“I can't go back completely anyway, neither physically nor as a human being,” says Switzerland's best-known trans person after his “second coming out”.
SWI swissinfo.ch / Marc Leutenegger
When Chris Brönimann became Nadia, all eyes were on her in Switzerland. Today, the country's most famous trans person openly regrets his gender reassignment. Without wanting to mend her ways, she instead delivers a post-woke plea.
This content was published on
December 23, 2024 – 11:10
The confirmation text message for our appointment bears the signature of “Chris/Nadia”. It's the end of summer, the air is clear on Lake Zurich, near Lachen. At the café located on the promenade of this small town, where Chris/Nadia works, calm reigns. Just like in the life of the one who was once the best-known trans woman in the country, who finds a little peace. For now at least.
Only a few days have passed since all the newspapers talked about his renunciation of his gender transition. And that his Instagram messaging was filled with messages of hatred and comfort.
Transidentity is polarizing, in Switzerland as in many Western societies. We are talking about gender dysphoria, that is to say people who do not identify with their birth sex.
A diagnosis on the rise, particularly among young people. In many European and Anglo-Saxon countries, the number of cases has increased more than tenfoldExternal link since the start of the millennium. This feeling of not being in the right body mainly affects young women.
Although societies are more open, hormonal therapies and surgical procedures remain controversial. Once-progressive countries like Sweden, Norway and Britain have banned the prescription of puberty blockers to adolescents or limited their dispensation to school executives.
Many substantive issues relating to gender transition are not sufficiently clarified. The controversy concerns sovereignty of interpretation, including among health personnel. At the same time, the transgender issue is being politically exploited, as was the case during the last presidential campaign in the United States.
Gender labels
At the Lachen café, this political dimension is not immediately put on the table. The discussion first focuses on Chris/Nadia's personal situation and the reasons for her “coming out” which, once again, brings her into contact with a taboo in the public arena.
For three years, Chris Brönimann has increasingly distanced himself from Nadia. Over time, its image has transformed into an obligation, a daily spectacle.
“The pressure on trans people to fully fulfill their roles as men or women is enormous,” explains Chris/Nadia Brönimann. We are under constant tension, the sensors are working at full speed: is it enough, am I feminine enough?
“That’s what a lot of people didn’t understand. Coming out doesn’t mean I’m just going to go back to being a Christian.”
Nadia Brönimann
Constraints, shame, a self-image invariably dominated by gender lurk everywhere. Chris/Nadia Brönimann wanted to get out of this confinement.
“That’s what a lot of people didn’t understand. Coming out doesn't mean I'm just going to go back to being a Christian. Anyway, I can't go back completely, neither physically nor as a human being. Both Christian and Nadia are part of me. Since coming out, I have been able to rediscover my identity.”
What does not happen without fear and doubts: “Am I becoming a monster?”
Through emails and messages, many asked him: “So, from now on, are you non-binary?” This is precisely the problem at the moment, believes Chris/Nadia Brönimann.
“We open up the whole field of possibilities, but at the same time, we categorize everything. I would just like for once not to have a label. I would like to discover where my soul is, my inner self, as a human being and not as a man, woman or non-binary person.
A critique of identity politics shines through in his remarks. And this is just the beginning.
«Woke» et «anti-woke»
A few weeks after our meeting, Chris/Nadia Brönimann is in Geneva before the human rights commission of the Grand Council, which wishes to know more on the subject of sex change. Then in Lausanne, in front of the media, with a father who opposes the transition of his minor daughter.
For several years, Chris/Nadia Brönimann has defended an openly conservative line when it comes to young people: the former icon of the Swiss trans scene is opposed to surgical interventions in those under 18, as well as puberty blockers and to hormonal treatments.
“Sexual reassignment is becoming a woke lifestyle.”
Nadia Brönimann
A position that Chris/Nadia Brönimann has already explained toSunday viewExternal link before his visit to Lausanne, criticizing in passing the liberal practice observed in Switzerland.
A Switzerland which, in its view, trusts too much in the self-diagnosis of young people and allows hasty medical treatments – a phenomenon which is reinforced by TikTok or Instagram. “Sexual reassignment is becoming a woke lifestyle,” according to Chris/Nadia Brönimann.
Behind these words lies a widespread theory – especially in conservative circles – but which remains contested: that of a social contagion, designated by the acronym ROGD, for “rapid onset gender dysphoria».
Clearly, vulnerable young people believe they are the wrong sex because they are too often confronted with this idea on social networks.
A few days later, the same Sunday view will give the floorExternal link to a doctor close to the Transgender Network Switzerland (TGNS), who refutes the criticism of Chris/Nadia Brönimann. His message: in Switzerland, each case is carefully examined.
This is also the official position of the association which represents the interests of trans people in Switzerland. “The in-depth debate on the reasons for the increase in the number of sexual reassignment operations or therapeutic measures is often lacking, or is eclipsed by simplistic and populist slogans denouncing 'woke madness',” lamented TGNS in a press release from press.
If, today, more trans people “receive appropriate treatment earlier”, this can be explained by easier access to therapies and increased awareness among health personnel.
The association cites a studyExternal link published in August in theAmerican Journal of Surgery. We learn that the “Regret-Rate”, or people who regret their transition, is less than 1%. This figure, already cited in previous publications, does not everyone agrees with.
Knowledge gap
The Transgender Network leaves many questions related to Chris/Nadia Brönimann's coming out unanswered, officially due to the “large number of media inquiries.” But the country's most famous trans person and the transgender network are not on speaking terms.
That said, criticism of transaffirmative therapeutic practice, which puts patients' wishes at the center, comes not only from former trans people but also from medical circles. medical.
Last springExternal linkthe Swiss Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy has requested a review of the new guideline on the treatment of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria.
The association thus aligns itself with a declaration from the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP). This organization criticizes the weakness of the scientific evidence of the Dutch protocol, which is the basis of the practice of gender transition. It also cites indications that puberty blockers and hormones cause health harm.
Gaps in research on the benefits and risks of transition were notably highlighted in 2020 by the NICE reportExternal linkcommissioned by the UK Department of Health. The study aimed to clarify the clinical benefits of puberty blockers by analyzing existing studies. Out of 525 works, only nine were qualified for evaluation.
A breakup without a breakup
Cases such as that of Chris/Nadia Brönimann are readily used by critics to demonstrate the dangers of transaffirmative treatments.
Sometimes without nuance: the American short film “Detrans”External linkfor example, shows young adults talking about their mistake and their redemption in transition, without counter-arguments. Its sponsors are conservative Christian circles.
Chris/Nadia Brönimann does not approve of it. “I am obviously not opposed to all transitions. On the contrary, I am delighted for each trans person who has successfully transitioned and has thus been able to find happiness. What is important to me is to clarify the cases, to establish a differential diagnosis, that is to say to examine other possible causes of psychological suffering and to take maximum precautions in the event of irreversible interventions. For me, an open society is one in which trans people have a secure, equal place, but which allows for critical discussion.”
Chaos or rainbow
When she became Nadia, a little before the year 2000, Chris/Nadia Brönimann was in her late twenties. Director Alain Godet followed his metamorphosis for eight years and produced a documentary.External link for German-speaking Swiss television, which exposes a transformation rather than a liberation.
>> The documentary (in German):
At the end of the film, this question: “Looking back, would you make this choice again?” Looking thoughtful, Chris/Nadia Brönimann retorts: “Imagine the chaos if I said no. I would clearly be in a bind.”
The person sitting on the shore of Lake Zurich gives a completely different impression today, much more serene.
During our contacts for this article, we exchanged numerous emails. Chris/Nadia Brönimann will adorn them with a rainbow and this word: “Es bunts Grüessli zu Dir, Chris/Nadia” (A colorful greeting to you, Chris/Nadia).
Text proofread and verified by Balz Rigendinger, translated from German by Pierre-François Besson/ptur
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