Switzerland’s most renowned trans person no longer wants to be a woman

"It is impossible to fully go back, neither physically nor as a person," says Chris/Nadia Brönimann. Marc Leutenegger

When Chris Brönimann became Nadia just before the turn of the millennium, the whole of Switzerland watched in fascination. Now, the country’s most famous transgender figure is publicly grappling with regret over that choice. This is not a story of redemption, but a post-woke plea.

The text message confirming our meeting is signed Chris/Nadia. It’s a late summer’s day, the air is crisp and clean over Lake Zurich in the small town of Lachen. The café on the promenade where Chris/Nadia Brönimann works part-time is quiet, just like the life of the one-time most famous transgender woman in Switzerland. It’s quiet, at least for now.

It has been only a few days since Brönimann renounced her transition, a decision that was splashed across Swiss media and flooded Instagram with messages of both hate and support.

In Switzerland, transsexuality is as polarising as it is in other Western societies. It is often referred to as “gender dysphoria”, when a person does not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. The number of young people diagnosed with gender dysphoria has risen drastically, with Canada, the United States and many countries in Europe recording a tenfold increaseExternal link since the turn of the millennium. It is mostly women who feel they were born in the wrong body.

While societies have become more tolerant, hormone therapies and gender-affirming surgeries remain controversial. Traditionally progressive countries such as Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom have banned the prescription of puberty blockers to minors or limited their use to medical research.

Many key questions surrounding sexual transition remain unanswered. A fierce debate over who holds the authority on the subject and how to interpret it has unfolded, even among medical professionals. At the same time, the transgender issue is being politicised, as was seen in the recent US presidential elections.

Gender tags

During our chat at the café, the political dimension does not seem an issue, at least not initially. The conversation focusses on the personal situation and the reasons behind Brönimann’s latest coming-out, a move that has once again touched a taboo topic and put her in the spotlight.

Over the past three years, Brönimann has increasingly distanced herself from Nadia. Maintaining her image had become almost a chore or a daily performance. “The pressure on transgender people to fully take over the role of a man or a woman is huge,“ says Brönimann. “You are constantly asking yourself: Am I good enough? Am I female enough?”

Here lie constraints, shame and a self-image that is solely dominated by gender. Brönimann wanted to break free from all of this.

“This is exactly what many people didn’t understand. My latest coming-out is not just a return to ‘Christian’.”

Nadia Brönimann

“This is exactly what many people didn’t understand. My latest coming-out is not just a return to ‘Christian’. It is impossible to fully go back, neither physically nor as a person. Both Christian and Nadia are a part of me. Since my latest coming-out, I have been able to rediscover my identity.” Of course, Brönimann adds, there are also uncertainties and fears and the question: “Have I turned into a freak?”

Brönimann has been bombarded with emails and messages asking questions like: “Are you non-binary now?” Such questions, Brönimann says, are exactly the problem today. “We open up all opportunities, but we also tend to compartmentalise. For now, I don’t want a tag. I want to explore where my individual soul lies, my inner home, beyond being a man, a woman or a non-binary person.” This statement bears a hint of criticism of gender identity politics. But there’s more to it. 

Woke and anti-woke

A few weeks after our interview at Lake Zurich, Brönimann appeared before the human rights committee of the Geneva cantonal parliament, which is looking into the issue of gender transition. In Lausanne, she spoke to the media alongside a man opposed to his underage daughter undergoing a gender transition.

For a few years now, Brönimann has taken a conservative stance on gender transition for young people. The former icon of the Swiss trans scene rejects surgical interventions for anyone younger than 18 and opposes puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

“Gender transitions are turning into a woke lifestyle.”

Nadia Brönimann

Before the media stint in Lausanne, Brönimann had already expressed doubts in an interviewExternal link with the German-speaking Sonntagsblick newspaper, criticising Switzerland’s liberal practice. She argued this approach to gender relied too heavily on the self-diagnosis of young people and enabled premature medical treatment – a phenomenon exacerbated by social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. “Gender transitions are turning into a woke lifestyle,” says Brönimann.

Although controversial, the theory that gender transitions are socially contagious still prevails in conservative circles, which has led to the coining of the phrase “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD). It suggests that vulnerable teenagers believe they were born in the wrong body because they are repeatedly exposed to this idea on social media.

A few days after the interview, the Sonntagsblick published an article featuring a doctor associated with the Transgender Network Switzerland (TGNS) who rejected Brönimann’s criticism. He emphasised that transgender cases in Switzerland were thoroughly assessed.

The doctor’s statement reflects the official stance of the TGNS, a national advocacy group for transgender people in Switzerland. “The reasons behind the rising numbers of gender transitions or therapeutic measures often lack an in-depth analysis, or they are simplified in favour of populist buzzwords such as ‘woke-mania’,” the TGNS states in a press release.

The fact that more transgender people today are receiving “adequate treatment at an earlier stage”, according to the TGNS, is due to improved access to care and greater awareness among medical staff. The press release also takes quotes from a studyExternal link published in the American Journal of Surgery in August 2024, which found that the regret rate was below 1%. However, this figure, which has been used in earlier studies, is controversial.

Knowledge gap

The TGNS failed to respond to a list of questions surrounding Brönimann’s latest coming-out, stating they could not handle the “high volume of media inquiries”. Switzerland’s most famous transgender person and the Transgender Network do not see eye-to-eye.

However, Brönimann is not alone in criticising the trans-affirmative treatment practices that prioritise the wishes of patients. Medical professionals have also raised concerns about current approaches. In mid-2024, the Swiss Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry called forExternal link a revision of the new treatment guidelines for children and adolescents who suffer from gender dysphoria.

In making this appeal, the Swiss society follows the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, which has criticised the scientific evidence of the so-called Dutch Protocols, a key reference for affirmative treatment practices, as too weak. It also pointed out that puberty blockers and hormone treatment may cause health complications.

Claims about the benefits or risks of gender transitions often lack sufficient scientific evidence. This research gap became evident three years ago when the UK Department of Health commissioned the Nice ReportExternal link, which aimed to assess the clinical benefits of puberty blockers using data from existing studies. Of 525 papers, only nine met the criteria for the evaluation.

Critics often use cases such as Brönimann’s to point out the risks associated with trans-affirmative treatment. However, this perspective often lacks nuance. The American short film Detrans featuresExternal link young adults describing how they were misguided and found liberation through detransitioning but does not offer opposing viewpoints. The film was a Christian-conservative production.

Brönimann does not entirely agree with this. “Of course, I am not categorically against all gender transitions. On the contrary, I am happy for every single trans person who has successfully undergone a sex change and found happiness. I just want each case to be thoroughly assessed by a differential diagnosis that explores other potential causes of psychological distress. I want the greatest possible precaution when it comes to irreversible procedures and an open society where trans people have their secure and equal place, but one that also allows for critical discussions.”

Chaos or rainbow

When Christian became Nadia just before the turn of the millennium, Brönimann was in their late twenties. Swiss television captured the journey in a detailed documentary. For eight years, filmmaker Alain Godet followed Brönimann, creating a filmExternal link that portrayed a transformation, but not a liberation.

Alain Godet hat den Stationenweg von Nadias Frauwerdung acht Jahre lang mit der Kamera aufgezeichnet, der Film von 2004 ist ein Portrait in Nahaufnahme:

At the end of the film, Godet asks Nadia: “If you look back now, would you do it again?” Brönimann reflects and responds: “Just imagine the chaos that would erupt if I said ‘No’. Then I would be really stuck.”

The person having a chat in a café by Lake Zurich gives a different, more composed impression.

During the research for this story, many emails were exchanged that Brönimann usually signed with a rainbow and the phrase: “Colourful regards to you, Chris/Nadia.”

Edited by Balz Rigendinger. Adapted from German by Billi Bierling/gw.