The prominent de-transitioner Chloe Cole has joined a lawsuit to support a Trump administration order halting medical sex changes on children, which has been challenged in the courts.
Cole, 20, began to transition at age 12 with drugs and then breast-removal surgery, which she later regretted and has tried to reverse. She says President Donald Trump’s directive should stand, as it would stop other minors suffering like her.
Her comments are part of legal filings in support of the executive order Trump signed on January 28, which directs federally-run insurance programs like Medicaid to exclude gender transitions for children.
Cole is perhaps the poster child of America’s de-transition movement. The pain and distress she describes from hormones and a double breast removal in her filing could well influence judges to support Trump.
Her experiences, together with those of fellow de-transitioners Clementine Breen and Luka Hein, were filed by the Center for American Liberty, a conservative civil liberties group that represents those three in civil lawsuits against their healthcare providers.
Trump’s order has been challenged by several states, advocacy groups, and trans people, who say it violates their rights. Federal judges have granted their requests to temporarily stop the directive from coming into effect.
Cole’s filing is called an ‘amicus brief,’ which are written arguments from people who aren’t directly involved in a case, but have an interest in its outcomes and can share experiences that could sway judges.
Trans rights groups say some minors need access to gender-affirming care, which includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, mastectomies and other surgeries, because it saves lives among a suicide-prone group.
But a growing body of scientific evidence shows that the benefits of child sex changes have been overblown, and that they can lead to such health problems as depression, osteoporosis, and infertility.
Mark Trammell, CEO of the Center for American Liberty, said briefs show the women ‘bravely share their deeply personal and painful stories so that no other child will be rushed down the path of mutilation and regret.’
‘The gender industrial complex continues to prey upon vulnerable children — overwhelmingly girls — for profit, denying them even a slight modicum of ethical care,’ Trammell said.
The briefs were filed on Tuesday in support of the order, titled ‘Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.’
They urge the Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal to reverse the lower courts’ injunctions that block Trump’s directive.
In her brief, Cole, the poster child of the de-transition movement, describes being depressed, anxious, and unhappy with her body as a child, and being persuaded by online influencers that changing sex was a solution.
Doctors and therapists rushed her toward puberty blockers and hormones and at age 15 a double-breast removal procedure ‘without any meaningful evaluation of her underlying mental health issues,’ says the filing.
She came to regret her procedures and started to de-transition, but has endured pain, a separation of grafted skin on her chest, and lack of sensation in that area. She’s also suffered depression, isolation, and humiliation as a result, she says.
‘In recent years, Chloe has found purpose in sharing her story to educate and inform children and parents alike of the realities of transitioning, the scars — both physical and otherwise—of her experience remain,’ says the brief.
‘Chloe is committed to ensuring that no other children who feel uncomfortable in their own skin are rushed into a decision with consequences that they cannot possibly comprehend.’
Trump, a Republican, said in his order that it is ‘the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.’
The order said the administration would ‘rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.’
The directive was challenged by attorneys general in several Democrat-run states and campaign groups.
US District Court Judge Lauren King in Seattle issued a preliminary injunction preventing the administration enforcing the order in four Western states.
Another judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked Trump’s orders nationwide while he also weighs an injunction request.
King, a Biden-administration appointee, agreed with the attorneys general who argued the order intruded on Congress’ power to appropriate federal funding by withholding research and grants from medical institutions that provide such care.
King said the order also unconstitutionally treated people differently based on their sex or transgender status, in violation of the equal protection guarantee of the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment.
She decried another of Trump’s executive orders from January 20, when he directed the federal government to recognize only two, biologically distinct sexes – male and female – and ordered agencies to ensure grant funds do not promote ‘gender ideology.’
‘This Order denies the very existence of transgender people and instead seeks to erase them from the federal vocabulary altogether and eliminate medical care for gender dysphoria at federally funded medical institutions,’ King wrote.
More than half of the 50 states have passed laws or policies that ban gender-affirming care for minors, some of which have been blocked or overturned by the courts.
A challenge to Tennessee’s ban has been heard by the US Supreme Court, whose ultimate ruling could determine the legality of such bans.
Advocates of such care say it’s life-saving for a suicide-prone group, and that puberty blockers help pre-teens ‘pause’ their puberty and buy time to weigh life-altering decisions.
Critics warn of surging numbers of young people who identify as trans, and say puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries are often unnecessary and likely dangerous when counselling gets better results.
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Holland, and the UK are among a growing list of European countries to have restricted or wholesale stopped trans interventions on children.