Carl Benjamin, is a British far-right activist and media personality who has maintained three YouTube channels: Sargon of Akkad, The Thinkery, and Akkad Daily.
Benjamin has consistently espoused anti-transgender views and is associated with other anti-trans extremists.
Background
Carl Benjamin was born in 1980.
Benjamin was an early member of the so-called intellectual dark web, a gateway to the far right.
Media
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (Jan 6, 2023) Akkad Daily – Kellie-Jay interviewed by Carl Benjamin YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMAJivZtmeE
The Serf Times (Aug 13, 2021). Sargon of Akkad has some VERY DATED OPINIONS of Trans Rights (Carl WHINES about Trans Rights Rally!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiNtH2oAUA
Rationality Rules (Jan 16, 2020). What Makes a Woman? | Stephen Woodford vs. Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgddcw5LXx8
Brenton Lengel (Jul 7, 2020). DEBATE: Trans Women in Sports (Sargon of Akkad vs Brenton Lengel) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3MehQntVo
The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters (Aug 21, 2023). Our Civilisation Hurts Children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIm-ELM8s_g
Resources
Lotus Eaters (lotuseaters.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
SubscribeStar (subscribestar.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Other platforms:
- GETTR: https://gettr.onelink.me/Epfq/76f4ca77
- BitChute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/lotuâŠ
- Odysee – Podcasts: https://odysee.com/@lotuseaters_com:1
- Odysee – Other Videos: https://odysee.com/@lotuseatermedia:9
- Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-340087
- SoundCloud: / lotuseaters_com
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bXokLwâŠ
- Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0âŠ
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcastâŠ
- Lotuseaters.com: https://www.lotuseaters.com/category/âŠ
- DLive: https://dlive.tv/lotuseaters_com
- Twitch:/ lotuseaters_com
- VK: https://vk.com/lotuseaters_com
- Parler: https://parler.com/profile/lotuseaterâŠ
- Gab: https://gab.com/lotuseaters_com
- Minds: https://www.minds.com/lotuseaters_com/
- Ruqqus: https://ruqqus.com/+lotuseaters_com
- Reddit: / lotuseaters_com
Steven Crowder is a conservative media personality and anti-transgender extremist.
Background
Steven Blake Crowder was born on July 7, 1987, in Detroit, Michigan. Crowder and older sibling Jordan grew up in Montreal. Crowder began acting as a child and began doing standup at age 17. Crowder attended Champlain College for less than a year before dropping out.
In 2009 Crowder began posting satirical videos on conservative platforms, including Pajamas Media and Big Hollywood. Crowder worked at Fox News from 2009 to 2013, when they ended the relationship after Crowder made negative comments about Fox News and host Sean Hannity.
In 2017, Crowder began the Louder with Crowder show on Conservative Review’s CRTV, whic soon merged with Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze. Crowder is known for a “Change My Mind” series, where he shows up on a college campus with a provocative sign. One of the most popular is “There Are Only 2 Genders,” which has been repeated many times.
In 2019 YouTube investigated Crowder regarding comments about gay journalist Carlos Maza, but determined the racist and homophobic slurs did not violate their policies. They demonetized the channel following criticism, but allowed it again on some videos about a year later. In 2021, YouTube suspended the channel for a week and demonetized the channel again. In 2022, Crowder’s channel was suspended for two weeks for violating its policy on harassment, threats and cyberbullying. In 2023, Crowder’s channel was suspended again for featuring Alex Jones as co-host. In 2021, Crowder sued Faceboook over alleged censorship.
In 2023, Crowder got in a dispute with anti-trans organization Daily Wire following failed negotiations to join the platform. Crowder moved the show to Rumble, later partnering with Alex Jones, Nick Di Paolo, and Bryan Callen for an extended show.
Crowder and Hilary Korzon married in 2012, have dizygotic twin children, and separated in 2021. In 2023, Korzon released a recording in which Crowder was angrily yelling.
Anti-transgender activism
Samantha Riedel summarized Crowder’s long history of transphobic content:
No group has captivated Crowderâs gaze more thoroughly, however, than transgender people. Crowder was an early adopter of the post-gay marriage pivot to transphobia as a conservative business model. In the late 2010s, Crowder was already hosting sham âdebatesâ on whether there are more than two genders, physically threatening trans people at work, and infiltrating trans groups to accuse them of indoctrinating children â years before Chaiya Raichik would perfect the grift with Libs of TikTok. Since then, Crowder has kept the volume on his transphobia at 11 by attacking trans public figures like Elliot Page and spreading disinformation, for which he was briefly suspended from YouTube.
[…] Virtually any story seems like a good excuse for Crowder to hop in a dress and spend several hours in a makeup chair to, uh, own the libs? He has dressed in drag to “go undercover” at an International Womenâs Day event, where he was welcomed as a trans woman by the cisgender organizers, and wore a floral dress and wig while just hanging out in the studio to kick off âCultural Appropriation Monthâ in June 2022. There was also the âTranny Bane vs. Jihadi Bondâ skit, in which Crowder managed to combine his two favorite identity cosplays into one terrible package, and my #1 draft pick: the time he tried to pose as a trans woman at Planet Fitness, where he intentionally broke gym rules by slamming weights and was quickly banned from the entire chain for life. As Twitter user @RightWingCope put it, âIâve seen Steven Crowder crossdressing more times than Iâve seen drag queens in my whole life.â
Riedel (2023)
On November 6, 2023, Crowder released leaked notes purportedly written by the 2023 Nashville Covenant School shooter.
References
Campbell, Jason (August 7, 2023). Steven Crowderâs empire of hate collapses. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/steven-crowder/steven-crowders-empire-hate-collapses
Riedel, Samantha (August 11, 2023). Steven Crowder Was Once the Transphobe in Chief. Now His Career Is Cratering. them. https://www.them.us/story/steven-crowder-career-transphobia
Resources
Louder with Crowder (louderwithcrowder.com)
Crowdershop (officialcrowdershop.com)
- crowdershop.com
- mugclub.rumble.com
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Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Megyn Kelly is an American author, conservative media personality, and anti-transgender activist.
Kelly frequently platforms anti-transgender extremists, including Helen Joyce, Jesse Singal, Katie Herzog, Jennifer Bilek, Miriam Grossman, Jaimee Michell, and Chris Barrett.
Background
Megyn Marie Kelly was born November 18, 1970 in Champaign, Illinois to Edward Francis Kelly (1940-1985) and Linda (DeMaio) Kelly. Edward Kelly died when Megyn was 15. Kelly was raised Catholic.
Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in 1992 and a law degree from Albany Law School in 1995. Kelly worked as a lawyer for about 10 years.
Kelly married Daniel “Dan” Kendall in 2001 the divorced in 2006. Kelly married novelist Doug Brunt in 2008. They have three children: Thatcher, Yates, and Yardley.
Kelly hosted several shows at Fox News from 2004 to 2017, including America Live, America’s Newsroom, and The Kelly File. During that time, Kelly was known for political reporting, debate coverage, and debate moderation. Kelly was at NBC News from 2017 to 2018 before being terminated over comments about blackface.Â
Kelly authored the 2016 memoir Settle for More.
Kelly founded Devil May Care Media, which produces the podcast The Megyn Kelly Show.
Anti-transgender activism
Kelly frequently criticizes prominent trans and gender diverse figures, including Rachel Levine, Jonathan Van Ness and Dylan Mulvaney.
References
Staff (December 9, 2017). Why GLAAD Ripped Megyn Kelly For ‘Failing’ the LGBTQ Community. TooFab https://toofab.com/2017/12/09/why-glaad-ripped-megyn-kelly-for-failing-the-lgbtq-community/
Cooper, Alex (April 25, 2022). Watch Megyn Kelly Claim Trans Activists Are Making Gay Men Trans. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/media/2022/4/25/watch-megyn-kelly-claim-trans-activists-are-making-gay-men-trans
Kelly, Megyn (April 16, 2021). Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal on Culture Wars, the Trans Trend, and Fad Psychology | Ep. 90. The Megyn Kelly Show
McBride, Jessica (December 11, 2017). Dan Kendall, Megyn Kellyâs Ex-Husband: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. Heavy https://heavy.com/news/2017/12/dan-kendall-megyn-kelly-ex-husband-daniel-is-still-married/
Wiggins, Christopher (September 28, 2023). How Jonathan Van Ness Clapped Back at Megyn Kelly Over Mocking Trans Inclusion in Sports. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/people/jonathan-van-ness-megyn-kelly
Schwartz, Ian (June 2, 2023). Megyn Kelly: I’m Done With The Trans Pronoun Charade, I Didn’t See The Harm. RealClearPolitics https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/06/02/megyn_kelly_i_was_unfortunately_an_early_proponent_of_using_preferred_pronouns_trans_people_were_tortured_enough.html
Resources
Megyn Kelly (megynkelly.com)
Devil May Care Media (devilmaycaremedia.com)
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Bridget Phetasy is the stage name of Bridget A. Walsh, an American writer and anti-transgender activist.
Phetasy has written for numerous anti-trans publications, including The Spectator, The Federalist, Quillette, UnHerd, and The Atlantic.
Background
Bridget Anna Walsh was born November 16, 1978. Phetasy’s parents divorced in 1991. Phetasy reportedly struggled with cocaine, alcohol, ecstasy, and marijuana use until around age 35.
Greeting card company Phetasy LLC was created in Rhode Island in 2004 by Bridget A. Walsh. Phetasy was trademarked in 2005. Phetasy went bankrupt soon after, at age 27.
Phetasy hosts Dumpster Fire and the podcast Walks-Ins Welcome.
References
Phetasy, Bridget (June 22, 2023) Why Pride lost the public: âGays and women are bearing the brunt of the gender ideology nonsense.â The Spectator https://thespectator.com/topic/pride-lost-public-lgbt-trans-children/
Phetasy, Bridget (June 22, 2023). Why women need to feel fear: Our instincts aren’t bigoted â they’re essential. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/09/why-women-need-to-feel-fear/
Media
Bridget Phetasy (October 19, 2023). They’re Sterilizing Gay Kids – Helen Joyce – WiW 225 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahS0VjJNaew
Resources
Bridget Phetasy (phetasy.com)
Bridget Phetasy (bridgetphetasy.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Y9uTube (youtube.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
Tina Traster is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Traster’s company Broken Hearted Films produced the 2022 anti-trans propaganda piece Dead Name, which was removed from Vimeo for hateful content.
Background
Tina A. Traster was born on May 10, 1962. Traster earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston University in 1983.
Traster has written for numerous publications, including The Bergen Record, Crains New York Business, The New York Post, The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, The Journal News, Nyack News & Views, Redbook, Family Circle, Parade, Time Out New York, Audubon, and Ski Magazine.
Traster is editor and publisher of the Rockland County Business Journal.
Traster owned the Pot Luck Tea Company, a play on the name Tina Traster Polak.
Traster was married to a British diamond dealer for about ten years before divorcing. Traster then married lawyer Richard D. “Rick” Tannenbaum (born 1961). They have children.
Traster is the author of the 2014 book Rescuing Julia Twice: A Motherâs Tale of Russian Adoption and Overcoming Reactive Attachment Disorder. Reviewer Grace Newton condemned the book:
Traster writes as if she deserves a plaque for doing simply what she promised to do through adoption â parent. The sadness of this situation is firstly for Julia, whose privacy has been completely violated. And she will never get it back. A second sadness exists for the families who are currently dealing with RAD and desperately looking for help. Stumbling on Rescuing Julia Twice in the Psychology or Childcare sections of bookstores, these families may be tempted to use Trasterâs book as a handbook for their own situations instead of seeking appropriate help.
Newton (2014)
Prior to Dead Name, Traster produced the documentaries Catnip Nation and This House Matters.
Anti-transgender activism
Traster subscribes to the disputed disease “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” a controversial diagnosis favored by unaccepting parents of trans and gender diverse adolescents. Traster wrote in a piece deleted by Psychology Today: “there may be some parents who themselves are being rejected because they have not quickly or strongly supported their tween or teen through appearance and name changes, hormone-treatment, and, in some cases, life-altering surgeries.”
Traster spoke with anti-trans extremist Graham Linehan about the deleted piece.
References
Traster, Tina (November 20, 2020). Trans Kids May Reject Family, Not the Other Way Around. Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/against-all-odds/202011/trans-kids-may-reject-family-not-the-other-way-around [archive]
Traster, Tina (September 20, 2011). NYC Transplant Tina Traster Talks New York City Living, Marriage, and the Fear of Sleeping Alone in the Suburbs. Hudson Valley https://hvmag.com/life-style/nyc-transplant-tina-traster-talks-new-york-city-living-marriage-and-the-fear-of-sleeping-alone-in-the-suburbs/
Traster, Tina (February 3, 2017). A parent aims to decipher a teen’s transgender declaration. The Manifest Station https://www.themanifeststation.net/2017/02/03/parent-aims-decipher-teens-transgender-declaration/
Resources
Tina Traster (tinatraster.com) [archive]
Dead Name (deadnamedocumentary.com)
Pot Luck Tea (potlucktea.com) [archive]
Julia and Me (juliaandme.com) [archive]
Catnip Nation (catnipnation.com) [archive]
Rockland County Business Journal (rcbizjournal.com)
- About Us
- https://rcbizjournal.com/2022/08/30/aboutus/
Twitter (twitter.com)
Medium (medium.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Melissa Chen is a conservative Singaporean writer and anti-transgender activist.
Chen is an advisor at anti-trans group Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism and has been involved in numerous other conservative projects that oppose trans rights, such as Environmental Progress.
Background
Melissa Chiu Chen was born in Singapore on December 12, 1984 and grew up in a conservative family. Chen earned an undergraduate degree at Boston University and a doctorate at MIT. Chen worked at the Broad Institute as a genome researcher before becoming a writer.
In 2017 Chen co-founded Ideas Beyond Borders with Faisal Saeed Al Mutar. The organization translates controversial political works into Arabic.
In 2022, Chen co-chaired the finance committee for anti-trans activist Michael Shellenbergerâs run for governor of California.
Anti-transgender activism
Via The New Yorker:
Chen and Boghossian had workshopped a pitch to the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, for a project to create âa modern-day Death Starâ to wage âideological warfareâ on the âenemies of modernityâ; their plan involved writing coördinated op-eds and promoting anti-woke content, but it was rejected. Weiss and her friends also sought advice from Niall Ferguson, a historian at the Hoover Institution, about the best way forward.
Green (2023)
 Chen has appeared on Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and has been a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience.
References
Green, Emma (June 5, 2023). Is it possible to be both moderate and anti-woke? New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-activism/is-it-possible-to-be-both-moderate-and-anti-woke
Resources
Melissa Chen (melissa.blog)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
The Spectator (spectatorworld.com)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Taylor Fogarty is an American anti-transgender extremist.
Fogarty was a scheduled participant in a 2017 panel that claimed transgender people are “a homophobic element introduced by the 1% to control homosexuality, reinstate male supremacy, and utilize gay children as fodder for scientific experimentation.”
Fogarty expressed anti-trans views in The Federalist, as well as on YouTube and Twitter (both of which have been deleted).
Background
Taylor Alanah Fogarty was born on October 14, 1993. Fogarty grew up in Richmond, Virginia and attended Virginia Commonwealth University and UnCollege.
Fogarty interned at Wonderland SF, Sarah Liller Design, TARA4BPD, and GoPop, and was an au pair for two months. Fogarty also worked at Zomato, Alice’s Arbor, and Randalls Barbecue.
Fogarty earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2023.
Sometime after deleting the virulently transphobic “loudlesbian” Twitter account, Fogarty reported being engaged to copywriter Tommy Preston. They had a child named Eloise Frances Preston in 2023.
Fogarty reports getting sober in 2019. Perhaps Fogarty will someday make amends for engaging in anti-trans extremism prior to sobriety.
Anti-trans activism
In 2017, left-wing conference Left Forum announced that Jane Wheeler (under the name Jane Chotard) would chair a June 4th panel titled âMisery for Profit: Who is Funding the Transgender Movement and the Impact on LGB.â The synopsis stated:
We will be showing that the immense funding funneled to the transgender movement is coming from giant pharmaceutical and biotechnology Industries and what their aim is. We will also be showing how the corporately controlled media is interfaced with these same Industries and are blocking any alternative to the pro-trans propaganda now being disseminated. We will be showing that the transgender movement is not in fact a civil rights issue, but a business arrangement and an advertising arm of these industries. We will cover the implications of this on the LGB community and show how transgender is a political coup, positioned as an ally alongside the LGB, but are actually a homophobic element introduced by the 1% to control homosexuality, reinstate male supremacy, and utilize gay children as fodder for scientific experimentation.
Left Forum, cited in Riedel (2017)
Participants and provided bios:
- Jane Chotard: Chair and speaker
- âJane Chotard is an out lesbian for over 30 years, mother of two teenage boys, past healthcare attorney, currently works to provide better care services to patients and residents facing serious illnesses and end-of-life issues.â
- Jennifer Bilek: Panel organizer and speaker
- âJennifer Bilek is a bisexual artist/activist/writer living in NYC for a lot longer than is probably healthy.â
- Taylor Fogarty: Speaker
- âTaylor Fogarty is a Brooklyn dwelling twenty-something year old who writes about feminism and politics.â Twitter: @theloudlesbian
The panel was canceled following protests. Fogarty complained about the cancellation in conservative publication The Federalist.
References
WRLN (August 3, 2017). Edition 16: The money behind the trans movement and impact on lesbians. Women’s Liberation Radio News https://womensliberationradionews.com/2017/08/03/edition-16-the-money-behind-the-trans-movement-and-impact-on-lesbians/
Fogarty, Taylor (October 11, 2017). What Two Former Trans Men Want You To Know About All The Lies. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/10/11/what-two-former-trans-men-want-you-to-know-about-all-the-lies/
Fogarty, Taylor (August 17, 2017). âBad Feministâ Author Tells Trans Advocate To âSlapâ Lesbian Woman. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/08/17/bad-feminist-author-tells-trans-advocate-slap-lesbian-woman/
Fogarty, Taylor (June 2, 2017). Left Forum Cancels Lesbian Panel Questioning Trans Advocacy Funding. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/06/02/left-forum-cancels-lesbian-panel-questioning-trans-advocacy-funding/
Fogarty, Taylor (May 2, 2017). Why Trans Activists Will Destroy Homosexual Rights. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/05/02/trans-activists-will-destroy-homosexual-rights/
Fogarty, Taylor (October 11, 2017). This Is The Journal Entry I Wrote When I Was Still In The Closet. Thought Catalog http://thoughtcatalog.com/taylor-fogarty/2015/08/this-is-the-journal-entry-i-wrote-when-i-was-still-in-the-closet/
Riedel, Sam (July 7, 2017). Why Trans Activists Canât Trust The Left. The Establishment https://medium.com/the-establishment/why-trans-activists-cant-trust-the-left-3bfa22928ddd
Media
Magdalen Berns (Jun 27, 2017). A Chat About Dating ‘Preferences.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aedPEImJysw
Resources
Taylor Fogarty (taylorfogarty.com) [archive]
Taylor Fogarty (tayloredblog.com) [archive]
Twitter (twitter.com)
Tom Preston (tommypreston.com)
The Federalist (thefederalist.com)
Thought Catalog (thoughtcatalog.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Depop (depop.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Arielle Scarcella is a conservative YouTuber and anti-transgender activist.
Scarcella is part of the trans-exclusionary lesbian movement and has been affiliated with anti-trans extremist group Gays Against Groomers.Â
Background
Scarcella earned a bachelor’s degree from the Pratt Institute in 2008.
After graduating, Scarcella became a popular YouTuber. Around 2020, Scarcella began getting involved in anti-transgender activism.
Scarcella is just one voice in a growing movement defending homosexual rights. In the UK, coalitions like âGet the L Outâ and Lesbian Alliance have been calling for lesbians to distance themselves from the monolithic, trans-centered LGBT movement. The LGB Alliance formed as a counter to the UKâs largest LGBT organization, Stonewall.
Macdonald (2020)
References
Stegmann, Elise (April 12, 2020). The Platform of a TERF: How Arielle Scarcella creates a trans exclusionary discourse on YouTube. diggit https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/platform-terf-how-arielle-scarcella-creates-trans-exclusionary-discourse-youtube
Macdonald, Jocelyn (February 28, 2020) Arielle Scarcella Has Left the Chat. After Ellen https://afterellen.com/arielle-scarcella-has-left-the-chat/
Resources
Project Toasty (projecttoasty.com) [archive]
YouTube (youtube.com)
Indiegogo (indiegogo.com)
- indiegogo.com/projects/project-toasty–3#
Twitter (twitter.com)
Locals (locals.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Tumblr (tumblr.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
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Jenny Poyer Ackerman is an American anti-transgender activist. Ackerman is the unsupportive parent of a gender diverse child and author at anti-trans Substack blogs TransMuted and Year Zero.
Background
Jennifer Carol “Jenny” Poyer was born on January 20, 1964 and is married to real estate and construction executive Randall R. “Randy” Ackerman (born 1962). They have three adult children.
Jenny Ackerman has an interior design business called Glad Pad Interiors and an accessories business called Alchemy Leather Goods. Both are based in Alamo, California.
Ackerman’s Etsy profile says: “I am an interior decorator working in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the course of my work, I have found myself with piles of leftover fabrics and leather hides which I began upcycling into one-of-a-kind handbags and pillows.”
Anti-transgender activism
Ackerman is a proponent of the disputed disease “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”
Ackerman also contributed to a 2023 anti-transgender book by Women’s Declaration International.
References
Yang, Wesley; Ackerman, Jenny Poyer (October 7, 2023).What Did You Do During the Transgender Social Contagion? Year Zero https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/what-did-you-during-the-transgender
Staff report (February 28, 2001). Obituary: James B. Poyer. SFGate https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/James-B-Poyer-2947570.php
Ackerman, Jenny Poyer (2023). Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and Its Discontents. In Womenâs Rights, Gender Wrongs: the global impact of gender-identity ideology, Cath Aiken and SallyWainwright, eds.
Resources
Substack (substack.com)
Etsy (etsy.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Gary L. Francione is an American animal rights activist and anti-transgender activist. Francione claims transgender people hold “metaphysical spiritual beliefs,” so “it is not ‘transphobic’ to refuse to embrace trans belief claims.”
Background
Gary Lawrence Francione was born in May 1954. Francione earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Rochester, followed by master’s and law degrees from University of Virginia.
After clerking for judge Albert Tate, Jr., and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Francione practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
In 1984, Francione joined the faculty of University of Pennsylvania Law School, earning tenure in 1987. While there, Francione began teaching animal rights jurisprudence. In 1989, Francione took an appointment at Rutgers. In 1990, Francione co-founded the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Project with Anna Charlton, and it ran for about a decade. Francione developed the abolitionist theory of animal rights, which holds that the foundational right of animals is not to be property.
Anti-transgender activism
Francione is a sex segregationist who opposes restructuring social institutions to eliminate the remaining vestiges of sex segregation. Francione’s litany of anti-transgender complaints reveal a deep involvement in the anti-trans movement. Most of Francione’s complaints come down to “protection for women.”
In 2023, Francione posted an anti-trans manifesto on Medium, which promptly removed it it for being “content that may undermine the dignity and rights of transgender and/or non-binary individuals.” According to Francione, “I apparently violated the rules because I stated the fact that trans women are biological males.” Francione then reposted it on a personal blog.
Francione cites the work of other anti-trans activists, including Kathleen Stock, Holly Lawford-Smith, Helen Joyce, Colin Wright, Kenneth Zucker, Jo Bartosch, JK Rowling, Sonia Sodha, and Andrew Doyle. Francione also cites conservative trans people like Debbie Hayton.
Francione’s primary point is that the categories of “male” and “female” represent “biological reality.” Like many anti-trans people, Francione blames postmodernism for the current advances and refinements in thinking among biologists. Francione is especially anxious about advances in reproductive technology that threaten the sex segregationist worldview: “If you want to have offspring, you must find a member of the opposite sex.” Tell that to Dolly the Sheep. By the end of this century, the way people like Francione currently think about reproduction will be irrelevant.
Francione seems to be more annoyed and offended by transfeminine people than transmasculine people, attacking transgender athletes, transgender prisoners, “academic freedom,” and other anti-trans chestnuts. Francione finds the existence of same-gender loving trans people to be vexing and argues that refusing to date an entire group of people is not biased or prejudiced.
Francione is correct that single-occupancy toilets, changing rooms, and showering facilities for everyone are part of our movement’s goals.
References
Francione, Gary L. (August 2, 2023). The Trans Rights Issue: Equality Claims and Belief Claims. Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/the-trans-rights-issue-equality-claims-and-belief-claims/
- Original banned post: https://gary-francione.medium.com/the-trans-rights-issue-equality-claims-and-belief-claims-6511da0c843c [archive]
Francione, Gary L. (August 2, 2023). The Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights. Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/about/the-six-principles-of-the-abolitionist-approach-to-animal-rights/
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)