Buck Angel is an American model, pornographic performer, entrepreneur, and cultural critic.
Although many of Angel’s views on sex, sexuality, and gender are progressive, Angel is considered a prominent transgender conservative for using terms and concepts that have largely fallen out of use. These views have made Angel a favored source among conservative and anti-transgender journalists and commentators.
Background
Angel was born June 5, 1962 in Los Angeles, California. After high school Angel worked as a model but felt disconnected from the world, self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. After identifying as lesbian until age 28, Angel began taking hormones, later opting for top surgery but not bottom surgery. Angel later had a hysterectomy.
Beginning around 2005, Angel began to appear in pornographic films, billed as “the man with a pussy.” Angel earned industry recognition for this groundbreaking career.
Angel eventually moved into sex education, appearing in films and speaking at conferences and schools. Angel has frequently appeared in the media. Angel’s entrepreneurial projects include a dating site, an outreach site for trans men, a cannabis company, and sex toys.
Angel was married to Karin Winslow, a dominatrix who left Angel for filmmaker Lana Wachowski. Angel was then in a one-year marriage to a body piercer that ended in an acrimonious split. Angel later married filmmaker Rachel Mason.
Political views
Angel identifies as transsexual and as a “female who lives as a man.” Most people in the community reject these older terms and conceptualizations. Angel advocates for maintaining sex-segregated spaces like competitive sports and takes issue with the phrase “trans women are women.” Progressive members of the community characterize Angel’s views as transmedicalist and sex segregationist. Angel has been affiliated with extremist group Gays Against Groomers.
Ana Valens is an American journalist who frequently writes about gaming and sexuality from a progressive and pro-transgender perspective.
Background
Valens earned a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in 2016.
Valens has written and edited at New Brunswick Today, TRIM Magazine, Gamemoir, The Anthologist, Kill Screen Media, Inc., CGMagazine, PRIDE, Now Loading, Dot Esports, The Toast, Bitch Media, Fanbyte, Kill Screen, Waypoint, Glixel, Daily Dot, and The Mary Sue.
Valens has also worked with gaming companies Sekai Project and FemHype.
Joey Brite is an American ex-transgender activist who organized an anti-transgender conference in 2020 and is an executive producer of the 2023 anti-trans film No Way Back (originally Affirmation Generation). Director Laura VanZee-Taylor, producer Penka Kouneva, and executive producer Brite are responsible for including convicted sex offender David Arthur Kendall as one of the ex-trans activists featured.
Background
Alicia Nancy Neff was born in February 4, 1955 in Los Angeles to Charles “Bud” Neff and Carolyn Jeannette Neff. Neff’s father was a musician who ran Neff’s Paint and Wallpaper in Anaheim, and Alicia Neff graduated from Anaheim High School in 1972.
As an adult, Neff began using the names Alicia Brite and Joey Brite, usually styled joey brite. Brite and a songwriting partner began performing original “women’s music.” Brite also worked in set design and theatrical props, eventually becoming lighting assistant for an independent film company “that churned out lesbian porn for theatrical release.”
Brite has kept a connection with the paint and wallpaper industry since the late 1980s, operating an interior paint consultancy called The COLOR Effect since 1995.
Brite was a DJ at KPFA in Berkeley from 1983 to 1985. Brite was associated with Mills College from 2001 to 2003, working as a liaison for Fremont High School. In 2004 Brite began producing events and fundraisers and started handling social media for several artists.
In 2020, Brite described conservative trans people Blaire White, Scott Newgent, Fionne Orlander, and Buck Angel as the “four horsemen of the gender critical apocalypse.”
Brite continues working in production, incorporating Small Pockets Productions LLC in California in 2020 and Behind the Curtain Productions Inc in New York in 2022.
2020 conference
On August 8, 2020, Brite held the “Can I Get a Witness” conference. It was dedicated to the memory of Magdalen Berns and featured many prominent anti-transgender activists:
Wall Street Journal writer Abigail Shrier and Author of the recently published Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters
Therapist Sasha Ayad M. Ed., LPC at Inspired Teen Therapy
Wortham, Jenna (November 16, 2018). On Instagram, Seeing Between the (Gender) Lines. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/16/magazine/tech-design-instagram-gender.html
Carmel, Julia (December 4, 2021). Alok Vaid-Menon Finds Beauty Beyond Gender. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/04/style/alok-vaid-menon-artist-nonbinary-poet-activist.html
Jeffrey Marsh is an American author and media personality. Marsh identifies as nonbinary and is known for positive and affirming videos about self-acceptance.
Background
Jeffrey Earl Marsh was born on July 7, 1977 in York, Pennsylvania. Marsh earned a bachelor’s degree from University of the Arts in 1999. Marsh was then a member of Le Cabaret Mélange in Philadelphia. In 2003 Marsh premiered An Evening with Jeffrey Marsh in Philadelphia.
In 2007, Marsh moved to New York and continued performing at cabarets. Works included a 2010 tribute to performer Julian Eltinge and a 2012 tribute to self-help guru Richard Simmons.
Marsh began a relationship with American art historian Jeffrey “Jeff” Fraiman and shared a website.
Activism
Marsh is well-known for affirming short-form videos on social media, particularly Vine, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Marsh is the author of two books:
How to Be You: Stop Trying to Be Someone Else and Start Living Your Life (2016)
Take Your Own Advice: Learn to Trust Your Inner Voice and Start Helping Yourself (2023)
Marsh has worked with youth organization Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network and has contributed to TIME, Oprah.com, and Huffington Post.
Marsh is frequently criticized by social and religious conservatives, some of whom accuse Marsh of encouraging minors to reach out directly if they are in unaccepting homes. Marsh has also advised that in some cases it may be necessary to go “no contact” with unaccepting family members. In 2023 TikToker Shamirun Nessa made videos mocking Marsh, which Nessa says led to harassment. Nessa quickly became a cause célèbre among anti-trans activists, with Julie Bindel, Meghan Murphy, and others writing about the controversy.
Marsh says two things bring peace when faced with hatred. The first is Marsh’s mission in life to “bring forth what needs to be healed” in everyone. The second is a belief that people hate “so they don’t have to face their own pain,” something Marsh knows of from personal experience.
References
Whittington, Lewis (June 5, 2003). Taking the Stage. mycitypaper.com. [archive] https://mycitypaper.com/articles/2003-06-05/art.shtml
Hunka, George (February 11, 2010). Julian at Dixon Place. Culturebot. [archive] http://www.culturebot.org/2010/02/5530/julian-at-dixon-place/
Staff report (August 8, 2016). Jeffrey Marsh, Viner of the Year, says stop trying to be someone else and start living your life. cbslocal.com [archive] http://jackseattle.cbslocal.com/2016/08/08/jeffrey-marsh-viner-of-the-year-says-stop-trying-to-be-someone-else-and-start-living-your-life/
Jazz Jennings is an American media personality and transgender activist. Jennings is one of the most notable transgender youth to make a gender transition as a minor.
Background
Jennings was born October 6, 2000 in Florida. Parents Jeanette and Greg have four children in total. The surname Jennings is a pseudonym they chose to help protect their family’s privacy.
In 2007, Jennings was interviewed on 20/20 by Barbara Walters, leading to national recognition and additional appearances. In 2015, Jennings was the subject of the reality show I Am Jazz.
Jennings graduated from Broward Virtual School in 2019. Jennings was accepted to Harvard University, but deferred enrollment until 2023 to deal with “mental health setbacks.”
Jennings is involved in TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation, an organization the family founded to support trans youth.
References
Reischel, Julia (May 30, 2006). See Tom Be Jane.Village Voice https://www.villagevoice.com/see-tom-be-jane/
David Paisley is a Scottish actor and trans-inclusive LGBTQ+ rights activist.
Background
Paisley was born February 2, 1979 is originally from Falkirk. Paisley is one of seven children; Paisley’s parent Janet Paisley is a noted author.
David Paisley began acting as a teen and came out as gay at age 18. Paisley studied at University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University before committing to acting full-time.
Paisley is known for roles in Tinsel Town, River City, Holby City, Casualty, and Eastenders.
Transgender activism
Paisley has been critical of trans-exclusionary queers like the LGB Alliance.
In 2021, Paisley had a dispute with Joanna Cherry, a Scottish politician and gender critical activist. Paisley called out Cherry for making a donation to a crowdfunder backed by anti-trans pressure group Fair Cop. Cherry sent a letter demanding Paisley retract the message, apologize, pay £500 to a charity of Cherry’s choice, and pay £2,000 in legal costs.
Following significant online abuse, Paisley considered deleting all social media accounts and leaving Scotland.
India Willoughby is an English journalist and media personality. Willoughby is Britain’s first transgender national television newsreader and the first transgender co-host of an all-women talk show, Loose Women.
Background
Willoughby was born September 2, 1965 in Carlisle, Cumbria and attended Trinity School in Shaw, Newbury.
Willoughby began working in journalism in 1986. Willoughby trained as a journalist (NCTJ) in newspapers before moving into radio and then television.
After presenting the news for ITV from 1999 to 2010, Willoughby then transitioned, going public in 2015 before returning to ITV in 2016.
In 2017, Willoughby was a guest on BBC’s Woman’s Hour. Host Jenni Murray asked several pointed questions, then wrote an op-ed telling trans women to stop calling themselves real women.
Willoughby then presented on Channel 5 from 2017 to 2018 before returning to ITV in 2018. Willoughby appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 2018.
Willoughby has made a number of controversial statements and often gets into arguments on social media. At one point the death threats against Willoughby got so bad that the UK’s counter-terrorism unit got involved.
Sam Brinton is an American nuclear engineer and LGBTQ activist. In 2022 Brinton briefly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, the first openly genderfluid person in federal government leadership. The role ended after Brinton was accused of stealing luggage at airports.
Background
Samuel Otis Brinton was born in September 1987 and grew up in Perry, Iowa in a Baptist household. After coming out as bisexual, Brinton was reportedly sent to conversion therapy that practiced harsh aversion techniques. Much of Brinton’s subsequent activism focused on ending conversion therapy.
Brinton graduated from Perry High School in 2006, earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 2011, and earned a dual master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013.
According to an official biography, prior to the DOE role, Brinton held energy policy roles at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Breakthrough Institute, the Clean Air Task Force, Third Way, and Deep Isolation.
Brinton married Kevin Rieck in 2019.
Theft accusations
Shortly after taking office in 2022, Brinton was accused of theft of women’s luggage at airports. The investigation uncovered at least three cases:
Washington Reagan (2018): reportedly arrested in May 2023
Las Vegas (July 2022): pled no contest, paid restitution, 180-day suspended sentence
Minneapolis (September 2022): mental health evaluation ordered
The scandal received widespread media attention and cost Brinton the DOE job.
Susie Green is a British gender rights activist who focuses on transgender youth. Green helped her child Jackie medically transition as a minor, including gender affirming surgery in 2010 at age 16. Green was involved in the British charity Mermaids as a trustee from 2011 to 2015, then as CEO from 2016 to 2022.
Background
Susie Marie Green was born in December 1957. She was an IT manager for Citizens Advice from 2002 to 2015. Green lives in Yorkshire, and is married to Tim Green. They have four adult children, including twins.
Green gave a 2017 talk at TEDx Truro that was criticized by anti-trans activists. Green later removed the video.
Green was a consultant on the 2o18 ITV drama Butterfly and helped shape the WPATH chapter on children and adolescents.
She got involved at Mermaids in 2000 because her daughter Jackie was trying to navigate gender transition as a minor. During her time as CEO, the debate about transgender youth intensified, particularly following a £500,000 grant from the National Lottery and corporate sponsorships.
Under Green, Mermaids launched the first legal challenge of its kind against the LGB Alliance, a trans-exclusionary charity which is critical of “gender ideology.” Mermaids sought to end its charitable status.
In late 2022, Mermaids was hit with several setbacks. New Mermaids trustee Jacob Breslow resigned after a 2011 presentation he gave at a conference for minor-attracted persons held by B4U-ACT came to light. Complaints from staff led to an outside audit conducted by DEI consultants the Social Justice Collective. Days after Green resigned, UK’s Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into Mermaids after reports that they offered chest binders to teens whose parents opposed their transitions.
Green has been recognized for her contributions to the trans community on several occasions, including an event at Buckingham Palace. In 2016 she won the Diversity Champion Award. In 2023 Green joined GenderGP as project manager on the GenderGP Trans Youth Fund.
SJC (2022). EDI Audit: Recommendations and Next Steps. https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EDI-Audit_-Recommendations-and-Next-Steps.pdf