This story is from the comments listed below, summarised by AI.
Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, this account appears authentic.
There are no serious red flags suggesting it is a bot or an inauthentic user. The comments demonstrate:
- Personal narrative: A clear, first-person account of a shifting ideological journey, from a "bad-faith" trans activist to a gender-critical detransitioner.
- Consistent ideology: A coherent, well-articulated, and consistent gender-critical perspective across multiple comments over two years.
- Complex argumentation: The comments show an ability to engage with complex ideas, make nuanced distinctions, and reference personal experience to support a political argument.
- Emotional resonance: The language includes emotional weight (e.g., "haunting," "furiously hate read") that aligns with a passionate individual who has experienced personal harm, not a scripted bot.
This is consistent with the profile of a genuine, passionate desister/detransitioner.
About me
I started identifying as trans at 19 after getting deep into online communities while struggling with depression and body discomfort. For four years, I lived as non-binary, fully embracing an ideology I now see as escapism from the pressures of being a woman. I began to detransition at 23 after finally listening to critical arguments and realizing my female body wasn't wrong. I'm grateful I never had surgery, and I now understand I am a woman simply because I am an adult female human. My regret is the time I lost and my role in a movement that I believe harms women's rights.
My detransition story
My journey into identifying as transgender started when I was around 19. I was deeply involved in online communities, mostly on Tumblr, where I was exposed to a lot of gender ideology. At the time, I was struggling with a lot of internal issues—low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. I also had a lot of discomfort with my body during puberty, especially with developing breasts. I hated them; they felt foreign and wrong on me. Looking back, I think a lot of this was rooted in body dysmorphia and the pressure to look a certain way.
I never felt like I fit in with other girls, and I found a sense of belonging in these online spaces where people talked about gender being a social construct and something you could choose. I started identifying as non-binary first. It felt like a way to escape from the pressures and expectations that came with being a woman. I now see that a lot of this was escapism. I was influenced heavily by what I read online and by the friends I made in those communities. We all sort of reinforced each other's beliefs.
I socially transitioned for about four years. I used they/them pronouns and a different name. I never took hormones or had any surgery. I was seriously considering top surgery because I hated my breasts so much, but I never went through with it. I'm so grateful now that I didn't. During this time, I was also fiercely defensive of transgender ideology. I would spend hours online, what we called "hating reading" TERF blogs, and then trying to debunk their arguments. I would quote them out of context and twist their words to make my points, all in bad faith. I was convinced they were hateful and bigoted.
But after a few years, the cracks started to show. I began to actually listen to what those women were saying instead of just reacting. It took me less than three months to realize that they kind of had a point. I was operating under a complete misunderstanding. I thought "man" and "woman" were genders—masculine and feminine—rather than words for adult humans of each sex. I also thought "social construct" meant it was something I could construct for myself, which isn't true. The discourse around trans identity plays on these faulty assumptions, and it's suppressed any real discussion that could help people unpack these concepts.
I came to understand that I am a woman simply because I am a female human. There's no special feeling inside; I'm aware I'm a woman because I was made aware I was female from a young age. My discomfort wasn't because I was born in the wrong body, but because of the discomfort that can come with female puberty, mixed with low self-esteem and mental health issues.
I started to detransition around age 23. I stopped using they/them pronouns and went back to my birth name. I regret the years I spent identifying as trans. I feel like I was part of a movement that, while I thought was about liberation, actually aims to significantly limit women's freedom of association. It's haunting to me now that I supported something that has made women-only spaces so much smaller and less accessible. I don't regret my journey because it led me to where I am now, but I regret being so blind and not questioning things sooner.
I don't have any serious health complications from my transition because I never medically transitioned, and I'm not infertile. I now consider myself a heterosexual woman. I don't believe I was influenced by internalized homophobia, as I've always been attracted to men.
My thoughts on gender now are that it is a hierarchy based on sex, and that "gender identity" is a concept that reinforces stereotypes. I believe we need to be able to question these ideas openly. I benefited immensely from stepping away from affirming spaces and allowing myself to think critically.
Here is a timeline of my journey:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| 19 | Started spending a lot of time online, influenced by transgender communities. Began to experience significant discomfort with female puberty and developed body dysmorphia. |
| 20 | Began identifying as non-binary and started a social transition (new name, they/them pronouns). |
| 20-23 | Lived socially as non-binary. Was deeply involved in online trans activism and spent a lot of time defending transgender ideology. |
| 23 | Began to critically question my beliefs after reading gender-critical arguments. Started the process of detransition. |
| 24 | Fully detransitioned. Stopped using they/them pronouns and returned to my birth name. |
Top Comments by /u/drt007:
By the time this sub was created I was already in the detrans process. However, I would furiously hate read terf blogs and invest a significant amount of time "responding" to and "debunking" terf arguments to my imaginary audience. To be clear, by "debunk" and "respond" I mean: quoting out of context, deliberately distorting and misrepresenting every word and conveying my bad-faith interpretation of what they actually mean when they say "xyz"...
It took me less than 3 months to come to terms with the fact that well, lets be honest, they kinda have a point.
It's sad because women-only events were the *norm* in feminist spaces until very recently.
The fact that I once supported a movement that largely aims to significantly limit women's *freedom of association* is haunting (of course, I was blind to it at the time but still).
I am aware that such events still occur but of course, they are much smaller and less accessible than before.
They will label anyone who openly challenges the belief that sex is irrelevant and gender is simply a subjective identification as a "terf" because rather than a neutral, accurate descriptor "terf" is and always has been a label of stigmatization. It's really not personal - it doesn't matter who you are or what your intentions are the primary goal is to prevent any alternative perspective from circulation. The only reason that so much has been invested into constructing the figure of the "terf" is because that perspective on sex/gender is most likely to resonate in progressive circles.
I was operating under the false belief that man and woman were genders (rather than masculine & feminine). Also I thought social construct meant self-construct (which it doesn't)...in many ways I feel like the discourse around trans identity purposefully plays on people's faulty assumptions.
In any event, my misunderstandings would have been easily and quickly rectified if discussion around sex and gender wasn't so intensely suppressed and people were actually allowed to unpack these concepts.
If St. Louis Children's Hospital has treated over 600 children with cross-sex hormones in the last two years - imagine the numbers out of the local Planned Parenthood (even if those patients aren't technically minors - an overwhelming majority are still probably between 18 - 24 years old)
100% ... I am a woman because I am both female and human and the specific word for an individual who fits that criteria is "woman". There is no special lady fEeLz and the only reason I am aware of the fact that I am a woman is because I was made aware of the fact that I was female early on.
I have never witnessed anyone in detrans spaces dehumanize, defame, or condone violence against individuals who describe themselves as transgender… so I can I ask, what do you mean by “transphobia”? Usually (although not always) people in detrans spaces have a different opinion about what gender is and hold many beliefs that contradict narratives that many in the trans community hold dear. Disagreeing with someone (whether or not they describe themselves as transgender) is not a form of transphobia. Identity is not sacrosanct and can and should be questioned.
- Anyone who opposes the system of gender (which necessarily includes the current social and political forces seeking to reify it) and 2. opposes the prioritization of gender identity over sex in language, law and public policy is gender critical. It describes a particular analysis of gender.
Matt Walsh is not gender critical if that’s what your getting at. He fails the first requirement.
As for the second part which Matt Walsh may agree with (I don’t know if he does). Two people (or groups) can arrive at the same conclusion by taking two very different routes there.
honestly, if you are not sure or having doubts do yourself a favor and stop taking T as soon as possible. One woman I know started taking testosterone in her mid-30s and end up easily passing as man (she has since detransitioned) - but the point is there is no rush.
Of course there is. Every organized group with a specific set of policy and legislative goals has an agenda (the policy and legislative goals = the "agenda"). Whether it is gun rights, feminism, trans activism, BLM, pro-life, pro-choice etc. all have a specific social and political agenda.
There's nothing wrong with a group of people coming togther to work towards specific goals -- in fact everyone has the right to do so. What's suspect is when a blatantly obvious political movement denies it has an agenda.