A recent tweet from Ari Drennen has drawn attention to a perceived contradiction between Representative Dan Crenshaw's legislative efforts targeting transgender care and pop artist Kim Petras's personal history, specifically her gender confirmation surgery at age 16. Drennen's tweet, posted on July 31, 2025, stated, > "Dan Crenshaw is one of the most anti trans legislators in Congress but he listens to music by Kim Petras, who was able to get sex change surgery at 16. Typical."
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) has been a vocal proponent of legislation restricting gender-affirming care, particularly for minors. His proposed "Crenshaw Amendment" aims to ban the use of Medicaid, CHIP, and Affordable Care Act funds for all gender transition procedures, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. Crenshaw has also led efforts to block federal funding for children's hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors, stating that "science and common sense tell us these procedures are permanent, dangerous, and wrong."
Kim Petras, a German singer-songwriter, gained public attention for undergoing gender confirmation surgery at the age of 16. Born in 1992, Petras began discussing her medical gender transition on German television at age 13. At 14, she appeared in documentaries and talk shows advocating for early surgery, which was typically restricted to individuals over 18 in Germany at the time.
Petras received special permission for the procedure after being evaluated and approved by the head of the psychiatric unit at Frankfurt Hospital. She announced the completion of her surgery in November 2008. Her early transition made her one of the youngest individuals globally to undergo such a procedure at the time, a fact that garnered significant media coverage.
The tweet highlights a cultural and political tension, juxtaposing a legislator's public policy stance against a personal choice made by an artist whose work he reportedly consumes. Petras has since achieved significant success in the music industry, becoming the first openly transgender woman to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2023 for her collaboration "Unholy" with Sam Smith.