Jake Silverstein is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Silverstein was responsible for a 2023 anti-trans feature about gender diverse youth by Emily Bazelon in The New York Times Magazine.
Background
Jacob “Jake” Silverstein was born on October 14, 1975 and grew up in Oakland, California. Silverstein earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, a master’s degree from Hollins University, and a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006.
After working in local news, Silverstein was editor of Texas Monthly from 2008 to 2014, then was named editor of The New York Times Magazine.
Silverstein and spouse Mary Jillian LaMotte Silverstein (born 1970) have two children.
Anti-trans activism
This new section is under construction.
In the fall of 2021, Silverstein conceived of and assigned a story to Emily Bazelon, telling On the Media (OTM):
We understood that an interesting moment in the field of transgender care was coming up, and that was the release of this new Standards of Care which had last been published I believe it was 2012. So almost a decade ago. That was one of the original motivations for the story, to try to understand what process was going into that and get ahead of the publication of those new Standards of Care. As Emily began looking into it, we had access to this working group that was working on the chapter about adolescence. And we began to understand that there were some not only debates and discussions happening within that group, but also there was a really intense complexity to them doing their work, in the context of a proliferation of really draconian legislation restricting trans rights in various states around the country.
Silverstein OTM 2023
Their key access point was psychiatrist Scott Leibowitz, who along with Laura Edwards-Leeper is also a key source for Jesse Singal and other anti-trans activists framing trans people as having a medical and/or psychiatric problem (“gender dysphoria,” etc.). Leibowitz leads off the article in Bazelon’s “cisgender person under siege” framing long favored by the Times when covering gender diverse people. Leibowitz and Edwards-Leeper served on the WPATH chapter on “Assessment, Support and Therapeutic Approaches for Adolescents with Gender Variance/Dysphoria.” Also serving were Annelou de Vries, Jon Arcelus, Gayathri Chelvakumar, Stephanie Roberts, and John Strang.
OTM pressed Silverstein about context.
Thatâs right, I think youâre quoting from Emilyâs story there. The politicization in certain state legislatures around the country around this issue has created a political debate around something that has ended up distorting a lot of the reception of articles like Emily’s.
Silverstein PTM 2023
The phrase patient zero was one of the examples of bias cited in the open letters to Times management.
This term was introduced to Emily during her interview with the patient in question, a Dutch trans man who we refer to in the story as F.G. Emily tracked him down and interviewed him at length. And he said to her, “I was patient zero.” The term also appears in a book that is cited in Emilyâs story about the history of the Amsterdam clinic that uses the term patient zero to describe the same person. And in both cases the meaning was clear to Emily in these interviews and in reading this book. It described the first-ever recipient of this treatment. Thatâs what it meant, and I think it was pretty clear thatâs what it meant from the context. Like I said, itâs not used in quotation marks. He is quoted, saying other things, and heâs quoted saying this treatment saved his life. And Emily didnât realize that it was going to have another connotation for other people.
Silverstein OTM 2023
The phrase patient zero was removed from Bazelon’s article and replaced with the phrase first patient. The Times made the change after On the Media made an inquiry and before Silverstein came on their show.
Weâve been talking about making that particular change. Changing something to a story that we published for reasons other than a factual correction is never something that we take lightly. Itâs not something we do very often. As you can imagine itâs something that requires a lot of conversations and deliberations internally. So it took a little bit of time for that to work its way through the process. But we felt it was the right thing to do. I wish we had immediately understood how some readers might take that term.
Silverstein OTM 2023
Times coverage was quickly cited in anti-trans legislation, which Silverstein feels is beyond the Times’ control.
I donât believe that thereâs anything in this story or any other news coverage that supports banning gender therapy. I believe, and I canât say for sure, because I obviously had nothing to do with this amicus brief, that these pieces were cited to show that there is a debate among providers about how to best perform gender care for minors. And that is what these stories document with their reporting. Once we hit publish, we donât control how readers of any kind are going to use our stories. And I donât know that we should.
Silverstein OTM 2023
How they covered Genspect:
Weâve heard this criticism about not identifying Genspect. Some of the people who criticized Emily’s story wanted us to refer to Genspect as a hate group. We canât say that without evidence, right? We can characterize groups up to a point, unless weâre going to dedicate reporting time to investigating a particular group, we canât characterize it a certain way without evidence.
Silverstein OTM 2023
Masha Gessen thought Bazelon’s piece was excellent, Andrew Sullivan
Itâs certainly not the position of the journalist in question here, of Emily. Part of what Emily is doing in the story is she’s trying to gather in a sense of what that conversation is and what that commentary is, and the context in which these folks are doing their work. That process of doing that, of gathering in this commentary doesnât mean that Emily endorses every single thing that sheâs citing. Sheâs trying to give readers a sense of the atmosphere in which these gender affirming clinicians are doing their work.
Silverstein OTM 2023
On including ex-trans activist Grace Lidinsky-Smith of Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network, who regrets top surgery requested and received as an adult.
Sure, I mean the question of how to identify people quoted in stories comes up a lot, and sometimes the decision is based on the footprint that they occupy in a story: how much the story is about them, how significant their part of the story is, and in this case, in a very long story in which the subject was a very small part, it seemed to us that we were giving the reader the information that was most relevant.
Silverstein OTM 2023
When pressed about including an adult ex-trans activist associated with groups seeking to restrict trans healthcare. tagential to the purview of the piece, and “we didn’t get a lot of context about where she was coming from.”
Mm-hm. Yeah, I understand that.
Silverstein OTM 2023
Is there anything you wish you did differently in your coverage or your editing process?
As you can see from the fact that we changed the term “patient zero,” I certainly wish we had changed that before we hit publish on the story. But other than that, I would say no. Iâm really proud of this piece. Emilyâs piece is a finalist for the National Magazine Award in the category of public interest this year. A jury of her peers said itâs one of the six most important pieces of public interest journalism published in any magazine last year. And I think thatâs correct. This kind of reporting is very difficult to do. It takes a kind of focus, it takes a kind of fortitude, and it also takes the commitment to the principles of journalism that not everybody has. And Emily does.
Silverstein OTM 2023
On June 18, 2022, Silverstein tweeted “This weekendâs @NYTmag cover is a deeply-reported story by @emilybazelon on debates among providers within the field of transgender health care over how to treat teenagers. Emily spent 8 months on this piece, and interviewed and quoted many transgender providers who have a variety of perspectives, as well as cisgender providers who have spent their careers in gender-affirming care. Reporting on subjects that are highly politicized is challenging. Thatâs why Emilyâs methodical, principled, & deeply journalistic approach was important. I hope youâll read her story.”
ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio noted that Silverstein’s work was immediately used to attack Texas families with gender diverse children:
This is from an expert report filed by Texas in defense of its policy of directing the “child welfare” agency to investigate medical treatment for gender dysphoria as child abuse. It is hard to watch this all unfold with such devastating harms.
Lee Leveille and Ky Schevers of Health Liberation Now! also described their involvement and reaction:
Genspect and Stella O’Malley
- multiple Genspect members are active in clinic protests
- the groupâs extensive collaboration with faith-based lobbying groups for SOGICE in order to undermine efforts to ban conversion therapy.
- training conferences held by the NHS being canceled
- âmake sure that children are, if- if at all possible, are stopped from medical transitionâ
GCCAN and Grace Lidinsky-Smith
Health Liberation Now! concludes:
Media portrayals on de/retransition, particularly in the framing of regret or mental health assessment, have aggravated the very political battle that Bazelon references in the article. In doing so, the New York Times feeds into the ongoing disinformation campaign we caution about in When Ex-Trans Worlds Collide.
References
Migdon, Brooke (February 15, 2023). NYT contributors blast paperâs coverage of transgender people. The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3859501-nyt-contributors-blast-papers-coverage-of-transgender-people/
(June 22, 2022). Response to NYT Article âThe Battle Over Gender Therapy.â Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2022/06/22/health-liberation-nows-response-to-nyt-article-the-battle-over-gender-therapy/
The New York Times Company (March 28, 2014). The New York Times Names Jake Silverstein Editor of The New York Times Magazine. https://investors.nytco.com/news-and-events/press-releases/news-details/2014/The-New-York-Times-Names-Jake-Silverstein-Editor-of-The-New-York-Times-Magazine/default.aspx
Loewinger, Micah (August 11, 2023). Go Woke, Go Broke. On the Media https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/on-the-media-go-woke-go-broke
Deprang, Jo (April 27, 2010). Fact over fiction. Texas Observer https://www.texasobserver.org/fact-over-fiction/
Resources
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Michal Meyer is an Israel-born writer and anti-transgender activist. Meyer is known for a credulous 2015 profile of anti-trans activist Alice Dreger, later deleted.
Background
Michal Meyer was born in February 1969. Meyer earned a bachelor’s degree from Victoria University of Wellington in 1994. Meyer was a weather forecaster in New Zealand and Fiji, then edited the Jerusalem Post Magazine from 2001 to 2003. During graduate school, Meyer edited the History of Science Society newsletter from 2003 to 2009. Meyer earned a doctorate from University of Florida in 2009.
Meyer was editor of Distillations magazine from 2009 to 2022.
Promotion of Alice Dreger (2015)
While editor of Distillations, Meyer published a glowing review of Galileo’s Middle Finger by anti-trans activist Alice Dreger. Meyer represents Dreger’s core audience: mediocre academics of a certain age who see themselves in Dreger’s fabrications. Meyer wants to believe Dreger is a fearless teller of “the truth,” because it panders to all of Meyer’s biases and fantasies.
Meyer described the book as “a love letter to evidence-based research done well.” Meyer parrots Dreger’s attacks on pediatrician Maria New and dutifully summarizes Dreger’s support of unethical behavior scientists J. Michael Bailey and Napoleon Chagnon.
After Meyer left Science History Institute in 2022, the article was quietly removed.
References
Meyer, Michal (December 20, 2015). Identity Politics. Distillations https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/identity-politics [archive]
Resources
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Science History Institute (sciencehistory.org)
Michael Powell is an American writer and anti-transgender activist involved in the New York Times anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s. In 2024, Powell moved to anti-trans publication The Atlantic.
Background
Michael Henry Powell was born on January 20, 1957. Powell earned a bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Purchase in 1978 and then attended Columbia University.
In 1982 Powell married Evelyn M. Intondi (born March 14, 1956), a midwife and reproductive health specialist. They have two adult children.
Powell worked at New York Newsday from 1988 to 1995. Powell next moved to The Washington Post in 1996. Powell was with The New York Observer before joining the Times in 2007. After writing on the “Gotham” column, Powell moved to Sports in 2014.
In early 2020, Powell requested a new role from anti-trans editor Carolyn Ryan, who told The Observer:
âWe needed somebody who was deeply experienced at covering controversies in a panoramic way, who was experienced enough that they wouldnât get intimidated or really shaken by some of the criticisms on Twitter and elsewhere.â
In June, Powell ended work on the “Sports of The Times” column and began writing about “free speech and thought, identity, campuses and so on.”
In 2023 Powell moved to the even more transphobic Atlantic, which has not had a trans journalist on their masthead since their founding in 1857.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2014 Powell boasted about interviewing “transvestite prostitutes from Ecuador.” No reputable journalist was using the term transvestite in 2014.
Lia Thomas non-interview
In a 2022 story on transgender athletes, Powell wrote one of thousands of articles that used Lia Thomas as outrage bait, even though Powell failed to interview Thomas for the piece. Where an earlier piece in the Times by Billy Witz adhered to objective reporting, Powell chose to frame transgender people as debates to be solved. Powell claims the debates center on “science, fairness and inclusiveness, and cut to the core of distinctions between gender identity and biological sex.”
Many people across the political spectrum are deeply invested in maintaining sex segregation and shoring up the study of “sex differences,” and Powell uncritically presents their pettifogging about rules and measurements and what-not.
To Powell’s credit, the story briefly mentions Anna Posbergh among the usual suspects fixated on minutiae within a fatally flawed and fundamentally unfair institution. Posbergh is one of many who believe that there is no ethical future for sex-segregated competitive sport, which largely exists to further the belief that one half of the human population is “inferior” to the other half.
Powell polishes the classic “science vs. activism” chestnut, suggesting only “activists” believe biology is socially constructed:
Even nomenclature is contentious. Descriptive phrases such as âbiological womanâ and âbiological manâ might be seen as central to discussing differences in performance. Many trans rights activists say such expressions are transphobic and insist biology and gender identity are largely social constructs.
Powell concludes, “The solution, a balance of gender and biology, looks distant.” While the solution is distant, it is not a balance of gender and biology. It is a recognition that sex-segregated sport, just like any sex-segregated institution, has no place in an ethical society.
Background on the Thomas non-interview
Powell contacted GLAAD in the course of the story, and after they told Powell that Martina Navratilova holds views they consider objectionable, Powell naturally included Navratilova because it violates some sort of perceived taboo.
Those mentioned by Powell include:
- Lia Thomas
- Princeton University women’s swim team
- Robin Harris, Ivy League ED
- Robert Sanchez of Sports Illustrated
- Sebastian Coe of World Athletics
- ACLU
- GLAAD
- Martina Navratilova
- Half of University of Pennsylvania women’s swim teammates
- Brooke Forde
- Griffin Maxwell Brooks
- Michael J. Joyner of Mayo Clinic
- NCAA
- Ross Tucker
- Chris Mosier
- Ira S. Hammerman
- Carole Hooven
- Allyson Felix
- Renée Richards
- Joanna Harper
- Reka Gyorgy
- Womenâs Sports Foundation
- Doriane Lambelet Coleman
- Nathan Palmer
- Anna Posbergh
- Kathleen Stock
- Iszac Henig
- Emily Bridges
- Macdonald-Laurier Institute
References
Witz, Billy (January 24, 2022). As Lia Thomas Swims, Debate About Transgender Athletes Swirls. The New York Times. [archive] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/sports/lia-thomas-transgender-swimmer.html
Powell, Michael (May 6, 2014). Profiling the City He Knew, and Learned to Know. New York Times https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/05/06/profiling-the-city-he-knew-and-learned-to-know/
Powell, Michael (May 29, 2022). Much Debate but Little Dialogue on Transgender Female Athletes. [alternately titled “What Lia Thomas Could Mean for Womenâs Elite Sports.”] New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/29/us/lia-thomas-women-sports.html
Press room (July 18, 2023). The Atlantic Hires Michael Powell and Zoë Schlanger as Staff Writers. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2023/07/atlantic-hires-michael-powell-and-zoe-schlanger/674739/
Kassel, Matthew (June 29, 2020). The NYTimes reporter who traded in the sports beat to cover âidentity wars.â Jewish Insider https://jewishinsider.com/2020/06/the-nytimes-reporter-who-traded-in-the-sports-beat-to-cover-identity-wars/
Hogue, William P. (February 23, 2023) From Sports to Politics to Telescopes, Michael Powell Brings Heart and Shoe Leather. Observer https://observer.com/2023/02/from-sports-to-politics-to-telescopes-michael-powell-brings-heart-and-shoe-leather/
-https://twitter.com/powellAtlantic/status/1276191624201199620
Meares, Joel (August 13, 2010). Q & A: New York Times Reporter Michael Powell. Columbia Journalism Review https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/q_a_new_york_times_reporter_mi.php
Resources
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Danielle Rhoades Ha is an American communications executive who handled public relations at New York Times during their 2020s anti-transgender coverage crisis. Rhoades Ha is responsible for “advancing and protecting our public reputation” at the Times.
No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. Due to the hostile work environment, no transgender reporters work there as of 2023 according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.
Background
Danielle Rhoades Ha was born on March 27, 1977 to Michael and Lillian Rhoades.
Rhoades Ha earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin in 1999, then joined PR firm Goodman Media International. From 2000 to 2007 Rhoades Ha handled media relations for Dow Jones & Company before joining the Times in 2010. Rhoades Ha was named SVP, Communications in 2022. Rhoades Ha reports to David Rubin.
Rhoades Ha is married to Vimy Xuan Rhoades Ha (born 1975), a consultant and poker player.
2023 correspondence
On September 3, 2023, I received an email from Times employee Megan Twohey copied to Rhoades Ha. Twohey requested biographical information be removed. My response can be viewed on Twohey’s profile.
References
Rubin, David (June 8, 2022). Danielle Rhoades Ha Promoted to Head of External Communications. New York Times Company https://www.nytco.com/press/danielle-rhoades-ha-promoted-to-head-of-external-communications/
Resources
Twitter (twitter.com)
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April Kitzul is a Canadian anti-transgender activist.
Background
April Kitzul was an Institutional Parole Officer and Correctional Program Officer in sex-segregated facilities at Correctional Service Canada until 2022. Previously, Kitzul was a provincial child protection social worker, serving as a case manager at Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families
Anti-transgender activism
Kitzul waas radicalized in following passage of An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code. It was introduced in Canada as Bill C-16 in 2016.
In 2021, Kitzul created the website Trans-Truth.
Kitzul is a member of Canadian Womenâs Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) and is involved in the Women’s Human Rights Campaign (BC-Yukon Coordinator).
References
Kitzul, April (February 8, 2023). Reflections on the impact of gender self-identification policies in the Canadian correctional system. MLI https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/reflections-on-the-impact-of-gender-self-identification-policies-in-the-canadian-correctional-system/
-https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/432/JUST/Brief/BR11006176/br-external/WomensHumanRightsCampaignBritishColumbiaAndYukonChapter-e.pdf
Resources
Trans Truth (trans-truth.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Rod Fleming is a Scottish author and activist who promotes anti-transgender, anti-feminist, and anti-gay views. Fleming personifies nearly every negative stereotype of a transphobic trans-attracted person.
Fleming is one of the most obsessive “autogynephilia” activists in the world, promoting the disease as an exercise in identity politics.
Background
Roderick Anthony “Rod” Fleming was born on March 11, 1956, in Dundee, Scotland.
Fleming earned a bachelor’s degree from Edinburgh College of Art in 1983, then produced images and video for Scotland on Sunday. In 2011, Fleming earned a master’s degree from Dundee University.
Fleming was married and has four adult children. Fleming moved to Asia and was romantically involved with a trans partner named Sam Villasencio. Fleming announced that Villasencio died on October 2, 2023.
âAutogynephiliaâ activism
Some trans-attracted people who engage in “autogynephilia” activism wish to distance their own attractions from trans women they consider âautogynephiles.â In some cases, it is because they see âAGPâ trans women as a threat to their âheterosexualâ identity. They often brag about how âheterosexualâ they are and how the “homosexual transsexualâ people they desire are extremely feminine and only interested in masculine âheterosexualâ partners like them.
Trans-attracted people who use the terms “homosexual transsexualâ or “HSTS” are among the most obsessed with “autogynephilia” and creator Ray Blanchardâs taxonomy of “HSTS” and “AGP,” because itâs so important to their own sexual identities.
Fleming offers counseling for “autogynephiles” and for “trans widows,” slang for spouses whose partner came out as trans.
Resources
Rod Fleming (rodfleming.com)
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Threads (threads.net)
Sally Chatterton is a British writer and anti-transgender extremist. Chatterton is editor of anti-trans publication UnHerd and is responsible for its consistent platforming of conservative and anti-trans voices.
Background
Chatterton earned a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham University in 1994 and earned a master’s degree from Institut Britannique, Paris in 1995.
Chatterton previously wrote for The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.
Chatterton was website editor for CapX, a publication of the right-wing Centre for Policy Studies.
Anti-transgender activism
Chatterton joined UnHerd in 2018. Chatterton has platformed dozens of conservative and anti-trans writers, including personally platforming Hannah Barnes and Kathleen Stock in attacks on trans healthcare for our children.
Media
Sally Chatterton (March 2, 2023). Hannah Barnes: What went wrong at the Tavistock Centre. UnHerd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ZqW6MxWxs
Sally Chatterton (October 19, 2023). Kathleen Stock: Inside Britain’s new trans clinics. UnHerd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QboHWVDCyDQ
Resources
UnHerd (unherd.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
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Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
Paul Marshall is a British investor and anti-transgender activist. In 2017, Marshall gave funding to anti-transgender publication UnHerd.
Background
Paul Roderick Clucas Marshall was born on August 2, 1959. Marshall’s parent Alan was an executive based in the Philippines, but Marshall remained in England for school. Marshall earned degrees from St John’s College, Oxford and INSEAD.
In 1997 Marshall and Ian Wace founded a successful hedge fund. After many years supporting policies of Liberal Democrats, Marshall began funding conservative projects, including anti-trans publication UnHerd and anti-trans platform GB News.
Marshall and spouse Sabrina have two adult children.
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Tom McTague is a British writer who works for anti-trans publication UnHerd. McTague previously worked at anti-trans publication The Atlantic from 2019 to 2023.
Background
McTague grew up in County Durham in the North East England. McTague, spouse, and child live in London.
McTague has also worked at Mail Online, the Independent on Sunday, and the Daily Mirror.
McTague co-authored the 2017 election book, Betting the House.
Resources
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Tim Montgomerie is a British writer and conservative activist. Montgomerie founded anti-trans publication UnHerd.
Background
Timothy “Tim” Montgomerie was born on July 24, 1970 in Barnstaple, Devon. Montgomerie’s conservative views as a teen were shaped by Thatcherism and evangelical Christianity. While enrolled at University of Exeter, Montgomerie and David Burrowes founded the Conservative Christian Fellowship. Montgomerie led the organization from 1990 to 2003.
In 2004 Montgomerie co-founded conservative think tank The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) with Iain Duncan Smith, Mark Florman and Philippa Stroud. In 2005 Montgomerie founded right-wing blog ConservativeHome and has since held numerous roles at British media outlets.
Montgomerie founded anti-trans publication UnHerd in 2017 and left in 2018.
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