Skip to content

media

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.

Resources

Mother Jones (motherjones.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Reveal News (revealnews.org)

  • Center for Investigative Reporting (centerforinvestigativereporting.org) [archive]

Julian Vigo is an author and sex segregationist involved in gender critical activism.

Podcast

Vigo’s Savage Minds podcast often features activists in the gender critical movement. Guests include:

Resources

Savage Minds (savageminds.substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Lubellule / disfasia (lubellule.com)

Forbes (forbes.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

FundRazr (fundrazr.com)

Quillette (quillette.com)

Public Discourse (thepublicdiscourse.com)

The Sunday Times is a conservative British publication.

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.

Signatories

Additional signers

  • Shahrar Ali, former deputy leader, Green Party
  • Martin Daubney, Deputy Leader of the Reclaim Party
  • Belinda de Lucy, commentator
  • Paola Diana, entrepreneur
  • Laura Dodsworth, writer
  • Kathleen Dooley
  • Jessica Fishburn, parent advocate
  • Laurence Fox, Leader of the Reclaim Party
  • Mary Garner, counsellor
  • Dr Az Hakeem, consultant psychiatrist and medical psychotherapist
  • Milli Hill, author
  • Dr Zoe Hollowood, Chair, Liberal Voice for Women
  • Jude Hunter, Genspect representative
  • Alison Jenner, Vice Chair, Liberal Voice for Women
  • Christina Jordan, former MEP
  • The Earl of Leicester
  • Juliet Line, mother
  • Graham Linehan, writer
  • Claire Lonergan, parent
  • Julia Mason, paediatrician
  • Lucy Masoud, barrister
  • Dr Julie Maxwell, community paediatrician
  • Maggie Mellon, founding member, Evidence Based Social Work Alliance
  • Harry Miller, ‘Fair Cop’
  • Professor Michele Moore
  • Baroness Morris of Yardley
  • Cheryl Lavinia Mulholland, psychotherapist
  • Dame Jenni Murray, broadcast journalist
  • Simon Myerson QC
  • Terry Patterson, psychodynamic counsellor
  • Alexandra Phillips, GB News presenter
  • Timothy Pitt-Payne QC
  • Calvin Robinson, commentator
  • Nigel Scott, secretary, Liberal Voice for Women
  • Maggie Siviter, social worker, children’s safeguarding
  • Dr Jacci Stoyle, former prison teacher
  • Evelyn Strasburger, parent
  • Lachlan Stuart, policy manager
  • Anna Telford, parent
  • Dr Val Thomas, psychotherapist, writer and co-founder of Critical Therapy Antidote
  • Leonore Tiefer, retired NYS licensed clinical psychologist
  • Gawain Towler, political consultant
  • Lisa Townsend, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey
  • Iris Walker, Councillor for Westhill and District
  • Lord Wasserman
  • SinĂ©ad Watson, Genspect advisor
  • James Wells, former MEP
  • Robert Withers, Jungian psychoanalyst
  • Susan Zamecnik, registered nurse

References

Signatories (April 10, 2022) Press pause on Conversion Therapy Bill. The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/press-pause-on-conversion-therapy-bill-g7vbtvc7h

Substack is a subscription newsletter publishing platform that is the service of choice for anti-transgender activists and media figures. The New Republic describes its power base as “white male contrarians with a talent for Twitter theatrics.”

Substack allows writers to make a living attacking trans people without the oversight or accountability that is in place at reputable media outlets. Substack also profits from promotion of other medical misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Background

Substack was founded in 2017 by Chris Best, Jairaj Sethi, and Hamish McKenzie.

The platform’s strategy for growth was based on inviting the most histrionic verified Twitter users to create newsletters.

Substacks with anti-trans content

The authors below have published generally anti-trans content on Substack:

Substacks with pro-trans content

The authors below publish generally pro-trans content on Substack:

Former Substacks

Substack Pro controversy

In March 2021, Substack revealed it paid advances for writers to create publications on its platform via a program called Substack Pro. The lack of transparency about this program and who had been paid led to widespread criticism.

Shortly before Jesse Singal’s 2021 book release, Singal’s Substack newsletter become a cause cĂ©lĂšbre among the platform’s favored user base: “those who have already been well-served by existing media power structures.” The secretive Substack Pro program was accused of “perpetuating some of the industry inequities it claims to solve,” favoring these types of writers by luring them to the platform with large monetary advances. Substack had become the service of choice for several other prominent critics of the trans rights movement, “largely white, male contrarians with a talent for Twitter theatrics.”

On March 17, 2021, Adweek’s Mark Stenberg discussed Singal’s role in generating protests about Substack Pro:

Substack has drawn criticism for offering safe harbor to a number of writers, including writers Andrew Sullivan, Jesse Singal and Glenn Greenwald, whose opinions on issues surrounding race, transgender rights and censorship have been condemned by marginalized communities.

Stenberg, 2021

Singal has a long history of “sealioning,” a type of trolling via persistent requests, whenever Singal’s biased views about trans people are reported in the media. Singal will pursue all available avenues to get these reports modified or removed altogether. Following a “stealth edit,” Singal’s name was quietly removed from Adweek’s original text so it read “including some whose politics have been condemned by marginalized communities.” Even that was later removed.

Confirmed Pro deals

  • Matt Yglesias
  • Anne Helen Peterson
  • Casey Newton
  • Scott Alexander
  • Freddie deBoer
  • Nicholas Jackson
  • Ashley Feinberg
  • Grace Lavery
  • Alexis Coe

Unconfirmed/other

References

Lorenz, Taylor (October 28, 2024). How Substack’s follow feature betrays its original mission. User Mag https://www.usermag.co/p/how-substacks-follow-feature-betrays

Chang, Clio (Winter 2020). The Substackerati: Did a newsletter company create a more equitable media system—or replicate the flaws of the old one? https://www.cjr.org/special_report/substackerati.php

McKenzie, Hamish (March 12, 2021). “Why we pay writers”. Substack Blog. https://blog.substack.com/p/why-we-pay-writers

Paulas, Rick (March 14, 2021) Who are the Substack Pros? Investigating Substack https://domstack.substack.com/p/who-are-the-substack-pros

Silverman, Jacob (March 16, 2021). Facebook Has Found a New Way to Ruin Media. The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/161736/facebook-found-new-way-ruin-media

Stenberg, Mark (March 17, 2021). Substack Pro Leads to Departures From Platform, Opportunities for Competitors. Adweek. https://www.adweek.com/media/having-a-substack-feels-dirty-substack-pro-announcement-leads-to-departures-from-the-platform-opportunities-for-competitors/

Wiener, Anna (28 December 2020). Is Substack the Media Future We Want? The New Yorker. Retrieved 11 February 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/01/04/is-substack-the-media-future-we-want

Resources

Substack (substack.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Frieda Klotz is an Irish-American writer and anti-transgender activist. Klotz launders anti-trans extremism about gender diverse youth into mainstream media outlets. Klotz has been cited by American anti-trans organizations supporting legislation harming our children.

Background

Frieda Marie Klotz was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1977 to Margaret Klotz and Frederick S. “Fred” Klotz, an American mathematician who died when Frieda was a child in an April 1988 Dublin cycle accident.

Klotz studied ancient Greek, earning a bachelor’s degree from Fred Klotz’s former employer Trinity College, Dublin, in 2000. Klotz then continued at University of Oxford, earning a master’s degree in 2001 and a doctorate in 2005. From 2005 to 2007 Klotz taught at King’s College London.

In 2007 Klotz began a long string of reviewing, editing, writing, fact-checking, and researching roles for Daily Telegraph, Euromoney, New York Times Syndicate, Irishcentral, journalism professor Susie Linfield, Salon, and New York Times Digital.

In 2011 Klotz co-edited The Philosopher’s Banquet with Katerina Oikonomopoulou. Klotz was then a contributor for The Chronicle Review, Forbes, Shimon Dotan at Roam Films, Irish Times, Prospect, The Guardian, Irish Echo, Irish Voice, the Irish Times, The Economist, MIT Sloan Management Review, Ireland’s Sunday Independent, and Diplomacy Dojo. Klotz has also written several white papers for the British government and the New York Times Company.

Klotz began attacking healthcare for transgender children while based in Brussels.

2022 Undark article

In 2022, Klotz began writing the first of many versions of the same article about gender diverse youth. These “cisgender person under siege” articles typically center a cisgender person as a hero facing assaults from “both sides.” For Klotz, the cis hero is Annelou de Vries and colleagues, and the two sides are:

  • Right-wing politicians, religious conservatives, and some health care associations are calling for medical treatment of teens to be banned or avoided if at all possible
  • Some activists and physicians say the protocol is too slow.

Klotz’s false equivalence between executing eliminationist policies and removing barriers to care is a hallmark of what biologist Julia Serano calls trans-suspicious reporting.

Klotz continues The Atlantic’s shameful leading role in “just asking questions.” This cognitive bias is called a framing effect. Here are Klotz’s questions:

But pediatric transgender medicine is a new field with a lot of questions yet to be answered by science. What is the long-term impact of blocking puberty on a young person’s health? Can practitioners correctly determine which youngsters will still identify as trans when they are adults? Do the psychological assessments contribute to children’s suffering by delaying access to puberty blockers and hormones? Why has the number of teens coming forward to receive transgender medical care, particularly those assigned female at birth, risen so dramatically in recent years?

Klotz then rattles off the litany of risks and complications recited by conservatives:

  • “desistance”
  • bone loss
  • brain development
  • genital atrophy (with an assumption of vaginoplasty)
  • medical consent
  • reproductive viability

For the “right-wing politicians, religious conservatives, and some health care associations” engaged in an assault on trans rights and autonomy we have a couple of sentences about:

  • The Heritage Foundation
  • Family Policy Alliance

All the usual suspects advocating “careful therapeutic assessments” and banning informed consent before age 26 are presented as the centrist position:

For the “some activists and physicians” side, we have:

  • Diane Ehrensaft
  • Diane Chen
  • VU Gender (Mis)Treatment
  • Jack Turban
  • Aidan Key
  • Florence Ashley

2023 Atlantic article

Klotz wrote the same article for The Atlantic the following year, but with Finland and Norway added as countries with concerns. This article tries to shore up an alleged clinical distinction between young children and “adolescent-onset gender dysphoria,” a euphemism for the fake disease “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”

New clinicians

New journalists

  • Jan Kuitenbrouwer
  • Peter Vasterman
  • Kaya Bouma
  • Ellen de Visser

New activists and politicians

  • Michiel Verkoulen
  • Sam van den Berg

Response by Marieke Kuypers

A group of journalists have been hitting the same talking points as their English-speaking counterparts. As trans journalists and researchers work to stay on top of the flood of anti-transgender propaganda being being laundered into “centrist” publications, journalist Marieke Kuypers has given a first-blush overview of the Dutch political situation. Kuypers’ Twitter thread is below. More on this soon.

  • A quick thread for any English speakers about something I’ve been afraid of ever since the publication of a Dutch article about the Dutch Approach that was heavily biased. It’s been used as more evidence of this “increasing” concern in an Atlantic piece
  • Because I’ve been looking into anti-trans targeting of The Dutch Approach, I recognize the author. Frieda Klotz’s article on the same topic from last year was published on GLP, which is a Monsanto front – the article https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2022/06/27/transitioning-transgender-teenagers-are-not-new-this-dutch-clinic-has-been-doing-it-for-decades/

- GLP: https://sourcewatch.org/index.php/Genetic_Literacy_Project
  • The same article by Klotz on Undark, a website tied to GLP: https://undark.org/2022/04/06/the-evolution-of-pediatric-transgender-medicine/

About the link between Undark and GLP:
  • Kuitenbrouwer and Vasterman are not qualified to judge gender care. One is a media sociologist, the other a columnist. Kuitenbrouwer is rabidly transphobic, calling the “trans-movement bloodthirsty”. They were also on a Genspect sponsored podcast
  • For some of Kuitenbrouwer’s massively transphobic work, check out these articles:
  • Vasterman shared the Undark article by the same author as the Atlantic piece, Frieda Klotz in april last year
  • Uitstekend gedocumenteerd overzichtsverhaal over de oorsprong van the Dutch approach, wereldwijd overgenomen maar nu onder vuur: “A Dutch clinic pioneered transgender medical care for kids, shaping decades of research amid criticism from all sides.” https://undark.org/2022/04/06/the-evolution-of-pediatric-transgender-medicine/
  • To make the connection even more complete, Kuitenbrouwer apparently knew about the Volkskrant article before it was published, according to this tweet in which he says there’s an article coming about the Dutch approach. Did he influence the article? https://twitter.com/kuitenbrouwer/status/1627664286280519682?s=20
  • I also spoke to someone who was interviewed for the article and retracted their story once they read the article. The told me and I have evidence that the authors spoke to anti-trans activist Michael Biggs. How much influence did he have?
  • The influence of anti-trans groups does seem obvious, they even link to one in the Volkskrant article referencing SEGM as a “group of 120 doctors”. It does not have 120 members who are doctors, but about a dozen, amongst them Michael Biggs
  • “SEGM is an ideological organization without apparent ties to mainstream scientific organizations. Its 14 core members are a small group of repeat players in anti-trans activities – a fact that the SEGM website does not disclose” Volkskrant ook niet
  • The Volkskrant also talks to dr. Kaltiala who spread the debunked social contagion (ROGD) story and was a witness in Florida, and is linked to SEGM as well https://genderanalysis.net/entity/riittakerttu-kaltiala-heino/
  • Furthermore, the detransitioner in the story matches (same process, ages of treatment, same very specific story about a back surgery and the account proudly retweeted the article) the Twitter account of someone who was invited by anti-trans group Genspect to a detrans house
  • I’m rushing the analysis I was already writing about the Volkskrant article and how it was influenced by anti-trans groups and will try to publish a translated version as soon as possible and add it to this thread once it’s finished.
  • Want to know what dr. De Vries thinks? Here are her own words in the book about the Dutch Approach by Alex Bakker:
  • This is a critical response to the article by the Dutch Transgender Network. They link to a pdf with extensive references, you can throw that in Google translate as well using the documents tab 
https://www-transgendernetwerk-nl.translate.goog/belangenorganisaties-trekken-aan-de-bel-over-onzorgvuldige-journalistiek/?_x_tr_sl=nl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp
  • Oh look Kuitenbrouwer seems to admit he “crossed paths” with the Dutch journalists. (I wasn’t sacked by the way, shows how reliable this guy’s info is)
  • Ahw I think he doesn’t like me so he blocked me. Here’s a screenshot
  • So apart from Vasterman &Kuitenbrouwer being unqualified & transphobic, Frieda Klotz fails to mention that contrary to the moral panic about the increase in “girls” (trans boys) in the most recent Dutch research (2022) the ratio has actually reversed to more trans women
  • You can find this recent research (in Dutch) here. Another interesting finding in light of the moral panic: years long waiting lists are causing mental distress (mostly in the form of depressive or suicidal feelings) for 70% of the group that was surveyed https://zorgvuldigadvies.nl/wp-content/upl

Klotz’s anti-trans writings

Klotz, Frieda (April 6, 2022). The fractious evolution of pediatric transgender medicine. Undark https://undark.org/2022/04/06/the-evolution-of-pediatric-transgender-medicine/

Klotz, Frieda (June 27, 2022). Transitioning transgender teenagers are not new. This Dutch clinic has been helping them for decades. Genetic Literacy Project https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2022/06/27/transitioning-transgender-teenagers-are-not-new-this-dutch-clinic-has-been-doing-it-for-decades/

Klotz, Frieda (March 24, 2023). Book review: Behind the demise of the Tavistock Gender Clinic. Undark https://undark.org/2023/03/24/book-review-time-to-think/

Klotz, Frieda (April 28, 2023). A teen gender-care debate is spreading across Europe. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/04/gender-affirming-care-debate-europe-dutch-protocol/673890/

References

Transgender Netwerk Nederland (March 10, 2023). Belangenorganisaties Trekken Aan De Bel Over Onzorgvuldige Journalistiek [Interest groups are sounding the alarm about careless journalism] https://www.transgendernetwerk.nl/belangenorganisaties-trekken-aan-de-bel-over-onzorgvuldige-journalistiek/

Irish Mathematical Society Bulletin 21 (December 1988), p. 6.

Resources

Frieda Klotz (friedaklotz.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Genetic Literacy Project (geneticliteracyproject.org)

WordPress (wordpress.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

reddit is a social network of communities focused on different topics (subreddits). It was a service of choice for anti-trans communities until the site implemented strict rules about posting anti-trans content. It is also an important supportive resource for trans and gender diverse people.

Supportive subreddits

A wide range of subreddits offer information and support for sex and gender minorities.

Mainly positive/affirming groups include:

I have created maps of subreddits for a number of underserved communities. These include nonnbinary people as well as the eunuch, “sissy,” “tomboy,” and salmacian communities, among others.

Toxic subreddits

Before the platform took decisive action, reddit was the social media service of choice for the “gender critical” anti-transgender movement.

Many subreddits contained anti-trans content but were not dedicated solely to transphobic hate. In some cases, like r/moderatepolitics, the moderators have banned discussions of “Gender Identity and the Transgender Experience.”

The following subreddits have had significant amounts of anti-transgender content:

Toxic trans subreddits

Some subreddits are popular among toxic trans and gender diverse people, including

  • r/transgendercirclejerk
  • r/4tran
  • r/ttttrans
  • r/GenderCynical
  • r/honesttransgender
  • r/transmedical
  • r/truscum

Other banned anti-trans subreddits

These were specifically targeting trans and gender diverse people. Many were recreated at voat, SaidIt, Ovarit, 4W, Spinster.xyz, Raddle, Throat, Lemmy, etc.

Laura VanZee Taylor is an American anti-transgender activist who directed the 2023 anti-trans project No Way Back as “L. E. Dawes.” After Taylor’s child came out as trans, Taylor created a propaganda piece about the ex-transgender movement. Taylor and producer Penka Kouneva are responsible for including convicted sex offender David Arthur Kendall as one of the ex-trans activists they featured.

Background

Laura Elinor Van Zee was born August 26, 1970, grew up in Medford, Oregon, then earned a bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark College in 1992 and a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994.

VanZee Taylor’s husband Jason Daniel Taylor (born 1970) is an executive at Facebook/Meta. They met in college, married in 1992, and have two children: Occidental College student Elinor “Ellie” Taylor and a teen who came out as trans, which sparked VanZee Taylor’s anti-trans activism.

VanZee Taylor was a creative director for Hallmark Cards in Missouri before becoming a stay-at-home parent. In 2010, after a “a mini-midlife crisis” at age 40, VanZee Taylor began making videos.

Previous media

  • I Am Maris (ROCO Films 2017) profiles Maris Degener, a yoga instructor who experienced significant body image issues as a teen
  • Walk Through This (2018) profiles Sara Schulting Kranz, whose spouse came out as bisexual 17 years into their marriage
  • “If Siri Was a Mom” (2016) showcases Whitney Cicero / The New Stepford
  • “Somewhere” (2014) features VanZee Taylor’s family

VanZee-Taylor styles both fake and real names in numerous ways:

  • L. E. Dawes
  • L.E. Dawes
  • L E Dawes
  • LE Dawes
  • Laura VanZee
  • Laura Van Zee
  • Laura V. Taylor
  • Laura VanZee-Taylor
  • Laura VanZee Taylor
  • Laura Van Zee Taylor

Anti-transgender activism

VanZee Taylor became involved in anti-transgender activism because their younger child identified as gender diverse. VanZee Taylor then connected with other unsupportive parents from the anti-trans “parental rights” movement:

COVID-19 had been hard on my youngest. Previously an extroverted, active and affectionate boy, over the lockdown he became quiet, easily agitated and withdrawn. He spent most of his time online. Then he told us he was transgender.

He said he wanted puberty blockers and then he would go on estrogen. He matter-of-factly stated that he didn’t plan on getting “bottom surgery,” but would probably want electrolysis, voice training and facial feminizing surgery such as a tracheal shave. He knew our insurance would cover it all.

My husband and I were shocked at his pronouncement. Not because we are transphobic, but because our son had never exhibited any discomfort with his body or identity. […]

I joined a local support group with more than 100 members for parents of kids with rapid-onset gender dysphoria. Hearing their stories, with so many similarities to ours, I couldn’t help but think that something other than kids finding their authentic selves was going on here. […]

And that is why I made this film. Even if my community disapproves. Even if I have to use a pseudonym to protect my son.

In the course of attacking 300,000 American children, VanZee Taylor outed their own child in the Dallas Morning News in 2023, even though their child was not out at school.

VanZee Taylor claims “I have to use a pseudonym to protect my son,” apparently feeling the best way to protect this teen was to divulge deeply personal family information in a major newspaper to promote anti-transgender propaganda.

In June 2023, this site revealed the identities of VanZee Taylor and producer Penka Kouneva and helped get theatrical screenings at AMC canceled.

As of 2024, their trans child Ruby Taylor is out, transitioned, and in college. Kouneva’s child has also transitioned. Despite this, Kouneva and Taylor continue to post anti-trans propaganda online, primarily on the 2022affirmation account.

References

Dawes, L. E. (February 17, 2023). OPINION Filmmaker: I believed in gender affirming care. Then I saw what happened to my son. Dallas Morning News https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/02/18/i-made-a-film-about-transgender-kids-that-doesnt-align-with-my-politics/

KOBI-TV (April 18, 2018). Five on 5 – Laura VanZee Taylor – Film Maker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgUen2rQq0

Osborne, Matt (February 19, 2023). Affirmation Generation: The Lies Of Transgender Medicine. The Distance https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/affirmation-generation-the-lies-of

PITT (February 21, 2023). AFFIRMATION GENERATION, an original documentary. Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT). https://pitt.substack.com/p/affirmation-generation-an-original

Resources

Peanut Monkey Films (peanutmonkeyfilms.com)

Laura VanZee (lauravanzee.com)

No Way Back (nowaybackfilm.com)

Affirmation Generation (affirmationgenerationmovie.com) [archive]

Vimeo (vimeo.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

TikTok (tiktok.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

ROCO Films (rocofilms.com)

Walk Through This (walkthroughthis.com) [archive starts in 2018]

Open Corporates (opencorporates.com)

The Washington Post is an American media organization. It is considered a paper of record for the United States, along with The New York Times.

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 “scientists’ 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 Post’s 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.”

Ad Fontes Media (adfontesmedia.com)

Ad Fontes Media rates Washington Post in the Skews Left category of bias and as Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues in terms of reliability. 

  • https://adfontesmedia.com/washington-post-bias-and-reliability/
  • Reliability: 38.15
  • Bias: -8.75

NewsGuard (newsguardtech.com)

  • Standards met:
  • Standards failed:
  • as of 1 January 2020

Contributors

The following people have had writing about trans issues published in the Washington Post.

Letters of note

  • Rachel Cornwell and Liz Matthews

2023 defense of New York Times’ transphobia

In 2023, media critic Erik Wemple published a defense of the New York Times during their anti-trans coverage crisis.

2024 editorial critical of youth gender medicine

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 doesn’t 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”
  • the report by Swedish anti-trans activist Mikael LandĂ©n et al 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 Medicine paper on psychosocial functioning, in which The Post claimed NEJM “massaged the results”
  • an Economist piece attacking WPATH
  • a Boston Globe piece about psychologist Amy Tishelman’s lawsuit against Boston Children’s Hospital
  • a New York Times piece by anti-trans activist Azeen Ghorayshi attacking pediatrician Johanna Olson-Kennedy

Anti-trans activists lauded the editorial, including Leor Sapir, Jesse Singal, Benjamin Ryan, Lisa Selin Davis, and Partners for Ethical Care. The editorial was praised by consistently anti-trans conservative platforms, including National Review, Catholic Vote, Ovarit, and X.

The authors were:

  • Mary Duenwald
  • James Hohmann
  • Charles Lane, Deputy Opinion Editor 
  • Eduardo Porter
  • Keith B. Richburg
  • David Shipley, Opinion Editor 
  • Stephen Stromberg, Deputy Opinion Editor 

2025 editorial praising Trump’s HHS report

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 Editor 
  • Stephen Stromberg, Deputy Opinion Editor 

References

Wilchins, Riki (December 20, 2024). The Anti-Care Playbook. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/washington-post-anti-care-playbook

Lazine, Mira (December 16, 2024). Opinion: Washington Post Editorial Board Misleadingly Attacks Care Of Trans Youth. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/opinion-washington-post-editorial

Schorr, Isaac (December 16, 2024). Washington Post Editorial Board Declares There Is ‘Reason to Worry’ About Transgender Treatments for Kids. Mediaite https://www.mediaite.com/news/washington-post-editorial-board-declares-there-is-reason-to-worry-about-transgender-treatments-for-kids/

Berry, Susan (December 18, 2024). Washington Post admits subjecting children to ‘transgender medicine’ not based on ‘science.’ Catholic Vote https://catholicvote.org/washington-post-admits-subjecting-children-to-transgender-medicine-not-based-on-science/

Butler, Jack (December 17, 2024). Transgender Skepticism from . . . the Washington Post? National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/transgender-skepticism-from-the-washington-post/

Selected anti-trans publications

Editorial Board (May 11, 2025). Good questions about transgender care: The authors of a new HHS report make a case against pediatric gender transition. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/11/transgender-care-pediatric-transition/

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 won’t settle questions about youth gender medicine.

Resources

The Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)

Britannica (britannica.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

WorldCat (worldcat.org)

Joseph Ladapo is a Nigerian-American physician who was a key figure in banning trans youth healthcare in Florida.

Background

Joseph Abiodun Ladapo was born on December 16, 1978 in Nigeria. At age 5, Ladapo and family moved to the Uniter States.

Ladapo earned a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University in 2000, then attended Harvard, earning a medical degree and a doctorate. After working in New York City, Ladapo was appointed a tenured professor at UCLA.

During the COVID pandemic, Ladapo became known among convervatives for views on vaccines and other protocols. In 2021, Ladapo was appointed Surgeon General of Florida by Governor Ron DeSantis.

Anti-transgender activism

Ladapo has carried out anti-trans policies promoted by DeSantis, most notably SB 254, a law prohibiting gender-affirming medical treatment for minors and restricting access to care for trans adults.

Transgender Floridians brought Doe v. Ladapo to challenge this law.

Via Zinnia Jones:

We now know that the state was covertly assisted in this effort by the leadership of the anti-trans group Genspect, Child & Parental Rights Campaign lawyer Vernadette Broyles, and Riittakerttu Kaltiala of Finland’s Tampere University youth gender clinic; Hilary Cass of NHS England’s Cass Review also privately expressed an interest in the sham report against gender-affirming care commissioned by Florida’s AHCA. Several individuals worked behind the scenes with Patrick Hunter, a leading member of the anti-trans Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM). After being appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the Board of Medicine, Hunter arranged for extensive anti-trans testimony from SEGM associates to be submitted to the Boards of Medicine and Osteopathy. 

Jones (2023)

Ladapo has also appeared on a number of anti-trans platforms, including Tim Pool, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Epoch Times, Newsmax, Dennis Prager, Charlie Kirk, and Debra Soh.

References

Doe v. Ladapo (4:23-cv-00114) District Court, N.D. Florida https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67082532/doe-v-ladapo/

Jones, Zinnia (November 29, 2023). New trial exhibits in Doe v. Ladapo: DOH worked with Genspect leaders Stella O’Malley and Joe Burgo in July 2022; Hilary Cass met SEGM’s Patrick Hunter to discuss Florida’s anti-trans report; Jamie Reed’s attorney Vernadette Broyles chose the lineup of detransitioners speaking at the Board of Medicine. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/2023/11/new-trial-exhibits-in-doe-v-ladapo-doh-worked-with-genspect-leaders-stella-omalley-and-joe-burgo-in-july-2022-hilary-cass-met-segms-patrick-hunter-to-discuss-floridas-ant/

 Migdon, Brooke (April 20, 2022). Florida health dept. says gender-affirming care should not be provided to minors. The Hill https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/3274150-florida-health-dept-says-gender-affirming-care-should-not-be-provided-to-minors/


Riley, John (December 27, 2023). DeSantis Spread Misinformation to Limit Trans Health Care, Judge Says. MetroWeekly https://www.metroweekly.com/2023/12/desantis-spread-misinformation-to-limit-trans-health-care-judge-says/

Izaguirre, Anthony (June 3, 2022). Transgender youth treatment under fire in Florida again. AP https://apnews.com/article/health-florida-cultures-medicaid-government-and-politics-68065d8560f7cb68ea4fd8e57e848295

Caputo, Marc (June 2, 2022). DeSantis moves to ban transition care for transgender youths, Medicaid recipients. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/desantis-moves-ban-transition-care-transgender-youth-medicaid-recipien-rcna31736

Alfonseca, Kiara (March 23, 2023). Florida parents file lawsuit against state transgender youth care ban. ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-parents-file-lawsuit-state-transgender-youth-care/story?id=98086864

This is about the politics of media coverage of sex and gender minorities. For media resources to assist in a gender transition, please go to Resources.

Journalism

Social media

YouTube

Homeland Security / University of Dayton study

The United States Department of Homeland Security’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program commissioned a report from University of Dayton on how extremists use media to recruit new members.

While the report was focused on white nationalism and christofascism, many key anti-trans media outlets were included:

Tier 1:

  • Fox News
  • The Heritage Foundation
  • American Conservative Union Foundation
  • Natonal Rifle Association
  • Christian Broadcasting Network
  • John Birch Society
  • American Tea Party
  • Republican Party

Tier 2

Tier 3

  • American Renaissance
  • National Policy Institute
  • Stormfront
  • Daily Stormer
  • Sonnenrad
  • Kekistan flag / chan culture
  • Blood & Honour
  • American Nazi Party
  • American Identity Movement
  • Identitarian Lambda
  • Patriot Front

Tier 4

  • Aryan Nations
  • Atomwaffen Division
  • Sturmabteilung
  • National Socialist Legion

Controversies

I am currently working on a wide-ranging project on this topic, based on a major media controversy from 2003:

References

University of Dayton () PREVENTS-OH https://udayton.edu/artssciences/ctr/hrc/extremism/extremism-prevention.php