Stephanie Winn
This content was last updated Feb. 26, 2024, 1:51 p.m. UTC
Stephanie Winn is a therapist and anti-trans activist in Portland, Oregon. Winn describes her approach to therapy as being limited to adults and parents, but not children, due to bans on conversion therapy in the state. Conversion therapy has been found to greatly increases the risk of suicide and self-harm for LGBTQ+ people.
Winn’s approach seeks to treat Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD), which is believed by proponents to be a condition causing a false-belief that a cis person is trans due to contact with trans people. Experts in the field agree there is no evidence such a condition exists.
All I am saying is that therapists should not have any part in encouraging any human being to cut off any of their body parts or otherwise damage any of their normal bodily functions.
Education and Experience
According to her LinkedIn, Winn earned her Bachelor of the Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2009 and went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology in 2013 at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
After graduating, Winn spent around three years working as a children’s counselor in various settings, but has since settled on family and marriage counseling.
Therapy Associations and Support Groups
Winn is listed in the directory for the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA), a collection of anti-trans therapists who oppose the model of gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Her listing describes her approach as “Therapy without ideology for concerned parents + victims of gender medicine in Oregon.” GETA boasts 40 members. The 67,000 member American Academy of Pediatrics highly recommends against the therapy, which they describe as seeking to delay transition.
Winn’s clinic offers an online support group for “parents of youth with rapid-onset gender dysphoria who have concerns about how gender ideology and medicalization are affecting their children.”
News and Documentary Appearances
Winn contributed to the 2023 anti-trans documentary No Way Back, a film made under a pseudonym by the parent of a transgender child who is not supportive of their child’s gender identity. The film revolves around a very small handful of individuals who have struggled with their gender identity and perpetuates the harmful narrative that transgender people will come to regret their gender-affirming care. Contributors to the film include Sasha Ayad, Stella O’Malley, Lisa Selin Davis among others.
In an article written by the right-wing news outlet The Daily Caller, Winn balked against restrictions on conversion therapy in Oregon. Winn has been interviewed by Fox News, stating “we're going to see a transition regret crisis, and unfortunately, we are going to have to worry about some of the most frightening mental health outcomes as part of that.” One of the most consistent findings in medical research on transgender people has been that surgical regret is around 1 percent. There has been no evidence of increasing regret in recent years.
Oregon House Bill 2002
Winn opposed Oregon’s House Bill 2458, a bill introduced with the intention of banning the practice of conversion therapy on anyone under the age of 18. Her testimony urged the House to listen to the stories of those who have detransitioned. Detransition seems to be rare, and most people who detransition do not oppose trans people accessing medical treatment.
Winn was a vocal opponent of Oregon’s House Bill 2002, a piece of legislation that expands Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, among other services. Winn’s testimony against the gender-affirming care portions of the bill spuriously claims there is “no consensus” that affirming care is “safe, effective, or medically necessary,” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.