Bridging the Gap: My Speech at the US Capitol

Ending child abuse marketed as ‘gender-affirming care’ needs to transcend our two-party gridlock.

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When Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her new bill, the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” I was ecstatic. Someone on Capitol Hill finally decided to take steps toward stopping the atrocities happening to children across the nation. When I replied to her tweet expressing strong support for the bill, Greene retweeted it almost immediately. I then became inundated by a storm of equal parts praise and hate. It was clear that Greene’s bill, and my subsequent endorsement, had struck a nerve on this issue.

Several weeks passed and that brief interaction faded to the back of my mind. But I then received an email from Greene’s staff informing me of a press conference she was planning to hold about the bill, and she wanted me to come speak in front of the US Capitol to tell my story. She told me that adding a face to this issue would help lawmakers understand that this isn’t a moral panic designed to distract voters from mainstream political issues, but that real people—children—are being harmed. In all honesty, my initial reaction to the invitation was a complex brew of mixed emotions. I felt as though I were a rock climber standing at the base of a mountain, looking up at the seemingly insurmountable challenge ahead.

I was faced with an incredibly difficult decision, because this issue walks a thin tightrope between two very polarized political parties, which makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to perfectly keep one’s balance. I was well aware of the strong opinions people have of Rep Greene, and the potential for me to be written off as a “darling” of “right-wing media,” as some have put it. But after pondering this issue for a very long time, I came to the realization that it is my duty to set aside our differences and imperfections in order to find common ground on universal injustices that must be solved. This is what our Founding Fathers intended Americans to do.

This issue of child abuse, marketed as “gender-affirming care,” needs to transcend our two-party gridlock. We must all come together on this issue to end this evil and perverse doctrine harming our children. We need to encourage politicians from either party to support bills that will end this ongoing atrocity.

I decided that I must do my part in bridging the gap.

(The following transcript has been lightly edited)

My Speech at the US Capitol

Over the past decade there has been as high as a 4000% increase in children being referred to so-called “gender clinics” across the United States. I was one of these children. My name is Chloe Cole and I am an 18-year-old former “trans kid.” I transitioned from the age of 12 up until 16, when I came to realize it was all a lie. My story is a cautionary tale.

Children and parents across the country have been caught off guard by gender ideology. Discussions about transgenderism and “gender identity” went from being a relatively benign and isolated social oddity to a doctrine that has invaded nearly every academic, medical, and educational institution, seemingly overnight. How did we get to this point? How did we get to the point where nearly every pediatric institution in the country considers it best practice to remove children’s healthy breast tissue while administering drugs typically used to chemically castrate high risk sex offenders? 

Raising these important questions is not bigoted, and the refusal of activists to give straightforward answers should be seen as a major red flag. People across the entire political spectrum who believe that this practice is morally wrong have been told they are fascists and bigots for even questioning this atrocity. Parents are being convinced by self-proclaimed “gender specialists” that this is the only treatment that will not end in your child committing suicide. I believe Americans deserve to know the truth about this radical and perverse ideology that is being marketed as necessary and “life-saving” healthcare. 

I was only 12 years old when I told my parents I was a boy. Like many parents in that situation, they didn’t have a clue what to do; they were scared and desperate for answers. They wanted what every parent wants for their child— for me to be okay and to thrive. At 13 years old, on advice of so-called “medical professionals,” I was put on puberty blocking medication, and one month later I was given my first testosterone injection. The gender clinic presented my parents with the classic false dichotomy regarding children with gender dysphoria: “Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?” Given these options, what loving parent wouldn’t choose to transition their child? Scared for my life, my parents were prepared to sign and consent to anything the doctors would have asked. This was not informed consent, it was a decision forced under extreme duress. 

At 15 I went under the knife for a radical double mastectomy, the kind that breast cancer patients get. This was after I was sexually assaulted at school, by a male student. I told myself to “man up,” but I lived my life in constant hatred of my breasts. I started binding, which deformed my breasts as well as my ribcage. I was afraid, and couldn’t wait to finally protect my body from the threat of further molestation. At 16, I understood what had happened to me, and that I had made a huge mistake. I realized that the beauty of motherhood was stolen from me by medical professionals who my family entrusted me to.  I realized, after maturing a bit more, that a child does not in fact “know who they are” at 12 years old. I realized that I wanted to be what I always was and forever will be—a woman. 

With these realizations came a series of challenges that were far worse than the transition. Somehow, I had to get myself off these drugs, and tell everyone in my entire life that I was not who I said I was. My parents were shocked and felt like they had failed me on every level imaginable. My friends all turned against me because I was evidence that their beliefs were also a lie. I was a joke. I was a fraud. I was many years behind in bodily development, and incapable of feeding my future children. But worst of all, I was completely alone. Even the medical professionals who got me into this mess have no idea what to do with me and refuse to help. It almost killed me, as it has killed many who regret transition.

A big question still remains: How was a 12-year-old introduced to the idea that they could do something as ridiculous as change their sex?

I was and still am the type of kid who never really fit into social norms. I was a tomboy, I was shy, and I didn’t socialize easily. At 11 I made my first Instagram account. I had unmonitored internet access, and it wasn’t long until I became exposed to a ton of LGBTQ content online. I’d never seen anything like it. You mean that all I have to do is subscribe to this ideology and then I’ll be an accepted, celebrated, and valued member of the most talked about community on earth? And “trans” was (and is) the most celebrated subset of this community. I saw the unbelievable amount of praise and attention trans people got online, and I subconsciously yearned to have a piece of it.

With every additional milestone in my medical transition came more and more attention and celebration. It was the ultimate high. Even in person, I got more attention. Having girls crush on me, and having people come up to me in the hallways asking to make friends was unprecedented for me. I felt like a celebrity. But being a kid, I didn’t know just how superficial these relationships were until they all suddenly abandoned me, just for struggling to become who I am.

Much of this gender confusion is based on old regressive stereotypes of men and women, which are now being reinforced with hormones and surgeries.  But women can have short hair and be interested in playing sport, and men can grow their hair out and wear make up. It does not change their biology. 

The truth is, this practice is harming more and more children every day.  What will we do to protect this most vulnerable group? Up until now, the media has been parroting the same ideologically-driven talking point—affirm, affirm, affirm! The closest I’ve touched to mainstream media was a Forbes journalist who wrote a hit piece on me, calling basic human biology “transphobic.” There are many detransitioners speaking out, but they are ignored by the institutions that are supposed to be engaged in the search for truth. 

Up until today, most politicians on the Left and Right have done nothing but get into Twitter spats on this issue. It was too late for me, and time is running out for many other children. There is no second chance at childhood, so we must do our best as adults to guide our children to pathways that lead to healthy bodies and minds instead of depression and disfigurement. No child deserves to suffer under the knife of a gender affirming surgeon. America’s children—all children—deserve better.

Organizations to Support

• Sex Matters

• Parents Defending Education

• Transgender Trend

• Genspect

• Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

• Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF)

• LGB Alliance

• Fair Play for Women

• Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine

• Counterweight

• The Free Speech Union

• Heterodox Academy