“Kiira Triea” / Denise Magner: biography of a hoaxer

“Kiira Triea” aka Denise Magner was an American computer programmer, hoaxer, and troll. Magner concocted a fake biography that unraveled following a 2007 arrest and conviction.

In this section:

• Denise Magner overview
• Biography
• Fake names and accounts
• Lies told in GenderTalk interview (2000)
• Arrest and conviction (2007)
  • Bench warrant and booking
  • Charges
  • Sentencing
• Obituary: a lifetime of lies (2012)

Note: At the height of Magner’s online trolling and sockpuppetry, I wrote a deeply researched exposé of the harm Magner was causing. This is the biographical portion.

Introduction

Around the time Magner stopped using the name Denise Tree online, Magner was an early activist in the intersex movement. In the ensuing years Magner moved away from making positive contributions. For decades Magner waged a long-running online war of words with perceived enemies. In 2007, Magner shifted that highly fluid identity from intersex lesbian to heterosexual “transkid,” which prompted this overview of Magner’s bogus life story.

Magner was the owner and author of transkids.us, a hoax website created in December 2004 and currently maintained by Candice Brown Elliott. It promotes a taxonomy of transwomen proposed by Ray Blanchard, J. Michael Bailey, and Anne Lawrence. Bailey and Lawrence had links to it on their sites within minutes of its publication, suggesting a coordinated effort between Magner, Bailey, and Lawrence. Magner claimed the material was written by “homosexual transsexual” (HSTS) children. Since most of the material published by these “transkids” is pseudonymous and anonymous, we were simply supposed to take Magner’s word that it’s all true. So… let’s take a look at how truthful Denise Magner / Denise Tree / Kiira Triea was (hint: not very).

This report examines:

• Denise Magner’s frequently changed birthdate
• Denise Magner’s frequently changed medical history
• Denise Magner’s frequently changed sexual identity
• Denise Magner’s many names, associated personae, pseudonyms, and friends

Basically, Magner was an older and less successful Laura Albert, the musician wannabe and notorious hoaxer who created “transkid” JT LeRoy out of thin air, eventually even pretending to be LeRoy in person as well as online. As Laura Albert did, Magner was able to dupe several lesser academics and authors with these fabrications, most notably Alice Dreger and Simon LeVay, both of whom cite Magner in their published work. J. Michael Bailey even coauthored with Magner in 2007.

Unfortunately, most of the information in this overview was self-reported by Magner and not independently verified. This article reports on what Magner has claimed in various published statements, which were not necessarily true. Magner’s claims that could be independently verified have often turned out to be false. Given the inconsistencies, all statements by Magner and those Magner claimed to represent should be verified independently with third-party documentation, even those reported by journalists and sloppy academics, before being considered factual. Getting Magner’s many claims gathered in one place was the first step to debunking most of them.

Date(s) of birth

Unfortunately, most of the information in this overview was self-reported by Magner and not independently verified. This article reports on what Magner has claimed in various published statements, which were not necessarily true. Magner’s claims that could be independently verified have often turned out to be false. Given the inconsistencies, all statements by Magner and those Magner claimed to represent should be verified independently with third-party documentation, even those reported by journalists and sloppy academics, before being considered factual. Getting many claims gathered in one place was the first step to debunking most of them.

Magner claimed to have been born on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines [1], a “Navy brat.” [2] Depending on the point being make at the moment, Magner claimed to be born anywhere between the late 1950s and mid 1960s:

• In 1996, Magner claimed to be born “in the late fifties.” [3]
• In 1998, Magner was claiming a 1960 birth, [4] [5] reiterated on GenderTalk. [8]
• In 1999, Magner claimed to be 35 (born in 1964). [6] [7]
• In 2000, a sociologist wrote that Magner claimed to be born “in the mid-1960s,” [9] reiterated in 2002. [10]

2007 legal troubles led to published proof that Magner was actually born on September 2, 1951. The date of birth was an important aspect of Magner’s claims about care at Johns Hopkins, as discussed below. Later birthdates are used when Magner wants to claim an earlier age for medical intervention.

Early life

Magner claimed to be assigned male at birth: “I am an XX person who was exposed to progestin prenatally and assigned as a male, no surgery, at birth in the late fifties.” [3] In other versions, she claimed to be “assigned as a boy at age 2.” [11] Magner claimed to have a Finnish biological father and to have been raised in Finland until age two. [12] Magner claimed to have lived with birth parent, stepparent, and siblings in Baltimore. [13]

Johns Hopkins

Magner reportedly “did not learn of her intersexuality until puberty, when she began to menstruate through her phallus.” Magner claims “I was raised as a male until age thirteen,” [3] at which time Magner “began to menstruate.” [14]  Magner was reportedly “reassigned female at age 14 when she experienced a feminising puberty.” [9] Magner was reportedly diagnosed with “progesterone-induced female pseudo-hermaphroditism.” [10] Magner claimed to be a patient of sexologist John Money at the PRU “from age 14 to 17; this was in the mid-1970s.” [11] Other versions report Magner was “treated in the mid-through-late seventies.” [9] In 1979, Magner actually turned 28. Magender claims to have been injected with testosterone before being given the option of a vaginoplasty:

Since I had been raised as a male I was given testosterone, to see how I reacted. I cannot describe the sense of horror and the feeling that my entire being was being raped, which I experienced from being endocrinologically mutated against my will. I reacted so badly that they decided it might be better if I were a girl and so now I was given that choice. The surgery was explained to me… I was a girl and now I would “be like other girls”. I was so afraid by then that they were going to rip out my ovaries and start with the mutating drugs again that vaginoplasty sounded like the best course of action. [3]

In 1997 reporter John Colapinto stated Magner had vaginoplasty at age 17 [11], but Magner later claimed that was “misstated,” doubling down on the claim of vaginoplasty at age 14. [15] Magner claimed the procedure was performed by Howard W. Jones, Jr. in 1974. [16]

Family problems

Magner claimed these medical issues led to the breakup of the family:

My mother has all the damned answers in the *world* why her “little boy” died … it is in my medical records that I am an XX person who was exposed to progestin. This does not enable her to love me… no. My family was literally blown apart at the seams because of my intersexuality. Do you think that my mother and stepfather went “well gee we have an intersexed child and that’s that”. ?? No they didn’t. Before puberty my stepfather cared about me, took me to ball games and tried to be a good father… like a “real” father. After I had surgery he bagn to verbally abuse me in front of my mother and sisters… and hit me with his closed fist. Do I need to go on? I really don’t think so because I bet this all sounds *very* familiar to many people on this NG. When my mother left him she said “Come on girls”. And left me in the house with him. (emphasis mine) [17]

Magner did not specify the length of time living alone with “stepfather” Joe after birth parent and siblings left. Later in life Magner described a reconciliation of sorts with birth parent Dorothy Main Magner and grandparent Estella Ziegenhein Main (Triea’s post identified the grandmother as “Estelle”). [18] Magner claimed UCLA Professor Emerita Nancy M. Henley was Dorothy’s sibling Henley earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins in 1968. [19] After Dorothy Main Magner died in 2006, Denise Magner stated in an online journal “all three of my parents are no more in my life.”

Early adulthood and “breakdown”

Magner claimed to have lived a life of lesbian separatism shortly after getting out of the Hopkins program. “When I was a teenager in Berkeley I lived in a communal house with a band called Bebe K’Roche, The Berkeley Women’s Music Collective.”[20] Like many musician wannabes, Magner had reasons for never recording with these housemates:

“I was 17 and I didn’t *care* if solos were androcentric or not I just wanted to crank up the 50 watt plexi and punch in my Univox Super-Fuzz and ruin my hearing. I’d been playing since I was 11 and gigging since I was 15 and I was obsessive about practicing. I think I was ahead of my time truthfully, I hadn’t even heard of April Lawton. The next band I played in was a Latin/Funk/hard rock bunch in Philadelphia with a horn section. Woo woo! Bebe K’Roche did a record on Olivia. I’m glad I wasn’t around because it sucks.” [21] 

The “rock bunch” Magner described as a “Hispanic/Finnish rock band” called Moon and Sun allegedly included another guitar player named Ceasar Lopez. [22] Magner also claimed “I played in gospel street bands in N. Philly and recorded crickets off the back porch in N.C.” [23] Remarkably, Magner also claimed to “detransition”: “I am an XX person with functioning ovaries… though I was born intersexed because of my exposure to progesterone and I tried living as a boy in my 20’s. It pretty much didn’t help. When I discovered my sexuality I also discovered my identity. It was nice.” (emphasis mine) [24] By 1992 Magner claimed to be attending Towson State University in suburban Baltimore as a biology major, but was very interested in computers, eventually switching to a computer major. By 1993, Magner was deeplyinvolved in Linux activism, serving as editor of Linux News for about six months. [25] It was also during this time that Magner got an email account at Johns Hopkins. [26] However, a major event was on the horizon:

On February 28, 1993 something happened and I awoke, I don’t know why. I experienced what I can only describe as a constructive breakdown. The intense awareness of my life and the implications of being intersexed ripped through my existence and the implosion hurt. I couldn’t continue in school with my math and computer science degree. (emphasis mine) [27]

The day after the “breakdown,” Magner claimed to have been referred by a private physician to a very competent surgeon:

I have to second this and my experience with clinics is first hand. I was assisted by a private clinical psychiatrist and obtained surgery from a very competant surgeon because of her referral. A clinic _may_ be able to help but then again they may be more interested in their own a grindinges and their own beauocracy (sp). Health care is not free after all and you have the right  to “hire” someone who will do what _you_ need. A competant clinician will admit that they are unable to help if they are not TG aware and refer you to someone who can. Just remember… if someone acts and talks like they are full of crap, it usually means they are full of crap. (emphasis mine) [28]

This description of Jones immediately after the “breakdown” is in stark contrast with Magner’s later comments about the quality of the surgical results:

I seriously doubt that Dr. Howard Jones, who performed genital surgery on me, paid any consideration at all to that function. I have no clitoris at all; whatever was there before seems to have been relocated, perhaps entered into the witness protection program and now living in Arizona. Jones seems to have taken care though, to ensure that I was able to be penetrated, as my “vagina” seems to be deep enough to allow for that. Part of my left upper arm was pressed into genital duty here, which bothered me greatly when I came out of surgery. I wish I’d been consulted, or at least informed. Of course, why would I need to be informed? The objective was to make the hermaphrodite fuckable. (emphasis mine) [29]

“They wouldn’t listen, even when I returned as an adult and made it clear that I desperately needed help.” (emphasis mine) [30]

Name changes

Magner used many name variants, starting with Denise Tree and moving over time to Kiira Triea after the “breakdown,” mixing and matching the two. Magner/Tree/Triea made several additional statements about relative Nancy Henley (a psychologist trained at Johns Hopkins) [19], birth parent Dorothy [18], and siblings [17]. Dorothy Main Magner died in early 2006. The January 17, 2006 obituary in The Baltimore Sun, states:

On January 14, 2006 DOROTHY MAIN MAGNER, a retired Medical Administrator and artist and devoted mother of Denise Tree, Mary Malloy, and Bernice Magner. Loving grandmother of Amy Malloy. Sister of Edyth Anderson and Nancy Henley and aunt of Christopher Henley. Also survived by 1 nephew and 2 nieces. Friends are invited to call at the Burgee-Henss-Seitz Funeral Home, Inc. [emphasis added]

Later Magner began posting as Dr. Arika Aeirt, an anagram which is roughly “Triea, Kira” spelled backwards.

Name	First documented use (online)
(names from birth through teens)	no documentation to date
Denise M. Magner	State of Maryland public records
Denise Tree	June 21, 1992 [31]
Denise M. Tree	January 25, 1993 [32]
(“breakdown”)	February 28, 1993
Denise Michele Tree	April 24, 1993 [33]
Kira Triea	August 17, 1993 [34]
Kira D. Triea	November 25, 1993 [35]
Kira Denise Tree	June 10, 1994 [36]
Kira Tree	September 29, 1994 [37]
Kiira Triea	November 22, 1997[38]
K.D. Tree	March 16, 1996
Arika Aeirt/Ariika Aeirt	September 7, 1999

Kira was a popular name with geeks in 1993, the surname of a character played by Nana Visitor on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Magner took the name the year the series debuted, later giving it a Finnish spin. Magner gave this etymology: “Kiira is the Finnish spelling of Kira which is actually Russian derived name. My biological father was Finnish and I was raised in Finland until the age of two. I changed the spelling when I learned this… one of those “back to my roots” things.” [12] Magner has also stated “I am from Finland” many times. [39][40][41][42] Of the pronunciation, Magner said “Yes with two ‘i’s. No not “Ky-ruh”. It’s “Kear-ah”. No not “Try-uh”, it’s “Tree” as in leaves and limbs. Yes Finnish does have a lot of vowels”. [43]

Magner’s fixation on all things Finnish coincides with the fixation on Linux, created by Finnish software engineer Linus Benedikt Torvalds. See Associated personae section below for more on Magner’s many Finnish sockpuppets from the “House of Benedikt,” like Gisle Benediktsson. Finnish readers took issue with Triea’s claims of Finnish heritage:

No sighting of Kiira in Finland 2002-2004! That is too bad, because Finland has a pioneering ts/is -support group. Surprising that a member of ISNA has no contact with us. “Triea” is not a Finnish name. None holding that family name has ever been recorded in Finland. Also “Tree” is an unknown family name in Finland. “Benediktsson” yields less than five occurrences. As a comparison, my uncommon surname gives 2687 hits.

Athletics and hobbies

Magner claimed to be a competitive runner who held a national record set at the Millrose Games:

“That laughing. The Gym Class Laughing. It’s all the fault of those ball sports. I fixed them… I ran track. I got to hear that gym teacher say “If you beat Kiira you get an A”. Ha! My 9:47 2 mile time at the Melrose Games stood for 12 years as a national record.” [44]

Later Magner claimed to be an experienced bicycle maker. Like many alleged hobbies, Magner was more fixated on the jargon and technical aspects of the equipment than the hobby itself. [45] Magner also claimed to be a metalworker who does bicycle welding/brazing and lathing. [46]

From activist to middle-aged recluse

Magner claimed to be an early member and webmaster for Intersex Society of North America (ISNA). [47] An article Magner wrote appeared in the first edition of their newsletter Hermaphrodites With Attitude, [25] and Magner sometimes signed letters as a representative. [48] In 1994, Magner claimed to be moving to Tucson, Arizona. [35] Magner’s “friend” Stephanie Alejandra Velasquez was allegedly from Tucson. In 1995-2001, Magner was doing computer work at Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, Inc. [49] Magner lived near Johns Hopkins for many years. [50] In 1997, Magner started signing posts with “Guitars and Vocals – ‘Sex Kosmologie’” [51] (an unsigned, unreleased band similar to Laura Albert’s defunct group Thistle). According to Triea, the Sex Kosmologie singer was named Jannelle Seryonsovin. [20] No online outlet seems to carry works by either Sun and Moon or Sex Kosmologie. [52] By the end of 1997, Magner used the affiliation of a self-founded organization, Coalition for Intersex Support Activism & Education (CISAE). [53] Magner went on to use this in letters to the editor, etc. [54] This “coalition” was little more than Magner’s website with anecdotes from others. It was never recognized as a non-profit and faded away after a few years. It was around this time that Magner began to get a lot of validation from J. Michael Bailey, who allowed Triea to join the closed SEXNET mailing list. Magner claimed to have lived in Finland [55] for over two years in 2002-2004, returning to set up a home recording studio, Treehouse Studios.

Sexual identities

In a coauthored paper, Magner identified thus:

For instance, one of the authors (Kiira Triea) identifies as “intersexed lesbian female” while explicitely [sic] rejecting being simply labeled a “woman”, as this label implies a socio-medical / biological history which is quite different from the experiences of an intersexed female. [56]

However, this is just one of many ways Magner has identified, depending on the point being made:

“But when I acquired a sense of sexuality I imagined myself first to be heterosexual because of the nature of my sexuality, then bisexual and finally “empirical lesbian” seemed to fit best. This was at age 32.” [16]

Magner claimed to undergo feminizing bottom surgery at 17, but when after becoming sexually active for the first time, at age 32, Magner’s erotic orientation was toward women. [11] Magner claims to have been “too traumatized over body and sexual issues to attempt sexuality (my situation until age 36.” [4]  Magner was firmly identifying as a lesbian for many years: “So I went with my mom to see my grandmother at the nursing home yesterday and my grandmother asked me if I had a boyfriend. Of course I replied that I didn’t because I was a lesbian but I was in a committed r’ship with another woman, and my mother just about hit me. She got this really uptight tone of voice and said “Well I would hardly call you a *lesbian*.” Meaning I guess that I am actually just your everyday garden variety Martian or something. Time to get out the “I *AM* a lesbian” button I guess. I had intended it’s use to be educational for straight guys, not my mother. You would think she would be used to this… I’ve not been sexually involved with a man in my entire life.” (emphasis mine) [57] Magner occasionally claimed bisexual interests when posting on bisexual forums: “I’m shy too but only bi in my fantasy life… and also the fantasy life of my mother. I am the only lesbian in Baltimore. I’m 37 and my mom treats me like I am 14.” [58]

However, Magners most remarkable shift was from intersex lesbian separatist to heterosexual transkid as of 2007:

For instance, I am an adult former “transkid” and I am also technically intersex and my medical diagnosis would be something like “progestin affected female” so if I talk about medical aspects of that group of people with doctors and academics I would use that term to explain my etiology, I would speak their language. But socially, I am a heterosexual woman who was also raised as a boy until age 14 when I redefined my socio-sexual identity as female. Intersex people who redefine themselves to a more workable sex do so for the same reasons as HS transkids. But we all have to learn to communicate in the most effective way with the people who can help us better with our situation. So we have adopted the medical terminology which is used because it is the effective thing to do. (emphasis mine) [59]

Taking a page from the Laura Albert playbook, Magner moved from being an alleged intersex ally for “transkids” to actually being a “transkid.” I am not the first to point out that Triea’s adamant claims of not being trans are especially interesting in light of which “type” Magner was under Bailey’s classification scheme. Magner displayed many hallmarks of others who claim to have “autogynephilia”:

• Strong interest in technology (especially computers)
• Affinity for language
• Interest in music
• Hoarding and other compulsive fixations (in Magner’s case, computer code, electronics, and audio equipment)
• Exaggerated claims about accomplishments and importance
• Difficulty interacting with others
• Online trolling as a preferred method of interaction
• Use of aliases (sockpuppets) to bolster claims
• Attracted to women but claims an attraction to men
• A deeply felt fixation on and identification with young attractive transwomen
• A deep need for validation and attention from “authority” figures, especially academics

Magner lashed out at anyone who challenged the people who provided attention and validation by promoting Magner’s work. That’s probably the way Magner was most like Laura Albert, who began lashing out, even at former supporters, when things began to unravel. It’s also notable that Magner has harshly slammed Laura Albert. This is a common theme in Triea’s life: slamming people who share remarkable similarities. The fluid identities, the blatant lies, the immersion in whatever Magner was fixated on at the moment, whether it was a country, a hobby, or a sexual identity… all of it raised serious concerns about Magner’s credibility. Denise Magner is, to put it bluntly, not to be believed. Yet Magner was still able to fool supporters, who had ulterior motives for ignoring the truth about Magner.

Conclusion

“It would be better if anonymity were used as a stepping stone, rather than a rostrum for one’s fantasy life.”

— “Kiira Triea” [60]

Like Laura Albert, Magner downplayed all the fluid dates and names and outright fabrications as playing with identity or some sort of pseudo-academic attempt at subverting discourse, etc. Magner later blamed the lying on family problems, or Johns Hopkins, or perceived enemies, or society, or drugs, etc. This overview obviously leaves readers with more questions than answers. It shows the danger of letting someone speak for others. As we saw with John Money and J. Michael Bailey, this kind of anonymized anecdotal report by proxy easily leads to abuse in service of ideology. We live in a day and age where legitimate scholars and researchers fact-check their stories and first-hand reports, and the more fantastic the story, the greater need for independent confirmation. Sadly, some people can’t be taken at their word like Money, Bailey, or Denise Magner and Magner’s many “friends.” The Alice Dregers [61] and Simon LeVays [62] of the world will always take claims like Kiira’s at face value, unltimately undermining their own credibility when the truth inevitably comes out. Just ask everyone taken in by the JT LeRoy hoax. Magner’s compulsion ultimately hurt the very people who tried to help her most. It’s sad and pathetic, but too common among lazy academics who can’t take the time to confirm the most basic information in this “publish or perish” world.

Epilogue

All of Magner’s “friends” disappeared at the time of Magner’s death. Candice Brown Elliott, another eccentric character with a dubious origin story, took over the transkids.us hoax site.

Acknowledgement

Thanks to all who have contributed information to this report. This is only the start of a long process of debunking these ongoing “transkid” hoaxes. Other hoaxes have typically taken about five years from start to finish, like the “boy2woman” hoax that we finally got removed from the web in late 2006. If you have any information you’d like to share, please send it along so we can get this hoax settled once and for all.

References

1. Denise Tree (June 3, 1993). Obtaining personal medical records from military hospital. misc.consumers

“I too have been unable to obtain my medical records (concerning birth and pre-natal care) from the Navy. I was born on Clarke A.F.B. [sic] and the Navy states repeatedly that my medical records were lost, and I know my sponsor’s SSN. A lawyer friend has been unable to help.”

2. Denise M. Tree (January 25, 1993). Linux News #12. comp.os.linux.announce

3. Kira Triea (1996). “The Choice… The Awakening…” Intersex Voices. Retrieved December 7, 1988.

4. Kiira Triea (October 30, 1998). Intersex 101. soc.motss

“I am a former client of the Psychohormonal Research Unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital. […] many IS people are simply too traumatized over body and sexual issues to attempt sexuality (my situation until age 36. I am 38. But for those who do express sexuality… most of us are lesbians or bisexual.”

5. Kiira Triea (January 25, 1999). Dykes raising sons. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“I did my best to exclude men from my existence between the age of 17 and about 26 or so (1977-1986). I lived in the Berkeley Women’s Music Collective and played some with Bebe K’Roche (as on Olivia Records) and I was awfully damned happy to live in an environement where my aversion to men was completely accepted.”

6. Hank Hyena (December 16, 1999). The micropenis and the giant clitoris. Salon

“In Baltimore, intersexual Kiira Triea, 35, claims her genitalia “look like crap” because doctors treated her like an “exotic lab rat.” Born with in-between organs, she was raised as a boy until doctors decided to feminize her at puberty. To accomplish this, they hacked off her enormous and sensitive clitoris and they surgically created for her a rudimentary vagina. A full-time anti-surgery activist now, Triea directs an online support group for intersexuals worldwide.”

[Taking the date of publication and claimed age, there’s a 95% chance Triea claimed to be born in 1964 and 5% chance for 1963.]

7. Louise D. Palmer (December 9, 1999). Hermaphrodites Press Surgeons to Quit Gender Adjustment of Infants. Newhouse News Service (wire service)

8. Nancy Nangeroni and Gordene O. MacKenzie (March 20, 2000). GenderTalk #250. Minute 66:00 ff. Full Kiira Triea interview transcript.

“It was diagnosed, but I was born in 1960 in the Philippine Islands. I’m a Navy brat, so you know, one of those not-so-rare instances where I was treated outside of the treatment methodology, and kind of fell through the cracks until I was 14.”

9. Michelle Morgan LeFay Holmes (January, 2000). The Doctor Will Fix Everything: Intersexuality in Contemporary Culture. Concordia University

“Kiira Triea, who was assigned male at birth but reassigned female at age 14 when she experienced a feminising puberty…”

10. Morgan Holmes (2002). Rethinking the Meaning and Management of Intersexuality. Sexualities, Vol. 5, No. 2, 159-180

“Kiira Triea, who was born in the mid-1960s and assigned male, but was diagnosed with progesterone-induced female pseudo-hermaphroditism and treated in the mid-through-late-1970s by John Money and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins…”

11. John Colapinto (December 11, 1997). The True Story of John/Joan. The Rolling Stone, 54-97.

Kira Triea was assigned as a boy at age 2 and did not learn of her intersexuality until puberty, when she began to menstruate through her phallus.  She was a patient of Dr. Money’s at the Johns Hopkins Psychohormonal Research Unit from age 14 to 17; this was in the mid-1970s, concurrent with John Theissen. They have never met, but Triea’s story bears striking parallels to his.  […] At 17 she agreed to undergo feminizing surgery to create female genitals, but when she became sexually active for the first time, at age 32, her erotic orientation was toward women.

12. Kira D. Triea (April 20, 1998). aiii I cut my hair… alt.support.srs

13. Kiira Triea (August 6, 1999). Your First Amp? alt.guitar.amps

“I had to play in the basement when no one was home because my mother and my sisters thought I had lost my mind. Next summer of 1975 I turned 15 and got a summer job.”

14. Analee Newitz (July 27, 1999). They Wrecked My Genitals! gettingit.com

“Chase’s fellow activist Kira Triea says she was raised as a boy until she turned 13 and began to menstruate. Her frightened parents took her to Johns Hopkins. Under extreme duress, she was given a clitoridectomy and what she calls “a crude vaginoplasty, an artificial vagina made from a piece of skin on my arm. Basically it’s a bunch of scar tissue and a hole.” Triea was asexual until she reached 32, when she fell in love with a woman.”

15. Kira D. Triea (December 9, 1997). Sex Reassignment and Feminism. soc.feminism

“BTW – It is misstated in the article that I had vaginoplasty at age 17…  it was 14 after a period of 4 months in which I was tracked for testosterone treatment and phalloplasty.”

16. Intersex Society of North America (July 12, 1998). John/Joan redux in Pediatrics. Press release.

17. Kira D. Triea (April 23, 1998). Being there (defining Transsexualism). alt.support.srs

18. Kiira Triea (August 27, 2001). 3″ XJ lift questions. rec.autos.makers.jeep+willys

Self-describes as an “off-road motorhead” in a 1988 XJ Limited: “My mother needs to drive this XJ with no highway glitches at all – it gets driven from N. Minnessota to Baltimore MD.”

19. Kiira Triea (April 24, 1999). Take Our Daughters to Work Day. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

20. Kiira Triea (September 5, 1998). Eggcarton Question! rec.audio.pro

21. Kiira Triea (September 8, 1998). Eggcarton Question! rec.audio.pro

22. Kiira Triea (February 2, 2002). I love my Langevin DVC (was Re: Royer’s MXL 2001 Tube Mod) rec.audio.pro

23. Kiira Triea (June 15, 2001). Yet Another “What If” Mic Collection Thread. rec.audio.pro

24. Kira D. Triea (April 18, 1998). having done it young … alt.support.srs

25. Denise Tree (January 1, 1993). Linux News #9. comp.os.linux

If you have praise, criticisms, suggestions, virtual beer or pizza or postcards send to:
tree@midget.towson.edu
Denise Tree
348 Ilchester Ave.
Baltimore, MD. 21218

26. Denise Tree (January 10, 1993). Linux News #10. comp.os.linux.announce

“tree@cs.jhu.edu ( a real special thank you to hometown Activist Bill Bogstad, at J.H.U., for this account, no more will “less” be my news reader)!”

27. Kira Triea (1994). The Awakening. Hermaphrodites With Attitude, Volume 1, Number 1, Winter 1994.

28. Denise Tree (March 1, 1993). information tidbit requested. alt.transgender

29. Kira Triea (1997). Power, Orgasm, and the Psychohormonal Research Unit. Chrysalis, 23-24.

30. Tracy Baim (September 10, 1997). Snyde & Sneak. Outlines

31. Denise Tree (June 21, 1992). GCC2.11c stdlib.h. comp.os.linux

32. Denise M. Tree (January 25, 1993). Linux News #12. comp.os.linux.announce

33. Denise Michele Tree (April 24, 1993). Female orgasm, yet again. alt.sex

34. Kira Triea (1993). Intersex Newsletter/Mailing list. Quoted in E.C. Bryant (August 17, 1993). Intersexuality mailing list. soc.bi

35. Kira D. Triea (November 25, 1993). Gender discussion. alt.transgender

36. Kira Denise Tree (June 10, 1994). 20something swm seeks sf for relationship (midwest). alt.personals.ads

37. Kira Tree (September 29, 1994). Moving to Tucson: Need an IP! az.general

38. Kiira Triea (November 22, 1997). SWLAB-MJG Facts and a proposal. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

39. Kira D. Triea (June 13, 1998). Todd Rundgren. alt.guitar

40. Kira D. Triea (November 11, 1997). The Myth of Walking Away. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“I changed the spelling of my first name to Kiira because recently I found out some very nice things about the first two years I spent in Finland.”

31. Kiira Triea (October 11, 2001). Can Cycling replace a car without problem?uh, winter? rec.bicycles.soc

“Winter? What winter? Sorry, I’m from Finland? :-)”

42. Kira D. Triea (May 12, 1998) Beaulieu power repair question. rec.arts.movies.production

“Kiira is Finnish… as am I. :-)”

43. Kira D. Triea (July 17, 1998) Blessings. rec.audio.pro

44. Kiira Triea (December 25, 1999). Logic, Math and Kiira’s Bowling Story. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“That laughing. The Gym Class Laughing. It’s all the fault of those ball sports. I fixed them… I ran track. I got to hear that gym teacher say “If you beat Kiira you get an A”. Ha! My 9:47 2 mile time at the Melrose Games stood for 12 years as a national record. Kiira – Finnish and proud”

45. Kiira Triea (March 8, 2002). Old Atala: guesses on age? rec.bicycles.tech

“my teenaged years as a bike assembler”

46. See Kiira’s posts at rec.crafts.metalworking in 2001 and 2002.

47. Kira D. Triea (Jun 30 1997). Intersex: what does it mean? soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“I do the web pages for isna”

48. Kira Triea (April 14, 1997) Letter to editor. Time

“As a former intersexed client of Johns Hopkins Hospital, I am pleased to see the true story and outcome of “John/Joan’s” treatment. The erroneously published outcome of his case has stood for more than 20 years as “proof” that gender is acquired, that sex and gender–and by implication, sexuality–can be surgically imposed upon children who are genitally nonstandard, regardless of the cause. I assure readers that this surgical treatment modality was not confined to “the 1960s and early 1970s”: it continues today for approximately five children per day of the perhaps 1 in 2,000 children born with some anomaly of biological sex differentiation. The ramification of this experiment is not that “dozens of other boys may have been needlessly castrated.” It is that thousands of children had, and continue to have, their bodies and their lives mutilated and traumatized by unconsented surgical, hormonal and psychological medical interventions. KIRA TRIEA Intersex Society of North America Baltimore, Maryland”

49. Kira Denise Tree (September 27, 1995). Workstation resellers? misc.forsale.computers.workstation

50. Kira D. Triea (April 20, 1998). new person. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“I live in Hampden. It’s like a giant trailer park with no trailers!”

51. Kira D. Triea (April 7, 1997). Female guitarists: stand up and be counted. rec.music.makers.guitar

52. Kira D. Triea (October 22, 1997). Best Female Guitarists. rec.music.makers.guitar

53. Kira D. Triea (January 20, 1998). Gender therapy – An Anonymous Submission. soc.feminism

54. Kiira Triea (February 28, 2000). Letter to the editor. Salon

55. Finland 2003

56. Heike Bödeker & Kiira Triea (April 15, 1998). Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective. Yumtzilob

57. Kira D. Triea (April 20, 1998). The Wrath of Mom. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

58. Kira D. Triea (April 21, 1998). new person. soc.women.lesbian-and-bi

“I am the only lesbian in Baltimore. I’m 37 and my mom treats me like I am 14.”

59. Kiira Triea (2007) Questions about transsexuality. transkids.us

60. Kira D. Triea (November 27, 1993). Hi. alt.transgender

61. Alice Domurat Dreger, ed. (1999). Intersex in the Age of Ethics.Hagerstown, MD: University Publishing Group. ISBN-13: 978-1555721008 (reprint of Triea’s Power, Orgasm, and the Psychohormonal Research Unit at pp.141-144.)

62. Simon LeVay and Sharon McBride Valente (2005). Human Sexuality, 2nd edition. Sinauer Associates, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0878934652