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Andrew Sullivan is a conservative gay cultural critic and anti-transgender activist. Sullivan says Catholic upbringing and values inform this conservatism. Sullivan’s gender critical views include:

  • Criticizing legal protections based on gender identity
  • Criticizing affirmative care for gender diverse youth
  • Promoting the ex-transgender movement
  • Stating that trans youth should wait until 16 for health services
  • Citing anti-trans research like Lisa Littman’s “rapid onset gender dysphoria“

Background

In 1986, Sullivan took a role at The New Republic, rising to editor in 1991 before leaving in 1996.

Sullivan wrote for The New York Times Magazine from 1998 until getting fired in 2002. During that time Sullivan started a blog called The Dish that ran until 2015. From 2016 to 2020 Sullivan wrote for New York magazine, then moved to Substack.

Anti-trans activism

Sullivan frequently appears in the media to attack trans people, especially gender diverse children.

Sullivan has collaborated with anti-trans activists, including Katie Herzog, Megyn Kelly, Bill Maher, Konstantin Kisin, and Francis Foster.

Podcast

In October 2020, Sullivan began the Dishcast, which has hosted many anti-trans activists, including David Frum, Michelle Goldberg, Rod Dreher, Eric Kaufmann, Lionel Shriver, Nellie Bowles, Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Abigail Shrier, Carole Hooven, Pamela Paul, Leor Sapir, Vivek Ramaswamy, Hannah Barnes, Nicholas Wade, Ben Appel, Matt Taibbi, Glen Loury, Louise Perry, David French, Douglas Murray, Bari Weiss, Jonathan Haidt, Kathleen Stock, Christopher Rufo, Michael Shellenberger, Ann Coulter, Steven Pinker, Ross Douthat, Wesley Yang, Katie Herzog, Charles Murray, Niall Ferguson, Julie Bindel, Emily Yoffe, Sally Satel, Glenn Greenwald, Kmele Foster, Caitlin Flanagan, Meghan Daum, Matt Yglesias, and Coleman Hughes.

Sullivan has also hosted conservative trans activist Buck Angel, ex-trans activist Helena Kerschner, and centrist trans activists Mara Keisling and Dana Beyer.

References

Schindler, Paul (February 1, 2018). The Trouble With Andrew Sullivan. Gay City News https://gaycitynews.com/the-trouble-with-andrew-sullivan/

Marr, Rhuaridh (December 30, 2020). Gay conservative Andrew Sullivan complains about lesbians ‘becoming men’ in anti-trans column. Sullivan’s complaints about lesbian women not tending to him while sick led to confusion on Twitter. Metro Weekly https://www.metroweekly.com/2020/12/gay-conservative-andrew-sullivan-complains-about-lesbians-becoming-men-in-anti-trans-column/

Finke, Leigh (April 28, 2021). From Andrew Sullivan to Terry Schilling: Framing Transition as Evil. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/4/28/andrew-sullivan-terry-schilling-framing-transition-evil

Belonsky, Andrew (October 12, 2007). Andrew Sullivan Supports Barney Frank. Queerty http://www.queerty.com/andrew-sullivan-supports-barney-frank-20071012/

Selected anti-trans writing by Sullivan

Sullivan, Andrew (June 2, 2014). Engaging The T. The Dish https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/threads/engaging-the-t/

Sullivan, Andrew (February 1, 2019). The Nature of Sex. Intelligencer https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/andrew-sullivan-the-nature-of-sex.html

Sullivan, Andrew (September 20, 2019). When the Ideologues Come for the Kids. Intelligencer https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/andrew-sullivan-when-the-ideologues-come-for-the-kids.html

Sullivan, Andrew (November 1, 2019). The Hard Questions About Young People and Gender Transitions. Intelligencer http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/andrew-sullivan-hard-questions-gender-transitions-for-young.html

Sullivan, Andrew (April 9, 2021). A Truce Proposal in the Trans Wars. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/a-truce-proposal-in-the-trans-wars-c49

Sullivan, Andrew (October 8, 2021). Dave Chappelle Is Right, Isn’t He? The comedian defends reality. Which is currently under siege. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/dave-chappelle-is-right-isnt-he-b23

Sullivan, Andrew (February 18, 2022). The Backlash Against Trans Extremism. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-backlash-against-trans-extremism

Sullivan, Andrew (April 8, 2022). Who Is Looking Out For Gay Kids? Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/who-is-looking-out-for-gay-kids-a19

Sullivan, Andrew (March 24, 2023). Culture War Politics And The English Language. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/culture-war-politics-and-the-english-706

Sullivan, Andrew (May 19, 2023). The Queers Versus The Homosexuals. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-queers-versus-the-homosexuals-cfd

Sullivan, Andrew (June 23, 2023). Gay Rights And The Limits Of Liberalism. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/gay-rights-and-the-limits-of-liberalism-be4

Sullivan, Andrew (February 2, 2024). The Meaningless Incoherence Of “LGBTQ+.” Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-meaningless-incoherence-of-lgbtq-d47

Sullivan, Andrew (March 15, 2024). The Transqueers Take The Mask Off: Judith Butler and Andrea Long Chu explain their gender revolution. It’s wild! Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-transqueers-take-the-mask-off-f7c

Sullivan, Andrew (April 12, 2024). Will Big Trans Be Held To Account? The Cass Report has definitively destroyed their case for child sex-changes. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/will-big-trans-be-held-to-account-3ad

Sullivan, Andrew (October 18, 2024). Rachel Levine Must Resign. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/rachel-levine-must-resign

Sullivan, Andrew (February 18, 2022). The Trans Movement Is Not About Rights Anymore. Substack https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-trans-movement-is-not-about-rights-67e

Media

Andrew Sullivan (February 26, 2021). Mara Keisling On The Trans Debate. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/mara-keisling-on-the-trans-debate

Megyn Kelly (October 10, 2022). The Lies of “Gender Affirming Care” Grow More Extreme, with Andrew Sullivan. The Megyn Kelly Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c87CuvD5j24

(June 29, 2022) Andrew Sullivan: “Leave Kids the F*ck Alone!” TRIGGERnometry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8f_f-lhuUw

Resources

Andrew Sullivan (andrewsullivan.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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

Jessica Simpson, also known as Jessica Yaniv, is a Canadian litigant and troll known for several controversies regarding sexuality and gender identity.

Background

Jessica Serenity Simpson was born June 12, 1987. While attending Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2008, Simpson called for a National Sex Day and promised free condoms to participants.

Simpson ran a tech review website called Trusted Nerd while working at call centers and doing tech support. Simpson was a frequent participant in Langley township council meetings, often on gender-related controversies.

Litigation and legal issues

Beginning in 2018, Simpson filed human rights complaints against at least 15 businesses, alleging anti-trans discrimination. Most were waxing salons run by Asian immigrants who declined to wax Simpson’s scrotum and pubic area.

In 2019, a human rights tribunal ruled against Simpson and demanded $6,000 in restitution, upheld on appeal. They found that Simpson had directed racist remarks at some salon operators and was motivated by money and revenge.

Also in 2019, Simpson was arrested after brandishing a prohibited taser during a YouTube debate with conservative troll Blaire White. RCMP seized two tasers during the arrest. Simpson was found guilty, then sentenced to probation and a firearms prohibition. Simpson sued Langley township and filed complaints against the RCMP, alleging mistreatment while in detention.

In 2019 Simpson also unsuccessfully proposed a topless “all-bodies swim” at a Langley township public pool for ages 12 and up, with parents and guardians prohibited.

Anti-trans author and activist Lindsay Shepherd was briefly banned from Twitter in 2019 after exchanging insults with Simpson. Anti-trans extremist Amy Hamm also got into a dispute with Simpson, who accused Hamm of assault. Hamm then sued for defamation.

In 2020, Simpson filled more complaints, but those were later dropped. During the media circus, Simpson attacked conservative troll Keean Bexte of Rebel News and was found guilty of the assault in 2022. Simpson also filed a complaint against Canada Galaxy Pageant after they did not allow Simpson to compete.

In December 2020, the RCMP charged Simpson with mischief and uttering threats during a dispute with anti-transgender troll Chris Elston. Simpson also enrolled at Simon Fraser University that year.

In 2021 Simpson sued Fraser Health and the Provincial Health Services Authority for allegedly revealing personal health information. That year, the Langley fire department stated they would charge Simpson for any future calls for service. They said Simpson had engaged in “inappropriate and lewd conduct” during dozens of non-emergency calls for help getting out of the bathtub. A suit Simpson brought against Rebel News was dismissed under anti-SLAPP statutes.

Simpson’s antics have been widely covered in conservative media and among anti-transgender activists, most notably by Rebel News. Simpson and critics were fond of trolling each other on social media, leading to several temporary and permanent suspensions. Anti-trans extremist Meghan Murphy unsuccessfully sued Twitter to reinstate a personal account following a fight with Simpson. Murphy’s account was later reinstated by anti-transgender troll Elon Musk.

In 2023 Simpson was found guilty of public mischief for falsely setting off a fire alarm and sentenced to 18 months probation. Simpson set off the alarm at the retirement home where parent Miriam Yaniv lives. Simpson’s dog Rexy was not behaving at the facility, which led to a confrontation that culminated in Simpson calling 911 and setting off the fire alarm. In 2024 Simpson’s request to have probation conditions lifted was denied. Following the ruling Simpson hurled racial slurs and verbal abuse at anti-trans reporter Drea Humphrey of Rebel News.

References

Levant, Ezra (October 8, 2024). CAUGHT ON TAPE: Human rights tribunal threatens to censor Rebel News. Rebel News https://www.rebelnews.com/caught_on_tape_human_rights_tribunal_threatens_to_censor_rebel_news

Staff report (September 26, 2024). We’re being sued! Stop Yaniv! Rebel News https://www.rebelnews.com/stop_yaniv

Humphrey, Drea (August 7, 2024). BREAKING: Rebel News successfully lifts publication bans on Jonathan Yaniv court hearings. Rebel News https://www.rebelnews.com/rebel_news_successfully_lifts_publication_bans_on_jonathan_yaniv_court_hearings

Humphrey, Drea (September 13, 2024). Judge dismisses request to lift conditions on trans predator’s criminal conviction. Rebel News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3nlW38sRFI protectdrea.com [redirects to Rebel News as of October 2024]

Small, Reid (May 26, 2022). Transgender activist Yaniv found guilty of assaulting journalist. Western Standard https://www.westernstandard.news/bc/watch-transgender-activist-yaniv-found-guilty-of-assaulting-journalist/article_f6c746be-dd34-11ec-932e-4bf58217e946.html

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (March 26, 2022). Transgender person with male genitals sues female beauty pageant for refusing service. https://www.jccf.ca/court_cases/transgender-person-with-male-genitals-sues-female-beauty-pageant-for-refusing-service/

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (October 30, 2020). If Yaniv is permitted to compete in beauty pageant it would violate the Charter rights of women and girls. https://www.jccf.ca/the-post-millennial-if-yaniv-is-permitted-to-compete-in-beauty-pageant-it-would-violate-the-charter-rights-of-women-and-girls/

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (October 26, 2020). Yaniv targets beauty pageant in new discrimination complaint. https://www.jccf.ca/yaniv-targets-beauty-pageant-in-new-discrimination-complaint/

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (February 2, 2020). New human rights complaints on hold over Yaniv’s failure to pay $6,000 in costs to women. https://www.jccf.ca/new-human-rights-complaints-on-hold-over-yanivs-failure-to-pay-6000-in-costs-to-women/

Wood, Graeme (July 25, 2019). Genital waxing complainant’s topless-OK youth LGBTQ2S+ swim proposal delayed by Township of Langley. North Shore News / Glacier Media https://www.nsnews.com/genital-waxing-complainant-s-topless-ok-youth-lgbtq2s-swim-proposal-delayed-by-township-of-langley-1.23895812  [archive]

Claxton, Mathew (August 23, 2019). Controversial Langley transgender activist arrested over stun gun. Aldergrove Star. Black Press Group Ltd. https://www.aldergrovestar.com/news/controversial-langley-transgender-activist-arrested-over-stun-gun [archive]

Media

Rebel News (January 20, 2025). Trans activist suing Rebel News after attacking journalists—causes $10k bill! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1VKpdkcLk

Rebel News (December 20, 2023). Rabid ‘trans activist’ Jessica Simpson threatens to harm female Rebel News reporter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToD7Z8tbWxk

Blaire White (February 15, 2021). Jessica Yaniv Is Back and Worse Than Ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcqpyOqbAuE

Blaire White (April 17, 2020). Trying To Follow Jessica Yaniv’s Makeup Tutorial ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6tUA5fHb5Y

CBC News (Janury 8, 2020). Activists say transgender woman’s waxing complaints are bad for their cause. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4hR3UpT6Y

Blaire White (December 10, 2019). Jessica Yaniv Is Back. And It’s Bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCCbs_imjAw

READY TO GLARE (December 6, 2019). #161: Jessica Yaniv is still an issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6LK523Slbw

Rebel News (October 22, 2019). “Jessica” Yaniv LOSES lawsuits against female estheticians who refused to wax his genitals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTLUG3cHtz0

Repxion (October 1, 2019). The Jonathan Yaniv Files https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu_3x2BTBB0

Cecil McFly (September 11, 2019). The Creepy Career of Yaniv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMwKgNkVJGM

Blaire White (August 19, 2019). I Got Jessica Yaniv To Confess On Tape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbINkdXvQfs

Rebel News (August 16, 2019). Blaire White: Jessica Yaniv has my address & says he’s buying a gun | Keean Bexte. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfXcg9EQxJw

Rebel News (August 15, 2019). EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE: Jessica Yaniv ASSAULTS Rebel reporter with CANE! | David Menzies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcEnBHAYYVM

Rebel News (August 9, 2019). EXCLUSIVE: “Mama Yaniv” ASSAULTS Rebel reporter, Jessica BLOCKS car and calls cops! | Keean Bexte. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv5Ym21cqN0

Rebel News (August 8, 2019). Who is Jessica Yaniv? An exclusive Rebel exposé. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzZJGlJ9lSA

Miss London (August 6, 2019). Blaire White vs Jessica Yaniv (highlights). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWOhwxWGr8M

Rebel News (August 6, 2019). Jessica Yaniv brandishes illegal “taser,” threatens reporter with pepper spray | Sheila Gunn Reid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvxLBWS6ycA

Blaire White (August 5, 2019). Heated Debate w/ Jessica Yaniv: Trans Predator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnhnShhxfhQ

Benjamin Boyce (July 28, 2019). Yaniv’s Predatory History (Interview). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWWyR96BZOU

Hunter Avallone (July 27, 2019). Jessica Yaniv Just got Worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ysZxw_vqZ8

READY TO GLARE (July 26, 2019). The skeletons in Jessica Yaniv’s closet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0ffM9caVrQ

Blaire White (July 23, 2019). Exposing Jessica Yaniv: Trans Predator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI_lXO7zrAQ

Resources

JY Knows It (jyknowsit.com) [archive]

Trusted Nerd (trustednerd.com) [archive]

Stop Yaniv (stopyaniv.com) [redirects to RebelNews.com]

Protect Drea (protectdrea.com) [redirects to Rebel News as of October 2024]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • trustednerd [taken over by critic associated with meowmix.online]

Virginia Hughes is an American writer and anti-transgender activist who is responsible for much of the transgender coverage in the New York Times science section since 2020.

Background

Virginia Cooper “Ginny” Hughes (born 1984) grew up in Marshall, Michigan. Hughes’ family ran a local business. Hughes graduated from the Battle Creek Area Mathematics and Science Center. Hughes then earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brown University in 2005, then a master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins in 2006. Hughes interned at NPR and Discover during that time.

Hughes then began freelancing and took a role at ScienceBlogs/Seed Media Group. Hughes married Randal “Randy” Vegter in 2012.

Hughes joined BuzzFeed in 2015, rising to Deputy Editor in Chief in 2019. Hughes joined the science desk at the New York Times in 2020 and soon helped bring over Azeen Ghorayshi and Katie J.M. Baker to write slanted pieces about gender diverse youth.

Hughes has served as an adjunct professor at NYU’s journalism school.

References

Bolies, Corbin (March 7, 2023). The New York Times’ Trans Coverage Debacle Was Years in the Making. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-new-york-times-trans-coverage-debacle-was-years-in-the-making

Warrington, James (February 16, 2023). How the New York Times was engulfed by a trans culture war. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/15/new-york-times-accused-writers-anti-trans-bigotry/

Oladipo, Gloria (February 18, 2023). Nearly 1,000 contributors protest New York Times’ coverage of trans people. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/new-york-times-contributors-open-letter-protest-anti-trans-coverage

Yurcaba, Jo (February 16, 2023). N.Y. Times contributors and LGBTQ advocates send open letters criticizing paper’s trans coverage. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/ny-contributors-lgbtq-advocates-send-open-letters-criticizing-papers-t-rcna70800

Kalish, Lil (February 15, 2023). These New York Times contributors say the paper’s coverage of gender issues is hurting trans people. BuzzFeed News. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lilkalish/trans-writers-open-letter-nyt-biased-coverage

Klein, Charlotte (February 15, 2023). Nearly 200 New York Times contributors are denouncing the paper’s anti-trans coverage. Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-trans-coverage

Bolies, Corbin; Cartwright, Lachlan (February 16, 2023). New York Times blasts staffers who condemned paper’s trans coverage. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-times-blast-staffers-who-condemned-papers-trans-coverage

Reilly, Patrick (February 15, 2023). New York Times accused of ‘editorial bias’ in coverage of transgender issues. New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/02/15/new-york-times-blasted-for-editorial-bias-in-transgender-coverage/

Eckert, AJ (December 4, 2022). What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth. Science-Based Medicine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-the-new-york-times-gets-wrong-about-puberty-blockers-for-transgender-youth/

Urquhart, Evan (November 17, 2022). The NYT’s big piece on puberty blockers mucked up the most important point about them. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/puberty-blockers-side-effects-controversy.html

Resources

Virginia Hughes (virginiahughes.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

NYU Journalism (journalism.nyu.edu)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

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

John Lloyd is a British journalist and anti-transgender activist who has discussed trans issues in anti-transgender publication UnHerd.

Background

John Nicol Fortune Lloyd was born on April 15, 1946 in Anstruther, Fife, Scotland. Lloyd attended Waid Academy there, then earned a master’s degree from University of Edinburgh in 1967. After work in the alternative press and in television production, Lloyd joined the Financial Times in 1977. In 1986 Lloyd was editor of the New Statesman for a year, then returned to FT. In 1997 Lloyd was a columnist for The Times for a year, then returned to the New Statesman until 2003. In 2006 Lloyd co-founded the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at University of Oxford. Lloyd has written several books.

Lloyd has married twice and has one child, actor Jacob Fortune-Lloyd.

Reporting on trans issues

Lloyd reported on Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Gender Recognition Bill:

Every SNP minister and senior official must display their versions of this: the head Manichee, example to them all, is Sturgeon. And in the matter of the Gender Recognition Recognition Bill — which would allow children of 16 to change their gender, independently of their parents’ consent  — she deploys its mechanisms with practised skill.

[…]

London’s Tavistock Clinic, home to England’s Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), became increasingly beset with complaints and controversy. Last summer, it was closed. Scotland has its own Gids centre: the Sandyford Clinic, in Glasgow. It, too, began to receive a growing list of complaints. Last September, SinĂ©ad Watson, who started to identify as a man aged 20, and who had been prescribed testosterone treatments and had a double mastectomy, told UnHerd that she bitterly regrets it, and called for Sandyford to be closed.

The procedures and overall approaches at the Tavistock and Sandyford are not of liberation and joy, but of young men and women inadequately advised by clinicians who were, as one report noted, more concerned with “putting them quickly onto a pathway to transition”. These considerations closed the Tavistock Gids and now threaten Sandyford: they also inform the decision of the UK Government to animate a Section 35 Order under the 1998 Scotland Act — the legal basis for the Scottish parliament — which has, for the present, stymied the Scots nationalists’ momentum.

References

Lloyd, John (January 19, 2023). Sturgeon will lose Scotland’s trans war. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/01/sturgeon-will-lose-scotlands-trans-war/

Resources

UnHerd (unherd.com)

Financial Times (ft.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Guardian (theguardian.com)

John McDermott is an American writer who sympathetically profiled anti-trans bigots for the New York Times.

McDermott takes issue with this profile and its entire framing, stating on April 10, 2023: “Insinuating I’m anti-trans is demonstrably false. I’ve never written a single sentence that attacks trans people or gender ideology.” The term gender ideology is an anti-trans dog whistle used widely among anti-transgender activists and religious conservatives.

For the Harvard-educated journalist who serves as Africa correspondent for The Economist and graduated from London School of Economics on a Fulbright Scholarship, see John McDermott.

Background

John Michael McDermott was born October 5, 1987. McDermott grew up in Illinois and graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School in 2006, then earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010.

McDermott has written for Inc., Advertising Age, Digiday, Esquire, and MEL Magazine. McDermott has also freelanced for The New York Times, WIRED, Politico, The Atlantic, Playboy, Vice, Fast Company and the Chicago Tribune.

2017 MEL piece

McDermott waded into the subject of transgender athletes following Andraya Yearwood’s high school track wins, using the anti-trans dog whistle “biological sex”:

The far right has framed the events as political correctness coming at the expense of fairness and common sense, while others have celebrated it as a victory for trans inclusion. A third group has adopted a mixed viewpoint, one that accepts Yearwood’s decision to transition but questions whether her biological sex gives her an unfair advantage in women’s athletics. 

2019 New York Times piece

McDermott wrote a 2019 puff piece about anti-transgender media figures for the New York Times. The piece was greenlit and published in the Styles section by Choire Sicha.

As with any “cisgender people under siege” type article, McDermott’s piece presents these bigots as fearless truth-tellers akin to Galileo. McDermott interviewed zero trans people or media watchdogs critical of these bigots.

Attacking trans people is a get-rich-quick scheme that has proven effective for decades. Social scientists call McDermott’s tactic DARVO (deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender). Biologist Julia Serano calls DARVO directed at trans people “the Dregerian narrative,” named after intellectual dark web member Alice Dreger, whom McDermott mentions.

As Melissa Gira Grant noted in The New Republic:

Conspicuously absent from the Times piece are quotes and stories from the people who have been deemed—both by the canceled and their chroniclers—supporting players in the culture war debate: the trans individuals the canceled have concerned themselves with, and whose lives and health are at stake.

People profiled sympathetically include:

In 2023 McDermott posted then quickly deleted a solicitation to an alleged “detransitioner” on Twitter.

References

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

McDermott, John (November 2, 2019). Those people we tried to cancel? They’re all hanging out together. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/style/what-is-cancel-culture.html

Serano, Julia (March 29, 2021). The Dregerian Narrative (or why “trans activists” vs. “scientists” framings are lazy, inaccurate, and incendiary). Medium https://juliaserano.medium.com/the-dregerian-narrative-or-why-trans-activists-vs-276740045120

McDermott, John (October 24, 2018). My high school years of white privilege. Chicago Tribune https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-america-to-me-docuseries-oak-park-river-forest-high-school-1025-story.html

McDermott, John (June 7, 2017).  There’s no easy answer to the debate over trans high school athletes. MEL https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/theres-no-easy-answer-to-the-debate-over-trans-high-school-athletes

Resources

Esquire (esquire.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Medium (medium.com/)

  • j_m_mcdermott [deleted] [archive]

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

  • j_m_mcdermott [deleted]

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

John Lichfield is a freelance writer based in France. Lichfield is the former Paris correspondent for The Independent.

2021 UnHerd piece

Lichfield wrote in anti-transgender publication UnHerd about a cartoon by Xavier Gorce that appeared in Le Monde. Gorce showed a small penguin asking a bigger penguin: “If I was to be abused by the adopted half-brother of the partner of my transgender father who is now my mother, would that be incest?” Many people felt the cartoon was in poor taste, and Le Monde apologized while leaving it up.

Lichfield’ spends his ‘s article makes a tendentious connection between transgender people and Islamist terrorists who shot up the offices of Charlie Hebdo over anti-Muslim cartoons.

Fluidity of gender is one thing. Fluidity of commitment to press freedom on the part of a great newspaper like Le Monde is another. If it’s permissible in the name of free speech to offend Muslims (even though that was not the intention of the Charlie cartoons) is it not permissible to offend transgender people (even though that was not Gore’s intention)? Is incest — long a taboo subject in France, as elsewhere — completely off-limits for satire or humour?

References

Lichfield, John (January 22, 2021). French cartoonists are in trouble again. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/01/french-cartoonists-are-in-trouble-again/

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Independent (independent.co.uk)

UnHerd (unherd.com)

Ben Appel is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Appel is a regular contributor to Queer Majority, UnHerd, Quillette, and other anti-trans publications.

Background

Benjamin John “Ben” Appel was born in February 1983 to Nancy Sue (Lipman) Gunzelman (born 1954) and Randy Appel (1949–2019). Appel grew up in Catonsville and Ellicott City, Maryland in a “fundamentalist” Catholic household with three siblings: Erin, Jessica, and Bret.

Appel had many “feminine” interests as a child (particularly My Pretty Pony) and has concerns that children like him are now encouraged to make a gender transition:

“I, like a lot of other LGB (and some trans) people, believe that many children and some adolescents presenting at gender clinics today would likely desist and grow up to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual if they were given proper emotional support. In other words, in many cases, the medicalization of “trans kids” might actually be the medicalization of homosexuality.”

In 2015 Appel married attorney Andrew Charles “Drew” Leaser (born 1976). They live in New York.

Appel worked as a hairdresser in Maryland for ten years before earning a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2020.

Appel has written about getting sober and has criticized Alcoholics Anonymous for working toward inclusivity:

“I was finishing my last year of study at Columbia University. Having entered the university in 2017 as a self-described radical progressive planning a career in LGBT activism, I was graduating an exile. I had become disillusioned with, and spoken out against, my fellow progressives’ tactics: suppressing free speech, purity policing and reducing every individual to his or her skin colour, gender and sexual orientation. During my last semester, which was moved online due to the pandemic, I’d sign on to virtual AA meetings after class, and immediately be struck by how similar the two spaces had become. Pronouns lit up the screen. Whereas opening readings once consisted of the AA preamble, the 12 Steps and 12 traditions, and details about the meeting, now some groups chose to add a thinly veiled threat: ‘We will not tolerate racist, homophobic, sexist or transphobic rhetoric in this space.’”

Appel was also upset that AA revised its language to be more gender-inclusive.

Anti-transgender activism

Appel’s forthcoming memoir from Post Hill Press is titled Cis White Gay. The book was pitched as:

about growing up in a Christian fundamentalist cult before becoming a gay rights activist while a student at Columbia University, only to encounter there a cultural landscape ruled by gender ideology and a puritanical cult of social justice resembling The Handmaid’s Tale dystopia of his childhood

In 2023, Appel was announced as a participant in an anti-trans conference by SPLC-designated hate group Genspect.

Appel is an “autogynephilia” activist and frequently criticizes “gender ideology.”

Appel co-hosts the Informed Dissent podcast with Corinna Cohn, Lisa Selin Davis, “Eliza Mondegreen,” and Jamie Reed. The podcast debuted in December 2024.

References

Appel, Ben (March 2, 2025). ‘Conclave’ Isn’t The Pro-Trans Film People Think It Is. Rather, it illustrates the insanity of the trans/queer movement. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/conclave-isnt-the-pro-trans-film

Appel, Ben (February 2, 2025). Enough With Their Lies: LGBT organizations and mainstream news outlets do more to contribute to the youth mental health crisis than the Trump Administration ever could. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/enough-with-their-lies

Appel, Ben (January 19, 2025). It’s Time for This Madness to End. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/perhaps-its-time-we-went-scorched

Appel, Ben (December 14, 2024). That Which Must Not Be Named. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/that-which-must-not-be-named

Appel, Ben (December 26, 2023). The Re-deminzation of the Gay Male. Queer Majority https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/the-re-demonization-of-the-gay-male

Appel, Ben (May 14, 2023). Homophobia in drag: Transgender ideology has breathed new life into a dark, old prejudice. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/05/14/the-new-homophobia/

Appel, Ben (September 2, 2022). Victimhood is one helluva drug. [alternate title: “Chase Strangio, you can have ‘fa**ot’ if you want it.”] Queer Majority https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/victimhood-is-one-helluva-drug

Apprl, Ben (May 12, 2023). How Alcoholics Anonymous lost its way Addicts with the ‘wrong opinions’ no longer fit in. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/05/how-alcoholics-anonymous-lost-its-way/

Appel, Ben (April 21, 2022). The New Homophobia | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/new-homophobia-opinion-1698969

Adler, Dahlia (February 25, 2022). February 2022 deal announcements. LGBTQ Reads https://lgbtqreads.com/2022/02/25/february-2022-deal-announcements/

Appel, Ben (January 13, 2022). The stifling conformity of campus sexual politics. Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-stifling-conformity-of-campus-sexual-politics

Appel, Ben (July 8, 2021). As a Gay Child in a Christian Cult, I Was Taught to Hate Myself. Then I Joined the Church of Social Justice—and Nothing Changed, Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/07/08/as-a-gay-child-in-a-christian-cult-i-was-taught-to-hate-myself-then-i-joined-the-church-of-social-justice-and-nothing-changed/

Appel, Ben (January 17, 2018). How to Be Cisgender. Quarto https://quartomagazine.com/nonfiction/how-to-be-cisgender

Iacia, Samantha (January 14, 2015). Wedded: Ben Appel and Drew Leaser. Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bs-lt-wedded-0118-20150114-story.html

Resources

Ben Appel (benappelwrites.com)

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Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Queer Majority (queermajority.com)

  • Ben Appel
  • queermajority.com/contributors-1/ben-appel

“Tish Still” is the pen name of Tish Naughton, a British anti-transgender activist. Naughton is an unaccepting parent of a transgender child.

Background

Patricia “Tish” Naughton identifies as “a proud radical feminist mum” who is “spreading awareness about the impact of gender ideology on women’s rights.”

Naughton identified in UnHerd as “the mother of a son who identifies as part of the transgender community.”

Anti-transgender activism

Naughton runs a website called Gender Critical Woman Blog. Naughton has done interviews with Erin Brewer, James of @HumanGayMale, Graham Linehan, Isla Macy of Parents Against Gender Ideology in Schools, Woman’s Place UK, and Women’s Declaration International (WDI). Naughton is a contributor to anti-trans blog Reduxx.

Naughton has signed several open letters and petitions, including

  • an open letter in Feminist Current supporting anti-trans extremist Graham Linehan (2019)
  • a petition supporting anti-trans extremist J.K. Rowling (2020)
  • a letter to the editor of The Times prepared by LGB Alliance characterizing gender affirming care for minors as “conversion therapy.” (2021)
  • support for anti-trans activist Allison Bailey “[in] the name of parents whose Gay Offspring are once again believing they are #BornWrong thanks to all the teaching materials supplied by Stonewall or with their endorsement.” (2021)
  • a petition titled Beyond WPATH attacking WPATH (2022)
  • an open letter fo United Nations commissioners supporting anti-trans activist Reem Alalem’s criticisms of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (2022)
  • an open letter to Liz Truss and Boris Johnson claiming a Truss letter to the Equality and Human Rights Commission “undermines” EHRC’s upcoming guidance on single-sex services (2022)
  • an open letter by Sex Matters supporting anti-transgender activist Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls (2023)
  • an open letter critical of a Maternity Gender Inclusion Programme for midwives with information on trans people who give birth (2023)
  • the WHO Decides petition targeting trans-supportive experts convened by the World Health Organization (2024)

References

“Still, Tish” (April 12, 2022). Trans BDSM Fetishist Is Advising UK Hospitals to Ignore Single-Sex Wards Law. Reduxx https://reduxx.info/trans-bdsm-fetishist-is-advising-uk-hospitals-to-ignore-single-sex-wards-law/

“Still, Tish” (January 11, 2022). The truth about trans murders. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/01/the-truth-about-trans-murders/

Naughton, Tish et al. (March 13, 2021). Trans Controversy: Support is needed for gender non-conforming children, who are now getting the impression that the answer to their problems is a lifetime of medication. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/times-letters-sarah-everard-and-womens-fear-on-the-streets-h2zd3sqsb?region=global

Naughton, Tish et al. (June 2, 2019). Trans ideology is damaging children. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/trans-ideology-is-damaging-children-k5nlhwmc8?region=global

Naughton, Tish et al. (June 2, 2019). Open letter in support of Graham Linehan’s challenges to gender identity ideology. Feminist Current https://www.feministcurrent.com/2019/02/28/open-letter-in-support-of-graham-linehans-challenges-to-gender-identity-ideology/

LGB Alliance (2020 ff). FOI result: commincation between LGB Alliance and office of Liz Truss. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/correspondence_with_lgb_alliance_4/response/1848146/attach/html/6/ANNEX%201%20Emails%20and%20Agenda%20Redacted.pdf.html

Naughton, Patricia (2018). Written submission from Patricia Naughton (EEA0181). https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/95803/pdf/

Resources

Gender Critical Woman Blog (gendercriticalwoman.blog)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Joan Smith is a British writer, sex segregationist, and anti-transgender activist from the movement’s gender critical faction.

Background

Joan Alison Smith was born August 27, 1953. Smith attended University of Reading. Smith was on staff at The Sunday Times from 1979 to 1984.

Smith is author of the Loretta Lawson series of crime novels. Smith’s nonfiction books include Misogynies (1989), Different for Girls: How Culture Creates Women (1998), and Home Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists (2019).

In 2015, Smith was elected chair of Labour Humanists, a group promoting secularist policies and humanist values within the Labour party.

Smith was married to journalist Francis Wheen from 1985 to 1993 and was partners with politician Denis MacShane from 2003 to 2010.

Anti-transgender activism

In 2021, Smith was fired as Co-Chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Board, a volunteer role held since 2013. The decision came after a governance review. Officials denied Smith’s claims that it was because of anti-trans activities.

Smith frequently writes anti-trans articles for UnHerd. Smith is a member of Sex Matters Advisory Group.

References

Brook, Libby (August 19, 2021). The Guardian London mayor’s office denies feminist activist’s claims over sacking https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/19/london-mayors-office-denies-feminist-activists-claims-over-sacking

Smith Joan (August 20, 2021). Why did Sadiq Khan’s office fire me? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/08/why-did-sadiq-khans-office-fire-me/

Resources

UnHerd (unherd.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Giles Fraser is a British journalist, broadcaster and clergymember. Initially trans-supportive, Fraser says he became a TERF in response to tactics used against supporters of anti-transgender activist J.K. Rowling.

Background

Giles Anthony Fraser was born November 27, 1964 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. Fraser studied at Newcastle University and Ripon College Cuddesdon, then earned a doctorate at University of Lancaster.

Fraser was ordained as a deacon in 1993 and as a priest in 1994. Fraser taught at Wadham College, Oxford, and Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral. Fraser is the author of Redeeming Nietzsche: On the Piety of Unbelief, How to Believe: Investigating Wittgenstein, and Christianity with Attitude.

Fraser hosts The Moral Maze and Thought for the Day on Radio 4. Fraser is a Vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, part of the Church of England.

Fraser has been married twice and has three children.

Anti-trans views

In 2015 Fraser wrote a column about how the church needs to welcome trans people. When interacting with trans people, Fraser uses their names and pronouns because “my default response is to affirm these decisions.”

Fraser’s opinion shifted in 2023. After anti-trans activist Suzanne Moore introduced Fraser to J.K. Rowling at an event at Italian restaurant Pino, the restaurant was vandalized and review-bombed online.

Fraser reportedly became a TERF after that. Fraser also revealed several anti-trans views:

I believe in limits, in the givenness of some things. And, it seems to me, biological sex is one of them. I find the use of medical technology to transgress these limits to be Faustian in its hubris. 

Because some transactivists now behave as though anything they can do for the cause is justified, however cruel: get people sacked, ruin their businesses, be vile to others online. The public sphere is becoming so unpleasant, so full of vitriol and accusation, that many of us just put on our tin hats and retreat from the conversation. To be honest, I have been quite content that my privilege has, until now, encouraged me to think that the best thing for me to do is to sit this one out and say nothing. I have been hiding behind this terribly convenient self-denying ordinance, leaving the likes of J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Moore to take all the heat, my courage being a few pathetic “likes” on Twitter.

References

Fraser, Giles (May 22, 2015). Why the church needs welcome services for people transitioning gender. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2015/may/22/why-church-needs-welcome-services-people-transitioning-gender

Fraser, Giles (June 9, 2022). How pasta made me a Terf. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/06/how-pasta-made-me-a-terf/

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)