SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento will become the latest front in the conservative culture war on transgender people Friday, as the Capitol is the site for a “De-transition Awareness Day” rally.
Billed by organizers as the “biggest gathering of individuals harmed by gender ideology to date,” the event is expected to feature several “de-transitioners,” — people who sought gender-affirming treatment and later stopped it or attempted to reverse its affects.
The rally coincides with the opening day of the California Republican Party’s Spring 2023 Organizing Convention. The party did not respond to The Sacramento Bee’s request for comment.
The headliner and chief promoter for Friday’s event is 18-year-old Central Valley resident Chloe Cole.
Cole gained national attention last month when she announced a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente, alleging that the group inappropriately provided gender-affirming female-to-male medical treatment to her, a claim which the organization disputes. It said that its treatment is “consistent with the standards of medical care and excellence,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Cole has been championed by prominent national conservatives.
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida recognized Cole during his March 7 State of the State speech. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., made Cole the centerpiece of the news conference where the congresswoman announced legislation to criminalize gender-affirming treatment for minors.
Despite the backing by many conservative activists and politicians, Cole told The Bee that Friday’s rally is not political. She also disputes that the rally is anti-transgender, though she associates with many anti-transgender activists, including Charlie Kirk and Jordan Peterson.
Though she frequently testifies on behalf of Republican lawmakers as they introduce bills to restrict gender-affirming treatment in other states, Cole said she has no political affiliation.
“I do find it upsetting that this issue is being made into something that is political,” she said.
That said, Cole told The Bee that it doesn’t bother her to be associated with far-right figures, like Greene.
“I just want something to get done about this,” she said. “I don’t think it’s ever appropriate for children to medically transition. It should never be allowed.”
Cole’s beliefs don’t align with the medical establishment, including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which has said “gender affirming care improves quality of life and has been endorsed by major medical associations.”
Those organizations include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association.
Friday’s event is organized by OurDuty, which bills itself as a nonpartisan organization, though its website links to reporting from right-wing websites, including the Epoch Times and Quillette.
Counterprotesters are expected. The group Pride Was A Riot – Sacramento issued a statement pointing out that Cole recently spoke at CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference), the same conference where the The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles said that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely” to a round of applause.
“We respect the will of our community to defend itself against threats of elimination,” the group said.
Cole told The Bee that she does not share Knowles’ view.
Studies and surveys show that de-transitioning is rare
According to the Transgender Journalists Association style guide, “there’s no good data” on people who regret their gender-affirming medical treatment, but what exists points to it being incredibly rare.
A 2014 Swedish study found a 2.2% regret rate among those who had received such treatment.
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, by the National Center for Transgender Equality, which surveyed nearly 28,000 transgender people across the nation, found just 8% of respondents having de-transitioned at some point.
Of those who did, double-digits reported quitting due to pressure from family, spouses, employers or friends. A third said they stopped because transitioning was too hard for them, while 31% said they stopped due to harassment or discrimination, and 29% said they quit because they had trouble getting a job.
Just 5% said they quit because transitioning was not for them, and just 2% said they stopped for medical reasons.
According to that same survey, most of those who did de-transition did so only temporarily, with 62% of those who had done so reporting that they were “currently living full time in a gender different than the gender they were thought to be at birth.”
California is home to nearly 200,000 transgender people, including an estimated 49,100 ages 13 to 17, according to the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute.
According to a 2019 Williams Institute study, nearly 12% of those who had de-transitioned attempted suicide in the last year, compared with 6.7% of those who hadn’t de-transitioned.
People who wanted and received gender-affirming treatment “had substantially lower prevalence of past-year suicide thoughts and attempts than those who wanted hormone therapy and surgical care and did not receive them,” according to the study.
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