Before social media, before gender clinics in every city, before anyone knew what "gender identity" meant, Cori Cohn saw transsexualism on afternoon TV and thought he'd found the answer to his problems. At 19 in 1994, he had genital surgery. Three decades later, he's helped pass laws banning youth medical transition in 26-27 US states. In this remarkable conversation, Cohn reveals how he "doctor shopped" until finding a third psychologist who'd approve surgery, why he feels "subhuman" ("I'm definitely not a man and I'm not a woman"), and how the Episcopal Church now calls supporting pediatric transition part of their "baptismal call." His most haunting revelation: "If you physically can't return that passion because you have an injury from the surgery, your ability to sustain a relationship is extremely impaired." From testifying against clergy prayer circles supporting youth transition to explaining why "almost all the boys who transitioned...do OnlyFans," this is the testimony of someone who lived the experiment before it became an industry.
About Cori Cohn
Cori Cohn (@heterodorx on X) is a gender critical activist who has testified on legislation restricting youth medical transition across numerous US states since 2022. Having transitioned medically at age 19 in 1994, he brings a unique 30-year perspective to the debate. Growing up in Reno, Nevada, as "a really sensitive boy" who was bullied and alienated from other boys, he began taking estrogen in 1993 and had genital surgery in 1994. He now works state-by-state advocating for bills that prevent the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors. He co-hosts the podcast "Informed Dissent" and the podcast “Heterodorx” and will speak at Genspect's Albuquerque conference on "Authenticity Over Evidence: Metaphysical Trends in Trans Rights Activism."
The 1990s Origin Story: From Donahue to Surgery
Growing up as "the person who was picked out for the bullies to beat up on," Cohn developed the belief by elementary school (1989-1990) that "if I could become a girl...I would actually be able to develop and maintain friendships." Seeing transsexualism on TV (likely the Donahue Show) was revolutionary: "It went from 'I pray to God that I will wake up and not have to be a boy anymore' to 'here are things that I can practically achieve.'" Unlike the "clownish" tabloid portrayal Stella remembers from Ireland, Cohn saw it differently through his Nevada lens—where women were "hands on, practical, serious...tough women who got up and started doing chores."
Doctor Shopping: The Pattern That Persists
Required to have two letters for surgery approval, Cohn's second psychologist refused, saying he wasn't a candidate. "So I just found a third psychologist." This experience shapes his current activism: "One of the reasons why I'm not satisfied to negotiate on certain terms...is I know that families will just keep shopping doctors until they find the approval that they want. I know because that's something that I did." He references GALAP (Gender Affirming Letter Access Project)—therapists who've agreed to give letters to anyone who asks—as proof the system remains exploitable.
The Illusion of "Becoming Yourself"
Initially, transition seemed to work: "I did become more outgoing...I'm becoming my own person now." But Cohn recognizes the conflation: "People who don't take cross-sex hormones have the same process. It's called completing adolescence. But because I've had an intervention, instead of me thinking, 'Hey, this is a natural thing that I would have done anyway,' I think 'this is working.'" After a couple years: "I don't feel like I'm a woman and I'm definitely not a man...I'm more alienated than I've ever been because I can't finish what I started."
Not Detransition but Integration
"I can't undo anything. I can move forward, but I cannot reset." Cohn rejects the term "detransitioner" because "it seems to imply a reset that I can't have." His perspective: "You have to think about this as another step in the journey of your life and not a refutation of some decisions that were made...Otherwise it's just angst." He emphasizes that "some of the best moments of your life are going to be during you being in this transition state" and those meaningful relationships can't simply be discarded.
Many attending the Beyond Trans groups run by Stella share this perspective
The Legislative Campaign: 26-27 States and Counting
Since 2022, Cohn has testified on bills preventing medicalization of minors, including sports bills. The strategy is deliberate: "If we break this problem into smaller pieces...minors cannot consent. They are not worldly. Their bodies are still changing." The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti affirmed states can regulate this. Even in "blue states," bills are now getting hearings. Democrats in Texas offered to create formal review boards if they could keep medicalizing—Cohn knew "the oversight mechanisms are just going to be hacked."
The Religious Capture: Episcopal "Baptismal Call"
"Every single time" Cohn testifies, clergy oppose him—sometimes in prayer circles of 8-10 clergy members "praying the whole day...for the legislature to not regulate sex changes for children." The Episcopal Church's 2022 resolution declares supporting "gender affirming care in all forms...and at all ages" as part of their "baptismal call to respect the dignity of every human being." The theological justification: believers in a "holy spark" providing "higher level knowledge about our own personal truths," including gender identity.
The OnlyFans Pipeline
"Almost all of the boys who were in the public lens, who transitioned, as soon as they become adults, do you know what they do? OnlyFans." Cohn sees this as neither dignified nor humane: "Turning boys into sex mimics as girls and then selling them to quench the thirsts of men who are into that sort of thing." This sexualization of transitioned youth represents a "black pill to swallow" about their long-term outcomes.
The Sexual Reality No One Discusses
Having never had sex before surgery—"I was waiting to become myself"—Cohn didn't understand until his 30s what he'd lost: "In a relationship, sex is such an important means of bonding. And if you cannot enjoy sex...if your partner wants you to feel pleasure and you don't feel any and you cannot reflect that back...you cannot reciprocate that love." The surgical injury means "your ability to sustain a relationship is extremely impaired. And that's why I want kids to be able to grow up with their whole bodies."
More about the impacts of medical transition on sexual function.
Strategic Dragons vs. Total War
When challenged about focusing only on minors rather than banning all transition, Cohn responds pragmatically: "If you said 'Cori, get out of bed. We're going to go slay a dragon today,' I might say, 'remind me, how big is this dragon?'" His approach: segment the problem, tackle achievable goals. Next targets: preventing males in women's prisons and ending public insurance coverage. "The reason this whole thing exploded in the first place is because the price dropped to zero."
The Permanent Reality
"As long as we are alive, there are always going to be people living in a transitioned state...We may go back to a state of 'you're somebody who's unusual, but I don't have to think of you as a member of the opposite sex.'" Even with reduced medicalization, "as long as there's a single jurisdiction anywhere in the world, people are going to go there." The goal: reframe from "becoming your true self" to "you are especially unusual among your own kind."
Cori Cohn will speak on “Authenticity Over Evidence: Metaphysical Trends in Trans Rights Activism” at The Bigger Picture: Albuquerque, September 27–28.
Tickets selling fast - secure your seat now.
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