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Choire Sicha is an American writer and anti-transgender activist.

While running the New York Times Style section, Sicha claimed, “We will aggressively cover politics, gender, sexuality, health, crime, shoes and contouring,” but the only notable gender coverage was a piece by John McDermott sympathetically profiling numerous anti-transgender public figures.

Background

Choire Arthur Sicha was born November 19, 1971 and grew up in Southern California, according to self-reports.

Parent Jeffrey Sicha (born 1940) is a Rhodes Scholar and philosopher who currently lives in Atascadero, California with Sadie Kendall, creator of Kendall Farms CrĂšme FraĂźche. The elder Sicha occasionally publishes philosophical texts. Sicha’s other birth parent is often mythologized in various origin stories and appears to have been the primary caregiver. Sicha graduated from Evanston Township High School in Illinois in 1989.

From 1991 to 1997, Sicha did HIV/AIDS activism at organizations including Larkin Street Youth Services, People with AIDS Coalition, HIV Law Project, and Visual AIDS. From 1997 to 2003 Sicha was director of Manhattan art gallery Debs & Co. During that time Sicha reportedly shared a “shitty East Village rabbit warren with Dale Peck” and was a key figure in developing “blog voice,” the snarky Gen X tone that further metastasized into millennial Twitter and Tumblr voice.

On October 22, 2011, Sicha married commercial real estate executive David Michael Valdez. They spend much of their time in the Hudson Valley north of New York City.

Gawker

Nick Denton founded Gawker in 2002 and appointed Elizabeth Spiers editor. When Spiers left, Sicha served as editor for a year before Jessica Coen replaced Sicha in August 2004. While Sicha was editing at Jared Kushner’s New York Observer from 2005 to 2007, then writing for Radar, the Gawker feature “Gawker Stalker” became more and more invasive. Sicha returned to Gawker and continued ramping it up:

Gawker had always sold itself as mean but it now became, actually, very mean. Sicha, who liked to pretend to be a news organization, had sent “correspondents” and “interns” to official media events. Coen found more of them, and she sent them not only to launches and readings but also to private parties, where they took embarrassing party photos. This was the important development: the decision to treat every subject, known or unknown, in public or private situations, with the fascinated ill will that tabloid magazines have for their subjects. Spiers had invented the best-known element of Gawker, “Gawker Stalker,” which compiled reports of celebrity encounters. Really this had started as a support group for CondĂ© Nast assistants, who wrote in to say what it felt like to see Anna Wintour in person and, also, what she was wearing. As the feature expanded, under Spiers and Sicha, it remained a record of that nice New York moment: seeing a Hollywood face. During Coen’s tenure, Gawker Stalker morphed from a list, to a list with photographs, to an interactive map that tracked its subjects through Manhattan with unnerving immediacy.

Sicha later called Gawker Stalker “the bane of my existence.”

Libertarian anti-trans activist Nick Gillespie named Sicha one of the “50 Most Loathsome NYers.”

When Spiers left, […] she handed the reins to Choire Sicha (yes, folks, that’s pronounced “Cory”, and yes, it’s a dude) who turned Gawker into an unreadable circle-jerk for the cream of New York City’s wannabe media asshole crop. To read Gawker now is no longer an enjoyable five minutes in the morning; it’s stumbling into a horrifying online cocktail party hosted by a humorless, obnoxious prick and attended by his even less interesting obnoxious prick friends.

The Awl and 2013 book

Sicha co-founded The Awl with David Cho and Alex Balk in 2009 and edited there until taking the Style section job at the New York Times. The Awl folded in 2018.

Sicha authored the 2013 book Very Recent History.

2019 New York Times piece

Sicha claimed on many occasions that gender would be covered at the Times:

“[The] Style desk covers change, it covers generational change, it covers change in how we talk about gender, it covers young people. It covers technology, and it covers love, marriage and how we look. Those are all things that are incredibly fraught at this time, and they’re supposed to upset people.”

Bienaimé (2019)

Gender was conspicuously absent from subsequent coverage, with one notable exception. Sicha greenlit and published John McDermott’s 2019 puff piece about gender critical media figures. Sicha and McDermott interviewed zero trans people or media watchdogs critical of these bigots.

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.

Grant (2019)

People Sicha and McDermott profiled sympathetically include:

Vox Media

Sicha has had a relationship with Vox Media starting in 2016, returning to their property New York after the stint at the New York Times. Sicha profiled Daniel and Grace Lavery and their partner, Lily Woodruff in 2024.

Sicha has wisely deleted almost all tweets interacting with anti-trans media figures. Those have been left out for now as a courtesy. In 2024, Sicha scrubbed the account, noting for a time “find me on other less transphobic platforms.”

References

Staff report (June 7, 2021). Choire Sicha to join New York Magazine as Editor-at-Large. New York https://nymag.com/press/2021/06/choire-sicha-to-join-new-york-magazine-as-editor-at-large.html

Dean Baquet, Joe Kahn, and Sam Sifton (April 16, 2021). A New Role for Choire Sicha. New York Times Company https://www.nytco.com/press/a-new-role-for-choire-sicha/

BienaimĂ©, Pierre (December 3, 2019). New York Times Style editor Choire Sicha on covering boomers, Gen Z and the generations between. Digiday https://digiday.com/media/new-york-times-choire-sicha-style-generations/

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

Hiltner, Stephen (October 26, 2017). What constitutes style? Choire Sicha, our new Styles editor, answers your questions. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/reader-center/choire-sicha-styles-editor-q-and-a.html

Heinzinger, Kristen (September 21, 2017). Choire Sicha on his plans for NYT Styles, his Gawker days, and more. Fashion Week Daily https://fashionweekdaily.com/preaching-to-the-choire/

Moses, Lucia (27 April 2016). Vox Media’s Choire Sicha is the unlikely platform wrangler. Digiday https://digiday.com/media/vox-media-choire-sicha-unlikely-platform-wrangler/

Alpert, Lukas I. (February 17, 2016). Vox hires Choire Sicha to oversee partnerships with Facebook, Snapchat. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/vox-hires-choire-sicha-to-oversee-partnerships-with-facebook-snapchat-1455714001

Dzieza, Josh (July 9, 2015). Why are the most important people in media reading The Awl?”. The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/9/8908279/the-awl-profile-choire-sicha-john-herrman-matt-buchanan

Chafin, Chris (June 3, 2014). The Awl and the rise of downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn Magazine http://www.bkmag.com/2014/06/03/the-awl-and-the-rise-of-downtown-brooklyn/

Gregory, Alice (August 13, 2013). Choire Sicha, the anti-blogger. The New Yorker http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/choire-sicha-the-anti-blogger

Wayne, Teddy (October 28, 2010). The definitive interview with Choire Sicha, Editor of The Awl, on the state of the media, writing, and New York. GQ https://www.gq.com/story/the-definitive-interview-with-choire-sicha-editor-of-the-awl-on-the-state-of-the-media-writing-and-n

Blumenkranz, Carla (Winter 2008). Gawker: 2002–2007. n+1 https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-6/reviews/gawker-2002-2007/

Selected writing involving Sicha

Sicha, Choire (July 13, 2024). Keeping Up With the Laverys: The Brooklyn literary power throuple all working and baby-raising from home. New York https://www.thecut.com/article/daniel-lavery-grace-lavery-lily-woodruff-brooklyn-interview.html

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

Sicha, Choire (March 9, 2008). Patricia Arquette talked about her sibling Alexis’ gender transition. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-arquette-20090309-snap-story.html

Sicha, Choire (July 13, 2004). Stanley Crouch Punches Critic: The Literary Wars Turn Violent. Gawker https://www.gawker.com/topic/stanley-crouch-punches-critic-the-literary-wars-turn-violent-017590.php [archive]

Resources

Choire Sicha (choiresicha.com) [archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • choire [posts scrubbed in 2024]

Substack (substack.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

New York (nymag.com)

Gender Wars are a set of “gender critical” playing cards depicting people involved in activism around gender identity and expression. Black suites (clubs and spades) depict people who annoy or offend gender critical activists. Red suites (diamonds and hearts) depict gender critical activists and their supporters.

Background

The cards were created in 2023 by Heterodorx podcasters Nina Paley and Corinna Cohn and illustrated by Paley. Paley offered the cards via pre-payment because a previous crowdfunding campaign for Paley’s Agents of H.A.G. comic was cancelled for violating Indiegogo’s terms of service.

Cards

Clubs

Diamonds

Hearts

Spades

Jokers

Resources

Heterodorx (heterodorx.com)

Jennifer Pritzker is an American investor and philanthropist who focuses on military causes. Pritzker is the first out transgender billionaire.

Background

Jennifer Natalya Pritzker was born on August 13, 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. Pritzker has two siblings and two half-siblings. Pritzker’s family founded the Hyatt hotel chain and controlled a diversified holding company that was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2013. In 2023 the family’s net worth was estimated at about $37 billion, with Jennifer Pritker’s share around $2 billion.

At age 23, Pritzker enlisted in the army, rising to the rank of sergeant. Pritzker earned a bachelor’s degree in 1979 from Loyola University of Chicago, then returned to the Army to serve as a commissioned officer until 1985. Pritzker then served in the Army Reserves and Illinois Army National Guard until 2001 rising to rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1995, Pritzker founded the nonprofit Tawani Foundation. In 1996 Pritzker founded wealth management firm Tawani Enterprises. In 2003 Pritzker founded the Pritzker Military Library. Pritzker is involved in a number of private equity and national security ventures.

Pritzker has been married three times and has three children. Pritzker came out as transgender in 2013.

Transgender philanthropy

In 2003, the Tawani Foundation made a $1.35 million donation to the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to study the feasibility of transgender people serving in the military and in the ranks of police and fire departments.

In 2016, through Tawani Foundation, Pritzker gave a $2 million donation to create the world’s first endowed academic chair of transgender studies, at the University of Victoria in British Columbia; Aaron Devor was chosen as the inaugural chair.

Pritzker was a major Republican donor until the party began sustained legislative attacks on transgender people un Donald Trump.

Some anti-transgender activists, including Rick Wiles, Jennifer Bilek, and Helen Joyce, have concocted a conspiracy theory that a cabal of Jewish billionaires including Pritzker are behind the transgender movement.

References

ADL (January 24, 2023). Antisemitism & Anti-LGBTQ+ Hate Converge in Extremist and Conspiratorial Beliefs. Center on Extremism https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/antisemitism-anti-lgbtq-hate-converge-extremist-and-conspiratorial-beliefs

Butler, Jack (June 28, 2022). The Money behind the Transgender Movement. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-money-behind-the-transgender-movement/

Dodds, Io (June 26, 2022). How paranoia over trans rights became catnip for QAnon and the far right. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/transgender-far-right-qanon-violence-b2108235.html

Bilek, Jennifer (June 14, 2022). The Billionaire Family Pushing Synthetic Sex Identities (SSI). Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers

Joyce, Helen (August 8, 2021). Trans Activism’s Long March through Our Institutions. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/08/trans-activisms-long-march-through-our-institutions/

Leveille, Lee (July 5, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From. Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/07/05/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-where-it-came-from/

Lorber, Ben; Greenesmith, Heron (April 28, 2021). Antisemitism Meets Transphobia. The Progressive https://progressive.org/magazine/antisemitism-meets-transphobia-greenesmith-lorber/

Leveille, Lee (April 12, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is “TAnon”? Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/04/12/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-what-is-tanon/

Resources

Pritzker Military Museum and Library (pritzkermilitary.org)

Tawani Ventures (tawaniventures.com)

Tawani Foundation (tawanifoundation.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Daily Signal is a conservative American media organization. By 2025, they had published over 2,500 anti-trans posts.

Background

The Heritage Foundation started a blog called The Foundry in 2008. In 2014, The Foundry was redirected to The Daily Signal (dailysignal.com) in June 2014. In June 2024, it became an independent publication.

Ad Fontes Media rates The Daily Signal in the Strong Right category of bias and as Unreliable, Problematic in terms of reliability. 

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

The Daily Signal (dailysignal.com)

  • Transgender
  • https://www.dailysignal.com/?s=transgender

Heritage Foundation (heritage.org)

  • The Foundry
  • blog.heritage.org (2008–2014 – archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Truth Social (truthsocial.com)

Susan Evans is a British psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Evans was a key critic of trans healthcare for gender diverse youth at the Tavistock. The clinic was later closed.

Evans and spouse Marcus Evans co-authored the 2021 book Gender Dysphoria: A Therapeutic Model for Working with Children, Adolescents and Young Adults.

Evans is involved with SPLC-designated hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM).

Background

Evans worked for 12 years at the Tavistock in the Adult Department, Youth Gender Identity Service and for the Portman Clinic in Probation officer supervision and as Programme Organiser and senior clinical lecturer. Evans was also a Senior Fellow of the University of East London.

Evans has been a member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, London Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Service, and the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC). 

2021 book

The following people are mentioned in the acknowledgements:

We are grateful to the following people who have generously given their time and expertise to the development of this book: Annie Pesskin, Ian Williamson, Richard Stephens, Margot Waddell, Frances Grier, and Ema Syrulnik, as well as all our colleagues at the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine. We are grateful to Kate Pearce at Phoenix for offering to publish this book.

2022 Tavistock closure

Evans was involved in the attacks on gender affirming care for gender diverse you at the Tavistock clinic, a federally funded gatekeeping facility with unethically long wait times due to underfunding.

Evans’ version of things was reported via anti-trans activist Bari Weiss:

I was a nurse working on a team that recklessly prescribed puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids. I blew the whistle in 2005. Now the government is finally listening.

References

Evans, Sue (August 4, 2022). How Tavistock Came Tumbling Down. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-tavistock-came-tumbling-down

Resources

Evans Psychotherapy (evanspsychotherapy.co.uk)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Candace Owens is a conservative American writer and anti-transgender activist. Owens is part of a group of conspiracy theorists involved in “transvestigations,” where they make claims that public figures are secretly transgender.

Background

Candace Amber Owens was born on April 29, 1989. Owens grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, graduated from Stamford High School, and attended University of Rhode Island, dropping out before completing a degree. After an internship at Vogue, Owens worked at a private equity firm in administration.

Owens married George Farmer in 2019. They have two children.

In 2021, Owens joined The Daily Wire and hosted Candace, a political talk show. Owens left Daily Wire in March 2024, reportedly over remarks about Israel.

Anti-transgender activism

In 2017, Owens supported banning transgender people without bottom surgery from serving in the United States military.

In 2022, Owens falsely claimed the Robb Elementary School shooter could be transgender.

In 2022, Owens described Drag Queen Story Hour as “child abuse,” adding that parents who take their children “should have their children taken away from them.”

In 2022, Owens said that society would benefit by discriminating more against transgender and non-binary people.

In 2023, Owens said “It is worse than Jim Crow laws because we are mutilating the bodies of children. […] It is Frankenstein. These are human experiments that are being performed on children.”

In February 2025 Owens released Becoming Brigitte, a “transvestigation” into Brigitte Macron, First Lady of France and spouse of French president Emmanuel Macron. Owens concludes that Brigitte Macron is trans, and there’s a vast conspiracy to keep this information hidden.

References

Smith, Ian (February 4, 2025). Why are false rumours about Brigitte Macron being transgender resurfacing? MSN https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-are-false-rumours-about-brigitte-macron-being-transgender-resurfacing/ar-AA1yom8r

Staff report (April 6, 2023). Candace Owens says the existence of trans people is “worse than Jim Crow laws.” Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/candace-owens/candace-owens-says-existence-trans-people-worse-jim-crow-laws

Assunção, Muri (December 13, 2022). Candace Owens calls for discrimination against trans, nonbinary people: ‘Society would be safer if we discriminated more’. New York Daily News https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-cancace-owens-discrimination-trans-nonbinary-people-sam-brinton-20221213-irewcydb2jg4bgwgdarw2jgupi-story.html

Sardarizadeh, Shayan; Devlin, Kayleen (May 27, 2022). Texas shooting: How false rumours spread that gunman was trans. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/61607042

Yurcaba, Jo; Goggin, Ben; Collins, Ben (May 25, 2022). Trans woman’s photo used to spread baseless online theory about Texas shooter. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trans-womans-photo-used-spread-baseless-online-theory-texas-shooter-rcna30511

Alcorn, Chauncey (June 23, 2018). Critics call out Candace Owens’ transphobic views and want Kanye West, Caitlyn Jenner to do the same. Mic [archive] https://mic.com/articles/189887/critics-call-out-candace-owens-transphobic-views-and-want-kanye-west-caitlyn-jenner-to-do-same

Bernstein, Joseph (May 15, 2018). The Newest Star of the Trump Movement Ran a Trump-Bashing Publication â€“ Less Than Two Years Ago. BuzzFeed [archive] https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-newest-star-of-the-trump-movement-ran-a-trump-bashing

Resources

GLAAD Accountability Project (glaad.org/gap)

Candace Owens (candaceowens.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Angel Eduardo is an American anti-transgender activist.

Background

Angel Lemuel Eduardo was born in March 1985 and grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Eduardo earned a bachelor’s degree from New Jersey City University in 2008 and a master’s degree from Hunter College in 2015.

Eduardo was in the band Blue Food from 2008 to 2016 and contributed to NewsCult.com while doing research for TitleVest. Eduardo the wrote for Action Without Borders (also known as Idealist) from 2019 to 2021.

Eduardo has been a columnist for Center for Inquiry since 2020, and advisor for Greenhouse Scholars since 2022.

Anti-transgender activism

In 2021, Eduardo defended a transphobic special by Dave Chappelle.

Since 2022, Eduardo has been writing for anti-trans publication Quillette.

Eduardo joined Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism in 2022, quickly rising to board chair.

Eduardo joined Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as a senior writer in 2023.

Eduardo joined the Institute for Liberal Values as an advisor in 2023.

References

Eduardo, Angel (October 27, 2021). ‘The Closer’ Isn’t About Laughing at Trans People. It’s About Laughing at Yourself | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/closer-isnt-about-laughing-trans-people-its-about-laughing-yourself-opinion-1643101

Resources

Angel Eduardo (angeleduardo.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Bev Jackson is a Dutch anti-transgender activist. Jackson is a founder of UK anti-trans hate group LGB Alliance.

Jackson promotes the conspiracy theory that trans people and gender recognition based on self-identification are erasing or eradicating lesbians.

Background

Beverley Ruth Jackson was born in June 1951. At 11 years old, Jackson reportedly experienced antisemitism at a new school. 

Jackson studied math at the London School of Economics. Jackson was a founding member of the UK Gay Liberation Front, the only woman to attend the first GLF meeting in October 1970:

I was a student at LSE. I started there in 1969, I was studying maths, and I walked down the corridor and I saw a poster which said: “First meeting of the UK Gay Liberation Front.” It was the most astonishing thing because I had to translate it in my head as to what it might mean. I had heard that “Gay” was a new word for homosexual, and I knew “Liberation” was about freedom and “Front” sounded a bit militant. It sounded very exciting and I thought “I think I want to be on there that sounds right.” I went to this first meeting and there were 19 men there, and just one woman – me – so I was immediately voted on to the steering committee.

[…] I was among the minority of lesbians who decided to work within gay liberation; most lesbians worked within women’s liberation because of feeling more in common with other women’s issues. The fact of lesbians being doubly oppressed both as women and as homosexuals is just a really important part of understanding what it means to be a lesbian. 

Jackson has worked as a translator and writer. In 2015 Jackson was mostly involved with refugee rights, writing A Month with Starfish, a book about volunteering to aid refugees for a month on the island of Lesbos.

Anti-trans activism

In late 2016 Jackson began criticizing transgender youth and was surprised that other disagreed. Jackson’s radicalization happened in 2018 when Angela Wild went to the front of the Pride march with the “Get the L Out” group.

Jackson wrote a letter to Stonewall president Ruth Hunt expressing concerns “about young lesbians having nowhere to meet, not being able to call themselves lesbians any more, about the way in which people were encouraging children to think that they might be born in the wrong body and a whole range of other concerns that really worried me.” The letter was ignored.

Jackson has said of trans women:

Look: you can be a lovely gentle male and you can wear dresses and you can call yourself Lilian and it’s absolutely fine. But you’re still a male and you can imagine you might be all sorts of things, but you’re still a male.

The final straw for Jackson was when Stonewall opposed ex-transgender activist Keira Bell, who sued the Tavistock GIDS Clinic.

After a meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gay Liberation Front was cancelled, Jackson and Kate Harris decided to have a secret meeting to start LGB Alliance. “But everyone kept the secret. Not one of the 70 people we invited gave away the meeting at which we formed LGB Alliance.”

Jackson remains committed to separatism for lesbian and gay people:

Gay men and lesbians need spaces of their own and they have a right to spaces of their own – and that we have to say this now in 2021 is an absolute outrage. We could really lose a lot here if we don’t stand together and fight against this madness.

References

Power, Nina (January 24, 2023). The Trans War on Tomboys. Compact Magazine https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-trans-war-on-tomboys/

Gentleman, Amelia (July 6, 2023). Mermaids v LGB Alliance: who was involved in tribunal case? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jul/06/mermaids-v-lgb-alliance-whos-involved-in-tribunal-ruling

Bawer, Bruce (September 12, 2022). How Amsterdam ceased to be gay heaven: The city is becoming Islamicized and gay people are paying the price. Spectator World https://thespectator.com/topic/how-amsterdam-ceased-to-be-gay-heaven/

Bridle, David (February 18, 2021). The first woman in the Gay Liberation Front in 1970 is fighting again for lesbian and gay rights in 2021. Lesbian and Gay News https://lesbianandgaynews.com/2021/02/the-first-woman-in-the-gay-liberation-front-in-1970-is-fighting-again-for-lesbian-and-gay-rights-in-2021/

Parsons, Vic (Augist 21 2020). LGB Alliance founder defends working with anti-abortion, anti-LGBT+ Heritage Foundation in resurfaced tweets. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/08/21/lgb-alliance-founder-bev-jackson-heritage-foundation-tweets/

Wansell, Geoffrey (November 1970). Homosexuals demonstrate for equal rights. The Times

Selected writing by Jackson

Jackson, Bev (October 12, 2023). There is no such thing as a ‘trans lesbian. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/10/12/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-trans-lesbian/

Jackson, Bev (September 18, 2023). Banning ‘trans conversion therapy’ is a threat to gay kids. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/18/banning-trans-conversion-therapy-is-a-threat-to-gay-kids/

Jackson, Bev (January 18, 2025). Cotton ceiling 2.0 Straight men should not be trying to seduce lesbians. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/cotton-ceiling-2-0/

Jackson, Bev (July 13, 2023). LGB Alliance will never be silenced. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/07/13/lgb-alliance-will-never-be-silenced/

Jackson, Bev (May 12, 2023). Who took the SO out of SOGI? The UN bumbles on gender identity. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/who-took-the-so-out-of-sogi/

Jackson, Bev (July 23, 2022). CNN’s optical delusion: How American progressives get “TERF Island” wrong. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/cnns-optical-delusion/

Media

“Eliza Mondegreen” and Jenny Poyer Ackerman (December 21, 2024). Episode 20, featuring Bev Jackson. UnMuted https://jennypoyerackerman.substack.com/p/listen-to-episode-20-with-bev-jackson

Resources

A Month with a Starfish (amonthwithstarfish.com)

LGB Alliance (lgballiance.org.uk)

The Distance Magazine (thedistancemag.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

OV.UK (service.gov.uk)

Spiked (spiked-online.com)

RĂłisĂ­n Michaux is an Irish anti-transgender activist based in Brussels who claims to be “researching the explosion of the gender identity movement in EU/global institutions.”

Background

Michaux reportedly grew up experiencing poverty in a housing estate in a single-parent home.

Michaux “wrote for culture magazines in Belgium and abroad” before becoming a “Twitter TERF.”

Michaux is married and is a parent of children, one of whom was born in 2012.

Anti-transgender activism

Michaux writes anti-trans pieces for Substack, UnHerd, 4W, The Critic, and Reduxx.

Michaux says, “I am militant about stopping paediatric transgender transition.”

Working with right-wing media polemicist Roisin Michaux they seem to be the people promoting and hosting SFW followers from the mainland UK.

Peaked podcast

In 2023 and 2024, Michaux hosted a podcast that ran for 11 episodes.

  • Ireland: new priestly caste, new child abuse scandal May 3, 2024
  • Germany to vote on the wildest, weirdest self-id bill yet April 11, 2024
  • Did libertĂ© ideals ripen France for trans? March 26, 2024
  • Italian girls haven’t escaped the gender meatgrinder March 16, 2024
  • Ireland’s constitutional woman-ectomy March 7, 2024
  • Wilders or women – who saved the Dutch from genderwang? Feb. 23, 2024
  • The worrying silence on Germany’s self-ID bill Feb. 16, 2024
  • Sex-clowning around in Slovakia Jan. 28, 2024
  • The trans lobby rolls into rural Ireland July 19, 2023
  • A date with a puberty blocker doctor July 17, 2023

References

Wallace, Freda (September 8, 2023). Terf Ireland / Emerald Vile. Inside the Hate Cult. Medium https://medium.com/@missfredawallace/terf-ireland-emerald-vile-f5a8b039e66f

Wallace, Freda (September 1, 2023). The Anti Science of Unherd- Dehumanisation 101. Medium https://medium.com/@missfredawallace/dehumanisation-24996b5686ae

Taln_Reich (December 2, 2022). RĂłisĂ­n Michaux [continued]. Fundies Say The Darndest Things https://fstdt.com/TCJ$N6R5HY$68

Taln_Reich (December 1, 2022). RĂłisĂ­n Michaux. Fundies Say The Darndest Things https://fstdt.com/W9RG.5BJY$S6K

Selected writing by Michaux

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n; El-Nagashi, Faika; Zobnina, Anna (January 15, 2025). The EU is refusing to change course on gender: While national governments see sense on gender identity, Brussels goes full-speed ahead. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/the-eu-is-refusing-to-change-course-on-gender/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (September 7, 2023). Abuses of affirmation: Inside the communities of trans mums. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/abuses-of-affirmation/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (September 7, 2023). The plot to redefine conversion therapy. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/06/how-the-un-perverted-conversion-therapy/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (August 30, 2023). The new front in the war against HIV. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/08/the-new-front-in-the-war-against-hiv/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (June 16, 2023). Gender critical in Geneva: Yet another failed attempt to silence women. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/gender-critical-in-geneva/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (January 17, 2023). You Meet More Perverts When You’re Poor. 4W https://4w.pub/you-meet-more-perverts-when-poor/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (November 30, 2022). These Men Were Promised Lesbians. 4W https://4w.pub/these-men-were-promised-lesbians/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (October 5, 2022). Trans Activists’ Speeches to Be Streamed into Classrooms of 15k Irish Schoolgirls. 4W https://4w.pub/stream-trans-activists-irish-girls/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (September 22, 2022).Brighton: This is what #NoDebate looks like. 4W https://4w.pub/brighton-this-is-what-nodebate-looks-like/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (September 22, 2022). Castrated ‘Eunuchs’ are Trans, Need Affirming care, says Professional Body. 4W https://4w.pub/castration-added-transgender-care/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (September 13, 2022). The Forstater Verdict Has Wider Reach than You Think. 4W https://4w.pub/forstater-verdict-wider-reach/

Michaux, RĂłisĂ­n (August 31, 2022). Advocates for “Whores’” Rights Shut Down Prostitution Suvivors’ Event in Berlin. 4W https://4w.pub/prostitution-survivors-event/

Media

Paul Boonefaes (July 2, 2023). Roisin Michaux on The Based in Belgium Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw9A241uNao

Women’s Declaration International (WDI) (January 25, 2023). No data, no problem? RĂłisĂ­n Michaux on dangers of Belgium self ID laws. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpiknHBmkkk

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Substack (substack.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

4W (4w.pub)

UnHerd (unherd.com)

Reduxx (reduxx.info)

The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

YouTube is a social media platform that has both benefited and harmed trans people.

It has been an important place for transgender YouTubers to share their experiences and views.

It has also been a pipeline for anti-trans radicalization.

Ribeiro 2019 study

“Auditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTube” examines how YouTube algorithms in the 2010s infected viewers with recommendations from the alt-right, alt-lite, and intellectual dark web. The kinds of radicalization included anti-trans radicalization. Below are the channels analyzed.

Alt-right channels

  • AltRight.com 
  • AmRen Podcasts
  • AmRenVideos
  • Ayla Stewart Wife w/ A Purpose
  • Baked Alaska 2
  • Black Pigeon Speaks
  • Bre Faucheux
  • CounterCurrentsTV
  • Darkstream
  • Faith J Goldy
  • James Allsup
  • Jason Kessler
  • Jean-François GariĂ©py
  • Johnny Monoxide
  • MW Live
  • Matt Forney
  • MillennialWoes
  • NPI / Radix
  • Red Ice TV
  • Staying Woke
  • The Golden One
  • The Reality Calls Show
  • Traditionalist Worker Party
  • Voxiversity
  • augustussolinvictus
  • iambakedalaska
  • Alt Right
  • Alt-Right Tankie
  • American Pride
  • American Pride 2
  • ArktosOnline
  • Augustus Invictus for US Senate
  • AustralianRealist
  • Be Open MInded
  • BigCatKayla Livestreams
  • Charles Zeiger
  • Corpus Mentis
  • Dismantle The Matrix
  • Dissident View
  • EnglĂ€nder
  • Jan Kerkoff
  • Mark Collett
  • Matthew North
  • Nacionalista Blanco del SoCal
  • Nationalist Media Network
  • No White Guilt
  • Patrick Slattery
  • Real McGoy
  • Revcon Media
  • Stand Up Europe

Alt-lite channels

  • America First with Nicholas J Fuentes
  • Andy Warski
  • Blonde in the Belly of the Beast
  • Brittany Pettibone
  • Computing Forever
  • Gavin McInnes
  • Laura Loomer
  • Lauren Chen
  • Lauren Southern
  • MILO
  • Mike Cernovich
  • Nick Fuentes Clips
  • No Bullshit
  • No Bullshit 2
  • Paul Joseph Watson
  • Rebel Canada
  • Rebel Edge
  • Rebel Media
  • Stefan Molyneux
  • StevenCrowder
  • Styxhexenhammer666
  • The Thinkery
  • Vee
  • 6oodfella
  • A1Cvenom
  • AIU-Resurrection
  • AltRight Truth
  • AustralianNeoCon1
  • BlazeTV
  • Brave New World
  • Bull Brand
  • Carpe Donktum
  • Christopher Anderson
  • Daily Caller
  • DailyCallerVideo
  • DailyKenn
  • Dinesh D’Souza
  • DoctorRandomercam
  • Domination Station
  • Harrison Hill Smith
  • Jacob Wohl
  • Kelly Day
  • Leo Stratton
  • Liberty Machine News
  • Luke Ford
  • Luke Ford Livestreams
  • Make Cringe Great Again
  • News2Share
  • On The Offensive
  • Oppressed Media

Intellectual dark web channels

2025 Bloomberg report

Broadcasters also mentioned transgender identity in roughly 3 out of 10 videos, with hosts Bet-David and Rogan discussing the topic in more than half of their most-viewed videos. The podcasters and their guests — particularly comedians — often portrayed trans people as aberrant, and reinforced ideas of a gender binary.

Thirty percent of videos discussing transgender identity also mention children. Hosts criticized public schools for letting children explore their gender identity, and staunchly opposed gender-affirming care for minors. According to the American Medical Association, physicians providing gender-affirming care are bound by their ethical duty to act in a patient’s best interest, and clinical guidelines help them carefully consider whether care is medically necessary for improving the physical and mental health of patients.

In one April 2024 discussion on Fridman’s show, the former US Representative Tulsi Gabbard argued that advocating for the rights of transgender individuals infringed on the rights of women. “They,” said Gabbard, referring to Democrats, “are actively pushing for boys who identify as girls to compete against girls in sports. Changing our language so that the word woman, the identity of being a woman, is essentially being erased from our society.” As she spoke, Fridman, dressed in his signature dark suit, listened intently.

The arguments have already built support for sweeping policy changes across the nation. In 15% of videos mentioning transgender identity, hosts also mentioned sports, arguing that it is inappropriate for transgender and intersex athletes to compete. In January, House lawmakers passed a Republican-led bill that would prohibit federally funded schools from allowing transgender students to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

Studied podcasters

  • Adin Ross – Adin Live
  • Andrew Schulz – Flagrant
  • The Nelk Boys – Full Send Podcast
  • Logan Paul – Impaulsive
  • Joe Rogan – The Joe Rogan Experience
  • Lex Fridman – The Lex Fridman Podcast
  • Patrick Bel-David – PBD Podcast
  • Shawn Ryan – Shawn Ryan Show
  • Theo Von – This Past Weekend

References

Davey Alba, Leon Yin, Julia Love, Ashley Carman, Priyanjana Bengani, Rachael Dottle, Elena MejĂ­a (January 22, 2025). The Second Trump Presidency, Brought to You by YouTubers. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-youtube-podcast-men-for-trump/

Ribeiro MH, Ottoni R, West R, Almeida VAF, Meira W (2019). Auditing Radicalization Pathways on YouTube. arXiv.org (PDF) https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.08313

Lewis, Rebecca (September 18, 2018). Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube. Data & Society https://datasociety.net/library/alternative-influence/