Zoe Hawes and transgender people

Zoe Hawes is an American ex-transgender activist. Hawes made a social transition and took hormones from age 16 to 20. Hawes stopped following an “encounter with Jesus.”

Hawes has gone on to testify against trans healthcare for young people.

Background

Zoe Faith Hawes was born in November 1998 and mostly grew up in Oklahoma.

On October 28, 2022, Hawes gave a public comment before the Florida Board of Medicine:

“Growing up, I experienced a lot of traume. I was molested when I was 6. My parents divorced when I was 8. My mom attempted suicide when I was 13. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in middle school, and I couldn’t accept my body in puberty. I just wanted to escape. By the age of 16, I was very unstable and suicidal.

I came to believe I was male in a female body after reading a memoir about someone who had transitioned. I came out to my mom, who was scared I was going to kill myself if she didn’t affirm me. I was immediately taken to a gender therapist who diagnosed me with gender dysphoria and wrote a letter recommending I start testosterone after only three months of therapy. I started T seven months after coming out, at the age of 16, and I really thought transition was going to fix everything. My period stopped, facial hair grew. Pretty soon I was passing as male.

At first, I was elated, but my mental health did not improve. I became more suicidal, more unstable, and the anxiety became debilitating. Testosterone was never questioned as a contributing factor to my increasing instability. I was in and out of mental hospitals six times while being affirmed as a male and supported in my decision to transition by my doctors, psychiatrist, immediate family, and even church. I was also diagnosed with complex PTSD and OCD during this time. I desperately wanted top surgery and hysterectomy but couldn’t afford them. After a serious suicide attempt in February 2018, I realized that just changing my appearance was not going to take away the pain. So I started working really hard in therapy, but I still believed I was male.

A year later, in 2019, I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus and began to find deep healing and peace within myself. After nearly four years of being on testosterone, I decided to detransition and accept my womanhood. My mental health improved exponentially. I’m no longer in therapy or even on mental health medication. I have not been suicidal or hospitalized since stopping testosterone. A few years later, my menstrual cycle has still been irregular, I still have to shave my face daily, and I struggle with hormonal acne. I’m truly grateful I never got surgery, because now, I’m happily married and 28 weeks pregnant. But if I had gotten surgeries that I so desperately wanted as a teenager, that would have stolen this future from me. So I’m asking the board to create a role that makes it unethical for doctors to prescribe these hormone treatments for people under the age of 18 and surgeries under the age of 21. Thank you.”

Ex-trans activism

Hawes was recruited into ex-trans activism by Vernadette Broyles.

Florida Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine

Following Florida’s 2022 GAPMS report, created as a pretext to ban trans healthcare for minors. The committee was considering a rule banning medical transition for minors. In her comments she told her own transition and detransition history and asked the boards to bar hormones under 18 and surgery under 21. Hawes gave the public comment transcribed above.

Dekker v. Marstiller (later Dekker v. Weida)

The case challenged Florida’s exclusion of gender-affirming care from Medicaid. Her declaration was one of seven from detransitioners, and the plaintiffs moved on October 7, 2022 (ECF No. 57) to exclude them. Hawes submitted a written declaration dated October 3, 2022.

Poe v. Drummond

Poe v. Drummond challenged Oklahoma’s SB 613, the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. On June 14, 2023, Hawes submitted a declaration that reiterated the Florida public comment. The declarations included:

• Exhibit 1: James Cantor
• Exhibit 2: Michael Laidlaw
• Exhibit 3: Angela Thompson
• Exhibit 4: Curtis Harris
• Exhibit 5: Laura Smalts
• Exhibit 6: Zoe Hawes
• Exhibit 7: Aether Dixon

References

Dodd, Peggy (July 11, 2023). Oklahoma asks courts to dismiss lawsuit opposing gender-affirming care, ACLU responds. KOSU https://www.kosu.org/health/2023-07-11/oklahoma-asks-courts-to-dismiss-lawsuit-opposing-gender-affirming-care-aclu-responds

Felder, Ben (July 7, 2023). Oklahoma promotes stories of Christian ‘detransitioners’ in gender-affirming care case. The Oklahoman https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/07/07/oklahoma-gender-affirming-care-ban-lawsuit-state-christian-detransitioners-testimony/70343717007/

Legal documents

Decl. of Zoe Hawes, Poe v. Drummond, No. 4:23-cv-00177-JFH-SH (N.D. Okla. June 16, 2023), ECF No. 86-6. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.oknd.65971/gov.uscourts.oknd.65971.86.6.pdf

Transcript of Preliminary Injunction Hearing, Dekker v. Weida, No. 4:22-cv-00325-RH-MAF (N.D. Fla. Oct. 12, 2022), https://ahca.myflorida.com/content/download/21727/file/Dekker_v_Weida_Preliminary_Injunction_Transcript.pdf

Decl. of Zoe Hawes, App. 912, Dekker v. Weida, No. 4:22-cv-00325-RH-MAF (N.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2022), ECF No. 49-__, https://transgender.agency/files/dekker-v-weida/49-1-2-3-4-5-6.pdf

Media

Living Hope Community Church with James Lee and Zoe Hawes September 19, 2023; uploaded September 19, 2023). Zoe Hawes Interview on Detransitioning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BidpUttVBLc

Living Hope Community Church with Zoe Hawes (September 17, 2023; uploaded September 19, 2023). Zoe Hawes Testimony on Detransitioning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emAPtm_bQz4

The Get Better Researcher (October 31, 2022). Detransitioner Zoe Hawes Florida Board of Medicine Testimony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykVUzdK69T8