Eva Penner / “GNC Centric” / “Benji” and transgender people

by Andrea James Reviewed January 19, 2026 4 min read

Eva Penner is a Canadian musician and ex-transgender activist. Penner is founder of Detrans Canada and was a founding sidekick with “Arty Morty” on Graham Linehan’s anti-trans podcast The Mess We’re In. Penner is deeply involved in online ex-trans and anti-trans extremism under a number of different names.

Background

Eva Michelle Penner was born on April 17, 1996. Penner attended Brandon University and has studied viola and violin.

According to a 2019 interview, Penner reportedly “identified as trans from ages 13 to 20.” According to a 2020 interview, Penner “started identifying as trans at 13 and lived as a trans man from ages 16 to 20.”

Penner has used many names and handles online, including:

GNCCentric and variants: GNC_centric, gnc-centric
“Dykey McLesbian”
“Beaver”
“Benji”
“Benji Eva Penner”
“Ben”
“Ben ben”
“Ben Dyke”
“Benji Dyke”
“Gentle Ben”

Ex-trans activism

Penner founded the group Detrans Canada and arranged a number of ex-trans meetups in Toronto and Ottawa. Penner was banned from Twitter, Medium and Instagram for anti-trans activity.

Penner has contributed to Denise Caignon’s anti-trans group blog 4th Wave Now and has appeared on podcasts, including two episodes of Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce. Penner and “Arty Morty” were regular guests on the earliest episodes of The Mess We’re In, a podcast hosted by anti-trans extremist Graham Linehan.

Penner has an extensive online presence, frequently posting about ex-trans and anti-trans topics.

References

Women’s Liberation Radio (September 2, 2022). Edition 77: Digest of Michigan Women’s Music and Cultural Festivals 2022. https://wlrnmedia.com/2022/09/02/edition-77-digest-of-michigan-womens-music-and-cultural-festivals-2022/

Edwards, Samantha (October 23, 2019). Pride to hold trans rally on the night of Meghan Murphy event. Now Toronto https://nowtoronto.com/culture/books-culture/pride-trans-rally-toronto-public-library-meghan-murphy/

Vincent, Janse (2012). Master Classes with Kirsten Docter Kick Off Viola Sessions. Suzuki Association of the Americas https://dev.suzukiassociation.org/news/viola-sessions-wrap-up/

Anti-trans coverage

Seymour, Meg / Macdonald, Jocelyn (July 31, 2020). How to Welcome Our Detransitioned Sisters in Lesbian Community. AfterEllen https://afterellen.com/how-to-welcome-our-detransitioned-sisters-in-lesbian-community/

[Buffone, Pamela] (October 17, 2019). From trans to detransitioner – what can we learn from this growing trend? Canadian Gender Report https://genderreport.ca/detransitioners-what-can-we-learn/

Selected writing by Penner

“GNC-centric” [Penner, Eva] (December 27, 2019). Benji/gnc_centric: On being kicked off Twitter and Medium. 4th Wave Now https://4thwavenow.com/2019/12/27/benji-gnc_centric-on-being-kicked-off-twitter-and-medium/

“GNC-centric” [Penner, Eva] (January 26, 2019). My Trans Youth Group Experience with Morgan Page. 4th Wave Now https://4thwavenow.com/2019/01/26/my-trans-youth-group-experience-with-morgan-page/

Media

She’s Right You Know with Katherine M. Acosta and “Beaver” [Eva Panner] (May 20, 2024). Feminism & Consciousness-Raising as Antidotes to Gender Identity Ideology: Interview with “Beaver,” a Canadian Re-Identified Woman. https://katherinemacosta.substack.com/p/feminism-and-consciousness-raising

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (August 25, 2020). 9: The Great Bathroom Debate. (Also: Benji’s farewell).

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (August 18, 2020). 8: The See No Evil Award goes to Rebecca Solnit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jtmzDdB_Eo

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (August 10, 2020). 7: Back To The Future Closet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXTwuHv2Ahs

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (July 19, 2020). 5: The Dog That Didn’t Bark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFgTxRbmZc

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “GNC Centric” [Eva Penner] (July 12, 2020). Ep #4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxHyA1tcXXw

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (June 28, 2020). 3: I join Benji in the ‘banned by Twitter’ corner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ArxQBpaBB0

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “Benji” [Eva Penner] (June 22, 2020). 2: Festen chat! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lja_8u42RJA&pp=ygUVVGhlIE1lc3MgV2UncmUgSW4gRXAu

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” and “GNC Centric” [Eva Penner] (June 15, 2020). 1: Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nNAq8X8oBk

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “GNC_Centric” [Eva Penner] (December 30, 2019). 210 | Banned but not Broken, with GNC_Centric.

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “GNC_Centric” [Eva Penner] (March 14, 2019). Coercion & Abuse in the Gender ID Community | with ⚢ GNC-Centric ⚢. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAMar22S0ck

Resources

Detrans Canada (detranscanada.com) [2020–2022 – archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

gnc_centric [deleted]
detranscanada

YouTube (youtube.com)

GNCCentric
obviadorbs5616 [deleted]
“𝐆𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐱 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐚_𝐛𝐨𝐨 !! ♡o。.✿ you are all so special!! 𝐍𝐄𝐖 】ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ sᴜʙ | 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐱 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 : 𝐚𝐞𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐬! ⚡️🦩🏝 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝟒 𝐚𝐥𝐥 🙂 אσאσ ɱเɱเ ,”

TikTok (tiktok.com)