Kenneth Zucker is an American-Canadian psychologist and anti-transgender extremist.
Zucker’s ideology has caused profound harm to sex and gender minorities over a long career. Zucker has created several disease models to describe these minorities and has promoted many more sex and gender “disorders” as editor of The Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Zucker developed a non-affirming model of care for gender diverse youth that has been described as “child abuse.” Zucker was fired by employer CAMH in 2015. Zucker’s clinic was shut down, and non-affirming models of care have been outlawed in many jurisdictions.
After I was defamed in Archives of Sexual Behavior in 2007, I personally began working in earnest to get Zucker fired. Below is the last major exposé I wrote prior to that firing:
Kenneth J. “Ken” Zucker was born on December 29, 1950 to Eugene M. Zucker (1922–1997) and Sara Miller Zucker (1924–2020). Zucker has one sibling, Barbara Ann Zucker-Romanoff aka Barbra Zucker (born 1957). The family lived in Skokie, Illinois. Zucker married Rochelle Fine, also from Niles Township. Their child Simone Zucker is a Toronto-based filmmaker, and their child Josh aka “Concentration Camp” is guitarist in Toronto band Fucked Up.
Zucker attended Southern Illinois University during the Vietnam War and was one of the key campus leaders in the anti-war protest movement there, staging mock trials and declaring people war criminals in absentia (Lagow 1977). Zucker earned a bachelor’s degree there, then a master’s degree at Roosevelt University in 1975.
Zucker headed to Canada eventually just to be safe. Zucker earned a doctorate from University of Toronto in 1982.
Zucker’s frequent collaborator Richard Green had the same impulse for self-preservation: “I left Los Angeles in 1964 to avoid the Vietnam War by going to NIMH [National Institutes of Mental Health]” (Green 2004). In 2001 Green handed over editorial control of Archives of Sexual Behavior to Zucker, to continue pushing their toxic ideology about sex and gender minorities.
Physical attractiveness of children “research” (1993–1996)
Zucker was a psychologist at the Clarke Institute (aka “Jurassic Clarke”) in Toronto. Zucker is infamous for forcing gender-diverse children into reparative therapy to conform to expectations for gendered behavior in children. Zucker considers a gender transition a “bad outcome.”
Zucker had access to hundreds of children through the Clarke and took topless photos of all children brought to the clinic. In one particularly troubling “study,” Zucker wanted to see how “physically attractive” these children’s faces and upper torsos were. Adults were shown images of children in Zucker’s care and asked to rate their attractiveness.
Zucker’s conclusion: “Boys with gender identity disorder were judged to be more attractive than were the clinical control boys.”
Zucker repeated the “research” with the remaining children a few years later, concluding the “Girls with gender identity disorder had significantly less attractive ratings than the normal control girls for the traits attractive, beautiful, and pretty.”
Zucker is a darling of the ex-gay movement because of decades of attempts in “curing” gender-diverse children. Zucker was frequently cited by ex-gay groups like NARTH (National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuals) and Leadership U.
As the rest of the world begins to understand and accept gender diversity as a trait and not a disease, Zucker has been increasingly cast as the old-school holdout in press coverage. As noted in the New York Times:
Dr. Kenneth Zucker, a psychologist and head of the gender-identity service at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, disagrees with the “free to be” approach with young children and cross-dressing in public. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Zucker has treated about 500 preadolescent gender-variant children. In his studies, 80 percent grow out of the behavior, but 15 percent to 20 percent continue to be distressed about their gender and may ultimately change their sex.
Dr. Zucker tries to “help these kids be more content in their biological gender” until they are older and can determine their sexual identity — accomplished, he said, by encouraging same-sex friendships and activities like board games that move beyond strict gender roles.
Zucker thinks that an important goal of treatment is to help the children accept their birth sex and to avoid becoming transsexual. His experience has convinced him that if a boy with GID becomes an adolescent with GID, the chances that he will become an adult with GID and seek a sex change are much higher. And he thinks that the kind of therapy he practices helps reduce this risk. Zucker emphasizes a three-pronged treatment approach for boys with GID. First, he thinks that family dynamics play a large role in childhood GID—not necessarily in the origins of cross-gendered behavior, but in their persistence. It is the disordered and chaotic family, according to Zucker, that can’t get its act together to present a consistent and sensible reaction to the child, which would be something like the following: “We love you, but you are a boy, not a girl. Wishing to be a girl will only make you unhappy in the long run, and pretending to be a girl will only make your life around others harder.” So the first prong of Zucker’s approach is family therapy. Whatever conflicts or issues that parents have that prevent them from uniting to help their child must be addressed.
The second prong is therapy for the boy, to help him adjust to the idea that he cannot become a girl, and to help teach him how to minimize social ostracism. Zucker does not teach boys how to walk in a manly fashion, but he does give them feedback about the likely consequences of taking a doll to school.
The third prong is key. Zucker says simply: “The Barbies have to go.” He has nothing against Barbie dolls, of course. He means something more general. Feminine toys and accoutrements—including Barbie dolls, girls’ shoes, dresses, purses, and princess gowns—are no longer to be tolerated at home, much less bought for the child. Zucker believes that toleration and encouragement of feminine play and dress prevents the child from accepting his maleness. Common sense says that a boy who wants to play with dolls so much that he is willing to risk his father’s wrath and his peers’ scorn is unlikely to change his behavior due to inconsistent feedback, sometimes forbidding, sometimes tolerating, and sometimes even encouraging it. Inconsistent parenting like this is ineffective in stamping out any kind of unwanted behavior.
Failure to intervene increases the chances of transsexualism in adulthood, which Zucker considers a bad outcome. … Why put boys at risk for this when they can become gay men happy to be men?
Zucker blames poor family dynamics and maternal psychopathology for gender-nonconforming behavior. Zucker claims this phenomenon is more likely in non-white children with lower IQs. As J. Michael Bailey noted:
Ken Zucker, whom we met in Chapter 2, has tried to predict which boys with gender identity disorder (GID) would still have the disorder when they become adolescents. Adolescents with GID are much rarer and presumably much closer to being transsexual. Zucker found several predictors of adolescent GID: lower IQ, lower social class, immigrant status, non-intact family, and childhood behavior problems unrelated to gender identity disorder.
Zucker’s alleged “desistance” rate hides the fact that many children brought to Zucker’s clinic are hardly success stories in terms of quality of life outcomes:
Yet Zucker’s approach has its own disturbing elements. It’s easy to imagine that his methods—steering parents toward removing pink crayons from the box, extolling a patriarchy no one believes in—could instill in some children a sense of shame and a double life. A 2008 study of 25 girls who had been seen in Zucker’s clinic showed positive results; 22 were no longer gender-dysphoric, meaning they were comfortable living as girls. But that doesn’t mean they were happy. I spoke to the mother of one Zucker patient in her late 20s, who said her daughter was repulsed by the thought of a sex change but was still suffering—she’d become an alcoholic, and was cutting herself. “I’d be surprised if she outlived me,” her mother said.
Lagow, Larry Dwane (1977). A history of the Center for Vietnamese Studies at Southern Illinois University, 1969-1976. Ph.D. dissertation; typescript in Hoover Institution Archives https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0d5nd9g7/entire_text/
Staff report (December 29, 1997). Obituary: Eugene Zucker. Chicago Tribune
Eugene Zucker. 75. beloved husband of Sara, nee Miller; loving father of Dr. Ken (Rochelle) Zucker and Barbra (Steven) Romanoff; devoted grandfather of Joshua and Simone Zucker and step-grandfather of Samantha Sprigel: fond brother of Howard (Shirley) Zucker; dearest uncle of Deborah, Adina, David, and Ellen. Mr. Zucker was a life-long intellectual.
Sandeen, Autumn (May 20, 2009). GID Reform Now Protest At Annual APA Meeting. Pam’s House Blend http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/11064/gid-reform-now-protest-at-annual-apa-meeting-speaker-madeline-deutch-md [archive]
Conway, Lynn (April 5, 2007). “Drop the Barbie”: Ken Zucker’s reparatist treatment of gender-variant children. http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/News/Drop%20the%20Barbie.htm
Conway, Lynn (April 30, 2009). “The War Within: CAMH scathing internal report Zucker’s and Blanchard’s gender clinics http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/News/US/Zucker/The_War_Within_CAMH.html
Conway, Lynn (February 18, 2009). Kenneth Zucker’s legal threats: Part of a pattern of silencing transgender critics. http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/News/US/Zucker/Kenneth_Zucker%27s_pattern_of_silencing_transgender_critics.html
Winters, Kelley (2009). Gender Madness in American Psychiatry: Essays from the Struggle for Dignity BookSurge, ISBN 978-1439223888 – see also (gendermadness.com) [harchive]
Staff report (July 1997). Childhood Gender-Identity Disorder Diagnosis Under Attack. Leadership U http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/narth/childhood.html [archive] – now merged with Cru: Campus Crusade for Christ International (cru.org)
Singh D, Bradley SJ, Zucker KJ (2021). A Follow-Up Study of Boys With Gender Identity Disorder. Front. Psychiatry, Volume 12 – 28 March 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.632784
Brown, Patricia Leigh (December 2, 2006). Supporting Boys or Girls When the Line Isn’t Clear. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/02/us/supporting-boys-or-girls-when-the-line-isnt-clear.html
Rosin, Hannah (November 2008). A Boy’s Life. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/a-boys-life/307059/
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Paul L. Vasey is a Canadian psychologist who promotes harmful ideas about sex and gender minorities, especially transgender and gender diverse people and those who love us:
Vasey is one of the last of the old-school Canadian evolutionary psychologists allied with fired sexologist Kenneth Zucker. Vasey’s coauthors and associates are part of an activist minority in sexology, most of whom are cisgender and born before 1970. Vasey holds some supportive views, but they are all colored by an embrace of unscientific and pseudoscientific terminology created by Vasey’s friends. Science and its operational definitions must be value-neutral in order to produce bias-free scientific results.
Background
Paul L. Vasey (born January 30, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1989, then earned a master’s degree from Simon Fraser University in 1991. Vasey earned a doctorate from Université de Montréal in 1997. Vasey’s dissertation was on Japanese macaques under advisor Bernard Chapais. Vasey then did postdoctoral work at Université de Montréal, Concordia University (Montréal) and York University.
Vasey was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge in 2000. While preparing to teach a course on sex and gender, Vasey became interested in Samoan fa’afafine culture. Vasey describes them as “feminine, same-sex attracted males that are recognized as a non-binary gender.” Vasey’s partner is Vaitulia Alatina Ioelu, a self-identified Samoan fa’afafine.
Vasey co-authored a paper with two Concordia University psychologists on childhood gender diversity.
Bartlett NH, Vasey PL, Bukowski WM (2000) Is gender identity disorder in children a mental disorder? Sex Roles, 43 11/12, 753-785. Article ID: 299688
Empirical studies were evaluated to determine whether Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in children meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th Edition ( DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994) definitional criteria of mental disorder. Specifically, we examined whether GID in children is associated with (a) present distress; (b) present disability; (c) a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom; and if (d) GID represents dysfunction in the individual or is simply deviant behavior or a conflict between the individual and society. The evaluation indicates that children who experience a sense of inappropriateness in the culturally prescribed gender role of their sex but do not experience discomfort with their biological sex should not be considered to have GID. Because of flaws in the DSM-IV definition of mental disorder, and limitations of the current research base, there is insufficient evidence to make any conclusive statement regarding children who experience discomfort with their biological sex. The concluding recommendation is that, given current knowledge, the diagnostic category of GID in children in its current form should not appear in future editions of the DSM .
Below is a course description for Vasey’s Sex & Gender Diversity (Psychology 3850) Spring 2003
In this course, we will explore issues related to sex and gender diversity. To this end, we will critically examine the binary construction of sex and gender through such topics as intersexuality, gender identity disorder, and “third” sexes and genders in non-Western societies. A central part of this theoretical examination involves discussing the real-world consequences individuals face for deliberately or inadvertently transgress dichotomous sex and gender boundaries.
Required Readings:
(1) Kessler, S. (1997). Lessons From the Intersexed. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, New Jersey.
(2) Course-pack containing Chapter #1, “Behavior,” from: Burke, P. (1996). Gender Shock: Exploding the Myths of Male and Female.Anchor Books, Doubleday: New York.
(3) Additional short readings drawn mainly from popular magazine will be distributed in class.
Below is a course description for Vasey’s Science & Sexuality (Psychology 4000NA) Spring 2004
In this seminar, we will explore the controversy surrounding the publication of J. Michael Bailey’s book, “ The Man Who Would be Queen .” Bailey’s book deals with the subject of male femininity through such topics as gender identity disorder in childhood, homosexuality, transvestitism, and male-to-female (MtF) transsexualism. Although reaction from the gay community has been largely unremarkable, the book has ignited a storm of protest in the MtF transexual community. In particular, some transsexual women dispute Bailey’s claim (based on the work by Toronto sexologist, Ray Blanchard) that there are two distinct sub-categories of MtF transsexuals: homosexual versus autogynephilic.
We will familiarize ourselves with the controversy by reading The Man Who Would be Queen and the contents of two websites managed by transsexual women, [] & Lynn Conway, who are spearheading the response to Bailey. We will then critically investigate the evidence for each point of view. We will begin by examining the claim that two specific types of MtF transsexuals exist primarily by reading scientific articles written by Ray Blanchard and Anne Lawrence. Anne Lawrence, a Seattle-based doctor who specializes in sexual medicine, is a self-identified autogynephilic transsexual woman and a supporter of Blanchard’s work. We will then read “ True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism ” by Mildred L. Brown & Chloe Ann Rounsley and “ Mom, I Need to Be a Girl ,” by Just Evelyn, which [], Lynn Conway and several transsexual advocacy groups highly recommend as a more accurate depiction of the MtF transsexual experience and an alternative to the Bailey/Blanchard model. Through the semester we will weigh the evidence for, and against, Blanchard’s dichotomous conceptualization of transsexuality. In addition to the readings, documentary films on homosexuality, cross-dressing and transsexualism will be screened during the last hour of some seminar classes.
Required Readings :
(1) Bailey, J.M. (2003). The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science and Psychology of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism . NY: Joseph Henry Press.
(2) Additional required readings will be placed on reserve in the library.
Anne Lawrence’s writings on autogynephila can be found at:
http://www.annelawrence. com/sexualityindex.html
see: (1) “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies:” An Introduction to the Concept of Autogynephilia” (2) Sexuality and Transsexuality: A New Introduction to Autogynephilia (3) Autogynephilia: Frequently-Asked Questions (4) 28 Narratives About Autogynephila (5) 31 New Narratives About Autogynephilia
Michael Bailey’s responses to his critics can be found at:
The reading “Transgendering, Migrating and Love of Oneself as a Woman: A Contribution to a Sociology of Autogynephilia,” by Richard Ekins and Dave King can be found at:
www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo05no03_01.htm .
A reading by Carl Elliot on apotemnophilia can be found at:
Bailey JM, Vasey PL, Diamond LM, Breedlove SM, Vilain E, Epprecht (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science (vol 17, pg 45, 2016) Psychological Science in the Public Interesthttps://doi.org/10.1177/1529100616637616
LJ Petterson, BJ Dixson, AC Little, PL Vasey (2018) Viewing time and self-report measures of sexual attraction in Samoan cisgender and transgender androphilic males. Archives of Sexual Behavior 47 (8), 2427-2434 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1267-7
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Jeremy W. Peters is an American author and New York Times employee who contributes to and vigorously defends their anti-transgender coverage.
Peters and Adam Nagourney also claim there is a “medical disagreement” about trans healthcare. In actuality, there is clear medical consensus on best practices which is opposed by a conservative fringe minority.
Background
Jeremy Warren Peters was born on January 25, 1980. Peters earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan in 2002, then worked as a freelance writer. Peters wrote for The Virgin Islands Daily News before joining the Times Detroit bureau, followed by the Albany bureau. While at Albany, Peters helped cover the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal.
In 2010 Bruce Headlam announced Peters would take over the publishing beat, covering both newspapers and magazines.
Peters’ book Insurgency came out in 2017. Peters also appears in the 2018 documentary series The Fourth Estate.
Peters is in a relationship with dermatologist Brendan Camp.
2023 attack on News Guild of New York
After the union representing Times journalists noted the profound anti-trans discrimination and hostile workplace created by Carolyn Ryan, Peters attacked union leadership, drafting the letter below and gathering signatures from colleagues.
Dear Susan,
We are writing to you privately in response to your February 17th letter, which we were surprised to see.
Like you, we support the right to a non-hostile workplace where everyone is respected and supported. We believe The New York Times should never engage in biased or discriminatory practices of any kind. We all strive to be part of a truly diverse news organization where everyone is treated fairly. We welcome robust and respectful critical feedback from colleagues, either in direct conversation or through internal Times channels.
But your letter appears to suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of our responsibilities as journalists. Regretfully, our own union leadership now seems determined to undermine the ethical and professional protections that we depend on to guard the independence and integrity of our journalism.
Factual, accurate journalism that is written, edited, and published in accordance with Times standards does not create a hostile workplace.
Every day, partisan actors seek to influence, attack, or discredit our work. We accept that. But what we don’t accept is what the Guild appears to be endorsing: A workplace in which any opinion or disagreement about Times coverage can be recast as a matter of “workplace conditions.” Our duty is to be independent. We pursue the facts wherever they may lead. We are journalists, not activists. That line should be clear.
Debates over fairness and accuracy are perfectly reasonable. We understand and respect that the Guild has an absolute duty to offer representation to members when they are subject to discipline by management. But we do not think it is the role of our union to be engaged in – and taking sides in – public debates over internal editorial decisions.
Our hope is that the coming days will bring more constructive internal dialogue among Times employees and with Guild leadership that can help unify and improve our news organization. And we ask that our union work to advance, not erode, our journalistic independence.
Sincerely,
Reed Abelson Maria Abi-Habib Peter Baker Emily Bazelon Brooks Barnes Julian Barnes Susan Beachy Jack Begg Ginia Bellafante Walt Bogdanich Alan Blinder Kellan Browning Russ Buettner David Chen Nicholas Confessore Rob Copeland Reid Epstein Elizabeth Dias Harvey Dickson Susan Dominus Joe Drape Jesse Drucker Sydney Ember Maureen Farrell Matt Flegenheimer Ellen Gabler Trip Gabriel Robert Gebeloff Adam Goldman Ruth Graham Michael Grynbaum Danny Hakim Anemona Hartocollis Virginia Hughes Sharon LaFraniere Joshua Katz Clifford Krauss Nicholas Kulish Steven Lee Myers Lisa Lerer Sarah Lyall Veronica Majerol Jonathan Mahler Sapna Maheshwari Apoorva Mandavilli Mark Mazzetti Mike McIntire Jennifer Medina Phyllis Messinger Rebecca O’Brien Dennis Overbye Ken Paul Michael Paulson Ivan Penn Jeremy Peters Michael Powell William Rashbaum Rebecca Robbins Matthew Rosenberg Katie Rosman Michael Rothfeld Jim Rutenberg Margot Sanger-Katz Charlie Savage Stephanie Saul Jennifer Schuessler Kim Severson Jessica Silver-Greenberg Jeff Sommer Nicole Sperling Emily Steel Katie Thomas Marcela Valdes Ken Vogel Nancy Wartik Mark Walker Ben Weiser Elizabeth Williamson Michael Wilson Michael Wines David Yaffe-Bellany Kate Zernike
Sulzberger, A. G. (October 7, 2015). Our Path Forward (PDF). The New York Times Company. https://nytco-assets.nytimes.com/m/Our-Path-Forward.pdf
Sulzberger, A. G. (January 1, 2018). A Note from Our New Publisher. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/01/opinion/Arthur-Gregg-Sulzberger-The-New-York-Times.html
Drew Pinsky is an American physician who has covered issues related to trans and gender diverse people.
Background
David Drew Pinsky was born on September 4, 1958 in Pasadena, California to physician Morton Pinsky (1926–2009) and entertainer Helene Stanton (1925–2017).
After graduating from Polytechnic School in 1976, Pinsky earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in 1980 and a medical degree from University of Southern California in 1984.
Pinsky had a longstanding goal of covering medical issues in the media. After about a decade of radio appearances, Pinsky’s radio show Loveline was syndicated in 1995. MTV premiered a television version in 1996, hosted by Pinsky and Adam Carolla. From 2007-2008 Pinsky hosted Dr. Drew Live. From 2015 to 2019, Pinsky co-hosted Dr. Drew Midday Live. Loveline continued until 2016.
Pinsky hosted several other TV programs, including Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew, Strictly Dr. Drew, Sex…with Mom and Dad, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, Dr. Drew On Call . Pinsky has made many cameos and is often sought for comment on medical issues, especially drug and alcohol use.
Pinsky and spouse Susan Sailer married on July 21, 1991 and had triplets Douglas, Jordan, and Paulina in 1992. Pinsky has had treatments for prostate cancer. Pinksy has espoused libertarian and sometimes conservative views.
Transgender coverage
Pinsky hosted the program “Transgender in America” on August 26-27 2015 on HLN. The show included Ian Harvie, Marci Bowers, Bamby Salcedo, and D’Lo.
In 2015, Pinsky invited anti-trans extremist Ben Shapiro and trans journalist Zoey Tur on an episode of Dr. Drew on Call to discuss an award won by Caitlyn Jenner. After Shapiro insulted trans people in general and Tur in particular, Tur told Shapiro “You should cut that out now, or you’ll go home in an ambulance.” Shapiro, visibly shaken, later threatened to file police reports and lawsuits, but nothing came of any of it. Pinsky later apologized to Shapiro.
Ennis, Dawn (August 26, 2015). Can Dr. Drew Capture the Trans Experience?The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/08/26/can-dr-drew-capture-trans-experience
Robinson, Judah (August 26, 2015). Dr. Drew Says Special On Transgender Issues Was Inspired By Caitlyn Jenner. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dr-drew-special-transgender-caitlyn-jenner_n_55ddb666e4b04ae49705143e
Caitlyn Lance Antrim was born on August 30, 1949 at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Antrim’s parents were Admiral Richard Nott Antrim and Mary Jean (Packard) Antrim.
She earned her SBME from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1971. On returning to civilian life, she returned to MIT to earn the professional degree of Environmental Engineer in 1977, specializing in ocean mineral development, international law and public policy.
A noted expert on the Law of the Sea, she was Executive Director of the Rule of Law Committee for the Ocean. She died on July 28, 2018 while attending the International Seabed Authority Conference in Kingston, Jamaica.
In the course of some work on the internet I came across your post to ‘Currents of Justice’ in Atlanta. You were promoting the idea of having Professor Michael Bailey appear on the show to promote his recent book.
I believe in social justice. I have worked to promote justice at the national and international levels in the US government, for NGOs and at the United Nations – I have even worked at the National Academy of Sciences. Because of this connection, particularly my involvement with the Academies and friendships with many of the staff, I feel competent to write to you on this subject.
Years ago a feminist author published a book called “The Transsexual Empire.” This book, which put forth the idea that men were trying to take over the women’s movement by becoming ersatz women and supplanting ‘real’ women, was a hurtful, biased book. In spite of its lack of substantive research or analysis, it continued to arise year after year, denying that transsexuals could ever be real women, causing hurt to many and relegating them to a lesser role, or denying them a role at all, in the women’s movement. I hope that you will understand that the lesson of “The Transsexual Empire” has been that such publications, based on bias and pre-conceived opinions, cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. If you wish to understand the current relevance of this lesson, you may search the internet where you will find that Bailey’s book receives strong support in very conservative web sites where it is used to degrade both gays and transsexuals.
Professor Bailey has proven to be intolerant of disagreement with his book, his ideas and his methods. He has declared that the many people who have transitioned across genders who claim they do not fit into his two categories are lying about their experience. I am insulted by his arrogance, and I am disappointed by the glowing recommendations that the Academy Press has provided, particularly now that Professor Bailey has stated that he did not base his book on original research and that he even fabricated the ending of at least one story to support his personal position.
Most hurtful of all – I find that when I attend meetings in the Academy building and stop in the first floor bookstore, I am met by the cover of “The Man Who Would Be Queen”. At that moment, as I stand in the doorway, I feel that it is the Academy itself that is insulting me by promoting this book that not only presents a view of transsexuals that does not apply to me, but denies that I have the self-understanding or the right to exclude myself from its categorization. It is only when I remember my friends and colleagues throughout the Academy who have supported me in my own transition that I regain my balance.
Ms. Pinnel, if you truly value social justice, I hope you will consider the injustice that Michael Bailey’s presentation does to the many, many transsexuals he never considered in all his study, indeed, that he refused to consider – those of us who work throughout society, who teach at universities, who lead major businesses, who practice compassionate medicine, who work to improve the lot of the oppressed, and who work at the Academy, participate in its committees and are even elected to its membership. We are the people who Michael Bailey never considered; we are those he refused to meet even before the Joseph Henry Press ever heard of his book. We simply seek our deserved recognition as women (and as men for those who transitioned from female to male). Justice cries out for us to be heard! Are you listening? Are you willing to?
In closing, I ask you to try to consider what it would be like for a prominent institution, one that you respect most highly, to publish a book that denied to you recognition of something of great personal importance – your religion, perhaps, or your ethnic heritage — how would you feel? How would you feel toward the people who, perhaps in ignorance, promoted that book and further denied you the understanding that you deserved?
On that question, I will close and ask you to ponder your response. If you would like more understanding, I would welcome your questions and would even be willing to discuss the matter with you and your colleagues to develop ways to redeem the injustice.
Caitlyn Jenner is an American media personality and Olympic gold medalist. Upon coming out as transgender in 2015, Jenner became the most famous transgender person alive. Jenner’s conservative views frequently cause tension with more progressive trans community members.
Background
Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born on October 28, 1949 in Mount Kisco, New York. Jenner attended high school in Sleepy Hollow, New York and Newtown, Connecticut. Jenner earned a bachelor’s degree from Graceland College in 1973. While there, Jenner played football until an injury forced a switch to decathlon. Jenner placed 10th in decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. After that, Jenner dominated the event through the 1976 Summer Olympics. That gold medal and world record made Jenner a national hero.
Jenner secured many endorsement deals and began appearing in film and television regularly for the next 30 years. In 2007 Jenner’s family starred in the hit reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Jenner has been married three times and has six children and four stepchildren. Jenner was married to Kris Kardashian from 1991 to 2015. In 2015, as transition rumors swirled, Jenner was involved in a fatal car crash. Jenner and trans entrepreneur Sophia Hutchins met in 2015 and have a close friendship.
As a transgender public figure
Jenner’s coming out as trans caused a media frenzy, including appearances on magazine covers and many interviews in print and television. Jenner starred in the reality series I Am Cait with “friends” Jennifer Finney Boylan, Candis Cayne, Zackary Drucker, Chandi Moore, Jen Richards, Mimi Marks, and Kate Bornstein. Jenner also made a cameo on Transparent and continued appearing in film and television. Jenner was named one of 25 Glamour Women of the Year and received other recognitions, including the 2016 Time 100. In 2017 Jenner published a memoir, The Secrets of My Life, and had facial feminization surgery and bottom surgery.
Jenner made a number of controversial comments after coming out, such as joking that the hardest part about being a woman “is figuring out what to wear.” The glib sexist comments combined with the media attention led to a backlash among many conservatives and anti-transgender activists.
Jenner has continued to take conservative positions and make controversial comments about LGBT issues that have led to backlash from the community. Ellen Degeneres pressed Jenner about opposing gay marriage. Jenner’s comments about transgender athletes became a major talking point in 2021 during an unsuccessful run for California governor. In 2022 Jenner joined Fox News as an on-air contributor. In 2023 Jenner founded the Fairness First PAC “to keep boys out of women’s sports.”
Mary Kate Fain is an American publisher and anti-transgender extremist. Fain created gender critical projects Spinster and 4W and is co-host of Identity Crisis with Plebity cofounder Sasha White. Fain also jelped with the initial launch of Ovarit after r/gendercritical was banned from reddit.
Background
Mary Kate Fain was born in October 1992, one of six children born to Karen Marie Fain (1965–2015) and Michael L. Ozlek (born 1954).
Fain graduated from Phoenixville Area High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College in 2013. From 2016 to 2018, Fain founded and ran animal rights organization Liberation Philadelphia.
Fain’s concerns center around maintaining sex segregation in remaining institutions and in creating platforms that allow participants to express anti-trans opinions.
Stella O’Malley is a conservative Irish therapist and anti-transgender extremist. O’Malley is a global ringleader in the modern ex-transgender and gender critical movements and a major supporter of anti-transgender efforts worldwide.
O’Malley founded SPLC-designated anti-trans hate group Genspect. O’Malley frequently collaborates with American clinician Sasha Ayad to uplift other conservative and anti-transgender voices.
Do not under any circumstances go to Stella O’Malley for any counseling, trans or otherwise. If you are a minor forced to see O’Malley, do everything in your power to end the sessions and find supportive local resources instead.
Background
O’Malley was born on November 16, 1973. O’Malley grew up with three siblings in the Dublin area in a household where at least one parent was alcoholic.
O’Malley and spouse Henry Thompson, a construction contractor, live in Birr, County Offaly with their two children Róisín Thompson (born November 9, 2007) and Muiris Thompson (born August 5, 2009). O’Malley’s self-described parenting style is “impatient, moody and cranky” with “a very low threshold for ordinary whining.”
O’Malley was host of the 2018 propaganda piece Trans Kids: It’s Time To Talk. It features conservative and anti-trans activists, including James Caspian, Heather Brunskell-Evans, Venice Allan, Miranda Yardley, and people from the ex-trans movement
O’Malley is connected to a number of anti-trans organizations, most of which are just part of a web farm with reciprocal links to make O’Malley’s allies and their fringe ideologies seem more widespread and influential than they are.
Katie Herzog is an American podcaster best known for gender critical views and anti-transgender activism. Herzog co-hosts the anti-trans “drama” podcast Blocked and Reported with Jesse Singal. Herzog’s work includes
Catherine Ronan “Katie” Herzog was born on May 18, 1983 in Asheville, North Carolina. Herzog’s parents are both emeritus professors who taught at Western Carolina University: Harold Albert “Hal” Herzog served as a psychology professor, and Mary Jean Ronan Herzog served as an education professor. Katie Herzog graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Herzog has siblings.
Herzog has published writing in numerous outlets, listed below. Herzog identifies as lesbian and lives in Washington state and North Carolina with spouse Janna Krein, a nurse.
Views on transgender people
Herzog worked for Dan Savage as a freelancer for The Stranger, later serving as a staff writer from 2017 to 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Herzog was furloughed and was no longer employed there as of 2020.
In 2017, Herzog wrote “The Detransitioners,” a piece critics considered a biased and flawed article supporting the ex-trans movement. The piece mentioned several people:
Brynn Tannehill, a trans journalist whose criticism of the ex-trans movement appears to have motivated Herzog’s piece
Marlo Mack, How to Be a Girl podcaster and supportive parent of a gender diverse child
John Otto, a happily transitioned trans man
Supporting Herzog’s views were several activists promoting the ex-trans movement:
James Cantor, a fellow gender critical troll in Toronto and promoter of many disease models of gender identity and expression
“Jackie” aka “Jackal,” a Seattle area resident who was 25 in 2017 and moderated detransinfo.tumblr.com
“Jane,” a Southern California resident who was 53 in 2017 and who joined the ex-trans movement after discovering radfem forums online
“Ryan,” who was 43 in 2017 and who underwent medical transition steps but was not socially transitioned at the time
“Cass,” who later came out as ex-trans whistleblower Ky Schevers
Schevers was deeply involved in the “gender critical” movement connected to trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF):
While hanging out among ourselves, I and other younger members of this scene would jokingly refer to ourselves and each other as “TERFs”, reclaiming what we viewed as a slur. Many of us got a kick out of having a secret life in a subculture outsiders (correctly) viewed as a hate group. We thought such people were ridiculous and misogynistic for seeing us as hateful and we frequently mocked them, acting as if they were ignorant, misled and/or overly sensitive. We would gather at a lesbian-owned coffee shop and complain about how trans activists were a threat to lesbian culture, talk about dangerous and disgusting “autogynephiles” trying to infiltrate “female-only” spaces, and the social forces supposedly pushing lesbians to “dis-identify from femaleness” and identify as trans.
Schevers 2021
Herzog never updated the original piece or covered the subsequent developments. No one has ever independently confirmed Herzog’s claims about “Jackie,” “Jane,” or “Ryan,” and the only one independently confirmed has come out against Herzog’s article and its thesis. This is probably the prime example that Herzog is not an objective source for information on trans issues.
In response, some critics burned copies of The Stranger and distributed stickers that said “Katie Herzog (writer at the stranger) Is A Transphobe.” Herzog claims to have been ostracized by some friends. The New York TimesandThe New Republicdescribed the reaction to “The Detransitioners” as an example of “cancel culture.”
In 2024, The Stranger allowed Schevers to set the record straight on Herzog’s coverage, but none of Herzog’s other sources have been independently verified.
After leaving The Stranger
Since leaving The Stranger, Herzog has become more outspoken on anti-transgender topics. Herzog has spoken frequently about the alleged cultural shift away from “lesbian” as an identity, promoted the disputed diagnosis “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” and suggested that the increase in trans-identified people is part of a “social contagion.” Herzog has also gotten money and attention for claiming that medical schools are “denying biological sex” by presenting more inclusive and value-neutral scientific terminology. Herzog’s posts on the topic via intellectual dark web promoter Bari Weiss were tagged as unreliable self-published sources by the r/medicine forum on reddit, causing the usual suspects to claim they were being censored.
In 2020, Herzog founded Permabanned Media LLC and began the podcast Blocked and Reported with co-host Jesse Singal, also a prominent figure in anti-transgender extremism. That year, Herzog co-signed “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” for Harper’s. That letter was debated for being signed by a disproportionate number of anti-transgender extremists.
Schevers, Ky (June 24, 2024). The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger.The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2024/2024/06/05/79545098/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-the-stranger
Doyle, Jude Ellison Sady (March 24, 2021). What’s So Scary About Detransitioning? GEN. https://gen.medium.com/whats-so-scary-about-detransitioning-a8340daf3132
Chapter One: “And then I met Janna, the woman who would become my wife, and not only did I change my mind about dog fanatics, I’m ashamed to say I even became one myself.”
Herzog, Katie (September 6, 2018). “They” Is a Fine Pronoun, But It Ain’t Mine. The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/articles/2018/09/06/31903785/they-is-a-fine-pronoun-but-it-aint-mine
Kaufman, Scott Barry (July 9, 2020). Uncancellable with Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal.The Psychology Podcast. https://scottbarrykaufman.com/podcast/uncancellable-with-katie-herzog-and-jesse-singal/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4yALKu3RrE
Fuller, David and Beiner, Alexander (June 19, 2020). The Death of Journalism?YouTube / Rebel Wisdom / Sensemaking Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9AVo3jXjN8
Cohen-Wade, Aryeh (July 29, 2018). Jordan Peterson and Detransitioning.YouTube / Culturally Determined / Meaningoflife.tv. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IRAKuB1JI8
This article originally misstated Herzog’s birthday. In 2022 the illustration was updated in response to feedback.
Ray Blanchard is an American-Canadian psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Blanchard is a key historical figure in academic exploitation and oppression of sex and gender minorities.
Blanchard’s Toronto gender clinic rejected 90% of trans people seeking healthcare. Blanchard also created several obscure diseases to categorize trans people and those who love us, including the mental disorders “autogynephilia” and “gynandromorphophilia.”
Following a long career of gatekeeping trans healthcare and creating transphobic diseases, Blanchard has become a key figure in anti-transgender extremism.
Overview
See this biography for Blanchard’s background and motivations.
Blanchard’s “contributions” to the field of gender identity and expression to date have been:
Regressive requirements for access to medical service
Forced submission to sexualized testing in order to get access to medical services
An obscure and largely-forgotten disease model of gender identity cribbed from Magnus Hirschfeld
A disease model of attraction to transgender people, which Blanchard called “gynandromorphophilia.”
Blanchard created a system in which only two subgroups of people could get through the Clarke Institute/CAMH program:
“Homosexual transsexuals,” or “gay males” who fetishize straight men
“Autogynephilic transsexuals,” or “nonhomosexual males” who fetishize feminizing themselves
“A man without a penis… is in reality what you are creating.”
From a June 2004 article :
Toronto psychologist Ray Blanchard, one of Canada’s leading — and most controversial — gender experts, argues the transgender movement is rife with delusion. “This is not waving a magic wand and a man becomes a woman and vice versa,” he says. “It’s something that has to be taken very seriously. A man without a penis has certain disadvantages in this world, and this is in reality what you’re creating.” [1]
A 1984 article in the Toronto Star indicated that between 1969 and 1984, 90% of all people seeking trans health services were turned away at The Clarke. The Clarke averaged about 5 acceptances a year, totaling about 100 people. In other words, they denied access to over 900 applicants during that time. [2]
Blanchard’s program was more like a parole office than a therapeutic setting. It was a system based on mutual distrust, and treats gender diverse clients like sex offenders. In fact, Blanchard’s program used the same halls, offices, and staff for treating sex offenders. Imagine the dynamic that creates. Following in the footsteps of mentor Kurt Freund, B;anchard even subjects clients to the same sort of testing used on sex offenders (see plethysmograph: a disputed device).
By selecting for these patients and rejecting the rest, Blanchard has been able to advance the claim that being trans is all about sex, rather than gender identity. Blanchard published several articles regarding this theory, which went unnoticed until disgraced anesthesiologist Anne Lawrence latched on to them as a form of validation.
1998 was the year the Clarke Institute lost its federal funding for vaginoplasties, and the year Anne Lawrence wrote the pro-“autogynephilia” essay “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies.” Blanchard’s sudden irrelevance in the field of gender identity and to indigent patients in Toronto seeking funding for surgery made Anne Lawrence’s interest a natural opportunity for teamwork to advance their mutually beneficial agendas.
Following the publication of The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey, trans people and concerned professionals from around the world decided enough was enough with these people and started a public awareness campaign about Blanchard’s ties to a conservative-run eugenics think tank and behind-the-scenes bullying of dissenting peers. Once peers at HBIGDA expressed their concerns about Bailey to Northwestern University, Blanchard resigned in protest in November 2003.
Blanchard is going to go down in history as the George Rekers of gender diversity. Rekers was one of the most vocal critics of the American Psychiatric Association’s depathologization of homosexuality in 1973.
“Autogynephilia”
“Autogynephilia” is a sex-fueled mental illness made up by Blanchard, who defines it as “a man’s paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a woman.” [2]
This diagnosis appeals to some transgender people, who see the scientific-sounding term as a way to “elevate” themselves in social acceptability rather than compulsive masturbators, sex addicts, or people with a fetish for possessing a piece of female clothing or anatomy.
Look at the definition of “paraphilia” put forth in the textbook used by Bailey in his cancelled Sexuality course (LeVay and Valente, Human Sexuality, p. 454). LeVay’s description of paraphilias as “problematic sexual behavior” and “illnesses that need treatment” is a major insight into their entire project. These academic imply that “autogynephilia” involves non-consenting adults, that being trans is a form of exhibitionism that requires responses from others. The suggest that coming out to friends and family and asking for public acceptance is a form of sexualized humiliation brought on by the very expression of gender.
Blanchard ideas appeal to a small group of other “autogynephilia” activists and conservative supporters. Most trans people and most mainstream scientists criticize “authogynephilia” as being similar to “nymphomania” and other fake sex diseases created to oppress others.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
Below is a shill review by Blanchard, posted on Amazon.com defending J. Michael Bailey.
[five stars] Man Who Would Be Queen, April 17, 2003 Reviewer: Ray Blanchard from Toronto
The explosion of rage detonated by the publication of J. Michael Bailey’s book, The Man Who Would Be Queen, has largely obscured an important message of that book: There are two fundamentally different types of male-to-female transsexualism, and they are equally valid. The homosexual type are erotically aroused by other (biological) males, and the autogynephilic type are erotically aroused by the thought or image of themselves as women.
When I joined the Clarke Gender Identity Clinic in 1980, the literalist interpretation of transsexualism as the condition of men-trapped-in-women’s-bodies reigned supreme. Many clinicians dismissed all transsexuals with a history of sexual arousal in association with cross-dressing as “mere transvestites” and summarily excluded them from consideration for sex reassignment surgery. This situation was extremely confusing to many male-to-female transsexuals who desperately wanted to undergo sex reassignment and live their lives as women, but who thought that their past history of masturbation in women’s attire meant that they were “merely” transvestites.
Fortunately for these patients, the policy of “one erection and you’re out” was never followed at the Toronto clinic. Several of the earliest patients approved for sex reassignment had been husbands and fathers in the male role, and they freely reported clear-cut histories of sexual arousal in association with cross-dressing or cross-gender fantasy. It gradually became clear to me that for such patients the erotic value of becoming a woman was the essential motive behind the desire for sex reassignment, and that erection and ejaculation in women’s attire were not simply accidental by-products. I never saw this as an invalid reason for desiring sex reassignment, I never saw these patients as some lesser breed of transsexuals, and I never designated their form of gender dysphoria as “secondary.”
During the years when I was publishing the autogynephilia papers, several autogynephiles wrote me to express their relief at learning that there were many others like themselves, and that their feelings of being transsexual were not a delusion. Those articles were published in specialty journals with limited circulations, and it is remarkable that any autogynephiles encountered them at all. Prof. Bailey’s book, which is written for a general audience in a clear and accessible style, has the potential to bring the same reassurance to a much larger group of people. The audiences for which this book was intended, which include students, clinical professionals, and laypersons, should not mistake the campaign of disinformation (verging at times on hate-mail) currently being waged by an ideologically-driven group of self-appointed “activists” as the universal view of all transsexual and transgender persons.
APA DIV 44
From an August 2003 CAMH newsletter: http://www.camh.net/careers/bt_pdfs/bt_august292003.pdf
Holding the framed citation is Ray Blanchard. Right is James S. Fitzgerald, Ph.D., President of Division 44 of the American Psychological Association.
The CAMH Gender Identity Clinic is delighted to announce that our clinic received a Presidential Citation from Division 44 of the American Psychological Association (the Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Issues) at a ceremony on August 9, 2003.
The text of the Citation reads as follows:
“The Gender Identity Clinic has established itself as the premier research center on gender dysphoria research and clinical care since 1968, and is celebrating its 35th year.”
Resignation from HBIGDA
On 4 November 2003, Blanchard resigned from HBIGDA in protest of a letter they sent to Northwestern University regarding charges of ethical misconduct leveled at J. Michael Bailey.
November 4, 2003 Walter J. Meyer III, MD President, HBIGDA Bean Robinson, PhD Executive Director, HBIGDA
Dear Drs. Meyer and Robinson:
It is with deep regret that I tender my resignation in the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA). I have long supported the goals of the HBIGDA. I have been involved in the clinical care of transsexual persons for 24 years. During the years 1983 to 1991, I conducted eight research studies on the therapeutic impact of hormonal and surgical treatment of transsexuals, studies that were reported in six refereed journal articles and two book chapters. I published an additional article on the desirability of insurance coverage for sex reassignment surgery as recently as 2000. It is therefore a matter of some sadness that the recent actions of the HBIGDA Executive have made it necessary for me to disassociate myself from this organization.
I am referring to the appalling decision of the HBIGDA Officers and Board of Directors to attempt to intervene in Northwestern University’s investigation into the allegations made by certain members of the transsexual community against Prof. J. Michael Bailey. This decision is documented in the attached letter, which is prominently displayed on a popular transsexual Web site. Such an intervention, undertaken without any effort by the HBIGDA to conduct their own systematic inquiry or to learn all the relevant facts of the matter, could only be prejudicial to Northwestern’s investigation. In fact it has the appearance, whether this is accurate or not, of being a deliberate and improper attempt to bias that investigation. The HBIGDA would have been better advised to allow the Northwestern authorities, who are actually taking the trouble to investigate the allegations, to reach an impartial decision based on all relevant testimony and factual evidence.
I do not know the motives behind the Officers’ and Board of Directors’ actions, but those motives are irrelevant. It is their actions that are unacceptable and that make it impossible for me to continue to belong to the HBIGDA.
Very truly yours, Ray Blanchard
Blanchard and DSM
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association lists three “mental disorders” that can be diagnosed in gender variant people: gender identity disorder, transvestic fetishism, and childhood gender nonconformity.
Blanchard, who happens to be an American citizen, says a DSM listing has different implications in Canada than in the U.S. “This question of whether autogynephilia should be listed as a disorder is strictly an American preoccupation,” he says. “In the U.S. there is no universal health insurance plan, so people will pay for their SRS out of their own pocket. But in most of the Western world, where there is government-run health insurance, in order for their sex reassignment to be paid for, it has to be a disorder, it has to be in the DSM. Health plans don’t pay for surgery that is elective. They pay for surgery that is medically necessary.”
He points out that from 1970 to ’99 the Ontario Health Insurance Plan covered sex-reassignment surgery for patients who’d been approved for it by the Clarke Institute. But the conservative government that came to power in 1999 stopped paying for it. “Now a group of transsexuals have brought a human rights complaint against removal of sex-reassignment surgery as a benefit,” he says. “Their argument is that this is a recognized treatment for a psychiatric disorder. It’s got to remain in the DSM. The DSM has no formal jurisdiction in Canada, but in fact it’s taken as the standard.” [4]
Many are beginning to question whether these diagnoses are really necessary in order to receive health services. Many are even questioning whether these are diseases at all. Because Blanchard and several cronies are heavily involved in the DSM’s language about these “disorders,” it is likely that we will see a pitched battle about this matter when the next DSM revision is made.
In the meantime, Blanchard’s star continues to fade, reduced to eugenicists, old-school sexologists and psychologists, and those self-hating gender variant people who seek a “cure” for their gender variance. The Clarke has been surpassed by several other Toronto facilities offering more flexible and inclusive access to health services. As numbers at those clinics continue to surge, numbers at The Clarke continue to decline, a harbinger of Blanchard’s place in history as an interesting curiosity from the waning years when our community was considered disordered and diseased.
Blanchard on fifth estate
In October 2004, Ray Blanchard and team were featured in a news magazine program on transsexualism, reported by Hana Gartner. Below is a transcript of selected sections:
Gartner voiceover: One of the most established gender clinics in the world is at Toronto’s Center for Addiction and Mental Health. It’s run by psychologist Ray Blanchard, who has been studying transsexuals for the past 25 years. He says they have a serious illness.
Blanchard: Transsexualism is considered a psychiatric disorder by the World Health Organization and by the American Psychiatric Association. We probably know more about how to treat them or manage them than we do know about what causes them.
Gartner voiceover: Those who come here looking for help must first be diagnosed and assessed by this panel of experts.
Blanchard to experts: They told the GP that they had some gender problem. It’s a biological female. It looks to me that the patient hasn’t been started on a testosterone medication yet.
Gartner voiceover: The only effective treatment for this psychiatric disorder is a combination of hormones and surgery.
Gartner to Blanchard: Can cosmetic surgery cure this disorder?
Blanchard: You are giving someone surgeries that enable them to be accepted as the opposite sex. Cosmetic surgery can help people lead much happier and more productive lives.
Blanchard: Her vocal cords will thicken and her voice will drop into the male range, and that is a permanent change.
Gartner voiceover: Ray Blanchard, who is in charge of Canada’s top gender clinic, believes very few people should go on hormones or change their sex. His clinic sees only about 50 patients a year, and he rejects most of them.
Blanchard: We are not trying to encourage people to have sex reassignment surgery; on the contrary, we encourage people to try and make an adjustment to their biological gender.
Gartner: A 17 year old female, if she came to see you, what advice would you give her?
Blanchard: At our clinic, the minimum age we would consider a patent for hormonal treatment would be 20 years, and the minimum age for considering them for surgical treatment would be 21 years.
References
1. Armstrong J. The Body within, the body without. Globe and Mail, 12 June 2004, p. F1. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040612/COVER12/TPComment/TopStories
2. Newbery L. Trans-sexuals happier after operation, MD says. Toronto Star, 27 November 1984, p. H2.
3. Bailey JM. (Chair), Phenomenology and classification of male-to-female transsexualism. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, Paris. June, 2000. Slide 38. http://www.psych.nwu.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/Blanchard’s%20Paris%20Talk.ppt
“The foregoing studies indicate that there are only two fundamentally different types of transsexualism in males: homosexual and nonhomosexual. This finding points to the next question: What do the three nonhomosexual types have in common? I have suggested that the common characteristic is an erotic orientation that I have labeled autogynephilia. Autogynephilia may be defined as a man’s paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a woman.”
4. Rodkin D. Sex and Transsexuals. Chicago Reader December 12, 2003
‘The Man Who Would Be Queen’ Controversy Continues: Professor Blanchard Quits HBIGDA NTAC press release 10 November 2003 http://www.ntac.org/pr/release.asp?did=81
Magnus Hirschfeld and Max Tilke, Die Tranvestiten. Eine Untersuchung über den erotischen Verkleidungstrieb mit umfangreichen casuistichem und historischem Material
