Linda Hunsberger, a Minnesota mom who was shocked to learn that her son identified as trans, spoke with Liz Collin on her podcast.
She shared her story publicly for the first time — and warned other parents to avoid being left in the dark while children are preyed upon.
WATCH:
Hunsberger said her son was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point when he told her that he identified as trans.
“Our son is on the autism spectrum. He was in his third year of college and we were working to help him live independently … we thought that everything was going very well, but then we found out, to our surprise, that the university had been very actively transitioning our son,” Hunsberger explained.
“We learned about his trans identity through his advisor who handed us a letter … and that they had set him up with a gender-affirming therapist,” she added.
Hunsberger pointed out that all of this happened in 2014, long before people knew much about this, as they do now.
As a mom, she reached out to her son and “just asked him for time to understand what all of this meant and how we could best help him navigate this,” she said.
Sadly, it’s been 10 years since she’s spoken to him.
Alpha News reached out to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, but did not receive a response.
Helping others suffering in silence
Hunsberger told Collin that during the past 10 years, she’s been helping other parents deal with what she considers predatory transgender ideology in some schools.
In 2024, for example, a school counselor in the Rochester school district blew the whistle and called out the administrative guidelines for trans students, which state that parents will be provided with information about whether their child is transgender only if they request it.
Hunsberger explained to Collin how she spoke up back then and wrote a letter to the school district.
In speaking up, unfortunately from her own experience, Hunsberger urged the district to change its policy:
“Many parents do not see their child’s ‘Trans’ identity coming. Schools that withhold this information are robbing parents of necessary time.
“These parents need the time we did not have. Upon coming out in 2014, our child asked us to help with a medical transition. We asked for time. Time to understand what this meant and how to best help. It wasn’t enough time. Six months later our child suddenly disappeared not to be seen by us since.”
According to Hunsberger, “many of these children, young adults have been influenced by online influences or social influences. So it tends to start there, but what happens is the school is kind of set up to be a pipeline then from the school to the clinic.”
“If it is just their social group, their peer group, or being on TikTok or any of whatever, there’s so many ways that they can be pursued and predators have access to them … the school then just becomes a very inviting environment to continue in that,” she added.
Hunsberger also pointed out that “it’s not always every teacher, it’s not always every school, but it’s becoming harder and harder for teachers to just really function outside of those mandates and what they’re required to do, especially here in Rochester where they did work it into their policy that they did need to keep parents in the dark.”
Warning signs
She said parents need to look for warning signs at school and also at home, specifically if children are spending a lot of time online and isolating themselves.
In talking about the network of parents who have been helping others cope with similar situations, known as Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT), Hunsberger referenced some of the resources that PITT has made available.
Hunsberger said parents “need to be looking out for those signs because the school’s not gonna let you know if their child is taking on a new identity. and so really just being on top of that as a parent is very important.”
“Many of these kids are coached online to keep this information from their parents if there’s any indication that their parents aren’t gonna affirm this identity,” she said.
Hunsberger also spoke about the situation in Minnesota: “I think that this gender ideology is just very, very deeply immersed in and embedded in our state. The progressive voices here are very loud and parents are afraid to speak up.”
“I’m in contact with 40 families here locally, many throughout the United States, but none of them want to come forward with their story. They’re just not ready to face the repercussions of coming forward,” Hunsberger added.
“There really is a silent majority that is not for this, but you wouldn’t think that just by hearing what the media is saying.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
