One thin allegation fueled a national trans panic & an FBI mission to Cuba touted by Kash Patel

Right-wing activists blew up last week over allegations that a trans woman fled with her child to Cuba to obtain gender-affirming surgery. But was that based on anything more than a single overheard comment?

The FBI sent a plane to Cuba, a rare step in a custodial investigation, before the Justice Department trumpeted the arrest of Rose Inessa-Ethington and her partner, Blue, and alleged they intended to take the child overseas for “gender reassignment surgery.” The child was reunited with their birth mother.

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But further scrutiny of the situation has shown that only one investigator in the case ever alleged a secret plan to perform surgery on a 10-year-old, though, according to EqualDex, such procedures are banned for minors in Cuba. Gender-affirming care for minors, especially young ones, consists of counseling and social support. As they reach puberty, puberty blockers can be prescribed. In very rare cases, teenagers may be offered surgical interventions for chest-related procedures.

The New Republic reviewed court documents filed after the widely ballyhooed arrest and found the assertions about gender-affirming care stemmed entirely from a filing by Jennifer M. Waterfield, an agent in the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children unit. In a sworn statement, she said a family member expressed concern that Inessa-Ethington had manipulated the child into being transgender. Cuban officials apparently assisted the FBI in finding Inessa-Ethington and taking her into custody.

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The Logan City Police Department in Utah, which launched the custody investigation, never mentioned any dispute about gender-affirming care for minors in its own press release about the case. The department said Lindsey Boden, the child’s birth mother, had been unable to contact Inessa-Ethington after a scheduled visit and that Inessa-Ethington was discovered to have absconded to Cuba. A warrant was issued, but it did not mention concerns about surgery without the birth mother’s consent.

That didn’t stop FBI Director Kash Patel from touting the arrest to right-wing outlets like The Daily Wire as a success.

“Each and every day, this FBI is stepping up to protect kids in America at levels never seen before — identifying and rescuing 6200 child victims just last year alone,” Patel told the outlet. “This case is no different. We are proud of our agents, Intel analysts, and partners who acted quickly and saved a young child from what could have been a horrific kidnapping. Let it be a message to any criminal actor who would try the same — this FBI will find you, no matter where you try to hide.”

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Investigators tied findings to claims that Inessa-Ethington paid for therapy for the child, but there’s no documentation in court documents showing whether any of that was related to gender-affirming care. A therapist is not mentioned by name, nor are there details about what care providers in Cuba may treat a 10-year-old child.

The New Republic also noted that while gender-affirming surgery is available in Cuba for adults, there have been complaints for years that it is difficult to obtain in the communist country.