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Stephen Beck is an American healthcare executive and anti-transgender activist. Beck is a member of anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM). Beck and spouse Sharon are unaccepting parents of a trans nonbinary child.

Background

Stephen Richard “Steve” Beck was born May 22, 1967. Beck earned a medical degree from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1992. Beck practices internal medicine in Ohio.

Beck is married to Sharon “Shari” Beck aka “Maria Polaris,” “Maria Borealis,” “Maria Veradis” and a host of other pseudonyms, an anti-trans extremist affiliated with Cardinal Support Network and Parents of ROGD Kids.

Anti-transgender activism

Beck coathored a 2021 letter with SEGM members William J. Malone, Paul W. Hruz, and Julia W. Mason critical of clnical guidelines published by endocrinology groups.

References

Jones, Zinnia (January 31, 2024). “Still dreaming of running over the trans activists”: Sharon Beck, leader of anti-trans parent group Cardinal Support Network and wife of SEGM’s cofounder, “guided” Ohio Rep. Gary Click on his trans care ban. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/2024/01/still-dreaming-of-running-over-the-trans-activists-sharon-beck-leader-of-anti-trans-parent-group-cardinal-support-network-and-wife-of-segms-cofounder-guided/

SPLC (December 12, 2023). Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network. https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/defining-pseudoscience-network/

Jones, Zinnia (January 11, 2023). Anti-trans group SEGM’s cofounder Stephen Beck is an executive at Bon Secours Mercy Health, the fifth-largest Catholic healthcare network in the US. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/2023/01/anti-trans-group-segms-cofounder-stephen-beck-is-an-executive-at-bon-secours-mercy-health-the-fifth-largest-catholic-healthcare-network-in-the-us/

Selected writing by Beck

Abby Walch, Caroline Davidge-Pitts, Joshua D Safer, Ximena Lopez, Vin Tangpricha, Sean J Iwamoto (2021). Proper Care of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Jan 23;106(2):305-308. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa816.

  • William J. Malone, Paul W. Hruz, Julia W. Mason, and Stephen Beck (2021). Letter to the Editor from William J. Malone et al: “Proper Care of Transgender and Gender-diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 106, Issue 8, August 2021, Pages e3287–e3288, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab205
  • Abby Walch, Caroline Davidge-Pitts, Ximena Lopez, Vin Tangpricha, Sean J Iwamoto, Joshua D Safer (2021). Response to Letter to the Editor from Malone: “Proper Care of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 106, Issue 8, August 2021, Pages e3295–e3296, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab206

Resources

GoFundMe (gofundme.com)

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (wpath.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Charlotte Allen is an American author and anti-transgender activist. A conservative Catholic, Allen has written articles critical of the transgender rights movement, including a puff piece on transphobic psychologist J. Michael Bailey for The Weekly Standard. Joseph Epstein from that publication had previously characterized Bailey as a “pimp” who arranges voyeuristic sex tours and demonstrations for people like Allen. Bailey earned Epstein’s opprobrium and Allen’s interest after arranging a live “fucksaw” demonstration for a since-cancelled human sexuality class.

Background

Charlotte Irene Low Allen was on born April 7, 1943 in Jacksonville, Florida. Allen’s parent Elmer Carlton Low (1907-2000) was born in New York City and practiced personal injury law there before moving to Pasadena in 1943. Low was president of the California Trial Lawyers Association and wrote two books and some opinion pieces for the Los Angeles Times.

Allen’s spouse Donald Fraser Allen (born May 1, 1945) graduated from University of Toronto Faculty of Law and was a member of the California Bar from 1981 through 1997.

Charlotte Allen’s education and credentials:

  • Stanford University (B.A. 1965) classics and English
  • Harvard University (M.A. 1967)
  • University of Southern California (J.D. 1974)
  • State Bar of California (1974 through 1992)
  • Catholic University of America (Ph.D. 2011) medieval and Byzantine studies

Allen served as Law Editor for The Los Angeles Daily Journal from 1980 to 1985, then was appointed Senior Editor, Law at conservative publication Insight on the News at its founding in 1985. That publication closed in 2008. Allen has worked as a freelance writer for publications including:

  • Los Angeles Daily Journal
  • Insight on the News
  • Weekly Standard
  • Lingua Franca
  • Washington Post
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Atlantic Monthly
  • Commentary
  • New Republic
  • American Spectator
  • Los Angeles Times
  • New York Times
  • Washington Times
  • Insight
  • City Journal
  • Washington Monthly
  • First Things

Allen’s 2011 dissertation is titled Thirteenth-Century English Religious Lyrics, Religious Women, And the Cistercian Imagination. Allen is author of the 1998 book The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus.

My 2015 letter to Allen’s editors

Dear Weekly Standard editorial team:

Charlotte Allen contacted me for a story profiling J. Michael Bailey, a controversial psychologist with whom she was recently socializing in Chicago. You may recall a 2011 piece about Bailey in your publication which characterizes him as a “pimp” who arranges voyeuristic sex tours and demonstrations for interested parties like Ms. Allen.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/lower-education_554092.html?page=1

For your records, I told Ms. Allen that understanding and reporting her story hinges on speaking directly with Danny Ryan, a child whose case report Bailey published in his 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. 

My condition for participating was that Ms. Allen speak with Danny Ryan directly. I fear that is not going to happen. I’m concerned she’s going to mischaracterize both the controversy and my involvement in it, given that her attached questions to me contain inaccurate interpretations of events.

I provided her the attached article explaining why both Bailey and his book have been widely condemned. Bailey had published an earlier version of his book without incident, and the 2003 response happened because:

  • 1) it was fraudulently marketed as science by the National Academy of Sciences.
  • 2) it became a cure narrative about gender-nonconforming children.

Bailey’s attacks on my children in his book were just part of his concurrent attacks on gender-nonconforming children, which also included “academic” presentations where he displayed videos and images of young children without their knowledge or consent in a manner that generated laughter from his audiences. Bailey also boasts that he can categorize these children sexually and can tell the kinds of sexual partners they will like. Ms. Allen seems focused on a long-deleted satire in which I showed how Bailey’s leering depictions and two-type sexualized categorization of my children would seem inexcusable if done to his own.

Bailey’s colleagues believe that gender-nonconforming children require “curing” in order to prevent what they consider a “bad outcome,” a gender transition. Most children who display gender-non-conforming behavior do not seek a gender transition later, and this outcome occurs without any intervention. Bailey’s colleagues make money by selling anxious parents on services they claim will cure many children. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health has stated such services are “no longer considered ethical.” Others are more pointed, condemning such services as “disturbingly close to reparative therapy for homosexuals” and “simply child abuse.”

Hundreds of children have been through these aversion programs championed by Bailey’s friend Kenneth Zucker, and not one has later come forward to talk about how it helped them. Danny Ryan is the most famous report of a cured child, yet no one has ever followed up directly with him to confirm Bailey’s published claims independently.

Danny Ryan has remarkable parallels to David Reimer, a case report by Bailey’s ideological nemesis John Money. The David Reimer case proved to be false when independently investigated. Some reporters continue to repeat Bailey’s claims about Danny Ryan uncritically, with no independent confirmation. Science and journalism proceed from evidence and facts, and there is no independent evidence that Bailey’s published facts about Danny Ryan are true.

Given that other case reports in Bailey’s book turned out to be inaccurate upon independent follow-up, the Weekly Standard has a unique opportunity to report this story accurately instead of taking Bailey at his word. Similar hard-hitting reporting on David Reimer brought John Money’s work into disrepute and made the career of the journalist who broke the story. A generation of children suffered because no one bothered to confirm Money’s claims, and I can’t sit by as another reporter is poised to miss the point of why Bailey has been criticized by people of every political persuasion.

Thanks for your time, and I would very much appreciate confirmation that you have received this note.

Sincerely, Andrea James
[email protected]
cc: Charlotte Allen
Attachments (2): 

  • 1. Charlotte Allen emails (PDF)
  • 2. Fair Comment, Foul Play: Populist Responses to J. Michael Bailey’s Exploitative “Controversies” (PDF)

Allen’s puff piece about Bailey ran with no mention of his exploitation of our children and a lawyerly defense of his “fucksaw” demonstration.

The Man Who Would Be Queen was deemed “salacious bigotry” by Andrea James, a 48-year-old Hollywood consultant who is the most persistently aggressive of the transgender activists. James spearheaded campaigns to have Northwestern censure and perhaps fire Bailey (unsuccessful), and to discredit Bailey as a credible academic expert on transgender subjects (extremely successful). 

Allen claims I declined to be interviewed “in a prolific series of Bailey-dissing emails.” Allen notes my criticism of Anne Lawrence, Ray Blanchard, and Kenneth Zucker. Zucker was fired later that year, and the clinic where Zucker and Blanchard were employed was closed following an investigation spurred by legislation that made anti-transgender reparative therapy illegal.

References

Epstein, Joseph (March 21, 2011). Lower Education: Sex toys and academic freedom at Northwestern. Weekly Standard https://www.weeklystandard.com/joseph-epstein/lower-education

Allen, Charlotte (March 2, 2015). The Transgender Triumph. Weekly Standard. https://www.weeklystandard.com/charlotte-allen/the-transgender-triumph

Allen, Charlotte (March 4, 2019). Trans men erase women. First Things https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/03/trans-men-erase-women

Hawkins, JA (January 1951). Elmer Low Family of Pasadena. Pasadena Museum of History https://calisphere.org/item/8de4632c37e661ae4ba402f4006bf984/

Hess, Amanda (March 12, 2008). Charlotte Allen Interview. Washington City Paper https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/city-desk/blog/13054285/charlotte-allen-interview

Staff report (August 17, 2000). Elmer C. Low; Headed State Trial Lawyers Assn. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-17-me-5965-story.html

Resources

Stupid Girl [Allen’s blog] (blogstupidgirl.wordpress.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

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

Jennifer Bilek is an American writer and anti-transgender extremist. Bilek hosts The 11th Hour podcast and site.

Bilek 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.”

Background

Jennifer Bilek was born on October 22, 1958 and grew up in New York City. Bilek trained at Woodstock School of Art. Bilek has worked as a hairstylist for children and young people as the businesses Get Coiffed and My Little Sunshine.

Bilek also paints portraits.

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 “Misery for Profit: Who is Funding the Transgender Movement and the Impact on LGB.” 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
    • “Jane 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.”
  • Jennifer Bilek: Panel organizer and speaker
    • “Jennifer Bilek is a bisexual artist/activist/writer living in NYC for a lot longer than is probably healthy.”
  • Taylor Fogarty: Speaker
    • “Taylor Fogarty is a Brooklyn dwelling twenty-something year old who writes about feminism and politics.” Twitter: @theloudlesbian

The panel was canceled following protests.

References

Van Maren, Jonathon (March 16, 2024). How a Handful of Billionaires Created the Transgender ‘Movement’: An Interview with Jennifer Bilek. The European Conservative https://europeanconservative.com/articles/interviews/how-a-handful-of-billionaires-created-the-transgender-movement-an-interview-with-jennifer-bilek/

Bilek, Jennifer (March 3, 2023). Humanity for Sale. The American Mind https://americanmind.org/features/soul-dysphoria/humanity-for-sale/

Bilek, Jennifer (June 14, 2022). The Billionaire Family Pushing Synthetic Sex Identities (SSI). Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers

Bilek, Jennifer (June 1, 2021). Foundations Are Setting the Transgender Agenda and Targeting Children. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/foundations-are-setting-the-transgender-agenda-and-targeting-children/

Bilek, Jennifer (April 5, 2021). CNN Versus Biological Reality. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/cnn-versus-biological-reality/

Bilek, Jennifer (July 27, 2020). How LGBT Nonprofits and Their Billionaire Patrons Are Reshaping the World. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-lgbt-nonprofits-and-their-billionaire-patrons-are-reshaping-the-world/

Bilek, Jennifer (October 9, 2020). Not Just a Tattoo: Transgenderism Attacks Our Fundamental Humanity. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/not-just-a-tattoo-transgenderism-attacks-our-fundamental-humanity/

Malbin, Isabella (December 17, 2020). Jennifer Bilek: Transhumanism & Autogynephilia. Whose Body Is It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kQ_o0G7D38

Bilek, Jennifer (January 21, 2020). The billionaires behind the LGBT movement. First Things https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2020/01/the-billionaires-behind-the-lgbt-movement

Riedel, Sam (July 7, 2017). Why Trans Activists Can’t Trust The Left. The Establishment https://medium.com/the-establishment/why-trans-activists-cant-trust-the-left-3bfa22928ddd

Resources

Jennifer Bilek (jenniferbilek.com)

Get Coiffed (getcoiffed.com) [archive]

The 11th Hour (the11thhourblog.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Gettr (gettr.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

David Frum is a conservative Canadian-American political commentator and anti-transgender activist. Frum was a major figure in anti-LGBT activism in the 1990s, though Frum has since acknowledged some of those views were wrong.

Background

David Jeffrey Frum was born June 30, 1960 in Toronto. Frum is a nepo baby whose family was also involved in writing and publishing. Frum earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Yale University in 1982 and a law degree from Harvard in 1987.

A major figure in the neoconservative movement that led America into the Iraq War, Frum wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Manhattan Institute, the Weekly Standard, and the National Post.

Frum was tapped to write speeches for George W. Bush, leaving in 2002. Frum joined neocon think tank American Enterprise Institute and continued litigating support for the Iraq invasion. Frum became a US citizen in 2007. Frum was a blogger for National Review and worked on Rudy Giuliani’s presidential run. Frum was asked to leave American Enterprise Institute in 2010.

Frum married “mommy blogger” and anti-transgender activist Danielle Crittenden Frum in 1988. They have three children, Miranda Ann Frum (1991–2024), Nathaniel Saul Frum (born 1993) and Beatrice Sarah Worthy Frum (born 2001). 

Anti-LGBT activism

Frum was a strong opponent of same-sex marriage. Frum later acknowledged this was wrong.

Frum joined The Atlantic as a senior editor in March 2014. During that time, under editor and anti-trans activist Jeffrey Goldberg, the magazine ramped up its attacks on the transgender rights movement.

Frum commented on the transphobic 2018 cover story about the ex-transgender movement by Jesse Singal:

Frum was certainly right about that.

In 2020, Frum analyzed the transgender political positions of Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren, name dropping Joe Rogan’s views on transgender athletes: “After the transgender mixed martial arts fighter Fallon Fox began—literally—smashing opponents’ heads…”

Frum made several appearances on the anti-transgender podcast The Femsplainers co-hosted by Frum’s spouse and Christina Hoff Sommers.

References

Coyne, Andrew; Frum David (December 1995). How Far Do We Take Gay Rights? Saturday Night, pp. 66-75. 

Frum, David (March 11, 1997). Gay Marriage. Slate https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1997/03/gay-marriage-2.html

Frum, David (June 27, 2011). I was wrong about same-sex marriage. CNN https://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/27/frum.gay.marriage/index.html

Frum, David (October 11, 2007). “Rudy & Me”. National Review. Archived from the original

Frum, David (2020). Bernie Can’t Win. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/bernie-sanderss-biggest-challenges/605500/

Frum, David (March 21, 2024) Miranda’s Last Gift. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/05/david-frum-miranda-daughter-grief/677815/

Obituary (February 21, 2024). Miranda Frum. The Globe and Mail https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/miranda-frum-obituary?id=54427346

Resources

David Frum (davidfrum.com)

New Majority (newmajority.com) [archive]

FrumForum (frumforum.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politician. Ali is an anti-Islam and anti-transgender activist. Ali is often associated with the intellectual dark web, a gateway to the far right.

Background

Ayaan Hirsi Magan was born November 13, 1969 in Mogadishu. Ali’s parent Hirsi Magan Isse was a political prisoner who escaped Somalia in 1977, eventually settling the family in Kenya.

In 1992 Ali sought asylum in The Netherlands to avoid an arranged marriage. Ali worked as a translator while earning a master’s degree in 2000 from Leiden University. Ali became a Muslim apostate around that time. Ali’s 2004 film “Submission” with Theo Van Gogh criticized Islam and led to Van Gogh’s murder. Ali faced threats and went into hiding. In 2006 an exposĂ© revealed Ali lied on the Dutch asylum application. Ali resigned from Parliament and was ultimately allowed to retain Dutch citizenship. Ali took a position at the American Enterprise Institute in the US, getting her green card in 2007.

In 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Ali as an anti-Muslim extremist, though they later removed the whole list.

Ali created the AHA Foundation and has worked for conservative organizations like the Hoover Institution.

Anti-transgender activism

Ali wrote for anti-trans publication UnHerd:

Those who would divorce “woman” from its biological implications often present their ideas as innocuous. They are, we are told, simply champions of “inclusion”. But their ideology is hardly uncontroversial, and surrendering to it is not harmless. The past year has seen reports of transgender women attacking women in female-only spaces and unfairly winning trophies in women’s sports. The spirit of these failures was perhaps best-distilled in the words of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who in March was unable to define what being a woman entailed during her Senate confirmation hearing. “I’m not a biologist,” she said, as if one needed to be a professional scientist to know basic biological facts.

A word of clarification. I am immensely sympathetic to the plight of transgender people and believe they ought to have the same moral and legal rights as everyone else. To be against militant trans activists’ gender ideology is not to be transphobic. Rather, it is simply to agree, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie succinctly put it, that “trans women are trans women”. Adichie was savaged for this and other statements evincing wrongthink, but acknowledging that trans women are distinct from women, that there are potential conflicts between their rights, and that gender ideology opens the door to abusive men masquerading as women, should not be controversial. Standing up for the rights of transgender people should not mean pretending sex does not exist altogether.

Podcast

Ali’s podcast logrolls for other anti-trans activists, including:

References

Ali, Ayaan Hirsi (December 27, 2022). The year the West erased women. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/12/the-year-the-west-erased-women/ 

Ali, Ayaan Hirsi (March 25, 2022). Do we need a Trans Olympics? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/03/do-we-need-a-trans-olympics/

Resources

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (ayaanhirsiali.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Hoover Institution (hoover.org)

Aaron Sibarium is an American opinion writer and anti-transgender activist.

Background

Aaron Julian Sibarium was born January 9, 1996. Sibarium’s parents are Michael Sibarium, a lawyer, and Laura Govoni-Sibarium, a nursing consultant and synagogue volunteer. Sibarium and sibling Ely (born January 24, 1999) both attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and Yale. Ely Sibarium has published work about gender diversity and neurodiversity with John Strang and Scott Leibowitz.

Sibarium earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2018. Sibarium interned at the center-right American Enterprise Institute and was an editor at The American Interest prior to its closure. Sibarium is an associate editor at the Washington Free Beacon.

Anti-transgender activism

While working as an opinion columnist at the Yale Daily News in 2017, Sibarium was triggered by Yale’s move to the term first-years vs. freshmen.

Sibarium has published anti-trans work in the New York Post, the Free Beacon, and in the Bari Weiss anti-trans publication Common Sense (now Free Press).

References

Sibarium, Aaron (December 7, 2022). Opinion: Pediatric group says kids should talk to their parents about tattoos — but not puberty blockers. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/12/07/pediatric-group-says-kids-should-not-talk-to-parents-about-puberty-blockers/

Sibarium, Aaron (May 15, 2023). How A Left-Wing Activist Group Teamed Up With Big Pharma To Push Radical Gender Ideology on American Hospitals. Washington Free Beacon https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/how-left-wing-activist-group-teamed-up-with-big-pharma-to-push-radical-gender-ideology-on-american-hospitals/

Sibarium, Aaron (December 7, 2022). The Hijacking of Pediatric Medicine. Washington Free Beacon https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/the-hijacking-of-pediatric-medicine/

  • Simultaneously published on Common Sense (now The Free Press) https://www.thefp.com/p/the-hijacking-of-pediatric-medicine

Sibarium, Aaron (March 30, 2017). SIBARIUM: Humyn resources. Yale Daily News https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/03/30/sibarium-humyn-resources/

St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (March 1, 2017). Sibarium ’17 to join brother at Yale -https://www.saes.org/news-detail?pk=915177

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Washington Free Beacon (freebeacon.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Yale Daily News (yaledailynews.com)

Patrik Vankrunkelsven is a Belgian physician, politician, and anti-transgender activist.

Vankrunkelsven is affiliated with the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBAM). Vankrunkelsven was an invited speaker at a 2023 conference organized by anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Background

Patrik Jules Maria Vankrunkelsven was born on May 2, 1957. Vankrunkelsven earned a doctorate in 1982 and had been associated with Catholic research university Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [KU Leuven] ever since.

Vankrunkelsven was mayor of Laakdal from 1994 to 2006. During that time, Vankrunkelsven was president of the Volksunie [People’s Union] from 1998 until shortly before it was dissolved in 2001. After briefly aligning with Sociaal-Liberale Partijl [SPIRIT], Vankrunkelsven served as a senator from Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten [VLD]  from 2007 until 2011.

Vankrunkelsven then left politics to focus on academia.

Anti-trans activism

Vankrunkelsven and spouse Marleen Finoulst are the driving force behind CEBAM, founded in 2013.

Vankrunkelsven is a prominent Belgian critic of gender affirming care for minors.

Vankrunkelsven believes that “Puberty blockers are a trap that traps children, preventing them from having a chance to change their minds.”

References

Verlooy R (2024). Anti-Gender Mobilizations and Transgender Rights. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 27(4), 351–374. https://doi.org/10.5117/tvgn2024.4.004.verl

“Ashton, Mia” (April 6, 2023). WPATH’s trans health guidelines allow for medical experiments on children ‘without any scientific evidence’ says Belgian health expert. Human Events https://humanevents.com/2023/04/06/wpaths-trans-health-guidelines-allow-for-medical-experiments-on-children-without-any-scientific-evidence-says-belgian-health-expert#google_vignette

Walker, Corey (April 1, 2023). ‘A Pure Experiment On Children’: Belgian Doctor Says To Toss WPATH Guidelines Out. Daily Caller https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/01/belgium-doctor-toss-wpath-guidelines-out/

Vandendriessche, Lauwke (March 29, 2023 ). Fel debat over puberteitsremmers en mannelijke/vrouwelijke hormonen: “Wat jullie doen, is een experiment op kinderen.” VRT https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2023/03/26/puberteitsremmers-en-mannelijke-vrouwelijke-hormonen-wat-jullie/

Selectred publications by Vankrunkelsven

Vankrunkelsven P, Casteels K, De Vleminck J (2025). Opinion: How to Provide the Best Care for Young People with Gender Dysphoria [Hoe kunnen we de beste zorg geven aan jongeren die te maken hebben met genderincongruentie?]. Belgian Journal of Paediatrics, 27(1), 35–38. https://www.belgjpaediatrics.com/index.php/bjp/article/view/340

Smids J, Vankrunkelsven P (2023). Uncertainties surrounding current gender care: five problems with the clinical lesson ‘Youth with gender incongruence’. [Onzekerheden rond de huidige genderzorg]. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 167, 1-3. Article D7941. https://www-ntvg-nl.eur.idm.oclc.org/artikelen/onzekerheden-rond-de-huidige-genderzorg

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

CEBAM (cebam.be)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Patrick Healy is an American journalist involved in anti-transgender coverage at the New York Times. Healy served as Deputy Editor of the Opinion section during its anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s.

No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. As of 2023 there were no trans journalists on staff, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. At the same time, Healy helped beef up anti-trans staff, including bringing in David French.

Background

Patrick Durham Healy was born on August 31, 1971 to Carol Ann Higginbotham Healy (1936–2023) and Gerald T. Healy, Jr. (1934–2021). Healy has an older sibling and grew up gay in a conservative Catholic household. Healy earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1990, and a second bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in 1993.

After reporting in local New Hampshire papers, Healy wrote for the transphobic Chronicle of Higher Education from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004, Healy wrote for the Boston Globe, then joined the New York Times in 2005.

After about ten years as a political correspondent, Healy held editor roles in the Culture, Politics, and Opinion sections. Healy reports to anti-trans ringleader Kathleen Kingsbury as well as to Charlotte Greensit.

Healy has made television appearances as guest host of The New York Times Close Up with Sam Roberts on NY1 News and as an analyst on CNN.

Healy married physician assistant Raymond Alejandro “Ray” Delgado on October 1, 2022.

References

Staff report (April 3, 2023). Carol Higginbotham Healy. The Coastal Mariner https://www.wickedlocal.com/obituaries/pneo0460196

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

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

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

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

Davies, Rachel (February 16, 2023). The NYT knew what it was doing with its ‘Defense of J.K. Rowling’. The Mary Sue. https://www.themarysue.com/the-nyt-knew-what-it-was-doing-with-its-defense-of-j-k-rowling/

Mastrangelo, Dominick (February 16, 2023). NYT editors: Paper ‘will not tolerate’ its journalists protesting coverage of transgender people. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/3862101-nyt-editors-paper-will-not-tolerate-its-journalists-protesting-coverage-of-transgender-people/amp/

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

Migdon, Brooke (February 15, 2023). NYT contributors blast paper’s coverage of transgender people. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3859501-nyt-contributors-blast-papers-coverage-of-transgender-people/

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

Paul, Larisha (February 15, 2023). Gabrielle Union, Tommy Dorfman, more accuse NYT of ‘Harmful’ coverage of trans people. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/new-york-times-coverage-of-trans-people-open-letter-1234680299/

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

Hays, Gabriel (February 15, 2023). Celebs rip into New York Times for ‘irresponsible’ transgender coverage: Demand end to ‘both sides’ focus. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/celebs-rip-new-york-times-irresponsible-transgender-coverage-demand-end-both-sides-focus

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

Burns, Katelyn (January 11, 2023). The NYT’s trans ‘debate’ isn’t actually a debate. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/culture/david-french-new-york-times-243766

Molloy, Parker (January 5, 2023). The New York Times Declares War on LGBTQ People With Hire of Anti-Trans Columnist. The Present Age https://www.readtpa.com/p/david-french-nyt-anti-lgbtq

Staff report (January 4, 2023). GLAAD responds to New York Times hiring anti-LGBTQ attorney as opinion columnist. GLAAD https://glaad.org/releases/glaad-responds-new-york-times-hiring-anti-lgbtq-attorney-opinion-columnist/

Kingsbury, Kathleen; Healy, Patrick (January 3, 2023). David French Joins The Times as an Opinion Columnist. New York Times https://www.nytco.com/press/david-french-joins-the-times-as-an-opinion-columnist/

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

WPATH/USPATH (November 2022). USPATH and WPATH respond to NY Times article “They Paused Puberty, But Is There a Cost? published on November 14, 2022 (PDF). https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2022/USPATHWPATH%20Statement%20re%20Nov%2014%202022%20NYT%20Article%20Nov%2022%202022.pdf

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

Kingsbury, Kathleen (April 29, 2021). Patrick Healy Named Deputy Editor of Opinion. New York Times Company https://www.nytco.com/press/patrick-healy-named-deputy-editor-of-opinion/

Obituary (March 20, 2021). Gerald T. Healy (1934–1921). Boston Globe https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/gerald-healy-obituary?id=6923933

Dunlap, David W. (June 19, 2017). How The Times gave ‘gay’ its own voice (again). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

Schindler, Paul (July 26, 2006). That Darn New York Times. Gay City News https://gaycitynews.com/that-darn-new-york-times/

Staff report (April 8, 2005). The Mayor Gets Sound Advice,
But Will He Pay Attention to It? The Quotidian / New York Civic http://www.nycivic.org/QLIST/050408.html [archive]

Scocca, Tom (January 24, 2005). Off the Record. New York Observer https://observer.com/2005/01/off-the-record-75/

Selected writing by Healy

Healy, Patrick; Gessen M. (October 28, 2024). The Real Reasons the G.O.P. Is Spending Millions on Anti-Trans Ads. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/opinion/gop-anti-trans-advertising-harris.html

Healy, Patrick (December 22, 2023). I Know My Mother Loved Me. The Church Could Have Helped Her Accept Me. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/opinion/same-sex-blessing-catholic-church.html

Healy, Patrick; Rivera, Adrian J. (February 9, 2023). Opinion: These 12 Transgender Americans Would Love You to Mind Your Own Business. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/09/opinion/transgender-americans-focus-group.html

Shanker, Thom; Healy, Patrick (November 30, 2007). A New Push to Roll Back ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/30military.html

Healy, Patrick (July 7, 2006) For Gay Rights Movement, a Key Setback. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/nyregion/07gays.html

Resources

SourceWatch (sourcewatch.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Kathleen Goonan is an American physician and anti-transgender activist.

Goonan was an invited speaker at a 2023 conference organized by anti-transgender hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Background

Kathleen Jennison “Kate” Goonan is Director of Medical Support for ex-transgender organization Resilience Health Network.

References

Maryland House Bill 722. Statement of Kathleen Jennison Goonan, M.D. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/cmte_testimony/2024/hgo/1vjoQqY54RkBw86DZa1AvSEmXfubUPF3-.pdf

  • “I speak in support of legislation to limit access to so-called “gender affirmative” medical and surgical treatments which are unproven to reduce mental suffering in minors experiencing gender discordance.”

Jones, Zinnia (October 23, 2023). Mask off, mask on: Kathleen Goonan, advisor to SEGM and Genspect, taught Moms for Liberty to “play a dual game” and pretend to support parents who accept their trans kids. Medium https://zinniajones.medium.com/mask-off-mask-on-kathleen-goonan-advisor-to-segm-and-genspect-taught-moms-for-liberty-to-play-a609a6f36860

Media

Gender: A Wider Lens (July 7, 2023). EP 121 – Practical Advice for Managing Gender Identity in Schools with Dr. Kate Goonan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpAlk1FWLr0

Resources

Atomic Gender (atomicgender.com)

Commonwealth Fund (commonwealthfund.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Christopher Rufo is an American professional anti-transgender activist. Attacking trans rights is part of Rufo’s conservative activism at the Manhattan Institute and elsewhere.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has described Rufo as a “far-right propagandist.”

Background

Christopher Ferguson “Chris” Rufo was born August 26, 1984 and grew up in Sacramento, California. Both parents are attorneys.

Rufo earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2006 and a master’s degree from Harvard Extension School in 2022. Rufo has worked at The Heritage Foundation, Claremont Institute, and Discovery Institute.

Rufo has produced documentaries and has run for public office in Seattle.

Rufo is best known for conservative activism around critical race theory, intersectionality, diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and homelessness.

Rufo and spouse Suphatra “Kip” Paravichai live in Gig Harbor, Washington with their three children.

Intellectual dark web

Rufo was considered part of the intellectual dark web (IDW), a loose alliance described as a “gateway to the far right.” Many people involved are prominent opponents of transgender rights. IDW members typically get money and attention by claiming to be “canceled” or silenced by the minorities and progressive movements they criticize (called DARVO in general; see also the Dregerian Narrative in relation to trans issues, named after IDW inaugural member Alice Dreger).

The coalition did not hold together long, and Rufo chalked up the collapse to these events that splintered the IDW:

  • The presidency of Donald Trump
  • COVID and response to it
  • The George Floyd protests

Rufo also correctly noted that the alliance collapsed because it was a reactionary movement with no political will. They stood against many things, but as a group, they did not stand for anything.

Most IDW members craved money and/or attention, and once that became more elusive, the alliance began to dissipate.

Anti-transgender activism

As part of a push to end public libraries and public education, Rufo has heavily promoted the idea that LGBTQ people are “groomers,” echoing similar efforts in the 1970s. As part of these “save the children” initiatives, Rufo seeks to stop schools from discussing LGBTQ people and their role in American history and culture (so-called “Don’t Say Gay” activism). Rufo is a major force behind threats and protests at Drag Queen Story Hour events.

In 2023, Florida’s anti-trans governor Ron DeSantis named Rufo to the board of trustees of New College of Florida, part of an attempt to turn the school conservative.

In May 2023, Rufo published an article about gender affirming care at Texas Children’s Hospital. In May 2024, surgeon Eithan Haim was charged with illegally obtaining the private medical records of pediatric patients receiving gender transition care at Texas Children’s Hospital and providing them to Rufo. In 2025, the Trump administration dropped the charges against Haim.

References

Dreher, Rod (October 25, 2022). Chris Rufo Vs Drag Queen Story Hour Groomers. The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/chris-rufo-vs-drag-queen-story-hour-groomers/

Drennen, Ari (June 30, 2022). Outlets like The New Yorker keep giving Chris Rufo a platform to spread dangerous propaganda about LGBTQ people. Media Matters https://www.mediamatters.org/accuracy-media/outlets-new-yorker-keep-giving-chris-rufo-platform-spread-dangerous-propaganda-about

Kugle, Andrew (May 18, 2022 ) Chris Rufo uncovers jarring details of trans conference that Philadelphia teachers were encouraged to attend. Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/media/chris-rufo-trans-conference-philadelphia-teachers

Bond-Theriault, Candace (April 19, 2022). The Right Targets Queer Theory. The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/society/christopher-rufo-queer-theory/

Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (June 18, 2021). How a conservative activist invented conflict over critical race theory. The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/how-a-conservative-activist-invented-the-conflict-over-critical-race-theory

Selected anti-trans writing by Rufo

Rufo, Christopher F. (October 16, 2023). Inside the Transgender Empire. https://christopherrufo.com/p/inside-the-transgender-empire

Rufo, Christopher F. (May 16. 2023). Sex-Change Procedures at Texas Children’s Hospital. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/sex-change-procedures-at-texas-childrens-hospital

Media

Hillsdale College (February 6, 2024). The Business of Transgenderism | Christopher F. Rufo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prSE_hiOADE

Christopher F. Rufo (July 11, 2023). How the Trans Movement Conquered American Life | The Transgender Empire. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwsekb5QReo

Christopher F. Rufo (March 16, 2023) “Trans Kids” Are the New Totem of the American Left. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39IiYHDp3KI

Christopher F. Rufo (March 6, 2023). Why the IDW Fell Apart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCzxYjqVDvU

Christopher F. Rufo (February 7, 2023). New Hampshire Schools Push Biological Males in Girls’ Locker Rooms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHei5pLCWNY

Christopher F. Rufo (January 20, 2023). Church of England Announces First “Non-Binary” Priest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAGs-ayVUHo

Christopher F. Rufo (January 3, 2023). UConn Professor: “Everyone Is A Little Trans.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7B0moIpnaE

Christopher F. Rufo (December 5, 2022). Animated Film Teaches Kids that “Mama Has a Mustache.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5n1m2eXUDw

Resources

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Manhattan Institute (manhattan.institute)