WASHINGTON, D.C. – Independent Women Features (IW Features), the grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm of Independent Women, is sharing the story of Tamara Pietzke, a therapist from Washington state who was fired and forced to undergo a state investigation for questioning “gender-affirming care” in her practice. Pietzke’s story highlights the pervasive gender ideology agenda that has crept into critical institutions for vulnerable youth—and the pushback faced by those who dared to question it.
In an exclusive interview with IW Features, Pietzke shared how she had never considered herself to be a “political firebrand,” and still doesn’t. But when a young client came to her identifying as a “wounded male dog” in 2023, she knew something was wrong.
Pietzke reached out to her colleagues at MultiCare, where she was employed at the time, with very reasonable questions about how best to respond. Instead of a constructive dialogue, her colleagues told her, “If they know who they are, then that’s fantastic.”
Pietzke then drafted a letter voicing her concerns with the affirmation care model, requesting feedback from her colleagues. She continued to ask questions in training, but was met with hostility and accused of harming her clients.
Pietzke said, “I felt like if there’s this much defensiveness, hostility, and pushback, then this is something that needed to be discussed and addressed. People aren’t usually so closed off to having conversations about things unless they have something to hide or protect.”
Pietzke’s outspokenness in her workplace quickly put a target on her back, and she was pulled from working with distressed youth, leading her to quit her job at MultiCare. To make matters worse, Washington state opened an investigation against her in June 2024. After finding no credible violations by Pietzke, the state quietly dropped the case this year.
Andrea Mew, managing editor for IW Features, said: “Washington State attempted to make an example out of Tamara Pietzke for daring to think critically, but they failed. Dropping the case may clear her name, but let’s be honest—it doesn’t erase the year Pietzke spent in limbo, fearing for her livelihood for simply practicing mental health care with integrity. Her story is a wake-up call to any clinician who has felt bullied into silence: you’re not alone, and speaking the truth is certainly worth it.”
Read Pietzke’s full profile on IW Features: Washington Therapist and Whistleblower Fired for Calling Out Reckless Treatments Against Youth
Read more stories from those standing up against gender ideology, as told in IW Features’ “Identity Crisis” series:
- Detransitioner Speaks Out About Irreversible Damage After “Disastrous” Misdiagnosis
- Controversy Erupts in California School District Over Radical Gender Ideology in Classrooms
- “Please Help Us”: Massachusetts Dad Petitions The Trump Admin As School District Defies Anti-DEI Executive Orders
- This Therapist Network Helps Gender-Confused Children Through Counseling, Not Surgery
- Silenced, Shut Out, and Gaslit: One New Mexico Mother’s Battle Against School-Sanctioned Gender Indoctrination
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