By Prof Dr Rafidah Hanim Mokhtar

On February 22nd a lawsuit was filed that could mark the start of a backlash.

Chloe Cole, an 18-year-old who has become a voice for detransitioners in America, is suing Kaiser Permanente, a large American medical provider, for medical negligence.

Ms Cole decided at the age of 12 that she was a boy, was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at 13 and underwent a double mastectomy at 15, before changing her mind and detransitioning at 16.

The complaint, filed in California by the Centre for American Liberty, a conservative non-profit that supports Ms Cole, accuses Kaiser of performing a “mutilating, mimicry sex-change experiment” on a vulnerable girl instead of focusing on her complex mental health.

Her lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, said medical professionals “permanently disfigured her for profit”.

Ms Cole, whose lawyers say she meets the criteria for being on the autism spectrum, says she is particularly concerned about her fertility and about pain and discomfort caused by skin grafts.

But a crucial part of the claim is that Ms Cole says she and her parents were not informed of alternative, less invasive treatments, such as psychiatric care.

According to the complaint, physicians suggested that her gender dysphoria would “never resolve unless she chemically/surgically transitioned”.

Ms Cole told a rally outside the Capitol in September that the clinic presented her case to her parents as a choice between having a suicidal daughter or a trans son.

Few law firms want to risk being labelled transphobic, being “cancelled” or losing clients. Ms Jackson co-founded her own firm after she realised how hard it was for detransitioners to find legal representation.

There has been little money in this business, at least up to now. And, adds one paediatrician, many detransitioners have a history of mental illness.

They may make poor witnesses. But a credible star witness could break the mould.

This may turn out to be Ms Cole, whose lawyers claim they have been contacted by others from across America, who are preparing lawsuits on behalf of their detransitioner clients.

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