Owen Benjamin is the stage name of Owen Troy-Smith, an American conspiracy theorist and anti-transgender activist.
Benjamin is part of the alt-right and intellectual dark web movements of anti-trans extremists.
Background
Owen Benjamin Kares Troy-Smith was born on May 24, 1980. Both parents are college professors. Troy-Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2002, then began a career in stand-up comedy, branded as a conservative comedian.
Anti-transgender activism
After podcaster Jesse Thorn expressed support for their family’s trans child on Twitter, Troy-Smith and other anti-trans extremists like Jesse Singal decided to make inappropriate comments about this child.
Following additional attacks on trans healthcare for adolescents as well as posting standup clips mocking trans people, Troy-Smith’s talent agency cut ties.
Data & Society released a report demonstrating Troy-Smith’s connections within the alt-right network of YouTubers. Troy-Smith did collaborations with Stefan Molyneux, Lindsay Shepherd, Michael Malice, Erec Smith, Tim Pool, and Joe Rogan.
References
Berkowitz, Joe (December 3, 2018). Why is Amazon promoting this anti-trans alt right troll’s comedy special? Fast Company https://www.fastcompany.com/90275862/why-is-amazon-promoting-this-anti-trans-alt-right-trolls-comedy-special
Holt, Jared (November 29, 2018). Owen Benjamin: Transgender Rights Movement is a U.N.-Sponsored Eugenics Program. Right Wing Watch / People for the American Way http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/owen-benjamin-transgender-rights-movement-is-a-u-n-sponsored-eugenics-program/
Holt, Jared (December 13, 2019). Instagram and Facebook Suspend Right-Wing ‘Comedian’ Owen Benjamin. Right Wing Watch / People for the American Way https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/instagram-and-facebook-suspend-right-wing-comedian-owen-benjamin/
Center on Extremism (December 26, 2023). Owen Benjamin: What You Need to Know. ADL https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/owen-benjamin-what-you-need-know
Media
Owen Benjamin (May 2, 2018). Trans People Ruined Everything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=telZ8Dc0i_M
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Owen Benjamin (owenbenjamin.com)
Huge Pianist (hugepianist.com) [archive]
Unauthorized TV (unauthorized.tv)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Mike Cernovich is an American far-right extremist and anti-transgender activist. Cernovich is considered part of the intellectual dark web, described as a gateway to the far right.
Background
Michael C. Cernovich was born on November 17, 1977 in Kewanee, Illinois. Cernovich earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois at Springfield in 2001 and a law degree from Pepperdine University in 2004. Cernovich was married in 2003 and divorced in 2011. Cernovich’s spouse was a successful technology lawyer and was required to pay Cernovich a large sum in the settlement. Cernovich was admitted to the California Bar in 2013.
Cernovich started as a self-help writer. Cernovich endorses an anti-feminist “gorilla mindset” for men interested in meeting and dating women.
Cernovich is a key figure in the QAnon conspiracy that claimed Hilary Clinton was involved in a vast pedophile ring.
Cernovich is well known for trolling and no longer identifies with the alt-right, saying it is “too obsessed with gossip and drama for my tastes.”
Cernovich and second spouse Shauna announced their fourth child in 2023.
Anti-transgender activism
Cernovich once reportedly made a list of countries with the most attractive transgender women.
Cernovich also shares consistently negative news stories about transgender people.
References
Stack, Liam (April 5, 2017). Who Is Mike Cernovich? A Guide. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/us/politics/mike-cernovich-bio-who.html
-https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1066335232263999491
Cernovich, Mike (August 31, 2016). Is Mike Cernovich Part of the Alt-Right? Danger & Play https://www.dangerandplay.com/2016/08/31/is-mike-cernovich-part-of-the-alt-right/
Marantz, Andrew (October 24, 2016). Trolls for Trump. The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/31/trolls-for-trump
Resources
Mike Cernovich (cernovich.com)
Danger & Play (dangerandplay.com)
Crime & Federalism (crimeandfederalism.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
RationalWiki (rationalwiki.org)
Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org)
- Mike Cernovich
- splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/mike-cernovich
Twitter (twitter.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Nicholas Christakis is an American physician and academic. Christakis is considered by some to be part of the intellectual dark web.
Anti-transgender statements
In 2020, Christakis ascribed the increase in trans adolescents seeking healthcare as “social construction of medical conditions.”
On February 8, 2022, Christakis responded to a Twitter post on social contagion by anti-trans extremist Mia Hughes, saying:
I think there is a large element of social contagion with respect to transgenderism. It reminds me of previous examples including not just bulimia but also peanut allergies and (mild) autism. But this explosion of cases will likely ultimately be seen as a failure of the medical system, not a victory — a failure to clearly demarcate the small core of people for whom surgery & hormones are indicated, & the large number of others for whom other modalities are preferable.
Resources
Human Nature Lab (humannaturelab.net)
Erika Christakis (erikachristakis.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Matt Christiansen is an American media personality and anti-transgender activist. Christiansen is associated with the intellectual dark web, described as a gateway to the far right.
Background
Matthew “Matt” Christiansen was born on October 18, 1987 and resides in Bozeman, Montana.
Christiansen frequently discusses political issues on YouTube.
References
Olson, Warren (June 18, 2021). The Orwellian Function of Transgender Ideology. Matt Christiansen Media https://www.mattchristiansenmedia.com/outback-observer/2021/6/17/the-orwellian-function-of-transgender-ideology
Media
Matt Christiansen (December 10, 2015). Transgender, Transage, and Transreason | Meet Me on Mars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBGZq7XCBOE
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
Resources
Matt Christiansen (mattchristiansenmedia.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Twitch (twitch.tv)
YouTube (youtube.com)
(minds.com/mlchristiansen)
Sam Harris is an American writer, podcaster, and anti-transgender activist. Harris is a key figure in the intellectual dark web (IDW), described as a gateway to the far right. In 2020, Harris disavowed the IDW, and in 2021 Harris symbolically returned the “imaginary membership card to this imaginary organization.”
Background
Samuel Benjamin Harris was born on April 9, 1967 in Los Angeles, California to parents who were both in entertainment. Harris left Stanford after an experience with MDMA and spent about a decade learning spiritual practices in India and Nepal. Harris returned and completed a bachelor’s degree in 2000. Harris earned a doctorate from UCLA in 2009.
Harris published the book The End of Faith in 2004. harris has gone on to be a critic of religion, especially Islam. Harris has debated many people on religion, including Rick Warren, Deepak Chopra, Jean Houston, William Lane Craig, and Reza Aslan. Harris has also appeared in debated on religion with anti-trans extremists Andrew Sullivan, Jordan Peterson, and Michael Shermer.
Harris and spouse Annaka Gorton have two children.
Podcast
Harris began the podcast Waking Up in 2013, later renamed Making Sense.
References
Young, Sam (Oct 26, 2022). Sam Harris, J.K. Rowling, and the Cesspool of Anti-Trans Activism. An Injustice! https://aninjusticemag.com/sam-harris-j-k-rowling-and-the-cesspool-of-anti-trans-activism-3e2753e5b6da
Peter Clarke is an American writer and anti-transgender activist.
Clarke has shown support for several anti-trans extremists, including Michael Shellenberger, Amy Hamm and Jesse Singal.
Background
Peter M. Clarke was born in August 1985 in Port Angeles, Washington. Clarke earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University in 2007 and a law degree from University of the Pacific in 2010.
Clarke wrote for Reputation.com, LegalMatch, FindLaw, Indiegogo, and Judicial Council of California. Clarke wrote the books Politicians Are Superheroes and The Singularity Survival Guide. Clarke has also written for Areo Magazine, The Humanist, The American Spectator, Quillette, and Free Inquiry Magazine. Clarke founded Jokes Literary Review.
Clarke is based in Sacramento, California.
Anti-trans activism
Clarke wrote a sympathetic profile of anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger, part of a sustained effort by a faction of anti-trans activists critical of progressivism.
Clarke wrote a sympathetic profile of anti-trans extremist Jesse Singal after a panel featuring Destiny, Vaush, and Emma Vigeland discussed Singal’s extensive anti-transgender activism:
To be clear, if Singal did have horribly offensive views about trans people or gender dysphoria, then, of course, the Seder-Vigeland position would be correct—or, at least, defensible. Some people are, unfortunately, transphobic in the genuine sense of the term. But Singal is not. It is certainly possible to disagree with Singal’s position. But it is not possible to find an ounce of bigotry in his writing. He is, in this respect, a “good liberal.”
Clarke (2023)
Clarke’s view on gender:
- Gender is cultural and is great to play with if you want
- Technology is going to radically change our biology but can’t do much yet
- People should hold their identities lightly rather than pretending like they’re sacred
Clarke’s view on sex:
If someone is biologically male, they can’t change to biologically female. The medical interventions are crude, often harmful, and not incredibly successful right now. The culture war on this topic, in my view, would be more civil if identity was less important to people.
References
Clarke, Peter (October 17, 2023). How Jesse Singal Became the Symbol of Polarization on the Left. Merion West https://merionwest.com/2023/10/17/how-jesse-singal-became-the-symbol-of-polarization-on-the-left/
Clarke, Peter (May 13, 2022). Can California Change?—An Interview with Michael Shellenberger. Quillette https://quillette.com/2022/05/13/can-california-change/
Resources
Peter M. Clarke (petermclarke.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Wrongspeak was a podcast produced by Quillette and hosted by anti-trans activists Debra Soh and Jonathan Kay.
The show featured a number of other anti-transgender activists and people associated with the so-called intellectual dark web, a loose alliance described as a “gateway to the far right.”
Episode
- #17 – The Family Business with Barbara Kay
- #16 – Our Lines are Open: Confessions of a Talk Radio Host with Matt Gurney
- #15 – Khalistan in Canada with Balraj Deol and Niru Kumar
- #14 – Such a Shanda with Naftuli Moster
- #13 – Comedy Without Hashtags with Craig Lauzon
- #12 – Transparency Evangelism with Minds CEO Bill Ottman
- #11 – 35 Years of Wasted Time with Edward Hertrich
- #10 – That’s Not Funny with Mike Ward and Jamie Kilstein
- #9 – TERF v. Trans with Meghan Murphy and Julie Rei Goldstein
- #8 – Gender Dysphoria 101 with Dr. Susan Bradley
- #7 – Short Cut: Assaulting pro-lifers with Marie-Claire Bissonnette
- #6 – Academic Mobbing with Jonathan Haidt, Bret Weinstein & Rebecca Tuvel
- #5 – David Frum on Discourse in Trump’s America
- #4 – Wrongspeak Review Vol. 1 with Ed the Sock and Adrienne Batra
- #3 – Too Young to Transition? (featuring Susan Bradley)
- #2 – The Shepherd Effect with Lindsay Shepherd
- #1 – James Damore’s Inconvenient Brain
Chandler Ellis Burr (born 1963) is an American journalist and perfume curator. Burr is known for his hereditarian views on sexual orientation and sex differences, and he claims that his critics “hate science.”
Burr was on the roster of the Human Biodiversity Institute (HBI), a hereditarian organization created by conservative businessman Steve Sailer.
Background
Burr was born in Chicago and graduated from Christian Science school Principia College. He then worked in the Southeast Asia bureau of The Christian Science Monitor. Burr later wrote for The Atlantic and US News & World Report. He identifies as gay and atheist and has written extensively about the perfume industry.
Views on sexual orientation
Following a 1993 Atlantic cover story on “homosexuality and biology,” Burr expanded that work into the 1996 book A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation. That book also briefly covers the search of causes of gender identity and expression.
Views on bisexuality
As with many other HBI members, Burr has defended controversial psychologist J. Michael Bailey, in particular Bailey’s claims that men are “straight, gay, or lying,” a pernicious belief among some biased gay men and sexologists that male bisexuality doesn’t exist.
Burr wrote the following after New York Times journalist Benedict Carey presented an uncritical look at Bailey’s claims the bisexual men are “lying.”
The passage in bold perfectly summarizes why people like Burr can’t see their bias. Burr believes that because both “the right” and “the left” take issue with his spurious views, that Burr must be correct. This is a classic “argument to moderation” fallacy.
July 12, 2005
To the Editor:
Some gay and bisexual advocates are condemning “Straight, Gay or Lying?” regarding a study suggesting that bisexuality may not exist among human males – something those of us familiar with the scientific literature have known since, basically, forever.
Compare this hysterical – and anti-science – reaction to the conservative Christians’ anti-science reaction to studies showing that homosexuality is an inborn orientation like left-handedness. They’re identical.
The right hates science because the data contradict (in the case of homosexuality) Leviticus; the left because the data contradict the liberal lie that we’re environment-created, not hard-wired in any way.
These particular scientific facts are making these advocates scream like members of the extreme right, though it’s they who always tells the right to let go of concepts that are contradicted by science.
Chandler Burr
New York
The writer is the author of “A Separate Creation: The Search for the Biological Origins of Sexual Orientation.”
Resources
Chandler Burr (chandlerburr.com)
ProCon (procon.org)
Media Matters for America (MMFA) is an American media watchdog organization that monitors and reports on media issues.
Resources
Media Matters for America (mediamatters.org)