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“TullipR” / Ritchie Herron and transgender people

Ritchie Herron is a British ex-transgender activist. Herron gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare. Herron uses the handle “TullipR” online and frequently appears in conservative or fascist media.

Background

Richard “Ritchie” Herron was born on May 25, 1987. Herron is a child of divorce who claims to have been bullied at school.

After spending time on UK-based The Angels forum, Herron purchased hormones as an adult from a private pharmacy. At age 25, Herron began transition and began using the name Abby. In 2018, at age 30, Herron got vaginoplasty. Five years later, at age 35, Herron made additional gender changes, largely due to dissatisfaction with vaginoplasty results.

Herron is a Newcastle-based civil servant.

In June 2022 Herron claimed lawyers in Liverpool were preparing a legal case against Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust.

Ex-transgender activism

Similar to the ex-gay activists of the 20th century, people like Herron get money and attention by claiming to be no longer trans.

Herron is heavily invested in metaphors of disease and impairment, identifying as disabled and mentally ill. This is a kind of attention-seeking behavior. Rather than take personal responsibility for life decisions made as a 30-year-old adult, Herron chooses to blame those who tried to help.

Herron’s alleged disorders, diseases, “comorbidities,” and maladies include:

  • “depression, OCD and latent homosexuality”
  • autism
  • “hated myself because I am gay”
  • “an ear infection that led to deafness”
  • a series of breakdowns
  • substance misuse issues
  • “no skill or co-ordination”

Here is how Herron describes the surgical results and complications:

  • “nearly bled to death”
  • “It literally looked like an animal had got on my crotch and it just went to town on it”
  • “like my arsecrack has been extended all the way to the front”
  • “under constant supervision for ongoing complications related to the deeply invasive surgery”
  • feel mostly nothing in “my flesh cavity” aside from “occasional stabs of pain”
  • crotch is numb, ‘shell-shocked’
  • scars “still sometimes weep” and “occasionally become inflamed and cause crippling pain”
  • “my body aches”
  • “lifelong pain”

Herron claims these long-term problems:

  • “killed my confidence”
  • cannot walk long distances
  • cannot ride a bike
  • infertile
  • incontinent
  • can’t use the toilet properly
  • “takes ten minutes to empty my bladder”
  • sex drive “is long gone”
  • “reliant on synthetic hormones”
  • “lifelong medical patient”

Herron has discussed ex-trans activism in conservative or fascist outlets that include National Review, Rebel News, Daily Mail, Daily Record, Spiked, The Lion, World News Group, The Times, The Critic, The Washington Examiner. The Telegraph, The Christian Institute, Christian Post, and Christian Broadcasting Network.

Herron also frequently appears on channels featuring anti-trans content:

Herron also does collaborations with other ex-trans activists and conservative trans people:

References

Schneider, Jillian (February 1, 2023). ‘It’s disgusting, I’m disgusting’: Male detransitioner explains why no one – not even adults – should have cross-sex surgery. The Lion https://readlion.com/its-disgusting-im-disgusting-male-detransitioner-explains-why-no-one-not-even-adults-should-have-cross-sex-surgery/

Herron, Ritchie (September 13, 2022). A Detransitioner’s Perspective: Awakening from the Dream of Gender Utopia. Human Events https://humanevents.com/2022/09/13/a-detransitioners-perspective-awakening-from-the-dream-of-gender-utopia

Griffiths, Sian (June 4, 2023). ‘NHS trans surgery damaged my body for ever — it’s not safe.’ The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nhs-trans-surgery-damaged-my-body-for-ever-its-not-safe-jt2hhbrgk

Dixon, Hayley (October 22, 2022). I’ve been betrayed by medics who left me in pain because I didn’t want to be gay, says detransitioner. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/22/betrayed-medics-who-left-pain-didnt-want-gay-says-detransitioner/

Staff report (October 22, 2022). Man who had sex change operation paid for by NHS says medics ‘betrayed’ him and left him in lifelong pain because he did not want to be gay. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11343887/Man-sex-change-operation-paid-NHS-says-medics-betrayed-him.html

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Substack (substack.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Note: an earlier version had a typo in Herron’s birth year.