US

‘I Wish They Had Been More Understanding’: Detransitioner Says Adults Told Him His Family Was ‘Enemy Number One’

Screenshot/Rumble/SagesLawHearingTestimony

Sarah Wilder Social Issues Reporter
Font Size:

A detransitioner by the name of Abel Garcia testified before the Virginia General Assembly on Monday that adults in his life demonized his parents when he exhibited signs of gender dysphoria as a child.

The Virginia legislature is hearing testimony on a bill called Sage’s Law, named after a teenager who was separated from her parents by the state and brutally raped and sex-trafficked after the school decided her parents were “misgendering” her. The bill would require school officials to notify parents if a student is exhibiting gender dysphoria and clarifies that the definition of child abuse does not include so-called “misgendering.” (RELATED: Scotland Backtracks On Transgender Prison Policy Following Rape Concerns)

“I transitioned at the age of 19 as a legal adult. Had I had the opportunity to transition as a minor, and if I had transitioned in the state of California, I know they would have gone against my parent’s back,” Garcia said. “Now that I am much older and I have detransitioned, I have learned from my parents and my grandparents that they had been very saddened by what had happened to me, and I am very aware that had I been as a minor in California they would have had no way to stop anything from the school.

A California law making the state a “sanctuary state” for transgender kids went into effect early January. The law prohibits courts from enforcing out-of-state orders that remove custody from parents who allow their children to receive sex-change treatments illegal in some states.

“I know there are many detransitioners who transitioned as children in the state of California and their lives have been destroyed, just like mine.”

Virginia delegate John McGuire then asked Garica, “do you feel that adults in your life played a role they role they should have in protecting you, did they give you a full understanding of what was involved in transitioning as a child?”

“I was not informed of anything properly when I wanted to transition and those around me who were in support of my transition had told me my family were enemy number one, unfortunately.”

“I wish they had been a bit more understanding of what I was trying to do, and I wish the adults had been more against what I was doing.”