America's First Non-Binary Person Admits 'Big Mistake,' Legally Changes Back to Male

The American man who previously identified as transgender and became the first to obtain non-binary status in the eyes of law says he made a mistake.

Jamie Shupe, a retired US Army veteran, made headlines four years ago when he chronicled his change from a man to a woman in The New York Times. Then a year later, Shupe stood before a judge in Oregon who agreed to let him identify as a third sex, neither male nor female.

Basic Rights Oregon called it a "momentous day for genderqueer Oregonians."

Now, Shupe who was born male says he regrets what he did and it was all a big mistake. On Christmas Eve, an Oregon judge restored his gender to be legally male and his name to James Shupe. He also recently received a new driver's license to prove his recovered identity. 

Shupe told The Star-Banner newspaper in Ocala, Fla. on Monday that he blamed his mistake on mental illness, but also on the current mental health system.

"The mental health system just rubber stamps you with gender dysphoria (discontent with a person's assigned gender) and they don't look at the underlying behavior," Shupe said. "Educating myself about why I was doing the things I was doing was key to being able to make peace with it and allow me to get back to reality."

Living in Ocala since 2018, Shupe and his wife — who stuck with him through his struggles — have kept a low profile, but his effort to restore his gender and name renewed media interest. He also wanted to set the record straight, according to the newspaper. 

"My case is still being used in non-binary gender lawsuits. I want people to know that I don't agree with that anymore. My hope is by making my story public, I can help reverse what I helped unleash," he said.

Shupe told the paper that he hopes his name and media interest in him will fade over time. 

"I want all this to get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. This thing has taken a tremendous toll on me. I want to have the story corrected and fade out of sight," he said.

As CBN News reported last March, in an article published on The Daily Signal, Shupe wrote, "I want to live again as the man that I am."

Shupe said the medical community is so scared by transgender activism that nurses, physicians, and even therapists are too scared to say no to a patient.
 
He explained that medical professionals "ignored that I have chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, having previously served in the military for almost 18 years. All of my doctors agree on that. Others believe that I have bipolar disorder and possibly borderline personality disorder."

Shupe believed, in his case, the best thing would have been for a therapist to order intensive therapy. 

"That would have protected me from my inclination to cross-dress and my risky sexual transgressions, of which there were many," he noted. "Instead, quacks in the medical community hid me in the women's bathroom with people's wives and daughters. 'Your gender identity is female,' these alleged professionals said."

The US Army veteran also came clean about his so-called desired sex change.

"The truth is that my sex change to non-binary was a medical and scientific fraud. Consider the fact that before the historic court hearing occurred, my lawyer informed me that the judge had a transgender child," he wrote.

Shupe recalls during his Oregon court hearing, the judge didn't ask for any medical evidence or ask any questions. She just signed the court order.

"I do not have any disorders of sexual development. All of my sexual confusion was in my head. I should have been treated. Instead, at every step, doctors, judges, and advocacy groups indulged my fiction," he wrote.

In the article, Shupe went on to talk about the real victims of what he called "the grand illusion."

"Two fake gender identities couldn't hide the truth of my biological reality," he explained. "There is no third gender or third sex. Like me, intersex people are either male or female. Their condition is the result of a disorder of sexual development, and they need help and compassion."

"I played my part in pushing forward this grand illusion. I'm not the victim here. My wife, daughter, and the American taxpayers are—they are the real victims," he concluded.