‘Trans cult brainwashed my sister into believing she was a boy’

A 16-year-old girl has spoken of the far-reaching effects of trans-indoctrination on her sister’s life.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the teenager shared her sister’s descent into gender confusion and how it was manipulated by trans activists.

But the anonymous author confessed she “still can’t talk about this openly” for fear of breaking the “strict rules my generation is expected to follow when it comes to trans”.

‘Stereotypical’

“My older sister and I were very close throughout our childhood”, she explained.

“I was drawn towards Barbie dolls and Sylvanian Families – what you might call stereotypical girl toys. She was more into superheroes. But so what? I never thought anything of it. Being girls didn’t mean we had to like the same stuff.”

However, she continued, by her early teens “things started going downhill for my sister”, as she “struggled to fit in at school” and became highly self-conscious about her appearance.

“Little by little”, she observed, her sister “was making herself look less feminine”, although it never occurred to her that she might think of herself as being “really a boy”.

Preferred pronouns

During Covid lockdown in 2020, while her family thought she was keeping up with friends, she was actually “immersing herself” in “online transgender culture”.

Then later that year she declared that she “was born in the wrong body”, wanted puberty blockers and ‘top surgery’, chose a boy’s name, and said her pronouns were now ‘he/him’.

But when her parents “didn’t affirm her in exactly the way she wanted” nor give in to her demands, the teenage author wrote, “she lost her temper with them night after night”.

There was something weirdly robotic about it, as if she had been indoctrinated

Indoctrination

“Cowering upstairs, I heard her screaming and shouting at them, repeating what I subsequently discovered from my own internet research were stock phrases that gender-questioning teens are encouraged to use by members of the trans community online.

“‘If you don’t affirm my identity, I’ll kill myself,’ she threatened. There was something weirdly robotic about it, as if she had been indoctrinated and was following a script, although her passion and upset was clearly very real.

“I felt painfully conflicted. My generation has been influenced to think trans is something you have to support unquestioningly. And I did – until it became a reality in our household.”

She added: “My sister seemed to think that, because she was struggling mentally and didn’t fit in, she must be a boy. Looking back, I can see how this powerful online community validated her.”

Fear

Following a visit to hospital after she collapsed at school from a paracetamol overdose, and when she levelled accusations against her parents for refusing to accept she was a boy, Social Services got involved.

I was afraid I would be labelled transphobic and unloving for refusing to blindly accept that my sister was really a boy.

Thankfully, the teenager wrote, the “social worker decided the case need not be taken any further – she could see we were a loving and supportive family.

“And while some schools seem to allow children to change their names and pronouns without even telling their parents, my sister’s school did not go along with her new gender identity.”

But, she confessed, “I couldn’t tell my friends about any of this. I was afraid I would be labelled transphobic and unloving for refusing to blindly accept that my sister was really a boy.”

‘Cult’

“Finally, last year, we learned what was really going on: my sister, by then aged 17, was diagnosed with autism and ADHD.”

“Last summer, she and I and our mum sat down and had a long chat. ‘I used to think I was trans,’ said my sister. ‘Now I realise it was my ADHD and autism.’

She recognises she was sucked into thinking she was someone she wasn’t

“She told us she had felt vulnerable and isolated going into lockdown, and had completely immersed herself online and found this ready-made support system of trans people.

“The way she described it, it was more like a cult than a community. She recognises she was sucked into thinking she was someone she wasn’t.”

‘Brainwashed’

Reflecting on the ordeal, she concluded: “It was so hard seeing someone I loved being effectively brainwashed.

“I hope that in speaking out, even anonymously, other young people worried about vulnerable siblings questioning their gender will know they are not alone.”

Reporting on her sister’s progress, she said: “Although she still struggles with her mental health and autism diagnosis, she is doing well today. She finished her A-levels in the summer and is now on her gap year.”