American ‘Detransitioner’: Gender Transition Mutilates and Destroys Lives

Walt Heyer lived under a female identity that was never truly his for decades. His story—marked by childhood trauma, confusion, and surgical mutilation—now serves as a warning to those alarmed by the spread of gender ideology, especially among minors. In a recent conversation with europeanconservative.com, Heyer, a well-known critic of gender ideology, shared his testimony and denounced the medical, psychological, and societal consequences of what he describes not as a form of help, but as a lucrative industry.

It all began in childhood when his grandmother dressed him as a girl for the first time. What may have seemed harmless at the time was compounded by physical and sexual abuse from his father and uncle—experiences that shaped his development. As a teenager, Heyer began to secretly identify as a woman. In his thirties, he sought a gender therapist in California, who was then considered a leading expert in the field. On the therapist’s advice, he began a medical transition that included hormones and surgery. “They promised me I would become a woman, but that never happened,” he recalls.

Over time, as a deep sense of emptiness grew, Heyer came to understand that what he suffered wasn’t genuine gender dysphoria but an identity disorder rooted in unresolved trauma: 

I’ve worked with thousands of people in similar situations and haven’t found a single authentic case of gender dysphoria. There’s always a history of abuse, abandonment, loss, or untreated psychological disorders.

In his view, transgender identity is merely a surface-level symptom of deeper wounds, and prescribing hormones or surgery is, in his words, “medical malpractice.”

Heyer is unequivocal: there is no such thing as a “transgender person”—only individuals who identify as such. “You can alter your appearance with drugs or scalpels, but you can’t change biology. No matter what you do, your genes still determine whether you’re male or female.”

He considers the medicalization of these cases to be a form of child abuse. “Dressing a child as the opposite sex, blocking puberty, mutilating their genitals… it’s all emotional, physical, and psychological violence.” At the root, he believes, lies a profit motive: so-called “gender-affirming care” has become a $4.4 billion annual industry in the U.S., with each hormonally treated child representing guaranteed revenue for decades.

In this context, Heyer welcomes the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the state of Tennessee to ban gender treatments for minors. “It’s a historic step. This ruling will pave the way for other states to follow. It’s finally being recognized that this is not healthcare—it’s deliberate harm.”

He also denounces that more than 90% of patients who undergo these procedures are excluded from the scientific studies used to justify them. 

Suicide and depression rates don’t improve after transitioning, as they claim. In many cases, they worsen. But they won’t talk about that—because it threatens the business.

As an alternative to the current model, Heyer advocates for a trauma-centered approach: addressing the real causes of distress rather than masking them with hormones and surgery. “Many who reach out to me were abused children, orphans, victims of neglect. They don’t need a surgeon—they need a trauma therapist.”

In his own case, his Christian faith helped him rediscover his identity and heal. “God showed me that I wasn’t broken, that what had been done to me didn’t define who I am. Through Him, I got my life back—and now I help others do the same.”

Heyer ends with a warning: “They are trying to destroy the very foundation of society: man, woman, and family. But the truth will come out. And when it does, many lives can be saved.”

A full interview with Heyer is coming soon.