Detransitioning ex-Navy SEAL warns kids against gender change

Taking female hormones “destroyed my life,” said Chris Beck

Former US Navy SEAL Chris Beck, who came out as transgender in 2013, told the New York Post that teenagers should think twice before trying to change their gender. Beck accused doctors performing these procedures of “butchering children.”

Beck served in the US military for 20 years, completed 13 deployments, and was a member of SEAL Team Six – the unit that famously killed Osama bin Laden. Upon leaving the military in 2013, he declared that he was transgender and would live as a woman. 

Kristin Beck – as he called himself at this time – was lauded by CNN and led a pride parade in San Francisco. He underwent hormone therapy, facial surgery, and breast augmentation in order to “make his body match his identity,” as he wrote in his autobiography, ‘Warrior Princess’.

However, he told conservative podcaster Robby Starbuck earlier this month that this process “destroyed my life.” Beck said that he was “propagandized” into transitioning, and handed hormones by doctors who never questioned his underlying mental state. He stopped taking these hormones in 2015, and told Starbuck that he has “detransitioned” and is now living as a man again.

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Speaking to the New York Post on Monday, Beck called it “unacceptable” that doctors are performing the same process on teenagers. 

“Twelve-year-olds can’t get tattoos, can’t drink booze or do anything,” Beck said, referring to Californian teenager Chloe Cole, who started puberty blockers and testosterone treatment at 13 and underwent a double mastectomy at 15 before detransitioning back to female. “They have not fully developed as humans and anyone who has ever had a child knows this. We can’t allow these doctors to butcher children.”

There are now more than 60 pediatric gender clinics in the US, up from a handful a decade ago. “Countless” private therapists and doctors are also conducting potentially irreversible procedures on children, according to a New York Times report in June. Some of these doctors publicly stated that they have performed genital surgery on minors.

“These doctors are leading you astray,” Beck said, directing his comments to young people. “I want everyone to be who they can be to their greatest potential, but … there’s not enough information out here from both sides. It seems very one-sided.”

Several Republican-led states have moved to ban transgender surgery and treatment for minors. President Joe Biden called these efforts “outrageous” and “wrong,” declaring in October that his administration supports “gender-affirming” procedures for children.