It’s been two years since social media influencer Oli London officially detransitioned and embarked on a faith-filled journey toward true peace and joy.
“Life has changed very dramatically,” he recently told CBN News. “I wake up every day with a sense of purpose, a sense of duty … I feel a lot happier every single day.”
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London, who has openly spoken about his Christian faith, said it has been “exciting” exploring his newfound belief in God. Raised as an atheist, he said he wasn’t “too familiar with Christianity.”
But since detransitioning two years ago, he has spent a lot of time in Christian spaces.
“I’ve been going to a lot of Christian events, been going to churches, connecting with people in the Christian community and elsewhere,” he said, noting he’s now trying to live out Jesus’ example. “And I’ve been tremendously happy since then.”
But it’s not just faith that has been the centerpiece of London’s changed life. He’s now become an advocate speaking out to help others struggling with the issues that once dominated his life.
“Since … I detransitioned, I’ve also been trying to use my platform now to try and do good in the world,” he said. “And try to spread faith as well to the Generation Z audience.”
Considering London’s own back story, he expressed a passion for young people “being led astray” today.
“They are not connecting with God,” he said of youths. “God is being taken out of classrooms in some places, and … I think it’s something that the young generation is missing.”
London has been open over the past two years about the detransition process, reaffirming past expressions that it wasn’t the easiest of journeys, especially after years of attempting to present as a female.
“I underwent a lot of surgeries over a period of 10 years,” he said. “I was going through an identity crisis, so I did spend several hundred thousand on the surgeries, the looks … the clothes, all the fillers, the makeup, everything like that.”
London continued, “And … it is something I regret, but, at the end of the day, I think … it is a lesson. You can’t dwell on these regrets, you can’t dwell on the past.”
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Ultimately, he said he tries to focus now on the positive, despite wishing these weren’t decisions he had made. As for his detransition, which he said has made him 10 times happier than before, London said, at the start, there wasn’t much information or resources.
“There’s so many resources, NGOs, charities that are helping people transition — getting them the hormones, getting them … puberty blockers,” London said. “But … if you detransition, you’re kind of vilified and, you know, cast aside.”
But he said other detransitioners being open about their journey has helped people like him as they navigate the difficult process. Over time, London said he was able to successfully stop the behavior he exhibited when struggling with his gender.
“I’ve really … changed my life … no more makeup, no more — none of that, just … embracing my natural self and not caring about appearances anymore, not caring about identity,” he said. “It doesn’t cross my mind anymore … I never question it … I’m just content, because, at the end of the day, we’re made in God’s image and that’s been the powerful thing for me.”
London said the Christian community has been very helpful and “incredibly loving” as he has gone through the complex detransition process.
In a past interview with CBN News, London shared further details on his transition, explaining how he went to foreign countries for his surgeries.
“When I became an adult, I actually moved to South Korea, and South Korea is very famous for plastic surgery,” he said. “[I thought], ‘Maybe this is a chance for me to start and change who I am, to erase the old me and to try and replace me with a completely new identity.’”
London said he soon became addicted to surgeries, likening it to a form of self-harming.
“I’ve had my jawbone shaved, I’ve had six nose surgeries,” he said. “With my jaw, I couldn’t speak for two weeks, I couldn’t eat, I had to eat liquid, and it was very, very difficult.”
London, who went to China, Turkey, and America, among other countries for surgeries, could have continued on the path to more invasive surgeries, but realized his family members were beside themselves and he was physically at risk.
“It was so traumatic for my family,” he said. Read more.
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