Jennifer Lahl
This content was last updated June 24, 2024, 9:50 p.m. UTC
Jennifer Lahl is an activist and documentarian based in Pleasant Hill, California. For much of her filmmaking career, Lahl has focused on the subject of commercial surrogacy, while more recent works have dipped into the opposition of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender minors and adults alike. Same-sex couples seeking a surrogate have been a common target for Lahl’s complaints about surrogacy, which are often framed through the lens of radical feminism.
Was speaking w a detrans man who observed all the wealthy Hollywood women who have swapped their designer bags and shoes for trans kids. There’s something to that.
Education and Career
Lahl earned her Bachelor of Sciences degree in Nursing and Public Health Certification from California State University at Fullerton, California, followed by her Master of Arts degree in Bioethics from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. Following her schooling, Lahl worked as a pediatric critical care nurse for 15 years with an additional 10 years as a hospital administrator and nursing manager.
Beyond her nursing work, Lahl has produced and directed a number of documentaries starting in 2009, most of which revolve around the surrogacy industry. Her experience in anti-surrogacy filmmaking led to the publication of an anti-surrogacy book, titled Broken Bonds: Surrogate Mothers Speak Out.
The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network
Lahl founded the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (CBC) in 2000, with the group’s earliest online activity occurring in 2003. The CBC was primarily founded to oppose surrogate pregnancies and the legal availability of these services, but the organization also opposes sperm donation, transhumanism, and human cloning, among other “human life” issues.
Over time, the group’s aims have shifted to include opposition to gender-affirming care for transgender people. The group’s news page regularly hosts anti-trans opinion pieces and Venus Rising, the CBC podcast, has hosted a number of anti-trans activists.
Anti-Trans Affiliations and Documentaries
Lahl has produced or directed several anti-trans documentaries, including 2021’s Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender?, and 2022’s The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters. The documentaries push unsubstantiated theories related to transgender people, including the social contagion theory. Trans Mission includes interviews with anti-trans activists Quentin Van Meter, André Van Mol, and Meghan Murphy, among others.
Lahl clarified her anti-trans viewpoints in 2021, especially in relation to her work with the CBC, which had previously only focused on opposing surrogacy. Her explanation hinges on the idea that “big pharma” seeks to make lifelong patients out of transgender minors, and misinformation about the risks of infertility with gender affirming care, which she falsely claims is permanently sterilizing for all youth who access it.
In 2022, Lahl posted an opinion piece in support of the Nazi-linked anti-trans activist Kellie Jay Keen-Minshull (also known as Posie Parker) following a scheduled appearance in New York that was canceled due to the presence of protestors. In the article, Lahl refers to transgender women as “men pretending to be women,” while complimenting Keen-Minshull for stating “obvious facts” and admires her “bravery and no nonsense talk.”
Lahl’s anti-trans work has been highlighted by various right-wing news outlets, including The Daily Signal, the Christian Post, and Fox News.