The film focusses on detransitioners “to give them a chance to just share the facts and the truth of their journeys.”
A film made by liberal filmmakers exploring concerns around medical sex changes for children has had its showings canceled by AMC. The film, "No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care," was made by liberals who are "as suspicious and critical of the far right" as they are of the left, but even their leftist bonafides weren't enough to keep the film from cancellation.
Vera Lindner, who was from East Germany before emigrating to the US over 20 years ago, spoke to The Post Millennial about the film, saying that she and the director are actually pro-gay, that both have gay children, but that they believe that "transgender ideology is a corporate construct for profit."
In fact, the film is in support of gays and lesbians, Lindner said. Part of the "mission was to create a film that is deeply sympathetic and supportive of gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-non-conforming people as I am extremely concerned about 'transing the gay away.' As a leader in the entertainment industry, I have hired, mentored, promoted and befriended LGBT people for 25 years."
A leader in the trans kids movement, Susie Green who was the head of UK trans charity Mermaids, discussed in a TED Talk how she began to transition her son in part after her husband declared he did not want a gay son. In transitioning their son, and getting him castrated in Thailand at the age of 16 after years of puberty blockers and estrogen, they turned their gay son into a "straight woman."
That experience growing up in East Germany informed Lindners' views. "The promise of a 'bright future where you are your free, authentic self' is deeply familiar to me from past social experiments that happened at various times in history," she said in a statement about the cancellation.
The film focuses on detransitioners, people who have gone through gender transition and then come out the other side with regret for what they had done and what had been done to them. It was a way, Lindner said, "to give them a chance to just share the facts and the truth of their journeys."
"It was very important for me to present facts and truth from their perspective and then substantiate the facts and truth with the opinions of 12 experts with like 20 to 30 years of clinical experience, specifically treating transgender and detransitioning people," she said.
She wanted to "reveal the vulnerable cohorts - neurodivergent youth (on the spectrum, with OCD, ADHD), traumatized youth, people with mental illnesses and personality disorders (e.g., borderline personality disorder) and why they are particularly susceptible to accepting a trans identity as a way of escaping their minds and their bodies." A large percentage of girls who identify as transgender as they approach and enter puberty are on the autism spectrum.
The film was targeted by the Queer Trans Project, which sends out "build a queer" kits to trans tees, complete with breast binders, "packers," makeup, fake eyelashes, condoms, dental dams, cute toys and stationary, underpants, and keychains.
When asked why she believes the Queer Trans Project was so afraid of having the film shown, Lindner said, "because our intention was to substantiate every statement with medical research, with peer reviewed academic medical research, and also journal articles."
"The film quotes 45 academic medical studies, which makes it basically exposing not just somebody's opinion, but exposing medical research. And this is dangerous because the assumption is that normal people cannot read medical literature, they're medically illiterate. And that they are very easy to mislead, but now we digested that, we highlighted the highlights of these medical studies," Lindner said.
The Queer Trans Project posted a campaign on Instagram to have the film canceled and encouraged followers to reach out to AMC to have the film pulled. The sample letter read:
"I am writing to express my deep concern and strong opposition to the decision to screen No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care, an anti-trans film that perpetuates harmful misinformation. It is disheartening to see a respected institution like AMC Theaters provide a platform for content that further stigmatizes and marginalizes the transgender community. Regardless of the timing, this film's screening goes against the values of inclusivity and respect that should be upheld by a company committed to providing diverse and meaningful entertainment. I implore you to reconsider this decision immediately and demonstrate your commitment to supporting a more inclusive and accepting society. Please remove the film from your lineup and help ensure that AMC Theaters remains a safe and inclusive space for all moviegoers."
California state senator Scott Wiener, who advocates for children to be taken from their families if parents are not on board with gender transition, excoriated AMC for hosting the film, saying "AMC is celebrating Pride Month by platforming an anti-trans propaganda film across the country. @AMCTheatres is feeding into the lie that kids are being tricked into being trans, when the data actually shows that only 1% of trans people de-transition. This is truly shameful."
https://twitter.com/Scott_Wiener/status/1669802732713312256?s=20
His claim was that "There’s a massive, well-funded propaganda campaign to erase trans youth, pretend they don’t exist, & justify laws banning them from receiving health care or participating in society. AMC should be ashamed of itself for being part of this despicable effort."
Wiener, however, has made California a "santuary state" for "trans kids," meaning that children can run away from their homes and families in other states and California will both help them undergo sex changes, but will not aid law enforcement in getting the kids back to their families. Wiener believes that parents who do not "affirm" their kids' wish to change sex are "abusive." He also pushed for California's women's prisons to let men in based on those males' gender self-ID alone.
https://twitter.com/Scott_Wiener/status/1669802747678584832?s=20
The Queer Trans Project celebrated when the film was pulled by AMC, saying "We did it! Our community's swift action is a testament to the power of advocacy and the importance of raising our voices against harmful content. Your collective efforts have made a significant impact, and the decision to pull No Way Back from AMC theaters is a step towards fostering a more inclusive and respectful environment. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to creating positive change."
Undaunted, the filmmakers intend to move forward with distribution, both in streaming and in DVD form. "Intolerant, illiberal, histrionic IGNORANT loudmouths who have not even seen the film have pressured AMC theaters to make the hard decision to cancel our dates!" They write. "DO NOT LET THEM WIN! We will have the film available for streaming and on DVD as soon as possible."
Lindner even thanked AMC for trying. Articles such as this one in called the documentary "anti-trans" for trying to take a view on the harms of sex change instead of outright celebrating it.
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The filmmakers state a belief that the Queer Trans Project may actually be "on the payroll of those who profit from this –so much of what they are doing is resulting in the creation of life-long surgical and pharmaceutical patients are doing so to great benefit of certain surgical clinics and pharmaceutical companies."
"The film formerly titled Affirmation Generation is under assault. The gender cult has already gone after AMC Theatres who are not endorsing our film - it's simply a business that has agreed to screen it. We need all hands on deck here please #thetruthwillnotbesilenced THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE. Please help this movie be screened," executive producer Joey Brite said on Twitter.
The cancellation spurred pushback on Twitter, with many coming to the defense of "No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care." When asked about the calls for a boycott, Brite said "I do know that people started right away. You know, it was interesting to me, we were trending on Twitter, #boycottAMC, you know, started happening, and that wasn't anything that that we started or encouraged or anything. It was nice to see this kind of clamoring that came forward for this."
One thing that worries Brite is that the public backlash against trans ideology, fueled by legislators like Wiener and Build-a-Queer projects, is going to add create pushback against the gay and lesbian community, who had fought so hard to gain equality under the law. "I feel like we're back kind of in the 70s 80s and 90s," she said.
