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Draft:Leland Heflin
Leland Heflin is a Los Angeles actor, model, comedian, podcast host and raging transphobe. Leland Heflin co-founded and co-hosted anti-transgender publication An American Conversation Podcast from 2019 to 2024 with social worker and trans-exclusionary radical feminist Rose Medina MSSW and Republican Trump supporter Dave Palombo.
While initially claiming to be a fun variety talk show about "friends with opposing views" who "meet in a bar" to "discuss what the hell is happening in America," An American Conversation's anti-transgender mission quickly came into focus throughout their catalog in a long series of interviews with high-profile anti-transgender activists and "gender-critical" talking heads from all over the world published on dozens of podcast sources and supplemented by a daunting sprawl of transphobic propaganda on countless social media platforms sourced from just about every trans-exclusionary radical feminist org, re-branded hate group, "gender-critical" crackpot and conservative think-tank in the TERF game. Nearly every episode, misidentified as "news" by Leland Heflin, was prefaced by Leland Heflin stating in an astonishingly condescending and artificial tone that "we, as Americans, can agree, to disagree, and still remain friends for the next round of debates." We can only surmise that that the co-hosts of An American Conversation omitted bias transparency for personal reasons as the majority of their hosts and co-hosts claim to be leftists while sourcing most of their information and guests from conservative groups and publications.
Though she's stated many times to be a supporter of trans rights, claims to be the mother of a transgender teenager and occasionally hints at being transgender herself, Leland Heflin frequently misgenders, degenders, deadnames and makes unwanted commentary about transgender people's bodies and appearances, expresses barely veiled sarcasm and contempt for gender-diverse identity when she isn't being flagrantly and aggressively transmisogynistic, harrassed and misquoted a trans woman on Youtube who criticized her transphobia and claimed that screenshots of transphobic abuse which that trans woman had received in her Facebook inbox were hate mail written about An American Conversation. That very same trans woman had recently been ruled the victim of a hate battery by police responding to a conflict, in June. Leland Heflin often complains of "bullying" and "being attacked" when criticized for her transphobia, and stated enthusiastic support for dozens of high-profile anti-transgender activists and anti-transgender groups from all over the world that her show routinely hosted, repeatedly and uncritically recommended their content and efforts to others with the sunny and chipper enthusiasm of a cheerleader and frequently espoused deeply transphobic views and LGBTQ+ grooming conspiracy theory of her own throughout their episodes, often insinuating a link between transgender identity, transgender healthcare and pedophilia, a common form of anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry. She once referred to dysphoric teenagers taking puberty blockers as "pedophile kids." She once theorized that the nation's doctors are conspiring to groom children into medically transitioning so that they will remain looking young indefinitely for pedophiles to abuse, a theory which prior An American Conversation Podcast guest and Massachusetts author Marcia Mathews had previously shared in an episode titled, "Men in Safe Spaces - Why?" in which Leland Heflin, Rose Medina MSSW, Marcia Mathews and Dave Palombo discussed their thoughts about trans women having access to women's spaces. "These freaky trannies can't have it both ways," said Dave Palombo. "That's our Republican," beamed Leland Heflin with a measured tone expressing both exasperation and admiration.
"Head on over to Genspect," said Leland Heflin in Part Four of "Parents in Despair," a series of interviews published by An American Conversation with parents who subjected their children to Genspect's abuse. Genspect is an anti-transgender conversion therapy group classified as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Leland Heflin did, however, get a transgender person's pronouns right once on An American Conversation, when explaining to world-famous anti-transgender mouthpiece Graham Linehan in his first An American Conversation episode that she's interested in dating Hunter Schafer, a then-22-year-old trans woman who plays a high schooler on HBO's Euphoria. Leland Heflin was in her mid-60s at the time. A trans woman had recently described Leland Heflin as an anti-transgender activist and she wanted to make it clear to her fellow transphobic bigot Graham Linehan that she doesn't share his views.
Despite being a raging transphobe and callous conservative grifter, Leland Heflin somehow has a knack for finding her way into supposedly transgender-friendly networks in the Los Angeles area and absolutely loves to let people know how "not transphobic" she is because of how many "transgender friends" she has.
Leland Heflin is a personal friend of violently transmisogynistic anti-transgender blogger and web designer William A. Ferguson and a personal friend of numerous transgender entertainers in Los Angeles including Jennifer Winslow, Elyzabeth Tory Pryce "The Nonbinary Preacher's Kid" and comedian Robin Tran.
In An American Conversation Podcast's episode 'Response to Hate and Bullying,' responding to a trans woman who accurately described Leland Heflin's transphobia and involvement with anti-transgender activism to comedian and podcaster Dino Bletsas "Dino the Genetic Marvel," Leland Heflin placed sarcastic quote fingers around the word 'nonbinary,' a remarkably mild example of transphobic aggression by Leland Heflin standards. This episode, available on dozens of podcast sources including Amazon, has since had its video component edited out. Afterwards, Leland Heflin alleged on Hollywood writer Dempsey Gibson's Facebook wall that the trans woman who complained about her transphobia is a "male predator posing as a transwoman," deadnamed that trans woman and agreed with trans-exclusionary radical feminist Rose Medina MSSW that her accuser is "a very disturbed AGP," invoking transphobic sexologist and two-time An American Conversation Podcast guest Ray Blanchard's theory of "autogynephilia," a cornerstone of TERF lore. Dino Bletsas "Dino the Genetic Marvel" appeared in a later episode titled, "Why Are Men Not Listening?" Dino Bletsas "Dino the Genetic Marvel" co-hosts GenerationDAN Podcast with Dan "Atlas" Novack and was later in featured in promotional materials for Los Angeles comedy organizer Bobbie and Chris Oliver's Comedy Riot Grrl Festival along with several other prior guests of An American Conversation Podcast. Dino Bletsas "Dino the Genetic Marvel" lives in Canada. Shortly afterwards, Bobbie Oliver hosted a Gays, Theys and Baes comedy event at Los Angeles's Diversionary Theater. Diversionary Theater's Facebook page then proceeded to discuss the importance of listening to transgender people's stories in their own words. One of their recent performers had been prior An American Conversation Podcast guest and personal friend of Leland Heflin, transgender actor Jennifer Winslow.
Leland Heflin has appeared in music videos by Tori Amos and Seal, has appeared on Tim and Eric's Awesome Show with John C. Reilly, has appeared in numerous television shows, does voice work for animation, has appeared uncredited as an extra in numerous films including Babylon and Bill Burr's Old Dads and works as an interviewer for Heart of Hollywood magazine.
In An American Conversation's fourth episode, "Trump Derangement Syndrome," Leland Heflin defined "Trump Derangement Syndrome" for the audience. "In layman's terms it means people are getting pretty worked up for no reason," said Leland Heflin. "Trump Derangement Syndrome" is an expression that Donald Trump supporters use to gaslight and discredit critics of Donald Trump.
"I was gonna hit on Leland, but I heard her husband has got like, a thousand guns," said Dave Palombo, replying to a sexual fantasy about Donald Trump which Leland Heflin described in graphic detail. "He does," said Leland Heflin. She'd recently done some costume and voice work playing Melania Trump.