuse which occurred during my formative years is the primary reason why I felt the desire and need to ‘medically transition’ from male to female.”
Anumene began identifying as transgender in 2014, at age 20:
I started socially transitioning after I attended an in-person transgender meetup group in Sacramento, California, where I was told about “The Gender Health Center.” The GHC provided me with cross-sex hormones, legal name and gender marker change assistance, transgender support groups, and a day center for people ages 13 and up to just hang out together. Much older trans-identified males befriended me, and I finally felt less alone. They welcomed me into their social group and gave me the attention that I wasn’t receiving from family and friends. Everything I was seeking personally and socially seemed to be fulfilled ten times over. It was an amazing feeling at the time.
During this time, I had my first romantic relationship with a woman. It was short lived, and I ended up homeless. After that, my father convinced me to return to presenting as a man. I had only lived as a woman for roughly a year before I desisted. A few years later, I left my father’s unhealthy household, severed my relationship with him, fell between homelessness and transitional housing, and retransitioned under the guidance and encouragement of Kaiser Permanente healthcare professionals.
Anumene attended American River College from 2017 to 2020. In 2017, Terri Conner filed a civil harrassment complaint against Anumene, seeking a permanent restraining order. The case was reported as dismissed.
Anumene got a legal name and gender change at age 25 in June 2020, using the name Rika Ilay Abbir. Anumene had facial feminization surgery in November 2020 and vaginoplasty in March 2021.
By July 2021, Anumene felt regret and began detransitioning at age 27: “I realized that I am not a transgender woman but that I am a heterosexual man.”
Anumene reports the following issues since transition:
- frequent bleeding
- urinary incontinence
- urinary tract infections
- alone, confused, and devastated
- “a faux woman lacking any capacity to procreate”
- “no feeling will ever be strong enough to undo the truth of plaintiff being irrevocably male.”
In November 2025, ex-trans activist Sierra Weir reported that Anumene was using the name “Ben Avraham-Avinu” and engaging in unwanted contact.
Activism
In 2022, Anumene sued several healthcare providers. A “Stipulation, Agreement” was published in the case that day. According to anti-trans site Transition Justice, the case is “resolved.”
Anumene testified in support of Ohio House Bill 68 banning gender effirming care.
In 2024, Anumene appeared at a “Detrans Awareness Day” event. Also that year, Anumene partcipated in a panel and screening of “The Lost Boys: Searching for Manhood” sponsored by Partners for Ethical Care in Chicago. Other participants included Ritchie Herron, Daisy Strongin, “Chloe Cole,” “Maia Poet,” “Michelle Alleva,” Camille Kiefel, Nick, and moderator Pamela Garfield-Jaeger.
References
Watkins, Daniel L. (March 22, 2022). Richard Ikechukwu Anumene v. The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. et al. Case No.: CGC-22-598800 https://unicourt.com/case/ca-sfc-richard-ikechukwu-anuneme-vs-the-permanente-medical-group-inc-et-al-690656
Sacramento County court case 34‑2017‑70002791‑CU‑HR‑GDS (2017). Terri Conner v. Richard Anumene. https://trellis.law/case/34-2017-70002791-cu-hr-gds/terri-conner-vs-richard-anumene
Media
Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Richard Anumene (November 5, 2023). Trauma and Transition | a Detrans Story, with Richard Anumene. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdQST1yzrgc
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
- AnumeneRic17573 (deleted)
Facebook (facebook.com)
SoundCloud (soundcloud.com)
Google+ (plus.google.com)
- plus.google.com/116155991695429669331
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Pinterest (pinterest.com)