Life Beyond Transition and the Largest Global Gathering of Detransitioners

Detransition Awareness Day 2026 in Washington DC

On Thursday March 12th 2026, Genspect will convene what is expected to be the largest gathering of detransitioners ever held anywhere in the world. Taking place in Washington DC, this Detrans Awareness Day represents a decisive shift. For the first time, detransitioners will not be appearing as isolated individuals, online testimonies, or marginal voices, but coming together in significant numbers, in person, in the political capital of the United States.

This marks a turning point not simply because of scale, but because of what that scale makes possible. When detransitioners gather collectively, individual stories can no longer be dismissed as rare, anecdotal, or irrelevant. This event signals a move from silence and fragmentation toward recognition and the beginnings of a coherent response to life after medical transition.

The theme for 2026 is Life Beyond Transition, a concept that demands far more consideration than it has received to date. Public, medical, and media attention has focused heavily on pathways into medical transition. Far less attention has been paid to what happens afterwards, and less still to those who stop, reverse course, or live with regret, ambivalence, or unresolved harm.

One of the few long-term outcome studies available illustrates why this gap matters. Dhejne et al. (2011) conducted the longest follow-up study to date on the outcomes of “sex reassignment surgery”, tracking 324 individuals in Sweden over a 30-year period from 1973 to 2003. Compared with matched controls by birth year and sex, those who had undergone surgery showed significantly worse outcomes, including nearly 3 times higher psychiatric hospitalization rates, nearly 5 times more suicide attempts, and a suicide rate over 19 times higher than matched controls. Life beyond transition can be extremely difficult for some, yet this reality is often minimised, leaving those affected without adequate support.

Detransitioners, regretters, and those who feel ambivalent often find themselves isolated, unsupported, and politically inconvenient. This event is about holding a spotlight on these experiences so that the public can begin to properly understand what medical transition involves, not only at the point of entry, but across the lifespan.

Since 2022, Genspect has highlighted these issues through Detrans Awareness Day. In our first year, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we hosted a large online webinar featuring nearly a dozen detransitioners speaking openly about their experiences. Following that event, many felt able to speak publicly for the first time. A second global webinar followed in 2023. In 2024, we ran a day-long programme where participants could share their stories in whatever format resonated with them: articles, artwork, poetry, songs, animation, and long-form interviews. Last year, the day culminated in a formal briefing on Capitol Hill, bringing the issue directly into the policy sphere.

Detrans Awareness Day 2025 on Capitol Hill

The 2026 gathering represents a significant evolution. It will bring detransitioners together in person alongside clinicians, researchers, lawyers, educators, and policymakers. The aim is to insist upon clarity, responsibility, and care in this area. Central to the day will be the introduction of the first draft of our Detransition Primer, intended to establish a shared foundation for understanding detransition, including clinical needs, ethical considerations, and the gaps in current medical and institutional responses. It marks an important step toward moving beyond denial and toward informed, accountable practice.

At the heart of this work is Genspect’s Beyond Trans programme, currently the only service providing structured, practical support specifically for this cohort. Through Beyond Trans, we run online group meetings not only for detransitioners, but also for people who identify as trans, those who experience regret, and those who feel uncertain or ambivalent. These groups offer rare spaces where people can speak honestly, without pressure to perform certainty or ideological loyalty. This reflects our core belief that support should be available across the full spectrum of experience, not only for those who fit a preferred narrative.

This year’s event will bring together detransitioners from across the United States and beyond. Jonni Skinner, Jess Harris, and other new and emerging American voices will be joined by Keira Bell and Ritchie Herron from Britain, with Michelle Alleva travelling from Canada. Together, they underscore that detransition is not a fringe phenomenon, but an international one, emerging wherever medical transition has been widely promoted and insufficiently scrutinised.

Supporting detransitioners matters because their needs are real, ongoing, and often unmet. Many face physical complications, psychological distress, loss of trust in healthcare, and profound social isolation. Most clinicians receive little or no guidance on how to support them. But ignoring this population does not make the problem disappear. It deepens harm and compounds this unfolding medical scandal. Bringing detransitioners together is crucial to show that this minority within the minority can no longer be ignored.

This is an ambitious project and it requires funding to make it possible. You can help by purchasing a ticket to attend, or by sponsoring a detransitioner so they can be present on the day. Unless we obtain sufficient funding, many detransitioners will not otherwise be able to travel, yet their voices are essential to this event.

If you believe that people deserve care after transition rather than silence, and that listening matters even when it is uncomfortable, please help us bring detransitioners together on Thursday March 12th.