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Linda Kramer / “Donna M.” vs. transgender people

Linda Kramer is an American writer and unaccepting parent of a gender diverse adult child.

Kramer publishes anti-trans propaganda under the pen name “Donna M.”

Background

Linda Marie Wolfgram was born in May of 1972 and married Peter Kramer (born 1971) at age 22. They have four children: Benjamin (born ~2001), Jonah (born ~2003), Emma Grace (born ~2004), and Anna (born ~2006).

Kramer created the Travels with Children blog, posting extensively about family trips in the area.

Anti-trans activism

“Mommy bloggers” are highly susceptible to anti-transgender extremism. When one of Kramer’s children came out as gender diverse, Kramer decided to vent on Medium with a cruel “open letter” to this child, but really written for the approval of other unsupportive and anti-trans parents.

The piece was taken down by Medium as a violation of policies on anti-trans content. The piece gained some notoriety among transphobes after being taken down. It was later republished by James Lindsay on New Discourses.

The piece, titled “You’re Not Trans. You’re Just Weird,” repeated many anti-trans talking points from the “parental rights” faction of anti-trans extremists:

You’re right. There is something different about you.

But you’re not trans, you’re just weird.

So we’re right here for you. We’ll always be here for you. But those online folks who urge you to “crack your trans egg” and rush to hormones and surgeries don’t know you at all. They don’t know that gifted kids and ADHD kids and Autism kids and Asperger’s kids are slower to develop emotionally and sexually. They don’t know that sexuality takes time and experience to figure out, and that the majority of trans teens seeking medical treatment haven’t even masturbated or kissed someone yet. They don’t know that 80% of trans children end up becoming comfortable with their birth sex if you just give them time. They don’t know that there are increasing numbers of desisting and de-transitioning people in their twenties. They don’t realize that hormones permanently stunt your growth, decrease your IQ, and can cause sterility. They don’t know that these hormones are prescribed off-label and there’s no research on the long-term outcomes. They don’t even know that the most recent research shows that short-term outcomes are clearly worse.

They don’t realize that you’re weird. But I do. You’re weird, kiddo.

Kramer believes peer pressure and social contagion led their child to identify as trans:

Forty-eight hours after my son announced to us that he thought he might be trans, this teen girl sent me a text congratulating me on having a trans son, saying I must be so proud, and offering to help educate me if I had any questions. You might be surprised to hear that I did not take a teenage girl up on her offer of advice on the psychosocial and sexual development of my son.

Her gall continued. It was clear she had found a new venue for her deep desire to venge justice upon the world. Clearly, this was a wounded and neglected trans boy whose parents just didn’t understand him. Despite her busy schedule of therapy to deal with her anorexia, cutting, and suicide attempt, she found time to provide him clothing and test out nail polish on him.

Over the next few months, we scrambled to find a good therapist, add in an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medicine, and try to expand our son’s world. By January, he was pulling out of his depression, desisting from his trans identity, engaged and happy, and doing well in school.

According to what appears to be a final post in 2022, “Donna M. has unsubscribed from Twitter in order to protect her privacy and move on. Parents of gender-questioning teens looking for support should visit PITT”.

In the course of attacking 300,000 American children, Kramer publicly outed their own child, apparently feeling the best way to “protect their privacy” was to divulge deeply personal family information in order to promote anti-transgender propaganda.

References

Pfitzinger, Julie (May 28, 2011). It’s time for a family adventure. Minneapolis Star Tribune https://www.startribune.com/it-s-time-for-a-family-adventure/122695629/

“Donna M.” (March 5, 2021). You’re Not Trans. You’re Just Weird. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/03/youre-not-trans-youre-just-weird/

“Donna M.” (April 7, 2021). Believe Moms: There’s Something Else Going on With Trans Teens. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/04/believe-moms-theres-something-else-going-on-with-trans-teens/

“Donna M.” (April 30, 2021). Dear Teen Girls: Leave the Vulnerable Kids Alone. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/04/dear-teen-girls-leave-vulnerable-kids-alone/

“Donna M.” (June 2, 2021). I Act; Therefor [sic] I Am. Dear Trans Kids: Stop Feeling and Start Thinking. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/06/dear-trans-kids-stop-feeling-start-thinking/

“Donna M.” (September 18, 2021). Yes, Your Kid’s Trans Thing is a Phase. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/09/yes-your-kids-trans-thing-phase/

“Donna M.” (September 22, 2021). A Call for a Defense of Parenting Act. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2021/09/call-for-defense-of-parenting-act/

“Donna M.” (July 21, 2022). Nevertheless, He Desisted. New Discourses https://newdiscourses.com/2022/07/nevertheless-he-desisted/

Resources

Travels with Children (minnemom.com) [archive]

WordPress (wordpress.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Flickr (flickr.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Medium (medium.com)

New Discourses (newdiscourses.com)