Maverick

MEET THE CONEHEADS, or Who ARE All These "Gender-affirming Providers" Anyway? Most of us keeping track of medical trans activism and policies would have seen parts of this infamous video from the March 21, 2022 "Teen Transitions" panel (inset screenshot of the video call), part of @DukeU Duke University's Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) Health Symposium, held virtually that year. The panel discussed teens seeking "gender-affirming care", including benefits, concerns, clinical practices, and policies. Marci Bowers was the primary speaker in the shared clip (often highlighted), addressing effects of puberty blockers on males when started at Tanner Stage 2, specifically noting impacts on future orgasm and sexual function (zero). Other participants appeared as panelists listening, reacting, or contributing. Let's look, for curiosity's sake, briefly into the panelists and their academic inclinations. There's a link to part of the actual video and some more related info in the comments. MARCI BOWERS (she/her): The ringleader here, he is a trans-identifying male, board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, and notorious "gender-affirming" surgeon who has performed thousands of gender-affirming surgeries (reportedly over 2,250). He served as president of WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) from 2022–2024 and is a prominent advocate for "gender-affirming care". He has featured in the "What is a Woman" movie by @MattWalshBlog. He featured in episodes of I am Jazz, where a teenager, Jazz Jennings, had his penis removed as part of "gender-affirming care" in 2019 aged 17-18. His surgical team, led by Dr. Marci Bowers and Dr. Jess Ting, harvested a swatch of peritoneal tissue from his stomach lining to construct a faux "vaginal canal". The whole procedure took five hours, sparking a tense disagreement among the medical team in the operating room regarding the exact placement of incisions and the potential for disfiguring scars. The crisis began almost immediately after Jazz was discharged to a nearby hotel. While transferring from her hospital wheelchair into a van, the wheelchair's leg rest snapped down abruptly. Jazz described feeling a distinct, terrifying "pop" accompanied by immediate, excruciating pain. Within days, the excessive tension at the surgical site caused complications - stitches separated entirely, and the wounds began physically splitting apart. The tissue along the edges of the wound turned a dusky blue, signaling a severe lack of blood supply, and a massive blood blister formed. Dr. Ting rushed Jazz back into the operating room for a second, emergency surgery to salvage the tissue and repair the separation. Dr. Bowers was not present for this emergency repair. Throughout this second surgery, concerns were raised about potentially stripping Jazz of nerve sensation and the ability to ever experience an orgasm. The physical and emotional trauma required "months of healing". In late 2019, Jazz had to return to the operating room for a third major surgery to correct more cosmetic and structural issues. Bowers is also a central figure in the 2024 "WPATH Files" leaks, which revealed internal discussions acknowledging limited evidence for youth interventions, potential harms (including the exact orgasm/sexual function issue he describes in the clip: “To date, I’m unaware of an individual claiming ability to orgasm when they were blocked at Tanner 2”), concerns about “sloppy” care or inadequate assessments, and improvisation rather than rigorous science. He played a vital role in WPATH’s removal of minimum age guidelines for surgeries in SOC-8 drafts. There have been questions of conflicts of interest (high earnings primarily from gender surgeries while helping shape guidelines). He has been deposed in multiple lawsuits challenging youth transition bans (e.g., Alabama), where his statements on evidence, consent, and reversibility have been scrutinized. JOHANNA OLSON-KENNEDY, MD (she/her): She is a female pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine. She directs the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is a leading U.S. advocate and researcher on "gender-affirming care" for minors, including puberty blockers and hormones. She faced significant criticism in 2024, and periodically since, for not publishing results of a long-running NIH-funded study on puberty blockers (part of the Trans Youth Care United States Study), which found no improvement in mental health outcomes. She laughably cited fears the data could be “weaponized” by critics. In late 2024/2025, she was sued by detransitioner Kaya Clementine Breen (Finn Case), who alleges a rushed diagnosis (minutes-long initial visit at age 12), leading to blockers, testosterone, and mastectomy at 14, with claims of negligence regarding mental health/trauma oversight, bone health risks, and misrepresentation of blockers as “completely reversible.” The lawsuit was later dismissed on statute of limitations grounds in California, but it highlighted broader concerns about rapid medicalization. Her clinic has faced closure pressures amid larger federal policy shifts under the Trump administration. She's also the one who laughed in a leaked video when she said of young girls who undergo double mastectomies as part of "gender-affirming care" experience and later regret it or detransition: “If you want breasts at a later point in your life, you can go and get them.” She literally framed reconstruction (via implants or other procedures) as a straightforward option to "get them back," downplaying long-term consequences. Awful. DEANNA ADKINS, MD (she/her): She is a female pediatric endocrinologist at Duke University School of Medicine. She founded and directs the Duke Child and Adolescent Gender Care Clinic (one of the first in the South, opened 2015) and provides "gender-affirming" medical care (including hormones) for "transgender youth". She has testified frequently as an expert in legal cases. She has testified against state bans on gender-affirming care for minors (e.g., Arkansas, Florida, West Virginia). Oppositions, including in amicus briefs and court challenges, contest her assertions that "gender identity" is “innate,” “fixed at a young age,” and has a strong biological basis, arguing this conflicts with evidence of desistance/fluidity in youth. She has faced political backlash tied to Duke’s role as a Southern hub for youth transitions. Her clinic and testimony are often cited in debates over evidence quality, potential harms of interventions, and rapid affirmation models. CHARLENE WONG, MD, MSHP (she/her): She is a female pediatrician and adolescent/young adult medicine specialist at Duke. She is an adjunct associate professor in Pediatrics with expertise in health policy, adolescent health behaviors, integrated care models (including Medicaid/insurance initiatives), and public health strategy. She has held roles in NC DHHS policy. Indirect criticism is tied to her association with Duke’s affirmative programs amid broader statewide/policy debates on youth transitions. DANE WHICKER, PhD (he/him): He is a male clinical health psychologist and assistant professor in Duke’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He specializes in "LGBTQ+ equity", "transgender health", psychological support/consultation in "gender-affirming care", behavioral health assessments for those seeking medical transition (haha), and "therapy for LGBTQ+ adolescents/adults". He has complained about receiving death threats and online harassment (including violent imagery, e.g., woodchipper references) linked to his work in Duke’s gender clinic and public opposition to legislative bans on "youth care". In this panel discussion, he was noted for downplaying certain risks raised by Bowers, like comparing transition-related sexual/fertility impacts to side effects of antidepressants, and emphasizing bullying/suicide risks of not transitioning, quite contrary to growing evidence. This drew sharp criticism from normies who view it as minimizing informed consent concerns. He has commented on "the chilling effect" of bans on evidence-building in the field. KIRAN SUNDAR (he/him): He is a male who was a Duke University student (senior psychology major around 2022, with minors in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies). He worked as a student programming assistant, co-facilitator at Duke’s Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity (CSGD) for groups including "queer/trans people of color"(naturally, being a brown man, waste no melanin), and held roles in Duke Student Government (e.g., Director of TQIA+ Affairs and Policy). LEIGH SPIVEY-RITA, PhD (she/her): She is a female assistant professor in Duke’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Child & Family Mental Health). She focuses on transgender mental health, adolescent gender nonconformity, LGBTQ+ care, evidence-based treatments for children/adolescents/young adults/families (including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, identity exploration), and uses a culturally-responsive, identity-affirming approach. (I got tired of putting all the wankery in quotes for this one, too much of it. - USMI) Her work supports affirmative care models, and is part of the larger debate over psychological interventions in "gender dysphoric" youth. Is it a psychiatric issue or not? If it's a psychiatric issue, why does it need "affirmation" and altering of sex organs and sexual secondary characteristics? If it's not a psychiatric issue, and not a physical issue either, why does it need "affirmation" and altering sex organs and sexual secondary characteristics? Bunkum. Rejectors of pediatric medical transitions, also called The Sane, Awake and Horrified, have criticized the event for featuring prominent affirmative-care providers who discussed (and downplayed/minimized) risks such as sexual dysfunction, infertility, sterility, bone density loss, and long-term outcomes while advocating for access. The clip is often cited as evidence of clinicians acknowledging harms internally (like Bowers’ observations), yet continuing to support early interventions on patients seeking help desperately and putting their litteral bodies and minds on the line. The discussion in the panel is very similar to what goes on among medical professionals involved in the shady business of "gender-affirming care" every day, and provides a rare opportunity for all of us to really see it for what it is, disingenuous experimentation on extremely vulnerable patients. REFERENCES: - Duke Sanford School event page and symposium details (sanford.duke.edu/event/teen-tra…) - Carolina Journal coverage of Duke as Southern hub for youth gender care and the panel - Campus Reform and The College Fix reports on the 2022 panel - WPATH Files coverage and Marci Bowers deposition excerpts (Alabama case) - Reports on Johanna Olson-Kennedy’s NIH study withholding and Clementine Breen lawsuit (Liberty Center complaint, media coverage in The Economist, NBC News) - Deanna Adkins expert declarations, testimony in bans cases, and Duke clinic profiles - Dane Whicker Duke profiles and interviews (Barry Yeoman/Transition of Care article) - Charlene Wong and Leigh Spivey-Rita Duke faculty profiles - Kiran Sundar references from Duke CSGD and panel announcements - TLC's I Am Jazz Season 5, Episode 5 ("It’s a Girl!"): This episode documents the initial June 2018 five-hour peritoneal bounce surgery, including the surgical team's planning and the operative process - TLC's I Am Jazz Season 5, Episode 6 ("Operation Complication"): This episode covers the immediate aftermath, including the physical "pop" during the transfer from the wheelchair, the subsequent wound separation, the tissue turning dusky blue, and the emergency corrective surgery - TLC's I Am Jazz Season 6, Episode 1: This follow-up episode features the consultation where Dr. Marci Bowers and Dr. Jess Ting review the primary failures. It is where they address the "difficult surgical course" #donoharm #genderidentity #genderaffirmingcare #malpractice #sexnotgender #experiments #pseudoscience #garbage #detrans #detransawareness #sinister #horrorshow