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Detransitioned anti-LGBT activist (born 1940) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walt Heyer (born October 25, 1940)[2] is an American author, activist and speaker who underwent gender reassignment and lived for eight years as a trans woman before detransitioning in 1991.[3][4][5][6][7]
Walt Heyer | |
---|---|
Born | Walter James Heyer October 25, 1940[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation(s) | Writer, activist |
Spouses | Sarah Horton
(m. 1963–1984)
|
Children | 2 |
Website | sexchangeregret.com |
Heyer was born in 1940 in Los Angeles to Charles and Mary Heyer. As a child, his grandmother "Mamie" made him a purple dress. When his parents discovered this, they would supervise all his visits and his father hit him. His uncle would sexually abuse him.[8] After what he described as a misdiagnosis [9] of gender dysphoria, Walt Heyer underwent gender reassignment surgery and lived for eight years as a woman named Laura Jensen,[10] before detransitioning. His experience led him to support the view "that transgender people often experience regret after transitioning, arguing that what transgender people actually need is 'psychiatric or psychological help.'"[11] In a 2020 video, Heyer described the source of his gender confusion as "being cross-dressed, being disciplined with a hardwood floor plank, and being sexually molested."[12]
Once "assistant manager of product planning for America Honda Motor Co",[13][14] Heyer now works as an author and as a contributor to The Federalist[15][16] and various other conservative media outlets. Left-leaning media watchdog and partisan advocacy group Media Matters for America has criticized Heyer as "a source of extreme transphobic commentary."[17]
Heyer's story is detailed in Ryan T. Anderson's 2018 book, When Harry Became Sally.[18] The progressive news website ThinkProgress criticized the book for overemphasizing detransition and Heyer for "[creating] a career for himself of advocating against transgender equality based on his 'ex-trans' narrative."[19]
Heyer's 2019 opinion column in USA Today[8] was cited as one of the paper's ten most read articles of the year,[20] and generated multiple published letters in response.[21][22]
In June 2020, YouTube removed a video of a Heritage Foundation panel that included Heyer, citing its hate speech guidelines,[23] a move which was criticized by various conservative media outlets including National Review and The Christian Post.[24][25]
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