The Stranger is an alternative newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. The publication is generally progressive politically, with some issues around anti-trans coverage by Dan Savage, Alice Dreger, and Katie Herzog.
Background
Founded in 1991 as a weekly print publication supported by coupon ads, it switched to a biweekly magazine format in 2017. It suspended print operations in 2020, then resumed them in 2023. In 2024, the paper was sold to Noisy Creek.
Transgender coverage
Since its founding, The Stranger has published a sex column by Dan Savage called Savage Love. Over the years, Savage has published a number of columns about trans and gender diverse people that have been criticized. In addition to work like the It Gets Better project that has helped some in the community, Savage has a long history of supporting and defending sexologists and journalists who have also been accused of bias.
In 2011, The Queer Issue edited by Christopher Frizzelle and Savage included a piece by Alice Dreger, who has long voiced opposition to the affirmative model of care for trans and gender diverse youth, especially any kind of medical options:
The great majority of young children who declare they are a gender that doesn’t match their birth sex grow out of the mismatch. […]
But somehow if we wrap these major interventions around gender identity, we’re supposed to believe they are not that big a deal in terms of planning for a child’s future? And the clinician who tries to get a gender dysphoric kid to learn to like her or his innate body really is a Nazi? Not buying it. […]
I am also sick and tired of trans-rights advocates acting like a certain current-day endocrinologist is ever-so-progressive because he essentially starts prepping genderqueer kids for surgery the moment they are presented by their distraught parents. Reminds me a little too much of Iran, you know?
The Stranger also employed Katie Herzog, whose article on “detransition” was sourced from a group of anti-transgender people associated with the “ex-trans movement.” The Stranger never updated that article to note that major source Ky Schevers has disavowed the views made in the piece.
References
Hiruko, Ashley (July 29, 2024). The Stranger newspaper sold to former state legislator Brady Walkinshaw. KUOW https://www.kuow.org/stories/the-stranger-newspaper-sold-to-former-state-legislator-brady-walkinshaw
Schevers, Ky (June 24, 2024). The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2024/2024/06/05/79545098/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-the-stranger
Wood, Natalie (June 20, 2018). What Happens After the Person You Married Tells You They’re Transgender. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2018/2018/06/20/27820946/what-happens-after-the-person-you-married-tells-you-theyre-transgender
Herzog, Katie (July 3, 2017). A Response to the Uproar Over My Piece, “The Detransitioners.” The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/07/03/25262759/a-response-to-the-uproar-over-my-piece-the-detransitioners
Herzog, Katie (June 28, 2017). The Detransitioners: They Were Transgender, Until They Weren’t. The Stranger. https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/06/28/25252342/the-detransitioners-they-were-transgender-until-they-werent
Savage, Dan (June 7, 2014). About That Hate Crime I Committed at University of Chicago. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/06/07/about-that-hate-crime-i-committed-at-university-of-chicago
Dreger, Alice (2011). Trans Advocates (At Least Where Genderqueer Kids Are Concerned). The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/trans-advocates/Content?oid=8743338
Savage, Dan (August 12, 2010). Golden Oldie. https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=4642012
Savage, Dan (August 12, 2010). Bad Tranny. https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=13054
Savage, Dan (March 26, 2009). Deep Thought. https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=1192438
Resources
The Stranger (thestranger.com)
Wikipedfia (en.wikipedia.org)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
X/Twiiter (x.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Bluesky (bsky.app)
Transgender Trend is a British anti-transgender pressure group founded by Stephanie Davies-Arai. It is an important hub for the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Background
Davies-Arai founded the group in 2015 after reading an article that recommended affirming children in their gender identities and expression.
Davies-Arai believes that children are being “groomed” and “brainwashed” into thinking they are transgender by “gender ideology.”
According to progressive publication Truthout:
“Groups like Transgender Trend, an organization that campaigns against LGBT-inclusive relationship and sex education to schools (and was allowed to contribute to the Keira Bell case as an expert witness), are now refocusing on targeting trans health care for anyone under 25.”
Anti-trans activist Heather Brunskell-Evans wrote a piece for Transgender Trend titled “Judith Butler at the Court of Appeal.”
People
Core team
- Stephanie Davies-Arai
- Shelley Charlesworth
- Rachel Rooney
- Janey Galloway
References
Kesslen, Ben (18 August 2022). How the idea of a “transgender contagion” went viral—and caused untold harm. MIT Technology Review https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/08/18/1057135/transgender-contagion-gender-dysphoria/
Dodds, Io (3 July 2022). How two trans women ran a legendary underground surgical clinic in a rural barn. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trans-history-underground-sugical-clinic-b2114777.html
Ring, Ellie (16 June 2022). Edinburgh LGBTQ+ officer claims university hosted ‘highly transphobic’ seminar. The Edinburgh Tab https://thetab.com/uk/edinburgh/2022/06/16/edinburgh-lgbtq-officer-claims-university-hosted-highly-transphobic-seminar-77705
Staff report (3 June 2022). Anti-Trans Group Founder Stephanie Davies-Ara Awarded ‘British Empire Medal’ In Queen’s Birthday Honours. Star Observer https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/anti-trans-group-founder-stephanie-davies-ara-awarded-british-empire-medal-in-queens-birthday-honours/213480
Hansford, Amelia (2 June 2022). Founder of notorious anti-trans pressure group named in Queen’s birthday honours. i https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/groomer-new-lgbt-slur-incite-hatred-spark-violence-1585179
Rayner, Gordon (1 June 2022). Vindication for ‘transphobic’ gender-critical campaigner named in Queen’s Birthday Honours list. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/06/01/vindication-transphobic-gender-critical-campaigner-named-queens/
The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022. GOV.UK. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1080317/birthday-honours-list-2022.csv/preview
Strudwick, Patrick (22 May 2022). ‘Shocked and scared’: Trans man speaks out over reporting psychiatrist for ‘conversion therapy’. I News https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/trans-conversion-therapy-patient-speaks-out-psychiatrist-reported-1641330
Strudwick, Patrick (26 April 2022). How ‘groomer’, the dangerous new anti-LGBT slur from America, is taking hold in Britain. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
Ferreira, Lou (22 March 2022). NHS invited speakers with ‘anti-trans’ links to trans event. Open Democracy https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/nhs-pulls-trans-conference-after-speakers-links-exposed/
Turner, Camilla; Somerville, Ewan (1 January 2022). Group of girls’ schools says they will not accept transgender pupils and “jeopardise” their status as single-sex institutions. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/01/01/group-girls-schools-says-will-not-accept-transgender-pupils/
Norris, Sian (30 September 2021). The Far-Right Co-Option of the Transgender Rights Issue. Byline Times https://bylinetimes.com/2021/09/30/the-far-right-co-option-of-the-transgender-rights-issue/
Davies-Arai, Stephanie (7 July 2021). Teachers are powerless to resist trans activism in schools. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/07/teachers-powerless-resist-trans-activism-schools/
Somerville, Ewan (9 May 2021). Transgender guidelines for girls schools quietly scrapped by the equalities watchdog. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/09/transgender-guidelines-girls-schools-quietly-scrapped-equalities/
Greenesmith, Heron (28 February 2021). Health Care for Trans Youth Is Under Attack in UK — and It’s Impacting the US. Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/health-care-for-trans-youth-is-under-attack-in-uk-and-its-impacting-the-us/
McLean, Craig (2021). The Growth of the Anti-Transgender Movement in the United Kingdom: The Silent Radicalization of the British Electorate. International Journal of Sociology. 51 (6): 473–482. doi:10.1080/00207659.2021.1939946
Savage, Rachel (4 December 2020). LGBT+ groups see surge in calls after UK court ruling on trans teens. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-health-idUSKBN28E2UF
Savage, Rachel (4 December 2020). British LGBT+ groups see surge in calls after UK court ruling on trans teens. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-lgbt-health-idINL8N2IK4A0
Thomas, Kim (29 September 2020). What are the new rules for teaching identity in schools?. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/2020/09/29/new-rules-teaching-identity-schools/
“As the number of children identifying as transgender has increased, schools have consulted trans charities such as Stonewall and Mermaids about how best to approach the topic. These charities have, however, come under criticism by campaigners, including Transgender Trend and Safe Schools Alliance, for reinforcing a rigid belief in gender roles, and for encouraging children who don’t conform to gender stereotypes to believe they might be trans.
“
Mohdin, Aamna (25 September 2020). Government issues gender identity guidance for teachers in England. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/25/government-issues-gender-identity-guidance-for-teachers-in-england
Duffy, Nick (17 June 2020). Thousands of cisgender women sign letter urging Liz Truss to shelve ‘disturbing’ rollback of trans rights. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/06/17/liz-truss-gender-recognition-act-reform-cis-women-open-letter-trans-equality/
John, Tara (4 April 2020). The quest for trans rights has exposed a deep divide in the UK. Scotland may show a way forward. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/04/uk/trans-rights-reforms-scotland-gbr-intl/index.html
Wakefield, Lily (11 March 2020). Anti-LGBT+ priest tells MPs that sex education leads to sex abuse and anal cancer, and no one stopped her. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/03/11/anglican-priest-lynda-rose-lgbt-inclusive-sex-education-house-of-commons-anal-cancer-abuse/
Andersson, Jasmine (10 January 2020). The medical, ethical, and legal complications surrounding the puberty blockers case. i https://inews.co.uk/news/puberty-blockers-legal-case-experts-transgender-382047
Duffy, Nick (7 October 2019). Someone is trolling anti-trans group Transgender Trend in the most perfect way. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/10/07/someone-trolling-anti-trans-group-most-perfect-way/
Duffy, Nick (11 May 2019). Education magazine TES loses star columnist over transphobia row. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/11/education-magazine-tes-loses-star-columnist-transphobia-row/
Keating, Shannon (22 April 2019). Gender Dysphoria Isn’t A “Social Contagion,” According To A New Study. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/shannonkeating/rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-flawed-methods-transgender
Duffy, Nick (28 September 2018). Gender-neutral toilets in Canada targeted with anti-trans ‘penis’ stickers. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/09/28/gender-neutral-toilets-targeted-with-anti-transgender-penis-stickers-canada/
Strudwick, Patrick (12 September 2018). A Leading Trans-Critical Group Said Schools Should Out Trans Pupils To Their Parents. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeed.com/patrickstrudwick/trans-kids-should-be-outed-to-their-parents-says-a-group
Robertson, Alix (10 September 2018). Schools warned over new ‘harmful’ Transgender Trend stickers. schoolsweek.co.uk https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-warned-over-new-harmful-transgender-trend-stickers/
WPATH Global Board of Directors (4 September 2018). WPATH Position on “Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD).” (PDF) https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2018/9_Sept/WPATH%20Position%20on%20Rapid-Onset%20Gender%20Dysphoria_9-4-2018.pdf
Page, Morgan M. (9 July 2018). Why Are Some Feminists In The UK Freaking Out About Trans Rights?. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/morganmpage/why-are-some-feminists-in-the-uk-freaking-out-about-trans
Glass, Jess (25 April 2018). Exclusive: Anti-trans meeting sparks mass criticism and counter-protests from university groups. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/04/25/university-of-oxford-protest-transgender-feminism-womans-place/
Whittaker, Freddie (15 February 2018). Schools urged to ignore ‘dangerous’ gender guidance. schoolsweek.co.uk https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-urged-to-ignore-dangerous-gender-guidance/
Resources
Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)
Transgender Trend (transgendertrend.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Scott Newgent is a conservative American transgender activist critical of healthcare protocols for trans and gender diverse youth. Newgent also has regret about personal surgical outcomes and complications. Newgent is best known for appearing in the transphobic Matt Walsh project What Is a Woman? and has been affiliated with extremist group Gays Against Groomers.
Background
According to self-reports, Thomas Scott Newgent was born in Tucson on November 6, 1972 to Scott and Cindy King (other sources give November 10). In several recent interviews, Newgent referred to previously living under the name Kellie Ellen King. Newgent attended Missouri State University before earning a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1994. Newgent worked in sales. Newgent is reportedly a parent to three, including giving birth to a set of twins; their names are Joshua, Julia, and Justice. Newgent has listed over 30 different places in eight states as residences:
- Indiana: Kendallville, South Bend, Fort Wayne
- Texas: Rockwall, Ben Wheeler, Fort Worth, Dallas, Denton
- Kansas: Olathe, Overland Park
- Washington: Spokane, Port Angeles
- Idaho: Post Falls
- Oregon: Deadwood
- Tennessee: Murfreesboro, Antioch
- California: San Diego, Jamul, El Cajon
As is common with people who move this frequently, Newgent has a criminal history that includes serving a sentence relating to a court order in 2019.
Gender transition
Newgent reportedly began transition in 2016 but applied for a legal name and gender change in Texas in 2015. This took longer than usual because the court needed Newgent’s certification of criminal history record information, which Newgent’s lawyer supplied on November 2, 2015.
Newgent is dissatisfied with the reported seven surgeries, claiming that medical complications include:
- a massive pulmonary embolism
- a helicopter life-flight ride
- an emergency ambulance ride
- a stress-induced heart attack
- sepsis
- a 17-month recurring infection due to “using the wrong skin during a (failed) phalloplasty”
- 16 rounds of antibiotics
- three weeks of daily IV antibiotics
- the loss of all my hair
- (only partially successful) arm reconstructive surgery
- permanent lung and heart damage
- a cut bladder
- insomnia-induced hallucinations
- frequent loss of consciousness “due to pain from the hair on the inside of my urethra” (“six inches” of it)
- a form of PTSD “that made me a prisoner in my apartment for a year”
Newgent would transition again, but differently. Newgent says transition came with many costs, including “home, car, savings, career, wife, medical insurance, and most importantly his faith within himself and God.”
TReVoices
During the COVID pandemic in 2020, Newgent founded Indiana for-profit company TRans Educational Voices (TReVoices), a group that opposes “radical gender activism.” Newgent claims the medical and pharmaceutical industries are pushing children to transition medically.
Newgent has appeared on or been featured by many conservative outlets, including Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Preston Sprinkle, GBNews, Plebity, Indie Thinker, Benjamin Boyce, Candace Owens, Madeleine Kearns, National Review, UpperhandMARS, and The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (Jennifer Lahl).
In 2023, Newgent briefly claimed to be done with anti-transgender activism and deleted some online presence. In 2024, Newgent self-published an autobiography titled THE LESBIAN DEVIL TO THE STRAIGHT MAN SAINT: – A trip through trans HELL & back!
Trans Regretters
In 2024 Newgent redirected the site TReVoices to a new site called Trans Regretters. The site listed several people with regret about aspects of their medical transitions:
References
Myers, Ashlyn (March 21, 2023). Emotions stir the House before committee’s approval of bill banning gender-affirming care. TheStatehouseFile.com https://www.thestatehousefile.com/politics/emotions-stir-the-house-before-committee-s-approval-of-bill-banning-gender-affirming-care/article_067d462c-c820-11ed-b589-0beadfab96ae.html
Markowicz, Karol (June 12, 2022). ‘What is a woman?’ exposes the lunacy of pro-trans extremism. The New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/06/12/what-is-a-woman-exposes-the-lunacy-of-pro-trans-extremism/
[uncredited] (Dec 18, 2021). Meet Scott Newgent. Gender Dysphoria Alliance https://www.genderdysphoriaalliance.com/post/meet-scott-newgent
Kearns, Madeleine (January 28, 2021). A Trans Person Speaks Out against Biden’s Transgender Activism. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/a-trans-person-speaks-out-against-bidens-transgender-activism/ [alt title: A Trans Campaigner Speaks Out against Biden’s Transgender Activism]
Kearns, Madeleine (February 13, 2020). The Cowardly Republicans of South Dakota. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/02/transgender-politics-south-dakota-senate-republicans-cowardly/
Publications by Newgent
Newgent, Scott (2024), THE LESBIAN DEVIL TO THE STRAIGHT MAN SAINT: – A trip through trans HELL & back! #SCREAMLouder Publishing, ISBN 979-8895463376
Newgent, Scott (December 16, 2023). Opinion: I’m working to save children from my deepest regret: gender-affirming medical transition. Dallas Morning News https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/16/transgender-regretter-scott-newgent/
Newgent Scott (May 12, 2023). Scott Newgent, TReVoices [2023 Maine LD1735 (Summary) An Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care.] https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getTestimonyDoc.asp?id=10023409
Newgent, Scott (April 19, 2021). Bill C-6 needs more nuance: Conversion therapy is wrong, but pushing kids to transition medically is
worse. [Testimony to Canada Senate] https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/432/LCJC/Briefs/2021-04-19_LCJC_C-6_ScottNewgent_e.pdf
Newgent, Scott (February 9, 2021). Opinion: We Need Balance When It Comes To Gender Dysphoric Kids. I Would Know. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/we-need-balance-when-it-comes-gender-dysphoric-kids-i-would-know-opinion-1567277
Newgent, Scott (October 20, 2020). Opinon | Trans activist: Serious concern over child re-assignment surgery. The Catholic Weekly https://catholicweekly.com.au/trans-activist-serious-concern-over-child-re-assignment-surgery/
Media
Tammi Faraday (December 11, 2023). Scott Newgent – The Truth About Transitioning Children from a Transman (S06E03). Brave Journeys https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/scott-newgent-the-truth-about-transitioning-children/id1536041978?i=1000638104941
Tamara Ugolini (October 23, 2023). Transman Scott Newgent fights to save children from the harms of medical transition. Rebel News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tKn6Ap0mH4
(October 16, 2023). Transition Tensions: Scott Newgent’s Stand on Childhood Choices. Become your own Superhero podcast
Robert Scott Bell (August 3, 2023). Special Guest Scott Newgent The Robert Scott Bell Podcast Network
Matt Walsh (June 10, 2023). What is a Woman? Reunion. The Matt Walsh Show https://www.dailywire.com/clips/what-is-a-woman-reunion
Jay Fantom (April 24, 2023). Scott Newgent Unboxing | Becoming Trans Ruined My Life. The Story Box https://shows.acast.com/thestorybox/episodes/scott-newgent-unboxing-becoming-trans-ruined-my-life
Jen Hardy (July 6, 2022). “What is a Woman” star Scott Newgent tells about the side-effects from medically transitioning, and their affect on kids. Fabulous Over 50 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-a-woman-star-scott-newgent-tells-about-the/id1353195153?i=1000568967275
Bryce Eddy (October 13, 2022). Scott Newgent | Stop Mutilating Children | Liberty Station Ep 141. Godspeak Calvary Chapel https://rumble.com/v1nq8yc-scott-newgent-stop-mutilating-children-liberty-station-ep-141.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp
Allie Beth Stuckey (October 4, 2023). Ep 884 | Sex Change Regret: Why the Surgeries Never Work | Guest: Scott Newgent. Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vY5_LI8Gbc
Andrew Doyle (April 30, 2023). Trans man who says he REGRETS his transition says medically transitioning is just cosmetic surgery. Free Speech Nation / GBNews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_o2Q2EgeLY
Nana Akua (Apr 1, 2023). Transgender man says he REGRETS his transition | ‘It’s cosmetic surgery, it doesn’t fix anything.’ GBNews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtwom8_J6o
Ben Shapiro (December 10, 2022). Transgender Male Exposes the Horrors of Gender Reassignment Surgery. The Ben Shapiro Show Daily Wire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzWtjHirh0
Candace Owens (Sep 24, 2022). Perez Hilton and Candace Owens Discuss Parenting and Gender Dysphoria in Children. [Scott Newgent guest]. Taboo with Candace Owens Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Kkw3zMRMo
Sandra Currie, Rose Medina (June 29, 2022) Scott Newgent Founder of TRevoices. An American Conversation Podcast™ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQMQ4VDiRZg
Michael Brown (March 22, 2022). A Female-to-Male Transgender Shouts a Warning About Transitioning Children. The Line of Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsNmvH9Alh4
Aaron Kimberly and Aaron Terrell (August 26, 2021). Measuring Medical Transition Outcomes with Kenneth Pirie and Scott Newgent. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14TIEgAVmow
Aaron Kimberly and Aaron Terrell (August 26, 2021). Autogynephilia with Kenneth Pirie and Scott Newgent. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4qBxYbvhl8
Laval, Mary (13th July 2021). Scott Newgent of TReVoices in conversation with Stella O’Malley. Genspect https://genspect.org/scott-newgent-of-trevoices-in-conversation-with-stella-omalley/
Reed Uberman (August 16, 2021). Ep. 31- The Truth About Medically Transitioning Kids | Guest Scott Newgent. Indie Thinker with Reed Uberman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f2aucvGX-E
Jennifer Lahl (August 8, 2021). Scott Newgent on his permanent ban from Twitter. The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziBc6HYHVUM
Preston Sprinkle (July 1, 2021). #880 – A Transman’s Unexpected Thoughts on Trans* Related Issues: Scott Newgent. Theology in the Raw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zazsZ_HO3LM
Dan Crenshaw (March 5, 2021). Let’s Talk About Transgenderism, with Scott Newgent. Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDXAKXPlsdg
Mars Fernandez (September 8, 2020). BROmance with Buck Angel & Scott. UpperhandMARS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSfUas924U [deleted]
Benjamin Boyce (July 27, 2020). 257 | Children’s Rights, Trans Realities with Scott Newgent. Calmversations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lly1prUzksI
Jennifer Lahl (March 31, 2020). Podcast #015: Scott Newgent. Venus Rising https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/venusrising/episodes/2020-03-31T16_07_52-07_00
Mars Fernandez (August 30, 2019). Phalloplasty gone wrong with Scott Newgent. UpperhandMARS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y72zb-cJi8k [deleted]
Resources
Trans Regretters (transregretters.com) [archive]
TRans Educational Voices: TReVoices (trevoices.org) [archive]
- trevoices.org/drcurtiscranecranets (deleted) [archive]
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
X.Twitter (x.com)
- scottnewgent [suspended]
- NotScottNewgent [deleted]
TikTok (tiktok.com)
Reddit (reddit.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Sarah Pedersen is professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University. Pedersen has researched the rise of the “gender critical” movement and has espoused “gender critical” views.
Background
Sarah Pedersen was born in October 1965. Pedersen attended University of York, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1987 and a master’s degree in 1989. Pedersen has been affiliated with Robert Gordon University since 2008.
Gender critical activism
Pedersen has researched toxic online community Mumsnet, a key forum for anti-trans extremism.
The June 2019 event “Women’s Sex-Based Rights: What Does (& Should) the Future Hold?” featured a panel of “gender critical” speakers including Pedersen, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Louise Moody, Lucy Hunter Blackburn, and Claire Heuchan. There, Pedersen acknowledged a recent move into gender critical activism:
“I am often asked at these talks whether I would have been a militant suffragette or a constitutional suffragist. I have always answered that I saw myself very much as a suffragist, quietly writing letters and signing petitions, only dipping a toe in the public sphere of the day, and probably rather disapproving of the militant actions of the suffragettes. However, by coming here today and speaking so publicly, I think I am beginning to embrace my inner suffragette.”
Pedersen drew comparisons between suffragette protests against Scotland’s 1911 census and efforts by “gender critical” groups like For Women Scotland to confound sex data in the 2022 Scottish census.
Pedersen gave a blurb for the 2023 anti-trans book Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader:
‘Debates on sex and gender go back a long way, but recently they’ve become more contentious—and for many people, more confusing—than ever. This collection, covering a range of subjects from biology and neuroscience to law and public policy, is a welcome attempt to clarify what’s at stake in current disputes about the significance of sex and gender both in theory and in everyday life. I hope the book will be read by the confused and the undecided as well as by those who are already inclined to agree with it.’
References
Baker, Katie J. M. (January 2021). The Road to Terfdom. Lux https://lux-magazine.com/article/the-road-to-terfdom/
Davidson, Gina (May 8, 2019). University debate on women’s rights branded ‘transphobic.’ The Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/university-debate-on-womens-rights-branded-transphobic-1418085
Reisz, Matthew (September 28, 2020). Books interview: Sarah Pedersen. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/books-interview-sarah-pedersen
Livingston, Eve (December 6, 2018). How an Online Forum for Moms Became a Toxic Hotbed of Transphobia. VICE https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3mn9k/mumsnet-uk-mom-forum-terf-transphobia-feminism
Selected writing by Pedersen
Pedersen S (2022). “It’s what the suffragettes would have wanted”: the construction of the suffragists and suffragettes on Mumsnet. Feminist Media Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2032788
Pedersen, Sarah (February 18, 2022). The SNP won’t silence women. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/02/scotlands-women-wont-be-erased/
Pedersen, Sarah (2020). The Politicization of Mumsnet. Emerald Publishing, ISBN 9781839094712
Pedersen, Sarah (June 5, 2019). [speech at Women’s Sex-Based Rights panel] https://forwomen.scot/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Sarah-Pedersen-Edinburgh-Uni-speech.pdf
Media
Moray House School of Education and Sport (July 25, 2019). Women’s Sex-Based Rights: What Does (& Should) the Future Hold? panel event, 5 June 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHn1Bj5It8
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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
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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, Sinéad 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)
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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
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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
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“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/
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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
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