Anderson Cooper

Anderson Live featured an exclusive interview with someone who is seen within the Trans Community as being not only dangerous, but sensationalist and likely a fraud. Anderson Cooper interviewed a person who claims that the anti-baldness drug Propecia made them transgender. The segment is already being condemned by numerous groups including the National Center for Transgender Equality.

NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling stated that “All of us here at the National Center for Transgender Equality are surprised, saddened and disappointed that a respected show like Anderson Live would give credence to this type of sensationalism and misinformation. This segment is just another case of sensationalizing an already marginalized population plain and simple.”

The segment is described on the show’s site as “Mandi, who was born male, speaks out for the first time, claiming that a hair loss treatment caused him to become transgender. Mandi is joined by her ex-wife, Michelle, who opens up about how Mandi’s identity transformation has affected their son.”

Keisling indicated her disappointment with Cooper saying that “In the past, Anderson Cooper and his team have earned a great deal of respect from trans people for their coverage of our issues. Tomorrow, they’ll throw all of that away. Worst of all, they seem set on misinforming the public about the causality of trans identity.”

The NCTE continued to say:

Anderson Cooper’s other show, AC360 on CNN, airs a segment called “Keeping Them Honest,” in which he addresses hypocrisy among public figures and elected officials on, among other things, critical lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. NCTE urges transgender advocates and allies to keep Anderson Cooper honest about how this segment does real harm to real trans people.

“Anderson Cooper knows better than this. Anderson’s team is better than this,” said Keisling.

Trans people typically know that there is something wrong with the connections between their brain’s gender structures and the physical body that they inhabit. This conflict is heightened when they hit puberty. Transsexuality and transgenderism are not linked to any drugs and do not appear to have any spontaneous causes.

Many people have questioned the authenticity of “Mandi” and claim that this person is either a fraud or someone who is using this wild claim to either gain fame or get around the shocked reactions from their family.