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John Derbyshire is a British-American author, eugenicist, and anti-transgender activist. Derbyshire is a member of the Human Biodiversity Institute, a conservative-run eugenics think tank closely associated with promoting harmful views about trans people, particularly the group’s promotion of the transphobic 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen by HBI member J. Michael Bailey.

Background

John Derbyshire was born on June 3, 1945. Derbyshire attended the Northampton School for Boys and earned a degree from University College London. Derbyshire was a computer programmer for stock market speculators before becoming a full-time writer. Derbyshire’s work has appeared in National Review, The New Criterion, The American Conservative , Unz Review, Taki’s Magazine, VDARE, and The Washington Times.

Derbyshire was fired by National Review in 2012 for a Taki’s Magazine article titled The Talk: Nonblack Version.

Derbyshire married Lynette Rose Derbyshire in Jilin, China in 1986. They have two children.

In 2012, Derbyshire was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Derbyshire hosts a podcast on a platform owned by John Christopher Zander (aka The Z Man), doing business as Z Media LLC.

Anti-trans activism

Derbyshire and J. Michael Bailey both had books published by Joseph Henry Press.

Man Who Would Be Queen review (2003)

Derbyshire wrote a glowing review of J. Michael Bailey’s The Man Who Would Be Queen for National Review.

“Lost in the Male”: review by John Derbyshire [excerpt]

Part Three is the book’s most difficult section, because it deals with the rarest and most puzzling aspect of male effeminacy: According to Bailey, less than one man in 12,000 is transsexual, a condition defined simply by “the desire to become a member of the opposite sex,” whether or not that desire has led to actual surgery. The striking finding here is that there are two quite distinct types of men who wish they were women, distinguished by the choice of erotic object. On the one hand there are “homosexual transsexuals,” who desire masculine men—heterosexual men, for preference—and who dress and behave like women to attract them. And then there is the “autogynephilic transsexual,” a man whose erotic attention is fixed on the idea of himself as a woman.

The strangeness of this latter type is captured nicely in the title of Bailey’s chapter on them: “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies.” An autogynephile is essentially a heterosexual man whose object of desire is an imaginary feminine creature which happens to be himself
 or herself, depending on how you look at it. Such a person was usually not effeminate as a child, has likely been married, and does not show typically homosexual preferences in career or entertainment choices. The historian and travel writer Jan (formerly James) Morris, to judge from her autobiographical book Conundrum, belongs to this category. The consummation of sexual desire presents obvious difficulties for the autogynephile. Indeed, it is occasionally fatal: Around 100 American men die every year from “autoerotic asphyxia,” which seems to arise from a conjunction of masochism and autogynephilia—the two conditions are related in some way not well understood.

All of these types—girlish boys, male homosexuals, transsexuals of both types—are of course human beings, who, like the rest of us, must play the best game they can with the cards Nature has dealt them. No decent person would wish to inflict on them any more unhappiness than their mismatched bodies and psyches have already burdened them with. At the same time, there is circumstantial evidence that complete acceptance and equality for all sexual orientations may have antisocial consequences, so that the obloquy aimed at sexual variance by every society prior to our own may have had some stronger foundation than mere blind prejudice. Male homosexuality, in particular, seems to possess some quality of being intrinsically subversive when let loose in long-established institutions, especially male dominated ones. The courts of at least two English kings offer support to this thesis, as does the postwar British Secret Service, and more recently the Roman Catholic priesthood. I should like to see some adventurous sociologist research these outward aspects with as much diligence and humanity as Michael Bailey has applied to his study of the inward ones.

Derbyshire’s positive review (as with Dan Seligman in Forbes) shows why this book will be embraced by conservatives as part of the new “calculated compassion” movement in the face of significant and unstoppable LGBT political advances in the last 30 years. Seems they hope to slow things down at least.

As expected, uber-conservative Derbyshire loves Bailey. In discussing the first two sections, he brings up Bailey’s cloacal extrophy story, his woefully uninformed “homosexual voice” thinking and clueless conjectures on why certain jobs in the gender ghettoes go to gay men.

Then he gets to the part on trans people, which Derbyshire sums up perfectly and exposes the book for what it is. Bailey has been claiming he never called us men, but that’s not how anyone else sees it, whether they’re Derbyshire, yours truly, or other psychologists. Derbyshire also picks up on how Bailey claims there’s a connection between transsexual women and 25 men a year who die from self-strangulation while masturbatingin panties.

The 1 in 12,000 number cited is way off, as Bailey is about to find out. I would estimate several thousand assimilated trans women in the Chicago area alone, and probably five times that many who would fit in Bailey’s definition of anyone seriously thinking about transition. Bailey should be very pleased to see that conservatives like Tammy Bruce and John Derbyshire are taking up Anne Lawrence’s “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies”cliche, which dovetails perfectly with the Man Who Would Be Queen title.

Subsequent commentary (2003)

Derbyshire sees gay people as “intrinsically subversive” when allowed in positions of power (see the Califia-Rice quotation on my “illegal immigrants” page for how those of us who pass get painted as moles and traitors).

Derbyshire’s review came about the same way as Bailey’s Amazon shill reviews, it turns out. A little logrolling. Both were published by National Academies Press: Derbyshire’s Prime Obsession:and Bailey’s The Man Who Would Be Queen both came out in 2003.

The Derb is well-known for anti-gay commentary, and he’s taking us to task for being those “‘transgender’ extremists,” miserable ingrates who just aren’t satisfied with the crumbs from the table.

http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/03_06_15_corner-archive.asp

The homosexual-rights activists are in a period of overshoot. They have banished the old regime of illegality, persecution and blackmail, and a good thing too. Now, however, they are trying to effect radical changes in society, changes which huge numbers of people will not stomach. As I have said before: “Homosexuals would, I believe, be wise to lower the volume, cherish their private lives, withdraw the more contentious litigation, and stop ‘pushing the envelope.’ Envelopes can break.”

There’s also this gem (interesting in light of my business partner Calpernia’s boyfriend Barry, who was gay-bashed on base for months before he was literally beaten to death with a baseball bat):

The extremist-homosexualist lobbies are extremely skilled at this. Just look at the word “gay-bashing.” It ought to mean whacking someone over the head with a baseball bat. What it actually means–is taken to mean by ordinary Americans–is the utterance of anything opposed to the extremist-homosexualist cause. (It was used against me just five minutes ago in an e-mail, because I wondered aloud about diseases specific to male homosexuals.)

And last, before we get to the review, an anecdote about his wacky adventures with Bailey (emphasis mine):

June 12, 2003 blog post

The Man Who Would Be Late

Yes, it’s true: NRODT [archive link] really did assign me to review Michael Bailey’s book about effeminate men. I urge you to do one, or better yet both, of the following: (a) get a subscription to NRODT so you can read my review, or (b) buy Michael’s book. As well as the obvious reasons to buy it (it’s a good book, full of fascinating observations and, so far as I could discern, agenda-free), there is also the fact that Michael, the nicest guy you could ever wish to meet, and a very conscientious researcher, is being vilified by militant trans-gender extremists. Here is an anecdote about the book. It happens that Michael and I share the same publisher. We had adjoining tables at Book Expo America in Los Angeles the other day. The drill is, you get half an hour at a table in a huge hall, where people line up in front of the tables to get a free book (this is a trade show) signed by the author. It’s all timed very precisely by the organizers, as they have a LOT of authors to get through. Well, I was waiting in the green room with my publisher’s publicity lady, to do my signing at 12:30. Michael was scheduled to sign at the same time, but he was late. It got to be 12:15, 12:20, and the publicity lady was getting worried. Derb: “I sure hope he gets here on time. A long line of angry transsexuals doesn’t bear thinking about…” Fortunately Michael showed up with a minute to spare.

More fun with The Derb

From his blog work on the National Review’s The Corner. Links in text added by me.

Derbyshire, John (November 16, 2003). Culture wars: Report from Derb bunker. National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/03_11_16_corner-archive.asp [archive]

November 16, 2003

CULTURE WARS: REPORT FROM DERB BUNKER [John Derbyshire]

Following the “Derbophobe” link at the end of today’s column, a number of readers have e-mailed in to ask what on earth I have done to tick off this Lynn Conway person so very comprehensively. 

It’s a long story but here is the gist of it. 

There is a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, Michael Bailey. Michael’s research specialty is the psychology of “gender identity.” He studies–in a formal, peer-reviewed academic sense–things like homosexuality, transsexualism, and so on. Earlier this year he published a book about his research, titled The Man Who Would Be Queen. I am slightly acquainted with Michael and his work–we are both members of a certain invitation-only e-list dealing with matters of human variation from biological, psychological and sociological perspectives. I therefore volunteered to review his book for National Review. My review duly appeared in the June 30 issue of NRODT this year. Here it is. 

Now, the last part of Michael’s book deals with male transsexuals–men who wish to become women. In it, he subscribes to the theory (which did not originate with him) that there are two quite distinct types of male transsexual. The first type is pretty straightforward, just a particularly effeminate kind of homosexual, who wants to be a woman in order to attract male sex partners–heterosexual ones for preference. The second type, however, is much stranger. This is the “autogynephile”–a masculine, basically heterosexual man, whose erotic attention is fixated on the image of himself as a woman. In the studies Michael (and others) have done, this type appears quite distinct from the other. Autogynephiles, for example, are likely to have been married to normal women and to have fathered children by them. They differ from the other type–the “homosexual transsexual”–in all sorts of other ways, too, that show up clearly in life histories and psychological tests. 

Now, this is all psychological theory. It may be wrong–though on the evidence Michael presents, in his book and elsewhere, it seems to this non-specialist that he has a pretty good case. This theory, however, is pure poison to those autogynephiles who, like Lynn Conway, have hadsex-reassignment surgery. They take very strong exception to the implication that they are fundamentally males–and heterosexual males at that! WE ARE WOMEN! They scream. FULLY FEMININE WOMEN! To say that they take strong exception to Michael’s work is, in fact, to understate the situation. They are spitting furious with Bailey, and have launched a huge campaign against him and anyone associated with him. 

The scale of their campaign is tremendous. Anyone who ever shook hands with Michael Bailey is being tracked down and “exposed” via materials like those I linked to. This campaign is very well financed and has pulled in some big guns–the Southern Poverty Law Center, for example, is carrying out a “hate crimes” investigation. Our publisher has been lobbied ferociously to withdraw Michael’s book (Michael’s publicist, who is also mine, has been a target of their campaign) and Northwestern has also been threatened with various kinds of action if they do not shut Michael’s mouth. 

What’s this got to do with me? Well, I gave Michael’s book a friendly review, see, so I must be part of the Axis of Evil. In fact, these lunatics have erected a huge conspiracy theory about myself and Michael, based on the fact that, wait for it, we have the same publisher!!! It follows, you see, that Michael and I meet secretly in a basement somewhere every Friday to plot further insults and outrages against these autogynephiles. I’m not kidding. This stuff is bizarre. 

In fact, other than belonging to the same e-list, Michael and I are not acquainted. I have met him just once: his book came out at the same time as mine, and our publisher sent us both to BookExpo in Los Angeles this summer, along with all their other authors whose books had just appeared. Michael does not, in fact, altogether approve of me. He is–as his book clearly shows–sympathetic to people with “gender identity” problems, and regards me as a primitive homophobe. (Imagine! Me!!) 

A great many other facts on Lynn Conway’s website are wrong, too. I have never, for example, written a book about yachting, and I have never heard of half the people she names as being part of the great Bailey-Derbyshire conspiracy to present autogynephiles as essentially male. 

Not to put too fine a point on it, Lynn Conway is nuts. She and her pals have money, though, and energy, and a big cheering section in the “gay rights” crowd, so I shall probably end up in jail for some kind of “hate crime” before they are through with me. 

OK, it’s all a bit of a storm in a teacup. It does illustrate, though, the savagery of the “gender issues” and “gay rights” campaigners. These people are pure totalitarians, intent on shutting up and destroying anyone who goes against their party line–even someone as generally sympathetic as Bailey. They are absolutely unscrupulous, very well funded, and have powerful friends in Congress and the judiciary–it is they who are driving this new “hate crimes” legislation. 

As an opinion journalist, I am fair game, and I can take care of myself. Michael, though, is a scientist, a “retired and uncourtly scholar,” quite unused to this kind of vituperation and misrepresentation. His work ought to be validated, or disproved, via the usual processes of discussion and peer review. 

Lynn Conway and her gang couldn’t care less about any of that. Like the rest of the “gay rights” and “gender issues” crowd, they want to shut down all discussion and debate. Fundamentally they are extreme narcissists, who react with blind unreasoning fury when their precious self-esteem is pricked. They don’t want peer review; they don’t want science; they don’t want discussion; they want blood. This is real culture war here, and if we lose it, we shall lose our freedoms. 

November 17, 2003

TRANSSEXUALS VS. BAILEY-DERB AXIS OF EVIL [John Derbyshire]

Many readers have expressed great interest in the flap ove Michael Bailey’s book, which I sketched out in a long Corner post yesterday. Michael Bailey himself has set up a site to give his account of the affair. You can, by the way, read Michael’s book free on the web–there is a link somewhere in that site. 

TRANSSEXUALS VS. DERB [John Derbyshire]

A reader (one of several expressing the same sentiment): “Why do you play along with this person’s [i.e. Lynn Conway’s, the male-to-female transsexual who put up that ‘Derbophobe’ web site] pathology by calling him a “she”? As a woman, I can tell you one thing for sure: He is not a woman, just a poor, deluded amputee.” 

In my opinion, this is not an easy call. You can make a polemical point–and, if the offending theory is true, be technically correct–by referring to Lynn Conway as “he.” I think my own preference for “she” just derives from a strong, old-fashioned attachment to good manners. 

Now, you could argue that, given the vituperation heaped on my head by Lynn Conway, she has forfeited any right to good manners on my part. I just don’t agree. If she considers herself a woman, and has gone to all the pain and expense of having an operation to make her feel more like a woman, I think common courtesy dictates that we call her what she wishes to be called, however deluded we may think she is. To start referring to her as “he” just seems a bit spiteful and nyah-nyah-ish, even if technically correct. Perhaps I’m not making a good case here; perhaps I’m not sure about this; but that is kind of the point. When in doubt, stick with good manners. 

This is related, in some way I can’t be bothered to figure out, to the question of whether to pronounce your enemy’s name properly. I used to work with a woman who was perfectly detestable–everyone detested her, she was a sneak and a suck-up, incompetent and lazy, but highly skilled at ingratiating herself with management. Her name was “Diane,” which in England is pronounced “die-AN.” Well, she had this big thing about how she wanted everyone to say “DEE-an.” Naturally we all referred to her as “die-AN.” Now, twenty years on, with the sage maturity of my years, I think I would have said “DEE-an,” while working very hard indeed to get her fired. 

[By the way, “Derbyshire” is pronounced “DAH-bi-shuh.” That’s “DAH-bi-shuh”–everybody got that?] 
Posted at 02:31 PM

Eugenics

Derbyshire has been reading the work of his eugenicist friends like J. Michael Bailey:

http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire200405140857.asp

Now, the trend in current research on homosexuality, if I have understood it correctly, suggests that the homosexual orientation is indeed mostly congenital — the result of events in the mother’s womb, or in early infancy, with perhaps some slight genetic predisposition. The thing is, in short, mainly biochemical — part of a person’s physical make-up.

Supposing this is true, let us conduct a wee thought experiment — admittedly a fanciful one. A young woman in the late stages of pregnancy, or carrying a small infant, shows up at her doctor’s office. “Doctor,” she asks, “is there some kind of test you can do to tell me if my child is likely to become a homosexual adult?” The doctor says yes, there is. “And,” the woman continues, “suppose the test is positive — would that be something we can fix? I mean, is there some sort of medical, or genetic, or biochemical intervention we can do at this stage, to prevent that happening?” The doctor says yes, there is. “How much does the test cost? And supposing it’s positive, how much does the fix cost?” The doctor says $50, and $500. The woman takes out her checkbook. 

Of course this is not happening anywhere in the U.S.A. right now. If my understanding of the state of current research is correct, however, it might very well be happening on a daily basis ten years from now.

References

Squire, Megan (February 18, 2022). Prolific White Nationalist Personality Identified. SPLC https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hate-watch/prolific-white-nationalist-personality-identified/

Byers, Dylan (April 7, 2012). National Review fires John Derbyshire. Politico https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/04/national-review-fires-john-derbyshire-119887

Derbyshire, John (April 05, 2012). The Talk: Nonblack Version http://takimag.com/article/the_talk_nonblack_version_john_derbyshire/ [archive]

Derbyshire, John (November 16, 2003). Culture wars: Report from Derb bunker. National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/03_11_16_corner-archive.asp [archive]

Derbyshire, John (June 12, 2003). The Man Who Would Be Late. National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/03_06_08_corner-archive.asp [archive]

Derbyshire, John June 30, 2003. Lost in the Male. National Review, pp. 51-52. https://www.unz.com/jderbyshire/lost-in-the-male/

Conway, Lynn (2003). Who is John Derbyshire? by Lynn Conway http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Derbyshire/Who-is-JD.html

Conway, Lynn (2003). Full text and commentary by Lynn Conway http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Derbyshire/DerbyshireReview.html

Conway, Lynn (2003). Follow-up report describing Derbyshire’s involvement in this matter. http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/NFIC/NFIC.html

Books

  • From the Dissident Right (Vdare Books, 2013) ISBN 978-1304001542
  • We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism (Crown Forum, 2009) ISBN 978-0-307-40958-4
  • Unknown Quantity: A Real And Imaginary History of Algebra (Joseph Henry Press, 2006) ISBN 0-309-09657-X
  • Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics (Plume Books, 2003) ISBN 0-452-28525-9
  • Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997) ISBN 0-312-15649-9

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

John Derbyshire (johnderbyshire.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Z Media LLC / Radio Derb (thezman.com/wordpress)

Vaush is the stage name of Ian Kochinski, and American media personality supportive of trans and gender diverse people.

Background

Kochinski was born on February 14, 1994 in Los Angeles and grew up in Beverly Hills. Kochinski earned a bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State University in 2018.

Kochinski became known for debating conservative people and conspiracy theorists, including Stefan Molyneux, Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad), Tomas Bogardus, and Debra Soh.

Media

Vaush (April 25, 2022). DEBATE VS. Dr. Debra Soh On Trans Issues, Gender, and MORE. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK0YPY1tjJQ

Vaush (June 10, 2022). TRANS WATER – Gender Debate Gets Scientific. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1B6gqZ7Vto

Modern-Day Debate (June 8, 2022). Vaush Vs Dr. Tomas Bogardus | Are Trans-Women Women? | Debate Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHxHSD4qWEM

Destiny (July 5, 2022). Debating The “Aqua” Professor Vaush Made Crazy Arguments Against. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PuIIo5VEy0

Perspective Philosophy (July 4, 2022). Discussing The Vaush Debate and Gender with Dr Bogardus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lld4p2ADGc

Resources

The Vaush Pit (vaush.gg)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Wikpedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

TikTok (tiktok.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Jennifer Krohn is an American artist, sex segregationist, and anti-transgender activist. Krohn is the unaccepting parent of a gender diverse child. Krohn is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. Krohn and spouse Cyrus Krohn are part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.

Krohn is also an opponent of allowing trans athletes in sex-segregated competitive sport.

Background

Jennifer Lynn Comer Krohn was born in February 1969. Krohn earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University. Krohn was a graphic designer at Michael Courtney Design and Ilium Associates before leaving to raise a family. Krohn is married to tech entrepreneur and political operative Cyrus Krohn (born 1970), and they have three children.

After volunteering to teach art at their children’s child’s school, Krohn began teaching art classes in Issaquah, Washington at Jennifer’s Artistical Garage.

Anti-transgender activism

Krohn became upset when their fifth-grade child began using a different name and they/them pronouns at school before Krohn knew about it.

After the school alerted Krohn that the child had mentioned self-harm in a conversation, the school counselor

“kind of sold to me the idea of using this ‘special therapist’ that was contracted with the school. Because she was under 13, I had to come in and talk to this therapist and give her written permission. At 13, I might not have even known she was seeing this therapist. At 13 in our state, children can get their own mental health without a parent’s consent or knowledge.”

Krohn’s child had ten weekly sessions. In early 2020 the therapist called and “used male pronouns for my daughter” and let Krohn know that they were going to have a family therapy session in three days. “We decided not to have the meeting with the therapist.”

Krohn’s child was also friends with many LGBTQ+ classmates, which Krohn believes “was the source of a lot of her issues.” After Krohn’s child reportedly threatened suicide again, Krohn took all of the child’s devices away.

The final straw was a school camp where Krohn’s child was given the option of staying in the boys’ cabin. Krohn claims this forced the child to say yes. Krohn kept the child from the camp and took the child out of school soon after.

Now without devices, friends, and classmates, Krohn claims the child “desisted.”

Krohn co-founded Partners for Ethical Care to assist other unsupportive parents. “It’s like we have gone to war together. That’s what it feels like. This is like a war on our families.”

References

Berman, Sarah (March 17th, 2022). Protestors Against Lia Thomas Stand Outside & Attend Women’s NCAA Championship. Swim Swam https://swimswam.com/protestors-against-lia-thomas-stand-outside-attend-womens-ncaa-championship/

Krohn et al (February 23, 2021). Response to UN https://familywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2021/03/PEC-Response-to-UN-Final.pdf

Krohn, Jennifer (March 8, 2022). The power of mothers. Partners for Ethical Carehttps://www.partnersforethicalcare.com/post/the-power-of-mothers

Media

Independent Women’s Forum (August 10, 2022). Identity Crisis: School Affirms 11-Year-Old’s Identity Without Parental Consent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUNo1lq3Oec

Benjamin Boyce (September 7, 2022). Are Washington Schools Transing Kids? | w Jennifer, Accidental Activist. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do1Rt2a-ytM

Resources

Jennifer’s Artistical Garage (jennifersartisticalgarage.com) [archive]

Partners for Ethical Care (partnersforethicalcare.com)

Cyrus Krohn (cyruskrohn.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Soundcloud (soundcloud.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Maud Maron is an American lawyer and anti-transgender activist.

Maron is Executive Director of anti-trans organization Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) and holds the following positions:

  • supports sex segregationism
  • opposed trans athletes participating in competitive sex-segregated sports
  • supports disease models of gender diversity like “rapid onset gender dysphoria“
  • opposes value-neutral language like “sex assigned at birth”
  • supports noted transphobe J.K. Rowling

Background

Maud Jane Maron was born on June 9, 1971 in New York, New York. Maron earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in 1993 and earned a law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University in 1998. Maron was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1999. Maron’s career experience includes working as an Attorney with the Legal Aid Society. 

Maron is married to private equity executive Juan Pablo Pallordet and has four children: Clara Pallordet (born ~2005), Lucio Pallordet (born ~2006), Liam Pallordet (born ~2010), and Magnus Pallordet (born ~2016).

Maron began collaborating with Bari Weiss and Suzy Weiss to further their political aims around COVID.

Maron claims to have been cancelled in 2021 for opposing critical race theory in New York public schools.

ThirdRail

Maron is founder of ThirdRail, a consultancy created to “facilitate innovation, leadership, and strategy sessions designed to breakthrough thinking without fear of judgment.” The participants include several prominent anti-trans activists:

Anti-transgender views

Maron is a sex segregationist who opposes transgender athletes. Maron also claims to have been cancelled in 2022 for supporting “single-sex spaces” and opposing changes to Title IX,

Staying silent when activists and politicians insist “trans women are women” has real world consequences for real women. The truth is, trans women are biologically male and they should be treated with dignity, love and respect. But many trans activists insist on language that erases the reality of biological women. Their desire to transcend biology, no matter how heartfelt, does not, and cannot, require me to lie or teach a generation of children a falsehood.

Girls and young women are being swept up in a social contagion which has them believing they are men. Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, in which young women with no early childhood expression of gender dysphoria suddenly identify as trans, has spiked in the last decade. 

References

Maron, Maud (September 12, 2021). Staying Silent When You Disagree With Woke Lies Gives Them Power. We Must Speak Up | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/staying-silent-when-you-disagree-woke-lies-gives-them-power-we-must-speak-opinion-1628057

Campanile, Carl (July 11, 2022). Congress candidate Maud Maron says Democrats ‘canceled’ her over transgender stance. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/07/11/congress-candidate-maud-maron-says-democrats-canceled-her-over-transgender-stance/

Alexander, Harriet (July 13, 2021). Public defender who opposed critical race theory being taught in NYC schools claims she was forced out of her job at the Legal Aid Society because ‘she is white’ and after ‘McCarthy’ style attack labeled her racist. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9782647/Public-defender-claims-forced-job-Legal-Aid-Society-McCarthy-style-attack.html

Campanile, Carl (February 15, 2022). Mandate foe Maud Maron hoping for AOC-like defeat of NY Rep. Carolyn Maloney. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/02/15/maud-maron-hoping-for-aoc-like-defeat-of-rep-carolyn-maloney/

Weiss, Suzy (February 8, 2022). ‘Hell hath no fury like an angry mom’ — Meet the nation’s new political power. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/02/08/meet-nations-new-political-power-a-coalition-of-angry-moms/

Resources

Maud Maron (maudmaron.com)

ThirdRail (thirdrail.co) [archive]

Place NYC (placenyc.org)

Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (fairforall.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Federalist Society (fedsoc.org)

Amy Eileen Hamm is a Canadian nurse and anti-transgender extremist.

Hamm co-founded anti-trans group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar). Hamm was fired in 2025 following a hearing brought by the nursing regulatory board, which found that Hamm publicly identified as a nurse while engaging in anti-transgender activity.

Background

Hamm earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Thompson Rivers University, followed by a bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of British Columbia in 2012.

Hamm worked for 7 months as a psychiatric nurse in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. Hamm then became a nurse educator in the psychiatric unit at a hospital in Richmond (part of Vancouver Coastal Health). Hamm resides in New Westminster, British Columbia.

In 2011, Hamm responded to the question “If you could live in a certain time period and place what would it be?” Hamm said:

1950s, small-town ‘merica. I could go for some “ignorance is bliss”. I’d be a stupid housewife with a stupid optimistic outlook on life.

Hamm (2011)

Hamm ended up in a much more modern cliché. Hamm is divorced and has children. Hamm has discussed being a single parent and the stigma involved:

It has been a few years since I left my marriage, and I did end up meeting someone wonderful. In the time between, I realized that single motherhood is the largest unquestioned stigma of my era. It can be achingly lonely and—if you let it get to you—it can crush your self-esteem.

Hamm (2023)

Anti-transgender activism

Hamm is a sex segregationist who co-founded gender critical group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) in 2019. Hamm claims to be fighting “the harms that gender-identity ideology was inflicting on women and children.”

In 2021 and 2022 Hamm and “Esme Vee” hosted Gender Critical Story Hour podcast. Episodes include:

  • 0 – trailer
  • 1 – Meghan Murphy (February 21, 2021)
  • 2 – Marguerite Stern (February 22, 2021)
  • 3 – Laoise UĂ­ Aodha de BrĂșn (February 23, 2021)
  • 4 – Barbara Kay (February 24, 2021)
  • 5 – Graham Linehan (February 28, 2021)
  • 6 – Heather Mason and Madeline Riversong (March 20, 2021)
  • 7 – Linda Blade (June 4, 2021)
  • 8 – Bad Women: Amy & Esme (June 20, 2021)
  • 9 – Cancel Club: Amy & Esme (July 26, 2021)
  • 10 – Heather Mason and Linda Blade (April 7, 2022)
  • 11 – Sue-Ann Levy (April 26, 2022)
  • 12 – The Haters Inside the Canadian “Anti-Hate” Network (July 25, 2022)
  • 13 – How Far Can They Go: Are we reaching peak trans? (September 29, 2022)

Hamm and Holly Stamer co-founded GIDYVR, an anti-trans speaker series based in Vancouver. Their first event at the Vancouver Public Library on January 10, 2019 featured Meghan Murphy, Fay Blaney, and Lee Lakeman, moderated by Mary-Lee Bouma. Vancouver Public Library Chief Librarian Christina de Castell issued a statement about the event.

Hamm is best known for purchasing billboards that say “I ♄ JK Rowling” with Chris Elston. They have been quickly removed for being a reference to anti-transgender views of transphobic author J.K. Rowling.

Hamm’s writing has appeared in conservative and fascist publications including the Post Millennial, The New Westminster Times, Human Events, and Quillette.

Disciplinary hearing

In 2022 the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) initiated a disciplinary hearing against Hamm:

Between approximately July 2018 and March 2021, you made discriminatory and derogatory statements regarding transgender people, while identifying yourself as a nurse or nurse educator. These statements were made across various online platforms, including but not limited to, podcasts, videos, published writings and social media.

BCCNM (2022)

Hamm reportedly rejected a proposed settlement from the college that would have included a two-week license suspension and social media training.

Hamm was represented by Lisa Bildy and Karen Bastow of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). JCCF brought in anti-trans activists James Cantor, Kathleen Stock, and Linda Blade to testify on Hamm’s behalf in 2023.

On March 13, 2025, the College found that Hamm, while identifying herself as a member of the medical profession, made statements that were “untruthful and unfair as they challenge the existence of transgender women, argue for less constitutional protection for transgender women, and are designed, in part, to elicit fear, contempt and outrage against members of the transgender community.”

Tabs 4, 24, 28 and S3 of the Extract were found to be violative:

  • Tab 4: Responded stated “trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces.” Respondent also stated that Vancouver Women’s Shelter [VRR] will “surely (and maddeningly) face continued backlash from trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces. The women of VRR, however, are clearly up to the task”. […] The suggestion that trans activists are seeking to “infiltrate or destroy” women-only spaces strongly connotes illegal, aggressive, and improper conduct and mischaracterizes transgender women seeking access to support services available to cisgender women in crisis situations as dangerous individuals. The Panel finds that the statement is not true nor is it fair to transgender women.
  • Tab 24: in her article entitled “On feeling like a woman”. The Respondent states “there is no absconding” from female bodies, the feeling of being a woman does not exist, and there is no “incantation or initiation that can transcend bodily reality.” The Panel finds that these statements are untrue and unfair to transgender women as they deny the possibility that that an individual born into a male body can feel like a woman and effectively deny the existence of transgender women.
  • Tab 28: In a book review entitled “Review: ‘Love Lives Here – A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family,” Respondent refers to the “falsehood that babies can be ‘born in the wrong body’ or that humans can change their sex”. She asserts that everyone “who believes in wrong bodies or innate genders” would rather devastate a child than acknowledge that men cannot become transgender women, that gender identity ideology is akin to a Satanic Panic craze, that lesbians do not have penises, that a gender soul does not exist, and that men cannot literally become women. […] These statements, which appear to be designed to elicit fear, contempt and hostility towards the transgender community, particularly transgender women
  • S3 of the Extract: Respondent makes several statements in the context of the YouTube interview entitled, “The Same Drugs Live with Amy Hamm on I heart JK Rowling”. As the Respondent is asked in the interview about the background to the billboard, those comments must be considered in conjunction with the billboard itself and J.K. Rowling’s essay. The billboard message must be assessed from the perspective of a “reasonable person in the claimant’s circumstances” […] From the perspective of a transgender person, the essay contains some references that could be interpreted as portraying them as a risk to cisgender women and girls and predatory. Such characterizations unquestionably elicit fear and hostility towards transgender people.

On March 27, 2025, Hamm reported being fired without severance from Vancouver Coastal Health.

References

Ruttle, Joseph (March 13, 2025). B.C. nurse committed professional misconduct with transgender commentary, hearing rules. Vancouver Sun https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-nurse-misconduct-transgender-commentary-hearing-rules

British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives (March 13, 2025). In the matter of a Discipline Hearing under s. 38 of the Health Professions Act, RSBC 1996, c 183 between British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives and Amy Eileen Hamm. https://bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2025_03_13_BCCNM_Hamm_Decision.pdf

Higgins, Michael (Jan 23, 2023). Michael Higgins: B.C. nurse Amy Hamm is being persecuted for believing in biology. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michael-higgins-amy-hamm-is-being-persecuted-for-believing-in-biology

Lindsay, Bethany (October 23, 2023). Nurse’s ‘discriminatory and derogatory’ comments on transgender people at issue in B.C. hearing. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-1.7005480

Lindsay, Bethany (October 24, 2023). Controversial psychologist tells B.C. hearing he feels a duty to speak out on transgender issues. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-oct-24-1.7007014

Lindsay, Bethany (October 25, 2023). Lawyer says contentious psychologist will ‘dispel the myth’ that B.C. nurse’s comments harm trans people. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-oct-25-1.7008318

Lindsay, Bethany (November 3, 2023). Nurse tells B.C. hearing she’s not transphobic, but calls gender identity ‘metaphysical nonsense.’ CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-nov-3-1.7018573

Pawson, Chad (September 12, 2020). I Love J.K. Rowling sign makes brief, controversial appearance in Vancouver. CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/i-love-j-k-rowling-sign-makes-brief-controversial-appearance-in-vancouver-1.5722244

Takeuchi, Craig (September 12th, 2020). Transphobia concerns prompt East Vancouver billboard supporting J.K. Rowling to be covered up. The Georgia Straight https://www.straight.com/living/transphobia-concerns-prompt-east-vancouver-billboard-supporting-jk-rowling-to-be-covered-up

Christina de Castell (January 27, 2020). Statement from VPL’s Chief Librarian regarding March 21 GIDYVR event. Vancouver Public Library https://www.vpl.ca/statement-on-gidyvr-event

Publications by Hamm

Hamm, Amy Eileen (June 22, 2023). On the stigma of single motherhood. Substack https://preta6.substack.com/p/on-the-stigma-of-single-motherhood

Hamm, Amy Eileen (February 14, 2023). Teaching UBC Medical Scholars that Biological Sex is a ‘Colonial Imposition.’ Quillette https://quillette.com/blog/2023/02/14/teaching-ubc-medical-students-that-biological-sex-is-a-colonial-imposition/

Hamm, Amy Eileen (April 8, 2022). I’m Being Investigated by the British Columbia College of Nurses Because I Believe Biological Sex Is Real. Quillette https://quillette.com/2022/04/08/im-being-investigated-by-the-british-columbia-college-of-nurses-because-i-believe-biological-sex-is-real/

Resources

BCCNM (bccnm.ca)

  • Notice: Hamm, Amy, RN Hearing
  • bccnm.ca/Public/complaints/Pages/Notice.aspx?NoticeID=790
  • Hamm Citation (June 28, 2022)
  • bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2022_06_28_BCCNM_Hamm_Citation.pdf
  • Hamm Decision (March 13, 2025)
  • bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2025_03_13_BCCNM_Hamm_Decision.pdf

Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (cawsbar.ca)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Reddit (reddit.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Gwendolyn Ann Smith is an American writer, designer, and transgender rights activist. Smith is a pioneer in online trans resources and created what became the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Background

Gwendolyn Ann “Gwen” Smith was born July 22, 1967. Smith attended Pasadena City College, then began doing desktop publishing and digital design under the entity designstylestudios. Smith was an early adopter in online communities, rising to Programming Director at America Online’s onQ community, which later merged with PlanetOut.

Smith has been involved with the game Second Life since its release in 2003 and since 2019 has offered high-end professional support to the game’s power users.

Smith is married to Bonnie “Bon” Smith and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Transgender activism

Starting in 1992, Smith was the driving force behind making America Online (AOL) trans-friendly, lobbying them to change anti-trans policies. Smith developed and maintained a repository of information and resources on AOL and hosted many chats. Smith developed the Transgender Community Forum (TCF), which AOL forced to close.

In 1998, Smith founded the Remembering Our Dead Project to document anti-trans murders. That project evolved into the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In 2000, Jamison Green, Dallas Denny, Jessica Xavier, Gwen Smith, Penni Ashe Matz, and Sandra Cole launched the nonprofit Gender Education and Advocacy (GEA) at the website gender.org.

Smith has written and edited for many publications, including LGBTQ Nation, The New Civil Rights Movement, and Genderfork. Smith has written a column titled “Transmisisons” for the Bay Area Reporter since 2000.

Smith designed the accompanying booklet and attended our 2004 all-transgender benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues.

Smith is subject of the 2017 book Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith.

This site (transgendermap.com) is dedicated to Smith and Melanie Anne Phillips for their key roles in early online resources for the community.

References

Leveque, Sophia Cecilia (2017). Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith. ISBN 9781618460448

Burns, Katelyn (November 20, 2019). Founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith on the 20th Anniversary of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/gwendolyn-ann-smith-interview-transgender-day-of-remembrance

Inkster, Andy (2008). Gwendolyn Ann Smith (1967–). In LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia. ISBN 978-0313339905

Resources

Gwen Smith (gwensmith.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Transgender Day of Remembrance (tdor.info) [archive]

Gender.org (gender.org) [archive]

  • Remembering Our Dead: gender.org/remember [archive]
  • Host: Above & Beyond (abgender.com) [archive]

Bay Area Reporter (ebar.com)

Genderfork (genderfork.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Dan Savage is an American author and activist. Savage has been glitter-bombed many times for anti-transgender views. Some of Savage’s views have evolved following criticism.

Savage has written about sex and relationships since the 1990s and has supported the work of many gender critical and transphobic public figures. Savage has also been involved in a number of important projects that have improved the lives of sex and gender minorities, including trans people.

Background

Daniel Keenan “Dan” Savage (born October 7, 1964) grew up in a Catholic household in Chicago. Savage graduated with a theater degree from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, then moved to Germany for two years before moving to Madison, Wisconsin.

In 1991 The Onion founder Tim Keck told friend Savage about a plan to start The Stranger, an alternative newspaper in Seattle. Savage suggested writing a sex and relationship advice column. The title was proposed as Hey Faggot!, but Keck refused to use that title, so they settled on Savage Love. For years, all answered letters started with “Hey Faggot!” as the greeting. The column was syndicated, and Savage dropped the greeting in 1999 when the column started accepting emailed questions.

Savage moved to Seattle for the job. Under the stage name “Keenan Hollahan,” Savage also founded Seattle’s Greek Active Theater, producing reimagined classics in the mid-1990s. Savage was active in the Seattle theater scene until around 2003.

Savage created the It Gets Better project in 2010 with spouse Terry Miller. They were married in Canada in 2005 and remarried in the US when it was legalized. They have one child. The nonprofit has helped many trans and gender diverse young people through its message. The nonprofit’s President Paul Dien and founding member Seth Levy have noted that Savage is no longer involved in the project day to day:

“I don’t agree with what he has said, and I think it’s important to call out our privileges,” said Dien. “I think in our communities, cisgender white folks do have that privilege, and it’s okay to talk about when people are wrong or offensive to other parts of our community. And I think it’s important to have those discussions.”

“I really can’t comment on whatever Dan’s relationship with the trans community is; that’s been a complicated one for a long time,” added Levy. “All I know is that as a co-founder with them and having done a lot of work with them over the years, he’s done a lot for that community, often through this project. And so I hope at the end of the day, that’s what people start to understand, is that we’ve all really been trying to fight the same fight, even if we don’t always get along along the way.”

Ennis (2021)

Controversies

Savage’s strong opinions and acerbic tone have been criticized by numerous groups.

Biphobia allegations

Savage’s support of transphobic psychologist J. Michael Bailey and like-minded sexologists has caused the greatest reputational harm. Savage uncritically repeated Bailey’s claims that bisexual men don’t exist, and Savage told gay men “DON’T MESS AROUND WITH BISEXUALS” and likened bisexuality to “incest and dog-fucking.”

It was “the way most gay men were at the time, and it was shitty,” Savage says now. “A lot of my hostility to bi guys early was because I dated bi guys who were gay closet cases who felt superior to the gay men that they were dating, because they weren’t 100 percent polluted by gayness.” Over the years, “pushback from my readers” and some new bi lovers helped change his mind.

Anderson (2021)

Bailey and friends magically “discovered” bisexuality as soon as they got a payment from The American Institute of Bisexuality. Savage supported Bailey’s claims about that “discovery” as well.

Transphobia allegations

Then there are the transphobic slurs that frequently appeared in Savage Love over the first 20-odd years, along with some gender nonaffirming advice about trans people and cheap jokes about the appearance of trans women. Savage told me that he used those words in the same spirit as he invited readers to call him a “faggot.” He offered a similar explanation when, at a much-covered event at the University of Chicago in 2014, he was challenged by a trans student who objected to his continued use of the slurs while talking about the slurs, and wrote a scorched-earth takedown of the student in the Stranger. (Savage now uses the phrase “t-slur” instead of saying the word out loud.)

Anderson (2021)

Savage says those views have evolved:

“How do you disprove a charge like you’re transphobic? I’m not afraid of trans people. […] I certainly have had a journey in the last 20 years — as have we all — on trans issues. When I started writing Savage Love 20 years ago, and you can yank quotes 15, 18 years ago and flat them up today and say, ‘You know, that’s transphobic,’ I’d probably agree with you. 15 years ago I didn’t know as much as I know now — nor did anybody.”

Badash (2014)

Savage is one of the few people to reify “autogynephilia,” writing in 2010: “You might want to google autogynephilia. Not saying that’s where you’re at or headed, don’t know enough about it to endorse it, but . . . it seemed relevant.” Gender critical and anti-trans people Savage has platformed and supported include:

Here Savage cites Singal’s promotion of conservative clinician Erica Anderson as evidence Singal is not transphobic.

There is a tendency among this collection of people to back each other up and logroll for each other when accused of acting against the best interests of the trans community. Let’s hope that changes in the future, as their monopolization of media opportunities by shutting out trans critics is one of the key ways they perpetuate harm.

References

Rude, Mey (March 24, 2021). Cis Men Like Jesse Singal, Dan Savage Don’t Decide What’s Transphobic. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/3/24/cis-men-jesse-singal-dan-savage-dont-decide-whats-transphobic

Badash, David (April 29, 2014). Dan Savage Does Not Hate You. The New Civil Rights Movement. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2014/04/dan_savage_does_not_hate_you/

Anderson, LV (September 23, 2021). Dan Savage Revolutionized Sex. Then the Revolution Came for Him. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/09/dan-savage-advice-savage-love-criticism-interview.html

Savage, Dan (December 2, 1999). Gay Ol’ Time. Savage Love https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=2686 [archive]

Abad-Santos, Alexander (November 3, 2011). Dan Savage: Queer-on-Queer Glitter-Bombing Victim. The Wire via The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/dan-savage-queer-queer-glitter-bombing-victim/335921/

Lowder, J. Bryan (November 4, 2011). Did Dan Savage Deserve to be Glitter-Bombed?. Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/11/04/did_dan_savage_deserve_to_be_glitter_bombed_.html

Dan Savage Gets Glitterbombed, Called Transphobic At University Of Oregon. The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/dan-savage-glitterbombed-oregon-transphobia-_n_1071627.html

Hill-Meyer, Tobi (November 2, 2011). Dan Savage Gets Glitter Bombed for Being Transphobic. The Bilerico Project. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_savage_gets_glitter_bombed_for_being_transphob.php

Hill-Meyer, Tobi (November 14, 2011). Dan Savage Glittered Again, Student Arrested. The Bilerico Project. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_savage_glittered_again_student_arrested.php

Oommen, Isaac (January 21, 2012). Dan Savage Glitterbombed. Vancouver Media Co-op. http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/dan-savage-glitterbombed/9681

Schmidt, Christine (May 30, 2014). Comments at IOP spark controversy. [archive] Chicago Maroon http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/30/comments-at-iop-spark-controversy/

University of Chicago Institute of Politics (May 27, 2014). IOP Statement on Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion. http://politics.uchicago.edu/news/entry/iop-statement-on-commitment-to-diversity-inclusion

Johnson, Andrew (June 5, 2014). UChicago Students: Dan Savage’s Use of ‘T-Slur’ Made Us Feel ‘Unsafe’. National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/379649/uchicago-students-dan-savages-use-t-slur-made-us-feel-unsafe-andrew-johnson

Soave, Robby (June 9, 2014). Dan Savage Stands Up to the Speech Police, Defends His Use of ‘Tranny’, Reason http://reason.com/blog/2014/06/09/dan-savage-stands-up-to-the-speech-polic

Savage, Dan (2014). About That Hate Crime I Committed at University of Chicago | Slog”. The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/06/07/about-that-hate-crime-i-committed-at-university-of-chicago

Ennis, Dawn (May 3, 2021). ‘It Gets Better’ Gets New Leadership. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2021/05/03/it-gets-better-gets-new-leadership/

Resources

Dan Savage (savage.love)

The Stranger (thestranger.com)

It Gets Better (itgetsbetter.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

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

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

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

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

Background

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

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

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

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

References

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resources

Virginia Hughes (virginiahughes.com)

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NYU Journalism (journalism.nyu.edu)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

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

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

Background

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

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

Reporting on trans issues

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

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

[…]

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

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

References

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

Resources

UnHerd (unherd.com)

Financial Times (ft.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Guardian (theguardian.com)