A former trans man who has become a woman again has criticized gender ideology and warned against teaching children to change gender.
Hazel Appleyard, 31, from Leamington, was referred to a gender clinic aged 17 after saying she wanted to become a man.
She even planned to become infertile by undergoing surgery to remove her uterus.
The detransitioner is now a mother of one and said she was “lucky” to escape the trans community before too much damage was done.
She told Web: “I don’t think anyone believes trans women are women.”
Hazel Appleyard, 31, from Leamington, was referred to a gender clinic aged 17 after saying she wanted to become a man. Pictured: Hazel as she identified as a trans man named Aaron
“People who were taught political correctness – we were raised to accept people, but this time it may have gone too far.”
“As a child, I was always a bit of a tomboy. I am autistic. My mother tried to dress me up as a girl. I didn’t feel like dressing like that. I began to reject everything girly.’
According to a Pew Research Center study, about 5.1 percent of adults under 30 are transgender or non-binary.
According to various estimates, between eight and 13 percent of them revert to their gender at birth.
And according to the most recent census, only 0.1 percent of people in the UK are transgender.
That’s just 96,000 people, 48,000 of whom say they are trans men and another 48,000 identify as trans women.
Although being transgender is not a widespread topic, the transgender community is extremely vocal and issues surrounding gender and sex have become a source of heated public debate.
Hazel explained how she was influenced by the internet.
When she was younger, Hazel used the website Live Journal to meet other gender diverse and transgender people.
She said being exposed to more people who identified as transgender made me think.
She added: “In echo chambers like that, I saw people say, ‘I’m not sure I’m trans,’ but then trans people say, ‘If that’s what you think, then that’s what you are.’
‘[The website] doubles the deception.’
When she was 17, Hazel came out as transgender to her mother and told her that she wanted to be a man.
She cut her hair short and called herself Aaron to appear more like a boy.
Hazel used the website Live Journal (pictured) to meet other gender questioning and trans people
There are various transgender communities on the site. Hazel said: “In echo chambers like that, I saw people say, ‘I’m not sure I’m trans,’ but then the trans people would say, ‘If that’s how you feel, then that’s who you are.’ [The website] doubles the deception’
She even planned to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
However, she said over time the feelings disappeared.
She said, “It just faded away.” One day it was strong and I thought about ending my life. One day I woke up and didn’t feel so bad anymore.
“I just fell out of the trans community.”
I slowly slipped back in [to being a girl]. I took a beating from the kids at school, but I managed to assimilate again.
“Since then, when you speak out against it, against the trans community, you get a lot of resistance.
“They do not want.” [know] that there is a possibility for people to make mistakes.
“They are really keen to deny people who are transitioning out.”
Although she was referred to a gender clinic, she did not show up for her first appointment and felt she was lucky to have avoided treatment, even if she thought at the time, “Maybe I shouldn’t be a woman.”
She said: “Autistic children need to be protected from this ideology.” I was so vulnerable.
“We have to be very, very careful with these children who are vulnerable and impressionable and already feeling lost.”
“What I needed as a child was to know that it was okay to be a girl who didn’t act like the other girls.”
“I was just a child. Yes, I’m a girl and I’m different, but that’s okay.
“I came out the other side.” If they let me do that, where would I be?
“I have a child now.” I was so close to losing all of these things.
“I see these kids who want what I wanted.” What if they too change their mind but it’s too late? I feel really lucky.
“What concerns me is that I don’t believe people are born transgender.”
“Raising children who don’t know anything about transsexuals gives them a better chance of growing up and being themselves.”
“Children who identify as a different gender – changing them doesn’t help.”
Hazel also admitted that she was worried about safe spaces for women.
She said that allowing men to make women “uncomfortable” by invading women’s spaces opens the possibility for men to identify as women.
The detranitioner said: “Born women need their safe spaces.”
“There may be a core group of transsexuals who are truly transsexuals, but this new wave of transsexuals where there are men in dresses with beards? If you are transgender, you want to live as the opposite sex.
“I don’t think any man who feels like a woman today should be able to identify with that [as one].
“Women deserve to be safe in these spaces.”
The debate over clinics that offer treatment to young people who believe they are transgender and the medications they offer is becoming increasingly heated.
Hazel’s story is the latest example of children being encouraged to transition at an age when they can’t fully quantify the decision.
In 2020, Keira Bell sued the Gender Identity Clinic (GIDS) in the Supreme Court to prevent puberty-stopping drugs from being prescribed to children with gender dysphoria.
The 16-year-old and self-described “very mentally ill” Keira had been given medication by the doctors at the controversial clinic to halt her own development before she realized – six years later and after a double mastectomy – that it was a monumental one Operation acted error.
Keira Bell is campaigning for doctors to stop prescribing medication to children with gender dysphoria
Keira, pictured aged 5, was born a female but later began to question whether she was a boy
NHS England has reportedly drawn up plans to allow children as young as seven to receive treatment for transgender people (file image).
The scandal-hit gender clinic in Tavistock has been forced to close after being criticized in a review by Dr. Hilary Cass was rated “unsafe”.
NHS England’s plans for future gender clinics set a minimum age for referral for the first time – seven years – and also aim to limit the use of puberty blockers.
The closure came after a review by senior pediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, who warned that the gender clinic was “not a safe or viable long-term option”.
She found that when children were referred to Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), other mental health issues were “overshadowed” in favor of gender identity issues.
The clinic was accused of forcing children of former patients who felt they were not being adequately supported to take puberty inhibitors. Since it opened in 1989, at least 9,000 children have been treated there for gender dysphoria.
But although the clinic was scheduled to close its doors this year, the closure has been postponed until March 2024.
In 2022
For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. For more information, visit www.samaritans.org