So @MattWalshBlog's crew is trying to trick trans people into joining a fake documentary. His producers set up a whole front organization (@GenderUnityProj) and tried to recruit me into his next anti-trans documentary. Here's the wild story of how it went down (1/x):
It started with an email from the “Gender Unity Project” a couple weeks ago. They claimed they were doing a film on the trans community and gave me names of well-known trans individuals and surgeons they had interviewed. It all seemed normal at first.
I even talked to the producer (Makenna Lynn Waters) on the phone beforehand. She sounded like a well-meaning cis film graduate who was just curious about the trans community.
She claimed the documentary was self-funded. I was suspicious because she had finished college recently, but figured she was just rich (who has that kind of money?). Later, she told me the person they were interviewing in Chicago suddenly canceled (this happens, but is still sus)
Then she offered to fly me to Arizona... again, the surgeon they were interviewing wasn't responding to them. Then, finally, Nashville: where Matt Walsh lives.
They sent me a release form this morning, which strangely didn’t have the name of the company on it. So, I looked up the Gender Unity Project. It used a registered agent to shield its owners. It’s dubious but sometimes registered agents simply make it easier to incorporate
Then I looked Makenna Lynn up. Her name didn’t show up anywhere. After some heavy searching, I realized she used her middle name in our emails. I found the IMDB page of her real name (Makenna Waters).
It turns out she’s Matt Walsh's producer! That’s not a red flag: that’s a gun to your face. She wasn’t just a crewmember for his show: she worked on over 200 episodes! I finally found her Twitter (@movieaholic27), which features videos of Walsh & Shapiro doing their usual BS
I decided to look closer into the “Gender Unity Project.” After searching its state registration number, I learned it was registered to Justin Folk (@JustinFolk), a far-right documentarian who works for Matt Walsh and Prager U.
This year, Matt Walsh declared his "assault on gender ideology." This is only the tip of the iceberg. Who knows how far he and his followers will go to attack, demean, and dehumanize trans people?
So, if you’re contacted by these slimy assholes, don’t respond. The last thing we need right now is another “gotcha” anti-trans documentary. Stay alert and take any media personalities with a grain of salt.
And they say we’re the ones tricking people? Your move, @MattWalshBlog
Since this thread is trending again: go donate to @transstudent! It’s the only national organization led by trans youth. My friends that work there have been fighting hard against this backlash and doing great work. transstudent.org/donate
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
🧵There's a myth repeated by both the left and right that we don't have records of what Nazis destroyed in the book burnings. Historians know some but not all of the literature. Much of it discussed queer/trans issues. Here are some examples of what Nazis didn't want you to know:
Among the most impactful transgender books Nazis burned was Magnus Hirschfeld's Die Transvestiten. The book focused on the history and politics of transgender people. Thankfully, it was a bestseller and original copies existed outside Germany. transreads.org/dietransvestit…
Some texts were permanently lost during Nazi book burnings. The Institute for Sexual Science held singular copies of trans medical records and surgical techniques. Nazis famously destroyed Karl Baer's files. Baer was among the first trans/intersex people to get medical treatment.
🧵Tennessean trans man David Ryan transitioned in 1949, age 26. He became a pastor in 1955 while passing as cis and the outgoing preacher worked in AR & OK for years. These narratives don't often end well, but David successfully fought to live openly as a man! Here's his story:
David was outed after his (accidental) 1961 bigamy arrest. He didn't legally divorce before marrying his next wife. He was far from the first trans man arrested for marrying. Yet, the courts did not know what to do with him. The judge dismissed his case after 4 months of jail.
There are countless cases like David Ryan in the mid-20th c.- trans people who make the news for a few weeks before fading into history. However, thanks to new archive technology, we can trace David's story further. He married again in 1973 and died in 2002 living openly as a man
Aleshia Brevard was a trailblazing Tennessean trans woman. She left home at 15 and quickly became a drag star in 1960. After performing her own surgery, she joined major Hollywood films and even became a Playboy model. I colorized this 1962 photo shortly after she transitioned.
Aleshia's book is insightful and uniquely hilarious. This woman should have done comedy because she was brilliant. She even had a great sense of humor over being forced to perform her own castration. You can read it at transreads.org/aleshiabrevard/
Aleshia Brevard is a great example of why people believe trans is "new." She wasn't out most of her life. After transitioning in CA, she returned to Tennessee under a new name and attended Middle TN State University. She didn't learn there was a trans community until the 1990s!
FAKE TRANS DOCUMENTARY:
🧵 Someone claiming to be working on a trans film, “It Takes a Village," reached out to me. After investigating, I discovered it's a front for far-right director @robbystarbuck. Don't respond to them. We don't need any more deceptively cut anti-trans films
This is how @MattWalshBlog tried to con me into What Is a Woman last year. Thankfully, exposing him helped other trans people back out of the project. Now @robbystarbuck is attempting something similar. These bigots can’t get interviews without lying to us
I knew it was a sham from the start. They’re using Gmail, called drag bans “the drag issue,” and refused to reveal the distributor. I planned on having them book me a hotel so I could ask for the name on their card. I didn’t have to: they forgot to create a new Calendly account!
🧵 I've worked with far more de/retransitioners than you, Buck, and support wherever their personal path goes. I don't support the few grifters exploiting this for fame & money at the expense of trans care. Here's 5 studies showing the #1 reason for detransition is social stigma:
1. One of the most thorough studies on detransition comes from a UK clinic. Only 16 of 3398 patients detransitioned and of those, the vast majority were due to social factors. epath.eu/wp-content/upl…
2. The largest study on detransition is based on a sample from the US Transgender Survey. It shows the vast majority of medical detransition is due to social issues. The survey is pooled from people identifying as trans so it's flawed- but revealing. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
I was colorizing trans photos and it reminded me of star athlete Mark Weston, who transitioned in 1936. It's as if he was erased from the history books. He was one of the world's top athletes and Britain's #1 women's shotputter for 6 years. His brother Harry was also trans!
Mark and Harry transitioned around the same time in the 1930s. Instead of accusing them of harm or "grooming," the responses ranged from the curious to the dramatic. Nearly all papers respected Mark's pronouns. His medical treatment was even widely celebrated as a breakthrough.
Like most trans folks of his era, there's debate if Mark Weston was intersex. Nearly everyone claimed to be intersex at the time to obtain basic respect. He figured he was trans due to his clearly high T levels. Regardless, he spearheaded trans medical procedures in London.