Lesbian and Gay News was an anti-transgender publocation in operation from February 2021 to March 2023.
Background
Merrywell London Ltd. and BM Payments Services Limited
Many readers will know that LGN came into being as a result of its editor, David Bridle, who is also the owner of Boyz magazine, tweeting a request that asked people to give LGB Alliance a fair hearing before coming to a judgement about them.
“The censorious groupthink of a LGBTQIA+ mindset has closed down wider discussion and investigation. It has closed down much responsible lesbian and gay current affairs and commentary. But now we hope Lesbian and Gay News will help resurrect that journalism.”
“The constituency of GC LGB activists is still small, and there was no way we were going to be able to flourish unless LGB Alliance kept us in the loop, continued to actively promote us, and regularly provided us with information and material to publish relating to their activities and planned activities. As time progressed, it became clear that we were overwhelmingly being kept at armâs length â notwithstanding some tokenistic gestures that fell far short of what we needed.”
People
The following people had bylines or were cited or reprinted in LGN:
“Mia Hughes” (November 21, 2021). A guide to peaking the woke. https://lesbianandgaynews.com/2021/11/a-guide-to-peaking-the-woke-by-an-lgn-reader-most-people-have-no-idea-of-the-harm-that-lies-beneath-the-rainbow-flags-and-the-seemingly-innocuous-mantras/
(March 27, 2022). Announcement from the LGN Management Team: Lesbian and Gay News is closing https://lesbianandgaynews.com/2022/03/announcement-from-the-lgn-management-team-lesbian-and-gay-news-is-closing/
Resources
Lesbian and Gay News (lesbianandgaynews.com) [archive]
Chaya Raichik is an American conservative activist who created the Libs of TikTok social media accounts. Raichik frequently targets transgender and gender diverse people and their supporters. The project’s avatar is the transgender symbol styled in TikTok logo colors.
Raichik reposts social media posts made by others, often with commentary, which typically inspires followers to abuse and harass those Raichik has featured.
Since Raichik began targeting upcoming drag and pride events, anti-transgender protesters have been showing up at these events, requiring the presence of police and additional security.
Since Raichik began targeting Jewish and Christian youth camps with inclusive policies for all children, staff had to take steps to ensure security.
Since Raichik began targeting medical professionals who support transgender and gender diverse youth, death threats and bomb threats have been called in to children’s hospitals and clinics that help trans youth. Some hospitals have switched to telemedicine appointments to protect children and their families.
Libs of TikTok is sometimes styled Libs of Tik Tok and abbreviated LoTT or LTT. It has become a primary pipeline for anti-liberal and anti-progressive content, similar to other anti-transgender “drama” platforms like Blocked and Reported and The Matt Walsh Show. Content that generates enough outrage then gets featured on mainstream conservative outlets hosted by people like Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson.
Several people are named Chaya Raichik, including an author and a homemaker. In Chabad-Lubavitch communities, Raichik is a common surname and Chaya is a common given name. Please do not contact anyone with this name directly.
Parent Rabbi Yaakov Raichik, aka Yankee Raichik, is a Los Angeles-based chaplain in the California Department of Corrections.
Chaya Raichik worked in New York as a licensed real estate investor at Evergreen Realty / ERNY LLC in Brooklyn (listed as Chaya Raichek). Raichik created what became the Libs of TikTok Twitter account in November 2020.
Soon after, Raichik claimed to have participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Photographic evidence appears to place Raichik trespassing on restricted Capitol ground, standing on the plaza steps among others prosecuted for insurrection.
Raichik’s New York real estate license expired in February 2021. Raichik reportedly moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles since becoming an anti-transgender activist.
Twitter timeline
Raichik was not a heavy social media poster before Twitter. Raichik’s account was inspired by and supported by other conservative accounts, some of which have since been suspended:
Liberal_Ls [suspended]
johnny_commie [suspended]
_callmeriss [suspended]
consoftiktok [suspended]
BidenLs
basedtiktok
Accounts Raichik has mentioned are almost all conservative media figures and include:
Year in review: Libs of Tik Tok top 3 highlights of 2021: 1. Contributed to the removal of FIVE bad teachers from schools ?? 2. Four shoutouts (plus a dm) from Joe Rogan ? 3. Got fact checked by Snopes on a sarcastic tweet ?
In 2022, software developer Travis Brown revealed that the Twitter account used for Libs of TikTok had used the screen names @shaya69830552, then @shaya_ray. Raichik used @chayaraichik until late February 2021, and that name appears on the libsoftiktok.us domain registration.
According to the Washington Post, Raichik claimed to have attended the January 6 protests:
In January 2021, Raichik started talking about traveling to D.C. to support Trumpon Jan. 6 at the Stop the Steal rally. When violence broke out at the Capitol that day, she tweeted a play-by-play account claiming to be on the ground. âThey were rubber bullets from law enforcement. 1 hit right next to me,â she said. She posted videos from the crowd and spoke of tear gas being deployed nearby. After saying she left the riot, she used Twitter to downplay the event, claiming that it was peaceful compared to a âBLM protest.â
Began posting “a lot about the LGBTQIABCD… community” specifically targeting trans and nonbinary people
Raichik credits Joe Rogan with helping the account grow after he began promoting the channel in June 2021
Began targeting teachers supportive of LGBTQ rights
Began calling people supportive of LGBTQ youth “groomers”
Began attacking drag events, especially those with young people present or participating
Began attacking specific medical professionals, their employers, and their facilities.
In April 2022, Raichik said, “Whenever we have a big victory through my account, like a crazy groomer teacher being fired, it really fires me up a lot.”
The next day, The Washington Post profiled the site and confirmed Raichik’s name. Raichik announced a monetizing plan via Substack:
Substack has become the platform of choice for “hate actors,” said Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Ahmed, because the company and its leaders fail to enforce the rules and guidelines that it sets to keep the platform safe.
That week, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon announced that he had personally made a deal with Raichik âthat will turn her heroic, high-risk work into a career.â
Bans and suspensions
TikTok account
permanently banned in March 2022
Twitter account
temporarily suspended on April 13, 2022 for promoting “violence, threats or harassment against others based on their sexual orientation or other factors such as race or gender,” reinstated
temporarily suspended on August 27, 2022, for “hateful conduct,” reinstated
Instagram account
automatically suspended on May 27 for multiple copyright complaints, reinstated
Facebook account
suspended on August 17 for one day “in error,” reinstated
Attacks on Jewish children’s camps
In 2022, Raichik began a “social media offensive” against Camp Ramah for their gender-inclusive policy. Camp Ramah is a network of summer overnight camps and day camps affiliated with Conservative Judaism. Camp leadership responded, “We are in contact with our security partners out of an abundance of caution.”
Attacks on Christian children’s camps
In 2022, Raichik posted an attack on Camp Akita, a nondenominational Christian camp in Ohio, for its gender-inclusive policies. The camp is affiliated with First Community Church, part of The United Church of Christ and The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Staffers have not responded publicly to the attack.
Attacks on drag and pride events
Raichik frequently posts about scheduled events featuring drag performers at libraries and other public locations, as well as drag performances at restaurants and entertainment venues. In several instances, the events were then protested, disrupted, or cancelled outright due to potential violence.
Attacks on children’s hospitals
Raichik began targeting Boston Children’s Hospital, an early innovator in trans health services for young people. Threats quickly followed:
According to VICE and other mainstream media outlets, doctors and other hospital staff are now receiving death threats. The Hospital confirmed that they are receiving a âlarge volume of hostile internet activity, phone calls and harassing emails including threats of violence toward our clinicians and staff.â
Raichik, Matt Walsh, Chris Rufo, and other anti-trans activists immediately began dismissing the threats to this and other targeted hospitals as fake news.
On September 15, the FBI announced the first arrest in connection to the threats. Catherine Leavy, a 37-year-old from Westfield, Massachusetts admitted that calling Boston Children’s Hospital on August 30, 2022, and made the threat, âThere is a bomb on the way to the hospital. You better evacuate everybody. You sickos.â Leavey made over 200 contributions to conservative causes since 2016, including former President Trumpâs Campaign, MAGA PACs and other Republican campaigns.
FBI Boston Special-Agent-in-Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said:
In recent months, Boston Childrenâs Hospital has been the subject of sustained harassment related to the airing of grievances pertaining to services they provide to gender-diverse and transgender individuals and their families. This has caused a huge amount of angst, alarm and unnecessary expenditure of limited law enforcement resources. Specifically, the hospital has received dozens of hoax threats, including harassing phone calls and emails, individual death threats and threats of mass-casualty attacks. This behavior is nothing short of reprehensible, and it needs to stop now. The real victims in this case are the hospitalâs patients. Children with rare diseases, complex conditions and those seeking emergency care who had to divert to other hospitals because of these hoax threats. Threatening the life of anyone who seeks any type of health service is a heinous act and will not be tolerated.
Following the success of these attacks, Raichik began targeting other children’s hospitals and providers.
In 2022, Raichik appeared on Tucker Carlson Today and revealed that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis offered Raichik the guest house at the Governor’s mansion in response to Raichik’s self-outing in public public posts. New Twitter owner Elon Musk began reinstating anti-trans accounts and liking Raichik’s transphobic posts, adding to the surge in transphobic content on Twitter.
In 2024, Taylor Lorenz reported that Raichik was using “anti-woke” job board RedBalloon to hire an investigative journalist.
References
Lorenz, Taylor (November 1, 2024). LibsofTikTok is hiring an investigative journalist to launder her hate campaigns.User Mag https://www.usermag.co/p/libsoftiktok-is-hiring-an-investigative?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3238&post_id=150807866&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1mn67&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Staff report (December 12, 2022). The artificial growth of hate speech. Chuds of TikTok https://chudsoftiktok.substack.com/p/the-artificial-growth-of-hate-speech
“Libs of TikTok is a popular anti-LGBTQ+ twitter account operated by former real estate agent Chaya Raichik. The account, which has over 1.3 million followers as of August 2022, attempts to generate outrage and stoke anti-LGBTQ+ hostility by reposting selected out-of-context social media content created by LGBTQ+ people and liberals. The individuals, events and organizations targeted by the account are frequent targets of harassment, threats and violence.”
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Jennifer Krohn is an American artist, sex segregationist, and anti-transgender activist. Krohn is the unaccepting parent of a gender diverse child. Krohn is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. Krohn and spouse Cyrus Krohn are part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Krohn is also an opponent of allowing trans athletes in sex-segregated competitive sport.
Background
Jennifer Lynn Comer Krohn was born in February 1969. Krohn earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University. Krohn was a graphic designer at Michael Courtney Design and Ilium Associates before leaving to raise a family. Krohn is married to tech entrepreneur and political operative Cyrus Krohn (born 1970), and they have three children.
After volunteering to teach art at their children’s child’s school, Krohn began teaching art classes in Issaquah, Washington at Jennifer’s Artistical Garage.
Anti-transgender activism
Krohn became upset when their fifth-grade child began using a different name and they/them pronouns at school before Krohn knew about it.
After the school alerted Krohn that the child had mentioned self-harm in a conversation, the school counselor
“kind of sold to me the idea of using this ‘special therapist’ that was contracted with the school. Because she was under 13, I had to come in and talk to this therapist and give her written permission. At 13, I might not have even known she was seeing this therapist. At 13 in our state, children can get their own mental health without a parent’s consent or knowledge.”
Krohn’s child had ten weekly sessions. In early 2020 the therapist called and “used male pronouns for my daughter” and let Krohn know that they were going to have a family therapy session in three days. “We decided not to have the meeting with the therapist.”
Krohn’s child was also friends with many LGBTQ+ classmates, which Krohn believes “was the source of a lot of her issues.” After Krohn’s child reportedly threatened suicide again, Krohn took all of the child’s devices away.
The final straw was a school camp where Krohn’s child was given the option of staying in the boys’ cabin. Krohn claims this forced the child to say yes. Krohn kept the child from the camp and took the child out of school soon after.
Now without devices, friends, and classmates, Krohn claims the child “desisted.”
Krohn co-founded Partners for Ethical Care to assist other unsupportive parents. “It’s like we have gone to war together. That’s what it feels like. This is like a war on our families.”
Maud Jane Maron was born on June 9, 1971 in New York, New York. Maron earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in 1993 and earned a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University in 1998. Maron was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1999. Maron’s career experience includes working as an Attorney with the Legal Aid Society.
Maron is married to private equity executive Juan Pablo Pallordet and has four children: Clara Pallordet (born ~2005), Lucio Pallordet (born ~2006), Liam Pallordet (born ~2010), and Magnus Pallordet (born ~2016).
Maron began collaborating with Bari Weiss and Suzy Weiss to further their political aims around COVID.
Maron claims to have been cancelled in 2021 for opposing critical race theory in New York public schools.
ThirdRail
Maron is founder of ThirdRail, a consultancy created to “facilitate innovation, leadership, and strategy sessions designed to breakthrough thinking without fear of judgment.” The participants include several prominent anti-trans activists:
Maron is a sex segregationist who opposes transgender athletes. Maron also claims to have been cancelled in 2022 for supporting âsingle-sex spacesâ and opposing changes to Title IX,
Staying silent when activists and politicians insist “trans women are women” has real world consequences for real women. The truth is, trans women are biologically male and they should be treated with dignity, love and respect. But many trans activists insist on language that erases the reality of biological women. Their desire to transcend biology, no matter how heartfelt, does not, and cannot, require me to lie or teach a generation of children a falsehood.
Girls and young women are being swept up in a social contagion which has them believing they are men. Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, in which young women with no early childhood expression of gender dysphoria suddenly identify as trans, has spiked in the last decade.
Amy Eileen Hamm is a Canadian nurse and anti-transgender extremist.
Hamm co-founded anti-trans group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar). Hamm was fired in 2025 following a hearing brought by the nursing regulatory board, which found that Hamm publicly identified as a nurse while engaging in anti-transgender activity.
Background
Hamm earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Thompson Rivers University, followed by a bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of British Columbia in 2012.
Hamm worked for 7 months as a psychiatric nurse in Vancouverâs Downtown East Side. Hamm then became a nurse educator in the psychiatric unit at a hospital in Richmond (part of Vancouver Coastal Health). Hamm resides in New Westminster, British Columbia.
In 2011, Hamm responded to the question “If you could live in a certain time period and place what would it be?” Hamm said:
1950s, small-town ‘merica. I could go for some “ignorance is bliss”. I’d be a stupid housewife with a stupid optimistic outlook on life.
It has been a few years since I left my marriage, and I did end up meeting someone wonderful. In the time between, I realized that single motherhood is the largest unquestioned stigma of my era. It can be achingly lonely andâif you let it get to youâit can crush your self-esteem.
Hamm is a sex segregationist who co-founded gender critical group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) in 2019. Hamm claims to be fighting “the harms that gender-identity ideology was inflicting on women and children.”
In 2021 and 2022 Hamm and “Esme Vee” hosted Gender Critical Story Hour podcast. Episodes include:
10 – Heather Mason and Linda Blade (April 7, 2022)
11 – Sue-Ann Levy (April 26, 2022)
12 – The Haters Inside the Canadian “Anti-Hate” Network (July 25, 2022)
13 – How Far Can They Go: Are we reaching peak trans? (September 29, 2022)
Hamm and Holly Stamer co-founded GIDYVR, an anti-trans speaker series based in Vancouver. Their first event at the Vancouver Public Library on January 10, 2019 featured Meghan Murphy, Fay Blaney, and Lee Lakeman, moderated by Mary-Lee Bouma. Vancouver Public Library Chief Librarian Christina de Castell issued a statement about the event.
Hamm is best known for purchasing billboards that say “I â„ JK Rowling” with Chris Elston. They have been quickly removed for being a reference to anti-transgender views of transphobic author J.K. Rowling.
Hamm’s writing has appeared in conservative and fascist publications including the Post Millennial, The New Westminster Times,Human Events, and Quillette.
Disciplinary hearing
In 2022 the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) initiated a disciplinary hearing against Hamm:
Between approximately July 2018 and March 2021, you made discriminatory and derogatory statements regarding transgender people, while identifying yourself as a nurse or nurse educator. These statements were made across various online platforms, including but not limited to, podcasts, videos, published writings and social media.
Hamm reportedly rejected a proposed settlement from the college that would have included a two-week license suspension and social media training.
Hamm was represented by Lisa Bildy and Karen Bastow of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). JCCF brought in anti-trans activists James Cantor, Kathleen Stock, and Linda Blade to testify on Hamm’s behalf in 2023.
On March 13, 2025, the College found that Hamm, while identifying herself as a member of the medical profession, made statements that were âuntruthful and unfair as they challenge the existence of transgender women, argue for less constitutional protection for transgender women, and are designed, in part, to elicit fear, contempt and outrage against members of the transgender community.â
Tabs 4, 24, 28 and S3 of the Extract were found to be violative:
Tab 4: Responded stated âtrans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces.â Respondent also stated that Vancouver Womenâs Shelter [VRR] will âsurely (and maddeningly) face continued backlash from trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces. The women of VRR, however, are clearly up to the taskâ. […] The suggestion that trans activists are seeking to âinfiltrate or destroyâ women-only spaces strongly connotes illegal, aggressive, and improper conduct and mischaracterizes transgender women seeking access to support services available to cisgender women in crisis situations as dangerous individuals. The Panel finds that the statement is not true nor is it fair to transgender women.
Tab 24: in her article entitled âOn feeling like a womanâ. The Respondent states âthere is no abscondingâ from female bodies, the feeling of being a woman does not exist, and there is no âincantation or initiation that can transcend bodily reality.â The Panel finds that these statements are untrue and unfair to transgender women as they deny the possibility that that an individual born into a male body can feel like a woman and effectively deny the existence of transgender women.
Tab 28: In a book review entitled âReview: âLove Lives Here â A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family,â Respondent refers to the âfalsehood that babies can be âborn in the wrong bodyâ or that humans can change their sexâ. She asserts that everyone âwho believes in wrong bodies or innate gendersâ would rather devastate a child than acknowledge that men cannot become transgender women, that gender identity ideology is akin to a Satanic Panic craze, that lesbians do not have penises, that a gender soul does not exist, and that men cannot literally become women. […] These statements, which appear to be designed to elicit fear, contempt and hostility towards the transgender community, particularly transgender women
S3 of the Extract: Respondent makes several statements in the context of the YouTube interview entitled, âThe Same Drugs Live with Amy Hamm on I heart JK Rowlingâ. As the Respondent is asked in the interview about the background to the billboard, those comments must be considered in conjunction with the billboard itself and J.K. Rowlingâs essay. The billboard message must be assessed from the perspective of a âreasonable person in the claimantâs circumstancesâ […] From the perspective of a transgender person, the essay contains some references that could be interpreted as portraying them as a risk to cisgender women and girls and predatory. Such characterizations unquestionably elicit fear and hostility towards transgender people.
On March 27, 2025, Hamm reported being fired without severance from Vancouver Coastal Health.
Gwendolyn Ann Smith is an American writer, designer, and transgender rights activist. Smith is a pioneer in online trans resources and created what became the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Background
Gwendolyn Ann “Gwen” Smith was born July 22, 1967. Smith attended Pasadena City College, then began doing desktop publishing and digital design under the entity designstylestudios. Smith was an early adopter in online communities, rising to Programming Director at America Online’s onQ community, which later merged with PlanetOut.
Smith has been involved with the game Second Life since its release in 2003 and since 2019 has offered high-end professional support to the game’s power users.
Smith is married to Bonnie “Bon” Smith and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Transgender activism
Starting in 1992, Smith was the driving force behind making America Online (AOL) trans-friendly, lobbying them to change anti-trans policies. Smith developed and maintained a repository of information and resources on AOL and hosted many chats. Smith developed the Transgender Community Forum (TCF), which AOL forced to close.
In 1998, Smith founded the Remembering Our Dead Project to document anti-trans murders. That project evolved into the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.
In 2000, Jamison Green, Dallas Denny, Jessica Xavier, Gwen Smith, Penni Ashe Matz, and Sandra Cole launched the nonprofit Gender Education and Advocacy (GEA) at the website gender.org.
Smith has written and edited for many publications, including LGBTQ Nation, The New Civil Rights Movement, and Genderfork. Smith has written a column titled “Transmisisons” for the Bay Area Reporter since 2000.
Smith designed the accompanying booklet and attended our 2004 all-transgender benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues.
Smith is subject of the 2017 book Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith.
This site (transgendermap.com) is dedicated to Smith and Melanie Anne Phillips for their key roles in early online resources for the community.
References
Leveque, Sophia Cecilia (2017). Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith. ISBN 9781618460448
Dan Savage is an American author and activist. Savage has been glitter-bombed many times for anti-transgender views. Some of Savage’s views have evolved following criticism.
Savage has written about sex and relationships since the 1990s and has supported the work of many gender critical and transphobic public figures. Savage has also been involved in a number of important projects that have improved the lives of sex and gender minorities, including trans people.
Background
Daniel Keenan “Dan” Savage (born October 7, 1964) grew up in a Catholic household in Chicago. Savage graduated with a theater degree from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, then moved to Germany for two years before moving to Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1991 The Onion founder Tim Keck told friend Savage about a plan to start The Stranger, an alternative newspaper in Seattle. Savage suggested writing a sex and relationship advice column. The title was proposed as Hey Faggot!, but Keck refused to use that title, so they settled on Savage Love. For years, all answered letters started with “Hey Faggot!” as the greeting. The column was syndicated, and Savage dropped the greeting in 1999 when the column started accepting emailed questions.
Savage moved to Seattle for the job. Under the stage name “Keenan Hollahan,” Savage also founded Seattle’s Greek Active Theater, producing reimagined classics in the mid-1990s. Savage was active in the Seattle theater scene until around 2003.
Savage created the It Gets Better project in 2010 with spouse Terry Miller. They were married in Canada in 2005 and remarried in the US when it was legalized. They have one child. The nonprofit has helped many trans and gender diverse young people through its message. The nonprofit’s President Paul Dien and founding member Seth Levy have noted that Savage is no longer involved in the project day to day:
“I don’t agree with what he has said, and I think it’s important to call out our privileges,â said Dien. âI think in our communities, cisgender white folks do have that privilege, and it’s okay to talk about when people are wrong or offensive to other parts of our community. And I think it’s important to have those discussions.â
âI really can’t comment on whatever Danâs relationship with the trans community is; that’s been a complicated one for a long time,â added Levy. âAll I know is that as a co-founder with them and having done a lot of work with them over the years, he’s done a lot for that community, often through this project. And so I hope at the end of the day, that’s what people start to understand, is that we’ve all really been trying to fight the same fight, even if we don’t always get along along the way.â
Savage’s strong opinions and acerbic tone have been criticized by numerous groups.
Biphobia allegations
Savage’s support of transphobic psychologist J. Michael Bailey and like-minded sexologists has caused the greatest reputational harm. Savage uncritically repeated Bailey’s claims that bisexual men don’t exist, and Savage told gay men “DON’T MESS AROUND WITH BISEXUALS” and likened bisexuality to âincest and dog-fucking.â
It was âthe way most gay men were at the time, and it was shitty,â Savage says now. âA lot of my hostility to bi guys early was because I dated bi guys who were gay closet cases who felt superior to the gay men that they were dating, because they werenât 100 percent polluted by gayness.â Over the years, âpushback from my readersâ and some new bi lovers helped change his mind.
Bailey and friends magically “discovered” bisexuality as soon as they got a payment from The American Institute of Bisexuality. Savage supported Bailey’s claims about that “discovery” as well.
Transphobia allegations
Then there are the transphobic slurs that frequently appeared in Savage Love over the first 20-odd years, along with some gender nonaffirming advice about trans people and cheap jokes about the appearance of trans women. Savage told me that he used those words in the same spirit as he invited readers to call him a âfaggot.â He offered a similar explanation when, at a much-covered event at the University of Chicago in 2014, he was challenged by a trans student who objected to his continued use of the slurs while talking about the slurs, and wrote a scorched-earth takedown of the student in the Stranger. (Savage now uses the phrase ât-slurâ instead of saying the word out loud.)
âHow do you disprove a charge like youâre transphobic? Iâm not afraid of trans people. […] I certainly have had a journey in the last 20 yearsâââas have we allâââon trans issues. When I started writing Savage Love 20 years ago, and you can yank quotes 15, 18 years ago and flat them up today and say, âYou know, thatâs transphobic,â Iâd probably agree with you. 15 years ago I didnât know as much as I know nowââânor did anybody.â
Savage is one of the few people to reify “autogynephilia,” writing in 2010: “You might want to google autogynephilia. Not saying thatâs where youâre at or headed, donât know enough about it to endorse it, but . . . it seemed relevant.” Gender critical and anti-trans people Savage has platformed and supported include:
Jesse Singal (ex-trans movement, withholding trans youth healthcare)
Anyway, I'm speaking up now because this bullshit @glaad is pulling is just appalling. Putting Singal on a list with people like Tony Perkins and Brian Brown and Keith Ablow is just fucking bullshit. It's defamatory.https://t.co/kTKAs3aFnH
Here Savage cites Singal’s promotion of conservative clinician Erica Anderson as evidence Singal is not transphobic.
I want to say, "I challenge anyone to listen to this interview @jessesingal did with youth-gender clinician Dr. Erica Anderson and tell me he's transphobic," but I know people will continue to insist he's transphobic. But he isn't.https://t.co/GnkNFG44kD
There is a tendency among this collection of people to back each other up and logroll for each other when accused of acting against the best interests of the trans community. Let’s hope that changes in the future, as their monopolization of media opportunities by shutting out trans critics is one of the key ways they perpetuate harm.
Badash, David (April 29, 2014). Dan Savage Does Not Hate You. The New Civil Rights Movement. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2014/04/dan_savage_does_not_hate_you/
Savage, Dan (December 2, 1999). Gay Ol’ Time. Savage Love https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=2686 [archive]
Abad-Santos, Alexander (November 3, 2011). Dan Savage: Queer-on-Queer Glitter-Bombing Victim. The Wire via The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/dan-savage-queer-queer-glitter-bombing-victim/335921/
Lowder, J. Bryan (November 4, 2011). Did Dan Savage Deserve to be Glitter-Bombed?. Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/11/04/did_dan_savage_deserve_to_be_glitter_bombed_.html
Hill-Meyer, Tobi (November 14, 2011). Dan Savage Glittered Again, Student Arrested. The Bilerico Project. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_savage_glittered_again_student_arrested.php
Oommen, Isaac (January 21, 2012). Dan Savage Glitterbombed. Vancouver Media Co-op. http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/dan-savage-glitterbombed/9681
Schmidt, Christine (May 30, 2014). Comments at IOP spark controversy. [archive] Chicago Maroon http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/30/comments-at-iop-spark-controversy/
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Dylan Mulvaney is an American media personality who documented the first year of gender transition in a popular video series called “Days of Girlhood.”
Background
Mulvaney was born December 29, 1996 in San Diego, California, grew up in Southern California, and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Cincinnati in 2019.
Mulvaney performed in the musical The Book of Mormon on its national tour, as well as in other musical theatre productions. Mulvaney also was brought up from the audience to dance with a friend at the Ellen show and appeared as a contestant on The Price Is Right.
“Days of Girlhood”
At the start of the pandemic, Mulvaney began posting comedy videos on social media. Mulvaney quickly amassed a large following after the “Day One of Being a Girl” post went viral on TikTok. Mulvaney was soon doing many endorsement deals and sponsored posts. Several of Mulvaney’s videos sparked criticism, including one about tampons, one about Ulta cosmetics, one about wearing tight clothing to “normalize the bulge,” and several where Mulvaney dressed up as a young girl.
In October 2022, Mulvaney was invited to speak with Joe Biden at the White House, which led to significant backlash from conservatives, including conservative trans people like Caitlyn Jenner.
Following 2022 facial feminization surgery, Mulvaney did a face reveal of the results in January 2023. At the 2023 Grammy Awards, Mulvaney talked over Laverne Cox while filming their first introduction. Though Mulvaney had solicited Cox’s advice, Mulvaney was clearly not listening, leading a number of prominent trans people to comment on the dynamics of the encounter.
In March 2023 Mulvaney held the live fundraising event Dylan Mulvaney’s Day 365 Live! to celebrate one year since starting transition. Those who showed Mulvaney support, including cisgender allies like Drew Barrymore, faced criticism.
In April 2023 Mulvaney made sponsored posts for Bud Light and Nike. The Nike post showed Mulvaney exercising in their sports bra and sparked more criticism from anti-trans people. The Bud Light posts promoted an NCAA March Madness giveaway and revealed the brand had made a customized Bud Light can with Mulvaney’s face on it.
Bud Light immediately faced bomb threats and boycotts after conservative demagogues like Tucker Carlson and anti-trans groups decided to make an example of the beer. Anti-trans troll Matt Walsh made such pointed and cruel personal attacks that Walsh’s YouTube channel was demonetized. In the first weeks, several conservative entertainers joined the boycott, Bud Light sales dropped about 25% year over year, two ABInBev marketing executives were ousted, the stock was downgraded by several firms, and Senator Ted Cruz announced a planned investigation into whether the brand was marketing to underage audiences. ABInBev released a noncommittal statement and a poorly received patriotic ad, announced they would buy back unsold beer, and hired conservative consultants to help with a rebrand. Bud Light lost its place as America’s favorite beer, ABInBev laid off hundreds of employees, and North American organic sales dropped $1.4 billion. The fiasco instantly became one of the worst marketing blunders in history and a setback for national brands supporting trans inclusion or offering brand endorsements to trans people.
Facing extreme overexposure, Mulvaney reduced the frequency of posting and announced an upcoming book. In June 2023 Mulvaney reflected on the first three months of the controversy:
âWhat transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined. For months now, Iâve been scared to leave my house. I have been ridiculed in public. Iâve been followed. And I have felt a loneliness that I wouldnât wish on anyone. And Iâm not telling you this because I want your pity. I am telling you this because if this is my experience, from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much much worse for other trans people.â
Jones (2023)
In 2023 Attitude magazine honored Mulvaney as Woman of the Year.
To mark the 2024 anniversary of starting transition, Mulvaney posed with Lady Gaga and shared several messages with fans. In 2025, Mulvaney released the book Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer and announced a podcast called The Dylan Hour.
References
Mulvaney, Dylan (2025). Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer. Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 978-1419770395
Lange, Maggie (February 18, 2025). Dylan Mulvaney Dreams of Privacy. Really.New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/style/dylan-mulvaney-paper-doll-book.html
Chris Elston is a Canadian anti-transgender activist. Elston is best known for purchasing or wearing signs with anti-transgender messages. Elston gets money and attention by trying to provoke responses from trans and gender-diverse people and their supporters. Elston has been arrested, banned from venues, and involved in numerous legal disputes.
Elston is one of several “parental rights” activists who appear in public holding or wearing anti-transgender signs, including January Littlejohn and “Sidewalk Steve.”
Background
Christopher David Elston was born in 1976. Elston has used a number of nicknames, including
Christoph Elston
Christophe Elston
Chris Elston
Billboard Chris
Elstonâs spouse Sheree Lynn (Peacock) Elston earned a bachelorâs degree from Simon Fraser University in 2003, followed by a masterâs degree in education from Simon Fraser in 2007. Sheree Elston was a schoolteacher before becoming an administrator at Semiahmoo Trail elementary school in South Surrey, British Columbia. The Elstons have been members of Village Church, an evangelical Christian church with a location in Surrey. Their older child Arya was born in 2010, followed by Mila. Both children are involved in the same local sport.
Scientology
Around age 20, Elston became involved in Scientology while traveling in Ireland. Elston joined the organizationâs elite Sea Org, a group of Scientologyâs most dedicated members, in March of 1996. Because of that zeal and fervor, Elston was soon assigned to the Church of Scientologyâs Saint Hill Manor property in East Grinstead, West Sussex. The location is called Scientologyâs Advanced Organization & Saint Hill United Kingdom. It is an 18th-century manor originally purchased by L. Ron Hubbard in 1959 and later renovated as a Scientology museum. Elston was reportedly assigned to run the Hubbard Communications Office (HCO) in the Continental Liaison Office (CLO).
In June 1997, Elston was a witness to the death of 17-year-old Sea Org member Russell Dienes. Elston was part of a car procession hurrying to work at Saint Hill. Dienes pulled in front of an oncoming truck, causing Dienes’ death and the serious injury of teen passengers Thilo Gnass and Frederik Zengel.
Elston remained with Scientology for almost two years:
I joined the Sea Org in March 96, worked their 100 hour weeks and escaped in the middle of the night Dec. 98 when I was told I couldnât go home on a visit to see my parents. Passport and plane ticket had been seized.
Elston returned to Canada and reportedly was the subject of an âSP Declare,â a document outlining why Scientology designates Elston as a Suppressive Person, or Anti-Social Personality. Elston has been involved in anti-Scientology activism ever since.
Insurance career
After moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, Elston took a job as an investment advisor at Canaccord Capital (later named Canaccord Financial, now called Canaccord Genuity). Elston worked there from 2001 to 2008, then was a Financial Advisor at Raymond James from 2008 to 2014. After founding Elston Insurance Agency in 2014 and selling insurance, Elston began generating significant income and media coverage from anti-transgender activism. After Elston’s insurance license expired in 2022, Elston began doing anti-trans activism full-time.
Anti-transgender activism
Elston pivoted from anti-Scientology activism to anti-transgender activism following several controversies in the Vancouver area.
Jessica Yaniv aka Jessica Simpson
Elston got involved in several controversies related to Jessica Yaniv, now known as Jessica Simpson, a frequent litigant who used anti-discrimination laws to bring numerous complaints against local businesses. Simpson identifies as transgender and brought many complaints against waxing practitioners who would not wax Simpson’s genitals.
In December 2020, the Western Standard reported that the Langley Royal Canadian Mounted Police had charged Simpson with mischief and uttering threats in relation to an incident in October 2020 concerning Elston.
I â„ JK ROWLING
Elston met nurse and anti-transgender extremist Amy Hamm at a Simpson hearing. They began purchasing billboards with the slogan “I â„ JK ROWLING,” a reference to British author J. K. Rowling’s anti-transgender activism. British anti-trans extremist Posie Parker had purchased similar out-of-home ads. Elston’s first one was taken down following complaints. Elston got the nickname “Billboard Chris” soon after.
Elston has been arrested for disturbing the peace after showing up to pro-trans events wearing provocative anti-transgender messages like “Gender ideology does not belong in schools,” and “No child is born in the wrong body,” and “Children cannot consent to puberty blockers.” Elston is no longer allowed on the street around the Vancouver art gallery where Elston was arrested.
Elston’s goal is to be verbally or physically assaulted, which has happened several times. Elston then uses video of those encounters to get money and attention.
“Christophe Elston, the transphobic insurance agent who hangs out with known fascist “John Southern,” showed up to yesterday’s Mi’kmaw solidarity rally for some reason. He was briefly detained by the VPD, and had his “I â„ JK Rowling” sandwich board taken away.”
Christophe Elston, the transphobic insurance agent who hangs out with known fascist "John Southern," showed up to yesterday's Mi'kmaw solidarity rally for some reason.
Naylor, Dave (December 31, 2020). Transgender activist Yaniv wanted by police in BC. The Western Standard. Wildrose Media Corp. [archive] https://www.westernstandardonline.com/2020/12/transgender-actvist-yaniv-wanted-by-police-in-bc/
Cupp, Anne Renner (March 26, 2018). [Scientology discussion page] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1097697983669219/posts/1407298826042465/?comment_id=1407325562706458&reply_comment_id=1408239902615024
“Chris Elston ingratiates himself to people to gather personal information on them and the moment they cross him, it gets splashed across the internet. He’s a known serial offender and it’s always women. Always. Ginger has been hoodwinked by a master at his craft. I was too, once. […] Maybe her new BFF who is a financial advisor should coach her on that, when he’s not too busy harassing other women.”
