'It teaches you to watch your mouth. But thoughts lead to speech and wrong speech is dangerous. It leads to you policing your thoughts. You internalize that trans ideology is the truth and that any other truth is hateful. You don’t want to be hateful to your own group, even in your head."
This is ultimately key, and kudos to the OP for recognizing it. The effective suppression of "wrong speech" inevitably leads to the individual policing and suppressing his or her own independent thoughts (wrongthink), which is the cult modus operandi.
"Delving into this topic, it would appear that we are mired in trans ideology. The information that we come across in daily life, and the information that we find when we search is predominantly of one persuasion. Expressing the view that sex is based on biology and is immutable, that nobody is born in the wrong body, and that women have a right to single sex spaces and sports, has become controversial. As a result, many people keep quiet, and so the ideology beds in further.
Does this sound like a cult to you?
Again, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it just may be a duck."
The Cult Connection Part 2 – Information Control By Catherine Monaghan Posted: 26th August 2025"
Articles like this one make me wish that instead of a heart to click or a like button or a thumbs up to click that there was a give somebody a hug button. We all have traumas and we all have places where we have been mistreated. Some of us remember it some of us blocked it out. The truth is if you take out all the stuff about gender and just describe the kind of pressure that happens from peer groups pick it apply to almost any Behavior any identifying attribute it's kind of scary the power we have over other people or that they have over us without us realizing that they do.
Really excellent account and analysis of the development and devolution of a “trans” identity. The process was destructive because of the coercion and the devaluation of the person having this experience. If only kids could be living in a society where destructive social environments could be escaped and the damage healed completely on the far side.
When I read accounts like this, I am so glad I grew up in the 50s instead of now. I also longed to be a boy and was a tomboy. They got to do things girls didn't and didn't have to wear dresses and skirts to school (if we wanted to wear pants because it was cold, we were only allowed to wear them under a dress). I mostly hung out with boys in the neighborhood. After one year in junior high that we got to play sports, we were relegated to jumping jacks, rope-climbing, and other non competitive exercise. But we didn't have these trans and non binary options, so we just grew up to be women. We got through it, often realizing we were lesbians, but sometimes not. Things were hard, but so much easier then.
The Fifties were hell for me. Forced to wear dresses to school, no matter the temperature, and being sexually harassed and assaulted by boys as a result. The Lesbian-hating was so strong that my cousin told my mother to keep the girl I was in love with away from me.
I hated the boys who made our lives hell so didn't want to be one of them.
No matter how hard it is now, it's so much easier, with adored Lesbians in the media.
The trans cult is a problem but it's also possible to say no as we still do. (I know old women insisting they are men now.)
The ability of the Trans Toddlers Project managers to confuse gays and lesbians still astounds me (a straight male). I've pretty much always thought you know what you like when you see it (and dream about it), so I find it extremely disturbing that they can successfully muddy the sexual attraction waters and repurpose them to such an end. To wit, do any lesbians really want their female lovers to transition?
Thank you for this. "Doctrine over people is an idea by Robert Jay Lifton which is outlined in “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China”. In the book he outlines eight criteria for thought reform in the context of cults, one of them being doctrine over people. “Members’ personal experiences are subordinate to the sacred science; members must deny or reinterpret any contrary experiences to fit the group ideology.” But why?"
I observed this: "And I didn’t just deny my own memories in a story I tell to others, I twisted and denied it in my head too." Yes! My daughter had never sounded insane before but she had completely made up stories about her childhood and also twisted/changed the facts of events for which I was present even on an ongoing basis. This was disturbing in itself - even separate from the self hating and crazy Identity. I think she was "worked on" for some time right under my eyes.
"I’ll start by saying manipulation and grooming does not usually feel like abuse. It feels normal, it feels like the truth. Abusers make it normal. They make themselves seem like kind people."
It is a serious problem that she does not see this AT ALL.
"The reality of your life is irrelevant, it fits the narrative or it doesn’t exist." YES
"Anticipate punishment → censor speech → internalize rules → watch your thoughts → censor thoughts → edit memory/perception" Very interesting.
When you say she was "worked on" for years before if she is anything like me I definitely believe so. I started identifying as trans at 12 but it was just a thing to me for years beforehand. I got a phone at 8 which was probably a mistake and me as a kid I was very into medical stuff I used to play like thos operate now games and research conditions and so I was very interested in medical documentaries on YouTube when I got my phone. On these channels you'll find actual medical stuff but then you'll usually also find at least one from a channel about a trans kid, showing it as some kind of condition. They don't usually talk about opposing opinions in these, just dysphoria and transitioning. It was just a thing to me at the time. I also liked to draw and would go to art apps and websites where you would share your art. A lot of the people on here happened to identify as trans or talk about it, or put trans pride flags in their artwork which makes a kid curious like what is this let me look it up. I was into theater and drama clubs and groups are somewhat known to have a lot of lgbtq kids. I went to a summer camp starting at 10 where I knew 2 different trans kids, one a teenager and one my age and at that age i think its the parents not the kid but this kid ended up being a very good friend of mine. I was also into anime as I got a little older and I heard Erin Friday say its common to see trans ideology in those communities as well. Many kids were also taught about it at school sometimes from a very early age. That didn't happen to me but it happens. Idk if your daughter happens to be gay but thats also a very easy way to get very into it. You look for a community of other gay people because you dont feel understood or you're looking for a partner but gay and trans are almost always linked in these groups. That's also what happened to me and how I ended up joining TrevorSpace, the main group I was with its a website for lgbtq people 13-24, with lots of trans ideology and lots of abuse and inappropriate content
Ghost12 - It's sinister the way trans groups locked into LGB groups as a way to legitimize their identities. The attached article shows how Dentons law firm suggestions to trans activist groups helped them push their tactics onto a group of people who had already fought for their civil rights (the LGB groups). TrevorSpace is a dangerous place. I have seen their ads advertising to the agegroup you were in. It's a space for groomers and anything but a safe space. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.
Thank you for this comment I also think trans ideology is unique in that not everyone who agrees with it follows it themselves, and they can be just as bad if not worse. It is hard enough to spot manipulation when its one person, even harder to spot it in a group, but with trans ideology even "non followers" come into play and send the same message, as if everyone who agrees with it is captured in a way. I am doing better now than I was before. Not perfect but my mental health has been a lot better and I am no longer friends with abusive groups or delusional
I am glad to hear that you are doing better, Ghost12, and that you are no longer friends with abusive groups or delusional! My daughter is no longer friends with the original hardcore abusers/indoctrinators but she has not tossed them out of her head mentally as "no good". And, everyone around her, including her doctor who gives her the Rx for Testosterone believes in or goes along with trans ideology.
I was like that too leaving that main group of mine was the start for me to desist, it was first them then pretty much everyone although some of it was out of my control, and then when I wasn't really with any of them I could actually think, but it still took me a while to actually disagree with it. I let go of bits and pieces of it, for a while i thought i was "true trans" where I thought people who were nonbinary or people who said they didn't have dysphoria weren't actually trans and I just was, and noticing and reacting to more abusive trans people without questioning that some people are trans or that i was trans. I think my own trans identity was last to go. But it was definitely a process from the time I left that group to the time I desisted was ~2 years. Maybe a little less I don't remember exactly when. This may or may not be the case for your daughter especially since there's other people still affirming her but I wouldnt give up hope people have gone a lot further than me and detransitioned. Or she may come to first, perhaps stop fearing differing opinions if she does or reconcile with family and old friends if thats applicable before detransitioning. And others I've seen don't detransition just cause they feel their lives have been helped by it but let go of abusive groups and become open to dialogue. Probably not ideal if you ask me but perhaps more liveable. But I do think I'll see this whole thing fall in my lifetime. I don't believe that less than 1% detransition. I personally know many trans people and several desisters out of coincidence. From what ive seen most people who detransition no longer trust those doctors. I don't believe the less than 1% statistic and I do believe I'll see the fallout of this systemic medical abuse and this cult
Abused children abuse others in order to "normalize" what's happened to them. If this behavior is normal, then they are normal too. But if it's not, then they are not. And they're just children--they can't afford not to be normal.
Thank you for sharing. Both my tran-identifying and trans-ally daughters have become abusive to me, their mom, because I have always advocated for adddresing underlying causations, confusion, trauma, illness, etc. They are each dedicated to the "born in the wrong body" idea, which necessitated cross-sex hormones and breast removal instead of looking at and addressing the root cause of despair or distress. They both dedicate themselves to doctrine, theory and ideology and as a result, mom (me) is disposable because a parent who doesn't believe is considered ignorant and obsolete. Their stance does not indicate a healthy mind or ideology.
I'm not unique in this treatment. I have attempted to write about it, and I hope that someday this doctrine will be seen for what it is. Thanks again for writing.
Wow! This could have been written by our daughter. Except the part about puberty at age 7. And the divorce of your parents, which had to be a traumatic experience for you. Our daughter's traumatic experience in her early teenage years I believe contributed to her dysphoria and her wish to be anything but a female. I went through a couple of years of treatment for an aggressive breast cancer at that time. We, as humans, sometimes don't realize the extent to which our experiences affect our self concepts. Thank you for sharing this. Best wishes to you as you go forward in your life.
Why do you think puberty blockers were developed in the first place? For very young kids experiencing precocious puberty. The later twisted use of them for transing kids was, and still is, off-label.
(As an aside, if puberty blockers are so safe for older kids, AND help their mental health, why haven't the manufacturers ever sought FDA approval of them for that purpose? The drugs would never stand up to actual clinical trials for gender dysphoria, and everyone (pro or con) knows this. And why bother, when doctors happily prescribe them off-label by the thousands$.)
Thank you so so much for sharing this ❤️
'It teaches you to watch your mouth. But thoughts lead to speech and wrong speech is dangerous. It leads to you policing your thoughts. You internalize that trans ideology is the truth and that any other truth is hateful. You don’t want to be hateful to your own group, even in your head."
This is ultimately key, and kudos to the OP for recognizing it. The effective suppression of "wrong speech" inevitably leads to the individual policing and suppressing his or her own independent thoughts (wrongthink), which is the cult modus operandi.
"Delving into this topic, it would appear that we are mired in trans ideology. The information that we come across in daily life, and the information that we find when we search is predominantly of one persuasion. Expressing the view that sex is based on biology and is immutable, that nobody is born in the wrong body, and that women have a right to single sex spaces and sports, has become controversial. As a result, many people keep quiet, and so the ideology beds in further.
Does this sound like a cult to you?
Again, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it just may be a duck."
The Cult Connection Part 2 – Information Control By Catherine Monaghan Posted: 26th August 2025"
https://genspect.org/the-cult-connection-part-2-information-control/
Articles like this one make me wish that instead of a heart to click or a like button or a thumbs up to click that there was a give somebody a hug button. We all have traumas and we all have places where we have been mistreated. Some of us remember it some of us blocked it out. The truth is if you take out all the stuff about gender and just describe the kind of pressure that happens from peer groups pick it apply to almost any Behavior any identifying attribute it's kind of scary the power we have over other people or that they have over us without us realizing that they do.
Really excellent account and analysis of the development and devolution of a “trans” identity. The process was destructive because of the coercion and the devaluation of the person having this experience. If only kids could be living in a society where destructive social environments could be escaped and the damage healed completely on the far side.
When I read accounts like this, I am so glad I grew up in the 50s instead of now. I also longed to be a boy and was a tomboy. They got to do things girls didn't and didn't have to wear dresses and skirts to school (if we wanted to wear pants because it was cold, we were only allowed to wear them under a dress). I mostly hung out with boys in the neighborhood. After one year in junior high that we got to play sports, we were relegated to jumping jacks, rope-climbing, and other non competitive exercise. But we didn't have these trans and non binary options, so we just grew up to be women. We got through it, often realizing we were lesbians, but sometimes not. Things were hard, but so much easier then.
The Fifties were hell for me. Forced to wear dresses to school, no matter the temperature, and being sexually harassed and assaulted by boys as a result. The Lesbian-hating was so strong that my cousin told my mother to keep the girl I was in love with away from me.
I hated the boys who made our lives hell so didn't want to be one of them.
No matter how hard it is now, it's so much easier, with adored Lesbians in the media.
The trans cult is a problem but it's also possible to say no as we still do. (I know old women insisting they are men now.)
The ability of the Trans Toddlers Project managers to confuse gays and lesbians still astounds me (a straight male). I've pretty much always thought you know what you like when you see it (and dream about it), so I find it extremely disturbing that they can successfully muddy the sexual attraction waters and repurpose them to such an end. To wit, do any lesbians really want their female lovers to transition?
Thank you for this. "Doctrine over people is an idea by Robert Jay Lifton which is outlined in “Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of “Brainwashing” in China”. In the book he outlines eight criteria for thought reform in the context of cults, one of them being doctrine over people. “Members’ personal experiences are subordinate to the sacred science; members must deny or reinterpret any contrary experiences to fit the group ideology.” But why?"
I observed this: "And I didn’t just deny my own memories in a story I tell to others, I twisted and denied it in my head too." Yes! My daughter had never sounded insane before but she had completely made up stories about her childhood and also twisted/changed the facts of events for which I was present even on an ongoing basis. This was disturbing in itself - even separate from the self hating and crazy Identity. I think she was "worked on" for some time right under my eyes.
"I’ll start by saying manipulation and grooming does not usually feel like abuse. It feels normal, it feels like the truth. Abusers make it normal. They make themselves seem like kind people."
It is a serious problem that she does not see this AT ALL.
"The reality of your life is irrelevant, it fits the narrative or it doesn’t exist." YES
"Anticipate punishment → censor speech → internalize rules → watch your thoughts → censor thoughts → edit memory/perception" Very interesting.
When you say she was "worked on" for years before if she is anything like me I definitely believe so. I started identifying as trans at 12 but it was just a thing to me for years beforehand. I got a phone at 8 which was probably a mistake and me as a kid I was very into medical stuff I used to play like thos operate now games and research conditions and so I was very interested in medical documentaries on YouTube when I got my phone. On these channels you'll find actual medical stuff but then you'll usually also find at least one from a channel about a trans kid, showing it as some kind of condition. They don't usually talk about opposing opinions in these, just dysphoria and transitioning. It was just a thing to me at the time. I also liked to draw and would go to art apps and websites where you would share your art. A lot of the people on here happened to identify as trans or talk about it, or put trans pride flags in their artwork which makes a kid curious like what is this let me look it up. I was into theater and drama clubs and groups are somewhat known to have a lot of lgbtq kids. I went to a summer camp starting at 10 where I knew 2 different trans kids, one a teenager and one my age and at that age i think its the parents not the kid but this kid ended up being a very good friend of mine. I was also into anime as I got a little older and I heard Erin Friday say its common to see trans ideology in those communities as well. Many kids were also taught about it at school sometimes from a very early age. That didn't happen to me but it happens. Idk if your daughter happens to be gay but thats also a very easy way to get very into it. You look for a community of other gay people because you dont feel understood or you're looking for a partner but gay and trans are almost always linked in these groups. That's also what happened to me and how I ended up joining TrevorSpace, the main group I was with its a website for lgbtq people 13-24, with lots of trans ideology and lots of abuse and inappropriate content
Ghost12 - It's sinister the way trans groups locked into LGB groups as a way to legitimize their identities. The attached article shows how Dentons law firm suggestions to trans activist groups helped them push their tactics onto a group of people who had already fought for their civil rights (the LGB groups). TrevorSpace is a dangerous place. I have seen their ads advertising to the agegroup you were in. It's a space for groomers and anything but a safe space. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-document-that-reveals-the-remarkable-tactics-of-trans-lobbyists/
"Doctrine over people comes into play. The reality of your life is irrelevant, it fits the narrative or it doesn’t exist.
Anticipate punishment → censor speech → internalize rules → watch your thoughts → censor thoughts → edit memory/perception"
Thanks for writing this piece. I am glad you became more self-aware of how your perceptions and memories were being altered.
The undue influence of peers, group dynamics, many parents have witnessed this impact on their child. "Straight allies" can be the worst offenders.
How are you today?
Thank you for this comment I also think trans ideology is unique in that not everyone who agrees with it follows it themselves, and they can be just as bad if not worse. It is hard enough to spot manipulation when its one person, even harder to spot it in a group, but with trans ideology even "non followers" come into play and send the same message, as if everyone who agrees with it is captured in a way. I am doing better now than I was before. Not perfect but my mental health has been a lot better and I am no longer friends with abusive groups or delusional
I am glad to hear that you are doing better, Ghost12, and that you are no longer friends with abusive groups or delusional! My daughter is no longer friends with the original hardcore abusers/indoctrinators but she has not tossed them out of her head mentally as "no good". And, everyone around her, including her doctor who gives her the Rx for Testosterone believes in or goes along with trans ideology.
I was like that too leaving that main group of mine was the start for me to desist, it was first them then pretty much everyone although some of it was out of my control, and then when I wasn't really with any of them I could actually think, but it still took me a while to actually disagree with it. I let go of bits and pieces of it, for a while i thought i was "true trans" where I thought people who were nonbinary or people who said they didn't have dysphoria weren't actually trans and I just was, and noticing and reacting to more abusive trans people without questioning that some people are trans or that i was trans. I think my own trans identity was last to go. But it was definitely a process from the time I left that group to the time I desisted was ~2 years. Maybe a little less I don't remember exactly when. This may or may not be the case for your daughter especially since there's other people still affirming her but I wouldnt give up hope people have gone a lot further than me and detransitioned. Or she may come to first, perhaps stop fearing differing opinions if she does or reconcile with family and old friends if thats applicable before detransitioning. And others I've seen don't detransition just cause they feel their lives have been helped by it but let go of abusive groups and become open to dialogue. Probably not ideal if you ask me but perhaps more liveable. But I do think I'll see this whole thing fall in my lifetime. I don't believe that less than 1% detransition. I personally know many trans people and several desisters out of coincidence. From what ive seen most people who detransition no longer trust those doctors. I don't believe the less than 1% statistic and I do believe I'll see the fallout of this systemic medical abuse and this cult
Abused children abuse others in order to "normalize" what's happened to them. If this behavior is normal, then they are normal too. But if it's not, then they are not. And they're just children--they can't afford not to be normal.
It's about emotional and psychological survival.
Thank you for this insightful essay!
Thank you for sharing. Both my tran-identifying and trans-ally daughters have become abusive to me, their mom, because I have always advocated for adddresing underlying causations, confusion, trauma, illness, etc. They are each dedicated to the "born in the wrong body" idea, which necessitated cross-sex hormones and breast removal instead of looking at and addressing the root cause of despair or distress. They both dedicate themselves to doctrine, theory and ideology and as a result, mom (me) is disposable because a parent who doesn't believe is considered ignorant and obsolete. Their stance does not indicate a healthy mind or ideology.
I'm not unique in this treatment. I have attempted to write about it, and I hope that someday this doctrine will be seen for what it is. Thanks again for writing.
Wow! This could have been written by our daughter. Except the part about puberty at age 7. And the divorce of your parents, which had to be a traumatic experience for you. Our daughter's traumatic experience in her early teenage years I believe contributed to her dysphoria and her wish to be anything but a female. I went through a couple of years of treatment for an aggressive breast cancer at that time. We, as humans, sometimes don't realize the extent to which our experiences affect our self concepts. Thank you for sharing this. Best wishes to you as you go forward in your life.
You didn't go through puberty at seven.
Why do you think puberty blockers were developed in the first place? For very young kids experiencing precocious puberty. The later twisted use of them for transing kids was, and still is, off-label.
(As an aside, if puberty blockers are so safe for older kids, AND help their mental health, why haven't the manufacturers ever sought FDA approval of them for that purpose? The drugs would never stand up to actual clinical trials for gender dysphoria, and everyone (pro or con) knows this. And why bother, when doctors happily prescribe them off-label by the thousands$.)
You like to mansplain to women.
What a bizarre comment.
Writer here, I did start puberty at 7 I had precocious puberty, not common but it happens