Here's Why An Anti-Trans Documentary Is Taking Over X

Today, #DETRANS is trending, thanks to a $1 million ad buy from PragerU.

The main subject, a detransitioner named Daisy, announced "everyone should become Catholic" and advocated against transition "at any age."

The Ex-Gay movement is back.

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— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) November 3, 2023

What is the Prager University Foundation?

PragerU is a nonprofit advocacy and media organization that works to spread conservative viewpoints and claims it is an “educational media platform dedicated to promoting pro-American values.” While it is called Prager University Foundation, it is not a university and doesn’t offer any degrees.

In July PragerU faced criticism after materials the organization created for children was approved to be used in classrooms as supplemental resources by the Florida Department of Education. The materials have been widely decried as being conservative propaganda, full of misinformation, according to Education Week.

What is the documentary about?

The documentary uses the cases of two trans people who have detransitioned to try and sway opinions about gender-affirming care for minors. One of the documentary’s subjects, Daisy Strongin, began taking testosterone when she was 18, but the film confuses the issue by not stating her age when she began gender-affirming care and shows videos and photos of Strongin when she looks younger. The doc also shares the story of Abel Garcia who says he began medically transitioning at age 19.

Detrans also argues that children and teens are rushed into the process of medically transitioning, but doesn't include the perspective of any doctors, reports NBC News.

Do trans people frequently regret transitioning?

A 2021 review of 27 studies concluded that only 1 percent of people 13 and older regretted receiving gender-affirming surgery. Gender-affirming care for minors has widespread support from the medical community and studies have found that receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy reduces rates of depression and suicidality.

It is also extremely rare for anyone under the age of 18 to receive gender-affirming surgeries and even receiving puberty blockers requires informed consent from both the patient and one of the patient’s parents.

How did people respond to the advertising campaign on X?

Many users expressed anger about the film’s advertisements and being unable to block or mute the #Detrans hashtag while posting about their frustration with Elon Musk. “Elon Musk isn't just allowing PragerU to push their evil #Detrans propaganda on Twitter because he's desperate for advertising revenue, he's also doing it because he *likes* their brand of bigotry,” one user wrote.

Some users began to flood the #Detrans hashtag with positive trans stories and even photos of cats in an attempt to drown out the actual ads.

Elon Musk isn't just allowing PragerU to push their evil #Detrans propaganda on Twitter because he's desperate for advertising revenue, he's also doing it because he *likes* their brand of bigotry.

— Matt Cohen (@mattcohen2) November 2, 2023