Sex Change Clinics Sponsored Conference that Pushes Child Transgenderism
A document from the 2018 Gender Odyssey conference (the conference was cancelled in 2020 and 2021) details the schedule for the event and its list of sponsors, which includes several surgical firms that offer sex change operations.
The 2018 conference encouraged child transgenderism and hoped to make parents more comfortable with their child’s sex change attempt, hosting sessions titled “Coping with Loss Throughout Transition,” and “Gender-Inclusive K-12 Schools.”
The conference featured events specifically for younger attendees there with their parents, including a “Youth and Young Adult Meet and Greet,” a “Kid’s Movie Time,” and a “Youth and Young Adult Skating Party.”
One session, titled “Getting it Covered,” was intended for parents and older attendees, and discussed the “evolving landscape of insurance coverage for gender related medical services.” Another session was titled “RESISTANCE: Strategies for Supporting Schools to Respond to Gender Pushback in the Community.” The description complained that “educators and school districts across the country are targeted by hate groups with unwanted media attention.”
The description specifically suggests reading “I am Jazz” in the classroom to “work toward a gender-inclusive policy” at school. The book centers around a child who begins to identify as transgender at the age of two.
Another session was titled “Strategies for Building Affirming and Inclusive Schools.” It was led by Judy Chiasson and Timothy Kordic, both of whom hold positions at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Chiasson is the coordinator of the district’s Department of Human Relations, Diversity and Equity. Kordic is a project manager and educational consultant for the district.
LAUSD has been at the forefront of the push to embed both Critical Race Theory and gender theory into the K-12 education system. The district has worked directly with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and has promoted material from a trans activist who posts explicit photos to social media.
A different talk was hosted by Maria al-Shamma, an activist with experience in the education system, and focused on the incorporation of race and LGBT topics into elementary school classrooms.
There were numerous sessions specifically dedicated to embedding pro-transgender beliefs into the education system. Gereah Goldstein, a pro-trans activist, co-led a talk called “Moving a Whole District Forward.”
Goldstein is one of the activists who founded the GenderCool Project, an organization that secures high-profile media appearances for children who identify as transgender. Breitbart News revealed that the GenderCool Project is sponsored by a company that manufactures puberty blocking drugs.
The conference was sponsored by several different surgical firms that specialize in sex change operations. One such firm was the San Francisco Transgender Institute, which offers a long list of operations. The institute performs hysterectomies, phalloplasties, vaginoplasties, jaw tapering, Adam’s apple reductions, scrotoplasties, and a variety of other surgeries that intend to artificially masculinize or feminize one’s body.
The San Francisco Transgender Institute is joined by La Belle Vie, a sex change surgical firm based in Seattle that also sponsored the conference. One post on Reddit, which La Belle Vie directly links to, even affirms that those who want to undergo a sex change operation at their Seattle clinic do not need a letter from a therapist or a gender identity disorder diagnosis.
The Buncke Clinic is yet another sex change operation clinic that sponsored the Gender Odyssey conference. A fourth clinic, the Meltzer Clinic, is noted as an “annual sponsor of Gender Odyssey.” Like the other clinics, it also offers sex change operations.
Breitbart News revealed in July that Gender Spectrum, an organization that works to embed pro-transgender beliefs into American K-12 schools, partners with Align Surgical Associates, a clinic that offers sex change operations to youth.
Sex change surgeries are expensive procedures, with some transitions costing as much as $100,000, even if a patient has health insurance.
The Gender Odyssey Conference is hosted by a parent organization called TransFamilies. The organization claims that “taking an affirmative approach to your child’s gender journey does no harm.”