How Sasha Ayad camouflages conversion therapy as care
Ayad is part of a a broader gender‑critical ecosystem, including groups like Genspect and Therapy First, which promote skepticism toward gender‑affirming care.
In a new guest article Joanna Santos, a transgender woman and activist, and me look at how certain therapists and influencers within the transphobic gender‑critical movement present conversion‑therapy‑style practices as compassionate “exploratory therapy,” masking an underlying agenda to prevent gender‑variant people from transitioning.
Santos focuses on the work of Sasha Ayad, host of The Metaphor of Gender YouTube channel, arguing that Ayad’s approach is framed as gentle questioning but is rooted in the Blanchardian two‑type taxonomy. Ray Blanchard pathologizes gender variance as sexual dysfunction rather than an authentic identity.
Gender‑variant people seek support because they face shame, rejection, and dysphoria, and not because their identities are pathological.
Read the article here: Gender variance and camouflaging conversion therapy as care
Jack Molay
Illustration: Getty
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