Pogue Mahone
Swiftie Fan Club President
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2006
- Messages
- 135,011
- Caf Award
- Caf Lifetime Achievement Award 2021
The Guardian article on McLaughlin's "journey" is ... something.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/sep/08/alana-mclaughlin-trans-mma-fighter-combate-global
“My whole life I was a runt, I was undersized, I was bullied, I was raped, I was beaten, like I did not have an easy time,” said McLaughlin. “The story of my life has been trying to physically resist people that were larger and stronger and more skilled than me.”
- Hyper religious family
- So poor she was hiding food to eat the next day and they had no TV or radio
- Parents divorced
- Stepfather removed door and curtains from bedroom
- Small and preferred hanging out with girls
- Wasn't allowed to see a doctor and turpentine was used to treat every illness
- Not allowed to play sports until junior year of high school due to size
- Sent to hang out at a farm owned by a family friend to "man up" with their sons
- Raped by one of them for 5 years and not believed by parents
- Mention of conversion therapy
- Ultimately joins the army after seemingly severing contact with family
- PTSD from childhood trauma and service in Afghanistan
- Secretly buying non-prescribed estrogen online and using for brief periods before stopping, then repeating
- Seemingly completing surgical transition in Thailand before returning to US
- Aside from PTSD diagnosis there is no mention of any mental health support
Probably fair to say she wasn’t undersized her “whole life”.

Awful story though. That is one seriously damaged individual.