Caught in the Crossfire of the Gender Wars
Inside the bitter purity politics dividing those who oppose gender medicine.
Reality’s Last Stand is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a one-time or recurring donation to show your support.
About the Author
Travis Brown is a visiting fellow at Danube Institute, content producer for Genspect and Peter Boghossian, the president of a non-profit (SEP), and an international filmmaker and commentator known for his thought-provoking docuseries The Woke Reformation. Travis frequently engages with contemporary cultural issues, exploring themes like identity, belief, and the importance of meaning through his work. His current project, Uncomfortable Truths: The Reality of Gender Identity Ideology, carefully examines the contentious topic of gender identity.
There is no subject more toxic or radioactive today than all that falls under the umbrella term “trans.” Countless friendships have been lost over disagreements, families have been torn apart, and young children harmed, all in the name of gender identity. Even among those who oppose so-called “gender medicine,” bitter infighting, factionalism, and personal attacks are rampant.
As someone who initially viewed these debates from the outside, I never expected to be pulled so deeply into the gender wars. I set out to make a documentary exposing the disturbing practices being carried out on children under the banner of “trans inclusion.” But I quickly became alarmed—not only by what was happening to children, but by the internal politics, backstabbing, and ideological purity tests that plagued even those working to oppose these practices. This is often the point where readers check out, thinking, “Who is this guy, and what does he know?”
Naively, I assumed that nearly everyone opposed to pediatric gender medicine and the encroachment of men into women’s spaces—my two main concerns—would broadly agree on most other aspects of the trans debate. I believed, and still believe, that adults in a free society should be able to live as they choose, so long as their rights don’t infringe on others. I assumed most people shared this live-and-let-live view. I was wrong.
Living in Portland, Oregon during the George Floyd riots in 2020, I became increasingly concerned about Black Lives Matter and the spread of identity politics more generally. That concern led me to explore the roots of what’s now commonly referred to as Critical Social Justice or “woke ideology.” I began work on a docuseries called The Woke Reformation, which features interviews with thinkers like James Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose, Peter Boghossian, and others.
Initially, I planned to address gender identity within that series, but after being invited by Helen Joyce to the first Genspect conference to conduct interviews, it became clear the topic was far too complex for a single episode. It needed a series of its own. That’s when I launched Uncomfortable Truths.
I’ve filmed more than 20 interviews—with journalists, psychotherapists, a detransitioner, a sociologist, a biologist (the owner of this Substack), a trans-identifying person (Buck Angel), and others. I spent a long and emotionally heavy summer editing the first episode.
I did my best to craft a story that highlighted the dangers of gender-affirming care, challenged the common arguments in its favor, and offered a deeper exploration of why so many people are drawn to gender identity ideology. I was grateful to interview a number of excellent guests, many of whom were introduced to me through Helen Joyce. The first episode, Down the Rabbit Hole, breaks down the ideology in clear terms and helps viewers navigate its often confusing language. It also offers alternative explanations for why so many young people get caught up in the trans contagion and what contributes to their experience of gender distress.
At the next Genspect conference, Stella O’Malley—who also appears in the series—graciously allowed me to screen the first episode. It received a standing ovation. But during the Q&A that followed, I encountered some unexpected push back.
One woman with dyed red hair held up her phone displaying pornographic images and asked, “Are you comfortable platforming someone like Buck Angel, who does pornography? You know she does pornography, right?” I responded by saying I wasn’t sure how that was relevant to the film’s message, and explained that my aim was to reach liberal audiences—audiences more likely to listen to someone like Buck on the dangers of childhood medicalization than to someone like me. The woman was visibly dissatisfied with my response and stormed out of the conference.
As I later learned, she then stood in the hallway outside the conference room showing Buck’s porn to everyone she could. I found it ironic—she ended up promoting the pornography far more than I ever have or would.
After the Q&A, I continued receiving feedback. A Christian man gave me an extremely firm handshake and said he really liked the film—but added that I should consider removing Buck from it. In the hallway, others echoed this sentiment, some angrily insisting, “You should have interviewed a detransitioner instead.” I replied that I had, and firmly stated that I wasn’t going to re-edit a completed film.
I was stunned by the level of entitlement these people had in demanding that I radically alter my own work based on their personal discomfort. And notably, no one pointed to anything Buck actually said that they disagreed with—they simply didn’t like that Buck appeared in the film at all, despite the heartfelt and powerful plea Buck makes at the end to protect children from the trans madness overtaking society.
Not long after those strange encounters, I learned that Stella O’Malley—the founder of Genspect and someone who has done more than almost anyone I know to help parents and individuals struggling with gender dysphoria—has been embroiled in controversy for years. And not just from trans activists. Much of the criticism and abuse she’s received has come from people who otherwise share her concerns—self-identified “gender critical” voices and “radical feminists.”
A significant portion of the backlash centered on a few phrases she used in a powerful and empathetic documentary called Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk. I watched the film myself and didn’t find anything remotely objectionable, but I encourage others to watch it and decide for themselves. It’s important to note that this was Stella’s first major foray into the topic.
But that’s the thing: if you speak publicly about this subject, you’re expected to have exactly the right opinions, expressed in exactly the right way. There is little room for error. If your views deviate, even slightly, from the prevailing orthodoxy—or if you’ve evolved over time—you’re expected to recant and fall in line with those who demand you #HoldTheLine. And if you don’t, you risk being ostracized not only by progressive activists promoting gender ideology, but by people you assumed were your allies in opposing it.
And whatever you do, never be sarcastic. Trust me—I’ve learned the hard way.
Frustrated by what I was seeing from a group I thought I’d be largely aligned with, I invited Stella onto my YouTube channel to talk about what she had endured, and to vent a bit about the backlash I’d experienced myself.
I should have known that wouldn’t go over well with the gender-critical crowd.
In the aftermath of our conversation, Stella was harassed online over some of the things she said during the video. She ended up publishing not one, but two thoughtful follow-up pieces to clarify her views. They were well-reasoned and sincere, but they only brought on more hate. I don’t think she had anything to apologize for.
As for me, I refuse to apologize for anything I said in that video. I don’t believe either of us said anything remotely terrible. That said, I do feel bad that she received even more vitriol because of our conversation.
To top it off, a self-described “lesbian separatist” made a three-hour reaction video dissecting our discussion.
I watched 30 seconds of that reaction video, laughed, and turned it off. At this point, I’m convinced that’s the only sane way to respond to all of this. There’s no reason to waste energy on people whose primary goal is to attack you personally rather than engage with your actual arguments—though, admittedly, some try to do both at once.
There are many other examples of dysfunction on the gender critical side of the debate. One that stands out is what happened to Andrew Doyle, whose show I appeared on in January 2024. After interviewing Debbie Hayton—an autogynephilic man—Andrew received such a barrage of abuse that he decided to take a break from X (Twitter).
When I began exploring this topic for my documentary, I was more concerned about backlash from trans activists or the “trantifa” (trans Antifa) in Portland (as Andy Ngo calls them). And to be fair, I have been doxxed twice by trans activists. But I’ve also been doxxed by radical feminists—or whatever they prefer to call themselves—and, to my surprise, I’ve received more push back from that side of the debate than from the trans activists themselves. It’s a revealing glimpse into how tribalism and religious-like dogmatism can emerge on any side and stifle open, curious, and skeptical discourse.
Now that the first episode is complete and released, I’ve struggled to promote it on prominent podcasts and platforms, despite having many strong connections and the support of people like Helen Joyce and my close friend, Peter Boghossian, who’ve reached out to hosts on my behalf. The reason for the reluctance is almost always the same: Buck Angel is in it.
Apparently, featuring Buck, maintaining friendships with people like Stella, or posting the occasional sarcastic remark online is enough to disqualify the entire project in some people’s eyes. It seems I just can’t get anything right—despite the fact that none of these peripheral issues undermine the central arguments presented in my docuseries.
But I won’t edit Buck out of the series. I won’t distance myself from people like Buck or Stella, and I won’t stop approaching this issue in the way that seems most honest and best to me. Maybe that makes me, as one commenter put it under my interview with Andrew Gold, “just another beardy misogynist prick.” So be it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. You can watch the episode and decide for yourself.
This topic has created such a toxic and polarized ecosystem that all I can hope is that my small contribution offers something meaningful—whether it’s for trans-identifying youth, families caught in the crossfire, or sincere believers in gender ideology who may be prompted to think more critically about their views.
And then I hope to move on.
If you appreciated Episode One, please consider supporting my work so I can produce Episode Two, which will focus on the stories of parents with trans-identifying children and offer help to families navigating these difficult issues.
You made it to the end! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or making a recurring or one-time donation below to show your support. Reality’s Last Stand is a reader-supported publication, and your help is greatly appreciated.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like…
 | A guest post by
|
I've also been attacked, trolled, defamed and ostracized with specious accusations. Buck Angel, though, used to be very pro-transition and influenced many lesbians like herself. She has not made statements to wrap up the grooming of lesbians she used to engage in, nor has she said she regrets the crass sex act she performed nude on the Howard Stern show.
The fact is, no adult does the "transition" without hurting others. My ex-husband refused to participate in the required therapy for our 9 year old son, who expressed suicidal ideation at school 2 years after his so-called "sex reassignment surgery," when he was trying out various versions of Mama-Neddy our 2 sons were suddenly supposed to say instead of Daddy. This is common in the children of crossdressing fathers who take their fetish out of the bedroom, as is the physical and sexual abuse they subjected the wife to before she got out. In my data on 67 trans widows, over 1/3 of us experienced one or both. About half of us were publicly defamed by ex and his therapists, friends and relatives. Even our own children. A trans widow who has spoken out with her story for 6 years now has suddenly withdrawn from her advocacy for this sisterhood, as her now adult children demanded she stop or she will lose this relationship, despite the fact she raised them without child support from the crossdressing father. Please stop saying "as long as it does not hurt anyone else" without watching Behind the Looking Glass at Lime Soda Films youtube channel, where many of us are also individually profiled. Here's author Christine Benvenuto's profile from my channel, Trans Widow Ute Heggen. Her husband tried to make sure she'd never work again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXGPi3qEV0g&list=PLOFlPPQm71IgFGCRHe5VxMtDlq1qtJQCy&index=28
Please, please stop saying this trope "as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else." Please write about trans widows, link Lime Soda Films or my channel or transwidowsvoices.org.
This is a perfect example of the cultural corrosiveness of the trans convulsion. Just so sad. And even with the awareness of the influence, money, and engineering of some very duplicitous people (Dentons, Pritzkers, etc.), it remains mystifying to me how such a tiny minority have gained such outsized influence.