239. Sex Change Surgery Began as a Gay Cure: Tamara Sears on 100 Years of Gender Medicine
Download MP3My guest is Tamara Sears, a British existential psychotherapist with 20 years in private practice who writes about censorship in the counseling profession. We work through her Substack article The Unfolding Scandal of Our Time, which traces more than a century of history behind today's gender medicine, from Magnus Hirschfeld's experiments in Berlin to Harry Benjamin, Christine Jorgensen and the American Psychiatric Association.
Tamara makes the case that so-called sex change surgeries began as an attempted cure for homosexuality. We look at how activists went from camping outside a women's music festival to lobbying the APA, what the DSM is and why it matters, and how the move from gender identity disorder to gender dysphoria erased the line between adults and children. She also explains why she rejects the term autogynephilia and what she'd call it instead.
I came into this conversation with a question I've been sitting with: is this ever going away, or is it here to stay? Tamara's historical view gave me a lot to think about, and we close on what therapists can actually do now.
Struggling to parent a child with gender identity issues? Take my free quiz to discover which archetypal themes you struggle with and how ROGD Repair can help.
Tamara Sears is a psychotherapist and counsellor in private practice for nearly 20 years. With a sharp focus on sex and relationship issues, she has worked extensively with the psychosexual issues of both men and women. She is a published writer who has been quoted in several mainstream newspaper outlets and has recently appeared on GBNews in the United Kingdom to address the censorship in the psychology, psychotherapy, and counselling professions there. Heavily critical of the Americal Psychiatric Association who she claims is largely responsible for ‘The Unfolding Scandal of Our Time’. Read her work on Substack at tamarasearsuk, follow her on X at tamarasearsuk, or find her practice at tamarasears.com.
Books mentioned in this episode:
• Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by Helen Joyce
• The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male by Janice G. Raymond
• Pornocracy by Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel
Or check out my new and improved bookshop!
ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month.
Tamara makes the case that so-called sex change surgeries began as an attempted cure for homosexuality. We look at how activists went from camping outside a women's music festival to lobbying the APA, what the DSM is and why it matters, and how the move from gender identity disorder to gender dysphoria erased the line between adults and children. She also explains why she rejects the term autogynephilia and what she'd call it instead.
I came into this conversation with a question I've been sitting with: is this ever going away, or is it here to stay? Tamara's historical view gave me a lot to think about, and we close on what therapists can actually do now.
Struggling to parent a child with gender identity issues? Take my free quiz to discover which archetypal themes you struggle with and how ROGD Repair can help.
Tamara Sears is a psychotherapist and counsellor in private practice for nearly 20 years. With a sharp focus on sex and relationship issues, she has worked extensively with the psychosexual issues of both men and women. She is a published writer who has been quoted in several mainstream newspaper outlets and has recently appeared on GBNews in the United Kingdom to address the censorship in the psychology, psychotherapy, and counselling professions there. Heavily critical of the Americal Psychiatric Association who she claims is largely responsible for ‘The Unfolding Scandal of Our Time’. Read her work on Substack at tamarasearsuk, follow her on X at tamarasearsuk, or find her practice at tamarasears.com.
Books mentioned in this episode:
• Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by Helen Joyce
• The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male by Janice G. Raymond
• Pornocracy by Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel
Or check out my new and improved bookshop!
- (00:00) - Start
- (05:35) - Is Gender Ideology Here to Stay?
- (08:53) - Magnus Hirschfeld and the Nazi Connection
- (16:21) - Sex Change Surgery as a Cure for Homosexuality
- (20:03) - Christine Jorgensen and the First "Sex Change"
- (24:08) - Janice Raymond and The Transsexual Empire
- (30:36) - Gay Men, Homophobia and Transsexualism
- (34:53) - Michfest, Camp Trans and Lobbying the APA
- (40:20) - What the DSM Is and Why It Matters
- (43:08) - Diagnosis, Insurance and the Medical Model
- (52:34) - From Gender Identity Disorder to Gender Dysphoria
- (59:50) - Why Tamara Rejects the Term Autogynephilia
- (01:10:02) - Our Libertarian Sexual Ethos
- (01:16:59) - How to Talk About Adolescent Sexuality
- (01:23:42) - Tumblr, Billionaires and WPATH
- (01:28:51) - What Therapists Can Do Now
ROGD REPAIR Course + Community gives concerned parents instant access to over 120 lessons providing the psychological insights and communication tools you need to get through to your kid. Now featuring 24/7 personalized AI support implementing the tools with RepairBot! Use code SOMETHERAPIST2026 to take 50% off your first month.
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MUSIC: Thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude & permission.
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Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.
Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.
Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.
Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.
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