Colorado Principled Physicians

THE BIG FOUR’S COLORADO BLUEPRINT: How Four Wealthy Donors Flipped a Red State (and Artificially Accelerated Transgender and Gender Identity Policies Through Massive Funding, Not Grassroots Momentum) Picture Colorado in the summer of 2004: a solidly Republican state where the GOP controlled the governor’s mansion, both legislative chambers, most congressional seats, and key statewide offices. Four wealthy Democrats: Tim Gill, Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, and Rutt Bridges, gathered quietly and launched what they called “The Blueprint.” It wasn’t a spontaneous uprising of everyday voters but a calculated, venture capital-style operation funded by their personal fortunes. As detailed in the 2010 book 'The Blueprint' by Adam Schrager and former Republican legislator Rob Witwer, the 2014 documentary 'Rocky Mountain Heist', and Jennifer Bilek’s 2020 First Things article “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement,” this effort first seized political power for the Democrats in recent times in Colorado. Then it built a sophisticated funding machine that critics say unnaturally and artificially propelled transgender and gender identity policies forward: not through broad, organic grassroots support from ordinary people, but through coordinated billions from a handful of ultra-wealthy donors operating largely out of public view. What started as targeted electoral spending evolved into a top-down philanthropy network that amplified “gender identity ideology” globally and in Colorado law. Early gay rights efforts had roots in small, community-driven groups facing real stigma. After gay marriage become legal, the push for transgender policies appeared to be a natural next step - but it was heavily engineered by elite money, secretive strategy sessions, and international channels. The result? Rapid policy changes that many feel outpaced public consensus. The Gang of Four and the 2004 Electoral “Heist” The group, nicknamed the “Gang of Four” or “Four Horsemen", bypassed traditional party structures by forming the Colorado Democracy Alliance. They funneled millions through 527 independent-expenditure groups, voter-turnout operations, and aligned nonprofits, treating politics like a startup investment. - Tim Gill, Quark software founder, sold his stake in 1999 for about $500 million. Motivated by Colorado’s 1992 Amendment 2 (an anti-gay measure later overturned), he endowed the Gill Foundation with roughly $200 million (inflation-adjusted) for LGBT causes. It has since granted hundreds of millions more to the transgender cause. - Pat Stryker, medical-device heiress to Stryker Corporation, channeled funds through her Bohemian Foundation. - Jared Polis, openly gay ProFlowers entrepreneur (now Colorado’s governor since 2019), and Rutt Bridges, software & petroleum entrepreneur, completed this quartet. In 2004, their donations overwhelmed Republicans: Stryker spending over $850,000, Gill nearly $775,000, Polis and Bridges over $400,000 each. Of $3.6 million in 527 organizations spending, nearly two-thirds came from these four. Democrats flipped both legislative chambers, for the first time in decades. By 2006, they added the governorship and more seats. Total early spending exceeded $20 million, locking in a Democratic “trifecta” that has endured for two decades. 'The Blueprint' explains the mechanics in plain terms: dubiously-funded nonprofits, targeted ads, and ground games that caught the GOP flat-footed. The 'Rocky Mountain Heist' documentary calls it a “heist” by a “shadowy cabal,” visualizing a “blue blob” spreading from Colorado as a warning of national replication. The Funding Pipeline: From Electoral Power to LGBT Philanthropy Bilek’s article ties this political takeover directly to LGBT advocacy. Gill and Pat Stryker, with the two other wealthy philanthropists used “ruthless political strategies” to turn Colorado blue while directing roughly half a billion dollars into groups advancing LGBT agendas. Gill introduced Pat’s brother Jon Stryker (openly gay man) at the 2015 GLSEN Respect Awards, recalling how they had “plotted, schemed, hiked and skied together” while “punishing the wicked and rewarding the good.” Jon Stryker founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000. It poured $58.4 million into LGBT programs from 2007–2010 alone; with Jon personally giving over $30 million from Stryker stock. The family company, started by their grandfather, hit $25.1 billion in annual revenue in 2025 (up 11.2% from 2024), with deep roots in surgical supplies and medical tech. Bilek highlights this medical industry backdrop as relevant context for the scale of later funding priorities. The Artificial Pivot from Gay Rights to Transgender and Gender Identity Push Here is where the “not grassroots” reality becomes clearest. Early gay-rights activism grew organically from small communities facing discrimination. But after same-sex marriage victories, the focus shifted dramatically to transgender issues and gender identity ideology. Bilek documents how Arcus and Gill networks built on the Colorado donors’ infrastructure artificially accelerated this through top-down philanthropy, not widespread public demand or bottom-up organizing. In 2008, Arcus hosted a key meeting in Bellagio, Italy, with 29 international leaders (including Jon Stryker). Michael O’Flaherty (rapporteur for the 2006 Yogyakarta Principles, which applied international human rights law to sexual orientation and gender identity) attended. Bilek notes the Principles “planted the seeds to bring in and attach gender-identity ideology to our legal structures.” O’Flaherty, a former UN Human Rights Committee member, is now Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, in office at his new job since April 2024, based in Strasbourg. From Bellagio emerged the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) to coordinate advocacy on gender identity in law, education, and culture. The LGBTI Core Group, an informal UN-linked network of member states (including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights) formed with Arcus-funded participants like OutRight Action International. Arcus also backed the U.N with funding, alongside Amnesty International and GLSEN. Grants targeted Transgender Europe, ILGA, the Transgender Law Center, ACLU, Center for American Progress, and the 2015 Global Trans Initiative (at least $20 million committed and surpassed). These programs trained activists in “political activism, leadership, transgender law, religious liberty, education, and civil rights.” The pattern is clear: This is not a natural evolution driven by everyday people. It is a billionaire-orchestrated infrastructure with half a billion spent in Colorado alone, plus hundreds of millions more donated strategically globally from Arcus and Gill, that manufactured rapid cultural and policy acceptance. Public perception framed it as organic “progress,” as meant, but the funding records, donor quotes, and coordinated meetings reveal a top-down strategy using wealth to bypass traditional grassroots organizing. Colorado as the Proof: Policies Under Governor Polis With the political safe haven secured, one of the original Four, Jared Polis, became governor in 2019. The Democratic trifecta delivered swift transgender policies: - 2019 (Jude’s Law / HB 19-1039): Simplified gender marker changes on birth certificates (M/F/X) with no surgery, doctor’s note, or court order required; banned conversion therapy for minors. - 2025 (Kelly Loving Act / HB 25-1312): Signed by Polis on May 16, 2025 (effective October 1, 2026), it expands anti-discrimination laws to treat intentional deadnaming or misgendering as discriminatory in workplaces, schools, and public settings; eases name/gender document changes. - Early 2026: Bills advanced to seal minors’ name-change records for privacy. These built directly on the donor-funded base. What feels unnatural to many was how quickly policies advanced once the money secured the levers of power. It also bring up the ethics and moral foundation of a governor like Jared Polis, who seems to have funded himself to immense power with false equivalence to an organically elected official. The Deceit Debate: Manufactured Momentum vs. True Civil Rights Trans rights activists call the moves of the Big Four savvy advocacy for equality. Opponents argue they are inherently deceptive. The trans/gender identity movement publicly appears as grassroots civil rights evolution. In reality, it seems driven by a tiny circle of billionaires using secretive roundtables, dark money, and philanthropy to scale ideology (including UN human rights channels), like they manipulated Colorado’s politics. The half-billion-dollar figure, Gill’s “plotted and schemed” quote, Arcus’s medical-fortune ties, and the Bellagio-to-UN pipeline all point to manufactured momentum rather than broad societal demand. Colorado served as the perfect laboratory before national and global export. The Legacy of Deceit: Two decades on, Colorado remains Democratic-controlled. The model inspired donor networks elsewhere. Gill and Arcus foundations continue granting millions annually. U.S. LGBTQ philanthropy totaled $209.4 million in 2023, with trans-specific funding still prominent. Polis is still governor of colarado, though his term ends in November 2026 and cannot be elected again. Whether you see the Big Four as visionary or elite operators, their 2004 effort of electoral flip plus sustained, targeted use of millions of dollars, clearly and unnaturally accelerated transgender and gender identity policies far beyond what organic grassroots movements alone could have achieved. It remains a case study in how concentrated wealth can reshape law, culture, and international norms. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Stay silent as the transgender industry and those standing to profit sway policy, or righteously fight the power? REFERENCES (verified as of April 2026) 1. Schrager, Adam, and Rob Witwer - The Blueprint* (2010). 2. Rocky Mountain Heist (2014). 3. Bilek, Jennifer @bjportraits: “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement.” published in First Things, January 21, 2020. 4. Arcus Foundation grant records and Global Trans Initiative updates (2007–2025). 5. Stryker Corporation 2025 revenue annual results 6. Colorado legislative records: Jude’s Law (2019); Kelly Loving Act (HB 25-1312, signed May 2025) 7. Council of Europe: Michael O’Flaherty Commissioner records and 2026 activities. 8. Gill Foundation and LGBTQ funders tracking reports (2023–2025). All details cross-checked against public records, foundation filings, legislative histories, and recent reporting for accuracy. #Colorado #Politics #Policy #BigFour #FourHorsemen #ethics #JaredPolis #VOTE #Republican #Democrat #ballot #elections

This bill hasn't passed through the Senate or Governor Jared Polis yet. Senate Second Reading was supposed to be today, but got postponed to tomorrow: Friday, May 1, 2026 at 9:00 AM in the Senate Chamber.

@benryanwriter @LJDetrans x.com/CAFamily/statu…

@benryanwriter Seen girls ranging from 12 to 16 who have undergone mastectomies. Some have been public about it, like @LJDetrans.

While calling into question other outlets' reporting about the FBI sending a plane to retrieve an allegedly kidnapped child amid supposed concerns of the 10-year-old natal boy undergoing gender-transition surgery, New Republic writer Melissa Gira Grant herself makes an erroneous claim about gender-transition treatment for minors. She claims: "Typically in the United States, the gender-affirming care offered to a child who has not reached puberty consists of puberty blockers." This is false. No gender-transition treatment is offered to prepubescent children in the United States. Puberty blockers only become an option after a child has started puberty (known as entering Tanner Stage 2). Grant accurately states that genital surgeries in minors are very rare. They are occasionally given to 17 year olds. OHSU has provided them to patients of that age, per the WPATH conference videos I obtained, for example.

@MorrellMDmph Unforgettable

@ColoradoDoctors Especially coming from an obstetrician—a specialty with a long tradition of caring for pregnant women—that was an extremely embarrassing answer to the question.

Many doctors like OB/GYN Nisha Verma, MD, have unfortunately abandoned their scientific calling and duty to patients to be truthful. They indulge in social activism and propaganda to an extent that they are unable to say "men cannot get pregnant", which is one of the most fundamental truths in all of human history. This is the extent of trans industry capture of medicine.

From @goodreads, the words of Fyodor Doestevsky:

Colorado's new bill-which allows parents and counselors to be indefinitely SUED if they do not affirm a child's gender identity-was brought to the state by billionaire-funded NGOs and advocated for by one of Time's 2026 100 Most Influential People in the World.🧵

@TerryMu97456187 @SenMikeLee @ER_MendozaMD tabletmag.com/sections/news/…

@SenMikeLee @ER_MendozaMD Are you going after those FUNDING the gender mutilation of these children? The Pritzker Family Pedo needs investigating.

Predatory sex-change surgeons will pay for the permanent harm they’ve done to America’s kids. Literally. I’m cosponsoring the STOP Act to ban child gender procedures, impose a $100K penalty on criminal surgeons, and give the funds to their detransitioning victims for recovery.

Self awareness rating: 0

@RobertBrinton51 He looks like how he acts

@ColoradoDoctors He looks real stupid.

This man with the unpleasant expression and an inexperienced or revengeful dentist is Phil Weiser, current Colorado attorney general, now running for Governor of Colorado. As you know, physicians here at @ColoradoDoctors have been deeply worried about the breakneck speed at which laws about gender identity (feeling in the head) are being passed to supercede biological sex (physical reality determined by sex chromosomes in every cell in the body including brain cells). Let's examine what Phil Weiser’s record is like on this topic, to see if he's fit for this very powerful post, below:

@QcWynter @petitecycliste The Dentons document has never got the attention it deserved.

@MorrellMDmph Looks like it's being heard on the Senate floor tomorrow

Shockingly, will make counselors and others have to PROVE their innocence—guilt will be assumed!—reversing centuries of “innocent until proven guilty.” Liability would be FOR LIFE.

@MaherMaher96565 Good evening! You're welcome. We posted what was definitely not his official campaign photo in the first post and the reply had a link to his website and the link pulls up his campaign poster. Sorry for subjecting you to it!

@ColoradoDoctors Thank you for this detailed info. My one request would be to stop posting his official campaign poster, which can be misconstrued to seem like you endorse him.

Who will replace Jared Polis in the gubernatorial race 2026? One guy who really wants to is Phil Weiser @pweiser. x.com/ColoradoDoctor…

Read more in detail about how Jared Polis implemented laws and policies favoring the trans industry and how it affects us here: x.com/ColoradoDoctor…

THE BIG FOUR’S COLORADO BLUEPRINT: How Four Wealthy Donors Flipped a Red State (and Artificially Accelerated Transgender and Gender Identity Policies Through Massive Funding, Not Grassroots Momentum) Picture Colorado in the summer of 2004: a solidly Republican state where the GOP controlled the governor’s mansion, both legislative chambers, most congressional seats, and key statewide offices. Four wealthy Democrats: Tim Gill, Pat Stryker, Jared Polis, and Rutt Bridges, gathered quietly and launched what they called “The Blueprint.” It wasn’t a spontaneous uprising of everyday voters but a calculated, venture capital-style operation funded by their personal fortunes. As detailed in the 2010 book 'The Blueprint' by Adam Schrager and former Republican legislator Rob Witwer, the 2014 documentary 'Rocky Mountain Heist', and Jennifer Bilek’s 2020 First Things article “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement,” this effort first seized political power for the Democrats in recent times in Colorado. Then it built a sophisticated funding machine that critics say unnaturally and artificially propelled transgender and gender identity policies forward: not through broad, organic grassroots support from ordinary people, but through coordinated billions from a handful of ultra-wealthy donors operating largely out of public view. What started as targeted electoral spending evolved into a top-down philanthropy network that amplified “gender identity ideology” globally and in Colorado law. Early gay rights efforts had roots in small, community-driven groups facing real stigma. After gay marriage become legal, the push for transgender policies appeared to be a natural next step - but it was heavily engineered by elite money, secretive strategy sessions, and international channels. The result? Rapid policy changes that many feel outpaced public consensus. The Gang of Four and the 2004 Electoral “Heist” The group, nicknamed the “Gang of Four” or “Four Horsemen", bypassed traditional party structures by forming the Colorado Democracy Alliance. They funneled millions through 527 independent-expenditure groups, voter-turnout operations, and aligned nonprofits, treating politics like a startup investment. - Tim Gill, Quark software founder, sold his stake in 1999 for about $500 million. Motivated by Colorado’s 1992 Amendment 2 (an anti-gay measure later overturned), he endowed the Gill Foundation with roughly $200 million (inflation-adjusted) for LGBT causes. It has since granted hundreds of millions more to the transgender cause. - Pat Stryker, medical-device heiress to Stryker Corporation, channeled funds through her Bohemian Foundation. - Jared Polis, openly gay ProFlowers entrepreneur (now Colorado’s governor since 2019), and Rutt Bridges, software & petroleum entrepreneur, completed this quartet. In 2004, their donations overwhelmed Republicans: Stryker spending over $850,000, Gill nearly $775,000, Polis and Bridges over $400,000 each. Of $3.6 million in 527 organizations spending, nearly two-thirds came from these four. Democrats flipped both legislative chambers, for the first time in decades. By 2006, they added the governorship and more seats. Total early spending exceeded $20 million, locking in a Democratic “trifecta” that has endured for two decades. 'The Blueprint' explains the mechanics in plain terms: dubiously-funded nonprofits, targeted ads, and ground games that caught the GOP flat-footed. The 'Rocky Mountain Heist' documentary calls it a “heist” by a “shadowy cabal,” visualizing a “blue blob” spreading from Colorado as a warning of national replication. The Funding Pipeline: From Electoral Power to LGBT Philanthropy Bilek’s article ties this political takeover directly to LGBT advocacy. Gill and Pat Stryker, with the two other wealthy philanthropists used “ruthless political strategies” to turn Colorado blue while directing roughly half a billion dollars into groups advancing LGBT agendas. Gill introduced Pat’s brother Jon Stryker (openly gay man) at the 2015 GLSEN Respect Awards, recalling how they had “plotted, schemed, hiked and skied together” while “punishing the wicked and rewarding the good.” Jon Stryker founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000. It poured $58.4 million into LGBT programs from 2007–2010 alone; with Jon personally giving over $30 million from Stryker stock. The family company, started by their grandfather, hit $25.1 billion in annual revenue in 2025 (up 11.2% from 2024), with deep roots in surgical supplies and medical tech. Bilek highlights this medical industry backdrop as relevant context for the scale of later funding priorities. The Artificial Pivot from Gay Rights to Transgender and Gender Identity Push Here is where the “not grassroots” reality becomes clearest. Early gay-rights activism grew organically from small communities facing discrimination. But after same-sex marriage victories, the focus shifted dramatically to transgender issues and gender identity ideology. Bilek documents how Arcus and Gill networks built on the Colorado donors’ infrastructure artificially accelerated this through top-down philanthropy, not widespread public demand or bottom-up organizing. In 2008, Arcus hosted a key meeting in Bellagio, Italy, with 29 international leaders (including Jon Stryker). Michael O’Flaherty (rapporteur for the 2006 Yogyakarta Principles, which applied international human rights law to sexual orientation and gender identity) attended. Bilek notes the Principles “planted the seeds to bring in and attach gender-identity ideology to our legal structures.” O’Flaherty, a former UN Human Rights Committee member, is now Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, in office at his new job since April 2024, based in Strasbourg. From Bellagio emerged the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) to coordinate advocacy on gender identity in law, education, and culture. The LGBTI Core Group, an informal UN-linked network of member states (including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights) formed with Arcus-funded participants like OutRight Action International. Arcus also backed the U.N with funding, alongside Amnesty International and GLSEN. Grants targeted Transgender Europe, ILGA, the Transgender Law Center, ACLU, Center for American Progress, and the 2015 Global Trans Initiative (at least $20 million committed and surpassed). These programs trained activists in “political activism, leadership, transgender law, religious liberty, education, and civil rights.” The pattern is clear: This is not a natural evolution driven by everyday people. It is a billionaire-orchestrated infrastructure with half a billion spent in Colorado alone, plus hundreds of millions more donated strategically globally from Arcus and Gill, that manufactured rapid cultural and policy acceptance. Public perception framed it as organic “progress,” as meant, but the funding records, donor quotes, and coordinated meetings reveal a top-down strategy using wealth to bypass traditional grassroots organizing. Colorado as the Proof: Policies Under Governor Polis With the political safe haven secured, one of the original Four, Jared Polis, became governor in 2019. The Democratic trifecta delivered swift transgender policies: - 2019 (Jude’s Law / HB 19-1039): Simplified gender marker changes on birth certificates (M/F/X) with no surgery, doctor’s note, or court order required; banned conversion therapy for minors. - 2025 (Kelly Loving Act / HB 25-1312): Signed by Polis on May 16, 2025 (effective October 1, 2026), it expands anti-discrimination laws to treat intentional deadnaming or misgendering as discriminatory in workplaces, schools, and public settings; eases name/gender document changes. - Early 2026: Bills advanced to seal minors’ name-change records for privacy. These built directly on the donor-funded base. What feels unnatural to many was how quickly policies advanced once the money secured the levers of power. It also bring up the ethics and moral foundation of a governor like Jared Polis, who seems to have funded himself to immense power with false equivalence to an organically elected official. The Deceit Debate: Manufactured Momentum vs. True Civil Rights Trans rights activists call the moves of the Big Four savvy advocacy for equality. Opponents argue they are inherently deceptive. The trans/gender identity movement publicly appears as grassroots civil rights evolution. In reality, it seems driven by a tiny circle of billionaires using secretive roundtables, dark money, and philanthropy to scale ideology (including UN human rights channels), like they manipulated Colorado’s politics. The half-billion-dollar figure, Gill’s “plotted and schemed” quote, Arcus’s medical-fortune ties, and the Bellagio-to-UN pipeline all point to manufactured momentum rather than broad societal demand. Colorado served as the perfect laboratory before national and global export. The Legacy of Deceit: Two decades on, Colorado remains Democratic-controlled. The model inspired donor networks elsewhere. Gill and Arcus foundations continue granting millions annually. U.S. LGBTQ philanthropy totaled $209.4 million in 2023, with trans-specific funding still prominent. Polis is still governor of colarado, though his term ends in November 2026 and cannot be elected again. Whether you see the Big Four as visionary or elite operators, their 2004 effort of electoral flip plus sustained, targeted use of millions of dollars, clearly and unnaturally accelerated transgender and gender identity policies far beyond what organic grassroots movements alone could have achieved. It remains a case study in how concentrated wealth can reshape law, culture, and international norms. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Stay silent as the transgender industry and those standing to profit sway policy, or righteously fight the power? REFERENCES (verified as of April 2026) 1. Schrager, Adam, and Rob Witwer - The Blueprint* (2010). 2. Rocky Mountain Heist (2014). 3. Bilek, Jennifer @bjportraits: “The Billionaires Behind the LGBT Movement.” published in First Things, January 21, 2020. 4. Arcus Foundation grant records and Global Trans Initiative updates (2007–2025). 5. Stryker Corporation 2025 revenue annual results 6. Colorado legislative records: Jude’s Law (2019); Kelly Loving Act (HB 25-1312, signed May 2025) 7. Council of Europe: Michael O’Flaherty Commissioner records and 2026 activities. 8. Gill Foundation and LGBTQ funders tracking reports (2023–2025). All details cross-checked against public records, foundation filings, legislative histories, and recent reporting for accuracy. #Colorado #Politics #Policy #BigFour #FourHorsemen #ethics #JaredPolis #VOTE #Republican #Democrat #ballot #elections

🚨 The “Blueprint” Behind Colorado’s Parental Rights Debate: A 65-page global “playbook” outlines how to reshape laws around kids, messaging, and courts. Critics say Colorado is following it—bill by bill. Is this protection… or a shift in control? rockymountainvoice.com/2026/04/28/the… @ShainaCole_ @JenSchumann1776 @heidiganahl @MorrellMDmph @Erin4Parents

@MorrellMDmph @pweiser Needs to go away ASAP (and fix his teeth).

@ColoradoDoctors @pweiser Thanks for caring for our AG, even though he wastes millions of dollars losing to Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, as he tries to steal our rights.

Don’t hate his dentist, hate his political advisors. Coloradans are thankful Weiser loses so much, because he works to: - deny girls their rights - silence doctors, so no one stops “gender” medical harms Here’s receipts on @pweiser, our future ex-AG and not-governor.

@MorrellMDmph @pweiser Worried about both his mental AND dental health, that's all.

@MorrellMDmph @pweiser His long list of dirty deeds, which he pretends are done dirt cheap (like his teeth, presumably) are actually very expensive to the #Colorado taxpayer, quite apart from his persistent trans activism.

"I'm sure you understand that we have attended multiple conferences, and quite honestly, I have never seen this behavior among a group of so-called professionals." Because they have a lot to lose, many have experimented freely on the minds and bodies of minors, completely unable to face the evidence against them.

My email to Dr Rauch regarding the PAS conference this weekend. Erin in the morning tried desperately to derail this talk to no avail. Dr. Rauch, In the wake of the PAS Conference in Boston, I would like to personally thank you for moderating and allowing the panelist to speak this past Sunday morning.  Your organization was the first to allow a panel to discuss the challenges in providing care to minors in the trans community, which should be on the minds of all providers in this field, but obviously is not.   My husband, Steven Montante, and the other panelists, came to this discussion from a genuine perspective of care and beneficence.  The loud voices from the exclusively affirmative care model worked very hard to derail any discussion that differs from their own perspective in any way, shape, or form and your organization modified and provided a platform that was fair and, for the most part, safe.  This simply was not good enough for this disruptive group.   I'm sure you understand that we have attended multiple conferences, and quite honestly, I have never seen this behavior among a group of so-called professionals.  The members of the audience, who cheered on the violence of the two protesters, exemplified the poor direction medicine is going and it's quite sad.  I am sure you and your organization do not condone this behavior, and quite frankly, PAS should be a bit embarrassed of these members.  When did the desire to practice safe medicine become such an issue?  When did the floor for healthy conversation of opposing views fill up with animalistic behavior among providers and concerned members of society? The majority on this topic is silent, the minority is obnoxiously loud; this is the reason many organizations prefer to avoid this discussion, however yours did not and for this you all should be commended.   The panel you allowed to present consisted of some of the brightest on this topic,  Dr. Kaltiala and Dr. Hutchinson, with their direct care and extensive research on the topic; Dr. Gorin, with his extensive knowledge on the ethics and philosophy associated with pediatric gender care; and my husband, with his extensive knowledge of performing surgery, which he currently does, for gender affirming care.  The panelists are not only the brightest and apparently bravest in their field, but they are also husbands, wives, parents, and so much more.  I can attest to the fact that every person on that panel, and their supporters, was on pins and needles.  They were concerned the threats they received would be cashed in, but that did not deter them, and for that they should be commended.  The security of the entire conference was lacking a bit as it appeared anyone could get in, as evidenced by the non-registered participants of the talk.  When the protesters, who were allowed in, began their tirade, I was frightened.  I was concerned that harm was imminent, first to Dr. Hutchison and then the rest of the panel.  Honestly it took all of my being to not get involved.  That was my husband and his colleagues in their crosshairs, and they were there to do good.  No conversion therapy (it was actually denounced by Dr. Hutchinson) not one anti-trans word was uttered by any of them.   I was disappointed that Kale Edmiston was allowed to speak out of turn for an extended length of time.  I don't even think he registered as he did not have a badge attached to his lanyard.   Again, thank you again for allowing this panel to move forward.  My hope is, when reflecting on the events that occurred regarding this panel, you and your colleagues keep in mind that while it was a challenge for you to make everyone "happy", please don't forget the bravery of this group and their fortitude to work with everyone in this space to ensure safe care for this community.  We need to continue the conversation.  Hopefully there will be evidence from all sides to yield best practice by all. Warmest regards, Shelly Montante