30 Years After Transition, Cori Cohn Speaks Out (#32)

Before social media, before gender clinics in every city, before anyone knew what "gender identity" meant, Cori Cohn saw transsexualism on afternoon TV and thought he'd found the answer to his problems. At 19 in 1994, he had genital surgery. Three decades later, he's helped pass laws banning youth medical transition in 26-27 US states. In this remarkable conversation, Cohn reveals how he "doctor shopped" until finding a third psychologist who'd approve surgery, why he feels "subhuman" ("I'm definitely not a man and I'm not a woman"), and how the Episcopal Church now calls supporting pediatric transition part of their "baptismal call." His most haunting revelation: "If you physically can't return that passion because you have an injury from the surgery, your ability to sustain a relationship is extremely impaired." From testifying against clergy prayer circles supporting youth transition to explaining why "almost all the boys who transitioned...do OnlyFans," this is the testimony of someone who lived the experiment before it became an industry.