In an attempt to solicit candid and unfiltered responses from leading activists from the most radical LGBTQ groups in Alaska, I attended the June 24 Anchorage gay “Pride Parade” and festivities – posing as the father of a 13-year-old transgender girl (a biological boy).
Armed with a hidden video recorder, my goal was to hear directly from LGBTQ activists about how they work to push their agenda on gender-confused minors.
My first stop was the Identity tent, one of many booths stationed at the Delaney Park Strip for the festival that followed the morning “Pride” parade. Identity is a multi-faceted nonprofit that organizes queer youth clubs, drag queen story hours for kids, trans-parent meetings and much more. It also operates Identity Health Clinic, which pushes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and life-altering, irreversible surgeries on both youth and adults.
Manning the Identity booth that day was Asia Berry, who has worked as a medical assistant at Identity Health Clinic for the past year and a half.
When told that I was seeking information about how to help a 13-year-old trans girl, Berry immediately told me about the clinic’s gender-blocking services, which interrupt natural puberty so that children do not develop normal physical characteristics associated with their biological sex.
These blockers can lead to serious health conditions such as elevated spinal fluid pressure on the brain, permanent infertility, blood clotting, increased aggression, high blood pressure, inflamed liver, baldness, swelling of hands, feet and legs, weight gain, cancers of the breast, ovaries and uterus, heart disease, high cholesterol, fat deposits around internal organs, strokes, cognitive impairment, heart attacks, bone density loss, vaginal injuries and a heightened risk of STDs.
Berry did not mention that 80 to 95 percent of pre-pubertal youth with gender dysphoria come to accept their biological sex as they reach adulthood.
She did note that Identity works with Seattle-based psychologists who meet with youth to discuss their options. She also said Identity has youth “support groups,” as well as a transgender camp for kids ages – 13 to 18.
“There’s blockers if they’re translating from woman to male, and they may have HRT (hormone replacement therapy) blockers for vice versa – so we do provide a lot of care and we also just have stuff to just stop hormones – that’s in the clinic,” Berry explained. “We have HRT and the estradiol, and we have the blockers. If they’re male and the [don’t] want to have the testosterone flowing, they can block those. Yeah, so we do have the blockers and they just have to have parent consent … and then they take that med.”
When asked about whether Identity works with public schools to expand its reach to local children, Berry acknowledged that they have a developing relationship with several Anchorage schools.
She added that the clinic takes all forms of insurance, including from Alaska’s publicly funded Denali KidCare program.
When asked what a 13-year-old should do, when considering how to deal with gender dysphoria, Berry suggested having the child come into the clinic to find out “what transitioning would be like,” if they decided to take gender altering drugs or wanted to have “any kind of surgeries.”
“They definitely have psychiatrists for that,” she said. “They don’t just let people do those things. So, they talk to you and make sure you understand what’s going on – what you’re choosing and it’s just a really, really great program for our youth.”
Berry criticized other Alaska healthcare providers that “say they are there for the community, but do not believe” in using puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgeries to address gender confusion.
“So, this is the only clinic that provides this kind of care to our community,” she said. “It’s just a safe space for people who are transitioning.”
Berry said Identity does not perform the actual transgender surgeries, but they do refer patients to surgeons will do them.
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“We send out referrals, so if they are thinking about getting gender affirming – switching – we do have places that we do refer them to that take care of insurance and stuff like that,” Berry said. “So, we have every step of the way.”
She said there are some surgeons in Alaska who will do trans surgeries.
“We have some here,” Berry said. “It just depends on what surgery you’re looking into, but they do have some here.”
When asked about whether Identity works with public schools to reach out to children, Berry acknowledged that they have a developing relationship with several Anchorage schools.
“We actually do. We just started broadening ourselves just because with the new bill for transgender kids for the sports, we’re getting more out,” she said. “We’ve gotten to Clark Middle School. We’ve been to a couple of high schools … We’re just going to keep growing.”
