Christina Hoff Sommers is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Sommers is critic of “gender feminism” or “victim feminism” and has supported many anti-trans activists over the years.
Background
Christina Marie Hoff Sommers was born on September 28, 1950 in Petaluma, California. Sommers earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1971 and a doctorate in philosophy from Brandeis University in 1975.
After writing several works on ethics, Sommers began a career questioning “gender feminism,” a set of tenets central to third-wave feminism. Sommers went on to write several books on the subject:
Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women (1994)
The War Against Boys (2000)
Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today (2013)
Sommers married philosopher Frederic Tamler “Fred” Sommers (1923 – 2014). Sommers’ stepchild is philosopher Saul Tamler Sommers (born 1970).
TERFWars: Men identifying as women are challenging women’s sports, women’s groups, women’s spaces, and even the very definition of womanhood. Disagree — and they may threaten to beat the crap out of you. New episode w #MeghanMurphy. L
Nicholas John “Nick” Gillespie was born August 7, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Middletown, New Jersey. Gillespie was raised Catholic and graduated from Mater Dei High School. Gillespie earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in 1985, a master’s degree from Temple University in 1990, and a doctorate from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1996. Gillespie married author and academic Katharine Marie Walke Gillespie (born 1960). They have two children, Jack and Nick. The Gillespies have since divorced. In 2023 Gillespie became engaged to Sarah Rose Siskind.
Gillespie has been associated with Reason magazine. Gillespie edited the 2004 book Choice: The Best of Reason and co-authored the 2011 book The Declaration of Independents.
Anti-trans promotion
With the exception of conservative trans libertarian Deirdre McCloskey, Gillespie has never platformed any trans journalists, scientists, lawyers, politicians, or activists who could address anti-trans guests’ statements or Gillespie’s own misconceptions.
Dave Chappelle is an American comedian. Considered one of the greatest standups of all time, his late career has been marked by a series of transphobic incidents.
Background
David Khari Webber Chappelle was born August 24, 1973 in Washington, DC. His parents were politically active academics. He graduated from Duke Ellington School of the Arts in 1991. He moved to New York City and began honing his act, quickly becoming a regular at comedy clubs and in late night guest spots. He began appearing on televisions shows and t=developing pilots. His first starring role was in the 1998 film Half Baked. He recorded his first comedy special in 2000. In 2003 he starred in the sketch comedy program Chappelle’s Show, then left abruptly in 2005 at the height of the show’s popularity. He made sporadic appearances until 2013, when he started touring full-time again. In 2017, Netflix released the first of five comedy specials starring Chappelle. In 2019 he won the Mark Twain Prize.
Chappelle and his wife have three children.
Anti-transgender statements
Chappelle’s 2021 Netflix special The Closer included transphobic jokes and a defense of transphobic author JK Rowling, during which he declared “I’m team TERF.” In his defense, Chappelle said some of his best friends were trans, citing trans comedian Daphne Dorman.
Netflix employees organized a walkout and demanded that The Closer be taken off of Netflix. CEO Ted Sarandos refused to take down the special, stating that he “does not believe it falls into hate speech.” Chappelle’s alma mater Duke Ellington School decided not to name its theater after him.
Chappelle continued to troll the trans community with jokes and play the victim. In 2022, Chappelle brought transphobe Elon Musk onstage at a San Francisco show, and Musk was booed off stage.
Carrie D. Mendoza is an American physician and anti-transgender activist. Mendoza leads FAIR in Medicine, the healthcare arm of anti-trans organization Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism.
Background
Carrie D. Edelstein was born June 29, 1966. After earning a bachelor’s degree in from Tufts University in 1988, Edelstein then attended University of Chicago, earning a master’s degree and a medical degree, followed by a residency and a fellowship at Denver General Hospital.
Much of Mendoza’s career has been in emergency medicine. Mendoza has practiced at Parker and Castle Rock Adventist in Colorado and as part of the Advocate system in Illinois.
Mendoza married education reform activist Myles X. Mendoza (born 1972). They have three children: Jesse, Noah and Max.
Carrie D. Mendoza has contributed to Republican causes and was elected to the Douglas County school board in 2013. Mendoza was one of several parents who complained that New Trier High School library held the gay teen novel Two Boys Kissing.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2021, Mendoza appeared on a FAIR panel. Panelists included several prominent conservative and anti-trans activists:
After working as the Illinois coordinator for FAIR, Mendoza was tapped to lead FAIR in Medicine.
In an introductory video, Mendoza likened the “orthodoxy” of gender affirming care to forced sterilizations in Nazi Germany and Iran.
There is also the orthodoxy that only one treatment for youth gender dysphoria – affirmation, hormones, surgery – is the correct one, regardless of the individual conditions that might have led them to their discomfort with their body. Mastectomies are being performed on children as young as 15 as part of routine transgender healthcare. So-called gender-affirming hysterectomies have been performed on minors as well.
Asking if there are other better ways for certain patients reporting gender dysphoria is often treated as transphobic, as advocating conversion therapy, or pushing dysphoric children into suicide. Never mind the rate of regret and detransition increasing to amounts that have not yet been properly studied. Multiple studies have shown that medical transition has no effect on reducing suicide rates. And two studies show postoperative transgender people have considerably higher risk for suicidal behavior.
Some states are passing misinformation bills that would ban medical professionals from speaking in ways that contradict contemporary scientific consensus. Unaware of how wrong previous medical consensus was that sought to cure homosexuality or treat hysteria with oophorectomies and how wrong we might discover we are in the present.
FAIR (December 17, 2021). FAIR’s Gender Webinar with Abigail Shrier, Colin Wright, Zander Keig, and more! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XYzCE1ph5s
FAIR in Medicine (March 9, 2023). Dr. Carrie Mendoza: Pro-Human Medicine Means Ending Unquestionable Orthodoxies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkUU3cLRzsMedia
FAIR (May 18, 2023). https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1OdKrzvXNozKX Understanding Gender Dysphoria with Dr. Michael Bailey
Cathy “Bug” Brennan is an American lawyer and anti-transgender extremist. Brennan is a prominent and strident member of the movement’s gender critical faction.
In a 2011 letter to the United Nations, Brennan argued against certain legal protections based on gender identity and expression, claiming that “the proliferation of legislation designed to protect ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ undermines legal protections for females vis-Ă -vis sex segregated spaces.”
Brennan claims that eschewing the term lesbian for more inclusive alternatives is “catering” to trans people that will lead to “lesbian annihilation.”
Background
Catherine Margaret “Cathy” Brennan was born in The Bronx, New York on December 30, 1970 and lived there until 1976. Brennan graduated from Pine Bush High School in Pine Bush, New York in 1988. Brennan then earned a bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Fordham University, followed by a law degree from University at Buffalo in 1995. Brennan is admitted to practice law in Maryland (1996), New York (1996), Pennsylvania (2006), and Oregon (2017).
After briefly working as a reporter at Baltimore’s The Daily Record, Brennan then held advocacy and enforcement roles at Bar Association of Baltimore, The Women’s Law Center of Maryland, Advocates for Children and Youth, and the City of Baltimore. Since 2004 Brennan has worked at Hudson Cook LLP, becoming a partner in 2008.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2011, Brennan and Elizabeth Hungerford sent a letter to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women with their concerns about legal protections based on gender identity and expression, claiming such protections undermine legal protections based on sex.
Brennan became infamous in the mid-2010s for anti-trans trolling and verbal abuse on social media, particularly on Tumblr and Twitter. Brennan ran a site called Gender Identity Watch that documented trans people and their supporters, usually in disparaging terms. The anti-trans site was eventually suspended by WordPress for violations of their terms of use.
Brennan also allegedly contacted the Canadian caregivers of Emily Horsman (suspended user derpemily on Twitter) to complain about Horsman’s online activity.
The tone and tactics used, which included contacting people’s employers and doctors, made Brennan the most notorious trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) of the time:
The chief TERF figurehead is a Maryland attorney named Catherine Brennan who once served as a liaison on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. In July of 2012, a petition circulated to have Brennan removed from that position because, to put it mildly, she flatly rejected the “Gender Identity” half of her job description.
Apart from a sordid internet history of harassing, misgendering, and mocking trans* people, Brennan co-authored a letter with Elizabeth Hungerford to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to argue against — yes, against — legal protections based on “gender identity or expression.” In so doing, Brennan has effectively allied herself with those on the Right who viciously deter trans* folks’ attempts to secure employment, housing and safe public spaces.
Since vacating the American Bar Association liaison position, Brennan has continued to spread her anti-trans* viewpoints at the annual Radfem conference.
Brennan was also involved in Radfem Hub, a group blog and forum with a substantial anti-trans focus. In 2011, a Radfem Hub contributor named “Agent Orange” was revealed to be a men’s rights activist named James Huff. Huff then released a data dump from their forum that had a significant impact on members.
Brennan was involved in organizing the annual Radfem Conference. As the group began to have a harder time operating, including last-minute cancellation of their 2013 conference venue, Brennan made a legal claim to the Radfem Hub site. The content was then archived at other domains.
As of 2018, Brennan was no longer interested in running the Gender Identity Watch website. Anti-trans group Women’s Liberation Front then volunteered to maintain it. WordPress suspended Gender Identity Watch, GenderTrender, and a number of other virulently anti-trans sites in November 2018. Gender Identity Watch went offline in 2023.
References
Note: This site regrets previously misstating Brennan’s early childhood place of residence.
[Shanko, Linda] (January 29, 2015). Cathy Brennan files legal copyright claim over ownership of RadFem Hub. GenderTrender https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/cathy-brennan-files-legal-copyright-claim-over-ownership-of-radfem-hub/ [archive]
Reilly, Peter J. (June 20, 2013). Cathy Brennan On Radfem 2013.Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2013/06/15/cathy-brennan-on-radfem-2013/
Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (October 21, 2013). Cathy Brennan Speaks on Trans Women.Bustle https://www.bustle.com/articles/7277-cathy-brennan-speaks-to-bustle-about-her-stance-on-transgender-people
Taylor, Dana Lane (February 25, 2014). Cathy Brennan Contacted My Doctor. http://danalanetaylor.com/2014/02/25/cathy-brennan-contacted-my-doctor
Taylor, Dana Lane (February 14, 2014). My “Harassment” of Cathy Brennan – The Real Truth. http://danalanetaylor.com/2014/02/14/my-harassment-of-cathy-brennan-the-real-truth/
Taylor, Dana Lane (October 19, 2013). Jancie Raymond [sic] and Cathy Brennan contacted my employer. http://dana.stopabuseonline.org/2013/10/19/jancie-raymond-and-cathy-brennan-contacted-my-employer/ [archive]
Sandeen, Autumn (May 24, 2012). The Bittersweet “Change Of Gender” Court Ruling: It Came With Cyberbulling [sic]. Pam’s House Blend http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/05/24/the-bittersweet-change-of-gender-court-ruling-it-came-with-cyberbulling/ [archive]
Brennan, Cathy (June 2013). Ladybug’s Political Smackdown: Pride in the Name of Lesbians. Baltimore OUTloud https://www.baltimoreoutloud.com/thinking-outloud/equality/ladybugs-political-smackdown/item/1358-pride-in-the-name-of-lesbians [archive]
Ramseyer, Laurel (August 10, 2011). Cathy Brennan & Elizabeth Hungerford take their anti-trans activism to the UN. Pam’s House Blend http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2011/08/10/cathy-brennan-elizabeth-hungerford-take-their-anti-trans-activism-to-the-un/ [archive]
Allen, Mercedes (August 4, 2011). Less Than Woman, Less Than Human. The Billerico Project http://www.bilerico.com/2011/08/less_than_woman_less_than_human.php [archive]
Brennan, Cathy; Hungerford, Elizabeth (August 1, 2011). [Response to United Nations] via Sex Matters https://sexnotgender.com/gender-identity-legislation-and-the-erosion-of-sex-based-legal-protections-for-females/ PDF available at https://radicalhubarchives.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/communication_csw_un_brennanhungerford_08012011_.pdf
Maria Keffler is an American anti-transgender activist. Keffler is part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Background
Maria Lee Schlatter was born July 2, 1970 and attended Purdue University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1992 and a master’s degree in 1994. Schlatter taught in Japan from 1995 to 1999, then worked for a year at Sea Life Park Hawaii in Waimanalo Beach.
Keffler is married to Aaron B. Keffler (born September 20, 1974), currently a Senior Engineer at Science and Technology Associates. Keffler has been a homemaker since 2003, when oldest child Christopher was born. Keffler and spouse live in Arlington, Virginia with their three children. Keffler has volunteered for the parent-teacher association at Arlington Public Schools. Keffler self-publishes via Smashwords and KDP.
Keffler also runs a knitting business called Wylde & Plumb and is active on Ravelry and other knitting platforms.
Anti-transgender activism
Keffler is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. Keffler is also a co-founder of non-profit Advocates Protecting Children and the website Arlington Parent Coalition.
Keffler is the author of multiple self-published books, including
Desist, Detrans & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult (2021)
Year-In-Review: the Entirely True Histories of a Perfectly Wretched Family (2013)
Keffler and Erin Brewer have also produced two video series, Commonsense Care for parents of trans-identified children, and Teacher Talks for educators.
References
Keffler, Maria (April 5, 2019). Gender politics don’t belong in the classroom, but Title IX protections do.Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/local-opinions/gender-politics-dont-belong-in-the-classroom-but-title-ix-protections-do/2019/04/05/1cd1a156-5561-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html Parents should decide what their children learn about sexuality and gender
Jennifer Dellasega is an American anti-transgender activist. She is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. They are part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Anti-trans activism
According to Krohn’s testimony:
We found out our daughter was being socially transitioned by her elementary school teacher and therapist when she was in 5th grade at 10/11 years old. The therapist and teacher were using male pronouns and a new made up name. This was something my child was trying on like a teen would have tried a style like punk or goth in years past. The problem is that it’s hard to get out of once they go down this road, for many reasons, not the least of which are the adults who are encouraging them.
[…]
We removed our daughter’s access to the internet and took her out of public school and found her a therapist who explored with our daughter what might be causing her discomfort. she is now comfortable knowing she is a girl. The exploratory therapist worked in partnership with us and treated us as a whole family unit. Our daughter is now happy and flourishing and we are stronger and closer as a family. If we had not removed our daughter from all of the influences that were affirming her as a boy at age 10 or 11, she could likely have gone down the path of medicalization. I believe school and medical and mental health professionals would have encouraged it. I have learned that I cannot trust these blindly-affirming professionals with my daughter’s medical and mental well-being.
References
Dellasega, Jennifer (March 20, 2023). Testimony opposing House Bill 2002. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/PublicTestimonyDocument/68314
Erin K. Player was born in January 1967 and grew up in Salt Lake City. Brewer claims to be a “former ‘trans kid’ who was talked back to reality by talk therapy.”
In first grade, my elementary school teacher Ms. Hicken asked the school psychologist to evaluate me. She was concerned because I insisted I was a boy. I wore my brother’s hand me downs. I cut my hair short. I was verbally aggressive to both adults and my classmates. I was physically aggressive with the other children. In addition, I profoundly hated my female anatomy.
Brewer earned a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in 1990. Brewer returned to school at Utah State University, earning a master’s degree in 2000 and a doctorate in 2004. Brewer works as a Project Coordinator at Utah State University.
Following a first marriage, Brewer went by Erin Edwards. Brewer is currently married to Kevin Brewer (born 1955) and lives in Logan, Utah.
Media
Brewer’s anti-trans books include:
Gender Confusion: A Personal Story of Childhood Gender Dysphoria (2018)
Childhood Gender Dysphoria: The Fallacy of Affirmation (2019)
Jeannette Cooper is an American anti-transgender activist. After losing parental custody, Cooper co-founded anti-trans front group Partners for Ethical Care. Cooper is known as Jeannette Srivastava outside of anti-trans activism.
Background
Jeannette Michelle Cooper was born on November 6, 1977 and grew up in southeastern Ohio. Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in 2000 from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree from Michigan State University in 2005. Cooper then taught English and did technical writing. Cooper married Prashant Srivastava (born 1978), and they had one child together.
Cooper founded an organization called Immigrants to Women Empowered Chicago in 2008 and ran it until 2014. Since 2013 Cooper has been involved in homeschooling. In 2015 Cooper enrolled in a doctorate program at DePaul University.
Cooper and Srivastava divorced in 2015. In 2019, when their 12-year-old child began going by Ash and using xe/xyr pronouns, Cooper’s ex-spouse filed for full custody, stating that Ash was “no longer mentally or emotionally safe” around Cooper.
Despite group family therapy sessions, Cooper still opposed any medical transition steps for Ash, stating:
“But the thing that I clearly am not complying with is this concept that good parenting means that you affirm a child’s claim that there is something wrong with their body. I’m not willing to do that. I don’t think that’s good parenting.”
Cooper runs a private anti-trans Facebook group called Parents of Transgender/Non-binary Kids, Teens, and Young Adults.
Cooper has provided testimony in several states supporting anti-trans legislation, including Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Cooper, Jeannette (March 14, 2023). 03 14 2023 Jeannette Cooper Testimony for KY HB470. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/362/22848/03%2014%202023%20Jeannette%20Cooper%20Testimony%20for%20KY%20HB470.pdf
Suzy Weiss is an American cultural critic and anti-transgender activist. Weiss’ work focuses on maintaining sex segregation and attacking healthcare for gender diverse youth.
Background
Suzanne Lee “Suzy” Weiss was born July 6, 1995. Parents Lou and Amy Weiss run Weisslines, a flooring retailer. Weiss’ sibling is intellectual dark web promoter Bari Weiss. Weiss grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 2013.
In 2013, Weiss wrote a piece for Bari’s former employer The Wall Street Journal about being rejected from colleges for being a straight white person with normal abilities and habits. The piece received widespread negative attention, and Weiss later claimed it was “satire.”
Weiss then earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan in 2018.
While in high school, Weiss served as a US Senate page, followed by college internships at STATE Bags, Zola.com, Funny or Die, The Heymann Brothers, and Ogilvy & Mather.
Weiss was a reporter for the New York Post from 2018 to 2023, then joined Bari Weiss’ publication in 2021.
Weiss, Suzy Lee (March 29, 2013). To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me.Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654
Gachman, Dina (April 3, 2013). Suzy Lee Weiss and the Age of Entitlement.Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/dinagachman/2013/04/03/suzy-lee-weiss-and-the-age-of-entitlement/?sh=4e1c0b2e2bbc
Bari Weiss (March 6, 2022). Watching Lia Thomas Win.Honestly with Bari Weiss https://podcasts.apple.com/hu/podcast/watching-lia-thomas-win/id1570872415?i=1000553066075