Beginning in 2003, they published several articles as controversy unfolded over publication The Man Who Would Be Queen by psychology professor J. Michael Bailey. Bailey was Chair of the department until shortly before he was secretly disciplined following an internal investigation into his research activities in November 2004.
Hansen said DM [Dance Marathon] hopes to have more faculty performers at future talent shows. For example, if students raise $3,000, [Lane] Fenrich and psychology Prof. Michael Bailey will dress in drag and sing a duet together during DM.
“I think the book is intentionally controversial,” Bailey said. “I write about things that matter and that people are uncomfortable with. The cover (as well as the book) is meant to be provocative.”
But Bailey said he thinks people in the second group of transsexuals are upset with his findings because they do not like being classified as autogynepheliacs.
“A lot of people think there is something weird about (being an autogynepheliac) and it is a narcissistic blow,” Bailey said. “I am very sympathetic to transsexuals. I like these people, except for the people who hate me — they scare me.”
Although the book has offended some members of the gay and transsexual communities, others have been more receptive. At Outwrite Books, an Atlanta-based bookstore and cafĂ catering to gays and lesbians, Bailey said he was well received by an audience of mostly gay men.
A Northwestern Ph.D. candidate will present results of sexual arousal research she conducted with NU Prof. J. Michael Bailey — which has drawn criticism from the Republican wing of Congress — when she speaks at a federally-funded sexuality conference next week.
A $147,000 National Institutes of Health grant funded the research, which studied the effect of pornography on females to determine whether sexual arousal is as category specific for women as it is for men.
The arousal study showed that while watching pornography men had a one-sided arousal pattern — straight men were aroused by clips with women, gay men by those with men. But females in the study, straight or gay, were aroused by both male and female sex acts. The results could be published in “Psychological Science” by 2004, Chivers said.
Two transsexual woman featured in Northwestern psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey’s latest book about sexuality have filed complaints with NU, alleging that Bailey did not ask for their consent before using their stories.
Anjelica Kieltyka, who is mentioned in Bailey’s “The Man Who Would Be Queen” under the pseudonym “Cher,” sent a complaint to NU’s Vice President for Research C. Bradley Moore on July 3 asking for a formal investigation of Bailey’s research methods. Another woman featured in the book filed a claim July 14 supporting Kieltyka’s letter, but an addendum to the claim keeps her name confidential.
Bailey refused to comment, calling the matter “very stressful and private.”
Another transsexual woman who met Northwestern Prof. J. Michael Bailey while receiving a clearance letter for sex change surgery has filed a formal complaint with NU, saying Bailey used information from an interview with her without telling her she was a research subject.
But Bailey said he stands by his book.
“I didn’t write the book so groups would like or dislike me,” he said. “I wrote it so people could learn about stuff.”
Bailey said he knew his work would be controversial and assumed some people might speak against his beliefs.
“I was not totally surprised at the reaction,” Bailey said. “I was surprised at the degree of hostility and how relentless they’ve been.”
Complaints filed with NU’s Office of Research now total five — one from a transsexual advocate who brought women to Bailey for letters recommending sex-reassignment surgery, three from anonymous women who received those letters and a joint claim from two transsexual professors in support of the complaints.
Bailey, however, said he has never claimed that transsexual women actually are men.
“I experience them as women as long as that’s how they’re living,” he said July 22.
Another argument of some claimants is that Bailey left out stories that did not match the book’s theory of two types of transsexuals. In the latest anonymous complaint, filed July 30, the woman says of herself and another claimant, “Our two ‘data points’ compromised his results, we did not fit into his scheme and were left out.”
Bailey said he stands by his book’s accuracy and will not be deterred by opposition.
“I’m concerned with science and truth and not the feelings of groups,” Bailey said.
In a letter to Kieltyka obtained Monday by The Daily, C. Bradley Moore, vice president of research at NU, wrote that the investigating committee and Daniel Linzer, dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, “recommend proceeding with a full investigation of the allegation that Professor Bailey did not obtain the informed consent of research subjects.”
Bailey questioned the basis of the women’s allegations in an e-mail to The Daily on Monday.
“The entire issue in dispute is whether what I did was a ‘study’ and whether the transsexual women I talked to were ‘subjects,'” Bailey wrote.
A sexual misconduct complaint against psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey alleges he had sex with one of the transsexual woman featured in his most recent book, according to confidential records received by The Daily on Monday from transsexual advocates.
University officials would not confirm the complaint, and Bailey declined to comment on the allegations.
Bailey — who has been accused of not obtaining permission from research subjects and engaging in sexual relations with one of his subjects — has been drawn into a battle over his work and reputation by transgender activists.
But regardless of the outcome, academic freedom is under fire here and precious few have noticed it. Most people are concerned with the allegations against Bailey, but they have ignored the threat these activists are posing to free speech.
Ironically Bailey, who says a “climate of fear and intimidation” has been created by his detractors, has done a lot to bring transgender people into the mainstream. His critics would be better served to offer constructive critiques of his book rather than to try to shut him up.
In Nadir Hassan’s Tuesday column, he writes of the threat to free speech. But freedom carries a responsibility, and psychology Prof. Michael Bailey — writing as a professor and claiming his book is about science — has a responsibility to do it properly.
Constructive critiques of his book have also appeared. Many point out that his biological essentialism only tells part of the story. Others point out that he has taken a small subset of the transsexual population and generalized it to the whole.
My problem is that, even within his self-admitted reductionist framework, his theory is fundamentally flawed.
In a shift of rhetoric from the university, a top official now has said psychology Prof. Michael Bailey is being investigated by a committee in connection with allegations of research misconduct.University Provost Lawrence Dumas told The Daily late last week that a committee is looking into whether or not Bailey “followed the procedures of this university” and whether those procedures applied to Bailey’s work.
Despite the accusations Bailey has continued teaching. “I have done nothing wrong,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Daily.
Researchers studying humans are required to obtain a statement of informed consent before submitting their project. Some projects might not require this statement, but researchers must file a request for exemption. Sherman said varying interpretations of the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects — the law regulating human subject research — add to questions surrounding approval.
The law defines research as “a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” Some question whether Bailey’s book fits this definition.
But Mark Sheldon, assistant dean of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a philosophy and medical ethics professor, said subject rights should be vital to the research process.
“Legislation is about protecting research subjects, not about protecting research,” he said.
Tim Fournier, Northwestern’s new associate vice president for research integrity, began his position this week on Northwestern’s Chicago Campus. Fournier heads a new office that will look into compliance issues following problems NU had with the federal government and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In a different type of integrity issue, the university is also investigating psychology Prof. Michael Bailey’s research methods. Bailey is accused of research misconduct after transsexuals in his most recent book said he failed to receive their informed consent. Bailey said he did nothing wrong.
Fournier said he does not yet know the specific role he will play in these investigations.
Bailey, psychology department chairman, cited scientific findings to support his position that free will does not exist because human choices are constrained by the evolution of genes and by the environments humans experience.
However, Bailey said quantum mechanics could offer the only plausible explanation against his position.
Two formal complaints filed against Northwestern psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey allege he practiced as a clinical psychologist without a license and published confidential information about transsexual women he interviewed without their permission, according to documents obtained by The Daily this week.
The book follows sex researcher Ray Blanchard’s theory that transsexuals are either homosexuals or autogynephilics — men who are aroused by the idea of themselves as women.
But the book’s content does not matter in this case, said Deirdre McCloskey, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor of economics, history, English and communication who also filed a complaint.
“There’s a lot of books I don’t like, but I wouldn’t be writing a letter to (NU’s) provost about that,” she said.
Many NU students cheated before they came here, and many will cheat after they leave. Academic and professional dishonesty is a part of life, especially in the 21st century. But that doesn’t mean it comes without consequences — just look to the New York Times’ Jayson Blair or even the accusations against our own psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey.
The Culture War has come crashing onto campus — and psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey’s research is fueling the fire.
A Northwestern committee recently finished an inquiry into claims that Bailey violated federal rules for human research subjects while interviewing transsexuals for his book, “The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism.” Officials are tightlipped about the investigation’s outcome. Did Bailey do anything wrong? Why do some transsexual activists hate his book?
“They hated the content of the book,” Bailey said. “That is the real reason all this happened.”
In agreeing to investigate these allegations about classroom bias or unethical research, university administrations have been either naive or eager to avoid bad press. As the kerfuffle over psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey proves, most of these charges are red herrings for hatred of particular ideas.
The fracas over Bailey’s book, which examines transsexual life, has been raging for more than a year, yet it remains unresolved. At first, critics accused Bailey of violating federal research rules by revealing his subjects’ identities without their consent (Bailey contends he never was conducting hard-and-fast scientific research). Now, Bailey must contend with the appalling development that eugenicists have used his book and his other research to declare homosexuality a contagious disease and a source of social decay.
Many of these eugenicists have misused science — or simply invented it — to argue, for example, that Al Gore lost the 2000 election because of a “prim” lisp that alienated voters. Yet often what goes unmentioned is that Bailey has called eugenics completely false and even wrote in a 2001 article that homosexuality “is entirely acceptable morally.”
The study, published last month in the journal Psychological Science, included 101 men. Psychology doctoral student Gerulf Rieger, who led the study under the supervision of psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey, said the results corroborate the theory that men are either gay or straight â not bisexual.
âThereâs a lot of skepticism about the existence of truly bisexual men, and our study, I think, supports that skepticism,â Bailey said. âI have no agenda to question bisexual people. Itâs just what our data said.â
Bailey said he wants to conduct follow-up experiments that focus on the psychological, rather than the physical, elements of attraction.
âIâm happy to have the study repeated, and we will probably try to do some modified method of the study,â Bailey said. âWeâre trying to now measure sexual arousal in the brain, so weâll probably do a similar study on the brains of bisexual men someday.â
The New York Times is an American media organization. With some notable exceptions, their coverage of transgender issues has been neutral to negative. The Science, Opinion, and Books sections have been particularly biased on trans issues.
No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. Due to the hostile work environment, no transgender reporters worked there according to a 2023 San Francisco Chroniclereport.
Assessments
It is considered a paper of record for the United States, along with The Washington Post.
Reliability: 47.50 out of 64 (32+ is “generally good”)
Bias: -4.01 (9.5% left-leaning bias)
NewsGuard (as of January 2020)
Approximate score: 100
Standards failed: None
Anti-transgender coverage crisis
Decades of anti-transgender coverage culminated in a newsroom revolt in 2023:
According to Times sources, there used to be open Slack channels where staff could discuss any issues they had with coverage, and they freely voiced objections at all-hands meetings with the masthead editors. But now, with the advent of virtual meetings, management doesnât pick the uncomfortable questions during Q&A.
And, that employee said, there are still no out trans reporters on staff at the paper.
Their record on fairly covering transgender people is spotty, and they have not had a transgender journalist on their masthead or staff since 1848.
The Atlantic is one of several “centrist” publications with an unusually high proportion of trans-skeptical and anti-transgender staffers, including Jeffrey Goldberg, David Frum, Scott Stossel, Adrienne LaFrance, Don Peck, Swati Sharma, Denise Kersten Wills, Sarah Yager, Adrienne Green, Hanna Rosin, Olga Khazan, Conor Friedersdorf, Helen Lewis, Michael Powell, and Emily Yoffe.
Contributors
Chris Bodenner
TRANSGENDER DEBATE (2016)
Why Is the T in LGBT?
Will Trans Servicemembers Be as Controversial as the Bathroom Issue?
Could the Transgender Debate Lead to Pay Toilets?
What Makes a Man or a Woman?
What About Transgender Women in Women’s Shelters?
Is the ‘Trans Lobby’ Disproportionately Strong?
Why Not a Private Restroom for Everyone?
‘Trans Issues Are Not Left/Right’
Is the Transgender Movement a Spiritual One?
Much Ado About Genitalia
Does the Left Have a Smug Problem?
Gillian Branstetter
Sketchy Pharmacies Are Selling Hormones to Transgender People (2016)
Garrett Epps
How Birth Certificates Are Being Weaponized Against Trans People (2018)
Ashley Fetters
How Pediatricians Fail Gender-Nonconforming Kids (2018)
Lori Gottlieb
Dear Therapist: I Love My Trans Daughter, but Iâm Still Struggling (2020)
Emma Green
The Culture War Over âPregnant Peopleâ (2021)
Jenny Hall
Coming Out as Transgender Made Me a More Effective CIA Officer (2017)
The article promoted and popularized several anti-trans talking points about gender affirming care for minors, including “bone density” and “low quality evidence.”
The piece is part of a strategy by anti-trans hate groups like Genspect to get FUD propaganda (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about gender affirming care into mainstream media. Focusing on uncommon side effects and unknown risks is a long-used pretense to restrict or ban similar healthcare like contraception and abortion, especially for minors.
Background
The story is about “emerging evidence of potential harm” and the “long-term physical effects and other consequences” of Lupron and other medications that can manage onset of puberty. Any drug carries a risk of side effects, which the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tracks via adverse event reports. FDA approved Lupron for central precocious puberty in 1993. It has since been used for trans and gender diverse youth experiencing unwanted puberty. Doctors have wide latitude to use approved drugs “off label,” including use to delay puberty for trans and gender diverse youth.
Several years earlier, Jewett began reporting on cisgender people who believe puberty blockers which they took as minors led to short- and long-term adverse side effects. Children whose puberty starts at 5 to 8 years old often face social problems, and those capable of pregnancy are at higher risk of sexual harassment and assault. Doctors work with parents to weigh the risks and benefits before getting informed consent. As with any medical treatment, some people will be harmed more than they were helped.
Headlines used for the story include:
They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?
Puberty Blockers Can Help Transgender Youth. Is There a Cost?
Below are anti-trans talking points that were promoted and popularized via this article.
Bone density
Puberty involves a release of hormones that affect bone deposition throughout the body. Puberty blockers affect that process, so bone health is monitored in adolescent patients, usually with a baseline measurement before treatment followed by scheduled measurements.
One of the three young people profiled had to stop puberty blockade due to done density issues. While this is a well-known risk and uncommon side effect, it can usually be monitored and managed. Having to stop hormone blockade altogether due to bone density is rare.
Via USPATH/WPATH:
The anecdote provided of an adolescent who began, and then stopped pubertal suppression due to bone density loss lacks important details, including age and pubertal stage at initiation of puberty blockers, length of time on blockers, baseline bone density (âZ-scoreâ), and whether the bone density comparison was made to identified gender or birth-assigned sex. Additional important information not provided includes calcium intake, and vitamin D intake and level, as well as level of physical activity, all of which play a substantial role in maintenance of bone mineral density.
“Low-quality evidence”
Jewett and Twohey also parrot the “low-quality evidence” claim put forth by anti-trans activists, based on a scale devised by Gordon Guyatt. Federal judge Sarah E. Geraghty rejected these claims in a 2023 Georgia case where anti-trans activists Paul Hruz, Michael Laidlaw, and James Cantor testified against Yale University professor of pediatrics Meredithe McNamara:
The undisputed record shows that clinical medical decision-making, including in pediatric or adolescent medicine, often is not guided by evidence that would qualify as âhigh qualityâ on the scales used by Defendantsâ experts. 30 (Doc. 70-1, McNamara Decl. ¶¶ 23â28; Tr. 74:11â75:1 (McNamara Testimony); Tr. 133:614 (Hruz Testimony).) In fact, the record shows that less than 15 percent of medical treatments are supported by âhigh-quality evidence,â or in other words that 85 percent of evidence that guides clinical care, across all areas of medicine, would be classified as âlow-qualityâ under the scale used by Defendantsâ experts. (Doc. 70-1, McNamara Decl. ¶ 25; Tr. 74:11â75:1.) Defendants do not refute Dr. McNamaraâs testimony on this point, and indeed they âconcedeâ that âlow-qualityâ evidence âcan be considered.â 31
Geraghty also noted the obvious biases of Hruz, Laidlaw and Cantor:
Defendantsâ expertsâ insistence on a very high threshold of evidence in the context of claims about hormone therapyâs safety and benefits, and on the other hand their tolerance of a much lower threshold of evidence for claims about its risks, the likelihood of desistance and/or regret, and their notions about the ideological bias of a medical establishment that largely disagrees with them. That is cause for some concern about the weight to be assigned to their views, although the Court does not doubt that those they express are genuinely held.
(âDr. [Paul] Hruz fended and parried questions and generally testified as a deeply biased advocate, not as an expert sharing relevant evidence-based information and opinions. I do not credit his testimony.â); Eknes-Tucker v. Marshall, 603 F. Supp. 3d 1131, 1142â43 (M.D. Ala. 2022) (explaining that the court gave Dr. James Cantorâs âtestimony regarding the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors very little weightâ); C. P. by & through Pritchard v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, No. 3:20-CV-06145-RJB, 2022 WL 17092846, at *4 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 21, 2022) (noting that it was a âclose questionâ as to whether Dr. Michael Laidlaw was qualified to testify about the medical necessity of gender-affirming care because he has treated only two patients with gender dysphoria and has done no original research on gender identity).
We were surprised to see reference to a subjective statement from Dr. Catherine Gordon, MD regarding âgetting behindâ on bone density, and we question whether this comment was taken out of context. Dr. Gordon is a long-standing advocate for trans youth care, and in her June 2022 single-author commentary published in Pediatrics, she stated that, âThe duration of pubertal suppression with gonadotropin hormone releasing hormone agonists varies, but can extend up to 4 years for younger patients who are not able to provide consent until age 16 for receipt of gender-affirming therapy. Puberty blockers represent an invaluable intervention for these children and adolescents, to reduce anxiety and âbuy timeâ until final decisions can be made about gender assignment.â A subsequent commentary co-authored by Dr. Gordon and published in November 2022 in JAMA Open Access stated, âConcerns about skeletal losses become less significant in an adolescent with active suicidal ideations. Although the significance of the risks may be unclear, there is strong evidence regarding the benefits of GnRHa in transgender youth: it can be a life-changing and lifesaving treatment for a vulnerable population who is at high risk for anxiety, depression, and suicide.â
American Academy of Pediatrics and the international Endocrine Society, which in 2017 had described the limited research on the effects of the drugs on trans youth as âlow-quality.â
more than 50 doctors and academic experts around the world
Twohey, Megan; Jewett, Christina (November 14, 2022). They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost? New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html [archive]
WPATH / USPATH (November 22, 2022). USPATH and WPATH Respond to NY Times Article âThey Paused Puberty, But Is There a Cost?â published on November 14, 2022. [PDF] https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2022/USPATHWPATH%20Statement%20re%20Nov%2014%202022%20NYT%20Article%20Nov%2022%202022%20CORRECTION.pdf
GLAAD (February 14, 2023). 180+ journalists, New York Times contributors call out biased coverage of transgender people in joint letter as 100+ organizations and notables echo call, citing pattern of inaccurate, harmful trans coverage in the New York Times https://glaad.org/releases/new-york-times-contributors-call-out-biased-coverage-of-transgender-people-in-joint-letter/
2022 NYT story links
The Mental Health of Transgender Youth: Advances in Understanding Maureen D. Connolly, M.D. î„ź î€ âą Marcus J. Zervos, M.D. âą Charles J. Barone II, M.D. âą Christine C. Johnson, Ph.D. âą Christine L.M. Joseph, Ph.D. Published:August 18, 2016âąDOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.012âą
Jody L. Herman Senior Scholar of Public Policy Andrew R. Flores Affiliated Scholar Kathryn K. OâNeill Policy Analyst How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States? June 2022 https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/
Cass Review Interim report: Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People -https://cass.independent-review.uk/publications/interim-report/
Public consultation Interim service specification for specialist gender dysphoria services for children and young people 20 October 2022 -https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/specialised-commissioning/gender-dysphoria-services/supporting_documents/B1937iiInterimservicespecificationforspecialistgenderdysphoriaservicesforchildrenandyoungpeople22.pdf
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD,corresponding author1 Yee-Ming Chan, MD, PhD,2 Robert Garofalo, MPH, MD,3 Norman Spack, MD,2 Diane Chen, PhD,4 Leslie Clark, PhD,1 Diane Ehrensaft, PhD,5 Marco Hidalgo, PhD,1 Amy Tishelman, PhD,2 and Stephen Rosenthal, MD5 Impact of Early Medical Treatment for Transgender Youth: Protocol for the Longitudinal, Observational Trans Youth Care Study JMIR Res Protoc. 2019 Jul; 8(7): e14434. Monitoring Editor: Gunther Eysenbach; Reviewed by James Lykens and Adrienne Pichon. doi: 10.2196/14434
CHAD TERHUNE, ROBIN RESPAUT, and MICHELLE CONLIN (Oct. 6, 2022). https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-care/
Putting numbers on the rise in children seeking gender care By ROBIN RESPAUT and CHAD TERHUNE Filed Oct. 6, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-transyouth-data/
GORDON, CATHERINE M Skeletal Health and Bone Marrow Composition Among Youth Project Number 5R01HD101421-03 Contact PI/Project Leader .Other PIs Awardee Organization BOSTON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL https://reporter.nih.gov/search/VccdwST9P0yW2AM-BR598g/project-details/10401768
Uppdrag granskning Mission: Investigate: Trans children -https://www.svtplay.se/video/33358590/uppdrag-granskning/mission-investigate-trans-children-avsnitt-1?info=visa
,Stephen M. Rosenthal, M.D. statement-https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/rosenthal-in-alabama-court-case/f616e90a9b4bfe2d/full.pdf
Rick Rojas https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/us/alabama-transgender-law.html
Consensus Parameter: Research Methodologies to Evaluate Neurodevelopmental Effects of Pubertal Suppression in Transgender Youth Diane Chen, John F. Strang, Victoria D. Kolbuck, Stephen M. Rosenthal, Kim Wallen, Deborah P. Waber, Laurence Steinberg, Cheryl L. Sisk, Judith Ross, Tomas Paus, Sven C. Mueller, Margaret M. McCarthy, Paul E. Micevych, Carol L. Martin, Baudewijntje P.C. Kreukels, Lauren Kenworthy, ⊠See all authors î Published Online:11 Dec 2020https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2020.0006
Consensus Parameter: Research Methodologies to Evaluate Neurodevelopmental Effects of Pubertal Suppression in Transgender Youth Diane Chen, John F. Strang, Victoria D. Kolbuck, Stephen M. Rosenthal, Kim Wallen, Deborah P. Waber, Laurence Steinberg, Cheryl L. Sisk, Judith Ross, Tomas Paus, Sven C. Mueller, Margaret M. McCarthy, Paul E. Micevych, Carol L. Martin, Baudewijntje P.C. Kreukels, Lauren Kenworthy, Megan M. Herting, Agneta Herlitz, Ira R.J. Hebold Haraldsen, Ronald Dahl, Eveline A. Crone, Gordon J. Chelune, Sarah M. Burke, Sheri A. Berenbaum, Adriene M. Beltz, Julie Bakker, Lise Eliot, Eric Vilain, Gregory L. Wallace, Eric E. Nelson, and Robert Garofalo-https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/trgh.2020.0006
âBone Mass in Young Adulthood Following Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analog Treatment and Cross-Sex Hormone Treatment in Adolescents With Gender Dysphoria,â Klink et. al, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2015
âEffect of Pubertal Suppression and Cross-Sex Hormone Therapy on Bone Turnover Markers and Bone Mineral Apparent Density (BMAD) in Transgender Adolescents,â Vlot et. al, Bone, 2017â
âThe Effect of GnRH Analogue Treatment on Bone Mineral Density in Young Adolescents With Gender Dysphoria: Findings From a Large National Cohort,â Joseph et. al, Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2019
âPhysical Changes, Laboratory Parameters and Bone Mineral Density During Testosterone Treatment in Adolescents With Gender Dysphoria,â Stoffers et. al, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2019
âBone Development in Transgender Adolescents Treated With GnRH Analogues and Subsequent Gender-Affirming Hormones,â Schagen et. al, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020
âShort-Term Outcomes of Pubertal Suppression in a Selected Cohort of 12- to 15-Year-Old Young People With Persistent Gender Dysphoria in the U.K.,â Carmichael et. al, PLOS One, 2021
âPubertal Suppression, Bone Mass and Body Composition in Youth With Gender Dysphoria,â Navabi et. al, Pediatrics, 2021
Mother Jones is an American media organization. Their coverage is consistently supportive of trans and gender diverse people.
Background
Mother Jones was founded in 1976 by self-proclaimed activist journalist Paul Jacobs.
Mother Jones was published by the nonprofit Foundation for National Progress until 2024, when it merged with The Center for Investigative Reporting.
In 2022, they published a letter to the editor by conservative and anti-trans activists who oppose medical consensus for trans youth healthcare. It was titled “Press pause on Conversion Therapy Bill.” The bill would make non-affirming models of care illegal.
Washington Post has covered trans issues with several important initiatives, including the 2023 KFF/The Washington Post Trans Survey.
In December 2024, the Post signaled a significant shift from objectivity that reflected relentless laundering of anti-trans extremism into mainstream media. The Editorial Board presented gender-affirming care for minors as a controversy where “the medical questions have not been properly resolved,” citing “scientistsâ failure to study these treatments slowly and systematically.”
Leadership
Sally Buzbee, Executive Editor
Krissah Thompson, Managing Editor
Justin Bank, Managing Editor
Barbara Vobejda, Managing Editor
Monica Norton, Deputy Managing Editor
Mark W. Smith, Deputy Managing Editor
Scott Vance, Deputy Managing Editor
Liz Seymour, Deputy Managing Editor (Newsroom operations, standards and planning)
Ann Gerhart, Senior Visual Enterprise Editor
Erika Allen, Head of Audience Strategy and Growth
Coleen O’Lear, Head of Curation and Platforms
Carla Broyles, Senior Career Development Editor
Sommer Mathis, Senior Recruiting Editor
Terrell Mizell, Senior Recruiting Consultant
Matea Gold, National Editor
Phil Rucker, Deputy National Editor
Douglas Jehl, Foreign Editor
Jennifer Amur, Deputy Foreign Editor
Mike Semel, Local Editor
Maria Glod, Deputy Local Editor
Ben Williams, Features Editor
Hank Stuever, Deputy Features Editor
Tara Parker-Pope, Wellness Editor
Anjuman Ali, Deputy Wellness Editor
Lori Montgomery, Business Editor
Damian Paletta, Deputy Business Editor
Christina Passariello, Deputy Business Editor
Jeff Leen, Investigations Editor
David Fallis, Deputy Investigations Editor
Eric Rich, Deputy Investigations Editor
Jason Murray, Sports Editor
Matthew Rennie, Deputy Sports Editor
Zachary Goldfarb, Climate and Environment Editor
Juliet Eilperin, Deputy Climate and Environment Editor
Meghan Hoyer, Data Reporting Director
Anu Narayanswamy, Deputy Data Editor
Micah Gelman, Director of Editorial Video
David Bruns, Executive Producer
Lauren Saks, Executive Producer
MaryAnne Golon, Photography Director
Robert Miller, Deputy Photography Director
Dudley Brooks, Deputy Photography Director
Sandra Stevenson, Deputy Photography Director
Courtney Rukan, Multiplatform Editing Chief
Brian Cleveland, Deputy Multiplatform Editor
Nora Simon, Deputy News Service Editor
Kenisha Malcolm, Curation Desk Editor
Anne Bartlett, Live Editing Chief
Charity Brown, Deputy Newsroom Product Director
Keith McMillan, General Assignment Editor
Herman Wong, Deputy General Assignment Editor
Assessments
Statista
“The Washington Post’s credibility fared relatively well in 2022, with a survey revealing that 48 percent of respondents believed the publication to be very or somewhat credible. The Washington Postâs credibility rating was slightly lower than that of The New York Times, and the paper also lost out to The Wall Street Journal in this regard.”
In December 2024, the Post signaled a significant shift that reflected relentless laundering of anti-trans extremism into mainstream media.
Without citing any recent research finding low regret rates or citing any countries that have reaffirmed the benefits of gender affirming care for minors, the editorial notes “at least some patients who transitioned later experience regret and suffer the fate the treatments were supposed to avoid: a body that doesnât match their gender identity.”
Signaling their desire to have a politically-appointed non-expert review similar to the UK’s disastrous Cass Review, the Post urged a US non-expert review “overseen by scientists who are not gender medicine practitioners.”
They cited the following:
the British Cass Review by anti-trans pediatrician Hilary Cass and the subsequent ban of puberty blockers for trans minors (but not cis minors)
the report by the Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board (UKOM) criticizing gender affirming care as “experimental”
a paper by Carmichael et al, ignoring that overall patient experience was positive, focusing instead on psychological function, which The Post characterized as “lackluster results”
anti-trans activist Jesse Singal’s blog post critical of a New England Journal of Medicinepaper on psychosocial functioning, in which The Post claimed NEJM “massaged the results”
In 2025, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health & Human Services published a report designed to give cover for banning transgender healthcare for minors. The Post’s Editorial Board described it as “a careful, thorough and definitely skeptical tour through the subject,” adding that “it makes a legitimate case for caution that policymakers need to wrestle with.”
The authors were
Mary Duenwald
Robert Gebelhoff
James Hohmann
Megan McArdle
Eduardo Porter
Keith B. Richburg
David Shipley, Opinion EditorÂ
Stephen Stromberg, Deputy Opinion EditorÂ
References
Wilchins, Riki (December 20, 2024). The Anti-Care Playbook.Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/washington-post-anti-care-playbook
Editorial board (December 15, 2024). Look to science, not law, for real answers on youth gender medicine.Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/12/15/skrmetti-case-youth-transition-trans-supreme-court/ alt title: Opinion | Skrmetti court case wonât settle questions about youth gender medicine.
“Recommended reading for anyone interested in the study of gender identity and sexual orientation…. It is written, however, in a style that makes it easily easily accessible to any reader.” — Out Magazine
256pp., 6″ x 8.5″ hardback ISBN 0-309-08418-0 $24.95 To order: Call toll-free 1-888-624-7651 or Browse before you buy – preview a full-text, searchable version or buy a downloadable, PDF online at www.nap.edu
Joesph Henry Press an imprint of The National Academies Press www.jhpress.org âą 888-624-7651
Response
Calpernia Addams and I called up the Editor that day and got a perspective piece printed in the next available edition. After reading the book, he assured us the ad would not run again.
Thereâs work to do. For example: J. Michael Bailey, a professor who claims to be a friend of our community, has just put out a very defamatory book. In The Man Who Would Be Queen, he links transsexual women to The Silence of the Lambs and notes that we work as âstrippers and prostitutes, as well as in many other occupations.â Because we believe in fighting unjust media depictions wherever we find them, we took time from our other projects to address and counter this insidious book.
References
Joseph Henry Press (June 10, 2003). [ad for The Man Who Would Be Queen]. The Advocate
Addams C, James A (July 22, 2003). Transformations. The Advocate. http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/894/894_transformations.asp
Out is an American media organization for sex and gender minorities founded in 1992. Below are some of the matters relevant to this project.
In March 2003, Out ran a book review by Duncan Osborne. The parts in bold were used in promotional material by the published Joseph Henry Press. The review is based on a preview copy where the subtitle had not yet been altered The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism.
J. Michael Baileyâs The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Psychology of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism is recommended reading for anyone interested in the study of gender identity and sexual orientation. Bailey, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University, focuses exclusively on men, and he covers a broad spectrumâgay men, male-to-female transsexuals, and men who identify as neither gay nor transgendered but engage in behaviors that are typically associated with those who do. Bailey has produced a thoughtful book that cites recent scientific studies on homosexuality and transsexuality. It is written, however, in a style that makes it easily accessible to any reader.
Below is an example of how the excerpted review appeared in The Advocateon June 10, 2003.
Below is a classified ad that ran in early 2003 in many gay publications, citing the review above:
References
Osborne D (March 2003). [Review] The Man Who Would Be Queen. Out. http://www.out.com/bookreviews2.asp?id=2598 [archive]
