Legal case emerges: Is transgender treatment of kids a form of ‘conversion therapy,’ prohibited by Anchorage local ordinance?

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In a groundbreaking legal case in Boston, Mass., the transgender trailblazing clinic Fenway Community Health Center is at center of a controversial lawsuit that has implications for Anchorage.

The case, Shape Shifter v. Fenway Community Health Center, could reach the Supreme Court and ultimately inform what it means to conduct “conversion therapy.”

In 2020, Anchorage Assembly banned conversion therapy for youth, which the extremists on the Assembly view as any attempt to dissuade youth from expressing themselves as gay or transgender. However, the practice of coercion continues in the opposite direction in Anchorage, with the group Identity Inc. as a lead promoter of transgender puberty-blocking hormones and therapies to lock-in youth and adults with non-biological gender expressions. The ordinance in Anchorage is vague and does not define what conversion therapy actually is, but it acts as a warning to therapists to not engage in counseling youth about their sexuality.

The Boston case is based on civil rights. The plaintiff, a gay man, accuses Fenway Health of engaging in what he describes as “gay conversion” practices by approving him for transgender hormones and surgeries. This lawsuit is unprecedented in the United States, marking the first time “gender-affirming care” is being legally challenged as a potential form of anti-gay discrimination.

At the heart of the Boston case is a complex clinical reality surrounding gender dysphoria, which the lawsuit argues has multiple developmental pathways.

The man’s legal team is using Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in healthcare settings. They are drawing upon the 2020 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which expanded the definition of “discrimination because of… sex” to include discrimination based on homosexuality.

The lawsuit asserts that federal law offers specific protections to gay men and lesbians, which are allegedly being undermined by clinics that are operating with a bias towards transgender care, an argument that opens a new frontier in the debate over gender identity, sexual orientation, and medical ethics.

The case, Shape Shifter v. Fenway Health is explained by the plaintiff himself at his legal team’s website:

Ever since I was a young kid, I exhibited gender nonconforming behavior. Even before I hit puberty, I knew I was romantically attracted to males. However, as I grew older I realized that my femininity and homosexuality were not accepted by society and by my parents. I was constantly bullied in school. My parents were ashamed of my femininity. My dad told me that I will never be a real man because I am too emotional and soft. My mum told me that she wished I were taller and more masculine like other boys my age. All of that made me hate everything about myself including my body, my height, and my feminine manners. I just was “not masculine enough.” No matter what I did, I could not hide my feminine mannerism or grow any taller. So, when I came across transgender ideology in grad school I quickly became convinced that I was a ‘straight’ woman trapped in the wrong body. Suddenly, everything made sense. Transgender ideology seemed to explain why I never fit in and felt uncomfortable with my own body. It was finally my chance to escape all the bullying and torment I faced my whole life for being an effeminate gay man. But, after fully transitioning, I realized that my issues had not resolved, and after deep self-reflection, I came to understand that I suffered from internalized homophobia,” he wrote.

“Fenway sold me a hardware fix for a software issue,” the man said.

The complaint summary notes that Fenway knowingly and willfully removed safety procedures known as “gatekeeping” from its transgender healthcare practice. This shows that Fenway was pursuing the goal of acquiring more transgender patients.

Under the “gate-keeping” model of care internalized homophobia is a contra-indicator to transition, because studies have identified it as the leading cause of transition regret, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit states that Shape Shifter was rapidly medicalized, and his sexual orientation and symptoms of internalized homophobia were treated with deliberate indifference.

Under Fenway’s “undifferentiated care and undue influence Shape Shifter underwent a number of surgical procedures and fully transitioned. Shape Shifter should have been treated for internalized homophobia, instead he was converted to transgender. The lawsuit alleges that Fenway’s apathetic attitude toward Shape Shifter’s sexual orientation and its associated distress violated his civil rights, and caused him irreversible, irreparable physical and mental injury. As a result of transitioning, Shape Shifter cannot express himself as a gay man, and must live with dissonance between who he is and how he appears.”

26 COMMENTS

  1. Remember which member of the Anchorage Assembly’s wife gets cash from Gender Inc. Your tax dollars at work as the assembly uses the see no evil standard for obvious conflicts of interest

  2. Anti-discrimination on the basis of sex is grounded in biological sex not sexual acts. Being homosexual isn’t a protected class because, unlike sex or gender, being a homosexual is a lifestyle choice and purely voluntary…regardless of how hard the sexual deviants try to convince us otherwise. This is an example of twisting a good thing, not allowing people to be discriminated against based on an immutable characteristic, to cover something abnormal, sexual deviancy. It would be good for the U.S. Supreme Court to use this ridiculous case to clarify what “sex” actually means under the law…it’s your biological sex as “assigned” by your DNA – not your deviant lifestyle choices.

  3. There is absolutely no explanation that will justify the indoctrination of our children!!!!! The leftist’s would have you believe that there have been millions of people that suffer from a sexual misidentification. Or whatever the correct term is for this”mental illness” is! As far as I know there is no science behind this epidemic. I am more inclined to believe that these people love the “shock value of this BS! Be who you feel you are but I am not playing this game! Oh, by the way, there is lots of statistics out there about the suicide rates among the transgender population.

    • J Kirk: “ There is absolutely no explanation that will justify the indoctrination of our children!!!!!”. Ten bucks says you don’t get the irony (or hypocrisy) in that statement. What’s the irony? There is no greater indoctrination in America than Christianity. It teaches that if you don’t do exactly as is prescribed, you’ll burn in hell forever! Should the child accept this, they are indeed then indoctrinated.

      • Lost soul, Christianity is a relationship – if you don’t have it, you go that that hot place. What you do won’t save you, and if you have that saving relationship with Christ what you do won’t condemn you. You use the word “indoctrinate” like a pejorative – applied to anyone who teaches something you don’t agree with. The root “doctrine” merely means “teaching”, as in what is taught. So the “irony” is we like indoctrination that agrees with us and seek it wholeheartedly. The alphabet indoctrination of our children in public schools we adamantly oppose. As far as actual science is concerned (as in applied use of the scientific method, not collective opinion of biased individuals), alphabet theory of sexuality is patently false, and maiming and abusing children is morally reprehensible at best.

      • Hi, 1980s Atheists called they want their talking point back.

        is the government preaching Christianity to school children no,
        are they teaching children that as easy as the wind changes they can change their sex? all signs point to yes. Christianity is typically a family tradition not a forceful state sponsored religion like progressivism.

  4. In the mind of the children… errr…. I mean, leftists on the assembly, it is NOT OK to support the conventional/historical norms of European/American civilization, but it IS OK to support the opposite.
    .
    Which means “conversion therapy” the destroys your child’s body and ability to reproduce is OK, but “conversation therapy” that has your child explore their feelings and understand what it means to be gay is not.

  5. I dont know in what world it makes it proper for kids making their own decision on switching sexes and genders. What happened to teachers telling the parents with concerns from school. Kids can’t make a lot of decisions on their own , drinking, smoking, guns, military, and etc…… so why the push to such a controversial topic that’s so easy for any common person to understand but the left continue to push stupid agendas , such as to include changing our kids names, inviting confusion in a child’s mind. I just don’t understand teachers are around our kids more than the parent and they’re getting to manipulate kids genders. Ridiculously ridiculous

  6. If we were not dealing with people’s health and physical mutilation and civil rights, this would be hilarious. BTW, the Anchorage Assembly does not have the power to enforce laws; that is an executive function.

  7. Poor guy.
    He sounded a sweet boy whose strength wouldn’t be in a strong bicep nor a strong domineering personality, his strength would be found in meekness-controlled strength.
    His family and his earlier influencers could been helped and encouraged if they had this “Boys Are in Crisis. Fight Back with Truth, with Jason Davis and Robert Wolgemuth“ under the Grounded podcast at ReviveOurHearts dot com

  8. I’ve seen videos of him speaking. He said he got so far into the transition that he can’t go back. So he’s stuck living in the transitioned body that doesn’t function properly (botched bottom surgery).

  9. You can make a stallion into a gelding but no matter how hard you try, you can Never make him into a mare.
    Leave our kids alone……

  10. Heart wrenching but his idiot parents are most likely a big catalyst for his mental and emotional struggles. What kind of other tells her son she is disappointed in his height or ‘masculinity’? Grossly psychologically and emotionally abusive parents. Not surprising at all this young man was so messed up.

    • That is a good point, Elizabeth — if this man’s story is in fact true and honest.
      These kinds of people are well-known for exaggerating and outright lying, though, in order to rationalize their mentally ill, self-destructive behaviors.

    • Here’s his own story in his words. And note, he came to the US from an Eastern Bloc country for this surgery which may address his parents viewpoint. ‘https://reduxx.info/opinion-the-boy-who-shifted-shapes/

  11. Sanctos, it appears that you have a beef with Christian’s. I’m not sure who rained on your Pride Parade 🏳️‍🌈
    You’re safe with me because I’m Jewish 🇮🇱

    • Must be grim to be Sanctos. Imagine thinking that this entire life and everything around us didn’t start somewhere.

      I’ve never heard of a transgender horse or cow or dog 🤷🏼‍♂️. Suddenly these lazy nuts are pushing this crap. There is male and female period.

  12. Rich. You know what pisses me off to no end? Is that Christians divide people into two camps: Christians who will go to heaven and the rest of us who will go to hell. I’m an atheist and I’ve spent my entire adult life doing good for others. Pet advocacy, wilderness advocacy, even meals on wheels for the seniors in my town. I’ve given far more than I’ve taken. For that I go to hell? Screw Christianity

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