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Katie Herzog is an American author and podcaster best known for gender critical views and anti-transgender activism. Herzog co-hosts the anti-trans “drama” podcast Blocked and Reported with Jesse Singal. Herzog’s work includes

  • promoting disease models:
  • promoting the “ex-trans” movement:
  • never correcting or updating reporting on former ex-trans activist Ky Schevers
  • sex segregationism regarding sports, incarceration, and other remaining sex-segregated institutions
  • signing the anti-trans Harper’s Letter with J.K. Rowling and other anti-trans activists
  • criticizing value-neutral and gender-neutral language like pronouns and inclusive medical terminology
    • claiming that medical schools are “denying biological sex”
  • promoting separatist and binary ideas of sex and sexuality
  • criticizing nuanced and nonbinary ideas of sex and sexuality
  • promoting LGB separatism and the “lesbian erasure” conspiracy theory

Note: for the trans-supportive artist born in 1979, see Katie Herzog and transgender people.

Background

Catherine Ronan “Katie” Herzog was born on May 18, 1983 in Asheville, North Carolina. Herzog’s parents are both emeritus professors who taught at Western Carolina University: Harold Albert “Hal” Herzog served as a psychology professor, and Mary Jean Ronan Herzog served as an education professor. Katie Herzog graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and continued to graduate school before dropping out. Herzog has siblings.

Herzog has published writing in numerous outlets, listed below. Herzog got a start as a blogger on Tumblr and on a personal website. Herzog has attempted to delete much of this early work.

Herzog identifies as lesbian and lives in Washington state and North Carolina with spouse Janna Krein, a nurse.

Anti-trans activism

Herzog worked for Dan Savage as a freelancer for The Stranger, later serving as a staff writer from 2017 to 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Herzog was furloughed and was no longer employed there as of 2020.

In 2017, Herzog wrote “The Detransitioners,” a piece critics considered a biased and flawed article supporting the ex-trans movement. The piece mentioned several people:

  • Brynn Tannehill, a trans journalist whose criticism of the ex-trans movement appears to have motivated Herzog’s piece
  • Marlo Mack, How to Be a Girl podcaster and supportive parent of a gender diverse child
  • John Otto, a happily transitioned trans man

Supporting Herzog’s views were several activists promoting the ex-trans movement:

  • James Cantor, a fellow gender critical troll in Toronto and promoter of many disease models of gender identity and expression
  • “Jackie” aka “Jackal,” a Seattle area resident who was 25 in 2017 and moderated detransinfo.tumblr.com
  • “Jane,” a Southern California resident who was 53 in 2017 and who joined the ex-trans movement after discovering radfem forums online
  • “Ryan,” who was 43 in 2017 and who underwent medical transition steps but was not socially transitioned at the time
  • “Cass,” who later came out as ex-trans whistleblower Ky Schevers

Schevers was deeply involved in the “gender critical” movement connected to trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF):

While hanging out among ourselves, I and other younger members of this scene would jokingly refer to ourselves and each other as “TERFs”, reclaiming what we viewed as a slur. Many of us got a kick out of having a secret life in a subculture outsiders (correctly) viewed as a hate group. We thought such people were ridiculous and misogynistic for seeing us as hateful and we frequently mocked them, acting as if they were ignorant, misled and/or overly sensitive. We would gather at a lesbian-owned coffee shop and complain about how trans activists were a threat to lesbian culture, talk about dangerous and disgusting “autogynephiles” trying to infiltrate “female-only” spaces, and the social forces supposedly pushing lesbians to “dis-identify from femaleness” and identify as trans. 

Schevers 2021

Herzog never updated the original piece or covered the subsequent developments. No one has ever independently confirmed Herzog’s claims about “Jackie,” “Jane,” or “Ryan,” and the only one independently confirmed has come out against Herzog’s article and its thesis. This is probably the prime example that Herzog is not an objective source for information on trans issues.

In response, some critics burned copies of The Stranger and distributed stickers that said “Katie Herzog (writer at the stranger) Is A Transphobe.” Herzog claims to have been ostracized by some friends. The New York Times and The New Republic described the reaction to “The Detransitioners” as an example of “cancel culture.”

In 2024, The Stranger allowed Schevers to set the record straight on Herzog’s coverage, but none of Herzog’s other sources have been independently verified.

After leaving The Stranger

Since leaving The Stranger, Herzog has become more outspoken on anti-transgender topics. Herzog has spoken frequently about the alleged cultural shift away from “lesbian” as an identity, promoted the disputed diagnosis “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” and suggested that the increase in trans-identified people is part of a “social contagion.” Herzog has also gotten money and attention for claiming that medical schools are “denying biological sex” by presenting more inclusive and value-neutral scientific terminology. Herzog’s posts on the topic via intellectual dark web promoter Bari Weiss were tagged as unreliable self-published sources by the r/medicine forum on reddit, causing the usual suspects to claim they were being censored.

In 2020, Herzog founded Permabanned Media LLC and began the podcast Blocked and Reported with co-host Jesse Singal, also a prominent figure in anti-transgender extremism. That year, Herzog co-signed “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” for Harper’s. That letter was signed by a disproportionate number of anti-transgender extremists.

As with most people who claim to be “canceled,” Herzog has seen an enormous increase in media appearances on conservative and anti-transgender shows and platforms since 2017. They include

  • Kmele Foster
  • David Fuller
  • Andrew Gold
  • Glenn Greenwald
  • Inaya Folarin Iman
  • Vanessa Quirk
  • Scott Veritas

Drink Your Way Sober

In 2025, Herzog released a book titled Drink Your Way Sober, which outlined Herzog’s struggles with alcohol use and dependence. Herzog promotes the Sinclair Method, which involves taking the opioid inhibitor naltrexone.

The book was blurbed by a number of other reactionary centrists, including Hadley Freeman, Meghan Daum, Scott Barry Kaufman, Sam Harris, and Nick Gillespie.

References

Schevers, Ky (June 24, 2024). The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2024/2024/06/05/79545098/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-the-stranger

Doyle, Jude Ellison S. (March 15, 2023). The making of a detransitioner. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/power/detransition-terf-movement-elisa-shupe-247592

Higgins, Eoin (August 8, 2022). What happened to Glenn Greenwald? The former trans ally now sides with right wing transphobia. Salon https://www.salon.com/2022/08/08/what-happened-to-glenn-greenwald-the-former-trans-ally-now-sides-with-right-wing-transphobia/

Schevers, Ky (March 25, 2021). The Reality Behind the Story I Told: What My Life was Like When I was Interviewed for the Stranger. Medium https://kyschevers.medium.com/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-what-my-life-was-like-when-i-was-interviewed-for-the-stranger-2508d595689d

Doyle, Jude Ellison S. (March 24, 2021). What’s So Scary About Detransitioning? GEN. https://gen.medium.com/whats-so-scary-about-detransitioning-a8340daf3132

Stahl, Lynne (March 19, 2021). The latest form of transphobia: Saying lesbians are going extinct. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/the-latest-form-of-transphobia-saying-lesbians-are-going-extinct/2021/03/18/072a95fc-8786-11eb-82bc-e58213caa38e_story.html

Urquhart, Evan (February 1, 2021). An “Ex-Detransitioner” Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/02/detransition-movement-star-ex-gay-explained.html

Grant, Melissa Gira (November 6, 2019). Fixating on “Cancel Culture” in an Age of Transphobia. The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/155606/fxating-cancel-culture-age-transphobia

Lieberman, Hallie (May 3, 2019). Why Is Reporting on Trans Issues So Fraught? News-to-Table / Pressland https://medium.com/news-to-table/https-medium-com-news-to-table-why-is-reporting-on-trans-issues-so-fraught-c3b52b4b97c4

Serano, Julia (July 4, 2017). Why my piece won’t be appearing in The Stranger. https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2017/07/why-my-piece-wont-be-appearing-in.html

Serano, Julia (June 30, 2017). Stop pitting detransitoners against happily transitioned people. https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2017/06/stop-pitting-detransitoners-against.html

Coverage in anti-trans press

McFadden, Joey (August 26, 2024). (Il)liberal Gender Ideology Confuses Children and Stifles Discourse. Fair Observer https://www.fairobserver.com/politics/illiberal-gender-ideology-confuses-children-and-stifles-discourse/

McDermott, John (November 2, 2019). Those People We Tried to Cancel? They’re All Hanging Out Together. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/style/what-is-cancel-culture.html

Selected anti-trans writing by Herzog

Herzog, Katie (July 27, 2021). Med Schools Are Now Denying Biological Sex. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/med-schools-are-now-denying-biological

Herzog, Katie (November 27, 2020). Where Have All The Lesbians Gone? They’re coming out as nonbinary or as men. The Weekly Dish https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/where-have-all-the-lesbians-gone-0a7

Herzog, Katie (February 4, 2020). Controversial Feminist Event at the Library Goes on Despite Threats, Interruptions, and Protests. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/02/04/42751372/controversial-feminist-event-at-the-library-goes-on-despite-threats-interruptions-and-protests

Herzog, Katie (January 13, 2020). Amid Protests, Seattle Public Library Affirms Commitment to Free Speech. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/01/13/42551375/amid-protests-seattle-public-library-affirms-commitment-to-free-speech

Herzog, Katie (October 10, 2019). Supreme Court Case Makes Strange Bedfellows of Conservative Christians and Radical Feminists. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/10/10/41649666/supreme-court-case-makes-strange-bedfellows-of-conservative-christians-and-radical-feminists

Herzog, Katie (September 23, 2019). Is the Life Expectancy of Trans Women in the U.S. Just 35? No. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/09/23/41471629/is-the-life-expectancy-of-trans-women-in-the-us-just-35-no

Herzog, Katie (September 17, 2019). Cancel Culture: What Exactly Is This Thing? The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/09/17/41416013/cancel-culture-what-exactly-is-this-thing

Herzog, Katie (September 3, 2019). Adam Director Rhys Ernst on When Cancel Culture Comes For Your Work. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/film/2019/09/03/41280771/adam-director-rhys-ernst-on-when-cancel-culture-comes-for-your-work

Herzog, Katie (May 17, 2019). Social Media Companies Are Banning Extremists. Others Are Getting Caught in the Crossfire. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/articles/2019/05/17/40234886/social-media-companies-are-banning-extremists-others-are-getting-caught-in-the-crossfire

Herzog, Katie (April 18, 2019 ). The Government Doesn’t Need to Erase History. The Media Is Doing It for Them. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/media/2019/04/18/39941044/the-government-doesnt-need-to-erase-history-the-media-is-doing-it-for-them

Herzog, Katie (November 19, 2018). Study Claims Gender Nonconforming Children Were Different Gender in Their Past Lives. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/lgbtqitslfa/2018/11/19/35865090/study-says-gender-nonconforming-children-were-opposite-sex-in-past-lives

Herzog, Katie (September 6, 2018). “They” Is a Fine Pronoun, But It Ain’t Mine. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/articles/2018/09/06/31903785/they-is-a-fine-pronoun-but-it-aint-mine

Herzog, Katie (November 30, 2018). If the Future Is Nonbinary, It’s a Bleak One for Women. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/the-ladies/2018/11/30/36431918/if-the-future-is-nonbinary-its-a-bleak-one-for-women

Herzog, Katie (July 9, 2018). The Left’s Mischaracterizations of Jordan Peterson Will Make His Followers Turn Right. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/articles/2018/07/09/28930684/the-lefts-mischaracterizations-of-jordan-peterson-will-make-his-followers-turn-right

Herzog, Katie (May 31, 2018). Wrongspeak Is a Safe Space for Dangerous Ideas. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/podcasts/2018/05/31/26879132/wrong-speak-is-a-safe-space-for-dangerous-ideas

Herzog, Katie (April 6, 2018). Kevin Williamson Has Terrible Ideas, But He Got One Thing Right. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/media/2018/04/06/26014612/kevin-williamson-has-terrible-ideas-but-he-got-one-thing-right

Herzog, Katie (January 23, 2018). Call-Out Culture Is a Toxic Garbage Dumpster Fire of Trash. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/language/2018/01/23/25741141/call-out-culture-is-a-toxic-garbage-dumpster-fire-of-trash

Herzog, Katie (December 5, 2017). Popular Leftist YouTuber ContraPoints Gets Caught Up in University of British Columbia Free Speech Debate. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/video/2017/12/05/25607468/popular-leftist-youtuber-contrapoints-gets-caught-up-in-university-of-british-columbia-free-speech-debate

Herzog, Katie (August 30, 2017). Philly Trans Health Conference Cancels Sessions on Detransitioning. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/lgbtqitslfa/2017/08/30/25382933/philly-trans-health-conference-cancels-sessions-on-detransitioning

Herzog, Katie (June 28, 2017). The Detransitioners: They Were Transgender, Until They Weren’t. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/06/28/25252342/the-detransitioners-they-were-transgender-until-they-werent

Book

Herzog, Katie (2025). Drink Your Way Sober: The Science-Based Method to Break Free from Alcohol. BenBella Books, ISBN 978-1637747391

Media

Hard Knox with Amanda Knox and Katie Herzog (September 16, 2025). How to Drink Your Way Sober (Katie Herzog). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm07K3r5MrM

Modern Wisdom with Chris Williamson and Katie Herzog (September 13, 2025). A Controversial New Cure for Alcohol Dependence – Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3m3uCQQ72Y

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and Katie Herzog (August 7, 2025). Drink Your Way Sober – Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzYZZdRKdoY

Stonger Weekly / Running Free with Jesse Carrajat, and Katie Herzog (August 4, 2025). Can You Drink Your Way Sober? | Katie Herzog, Author, Journalist, & Host of Blocked and Reported. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A52Y07JWbQ

Random Offense with Ethan Strauss and Katie Herzog (June 27, 2025). Episode 6 with Katie Herzog | Random Offense with Ethan Strauss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHzwrdsMxAU

Brad Polumbo with Katie Herzog (May 17, 2025). “Gen Z is unhinged!”: Brad Polumbo & Katie Herzog talk TikTok & Cancel Culture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTKgdtxGYRE

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps and Katie Herzog (September 30, 2024). “The Alcoholism Myth” with Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfP51cO5Ilk

The Megyn Kelly Show with Megyn Kelly, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (April 25, 2024). Free Speech vs. Harassment, and the State of “Cancel Culture,” with Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UexK-h5meVU

The Megyn Kelly Show with Megyn Kelly, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (April 25, 2024). Are We Past the Worst of the Cancelations in Our Culture? With Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jDJcyzmQp4

The Megyn Kelly Show with Megyn Kelly, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (April 25, 2024). Truth About “Trans Athletes” Bill in New Hampshire, with Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQic52fz-3E

Brad Polumbo with Katie Herzog (March 10, 2024). ‘The queer community KICKED me OUT!’ (ft. Katie Herzog). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p4avZ6ccUw

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Katie Herzog (February 26, 2024). Will the Trans Craze Ever End? – Katie Herzog | Maiden Mother Matriarch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJrIgQz09c

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Katie Herzog (February 18, 2024). Where Have All the Lesbians Gone? – Katie Herzog | Maiden Mother Matriarch 53. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-WsqWMGxzU

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Katie Herzog (September 8, 2023). EP 130: Katie Herzog: Unblocked and Recorded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vaI4NDcd4A

System Update witth Glenn Greenwald and Katie Herzog (January 24, 2023). How the Toxic Debates Around Trans Issues May Be Improving, with Katie Herzog | SYSTEM UPDATE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcM31UEGB0Y

Coleman Hughes with Katie Herzog (July 17, 2022). Defining Genders: What Does It Mean To Identify With a Gender? with Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4Kmn_feSCw

Coleman Hughes and Katie Herzog (July 16, 2022). The Pride Generation with Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvlgINs70c

Coleman Hughes and Katie Herzog (July 10, 2022). “The Gender Identity Conversation” with Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExwWYLKqftc

Transparency with Aaron Kimberly, Aaron Terrell, and Katie Herzog (July 3, 2022). EP40 – I should send them a fruit basket – with Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3eZjJkNCRc

Real Time with Bill Maher, Andrew Sullivan, Katie Herzog, and Christine Emba (June 24, 2022). Overtime: Andrew Sullivan, Katie Herzog, Christine Emba | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7QITC__mV4

The Veritas Podcast with Scott Veritas and Katie Herzog (March 29, 2022). Navigating the Transgender Discourse Minefield | Katie Herzog | The Veritas Podcast #19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdbXEd_9Xkc

Lou Perez with Katie Herzog (February 24, 2022). The Lou Perez Podcast Episode 48 – Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej8VjfgAlgc

Rebel Wisdom with David Fuller and Katie Herzog (Ocober 20, 2021). Chappelle & Trans Activism, Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dlunZ082AA

Matt Lewis with Katie Herzog (October 13, 2021). Matt Lewis Interviews Katie Herzog about Dave Chappelle’s Netflix Special. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsQT5n61eg8

The Megyn Kelly Show with Megyn Kelly and Katie Herzog (October 4, 2021). Woke Push Against Biological Sex in the Medical Industry, with Katie Herzog | The Megyn Kelly Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeU4BP8XzPU

spiked / The Brendan O’Neill Show with Brendan O’Neill and Katie Herzog (September 2, 2021). Wokeness is bad for your health, with Katie Herzog | The Brendan O’Neill Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0o7_7CyjrI

Independent Women / High Noon with Inez Stepman and Katie Herzog (August 11, 2021). High Noon | Episode 15: Katie Herzog – On Woke Medicine and Moral Panic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4stsVkEupk

Andrew Sullivan with Katie Herzog and Jamie Kirchick (July 2, 2021). The problems with the “Q.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj_atHF9YZI

Free Speech Champions with Inaya Folarin Iman, Bari Weiss, Helen Lewis, Katie Herzog, and Mick Hume (May 22, 2021). Can truth survive the new journalism? Feat. Bari Weiss, Helen Lewis, Katie Herzog & Mick Hume. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2wz6SuQSuY

Useful Idiots with Matt Taibbi, Katie Halper, Jesse Singal, and Katie Herzog (March 22, 2021). Substack Cancel Wars With Jesse Singal & Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB6BIhnQJuo

System Updare with Glenn Greenwald and Katie Herzog (March 18, 2021). The Role of Claimed LGBT Identity in Political Discourse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt8BZzLFpzA

The Femsplainers with Danielle Crittenden, Christina Hoff Sommers and Katie Herzog (February 5, 2021). Katie Herzog: Why Lesbians Are Endangered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GsBSpC4ZlE

Unregistered with Thaddeus Russell and Katie Herzog (January 16, 2021). Unregistered 148: Katie Herzog (VIDEO). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3JW-Djf2I

reNEWS with Amy Selwyn, Jonathan Haidt, Bari Weiss, Katie Herzog, and Suzanne Moore (January 15, 2021). Are Culture Wars Co-opting the Mainstream Narrative? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLRgTlsSg8M

Matt Lewis with Katie Herzog (November 9, 2020). Katie Herzog on What the Media and the Left Get Wrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1i_8k2g5E

spiked / Culture Wars with Andrew Doyle, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (October 22, 2020). America is exhausted, with Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxVd-UyaSQg

Uncertain Things with Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Vanessa Quirk, and Katie Herzog (October 7, 2020). Why Everything Is a Culture War Thing (w/ Katie Herzog). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thoST58sb-A

The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum and Katie Herzog (September 27, 2020). #10 Katie Herzog On Why Exposing Social Media Hypocrisy Feels So Damn Good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_AOiAUiM1Q

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and Katie Herzog (September 20, 2020). Walk-Ins Welcome Podcast #95 – Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWFA_NrI720

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and Katie Herzog (September 3, 2020). Katie Herzog Never Expected the Concept of “Theybies” to Spread the Way It Haâ€Șs‬ https://ricochet.com/podcast/walk-ins-welcome-bridget-phetasy/katie-herzog-never-expected-the-concept-of-theybies-to-spread-the-way-it-has/

The Federalist with Ben Domenech and Katie Herzog (August 8, 2020). Journalist Katie Herzog On The Insanity Of Cancel Culture And False Media Narratives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WYPugy7nhM

Nonzero /Culturally Determined with Aryeh Cohen-Wade and Katie Herzog (July 15, 2020). Open Letters | Aryeh Cohen-Wade & Katie Herzog [Culturally Determined]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RdX6McwoOU

The Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kaufman, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (July 9, 2020). Uncancellable with Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal || The Psychology Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4yALKu3RrE

The Backchannel with Kmele Foster and Katie Herzog (July 1, 2020). Shattering the “White Fragility” Myth, with Kmele Foster and Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAdzsh0HsqM

Rebel Wisdom with David Fuller, Katie Herzog, and Jesse Singal (June 19, 2020). The Death of Journalism? Katie Herzog & Jesse Singal, Sensemaking Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9AVo3jXjN8

  • PhilosophyInsights (June 19, 2020). [Edit] The Moral Panic and the Corruption of Journalism. YouTube / PhilosophyInsights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjT9NVOQW10 [deleted]

The Tim Dillon Show with Tim Dillon and Katie Herzog (June 14, 2020). #204 – Katie Herzog | The Tim Dillon Show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75N9DV8kGPg

My Northwest with Jason Rantz and Katie Herzog (June 11, 2020). Katie Herzog (Blocked and Reported host) on “cancel culture” in Seattle and at the New York Times. https://mynorthwest.com/1935924/cancel-culture-seattle-herzog/?

Michael Tracey with Katie Herzog (June 11, 2020). When did all left-wing activists become trans? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGo4glpvGYc

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Katie Herzog (April 1, 2020). Quarantine Conversations: Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfLoXgrfiio

Nonzero with Kat Rosenfield, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, and Katie Herzog (March 12, 2020). Critiquing “Ugh-Men” Feminism | Kat Rosenfield, Phoebe Maltz Bovy, & Katie Herzog [Feminine Chaos]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4593zo615iE

We The Internet TV with Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying, and Katie Herzog (February 7, 2020). We The Internet TV Live in Portland with Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying, and Katie Herzog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1sqivHa3sA

DarkHorse with Bret Weinstein and Katie Herzog (November 14, 2019). Katie Herzog | Bret Weinstein’s DarkHorse Podcast #6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjELREOrtDc

Singal-Minded with Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog (April 19, 2019) Singal-Minded, The Interview: Katie Herzog. Substack / Singal-Minded. https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/singal-minded-the-interview-katie

The Same Drugs with Meghan Murphy and Katie Herzog (February 8, 2019). Taking the white pill: Katie Herzog refuses to be put into a box. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR5DmKCjgVg

Unregistered with Thaddeus Russell and Katie Herzog (January 11, 2019). Episode 74: Katie Herzog. http://www.thaddeusrussell.com/podcast/74

Nonzero with Kat Rosenfield and Katie Herzog (December 4, 2018). Gender Transitions, Identity, and Catpeople | Kat Rosenfield & Katie Herzog [Feminine Chaos]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTo7o1sTHMs

Nonzero Clips / Culturally Determined with Aryeh Cohen-Wade and Katie Herzog (July 29, 2018). Jordan Peterson and Detransitioning | Aryeh Cohen-Wade & Katie Herzog [Culturally Determined]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IRAKuB1JI8

Resources

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

Katie Herzog (katieherzog.info) [archive]

Katie Herzog (katieherzog.org) [archive]

Drink Your Way Sober (drinkyourwaysober.com)

Twenty Twenty Hindsight (twentytwentyhindsight.com) [archive removed]

Tumblr (tumblr.com)

  • Babes of NPR
  • babesofnpr.tumblr.com [archive removed]
  • Don’t Ask, Do Tell
  • https://dontaskdotell.tumblr.com/

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Splice Today (splicetoday.com)

  • Katie Herzog
  • splicetoday.com/authors/Katie%20Herzog [removed from archives]
  • splicetoday.com/profiles/katie-herzog [archive]

Thought Catalog (thoughtcatalog.com)

  • Katie Herzog
  • thoughtcatalog.com/author/katie-herzog/ [archive]

Substack (substack.com)

  • katieherzog
  • Moose Nuggets
  • moosenuggets.substack.com
    • Chapter One: “And then I met Janna, the woman who would become my wife, and not only did I change my mind about dog fanatics, I’m ashamed to say I even became one myself.”
  • Blocked and Reported
  • blockedandreported.org
  • alt url: blockedandreported.substack.com

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LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Stranger (thestranger.com)

Medium / Arc Digital (medium.com / arcdigital.media)

Portland Mercury (portlandmercury.com)

The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)

Salon (salon.com)

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This profile originally misstated Herzog’s birthday. In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.

Gender: A Wider Lens is a podcast that platforms conservative and anti-transgender activists. It is hosted by anti-trans extremists Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad.

2025 episodes

Join Us for Monthly Live & Unfiltered Events with Sasha and Stella – Feb 25th, 2025

205 – What’s Next for Sasha Ayad, Stella O’Malley, and the Gender A Wider Lens Podcast? – Feb 14th, 2025

Premium: There Are a Lot of Doctors Too Focused on Their Own Political Goals – Feb 8th, 2025

204 – Clementine Breen Sues Famous Gender Doctor, After Rushed Medical Transition – Feb 7th, 2025

Premium: The DSM’s Flimsy Criteria for Gender Dysphoria – Feb 1st, 2025

203 – Gender Clinicians Should Take the Family’s Input Into Account, with Marieke den Ouden – Jan 31st, 2025

Premium: How “Trans” Has Changed Over the Years – Jan 25th, 2025

202 – Detransitioned After Three Decades as a Trans Man, with Jessi – Jan 24th, 2025

“Mercilessly Attacked” for Not Wanting to Transition Children, with Rep. Shawn Thierry – Jan 17th, 2025

Premium: Saving the Relationship Without Losing Yourself – Jan 11th, 2025

200 – ROGD Boys Exist! with Lydia – Jan 10th, 2025

Premium: Is Trans Ideology a Surrogate Religion? with Winston Marshall – Jan 4th, 2025

199 – Life After Mumford & Sons with Winston Marshall – Jan 3rd, 2025

2024 Episodes

198 – The Trans Inclusion Controversy That Took Over La Leche League with Helen Joyce & Marian Tompson – Dec 20th, 2024

197 – We Have a BIG Announcement! – Dec 13th, 2024

Premium: Why Are Therapists Transing Away the Gay? – Dec 7th, 2024

196 – Are Puberty Blockers the Next Consumer Fraud Scandal? with Glenna Goldis – Dec 6th, 2024

195 – The Autogynephilia Controversy with Phil Illy – Nov 29th, 2024

Premium: Never Outlaw Homeschooling! – Nov 23rd, 2024

194 – How the Gender Agenda Captured Iceland, with Eldur SmĂĄri Kristinsson – Nov 22nd, 2024

Premium: Being Male or Female is Not a Feeling State – Nov 16th, 2024

193 – Frauds, Fetishes, and Frameworks in Today’s Trans Movement, with Dr. Az Hakeem – Nov 15th, 2024

Dysphoria Means Something Different to Different People – Nov 9th, 2024

192 – Paving a Way Back for Detrans Lesbians, with Aaron Kimberly – Nov 8th, 2024

Premium: “People Have the Right to Not Have a Gender Identity” – Nov 2nd, 2024

191 – Holding the Line on Liberal Values, with Helen Pluckrose and Carrie Clark – Nov 1st, 2024

Premium: Does Physical Strength Help Build Psychological Strength? with April Hutchinson – Oct 26th, 2024

190 – From Addict to Champion to Activist, with April Hutchinson – Oct 25th, 2024

189 – What Happened at the Genspect Conference in Lisbon – Oct 18th, 2024

Premium: How to Break Through Thought-Stopping Cliches – Oct 12th, 2024

188 – Why Do People Double Down in the Face of Contrary Evidence? – Oct 11th, 2024

187 – Gender: A Wider Lens Live from Lisbon with Billboard Chris – Oct 4th, 2024

Premium: We Need More Whistleblowers to Come Forward – Sep 28th, 2024

186 – Courage is Contagious, with Whistleblower Vanessa Sivadge – 

Sep 27th, 2024

185 – Tales From Genderland with Julie Bindel – Sep 20th, 2024

Premium: When Did Everything Become A Matter of Life or Death? – Sep 14th, 2024

184 – Chanting, Humming, and Silencing–The Attack on Free Speech in NYC Schools with Maud Maron – Sep 13th, 2024

Premium: “It Took War for Me to Contend With My Own Reality” – Sep 11th, 2024

183 – Running From Rockets and Walking Toward Womanhood, with Maia Poet – Sep 10th, 2024

Why Aren’t More Philosophers Delving Into Gender-Affirming Care? – Sep 7th, 2024

182 – What Exactly is a “Transcendent Sense of Gender”? with Alex Byrne – Sep 6th, 2024

Premium: When the Ideology Wanes, But the Dysphoria Remains – Aug 31st, 2024

181 – From Activist to Apostate–A Twisty-Turny “Gender Journey,” with Tali – Aug 30th, 2024

Premium: Parenting A Son with AGP Traits – Aug 28th, 2024

180 – The Many Roots and Presentations of Gender Dysphoria in Males – Aug 28th, 2024

Premium: Boys Need to be Taught About Sacred Masculinity – Aug 24th, 2024

179 – Healing From Sissy Porn and Gender Dysphoria with Shane Cole – Aug 23rd, 2024

Premium: Standing Up for Women in Sports Again and Again, with Jennifer Sey – Aug 17th, 2024

178 – How Brands Influence Culture (For Better or Worse) with Jennifer Sey – Aug 16th, 2024

Premium: How the Danish Rainbow Council Influenced Politics – Aug 10th, 2024

177 – How Gender Ideology Came to Denmark with Jesper Rasmussen – Aug 9th, 2024

Premium: Radical Acceptance is Ice for the Soul with Lynn Chadwick – Aug 3rd, 2024

176 – Funding Lawsuits for Detransitioners with Lynn Chadwick – Aug 2nd, 2024

Premium: What Happens to Mothers and Babies When You Put Cross-Sex Hormones in the Mix? – Jul 27th, 2024

175 – What Really Happens to a Female Body on Testosterone? with Elaine Miller – Jul 26th, 2024

174 – How Porn Can Influence the Desire to Transition, with Forrest – Jul 19th, 2024

Premium: How Gender Ideology Has Infiltrated Art and Culture | with N3VLYNNN – Jul 13th, 2024

173 – Why Are Trans Activists Rewriting History? with N3VLYNNN – Jul 12th, 2024

Premium: “The Lesbian Community Doesn’t Feel Like it Exists Anymore” – Jul 6th, 2024

172 – Arielle Isaac Norman Knows More Than Dave Chappelle – Jul 5th, 2024

171 – Breaking News: The Latest WPATH Scandal, with Lisa Selin Davis – Jul 1st, 2024

Premium: Children Have the Right to Know Their Body is Not Their Enemy – Jun 29th, 2024

170 – The Legal, Emotional and Physical Consequences of Secret Social Transition with Vernadette Broyles – Jun 28th, 2024

Premium: There’s a Struggle for Attention When Your Dad is Trans – Jun 22nd, 2024

169 – Growing up with a Trans Parent, with Emma Thomas from Children of Transitioners – Jun 21st, 2024

Premium: The Trouble with Big Trauma, with Abigail Shrier – Jun 15th, 2024

168 – Bad Therapy and Irreversible Damage with Abigail Shrier – Jun 14th, 2024

Premium: What Can We Learn from Other Legal Precedents? – Jun 8th, 2024

167 – Dawn of the Detransitioner Lawsuits, with Josh Payne – Jun 7th, 2024

Premium: The Top Five Common Mistakes Estranged Parents Make – Jun 1st, 2024

166 – Dr. Joshua Coleman and How Parents Can Heal or Prevent Estrangement – May 31st, 2024

Premium: I’m Glad I Was a Girl in the 70s | Meghan Daum – May 25th, 2024

165 – Meghan Daum Wants Women To Stop Silencing Themselves – May 24th, 2024

Premium: Is It Asexuality, or Is It Anti-Depressants? with Freya India – May 18th, 2024

164 – Gen Z and the Agony of a Screen-based Life with Freya India – May 17th, 2024

Premium: “Men Should Not Be Induced to Produce Something from Their Nipples, That Some People Want to Call Milk” – May 11th, 2024

163 – Trans Ideology is a Restriction of Freedom, Not an Expansion of It, with Heather Heying – May 10th, 2024

Premium: Are Teens Replacing Friends with Therapists? – May 4th, 2024

162 – The Over-treatment of Young People – May 3rd, 2024

Premium: I Was Not Looking to Be An Activist with Tamara Pietzke – Apr 27th, 2024

161 – The Unlikely Whistleblower with Tamara Pietzke – Apr 26th, 2024

Premium: “People Aren’t Born into Some Special Category of Person Called Trans” – Apr 20th, 2024

160 – People Deserve Better Than This “Gender-Affirming Care” with Christina Buttons – Apr 19th, 2024

Premium: When “Helpful” Treatments Harm Patients – Apr 13th, 2024

159 – From Opioids to Gender, How Harmful Policies Scale in our Modern Healthcare System with Dr. Carrie Mendoza – Apr 12th, 2024

Premium: The Ancient Link Between Religion and Mutilation – Apr 6th, 2024

158 – The Little-Known Shocking History of Gender Identity Ideology with Malcolm Clark – Apr 5th, 2024

Premium: From Transmaxxing to Transhumanism – Mar 30th, 2024

157 – Is Our Culture Incentivizing Men to Transition? with Sascha Bailey – Mar 29th, 2024

Premium: How Has WPATH Responded to the Leaked Files? – Mar 23rd, 2024

156 – “WPATH Has No Respect for Medical Ethics” with Mia Hughes – Mar 22nd, 2024

Premium: Tales of a Canceled Evolutionary Biologist – Mar 16th, 2024

155 – Loop de Loops and Deepities of Sex and Gender with Colin Wright – Mar 15th, 2024

Premium: Bringing Androgyny Back – Mar 13th, 2024

154 – “My Entire Childhood Was Medicalized” with Scarlet – Mar 12th, 2024

Premium: Talking About Medical Ethics and the AAP Conference with Laura Becker – Mar 9th, 2024

153 – Why Smart, Quirky, Artistic Girls Take Up the Transition Fantasy w/Laura Becker – Mar 8th, 2024

Premium: Silencing, Shaming and Scapegoating with Kathleen Stock – Mar 2nd, 2024

152 – Trapped in a Language Cul-De-Sac with Kathleen Stock – Mar 1st, 2024

Premium: Like a Daydream Out of a Science Fiction Novel – Feb 24th, 2024

151 – “These Doctors Have Forgotten the Meaning of Medicine” with Dr. Eithan Haim – Feb 23rd, 2024

Premium: The Weaponization of Female Empathy with Dr. Leor Sapir – Feb 17th, 2024

150 – The Consumerism of Gender-Affirming Care with Leor Sapir – Feb 16th, 2024

Premium: Letting Go of the False Promise – Feb 10th, 2024

149: Walking My ROGD Daughter Through Desistance with January Littlejohn – Feb 9th, 2024

Premium: What to do When Kids Cling to their Dysphoria – Feb 3rd, 2024

148 – Identity Indoctrination & the Black Hole of Gender – Feb 2nd, 2024

2023 episodes

147 – Can We Win the Gender Culture War in 2024? – Dec 22nd, 2023

Premium: How can I address my 9-year-old daughter’s growing belief in non-binary gender identities? – Dec 15th, 2023

146 – Myths, Misconceptions, and Exaggerations about Gender – Dec 15th, 2023

Premium: Is gender a framework which limits people’s ability to express themselves fully? – Dec 8th, 2023

145 – Things ROGD Parents Need to Hear (even if they don’t want to) – Dec 8th, 2023

Premium: Graham Linehan shares how he talks about gender ideology IRL? – Dec 1st, 2023

144 – “Glinner is a TERF” with Graham Linehan – Dec 1st, 2023

Premium: Sarah Holmes shares how she talks about “gender” in day to day life – Nov 24th, 2023

143 – The Battle Over the Word Woman with Sarah Holmes – Nov 24th, 2023

142 – When Gender Hits the Holidays Part 2 – Nov 21st, 2023

Premium: Bonus Conversation with Dr. Jillian Spencer – Nov 17th, 2023

141 – Silenced for Asking Questions About Gender Medicine with Dr. Jillian Spencer

140 – Gender: A Wider Lens Live from Denver with Chloe Cole

139 – Sex, Politics, and Double-Standards in Women’s Sports with Coach Linda Blade

138 – The Emotional Lives of Parents Caught in the Gender Maelstrom

  • 27th October 2023 

137 – Conspiracy Theories, Hoaxes, and the Detransition Time Bomb with Wilfred Reilly

136 – Gender as a Communication, It’s Not What You Think with Maggie Goldsmith

  • Guest: “Maggie Goldsmith” of PITT Oct 12, 2023

135 – Intersex, Identity, & Ideology with Aaron Kimberly

134 – Genspect’s “The Bigger Picture” Comes to Denver

  • Oct 3, 2023

133 – Is Trans REALLY the New Gay?

  • Sep 29, 2023

132 – How To Have Impossible Conversations About Gender with Peter Boghossian

131 – Facing Futility: You Can’t Actually Change Sex, with Corinna Cohn

130 – Katie Herzog: Unblocked & Recorded

129 – Is “Gender-Affirming Care” an Oedipus Trap

  • Sep 1st, 2023

128 – As Weird as a Chicken Crying: AAP Statement on Pediatric Gender Transition with Dr. Julia Mason

ANNOUNCEMENT | Weekend of Workshops Discount Offer

  • Aug 22nd, 2023

127 – Help! Gender Is a Mess at My School: For Teachers, Counselors, & Administrators

  • Aug 18th, 2023

126 – Hot Takes: Sasha & Stella Revisit Controversies from Season 3

  • Aug 11th, 2023

125 – From Gender Expert to Skeptical Dissenter with Sara Stockton

124 – A Culture of Desistance: Schools and Gender w/ Alex Capo

123 – Drag, Drinking and Taking off the Mask with Calvin Lunt

122 – We Wrote a Book: When Kids Say They’re Trans | A Guide for Thoughtful Parents

  • Jul 14th, 2023

Follow-Up Episode: 116 Part II – Retraction w/ Dr. Michael Bailey

121 – Practical Advice for Managing Gender Identity in Schools with Dr. Kate Goonan

120 — Pioneer Series: Researching Sexual Behaviors with James Cantor

119 — Who Gets Embroiled in the Gender Debates

  • Jun 23rd, 2023

118 – Prioritizing Expensive & Invasive Interventions: American Healthcare w/ Zhenya Abbruzzese

117 – Gender, Parents, and Public Schools with Kate Parker

  • Guest: Kate Parker Jun 9th, 2023

116 — Identity Politics vs. The Pursuit of Knowledge with Dr. Michael Bailey

115 — How Online Communities Shape Thought, Desire, and Doubt about Transition: with Eliza Mondegreen

114 — The Dutch Protocol: A Deprivation of Sexual Development with Julia Mason and Stephen Levine

113 — Gender A Wider Lens LIVE from Ireland

112 — Jamie Reed: “Every Ethical Line I Drew Was Walked On
 We Are Hurting People”

Flashback Episode | 41 – Trans: A Conversation with Helen Joyce

111 — Affirmation Therapy: Necessary, But Not Sufficient

  • Apr 21st, 2023

110 — Pathologizing Normal: The Lure of Identity Labels & Diagnoses

  • Apr 14th, 2023

109 — What If We Are All Wrong: A Mother’s Regret with Rose

  • Guest: “Rose” Apr 7th, 2023

108 — Genspect Vision: The Bigger Picture with Joe Burgo & Alasdair Gunn

107 — What Your Teen is Trying to Tell You

  • Mar 24th, 2023

106 — Detransition Awareness: Beyond Identity & Political Narratives

  • Mar 17th, 2023

105 — From Rejecting the Body to Finding Female w/ Victoria Smith

  • Guest: Victoria Smith Mar 10th, 2023

104 — No Time to Think with Hannah Barnes: The Downfall of GIDS at the Tavistock

103 — Follow the Gender-brick Road: from Bi to Pan to Trans

  • Feb 24th, 2023

102 — Dutch Journalists: Words Matter
The Media’s Influence to Share or to Silence

  • Guests: Jan Kuitenbrouwer and Peter Vasterman Feb 17th, 2023

101 — Michael Biggs on Puberty Blockers: From Curiosity to ExposĂ©

100 — Falling Down the Gender Rabbit Hole: A Tale of Two Therapists

  • Feb 3rd, 2023

TOP 5 of 2022 Countdown: #1 EP 93 – A Takedown of Gender Politics with Wesley Yang

TOP 5 of 2022 Countdown: #2 EP 69 – Pioneers Series: Post-Series Analysis & Break!

  • Jan 20th, 2023

TOP 5 of 2022 Countdown: #3 EP 71 — Gender: The American State of Affairs with Jesse Singal

TOP 5 of 2022 Countdown: #4 EP 88 – Gender: Philosophy, Institutions, and Policy with Leor Sapir

TOP 5 of 2022 Countdown: #5 EP 66 – Pioneers Series: Where it All Started – The Dutch Researchers Steensma & De Vries

2022 episodes

99 — Detransitioned & Damaged by the Dutch Protocol: Teiresias

  • Guest: “Teiresias” Dec 9th, 2022

98 — StoicMom: Using Her Child’s Trans Identity for Personal Individuation

  • Guest: “StoicMom” Dec 2nd, 2022

97 — The Freedom to Believe or Not To with Rev. Bernard Randall

  • Guest: Bernard Randall Nov 25th, 2022

96 — Official Launch: Clinical Guide for Therapists Working with Gender-Questioning Youth

95 — How We Think About Sex: Leonore Tiefer

94 — WPATH’s Bizarre 8th Standards of Care

  • Nov 4th, 2022

93 — A Takedown of Gender Politics with Wesley Yang

92 — Brian Belovitch: From Boy to Girl to Woman to Man

  • Guest: Brian Belovitch Oct 21st, 2022

91 — Uncovering the GIDS Disaster: Dr. Dave Bell

  • Guest: Dave Bell Oct 14th, 2022

90 — Tomboy at Tavistock: Ellie’s Desistance Story

  • Guest: “Ellie” Oct 7th, 2022

89 – Ritchie’s Detransition: The Myth of Adult Invulnerability

88 – Gender: Philosophy, Institutions, and Policy with Leor Sapir

87 — Medical Technology & Ethics w Jennifer Lahl

86 – Hormones & Identity with Bob Ostertag

  • Guest: Bob Ostertag Sep 9th, 2022

85 — Mother-Daughter Story: “I Didn’t Want to be Yours Anymore” w/ Dr. Maggie Goldsmith

  • Guest: “Maggie Goldsmith” Sep 2nd, 2022

84 — Denise Caignon From 4thWaveNow: The View From Behind the Scenes

83 — Trans Widow: Off the Grid with Shannon Thrace

82 – ASD & Gender: Who am I? with Dr. Tony Attwood

  • Guest: Tony Attwood Aug 12th, 2022

81 – An Unlikely Court Case w/ Maya Forstater

80 — Desistance Part II — Advice for Parents

  • Jul 29th, 2022

79 – Gender Identity: Literally False, Metaphorically True with Dr. Bret Alderman

78 — Affirming Reality for Kids with Stephanie Davies-Arai

77 — Desistance Pt 1 — Accepting Reality: Now vs Then

  • Jul 8th, 2022

76 — Detransition Part II — The Emerging Picture in Research

  • Jul 1st, 2022

75 – Borderline Personality: Distorted Attempts to Integrate – A Conversation w/ Lisa Duval

  • Guest: Lisa Duval Jun 24th, 2022

74 – Detransition – Part 1: Going Back & Moving Forward

  • Jun 17th, 2022

73 – Shame, Narcissism, and the Transition Fantasy w/ Joe Burgo

72 – Disenchanted by Transition

  • Jun 3rd, 2022

71 – Gender: The American State of Affairs with Jesse Singal

70 – We’re Back! — Parents Lost in a Medical Scandal

  • May 20th, 2022

69 – Pioneers Series: Post-Series Analysis & Break!

  • Apr 1st, 2022

68 – Pioneers Series: Cultural Misunderstandings with Paul L. Vasey

67 – Pioneers Series: Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies, with Anne Lawrence

66 – Pioneers Series: Where It All Started – The Dutch Researchers Steensma & De Vries

65 – Pioneers Series: Gender – The Big Picture with Susan Bradley

64 – Pioneers Series: Psychotherapy Pre- and Post-Transition with Az Hakeem

63 – Pioneers: Mid-Series Analysis

  • Feb 18th, 2022

62 – Pioneers Series: Adolescent Identity with Riittakerttu Kaltiala

61 – Pioneers Series: Autogynephilia: Myth and Meaning with Ray Blanchard

60 – Pioneers Series: We Contain Multitudes with Stephen Levine

59 – Pioneers Series: 46 Years of Treating GD in Kids with Kenneth Zucker

58 – Pioneers Series: Male Sexuality with Michael J. Bailey

57 — Pioneers Series: Male Femininity w/Paul L. Vasey

2021 episodes

56 – New Year’s Resolutions & Introducing the “Pioneers Series”

  • Dec 31st, 2021

55 – Who Gets to Decide What’s Normal: A Conversation w/ Lisa Selin Davis

54 – Finding a Therapist for Your Gender-Questioning Teen: A Conversation W/ Lisa Marchiano

53 – You Affirmed Your Child’s Gender… How to Roll Back

  • Dec 10th, 2021

52 – Gender Dysphoria & Detransition Research: A Conversation W/ Dr. Lisa Littman

51 – Clearing of the Pink Mist: A Conversation w/ Debbie Hayton

50 – When Gender Hits the Holidays

  • Nov 19th, 2021

49 – Archives of an Epidemic: A conversation w/ Benjamin Boyce

48 – When an Adult You Love Transitions

  • Nov 5th, 2021

47 – When Parents Disagree

  • Oct 29th, 2021

46 – Helena Part II: Advice for Parents from a Former Trans Kid

45 – Helena Part 1: Social Justice, Fandoms & FtM Gay Boys

44 – Multiple Meanings of Gender Dysphoria: A Conversation with Aaron Terrell

43 – Sasha & Stella Answer Your Questions: Part 3

  • Oct 1st, 2021

42 – ROGD and the Struggle to Grow Up

  • Sep 24th, 2021

41 — Trans: A Conversation with Helen Joyce

40 — Social Transition: A Powerful Psychosocial Intervention

  • Sep 10th, 2021

39 – Nonbinary Identities

  • Sep 3rd, 2021

38 – DSDs and the “Sex Spectrum”: A conversation w/ Claire Graham

37 – Womanhood: A Conversation with Milli Hill

36 – Talking Testosterone with Carole Hooven

35 – Communicating About Gender: Translating Between Parent & Child

  • Aug 6th, 2021

34 – Gender Dysphoria & Suicide

  • Jul 30th, 2021

33 – Beyond the ‘Gifted’ Label: A Conversation w/ Jessie Mannisto

32 – Stereotypes

  • Jul 16th, 2021

31 – Silencing Thought: A Conversation with Heather Brunskell-Evans

30 — Sasha & Stella Answer Your Questions: Part 2

  • Jul 2nd, 2021

29 – Conversion Therapy: A Conversation with Bob Withers

28 – Behind the Curtain: Wrapping Up Gender Exploratory Therapy

  • Jun 18th, 2021

27 – Marcus and Sue Evans both worked as clinicians in the Tavistock Centre in London for many years. Noticing red flags since the early 2000s, Sue was the first whistle-blower in the Tavistock Centre and Marcus resigned as its governor

26 – Behind the Curtain: Depth Work in Gender Exploratory Therapy – Part II

  • Jun 4th, 2021

25 – Behind the Curtain: Depth Work in Gender Exploratory Therapy

  • May 28th, 2021

24 – Behind the Curtain: Getting Started In Gender Exploratory Therapy

  • May 21st, 2021

23 – Sasha & Stella Answer Your Questions

  • May 14th, 2021

22 — An Unexpected Gender Evolution: A Conversation with Lauren

  • Guest: “Lauren” May 7th, 2021

21 – Gender Dysphoria in Boys: Part 2 — A Conversation with Angus Fox

20 – Gender Dysphoria in Boys: Part 1

  • Apr 23rd, 2021

19 – ADHD & Gender Dysphoria

  • Apr 16th, 2021

18 – COVID, Dysphoria & Listener Shout-Outs

  • Apr 9th, 2021

17 – Autism and Gender Dysphoria

  • Apr 2nd, 2021

16 – Gender Dysphoria: What It’s Like For Parents

  • Mar 26th, 2021

15 – One Detrans Voice: A Conversation with Carol

  • Guest: “Carol” Mar 19th, 2021

14 – The REAL Ways to Manage Gender Dysphoria

  • Mar 12th, 2021

13 – Are Brilliant People More Likely Trans?

  • Mar 5th, 2021

12 – Identity vs Role Confusion in Adolescence

  • Feb 26th, 2021

11 – Sex Therapy & Education: why are all the therapists ‘affirming’?

10 – Queer Theory: Subverting Life’s Categories

  • Feb 12th, 2021

9 – The Politicization of Gender

  • Feb 5th, 2021

8 – TransGenerational Wisdom: A conversation with Buck Angel

7 – Collective Collusion

  • Jan 22nd, 2021

6 – Gender Intervention: Treatment or Experiments?

  • Jan 15th, 2021

5 – Hormonal Interventions — from Fringe to Mainstream: A conversation with Dr. Will Malone

4 – Why Do People Seek a New Identity?

  • Jan 1st, 2021

2020 episodes

3 – Feminine Boy to Gay Man: a Conversation With Arty Morty

2 – Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria

  • Dec 18th, 2020

1 – Trans: Identity vs Dysphoria

  • Dec 18th, 2020

Gender: A Wider Lens Trailer

  • Nov 30th, 2020

Mia Hughes, aka “Mia Ashton” and “Mia Sedley,” is a Canada-based British writer and anti-transgender extremist.

Hughes is associated with anti-trans group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) and is closely associated with American anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. Hughes is key author of The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece funded by Environmental Progress featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members. Hughes is associated with anti-trans hate group Genspect as Director of Genspect Canada and is a Senior Fellow at Canada’s conservative Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Hughes co-hosts anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Genspect founder Stella O’Malley.

Background

Hughes is from Cheshire, a rural county south of Liverpool and Manchester.

Hughes taught in Taiwan for almost ten years after college. Hughes met a Canadian citizen there, and they married there and had their first child there. Hughes and spouse moved to Ottawa in around 2011 and now have three children. Hughes was a stay-at-home parent who began homeschooling their children: “I got to spend a precious decade with my children while they were young.”

Hughes has published under several names, including:

  • “Mia Sedley”
  • “Mia Ashton”
  • “Mia Hughes”

Hughes has written for anti-trans publications The Post Millennial, The Critic, Lesbian and Gay News, Environmental Progress, and Gender Dissent.

Anti-transgender activism

Hughes was radicalized by a tweet by J.K. Rowling on December 19, 2019 that supported anti-trans activist Maya Forstater:

Hughes stated in 2022:

There were signs that I wasn’t truly woke, and then it was a very rapid change from the tweet, JK’s tweet. I read it and I just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. And I even asked woke friends, I went into it on Facebook: “I don’t see what the fuss is about.” And that was the first time that I experienced something of a pile-on, where they were all calling her a TERF and trying to show me why it was hateful, and I just couldn’t see why it was hateful at all. And so I plunged down a rabbit hole that possibly I wish I’d never gone down. Then I emerged as a fully fledged TERF. I was outraged about what I had learned and just started tweeting about it.

“Ashton” (2022)

Hughes was soon suspended by Twitter for anti-transgender posts, then created a new ban evasion account.

Hughes writes for anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. A profile at the non-profit Environmental Progress stated Hughes focused on “the controversy of pediatric medical transition and how trans rights collide with the rights of women and the LGB community.” Shellenberger retained Hughes to write at the for-profit Substack and podcast called Public. Hughes has contributed the majority of anti-trans content there. Hughes continues to do anti-trans work under the aegis of Environmental Progress, including The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members.

Maëlys McArdle profiled Hughes in 2023:

Mia is a founding member of caWsbar, an advocacy group focused on one issue: denying trans people rights. It was part of a wave of anti-trans organizations using the sex-based rights dog whistle. She along with a local group of bigots are linked to multiple transphobic incidents in Ottawa, which I’ve previously covered here, here, here, and here.

Mia Ashton participated in the mob along with National Post columnist Rupa Subramanya and another active member of that local group, @MrsDrBee on Twitter.

McArdle (2023)

Beyond Gender

In 2025, Hughes launched the anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley and Bret Alderman.

References

Lourenco, Denio (August 13, 2025). This Canadian think tank is claiming ‘victory’ over anti-trans legislation: The Macdonald-Laurier Institute routinely publishes material targeting trans rights. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/macdonald-laurier-institute-think-tank-policy-trans-275781

Gingerich, Mia (April 3, 2024). San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger laid out a plan to attack the scientific consensus behind gender-affirming care. Some mainstream outlets took the bait. Media Matters https://www.mediamatters.org/sinclair-broadcast-group/san-fransicko-author-michael-shellenberger-laid-out-plan-attack-scientific

Urquhart, Evan (March 5, 2024). Actually Nothing: The Non-Starter Non-Story of the WPATH Files. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/wpath-nothingburger-waste-of-time

McArdle, Maëlys (June 11, 2023). Anti-trans mob in Ottawa. https://www.maelys.bio/2023/06/anti-trans-mob-in-ottawa/

Kelleher, Patrick (Mar 28 2022). Gender-critical outlet Lesbian and Gay News shuts down due to lack of support and advertising. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/03/28/lesbian-gay-news-shut-down-david-bridle/

Coverage in anti-trans press

Levy, Sue-Ann (April 25, 2022). Women’s rights activist warns gender dysphoria has become an epidemic. True North https://tnc.news/2022/04/25/levy-womens-rights-activist-warns-gender-dysphoria-has-become-an-epidemic/

Linehan, Graham (April 24, 2022). One woman’s guide to peaking the wokest of the woke. https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/one-womans-guide-to-peaking-the-wokest

Selected anti-trans writing by Hughes

Hughes, Mia (July 7, 2025). Mia Hughes: Alberta judge relies on myth that gender drugs are lifesaving. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-alberta-judge-relies-on-myth-that-gender-drugs-are-lifesaving

Hughes, Mia (June 6, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canadian Medical Association wants to force Alberta to ignore science on gender care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadian-medical-association-wants-to-force-alberta-to-ignore-science-on-gender-care

Hughes, Mia (May 19, 2025). Mia Hughes: Nova Scotia ignores growing evidence against youth gender affirming care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-nova-scotia-ignores-growing-evidence-against-youth-gender-affirming-care

Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canada-must-launch-review-of-paediatric-gender-clinic-practices

Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada’s courts must protect women’s sex-based rights, like the U.K. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadas-courts-must-protect-womens-sex-based-rights-like-the-u-k

Hughes, Mia (April 18, 2025). HUGHES: Canadian Paediatric Society’s journal follows gender ideology and ignores the science. Toronto Sun https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hughes-canadian-paediatric-societys-journal-follows-gender-ideology-and-ignores-the-science

Hughes, Mia (March 18, 2025). How gender activists stole the media, distorted medicine, and hurt Canadian kids. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-gender-activists-stole-the-media-distorted-medicine-and-hurt-canadian-kids-mia-hughes-for-inside-policy/

Hughes, Mia (February 17, 2025). Mia Hughes: Kids deserve more than slogans when it comes to gender medicine. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/kids-deserve-more-than-slogans-when-it-comes-to-gender-medicine

Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (January 27, 2025). Canada must follow the Brits—and the science—and ban puberty blockers. The Hub https://thehub.ca/2025/01/27/mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-canada-must-follow-the-brits-and-the-science-and-ban-puberty-blockers/

Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (December 10, 2024). Prison-onset gender dysphoria – a new low for women’s dignity: Mia Hughes and Peter Copeland for Inside Policy. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/prison-onset-dysphoria-a-new-low-for-womens-dignity-mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-for-inside-policy/

Hughes, Mia (March 4, 2024). The WPATH Files. Environmental Progress https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/wpath-files

Media

Genspect (January 29, 2025). There is no such thing as a transgender child. – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VCg-VKwoZRs

The Epoch Times (November 4, 2024). Leaked Files Reveal Trans Medicine Harms: Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IZLTTtO1EU

Genspect (November 2, 2024). How Misguided Diagnoses Fuel Irreversible Harm – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBLFvzDZAU8

Stanford Classical Liberalism Initiative (October 24, 2024) Classical Liberalism Seminar – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_JZXzocqd8

Andrew Gold (May 19, 2024). 410. Is Transgender A Mental Illness? – Mia Hughes. On the Edge with Andrew Gold https://www.patreon.com/posts/is-transgender-104543977

Stephanie Winn (Some Kind of Therapist) (April 29, 2024). 107. Exposing Gender Malpractice: Mia Hughes on the WPATH Files, Medical Ethics, & Informed Consent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebkVt5GDIU

Macdonald-Laurier Institute with Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes (April 25, 2024). How a trans activist group undermined medical science / Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CjBc3102g

Gender: A Wider Lens (March 23, 2024). Premium: How Has WPATH Responded to the Leaked Files?

Gender: A Wider Lens (March 21, 2024). “WPATH Has No Respect for Medical Ethics” with Mia Hughes | Episode 156. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikM6ziYLb4c

Meghan Daum and Sarah Haider (March 10, 2024). Activists in Charge: Major Disregard for Ethics at Transgender Health Authority Revealed. A Special Place in Hell https://aspecialplace.substack.com/p/activists-in-charge-major-disregard

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Lesbian and Gay News (lesbianandgaynews.com) [archive]

Human Events (humanevents.com)

National Post (nationalpost.com)

  • Mia Hughes
  • nationalpost.com/search/?search_text=%22mia+hughes%22

The Post Millennial (thepostmillennial.com)

  • Mia Ashton
  • thepostmillennial.com/author/mia-ashton

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)

  • Mia Ashton [Mia Sedley]
  • thecritic.co.uk/author/mia-sedley

Macdonald-Laurier Institute (macdonaldlaurier.ca)

  • Mia Hughes
  • macdonaldlaurier.ca/cm-expert/mia-hughes

Jennifer Block is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Block is a key historical figure in 21st-century media attacks on trans healthcare.

Block is an embedded reporter with anti-trans hate groups like Genspect, attending their events and laundering their extremist views into mainstream media, most notably into The BMJ before the journal’s owner, the British Medical Association, shut Block down.

Overview

Block believes that US medical consensus about care for trans and gender diverse youth is a scandal in the making. As similar bigots in media did in the late 1970s, Block keeps rewriting the same FUD propaganda piece and selling it to different outlets. The 1979 backlash eliminated healthcare options for many trans people that took four decades to reverse, and Block is at the forefront of this new backlash against our children.

Block’s work focuses on several anti-transgender positions:

  • disease models of gender diversity, especially “gender dysphoria”
  • psychological gatekeeping as a model of care
  • supporting strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via centralized government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called “gender clinics”) in the 20th century
  • the “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) disease model: “More adolescents with no history of gender dysphoria—predominantly birth registered females—are presenting at gender clinics.”
  • disproportionately amplifying outliers and bad outcomes: Andrew Martinez (suicide) and Chloe Cole (ex-trans movement)
  • not describing a single positive outcome
  • the ex-trans movement, especially “detransitioners“

Background

Jennifer Lori “Jen” Block was born on November 22, 1976 to surgeon Leonard Block (born 1948) and Roberta Block (born 1947). Block has two siblings. Block’s parents divorced, which may explain Block’s animosity toward the medical establishment.

Block earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University in 1998. Block held editorial roles at Ms. magazine, Plenty, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and The OpEd Project.

Block’s articles and commentary have appeared in The BMJ, The Washington Post Magazine, Newsweek, The Cut, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Pacific Standard, The Baffler, and Type Investigations (formerly The Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute).

Block is author of Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (2007) and Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (2019).

“Mommy bloggers” and their fans are especially susceptible to anti-transgender radicalization and social contagion. Block thanks fellow anti-trans extremist Lisa Selin Davis in the acknowledgements for Pushed.

BMJ article series, 2023–

In 2023, Block was commissioned to write an investigative piece for The BMJ. The resulting piece was deeply slanted toward the views of conservative clinicians and anti-transgender activists.

An accompanying video featured conservative therapists Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson, and gender-affirming endocrinologist Joshua Safer.

In 2025, Block revealed that The BMJ had commissioned more work, but the British Medical Association killed it following negative response to Block’s 2023 article and video.

Supporters

Anti-trans activist Helen Joyce said of Block’s article: “Fantastic article, and so important that it appears in BMJ.” Anti-trans organization Rethink Identity Medicine Ethics also liked the piece.

It was also liked and shared by several of Block’s peers, including Sean CW Korsgaard, Liz Highleyman, Mark Tighe, Sonia Gallego, Michael Marshall (@m_c_marshall), Kevin Bass, Vinay Prassad, Dr. Dina McMillan, Milli Hill, Julia Mason, Moti Gorin, Charlotte Schubert, and Benjamin Ryan.

The staff at The BMJ issued a statement:

The BMJ believes in investigative journalism as a force for change. Over the past decade, our investigative journalism has unearthed research fraud and misconduct, prompted improvements in the transparency of clinical research, led to changes in guidelines and clinical practice, and triggered parliamentary inquiries.

High quality investigative journalism requires time to research, gather evidence, and ask questions. Developing in-depth stories is expensive, and we actively seek external funding to help expand our efforts. Current no-strings funding comes from Arnold Ventures and William McGuire. Past supporters include the European Commission and Open Society Foundations. In 2022, we hope to expand our impact through crowdfunding. If you would like to support us, please contact Head of Journalism Rebecca Coombes.

We retain editorial independence—the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from any funders—for all content that is produced and published; all decisions are taken strictly within the editorial structures of the journal.

If you have a story for us, please contact [email protected].

Rebecca Coombes, Head of Journalism
Peter Doshi, Senior editor
Madlen Davies, Investigations editor
Jennifer Block, Investigations reporter
Hristio Boytchev, Freelance investigations reporter

Critics

The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors & Dentists (GLADD), Pride in Surgery Forum, and the British Medical Association all published criticisms of the piece.

British Medical Association deputy council chair Emma Runswick said:

We have recently written to the BMJ, which is editorially independent, to challenge its article “Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement” and express our concern, that alongside criticisms made by LGTBQ+ organisations such as GLADD and neurodivergent doctors, in our view, it lacks equality, diversity and inclusion awareness and patient voice. That the article has been used by transphobic lobby groups around the world is of particular concern to us.

2023 Twitter responses

Block was very unhappy about being called out for bias, posting a number of times on Twitter about this alleged mistreatment, suggesting any criticism is an attack on journalism as an institution.

February 27

  • Since my @bmj_latest piece on care for gender dysphoria in minors, some are curious about my background. I’ve been reporting on contested areas of medicine for 20 years. I wrote a book about the gap between evidence and routine practice in maternity care (still quite large!).
  • Politicization gets people no closer to evidence-based maternity care either, and I’d argue it hampered work toward expanding rights and reducing maternal mortality. In states that have advanced birth justice, it’s the result of red/blue folks accepting they have a common goal.
  • I see dismissing any clinician or researcher who has concerns about the best treatment for kids/adolescents in the face of inconclusive evidence as “anti-trans” as an attempt to silence important conversation and debate. I hope my piece is contributing.
  • FWIW, the organizer of the AAP rally I spoke with, who directed me to video footage, is a lifelong coastal democrat. You can’t just smear every person with concerns RE treatments, or the concerns themselves, as “anti-trans.” At least I’m not going to be baited into that tautology

March 3

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1631768413378084864
  • TLDR: Dear reporters, don’t report on transgender medicine. Don’t be curious about detransition or medical disagreement. Label the above anti-trans. Quote children of all ages rather than research. Cover “trans joy rather than the ‘difficult’ questions.”

March 5 [referring to anti-trans media figure Michael Knowles saying transgenderism must be eliminated.

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632464903046066177
  • THIS is anti-trans–and violent and inhumane. Reporting on disagreement and unknowns in medical practice for children with gender dysphoria is not. Both the trans community and journos can condemn such rhetoric and support open exchange of info & dialogue to support Rx decisions

This is in response to an opinion piece by trans journalist Katelyn Burns.

  • [referring to https://nbcuacademy.com/trans-kids-journalism/#.ZAIfHq868m8.twitter]
  • OK, this was a snarky tweet. But it’s a serious issue. A certain corner of journalism is conflating necessary, important reporting on the issue of medical treatment for kids with transphobia. I read this piece as saying “look over here, don’t look over there.” That’s advocacy.
  • Maybe @transscribe is not familiar with my recent piece looking into the evidence base for treatments like puberty blockers and hormones in minors. She can correct me if I’m wrong, but I read her how-to as discouraging such reporting.
  • “A story about trans health care should make clear all the facts… They should include that nearly every major medical association supports the current protocol of gender-affirming care for minors.” Well, as I report, consensus does not equal evidence-based practice.
  • Reviews in Sweden, Finland, and now UK have made clear the uncertainties and potential for harm, and those countries are pulling back on medicalization and focusing instead on mental health and social support. They are not denying anyone’s existence. It’s not political there.
  • For years, these labels of “anti-trans” “transphobe” and accusations of genocide have scared journalists who are obviously not those things from pursuing reasonable questions about benefit v. harm of medical treatment. This is regressive and I hope we’re moving past it.

Author Katelyn Burns replied “but you obscured the biases of the sources your piece depended upon. that’s advocacy.”

Block said:

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632446552668266496
  • You haven’t pointed to any such thing. Everyone is ID’d with their relationship to professional orgs. The research methodologists who evaluated the guidelines/evidence base have no history with this issue whatsoever. Just hurling the label of “anti-trans” doesn’t make it so.

2024 Free Press piece attacking Planned Parenthood

Free Press founder Bari Weiss is known for sustained attacks on trans rights. Weiss paid Block to continue these attacks by attacking Planned Parenthood.

In 2024, Block employed the same rhetoric used in anti-abortion regret propaganda in a profile of Cristina Hineman, an ex-trans activist who reports regret about making a gender transition as a consenting adult. Block then approvingly describes the legal assault on Planned Parenthood initiated by Hineman. Block then tells a similar story about “Anna,” likely the plaintiff in a similar Jane Doe lawsuit. Throughout the piece, Block denigrates trans-supportive physicians and promotes anti-trans gatekeepers like Riittakerttu Kaltiala.

2025 short film

In July 2025, Block started a Substack titled Unpopular Science. Its first post was a short propaganda piece produced with Eric S. Vaughan titled “The Liberal Case for Rethinking Gender Medicine.” Block notes:

“The genesis for this film was the investigative feature I wrote for The BMJ, which came out in February 2023. My editors committed serious resources toward producing a high-quality video component. But my print piece drew the ire of the British Medical Association, which owns the journal, and ultimately the video and follow-up reporting were killed.”

The piece features anti-trans activists Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri from LGB Courage Coalition, as well as Hilary Cass, Hannah Barnes, Zhenya Abbruzzese, Laura Edwards-Leeper, and Moti Gorin. It continues Block’s attacks on WPATH, Rachel Levine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

References

Urquhart, Evan (November 8, 2023). If Gender Affirming Care Doesn’t Have Enough Evidence, Should We Prefer a Treatment With None? Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/if-gender-affirming-care-doesnt-have-enough-evidence-should-we-prefer-a-treatment-with-none

Runswick, Emma (June 19, 2023). Take Pride in progress. The Doctor https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/take-pride-in-progress

Selected anti-trans writing by Block

Block, Jennifer (July 8, 2025). The most heated and divisive issue of our time — in 18 minutes. Unpopular Science https://jenniferblockauthor.substack.com/p/the-most-heated-and-divisive-issue

Block J (October 2024). Dispute arises over World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s involvement in WHO’s trans health guideline. BMJ, q2227. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2227

Block, Jennifer (August 7, 2024). How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Country’s Largest Suppliers of Testosterone? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-did-planned-parenthood-become

Block J (May 2024). Gender medicine in the US: how the Cass review failed to land. BMJ, q1141. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1141

Block, Jennifer (November 7, 2023). Youth gender medicine has become a hall of mirrors. Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/07/opinion/gender-affirming-care-trans-kids

Block J (August 2023). US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review. BMJ, p1877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1877

Block, Jennifer (March 6, 2023). Raft of US state laws restrict access to treatments for gender dysphoria. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p533

Block, Jennifer (February 23, 2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382

  • “her article contains several misleading statements and, crucially, fails to include the perspective of individuals from the trans and gender diverse (TGD) community”
  • Zoe Kristensen and David B Menkes [Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand] (06 March 2023). Professional responses to gender dysphoria: reality checks needed. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-3
  • “the mention of neurodivergence when speaking about transgender people is to imply that there is less capacity for making good choices about our bodies, evaluating risks and benefits.”
  • “Samira Khan,” Matthew Sellen, and Bethan Carey Jones [neurodivergent health professionals] (16 March 2023). Diversity in gender identity and neurotypes. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-8

Resources

Jennifer Block (jenniferblock.com)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Free Press (thefp.com)

The Economist is a British media organization that publishes consistently anti-transgender articles. Although most articles are unsigned, anti-trans writer Jesse Singal is the author of many of the pieces listed below after January 2024.

Contributors

The only notable exception to its anti-trans content are essays by transgender Labour Party candidate Emily Brothers, published as part of a two-week series on trans topics.

In 2019, the Economist deleted a tweet that said, “Should transgender people be sterilised before they are recognised?”

References

John, Tara (October 9, 2021). Anti-trans rhetoric is rife in the British media. Little is being done to extinguish the flames. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/09/uk/uk-trans-rights-gender-critical-media-intl-gbr-cmd/index.html

Ring, Trudy (July 29, 2021). Respected News Magazine The Economist Publishes Anti-Trans Screed. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/media/2021/7/29/respected-news-magazine-economist-publishes-anti-trans-screed

Lang, Nico (May 20, 2021). Editor’s history of calling trans people ‘frauds’ shines light on Economist’s transphobic tweet. Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/irl/helen-joyce-economist-transphobia/

Kelleher, Patrick (March 20, 2019). The Economist under fire for asking if transgender people should be sterilised. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2019/03/20/economist-transgender-sterilised-japan/

Levine, Jon (March 20, 2019). The Economist Apologizes for Tweet Asking Whether Transgender People Should Be ‘Sterilized.’ The Wrap https://www.thewrap.com/the-economist-apologizes-for-tweet-asking-whether-transgender-people-should-be-sterilized/

Selected anti-trans articles

note: most Economist articles do not have bylines. In cases where the author is confimed, the name appears in [brackets].

[Singal, Jesse] (September 18, 2025). How stable are the gender identities of younger children? A study finds that one in five who switch gender change their mind. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/09/18/how-stable-are-the-gender-identities-of-younger-children

Uncredited (April 16, 2025). What is a woman? Britain’s Supreme Court gives its answer. The terms “woman” and “sex” refer to “a biological woman and biological sex.” The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/04/16/what-is-a-woman-britains-supreme-court-gives-its-answer

Uncredited (April 30, 2025). A landmark study of gender medicine is caught in an ethics row. The Economist https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/04/30/a-landmark-study-of-gender-medicine-is-caught-in-an-ethics-row

[Singal, Jesse] (January 27, 2025). The White House has been fluid on gender for a decade. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/01/27/the-white-house-has-been-fluid-on-gender-for-a-decade

[Singal, Jesse] (December 6, 2024). America’s best-known practitioner of youth gender medicine is being sued. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/12/06/americas-best-known-practitioner-of-youth-gender-medicine-is-being-sued

Uncredited (December 5, 2024). The US Supreme Court appears likely to uphold a medical ban affecting trans youth. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/12/05/the-us-supreme-court-appears-likely-to-uphold-a-medical-ban-affecting-trans-youth

Uncredited (December 2, 2024). A big transgender-rights case heads to America’s Supreme Court. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/12/02/a-big-transgender-rights-case-heads-to-americas-supreme-court

[Singal, Jesse] (June 27, 2024). Research into trans medicine has been manipulated: Court documents offer a window into how this happens. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/06/27/research-into-trans-medicine-has-been-manipulated

Uncredited (November 28, 2024). Britain’s Supreme Court considers what a woman is. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/11/28/britains-supreme-court-considers-what-a-woman-is

Uncredited (January 18, 2024). Britain tries to correct the treatment of gender-dysphoric kids. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2024/01/18/britain-tries-to-correct-the-treatment-of-gender-dysphoric-kids

[Singal, Jesse] (January 10, 2024). Simine Vazire hopes to fix psychology’s credibility crisis. Her new job editing the field’s most prestigious journal should help. The Economist https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/01/10/simine-vazire-hopes-to-fix-psychologys-credibility-crisis

Uncredited (April 5, 2023). The evidence to support medicalised gender transitions in adolescents is worryingly weak. The Economist https://www.economist.com/briefing/2023/04/05/the-evidence-to-support-medicalised-gender-transitions-in-adolescents-is-worryingly-weak

Uncredited (April 5, 2023). What America has got wrong about gender medicine. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/04/05/what-america-has-got-wrong-about-gender-medicine

Uncredited (March 7, 2023). Legal action may change transgender care in America. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/03/07/legal-action-may-change-transgender-care-in-america

Uncredited (January 5, 2023). Scotland’s new gender-reform law presents Rishi Sunak with a dilemma: He must decide whether to refer the law to the Supreme Court in London. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2023/01/05/scotlands-new-gender-reform-law-presents-rishi-sunak-with-a-dilemma

Uncredited (November 17, 2022). Britain changes tack in its treatment of trans-identifying children. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/11/17/britain-changes-tack-in-its-treatment-of-trans-identifying-children

Uncredited (July 28, 2022). Questioning America’s approach to transgender health care. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/07/28/questioning-americas-approach-to-transgender-health-care

Uncredited (June 23, 2022). The Biden administration’s confused embrace of trans rights. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/06/23/the-biden-administrations-confused-embrace-of-trans-rights

Uncredited (June 22, 2022). Swimming’s ruling on transgender women continues a trend. The Economist https://www.economist.com/international/2022/06/22/swimmings-ruling-on-transgender-women-continues-a-trend

Uncredited (March 30, 2022). Why Florida is banning lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Economist https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/03/30/why-florida-is-banning-lessons-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity

Uncredited (February 19, 2022). Activist doctors are urging GPs to prescribe cross-sex hormones. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/02/19/activist-doctors-are-urging-gps-to-prescribe-cross-sex-hormones

Uncredited (January 8, 2022). Trans ideology is distorting the training of America’s doctors. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/01/08/trans-ideology-is-distorting-the-training-of-americas-doctors

Uncredited (December 4, 2021). Britain’s proposal to ban “conversion therapy” is not what it seems: The government conflates sexual orientation and “gender identity”. It should think again. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/12/04/britains-proposal-to-ban-conversion-therapy-is-not-what-it-seems

Uncredited (November 6, 2021). Portrait of a detransitioner as a young woman. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/11/06/portrait-of-a-detransitioner-as-a-young-woman

Uncredited (October 16, 2021). Opinion on the use of puberty blockers in America is turning. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/10/16/opinion-on-the-use-of-puberty-blockers-in-america-is-turning

Uncredited (September 23, 2021). An influential ruling about puberty blockers has been overturned. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/09/23/an-influential-ruling-about-puberty-blockers-has-been-overturned

Uncredited (June 12, 2021). Continental Europe enters the gender wars: Germany and Spain reject laws on gender self-identification. The Economist https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/06/12/continental-europe-enters-the-gender-wars

Uncredited (May 13, 2021). Doubts are growing about therapy for gender-dysphoric children. The Economist https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/05/13/doubts-are-growing-about-therapy-for-gender-dysphoric-children

Uncredited (April 22, 2021). Trans medicine gets entangled in America’s culture wars. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/04/22/trans-medicine-gets-entangled-in-americas-culture-wars

Uncredited (February 18, 2021). Little is known about the effects of puberty blockers. The Economist https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/02/18/little-is-known-about-the-effects-of-puberty-blockers

Uncredited (December 12, 2020). An English ruling on transgender teens could have global repercussions. The Economist https://www.economist.com/international/2020/12/12/an-english-ruling-on-transgender-teens-could-have-global-repercussions

Uncredited (December 12, 2020). Other countries should learn from a transgender verdict in England. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/12/12/other-countries-should-learn-from-a-transgender-verdict-in-england

Uncredited (December 12, 2020). New standards of transgender health care raise eyebrows. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/09/22/new-standards-of-transgender-health-care-raise-eyebrows

Uncredited (December 12, 2020 ). An English ruling on transgender teens could have global repercussions. The Economist https://www.economist.com/international/2020/12/12/an-english-ruling-on-transgender-teens-could-have-global-repercussions

Uncredited (December 12, 2020). Other countries should learn from a transgender verdict in England. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/12/12/other-countries-should-learn-from-a-transgender-verdict-in-england

Uncredited (December 2, 2020). “The issue is making sure children who really need treatment get it”—Britain’s landmark trans ruling. The Economist https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2020/12/02/the-issue-is-making-sure-children-who-really-need-treatment-get-it-britains-landmark-trans-ruling

Uncredited (December 1, 2020). The judgment in Keira Bell’s case upsets trans groups. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/12/01/the-judgment-in-keira-bells-case-upsets-trans-groups

Uncredited (November 26, 2020). A book on transitioning girls is denounced as transphobic. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/11/26/a-book-on-transitioning-girls-is-denounced-as-transphobic

Uncredited (September 24, 2020). Britain’s Gender Recognition Act won’t change: The government goes back on a plan to allow self-ID. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/09/24/britains-gender-recognition-act-wont-change

Uncredited (Febreuary 1, 2020). A pushback against trans activism in Britain: Three groups of people have applied for judicial reviews. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2020/02/01/a-pushback-against-trans-activism-in-britain

Uncredited (January 30, 2020). A new push to ban medical treatments for transgender children. The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/01/30/a-new-push-to-ban-medical-treatments-for-transgender-children

Uncredited (January 30, 2020). What to do about puberty blockers: Drugs offered to transgender children need to be used more cautiously. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/01/30/what-to-do-about-puberty-blockers

Callahan, Carey (December 3, 2019). Gender identity is hard but jumping to medical solutions is worse. The Economist https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/12/03/gender-identity-is-hard-but-jumping-to-medical-solutions-is-worse

Uncredited (October 3, 2019). Transgender rules for English schools face a backlash from women. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2019/10/03/transgender-rules-for-english-schools-face-a-backlash-from-women

Uncredited (April 4, 2019). Why Iran is a hub for sex-reassignment surgery: It is not because the regime is liberal. The Economist https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/04/04/why-iran-is-a-hub-for-sex-reassignment-surgery

Hayton, Debbie (July 3, 2018). Gender identity needs to be based on objective evidence rather than feelings. The Economist https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/03/gender-identity-needs-to-be-based-on-objective-evidence-rather-than-feelings

Uncredited (September 1, 2018). Why are so many teenage girls appearing in gender clinics? The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/09/01/why-are-so-many-teenage-girls-appearing-in-gender-clinics

Uncredited (October 27, 2018). Who decides your gender? Gender self-identification is often cited as a matter of civil rights. It is more problematic than many advocates realise. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/10/27/who-decides-your-gender

Uncredited (October 27, 2018). Transgender politics focuses on who determines someone’s gender. The Economist https://www.economist.com/briefing/2018/10/27/transgender-politics-focuses-on-who-determines-someones-gender

Stock, Kathleen (July 6, 2018). Changing the concept of “woman” will cause unintended harms. The Economist https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/06/changing-the-concept-of-woman-will-cause-unintended-harms

Uncredited (July 5, 2018). A culture war comes to Westminster: Both the Conservatives and Labour agree on trans rights. Now they just have to convince the voters. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/07/05/a-culture-war-comes-to-westminster

Uncredited (December 2, 2017). Are women born or made? Plans to blur gender boundaries spark opposition from feminists. The Economist https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/12/02/are-women-born-or-made

Uncredited (November 16, 2017). Making sense of the culture war over transgender identity. The Economist https://www.economist.com/international/2017/11/16/making-sense-of-the-culture-war-over-transgender-identity

Uncredited (November 16, 2017). Children are victims in the latest identity-driven culture war. The Economist https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/11/16/children-are-victims-in-the-latest-identity-driven-culture-war

McCann, Charlie (September 28, 2017). When girls won’t be girls. The Economist https://www.economist.com/1843/2017/09/28/when-girls-wont-be-girls

“S.M.” (November 1, 2016). What is at stake in the first Supreme Court case on transgender rights: A bathroom brawl will be one of the most-watched cases of the Supreme Court term. The Economist https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2016/11/01/what-is-at-stake-in-the-first-supreme-court-case-on-transgender-rights

Resources

The Economist (economist.com)

  • Transgender identities: a series of viewpoints (2018)
  • economist.com/transgender [archive]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

The Wall Street Journal is an American media organization that piublishes consistently anti-trans contect, espcially on the Opinion page.

Their journalism is considered center to center-right, and the editorial page is considered right-wing/conservative. The opinion section frequently promotes and platforms major anti-trans voices, including Gerald Posner, J. Michael Bailey, Abigail Shrier, Leor Sapir, and Colin Wright.

Contributors

In 2023, the WSJ significantly increased its anti-transgender coverage.

Leor Sapir and Colin Wright wrote a piece attacking academic publisher Springer after it retracted an unethical paper by J. Michael Bailey in 2023. The previous year, Wright had invoked the “tomboy erasure” conspiracy theory that claims gender diverse cisgender children are being forced to transition as a form of anti-LGB conversion therapy.

Abigail Shrier was allowed to complain about “The Transgender War on Women.”

Joe Barrett covered state recognition of trans identity documents. Jathon Sapsford and Stephanie Armour quoted anti-trans activist Leor Sapir, and Republican politicians Dan Crenshaw and Chris Christie, with rebuttal by Democrat Frank Pallone Jr. Stephanie Armour also covered Medicaid coverage of trans health services.

Laura Kusisto and Louise Radnofsky covered sex-segregated competitive sports. Ben Chapman and Laine Higgins also covered this.

Mariah Timms covered anti-trans developments in Missouri under AG Andrew Bailey.

Lindsay Wise, Simon J. Levien, and Isaac Yu covered Republican attempts to control the reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy of others.

Elizabeth Findell, Adolfo Flores and Peter Champelli covered the Texas ban on trans healthcare.

Mariah Timms and Laura Kusisto covered Tennessee’s ban on trans healthcare for minors.

Talal Ansari covered Zooey Zephyr’s removal from the Montana House floor.

The editorial board opined about “Transgender Patients vs. Religious Doctors: The Franciscan Alliance might be the new Little Sisters of the Poor.”

2023 Endocrine Society attacks

After Roy Eappen and Ian Kingsbury of anti-trans group Do No Harm attacked the Endocrine Society, President Stephen R. Hammes responded with an outline of the medical consensus behind the Endocrine Society’s guidelines.

Hammes was then attacked by a group of anti-trans clinicians in a subsequent letter. The signatories are:

FINLAND

UNITED KINGDOM

SWEDEN

  • Angela SĂ€mfjord, M.D. Senior consultant, Sahlgrenska University Hospital
  • Sven RomĂĄn, M.D. Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

NORWAY

  • Anne WĂŠhre, M.D., Ph.D. Senior consultant, Oslo University Hospital

BELGIUM

  • Em. Prof. Patrik Vankrunkelsven, M.D. Ph.D. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Honorary senator
  • Sophie DechĂȘne, M.R.C.Psych. Child and adolescent psychiatrist
  • Beryl Koener, M.D., Ph.D. Child and adolescent psychiatrist

FRANCE

  • Prof. Celine Masson, Ph.D. Picardy Jules Verne University Psychologist, Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants, Co-director, Observatory La Petite SirĂšne
  • Caroline Eliacheff, M.D. Child and adolescent psychiatrist, Co-director, Observatory La Petite SirĂšne
  • Em. Prof. Maurice Berger, M.D. Ph.D. Child psychiatrist

SWITZERLAND

  • Daniel HalpĂ©rin, M.D. Pediatrician

SOUTH AFRICA

  • Prof. Reitze Rodseth, Ph.D. University of Kwazulu-Natal
  • Janet Giddy, M.B.Ch.B., M.P.H. Family physician and public-health expert
  • Allan Donkin, M.B.Ch.B. Family physician

UNITED STATES

  • Clin. Prof. Stephen B. Levine, M.D. Case Western Reserve University
  • Clin. Prof. William Malone, M.D. Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine Director, Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine
  • Prof. Patrick K. Hunter, M.D. Florida State University Pediatrician and bioethicist

Hammes was also criticized by a group of parents that included Kathleen Dooley.

Anti-trans misinformation following Charlie Kirk shooting

In September 2025, during the search for the person who shot anti-trans activist Charlie Kirk, the Wall Street Journal published a live update under the headline “Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved with Transgender, Antifascist Ideology, Sources Say.” The source was a leaked internal ATF bulletin first posted by anti-trans activist Steven Crowder. Crowder pinned the post on X, and it garnered over 29 million views.

After massive pushback about their irresponsible headline and reporting, WSJ edited the headline to read “Early Bulletin Said Ammunition in Kirk Shooting Engraved With Transgender, Antifascist Ideology; Some Sources Urge Caution.”

The term “transgender ideology” is an anti-trans conspiracy theory frequently invoked by right-wing activists. After it was confirmed that the engravings were references to memes used in toxic online communities like the Groyper Army fan base of anti-trans extremist Nick Fuentes, the WSJ added an editor’s note that did not retract the headline or their reporting about “transgender ideology,” writing:

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article detailed how an internal law enforcement bulletin said that ammunition recovered following the Charlie Kirk shooting was engraved with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology.” Justice Department officials later urged caution about the bulletin by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, saying it may not accurately reflect the messages on the ammunition, and the article was updated Thursday to reflect that. This editor’s note was appended on Friday, Sept. 12, after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the engravings included one that said “Hey fascist!” along with other messages and symbols. He gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.

Other media outlets, including the Daily Beast, the New York Post, The Telegraph, and the Jerusalem Post uncritically repeated WSJ’s claims. None of those articles were immediately updated or retracted in light of accurate information.

References

Reberkenny, Joe (September 13, 2025). Wall Street Journal slammed for false link between trans community and Kirk shooter. The Blade https://www.washingtonblade.com/2025/09/13/wall-street-journal-charlie-kirk-claim-false-link-trans-community/

Prager, Stephen (September 12, 2025). WSJ, Media Outlets Slammed for Spreading Feds’ False Claim That Kirk Shooter Expressed ‘Transgender Ideology.’ Common Dreams https://www.commondreams.org/news/charlie-kirk-2673989947

Reed, Erin (September 12, 2025). Press Conference: No “Transgender” Or “LGBTQ” Symbols Found At Kirk’s Shooting. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/press-conference-no-transgender-or

Bryant, Jacob (September 12, 2025). WSJ Torched for False Report of ‘Trans Ideology’ on Charlie Kirk Shooter’s Bullets, Muted Retraction: ‘So Little Accountability.’ The Wrap https://www.thewrap.com/wsj-trans-ideology-charlie-kirk-bullets-false-report/

Migdon, Brooke (September 12, 2025). HRC demands WSJ retract report linking Kirk shooting to transgender community. The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5501615-human-rights-campaign-wsj-retraction-kirk/

Wiggins, Christopher (September 12 2025). Wall Street Journal quietly walks back false claim Charlie Kirk shooter had pro-trans messages on his bullets. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/news/wall-street-journal-charlie-kirk

Lopatto, Elizabeth (September 12, 2025). The WSJ carelessly spread anti-trans misinformation. The Verge https://www.theverge.com/politics/777630/wsj-trans-misinformation-charlie-kirk

Serano, Julia (May 7, 2024). “Gender Ideology” Is a Conspiracy Theory. Switch Hitter https://juliaserano.substack.com/p/gender-ideology-is-a-conspiracy-theory

Selected anti-trans articles

Appel, Ben (June 30, 2025). Opinion: ‘Transgender’ Kids Usually Grow Up Gay. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/transgender-kids-usually-grow-up-gay-c71b3cd8

Freeman, James (June 26, 2025). Opinion: Liberal Professors Who Oppose Sex Changes on Kids. Wall Street Journal

Curlin, Farr (June 23, 2025). Opinion: Transgender Treatments Distort the Purpose of Medicine. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/transgender-treatments-distort-the-purpose-of-medicine-ccd6e513

Editorial Board (June 18, 2025). Good Supreme Court Sense on Trans Hormones. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/supreme-court-skrmetti-tennessee-transgender-hormone-treatments-e84d97f0

Steinmann, Jessica Hart; O’Neill, Leigh Ann (June 5, 2025). Opinon: Transgenderism Won’t Let Girls Say No. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/transgenderism-wont-let-girls-say-no-oregon-track-competition-bc03e205

Eappen, Roy (May 12, 2025). Letters: Trump Tells the Truth About ‘Trans’ Children. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-tells-the-truth-about-trans-children-hhs-report-c0841b6c

O’Toole, Tim (April 29, 2025). Letters: A Way Out of Colorado’s Transgender Tyranny. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-way-out-of-colorados-transgender-tyranny-elections-center-a4906af5

Friday, Erin; Lee, Erin (April 17, 2025). Opinion: Colorado’s Totalitarian Transgenderism Bill. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/colorados-totalitarian-transgenderism-bill-parental-rights-freedom-e841acd2

Editorial Board (February 28, 2025). Maine’s Transgender Madness. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/maines-transgender-madness-8dabbfbe

Wright, Colin; Shapiro, Ilya (February 3, 2025). Opinion: Trump Can Ban Transgender Birth Certificates. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-can-ban-transgender-birth-certificates-policy-protect-womens-spaces-d726a9fe

Editorial Board (December 13, 2024). The Trans Double-Mastectomy Lawsuit. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/clementine-breen-lawsuit-transgender-medicine-center-for-transyouth-health-us-v-skrmetti-e22382f3

Editorial Board (December 3, 2024). Transgender Minors at the Supreme Court. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/u-s-v-skrmetti-tennessee-law-transgender-minors-hormones-treatment-9be82071

Steve Marshall (December 2, 2024). Opinion: WPATH, ‘Transgender Healthcare’ and the Supreme Court. Wall Street Journal

Readers (July 26, 2023). Letters: Parents Need Answers on Pediatric Gender Medicine. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/parents-trans-gender-diverse-kids-medical-care-endocrine-1287c55

Swaim, Barton (November 14, 2024). Opinion: Markets Foiled Transgender Ideology. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/markets-foiled-trans-ideology-dei-rollback-target-budlight-social-conservatism-b8d470e4

Editorial Board (October 13, 2024). Transgender Sports Is a 2024 Sleeper Issue. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/transgender-sports-is-a-2024-sleeper-issue-ads-ohio-wisconsin-montana-2a8d044b

Wright, Colin (August 7, 2024). Opinion: Does Imane Khelif Belong in the Women’s Ring? Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/does-imane-khelif-belong-in-the-womens-ring-olympics-boxing-transgender-ideology-b227f2cd

Morrell, Travis J. (July 26, 2024). Opinion: Ideology in Medical Schools Threatens Everyone’s Health. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/ideology-in-medical-schools-threatens-everyones-health-f6887ae3

Conservative signatories (July 14, 2023). Youth Gender Transition Is Pushed Without Evidence. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/trans-gender-affirming-care-transition-hormone-surgery-evidence-c1961e27

Hammes, Stephen R. (July 4, 2023). Endocrine Society Responds on Gender-Affirming Care It improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/trans-gender-affirming-care-endocrine-society-evidence-fdb8562c

Sapsford, Jathon; Armour, Stephanie (June 19, 2023). U.S. Becomes Transgender-Care Outlier as More in Europe Urge Caution. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/u-s-becomes-transgender-care-outlier-as-more-in-europe-urge-caution-6c70b5e0

Sapir, Leor; Wright, Colin (June 9, 2023). Opinion: Medical Journal’s False Consensus on ‘Gender-Affirming Care.’ Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/opinion/medical-journals-false-consensus-on-gender-affirming-care-sex-change-procedure-transgender-f10cd52b

Eappen, Roy; Kingsbury, Ian (June 28, 2023). The Endocrine Society’s Dangerous Transgender Politicization. Members we spoke with take exception to the group’s guidelines on ‘gender-affirming care.’ Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-endocrine-societys-dangerous-politicization-endocrinologists-gender-affirming-care-arkansas-dac768bd

Resources

The Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)

  • Transgender
  • wsj.com/search?query=transgender&mod=searchresults_viewallresults

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Emily Yoffe is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Yoffe’s anti-trans coverage in The Free Press was rewarded by the Trump administration, which gave Yoffe the exclusive on their January 2025 executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

Background

Emily Joy Yoffe was born October 15, 1955. Yoffe graduated from Wellesley College in 1977.

In 1994 Yoffe married reporter John Douglas Mintz (born 1952). Their child Eliora Rose Mintz (born 1995) is a lawyer.

Yoffe wrote the “Dear Prudence” advice column for Slate from 2006 to 2015.

Anti-transgender activism

In 2020, Yoffe signed the “Harper’s Letter,” which featured many other anti-trans activists in Yoffe’s circle.

Yoffe was a frequent guest on anti-transgender podcast The Femsplainers hosted by Danielle Crittenden and Christina Hoff Sommers. 

Yoffe contributed to the anti-trans publication The Free Press in 2022 and joined the staff later that year.

Jamie Reed allegations

In 2023, Jamie Reed came forward to complain about treatment protocols at employer Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Republican Ernie Trakas joined Vernadette Broyles in representing Reed. Both are involved in the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, which claims “gender ideology” is a threat to children.

Yoffe interviewed Reed with Broyles and Bari Weiss.

“Caroline” allegations

Also in 2023, Yoffe followed up with a self-report from “Caroline,” an unsupportive parent of “Casey,” who attended the St. Louis Clinic. “Casey”disputed Yoffe’s reporting, feeling it was necessary to do so under the actual name Alex:

My name is Alex. Emily Yoffe and Bari Weiss worked in cooperation with my mom to write an article about our experience with Washington University. The article is filled with falsehoods and misconceptions. Now, my family is being threatened with legal action from big-time lawyers and we need help paying for legal defense. More at https://twitter.com/sleepyoktobur/status/1643347040250781706?s=46

(GoFundMe)

Yoffe has since uplifted other anti-trans activists, including Jesse Singal, Leor Sapir, J. Michael Bailey, and Lisa Selin Davis.

Eithan Haim and children’s stolen medical records

In May 2024, Texas surgeon Eithan Haim was charged with illegally obtaining the private medical records of pediatric patients receiving gender transition care at Texas Children’s Hospital and sharing them with anti-trans activist Christopher Rufo. Yoffe presented Haim as a heroic truth-teller in several Free Press articles. In 2025, the Trump administration dropped the charges against Haim.

References

Burns, Katelyn (April 13, 2023 11:59). Won’t somebody think of the children? OPINION: When media publish trans kids’ medical histories without their full consent, they thrust them into a harmful spotlight. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/health/trans-kids-free-press-249066

McNeill, Zane (April 11, 2023). Trans Teen Calls Out Right-Wing Reporter for Publishing Story Without Consent. Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/trans-teen-calls-out-right-wing-reporter-for-publishing-story-without-consent/

Urquhart, Evan (April 6, 2023). Emily Yoffe Takes Sides Against a Vulnerable Youth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/emily-yoffe-takes-sides

Riedel, Samantha (April 6, 2023). A Trans Teen Is Debunking an Article That Attacked Their Gender Clinic. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-teen-debunking-gender-clinic-article

Hansford, Amelia (April 6, 2023). Teen hits back after mum shares fake news about puberty blockers: ‘This is my story, not hers.’ PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/04/06/puberty-blockers-transition-story-the-free-press/

Wiggins, Christopher (April 5, 2023). Mom’s Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/media/transgender-teen-mother-interview

Bassett, Laura (April 4, 2023). Gender Fluid Teen Pushes Back Against ‘False’ Viral Story Their Mom Gave to Conservative Outlet. Jezebel https://jezebel.com/gender-fluid-teen-pushes-back-against-false-viral-story-1850301057

Schrappen, Colleen (March 5, 2023. Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. ‘I’m baffled..’ STLtoday.com https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/parents-push-back-on-allegations-against-st-louis-transgender-center-i-m-baffled/article_a94bc4d2-e68b-535f-b0c7-9fefb9e8e9f4.html

Hanshaw, Annelise (March 1, 2023). Families dispute whistleblower’s allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/01/transgender-st-louis-whistleblower/

Munz, Michele (February 19, 2023). Choice of lawyers for whistleblower at St. Louis transgender clinic taints her motive, critics say. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/choice-of-lawyers-for-whistleblower-at-st-louis-transgender-clinic-taints-her-motive-critics-say/article_7b36198a-af0d-57cf-a06c-f45952b3b307.html

Hail Flory, Julie (February 9, 2023). Statement on Transgender Center – The Source – Washington University in St. Louis. The Source https://source.wustl.edu/2023/02/statement-on-transgender-center/

Missouri Attorney General’s Office (February 9, 2023). Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Confirms Launch of Multi-Agency Investigation into St. Louis Transgender Center for Harming Hundreds of Children. https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2023/02/09/missouri-attorney-general-andrew-bailey-confirms-launch-of-multi-agency-investigation-into-st.-louis-transgender-center-for-harming-hundreds-of-children

Cruz, Eliel (August 28, 2014). GLAAD Condemns Slate‘s Emily Yoffe’s Advice. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2014/08/28/glaad-condemns-slates-emily-yoffes-advice

Staff report (September 18, 1994). Weddings – Emily J. Yoffe, John D. Mintz. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/style/weddings-emily-j-yoffe-john-d-mintz.html

Selected anti-trans writing by Yoffe

Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2025). The End of Youth Gender Transition? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-end-of-youth-gender-transition

Yoffe, Emily (January 24, 2025). Eithan Haim: ‘We Took On the Federal Leviathan and We Won.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-we-took-on-the-federal

Yoffe, Emily (January 19, 2025). EXCLUSIVE: Trump’s Day One Executive Order on ‘Male and Female.’ The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-day-one-executive-order-male-female-gender-ideology-pronouns

Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2024). Whistleblower Surgeon Could Face a Decade in Prison. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-surgeon-eithan-haim-prison

Yoffe, Emily (June 10, 2024). A Doctor Told the Truth. The Feds Showed Up at His Door. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-gender-distressed-children-indicted

Yoffe, Emily (April 3, 2023). ‘I Felt Bullied’: Mother of Child Treated at Transgender Center Speaks Out. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-felt-bullied-mother-of-child-treated

Yoffe, Emily (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. The Free Press. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs&t=631s

Yoffe, Emily (June 27, 2022). Biden’s Sex Police. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/bidens-sex-police

Yoffe, Emily (July 21, 2020). A Taxonomy of Fear: There is a pattern in the way speech is silenced. Understanding it can help us stand up to the illiberalism of this moment. Persuasion https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-taxonomy-of-fear

Yoffe, Emily and signatories (July 7, 2020). A Letter on Justice and Open Debate. Harper’s https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/

Yoffe, Emily (March 20, 2014). Dear Prudence Need to Know: My ex didn’t reveal she was transgender—until her sister told me. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/03/dear-prudence-my-ex-didnt-tell-me-she-was-transgender-until-i-confronted-her.html

Yoffe, Emily (November 20, 2012). He Becomes Her: In a live chat, Prudie advises a woman falling out of love with her transgender husband. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/11/dear-prudence-do-i-have-to-stay-with-my-transgender-husband.html

Media

Manhattan Insights with Yael Hungerford, Abigail Shrier and Emily Yoffe (March 7, 2024). Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up | A Conversation with Abigail Shrier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBILSnloCc

myhomie2taro (April 9, 2023). Trans Teen FIGHTS BACK Against Bari Weiss And Emily Yoffe’s Poor Reporting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1pGZfPWD4

The Free Press with Bari Weiss, Jamie Reed and Vernadette Broyles (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs

The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk and Emily Yoffe (March 8, 2021). Intent Matters – The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk (Emily Yoffe). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp0SuhEOiI0

The Femsplainers with Danielle Crittenden and Emily Yoffe (Augist 1, 2020). “Use Your Words! Wait, No Cancel That…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IrbKc5UDwU

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Facebook (facebook.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Denise Caignon is an American author and anti-transgender extremist.

Caignon founded anti-transgender site 4thWaveNow in 2015 and has appeared in the media under a number of aliases, including:

  • “Marie Verite”
  • “Denise Canaan”
  • “Janette Miller”

Caignon’s site became one of the most prominent transphobic platforms, surviving a purge of similar anti-trans sites that violated hosts’ terms of service. Caignon is a key developer of the controversial “rapid onset gender dysphoria” diagnosis. Caignon’s child Chiara Caignon-Lewis is a prominent member of the “ex-trans” wing of anti-trans activists.

Background

Denise Jeanette Caignon was born in 1955 to a family that moved frequently. After graduating from Louisville Collegiate School in 1973, Caignon soon moved to California and began getting involved in second-wave feminism.

Self-defense and “take back the night” initiatives were an important focus of second-wave feminism starting in the 1970s. The belief was that direct confrontation can exert community control over rapists’ behavior. In 1972, not long before Caignon’s arrival, Santa Cruz Women Against Rape (SCWAR) was founded as an “alternative anti-Rape organization in which women support women.” The non-hierarchical collective had many lesbian members and offered a 24-hour rape hotline and free self-defense workshops. They also maintained a published list profiling alleged male rapists, assaulters, and harassers. They were later sued by someone on the list.

One of the women involved with the SCWAR hotline was queer activist Gail Groves. During six years working on the rape hotline, Groves realized that many stereotypes about sexual assault were inaccurate. Caignon and Groves studied judo together, and they soon founded Santa Cruz Women’s Self-Defense Teaching Cooperative. They also founded Women Who Resist: The Success Story Project to catalog strategies for preventing and surviving a sexual assault. In 1987, they published these first-hand reports as Her Wits About Her: Self-Defense Success Stories by Women. They taught a class that role-played real situations, recommending that students prepare for common issues like attack cues and verbal abuse from attackers.

Caignon has helped produce other publications and served as an editor of the Buddhist publication Turning Wheel for many years, guest editing three issues: intentional communities, engaged lives, and fundamentalism. Caignon ended that work in 1999 to spend more time with spouse Tim Lewis and their child Chiara.

After living in California for 27 years, Caignon moved to North Carolina and studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to be a speech-language pathologist. In keeping with a longstanding interest in intentional communities, Caignon has a residence in a cohousing community in Carrboro. Caignon earned a master’s degree in 2007 and practiced in the area until retiring in 2014. Caignon’s focus was on aphasia related to strokes. Caignon helped develop Life Interest and Value (LIV) Cards, a way for people with speech loss to improve communication.

Chiara Caignon-Lewis

Caignon’s only child Chiara Caignon-Lewis was born in 1997. As an adolescent, Chiara was heavily active on Tumblr, and at one point alleged on the platform to have experienced sexual abuse as a child by Chiara’s seminal parent. These allegations align with the date of Denise Caignon’s sudden move to North Carolina after 27 years in California.

Because Denise Caignon’s entire life, career, and identity were built around preventing sexual assault, these allegations must have been completely devastating. If true, Denise Caignon failed to prevent the sexual assault that was the most deeply personal. Denise Caignon’s guilt and rage needed an outlet, and Chiara soon provided one.

Chiara began identifying as transgender online in 2013, at age 16. Chiara had already come out as queer and had started dating, but an incident at school had left Chiara with few friends in real life. Chiara turned to online communities, claiming that popular trans users on Tumblr and YouTube caused a multi-year obsession with transition.

At age 17, Chiara came out to Denise via a texted link to a gender clinic. Denise refused to let Chiara take medical transition steps, which led to a lot of fighting. At the height of the fighting, Denise got heavily involved with posting anti-transgender materials online and attending trans-exclusionary events. In an interview with Chiara, Denise said:

“I was fortunate to be able to meet two detransitioners I’d discovered online in person when I attended the Michigan Women’s Music Festival in 2015.”

In 2015, Denise sent Chiara to a Florida horse farm for nine months, after which Chiara claims the desire to transition subsided without taking any legal or medical steps. Denise and Chiara then teamed up to be one of the most high-profile famiies in the modern ex-trans movement.

Unlike the second-wave feminism of Caignon’s youth, third-wave feminism is largely trans-inclusive. Caignon’s site name 4thWaveNow is a call to replace that third-wave feminism with a transphobic fourth wave.

References

Southern Poverty Law Center (December 12, 2023). Foundations of the Contemporary Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/foundations/

Haley KL, Womack JL, Helm-Estabrooks N, Caignon D, McCulloch KL (2010). The Life Interest and Values Cards. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Department of Allied Health Sciences.

McIntyre, Carl (2010) Aphasia. Bonus materials: Interview with Denise Caignon, MS, CCC-SLP, Carl’s Speech Pathologist

Haley K, Helm-Estabrooks N, Caignon D, Womack J, McCulloch K (2009). Self-determination and life activity goals for people with aphasia. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA

Haley KL, Helm-Estabrooks N, Womack J, Caignon D, McCracken E (2007). A pictorial, binary-sorting system allowing “self-determination despite aphasia. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.

Moon, Susan (2004). Not Turning Away: The Practice of Engaged Buddhism. Shambhala Publications ISBN 9781590301036

Helena Norberg-Hodge, ‎Peter Goering, ‎John Page (2001). From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture. [Caignon handled production and layout] Zed Books ISBN 978-1856492232

Caignon, Denise, consulting ed. (1999). Turning Wheel: Journal of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Groves, Gail (1995). “And He Turned Around and Ran Away.”
in Patricia Searles, Ronald J. Berger (eds) Rape and Society: Readings on the Problem of Sexual Assault. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429493201

Levoy, Gregg (November 6, 1990). Teaching women to fight back. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/wellness/1990/11/06/teaching-women-to-fight-back/605287cd-e0cf-4672-b3a3-642e3f0074b4/

Japenga, Ann (December 10, 1987). Rape Group Accused of ‘Smear’ List : Man Sues After Name Appears in Warnings. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-10-vw-27980-story.html

Caignon, Denise; Groves, Gail , eds. (1987). Her Wits About Her: Self-Defense Success Stories by Women. HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0060550783

Moller, Catherine Harper (1984). The Silence is Broken. My Experiences with Santa Cruz Women Against Rape. University of California, Santa Cruz

UC Santa Cruz: Regional History Project: The 1970s. https://library.ucsc.edu/reg-hist/the-1970s

Coverage in anti-trans media

Dye, Eleanor (February 7, 2023). Mother admits she regrets letting her son, 4, transition to a girl identity and describes realizing her mistake was like ‘leaving a cult’ after she had previously spent years being a ‘true believer’ in transgender ideology. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11722129/Mother-admits-regrets-letting-son-4-transition-girl-identity.html

Kennedy, Dana (May 11, 2022). Anguished parents of trans kids fight back against ‘gender cult’ trying to silence them. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/05/11/meet-the-parents-of-trans-kids-fighting-gender-cult/

“Williams, Grace” (February 19, 2019). A grand conspiracy to tell the truth: An interview with 4thWaveNow founder & her daughter Chiara of the Pique Resilience Project. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2019/02/27/a-grand-conspiracy-to-tell-the-truth-an-interview-with-4thwavenow-founder-her-daughter-chiara-of-the-pique-resilience-project/

[McCann, Charlie] (September 1, 2018). Why are so many teenage girls appearing in gender clinics? The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/09/01/why-are-so-many-teenage-girls-appearing-in-gender-clinics

Media

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Stephanie Davies-Arai and Denise Caignon (November 10, 2023). Teen Transition First Responders: Denise Caignon & Stephanie Davies-Arai. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0UvOnOOa4

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Denise Caignon (April 9, 2022). Biden Admin Goes All-In on Transitioning Children | with Denise from 4thWaveNow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88Dk5U0uiqY

Genspect (December 14, 2023). The Hidden Dangers of Gender Medicine for Minors with Denise Caignon, 4thWaveNow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MonEkU7rLgk

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Corinna Cohn, and Denise Caignon (October 18, 2022). The Politics of “Trans-Kids” | with Corinna Cohn & Denise Caignon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sL5g8tQLpA

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Denise Caignon (August 26, 2022). EPISODE 84 – Denise Caignon from 4thWaveNow: The View from Behind the Scenes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmphx7taSpY

Resources

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

  • 4thWaveNow
  • transdatalibrary.org/organization/4thwavenow

4thWaveNow (4thwavenow.com)

Denise Caignon (denisecaignon.com)

WordPress (wordpress.com)

  • 4thwavenow.wordpress.com [redirects – archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

Tumblr (tumblr.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Internet Archive (archive.org)

Vimeo (vimeo.com)

  • 4th Wavenow [suspended]
  • vimeo.com/user57355387

DailyMotion (dailymotion.com)

Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.

Jacobin is an American socialist media organization that has published consistently trans-supportive content and included trans journalists.

Background

Jacobin was founded by Bhaskar Sunkara. In September 2010 the Jacobin online magazine started, then expanded to a print version later in 2010. In 2017, Jacobin launched the peer-reviewed journal Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy and Jacobin Radio.

Resources

Jacobin (jacobinmag.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Patreon (patreon.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Blubrry (blubrry.com)

Jamie Reed is an American anti-transgender extremist who wants to eliminate gender-affirming healthcare for adolescents and young adults. Reed is also part of the LGB separatist movement, founding the anti-trans organization LGB Courage Coalition in 2023.

Reed’s anti-trans extremism has been heavily promoted by other anti-trans activists, including Bari Weiss, Jesse Singal, Azeen Ghorayshi, Jonathan Chait, Andrew Bailey, Emily Yoffe, Stella O’Malley, Jennifer Block, Sasha Ayad, Konstantin Kisin, and Francis Foster, as well as conservative trans activists Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly of Gender Dysphoria Alliance.

Background

Jamie Lynn Smith was born in June 1980. After marrying Joshua David Rickly (born 1982), Jamie began using the name Jamie Lynn Smith-Rickly. During this time, Jamie was apparently using the email [email protected].

In 2009, Jamie Smith-Rickly, Zachary Smith, and Byron Case founded the Midwestern Liberty Foundation, but it was dissolved by the state of Missouri the following year for failure to submit required documents.

The couple had two children and later divorced.

Jamie then married librarian Tiger Reed, who at the time identified as a transgender man. They have Jamie’s two children from the first marriage as well as three foster children. In 2024, after announing a “detransition,” Tiger Reed began using the name Roxxanne Reed.

Reed earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis and a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Reed began working at Washington in 2016.

Anti-trans activism

From 2018 until late 2022, Reed was a case manager at the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Reed became increasingly upset that the clinic was not doing more psychological and psychiatric gatekeeping. As with many providers, Washington relied on patients to find a local therapist who would recommend them for treatment to reduce backlogs and improve patient care.

Reed was against prescribing hormone options for minors. Like many other people opposed to youth gender affirming care, Reed considers puberty blockers less problematic than hormones, but opposes those as well. Puberty blockers are a rarely-used short-term option prior to prescribing hormones. Some people opposed to gender-affirming care would prefer trans youth to stay on puberty blockers until they are adults, rather than start hormones and go through puberty with their non-transgender peers.

Like many other people opposed to gender-affirming care, Reed cites the conservative “Dutch protocol” that used extensive gatekeeping under a nationalized healthcare system.

2023 affidavit

In an affidavit presented to anti-trans Attorney General Andrew Bailey dated February 7, 2023, Reed stated:

I witnessed staff at the Center provide puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children without complete informed parental consent and without an appropriate or accurate assessment of the needs of the child. I witnessed children experience shocking injuries from the medication the Center prescribed. And I saw the Center make no attempt or effort to track adverse outcomes of patients after they left the Center.

[…]

One patient came to the Center identifying as a “communist, attack helicopter, human, female, maybe non binary.” The child was in very poor mental health and early on reported that they had no idea their gender identity.

[…]

Most children who come into the Center were assigned female at birth. Nearly all of them have serious comorbidities including, autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma histories, OCD, and serious eating disorders.

[…]

last year Dr. [Chris] Lewis and Dr. [Sarah] Garwood told the Missouri legislature, “at no point are surgeries on the table for anyone under 18” and also, “surgeries are not an option for anyone under 18 years of age.” This was a lie. The Center regularly refers minors for gender transition surgery. The Center routinely gives out the names and contact information of surgeons to those under the age of 18. At least one gender transition surgery was performed by Dr. Allison Snyder-Warwick at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the last few years.

[…]

The Center had two in-house psychologists. They were Dr. Alex Maixner and Dr. Sarah Girresch-Ward as well as several outside therapists.

[…]

Doctors knew that many of our former patients had stopped taking cross-sex hormones and were detransitioning. Doctors did not share this information with parents or children.

[…]

Children come into the clinic using pronouns of inanimate objects like “mushroom,” “rock,” or “helicopter.” Children come into the clinic saying they want hormones because they do not want to be gay. Children come in changing their identities on a day-to-day basis. Children come in under clear pressure by a parent to identify in a way inconsistent with the child’s actual identity.

[…]

I created a “red flag” list of children where other staff and I had concerns. The doctors told me I had to stop raising these concerns. I was not allowed to maintain the red flag list after that. During the time I was creating the red flag list, noting my concern that these children were not good candidates for permanent, irreversible medication treatment, the doctors would simply send these children to our in-house therapists. Those therapists would inevitably provide letters to the doctors, and then the doctors would say there can’t be any concern over these children because another therapist was fine with prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

[…]

One doctor at the Center, Dr. Chris Lewis, is giving patients a drug called Bicalutamide. I know of at least one patient at the Center who was advised by the renal department to stop taking Bicalutamide because the child was experiencing liver damage. The child’s parent reported this to the Center through the patient’s online self-reporting medical chart (MyChart). The parent said they were not the type to sue, but “this could be a huge PR problem for you.”

[…]

the Center has prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones hundreds of times where they should not have.

Reed (2023)

Particularly upsetting to Reed are young people whose identities are fluid:

Patient was on hormones and had decompensating mental health, outlandish name changes, self-diagnosis of multiple personalities (DID).

[…]

Patient has desisted in male identity to a vague non binary with their own self-diagnosis of autism. Patient has changed their name numerous times and is clearly struggling with thoughts about desistence,

[..]

Patient changed to non-binary identity, then changed preferred name and stated that their identity was shifting day to day.

Reed (2023)

Reed gave several other vivid anecdotes, including one about a youth sex offender, and others about youths with history of self-harm, sexual trauma, forced cross-dressing, factitious blindness, and “gender identities that were likely the result of social contagion.”

2023 Free Press piece

Two days after the affidavit was signed, Reed repeated these allegations in the Free Press for anti-trans activist Bari Weiss.

  • “clinics like the one where I worked are creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals—and most of these teens haven’t even had sex yet.”
  • “Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people.”
  • “Another disturbing aspect of the center was its lack of regard for the rights of parents.”
  • “In 2019, a new group of people appeared on my radar: desisters and detransitioners.”
  • “I believe that to ensure the safety of American children, we need a moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria.”

Reed and the clinic’s nurse, Karen Hamon, kept a private spreadsheet, which they called the “red flag list.” Following a 2021 review that contained criticisms and a 2022 retreat where Reed was allegedly told “Get on board, or get out,” Reed transferred to a different department.

2023 New York Times profile

Anti-trans activist Azeen Ghorayshi of the New York Times presented Reed as part of a long-running “cisgender person under siege” series the paper has been running since the early 2000s.

Ghorayshi mentioned the following people:

  • Jamie Reed, former case manager at a youth gender clinic at Washington University in St. Louis
  • Bari Weiss, anti-trans activist who first published Reed’s allegations in the Free Press
  • Andrew Bailey, Missouri’s anti-trans Attorney General
  • Colleen Schrappen, reporter at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Annelise Hanshaw, reporter at Missouri Independent
  • Andrew D. Martin, Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor

Reporter Evan Urquhart wrote, “unlike other stories covering these allegations, the Times downplays the falsehoods and seeks to make a case that despite Reed’s lies there’s something to be taken seriously in her attacks on a highly-regarded, University-linked clinic serving transgender youth.”

LGBT Courage Coalition and purge of trans members

Reed founded LGBT Courage Coalition in 2023 as a Substack and later registered it as a nonprofit. About a year later, Reed purged all trans leadership and renamed in LGB Courage Coailition, installing Lauren Leggieri as co-executive director.

Lawsuits

In 2024 a subpoena was issued to Reed in the matter of Noe v. Parson (Missouri case # 23AC-CC04530). In it, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. and ACLU of Missouri Foundation requested communication between Reed and Karen Hamon, as well as any communication with Missouri officials and families at Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

The subpoena also requested “All communications, including any documents exchanged, concerning Gender-Affirming Care involving media or between you and any media outlet or any member of the media,” as well as specifically requesting communications with Jesse Singal. Those requests were later removed.

The subpoena also requested any communication with the following organizations:

Informed Dissent podcast

In December 2024, Reed began co-hosting Informed Dissent, a “gender critical” podcast with Ben Appel, Cori Cohn, Lisa Selin Davis, and “Eliza Mondegreen.” Guests include Alex Byrne, Anna Hutchinson, Maud Maron, Leor Sapir, Lauren Schwartz.

2025 activity

In July 2025, Reed was a panelist at the 2025 US Federal Trade Commission anti-trans workshop.

Also in 2025, Reed was named as part of the core team at anti-trans website Resilience Health Network.

References

Conlon, Rose (January 28, 2025). Transgender Kansans urge lawmakers to reject bill banning gender-affirming care for youth. KMUW https://www.kmuw.org/2025-01-28/transgender-kansans-urge-lawmakers-to-reject-bill-banning-gender-affirming-care-for-youth

Schrappen, Colleen (November 2, 2024). Her life changed after calling out transgender care at WashU. But she’s pushing ahead. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_ca9fa3a6-9588-11ef-8910-6f3a4a9697f9.html

Urquhart, Evan (Oct 4, 2024). TWIBS: Tiger Reed Tells All. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/tiger-reed-tells-all

Suntrip, Jack (October 1, 2024). Jamie Reed testifies in defense of Missouri state law on transgender health care. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_416bc1de-7f33-11ef-b125-e37291fc739f.html

Urquhart, Evan (August 22, 2024). How Conservative Officials Are Using Private Medical Records For Their Anti-Trans Agenda. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-patients-medical-records-anti-trans-agenda

Graham, Michael (February 27, 2025). Gender Clinic Whistleblower to Testify Before NH House Committee Monday. NH Journal https://nhjournal.com/gender-clinic-whistleblower-to-testify-before-nh-house-committee-monday/

Hanshaw Annelise (September 30, 2024). Former caseworker testifies in defense of Missouri transgender health care ban. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/30/former-caseworker-testifies-in-defense-of-missouri-transgender-health-care-ban/

Lovelace, Eric (September 30, 2024). St. Louis gender clinic whistleblower testifies in Noe v. Parson. KOMU https://www.komu.com/news/midmissourinews/st-louis-gender-clinic-whistleblower-testifies-in-noe-v-parson/article_2f612e3c-7f53-11ef-ad63-abba11ecb77e.html

Reed, Erin (October 13, 2023). Family Of Missouri Trans Kid: Jamie Reed Lied About Liver Damage, Caused By COVID Drug And Not HRT. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/family-of-missouri-trans-kid-jamie

Urquhart, Evan (August 23, 2023). NYT Treats Key Source’s Many Lies as an Aside in Latest Anti-Trans Smear. Assigned https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/nyt-treats-key-sources-many-lies-as-an-aside-in-latest-anti-trans-smear

Sapir, Leor (May 2, 2023). Nothing to See Here: After a suspicious internal report, a truly comprehensive and impartial investigation of Washington University’s Transgender Center is needed more than ever. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/nothing-to-see-here

Yurcaba, Jo (April 24, 2023). St. Louis gender clinic accusations ‘unsubstantiated,’ internal investigation finds. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/st-louis-gender-clinic-accusations-unsubstantiated-internal-investigat-rcna81233

Hanshaw, Annelise (April 24, 2023). Former employee of St. Louis transgender clinic reaffirms allegations of misconduct. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/24/former-employee-of-st-louis-transgender-reaffirms-allegations-of-misconduct/

Henry, Vesper; Tirrell, Alyssa (April 13, 2023). Timeline: The unfolding saga between The Free Press and a Missouri gender clinic. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/bari-weiss/timeline-unfolding-saga-between-free-press-and-missouri-gender-clinic

Schrappen, Colleen (March 20, 2023). Parents of patients at St. Louis transgender center fear privacy breaches, file complaints. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/parents-of-patients-at-st-louis-transgender-center-fear-privacy-breaches-file-complaints/article_6b623743-e441-5119-92a4-27c19547e4b2.html

Urquhart, Evan (March 11, 2023). Jamie Reed’s Misinformation Exposed by Jesse Singal. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jamie-reeds-misinfo-exposed-by-jesse-singal

Singal, Jesse (March 10, 2023). Gender-Clinic Whistleblower Jamie Reed Has Provided A Detailed Account Of Her Most Controversial Claim, Including The Names Of Those Involved. Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/gender-clinic-whistleblower-jamie

Lynch, James (March 8, 2024). ACLU Targets Whistleblower Jamie Reed in Fight against Missouri Law Banning Transgender Procedures for Minors. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/news/aclu-targets-whistleblower-jamie-reed-in-fight-against-missouri-law-banning-transgender-procedures-for-minors/

Urquhart, Evan (March 8, 2023). There Are Two Sides to the Debate on Health Care for Trans Kids. Here’s What You’re Missing About One of Them. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2023/03/trans-youth-health-care-debate-affirmative-new-york-times-jamie-reed.html

Singal, Jesse (March 7, 2023). Journalists Are Exhibiting Far Too Much Credulousness Toward Jamie Reed’s Critics. Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/journalists-are-exhibiting-far-too

Cooper, Ryan (March 2, 2023). The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic. The American Prospect https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-02-right-wing-transphobia-panic/

Danner, Chas (March 3, 2023). Whistleblower’s Claims About a St. Louis Transgender Center Are Under Fire. New York https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/jamie-reeds-claims-about-transgender-care-are-under-fire.html

Kesslen, Ben (March 2, 2023). Parents hit back at Missouri trans clinic whistleblower Jamie Reed. New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/parents-hit-back-at-missouri-trans-clinic-whistleblower-jamie-reed/

Hanshaw, Annelise (March 1, 2023), Families dispute whistleblower’s allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/01/transgender-st-louis-whistleblower/

Ballentine, Summer (February 10, 2023). Missouri officials investigate transgender youth clinic. AP News https://apnews.com/article/josh-hawley-jamie-reed-st-louis-missouri-health-83953afb898dff7caa2b542c91480069

Burke, Cathy (February 9, 2023). Whistleblower lifts lid on St. Louis kids gender clinic: ‘Morally and medically appalling.’ New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/02/09/whistleblower-lifts-lid-on-st-louis-kids-gender-clinic/

Hanshaw, Annelise (February 9, 2023 ). Missouri agencies launch investigation into health center for transgender youth. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/09/missouri-agencies-launch-investigation-into-health-center-for-transgender-youth/

St. John’s, Tower Grove (June 8, 2012). Jamie Smith-Rickly / [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/towergrovechurch/posts/please-make-reservations-soon-so-that-the-chefs-can-plan-appropriately-celebrate/10151786138200576/

Selected publications by the Reeds

Reed, Jamie (January 30, 2025). I’m a trans-clinic whistleblower — Trump is right to ban sex changes for kids. New York Post https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/opinion/im-a-clinic-whistleblower-trans-kids-ban-will-save-lives/

Reed, Jamie (December 3, 2024). Why I Hope the Supreme Court Upholds the Ban on Child Transition. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/supreme-court-gender-transiton-skrmetti-whistleblower-jamie-reed

Reed, Roxxanne (September 9, 2024). I Spent 13 Years Living as a Man. But After My Spouse’s ExposĂ©, I’m Detransitioning. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/tiger-jamie-reed-detransition-wash-u-transgender-affirming-care

Reed, Jamie (February 7, 2023). Affidavit of Jamie Reed https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2-07-2023-reed-affidavit—signed.pdf

Reed, Jamie (December 31, 2023). Jamie Reed: The Courage to Admit You’re Wrong. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-jamie-reed-courage-admit-wrong

Reed, Jamie (February 9, 2023). I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids

Media

Genetic Literacy Project with Cameron English, Jamie Reed, and Liza Dunn (April 24, 2025). GLP podcast: Common sense ‘out the window.’ Whistleblower Jamie Reed challenges safety, efficacy of ‘gender-affirming care.’ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/04/24/glp-podcast-common-sense-out-the-window-wash-u-whistleblower-jamie-reed-exposes-bad-science-behind-gender-affirming-care/

America Reports (December 4, 2024). Whisleblower implores SCOTUS to uphold the ban on child transition. Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/video/6365541665112

Emily Yoffe (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. The Free Press https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs

Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad (May 5, 2023). EPISODE 112: A Conversation with Gender Clinic Whistleblower, Jamie Reed. Gender: A Wider Lens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QafpwKrz-lw

Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster (April 16, 2023). Trans Clinic Whistleblower Speaks Out. TRIGGERnometry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbuGMbqjsSw

Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster (June 14, 2023). The Dark Truth: What Happens At a Trans Clinic? TRIGGERnometry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue19IjK3ELA

Gender Dysphoria Alliance [Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly] (March 19, 2023). EP60 – The sound a whistle makes – with Jamie Reed. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BkuJBwbUU

Gender Dysphoria Alliance [Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly] (August 6, 2023). EP 71 – The Denton Report – with Jamie Reed. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BkuJBwbUU

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