This cartoon was co-written by me and Grace, drawn by me, and colored by Frank Young.
Check out the timelapse drawing video for this cartoon! This one is fun because it includes Frank Young’s coloring process.
In 2019, Elisa Shupe, who at the time was detransitioning, was courted by the right-wing Christian group Family Policy Alliance. Spencer MacNaughton and Hope Pisoni report:
With an all-expenses-paid visit that included lodging at the five-star Ritz Carlton hotel, Shupe says she and her spouse received “rock star treatment” from Family Policy Alliance (FPA), the conservative Christian lobbying group hosting the event, who invited her to speak about her detransition.
Shupe, “attributes her decision to detransition… to a lack of family acceptance and her struggle with borderline personality disorder” – became a mouthpiece for the FPA’s anti-trans views and a witness they’d trot out to support anti-trans legislation. She became, in effect, an anti-trans activist – and her hands were held at every stage by anti-trans professionals who told her where to go and what to say.
Multiple of Shupe’s op-eds were written in collaboration with ADF. In one email, Roger Brooks, a senior counsel with the group, asked her to write an op-ed in support of the group’s lawsuit to overturn New York City’s ban on conversion therapy for gay and trans people. In the email, he offered points to raise in the proposed story, including that she was “horribly lied to and cheated” by doctors facilitating her transition. He also offered her writing support from ADF employees “familiar with the length and style that appeals to op-ed page editors.” Alliance Defending Freedom did not respond to a request for comment.
Shupe says that Bob Sullivan, an attorney who frequently liaised with ADF and planned to represent her in a medical malpractice lawsuit, helped craft her persona as a victim. In one email advising her on a potential autobiography, he said her story “could be modified to make it a quick-hitting intro into [her] nightmare of gender dysphoria.” He also discussed how they should strategically time the possible autobiography’s release “according to any litigation we pursue.”
(Sullivan says this was taken out of context.)
Unsurprisingly, Shupe was no longer welcome when she decided to transition after all.
Shupe faced a difficult journey after leaving this right-wing ecosystem. She says she has been harassed by her former right-wing allies and has had difficulty receiving medical care because of doctors’ fear of a media storm. …
MacKinnon says the weaponization of detransitioner stories by the far-right not only hurts trans people, but also detransitioners, making it harder for both groups to find the care that they need.
It is inevitable that people will detransition – no medical treatment has a 100% satisfaction rate. But 94% of trans people report being more satisfied with their life after transitioning.
People who detransition should have the help they need, and be treated with compassion. But they should not be taken as a reason to deny trans people medical and other help.
It’s also important to know that detransitioners aren’t a group mass-mind with a single story and motivation. People can detransition for a wide variety of reasons, including a lack of support and resources. From Transvitae:
Detransitioning is a nuanced and deeply personal process. While some individuals detransition because they were misdiagnosed or because they realize they are not transgender, many others do so due to external factors—social rejection, lack of access to proper medical care, family pressure, or discrimination. And, crucially, many who detransition do not regret transitioning but rather regret the circumstances that forced them to stop.
However, as I have witnessed in my work within the community, the Republicans and right-wing organizations hosting these events are not interested in this complexity. They have cherry-picked a small group of detransitioners—many of whom are professional activists funded by anti-LGBTQ+ groups—to push a narrative that gender-affirming care is dangerous, unnecessary, and should be banned for everyone.
People who transition – including the small minority who go on to detransition – need support and access to care. But what conservatives offer detransitioners is extremely conditional support that’s entirely dependent on willingness to be used as tools against trans people.
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels, all showing two people standing on a mini stage in a public park. A small crowd is watching them. The first speaker is a grinning woman in a business suit. The second speaker, “John,” is bald with short hair on the sides, wearing a t-shirt and slacks. John looks nervous and unhappy.
PANEL 1
WOMAN: This is John. John used to be “trans” and called himself “Joan,” but he knows better now.
JOHN: It’s just been really difficult for me…
PANEL 2
WOMAN: The trans cult puts so much pressure on people to transition these days! But John knows his own mind!
JOHN: I got so much blowback when I transitioned… It’s hard not to let that pressure get to me.
PANEL 3
The woman keeps talking with a pious expression. “John” – now Joan – is suddenly very happy, spreading her arms wide in a gesture of acceptance.
WOMAN: What matters is that all of us respect John’s choice.
JOAN: I can’t do this anymore… I am Joan! I am!
PANEL 4
The woman, looking angry, kicks a surprised Joan off the platform.
WOMAN: No, you’re not.
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is what an earlier generation of cartoonists called extras we’d now call “Easter eggs.”
PANEL 1 – Woodstock from “Peanuts” is perched on a tree.
People watching in the audience include Little Orphan Annie, Mr. Spock, and Spider-Man. A bald person has the planet sticking its tongue out from “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” tattooed on their head. Someone else is wearing a cap for the Portland Pickles (a real minor league baseball team with a pickle for a mascot). A woman has “this space for rent” tattooed on her shoulder.
PANEL 3 – An evil bunny, smoking a cig, is in the background. Way in the background, a gigantic squirrel is climbing the side of a skyscraper.
PANEL 4 – Someone in the audience is missing the top of their head, and we can see their brain (a call-out to an earlier cartoon by Grace and I).
A flyer taped to the stage says “LOST!” in big letters. Below that, in lettering that’s almost too small to be read, it says “innocence, generation, hope, the battle, my way, paradise, boys, steam, cause, virginity, my religion, and found, time, it, touch, in translation, tv show, no big, at sea, in space, for words, loved and, sleep, and my dog.”
T SHIRT IN ALL FOUR PANELS: In panel one, Joan’s t-shirt shows a snowman. In panel 2, the snowman has turned to look at the sun. In panel 3, the snowman is melting. In panel 4, the shirt just shows the sun and some puddles.
Respecting The Decision | Patreon
It is inevitable that people will detransition – no medical treatment has a 100% satisfaction rate. But 94% of trans…