Nightly Scroll with Hayley — Episode 186

“Exposing Transgenderism” w/ Amy Sousa

Host: Hayley Caronia
Guest: Amy Sousa (Mental Health Professional)
Date: November 26, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Hayley Caronia welcomes mental health professional Amy Sousa for a critical conversation on transgender ideology, gender dysphoria, and the cultural, medical, and psychological factors influencing the contemporary trans movement. The discussion is rooted in a conservative and skeptical approach, interrogating affirming models in mental health, connections with pharmaceutical industries, comorbidities among trans-identifying individuals, and the global spread and impact of trans activism on children, women’s spaces, and society at large. Amy Sousa brings both clinical and personal insights, drawing parallels to other body-related disorders and exploring the philosophical, legal, and safeguarding implications of the current “affirmation-only” approach to transgender care.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Impossibility of ‘Feeling Like a Woman’

• [01:28] Amy Souza explains: “Men cannot feel the physical sensations of existing in a female body… They have no access to feeling the physical sensations of what it means to be a woman. So they can't feel physically feel like women. So that is out.”

Affirmation versus Treatment: The Unique Case of Transgenderism

• [03:32 - 06:23]
  • Gender dysphoria is now “affirmed, not treated” unlike other body dysmorphic conditions (e.g., anorexia, body integrity identity disorder).
  • The affirmation model in the case of transgenderism is called “new,” largely driven by the pharmaceutical industry and an emerging market for drugs/surgery.
  • The DSM diagnosis of gender dysphoria is relatively recent: “This has transformed and transformed… It's about selling drugs, puberty blockers, wrong-sex hormones and surgeries and creating the notion of the quote, unquote, trans child.”
  • “No one is born wrong. We are our bodies, we're just embodied.” [05:52]

The Pharmaceutical Pipeline & Medical Marketplace

• [07:05 - 10:45]
  • Medicalization is accessible and easy—sometimes done via telehealth and even AI (e.g., Dr. Helen Weberly selling gender prescriptions online).
  • Planned Parenthood is now a top provider of gender medicine.
  • The ‘trans child’ is often processing comorbidities (sexual trauma, autism spectrum disorders, internalized homophobia).
  • “You can't solve an emotional mental crisis with a superficial body change. Like a nose job is not going to make you have self esteem.” [09:58]

Body Dysmorphia, Surgery, and False Solutions

• [10:45 - 15:26]
  • Changing the body (via plastic surgery or medical transition) is often about controlling perception—a response to self-objectification and a desire for control.
  • Amy shares her personal experience as a breast cancer survivor who prioritized sensation over surgical aesthetics: “I'm interacting with my environment. I am not…the one who's looking down at my breasts. …It's a self-objectification. And it's also…a kind of control over how others perceive me.” [12:38]
  • Cites suicide statistics post breast augmentation, reinforcing that cosmetic changes do not address underlying emotional/mental pain.

Sex Rejection, Dysphoria, and the Need for Control

• Both transition and cosmetic surgeries are ways to seek control over self and others.
• Trans ideology teaches “perceptual control”—others must participate in pronouns and validation rituals.
• “You need this, this hyper-perceptual control…” [14:12]

Internalized Homophobia, Attraction, and Sexually-Driven Transitions

• [15:30 - 20:18]
  • Some men transition due to internalized homophobia, to align their orientation as ‘straight’ when attracted to men.
  • The term ‘trans umbrella’ hides very disparate realities: sexual trauma in girls, internalized homophobia in gay youth, or paraphilic motivations in men.

Quote:
“The man who has internalized homophobia and is choosing a path of femaleness… is very different from a gay man who is running from his own internalized homophobia. …But the trans umbrella makes appear…as if these two are the same.” — Amy Souza [18:40]

The Role of Pornography and Fetishization

• [24:01 - 27:55]
  • Ties between the trans explosion and the porn industry: “Top surgery, bottom surgery—these are pornified terms.”
  • Commercial sex and prostitution histories are wrongly cited as evidence of trans existence (“Thailand's ladyboy”).
  • “This is just as taboo and paraphilic as, you know, serial killing… This is a disease of the mind.” — Amy Souza [26:52]
  • Trans identity perpetuated by sexologists with vested interests.

The Global Push and Legal Implications

• [28:04 - 30:49]
  • The movement is not just U.S.-centric; it’s being pushed globally (UN Sustainability Goals, international NGOs).
  • Women fighting trans-identification worldwide, e.g., Australia’s “Giggle” app case.
  • Legal definitions of gender identity are rewriting the obligations for organizations and companies.

Cultural Manipulation and Safeguarding Failure

• [30:49 - 36:39]
  • “I am what I say I am” campaigns create a disconnect from safeguarding instincts, especially endangering girls and women.
  • The Little Red Riding Hood metaphor: women see the predator, but are gaslit into ignoring instincts.
  • “Women and girls are not responsible to bear the burden for men who, for whatever diverse set of reasons, are dissociating from their own sex.” — Amy Souza [33:00]

Predatory Dynamics, Child Safeguarding, and Pedophilic Concerns

• [34:06 - 37:14]
  • Amy references Gavin de Becker’s The Gift of Fear, emphasizing intuition as vital to child protection.
  • Adults who force children to deny their instinctual recognition of sex/gender undermine critical safeguarding.

Quote:
“Anything that introduces a dissociation from one’s body… is going to be a safeguarding failure and leaves a child vulnerable to future predation.” — Amy Souza [36:33]

Influencers, Grooming, and the Empathy Trap

• [37:14 - 43:30]
  • Popular trans influencers (Dylan Mulvaney, Lily Tino) are seen as normalizing boundary violations and grooming.
  • “If it is as Amnesty International says, I am who I say I am, he [Lili Tino] is it. ...I think Dylan Mulvaney believes it. I don’t think that Lily Tino even believes that.” [39:22]
  • Describes “empathy trap”—women are conditioned to display empathy and are manipulated by ideological and marketing narratives.

Quote:
“The empath often gets in the way of the sociopath because empaths care…But there’s an empathy trap that’s happening…” — Amy Souza [41:05]

Transgenderism and Violence – The ‘Petri Dish’ Effect

• [43:30 - 51:00]
  • Examines the connection between transitioning, rage, and school shootings.
  • Points to emotional dysregulation from hormonal treatments as a possible factor in increased agitation/aggression.
  • “The ideology itself creates a really good petri dish for these kind of explosive behaviors.” — Amy Souza [44:18]
  • Recalls personal childhood anecdote as a contrast to the “infantilized” emotional state seen among some trans adults.

Incel Culture, Online Influence, and Sexual Entitlement

• [52:17 - 54:51]
  • Describes “transmaxxing” as incel men seeking sexual validation via feminization, rooted in porn and entitlement.
  • “It is aggressive. You know, it is aggressive. It is dominant. It is controlling—it’s male behavior…their portrayal of what they think is feminine is male behavior.” — Amy Souza [54:27]

Can Transgenderism Be Treated?

• [55:07 - 57:35]
  • Frames transgender identification as an addiction, not an immutable mental state—parallels to anorexia and alcoholism.
  • “It is an addiction, like alcoholism. …It’s an obsessive thought issue. It’s a control issue.”

Finding Non-Affirming Therapy

• [59:16 - 60:47]
  • Law and policy in some states mandate affirmation—may be necessary to seek help out of state or outside of licensure.
  • Notes some therapists are “in a bind”—licensure may force complicity in affirmation-only care.

The Power of Watchful Waiting for Children

• [60:47 - 65:20]
  • “Watchful waiting is absolutely a cure…Puberty, ironically, is the cure.” — Amy Sousa [61:36]
  • Gender dysphoria diagnosis is founded largely on sexist stereotypes.
  • “If a boy wants to wear a dress, it does not make him less of a boy…maybe he just likes princesses because they’re cool characters…” [64:06]

Jeffree Star on LGB and the ‘T’

• [65:55 - 68:02]
  • Jeffree Star’s viral commentary: “LG(B) is a sexuality—not your identity…nowadays we have grown men with beards wearing dresses going into the women’s restroom…this new age of weirdos and predators trying to pretend they’re trans and harm women and children, that’s my issue.”

Effective Parenting and Child Safeguarding

• [70:06 - 73:56]
  • Hayley plays a video of a mother responding calmly and affirmatively to her daughter’s gender confusion—Amy praises the response as “Child Safeguarding 101.”
  • "It is very important for safeguarding that kids have accurate language to talk about their body and that they are grounded in the reality of their physical circumstances." — Amy Souza [72:30]

Memorable Quotes with Timestamps

• Amy Souza [01:28]:
  “Men cannot feel the physical sensations of existing in a female body…So they can't physically feel like women.”

• Amy Souza [06:03]:
  “No one is born wrong. We are our bodies, we’re just embodied.”

• Amy Souza [09:58]:
  “You can’t solve an emotional mental crisis with a superficial body change. Like, a nose job is not going to make you have self-esteem.”

• Amy Souza [26:52]:
  “This is just as taboo and paraphilic as, you know, serial killing…this is a disease of the mind.”

• Amy Souza [33:00]:
  “Women and girls are not responsible to bear the burden for men who, for whatever diverse set of reasons, are dissociating from their own sex.”

• Amy Souza [36:33]:
  “Anything that introduces a dissociation from one’s body…is going to be a safeguarding failure and leaves a child vulnerable to future predation.”

• Amy Souza [41:05]:
  “The empath often gets in the way of the sociopath because empaths care…But there’s an empathy trap that’s happening…”

• Amy Souza [44:18]:
  “The ideology itself creates a really good petri dish for these kind of explosive behaviors.”

• Amy Souza [54:27]:
  “It is aggressive. …their portrayal of what they think is feminine is male behavior. It's peacocking. It's explosive, it's dominant, it's controlling, it's force.”

• Amy Souza [55:07]:
  “It is an addiction, like alcoholism. …It’s an obsessive thought issue. It’s a control issue. And it is an addiction, like an emotional high.”

• Amy Souza [61:36]:
  “Watchful waiting is absolutely a cure. Puberty, ironically, is the cure.”

• Amy Souza [72:30]:
  “It is very important for safeguarding that kids have accurate language to talk about their body and that they are grounded in the reality of their physical circumstances.”

Notable Segments/Timestamps

• 00:01–01:28: Introduction; Amy’s viral video explaining why "feeling like a woman" is not a sensation a man can have.
• 03:32–06:23: Emergence of affirmation vs treatment in the mental health industry for gender dysphoria.
• 07:05–10:45: The business model around trans care, low barriers to medicalization, and detransitioner regrets.
• 15:30–20:18: Dissecting different motivations for transition; internalized homophobia, trauma, and paraphilia.
• 24:01–27:55: Role of pornographic culture in shaping the trans narrative.
• 28:04–30:49: The global push, role of the UN, and international responses.
• 33:00–36:39: Little Red Riding Hood metaphor for safeguarding and intuition.
• 44:15–48:30: Trans ideology, drugs, and the possible connection to violence/outbursts.
• 52:17–54:51: Analysis of transmaxxing, incel culture, and male sexual display in trans identity.
• 55:07–57:35: Is trans identity curable? Framing as addiction and obsessive thinking.
• 60:47–65:20: “Watchful waiting,” puberty as the cure, and the problem with stereotype-based diagnoses.
• 65:55–68:02: Jeffree Star on why “T” does not belong with LGB and the misalignment between sexuality and gender identity.
• 70:06–72:30: Example of good parental safeguarding in conversation with a child.

Final Notes

Amy Sousa’s Contact Info:

• Twitter / Instagram: @knownheretic
• Facebook: Amy Souza
• TikTok: @known.heretic
• Substack: theknownheretic.com

Episode summary:
A controversial and critical analysis of transgender ideology from a conservative, gender-critical perspective. Topics include the commercialization of gender care, safeguarding failures, the impact of affirmation-only policies, the intersection with pornography and fetish culture, and strategies for families seeking non-affirming therapeutic help. The conversation is rich with candid opinions, real-world anecdotes, and a frank exploration of current cultural trends.

Disclaimer: This summary captures the tone, views, and content of the speakers as expressed in the episode.