Detransitioner tells Congress trans procedures are medical abuse

Detransition advocate Chloe Cole petitioned lawmakers to outlaw sex procedures on minors while testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday. Doctors prey on vulnerable children to perform sex experimentation procedures, Cole said. Cole told senators how she started receiving treatments to alter her sexual characteristics at the age of 12, eventually undergoing a double mastectomy at 15.

The now-21-year-old explained how her 12-year-old self couldn’t have possibly understood the long-term impacts of taking chemical castration drugs, testosterone hormones, or having her breasts removed. She wondered aloud how doctors could cut off her womanhood before she was even old enough for the title.

Cole testified that doctors can’t tell if she is able to have children, and she still struggles with PTSD, waking nightmares, and feeling emotionally numb. She described waking up each morning to pain in her hips and knees due to her physical development being interrupted by the transgender treatments.

She also described suffering long-term harassment from the LGBT community after detransitioning. She said that harassment targeted both herself and her extended family members. Hundreds of activists were calling for Cole’s murder a few weeks before her testimony when she was going to speak on a college campus, Cole testified.

What change is she proposing? Congress needed to enact a national ban on child transgender procedures and protect parents who refuse to let their children undergo them, she said. These so-called treatments are abuse, she said.

Cole also called for the medical institutions that performed transgender procedures on children to be investigated, and for children who were harmed to receive care. Don’t wait for more children to testify before Congress, crying over what’s been stolen from them, she said.

What kind of pushback did Cole receive? Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, testified alongside Cole and defended transgender procedures while criticizing the government’s push to restrict access. Minter is a female who identifies as a man. Federal officials are launching baseless attacks against safe and effective medical care for children, Minter said.

It’s the parents, not the children, who consent to these procedures, just like every other type of medical care for children, Minter said. Parents are fully informed of all risks and additional treatment options, Minter added. Minter then echoed Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.’s sentiment, that these decisions should be left up to parents, doctors, and the children.

Cole's testimony also took issue with the way doctors informed parents on the risks and outcome of procedures. Medical officials latched onto small details, like Cole's desire to be an athlete and her wanting short hair, as evidence of her being allegedly born into the wrong body she said. Cole’s parents, and all other parents of so-called trans kids, were threatened and told to either transition her or bury her, she said.