The Daily Caller’s Chrissy Clark learned firsthand how hard it is to discuss transgender issues in America.
Clark’s debut feature, “Damaged,” lets young adults who went through gender reassignment procedures share why they regretted the decision.
The film came out earlier in the year, but a recent screening at the University of Utah got shut down by an activist mob. College campuses similarly shut down an April talk by former collegiate athlete Riley Gaines on a trans-related issue. The OutKick personality speaks out against trans women competing against biological women in sports.
Gaines hid behind a locked door for three hours while activists raged outside.
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines spoke out about the importance of protecting women's sports; she was subsequently barricaded in a room and physically assaulted by protesters.https://t.co/9zqphmb9yQ
— Evie Magazine (@Evie_Magazine) April 10, 2023
Hollywood in Toto reached out to Clark to learn more about the film, her thoughts on the medical community and why “Damaged” doesn’t attack the trans community.
HiT: Can you share your filmmaking background or what prepared you to tackle a subject as complicated as what’s seen in “Damaged?”
Clark: “Damaged” was my first documentary ever, but I was tapped by company leadership to tackle this new venture after writing about the subject for months. In 2020, I became an education reporter and my research into public school curriculum evolved into a knowledge of the transgender social contagion that’s clearly plaguing American schools.
HiT: Was it challenging to land the subjects for your film? What did you do to gain their trust and let them know you’d share their story without filters?
Clark: We primarily spoke with detransitioners and they were more than eager to share their stories as traditional media outlets refuse to tell them. The difficult part was finding doctors who perform these surgeries or activists who believe in gender transition to sit down with us and have a discussion or interview.
Most of the doctors claim they’re subject matter experts about child gender dysphoria, yet they can’t stand up to the scrutiny.
In “Damaged,” one doctor was brave enough to sit down with us and give us an interview, but he forced us to turn off the cameras periodically throughout the interview when he didn’t want to give answers to the camera.
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HiT: How do some doctors mislead patients in this arena? Where can parents turn to for the best information?
Clark: The medical profession claims that taking puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones are “reversible” when there’s limited data to back these claims up. Nearly all the research — or should I call it propaganda? — in America on the subject of transgender medical health is paid for by the pharmaceutical companies who profit from the gender dysphoria market.
These patients who believe they’re getting a cure-all for a problem are actually dedicating themselves to becoming life-long medical patients without adequate consent.
I highly encourage parents to watch films like “Damaged,” our other documentary on the subject “Groomed,” and read well-informed newsletters like the PITT substack.
HiT: Tackling this subject in any form invites more than scrutiny. You could endanger yourself by sharing these views on the volatile topic. How did you process that reality?
Clark: God gives each of us gifts when we’re born and one of mine is simply not caring about the outcome when I know the cause is just. I’m undeterred by threats about this subject because I feel like I’m fighting for the sanity of my future child.
Not just for my future child and countless other children to live in a world free from unjust medical care, but in a world where they can say “a man can’t be a woman” and that’s taken as a fact again.
HiT: Your film was recently canceled at the University of Utah … what did you take away from this experience and has it been able to be screened successfully at other colleges?
Clark: I’ve offered to go to the University of Utah and ensure not only that the film gets screened, but debate any activist who sits through the film. If students want to engage in a debate about the topic, I’m happy to indulge them, but they need to watch what they’re protesting first.
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: TPUSA students were violently interrupted by protesters while screening “Damaged," a @DailyCaller documentary series on adults who underwent sex changes as children.
The event was eventually shut down, and cops escorted students safely to their vehicles.… pic.twitter.com/0gHCt3OT1W
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) November 4, 2023
HiT: Why do you think so many people refuse to hear sober critiques tied to transitioning teens and pre-teens?
Clark: I genuinely believe that the majority of people who refuse to hear a sober critique believe that early childhood gender transition is the best way to allow legitimate transgender people to live a life “passing” better than if they transitioned later in life.
The misguidance is the belief that critiques are rooted in “transphobia.” A vast majority of young women who identify as transgender in their youth outgrow their identities because of a concept called “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” (ROGD).
Activists want to deny that ROGD is a problem because they believe ROGD believers are “transphobic,” when in actuality we have no opposition to transgender people existing — we’re merely looking for a way to allow transgender people to live peacefully while not providing overzealous medical treatment to confused young women.
HiT: Have you faced any other unusual challenges in getting your film out to the public?
Clark: No, we were truly blessed with the outpouring of support. “Damaged” was our most successful documentary
HiT: Some people may refuse to even consider watching “Damaged,” fearing it clashes with their views on the trans community. What would you say to them?
Clark: The documentary doesn’t take a side on transgenderism. It merely tells the story of young people who transitioned themselves and went on to regret their decisions. That’s the whole film. You can support transgender people while also believing that minors shouldn’t have access to life-altering drugs.
HiT: You entered the project with certain assumptions/beliefs … how did you emerge from it? What changed in your thinking in regards to the topic in question?
Clark: The project really solidified my beliefs. I believed that transitioning minors was far more dangerous than medical professionals made it out to be, but seeing the damage that was permanently done to these young people solidified my predisposition.
HiT: Do you have any future documentary projects in the works? If so, what can you share about them?
Clark: The Daily Caller just released its newest documentary “Lawless” about the fallout of the “defund the police” movement.
The post ‘Damaged’ Doc Gives Detransitioners a Voice appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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