California Lawmaker Faces Emotional Testimony Over Gender-Affirming Care Bill
During a tense state Senate hearing in California, Senator Scott Wiener, a prominent supporter of youth access to gender-affirming medical treatments, was confronted by powerful testimony from a young gay man who claims such interventions caused him lasting physical harm. Jonni Skinner, aged 23, delivered emotional remarks detailing how puberty blockers and hormone therapy have left him with irreversible developmental issues, including an inability to achieve orgasms.
"They Poisoned My Body": Skinner's Harrowing Account
"When I was young, I was a feminine child, and I discovered trans influencers online," Skinner testified. "They said, 'Change your body and your life gets better. Don't and it gets worse.' Or, as my doctors told my mom, I would commit suicide."
Skinner continued with devastating clarity: "The medical and mental health providers didn't bother to ask why I felt the way I did. They poisoned my body with blockers and hormones, arresting my puberty and messing with my development. The result is I'm a 23-year-old gay man who's never had an orgasm and may never experience one."
Controversial Legislation at the Heart of the Debate
Skinner was testifying against Senate Bill 934, introduced by Wiener himself. This legislation would allow individuals to sue licensed therapists for harms allegedly caused by "sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts." At first glance, Skinner's experience might suggest he would support such a measure, given his claims of being improperly pushed toward transitioning.
However, Skinner and other critics argue the bill has a different intent. The California Family Council stated the legislation would "weaponize civil liability" against counselors who suggest to children that switching genders at a young age might not be advisable. "When the government cannot constitutionally ban speech outright, it sometimes turns to more subtle forms of coercion," the organization warned.
Expanded Legal Timeframes and Constitutional Questions
The bill significantly expands the statute of limitations for filing claims, permitting lawsuits against therapists and doctors years or even decades after alleged harm occurred. Wiener defended the legislation, stating: "Conversion therapy - the made up notion that you can convert a gay or trans person into being not gay or trans - was debunked long ago, and is now condemned by every major medical association as dangerous and ineffective."
Greg Burt, Vice President of the California Family Council, countered that this amounts to viewpoint discrimination, attempting to circumvent last year's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which upheld state bans on gender-affirming care for minors. "This is a desperate and vain attempt to pretend the Supreme Court didn't say what it really did say," Burt argued.
Skinner's Detailed Medical History and Lasting Effects
In an amicus brief filed for the Supreme Court case, Skinner revealed he took estrogen from age 13 to 20 after discovering trans influencers at approximately age 12. He described how family members who previously mocked his effeminate personality "thought transitioning would be better for me than being a gay man."
Skinner's gender therapist allegedly told him he "had an inborn 'feminine essence'" and warned his mother that suicide was inevitable without transition. The prescribing doctor similarly described the treatment as "life saving."
Skinner documented severe side effects beginning within weeks of treatment: frequent fainting spells, severe muscle pain, nausea, hot flashes, extreme breast tenderness, full body rashes, blood in his urine, near-complete loss of appetite, erectile dysfunction, and anorgasmia. "My body has never fully recovered," he wrote. "My body has not grown and developed as it otherwise would have."
The Broader Implications for Therapeutic Practice
Skinner expressed profound regret about his medical journey: "I see that being gay is not anything like I was told. If I just had one counselor who told me that nothing was wrong with me for just being me, it would have changed my life positively."
He warned that SB 934 could expose therapists to costly lawsuits for advising boys with similar identity struggles to remain their birth gender and sexual orientation. "SB 934 guarantees that more people will end up like me, the walking but wounded," he told Wiener directly. "This bill will be used to silence therapists who could have helped me avoid the irreversible harms to my body and the loss of my sexual function as is the same for many others."
The debate continues as California lawmakers consider legislation that touches on fundamental questions about medical ethics, therapeutic practice, and the rights of young people exploring gender identity.
