Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis was born in 1948 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia declared independence from the Dutch on August 17, 1945, and the family left in 1951 when it became dangerous for Dutch colonialists to stay, since Cohen-Kettenis’ seminal parent was a police commissioner. After arriving at The Hague, they moved to Rotterdam, then Utrecht.
Cohen-Kettenis attended Stedelijk Gymnasium Utrecht and Johan de Witt Gymnasium Dordrecht and earned a doctorate from Utrecht University in 1973.
Professor of Medical Psychology VUmcVUmc Sep 2002 – Jul 2013
Professor UMC Utrecht Sep 1987 – Sep 2002
Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen (NIP) logo Voorzitter Sector G 1997 – 2000
Cohen-Kettenis served as Professor of gender development and psychopathology at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht.
Transgender research
In 1987, Cohen-Kettenis started the first outpatient clinic in Europe for children and adolescents with gender problems and intersex conditions.
Cohen-Kettenis was a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care Committee and of the Task Force of the Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline on the endocrine treatment of gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent persons.
Psychologist Peggy Cohen-Kettenis reacts less negative. She is, after reading parts of the book not surprised about the row, but âwhen Bailey says that sexual preference and gender identity are not two entirely independent dimensions, he is not necessarily wrongâ, she says.
In contrast to Bailey, Cohen-Kettenis expresses herself very diplomatic. As no other she knows the sensitivity of this terrain and the ease with which a âconflict can be created around this issueâ. The psychologist agrees that not all transsexuals are heavily gender-dysphoric in youth. She attributes the dominance of âthe woman captured in a manâs bodyâ image, to itâs endless repetition by the media.
[…] Gooren is scathing about Blanchardâs work. […] Cohen-Kettenis shares Goorenâs objections to terms like homosexual and non-homosexual transsexuals. She would rather differentiate between early and late onset transsexuals. But apart from the terminology, these groups are very similar to those of Bailey and Blanchard. Primary TSs are more often homosexual while secondary TSs usually have had straight relationships before entering treatment, Cohen-Kettenis explains. âIn the second group, during puberty cross-dressing is often paired with sexual excitement â she says. âWhen they enter treatment however, the cross dressing is very restfulâ.
Cohen-Kettenis estimates half the number of TSs are secondary TSs. Whether all secondary TSs have had a autogynephile history she cannot say. âExtreme gender dysphoria can, I think, come to be in all sorts of ways. Secondary TSs are a very diverse group. We also see people who still are autogynephile.â
Cohen-Kettenis thinks that patient care will not be influenced by this theory. TSs do not have to fear that Cohen would see autogynophilia as a disqualification for treatment. The decisive factor is the suffering of the client, and whether treatment can indeed help to relieve the pain. In this, Blanchard and Bailey agree and mention that autogynophiliacs do not have a higher rate of post-treatment regrets.
Vermij, Peter (September 27, 2003). Een man gevangen in een mannenlichaam.NRC https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2003/09/27/een-man-gevangen-in-een-mannenlichaam-7655797-a1162822 Translation: Arianne van der Ven.
Selected publications by Cohen-Kettenis
Dan J. Stein, Peter Szatmari, Wolfgang Gaebel, Michael Berk, Eduard Vieta, Mario Maj, Ymkje Anna de Vries, Annelieke M. Roest, Peter de Jonge, Andreas Maercker, Chris R. Brewin, Kathleen M. Pike, Carlos M. Grilo, Naomi A. Fineberg, Peer Briken, Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis & Geoffrey M. Reed (2020). Mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders in the ICD-11: an international perspective on key changes and controversies. BMC Med18, 21 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-020-1495-2
The community of sex and gender minorities covers the full political spectrum. The size and inclusiveness of the community is debated, but this project takes a very broad definition of who is included.
This project also covers some topics that overlap with sexual minorities as well, including:
Gay
Lesbian
Bisexual
Asexual
Polyamorous
Pansexual
Kink and unusual erotic interests
While all of these communities and identities have overlapping interests and political goals, it’s difficult to generalize. The majority of the community seeks legal protections from harm and discrimination:
This site also covers people who are connected to our community, including those who do not consider themselves part of it.
It includes people who support the community, as well as people who hold a wide range of views that many in the community consider oppositional to one or more aspects of our community’s political goals.
Use the search feature to look for a specific person. If you don’t find a profile, please send a suggestion!
Dana Beyer is an American physician, political candidate, and transgender rights activist. Beyer was involved in protests of the transphobic 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen.
Background
Dana Beyer was born February 9, 1952 and grew up in New York City. Beyer earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1974 and a medical degree from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1978. Beyer worked as an eye surgeon before going into activism and politics.
Philanthropic work includes Gender Rights Maryland and Equality Maryland.
Milton Thomas “Milt” Edgerton, Jr. was an American plastic surgeon who served our community. Edgerton is widely considered one of the most important American plastic surgeons of the 20th century.
Background
Edgerton was born in Atlanta on July 14, 1921 and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Emory University in 1941. Edgerton earned a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1944. Following a surgical residency, Edgerton joined the United States Army and operated on injured World War II veterans.
Edgerton joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1951 and got tenure in 1962. In 1970 Edgerton was recruited to the University of Virginia to found the Department of Plastic Surgery, working and teaching there until retiring in 1994.
Edgerton had many students and colleagues who served our community as well, including Howard W. Jones, Jr. and John Gale Kenney. Edgerton was author of four books and over 500 scientific papers on plastic surgery. As shown in the selected bibliography below, Edgerton’s articles when read from earliest to latest read like an unfolding of the history of our community.
Edgerton died at age 96 on March 17, 2018. The Milton T. Edgerton, M.D. Professorship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Johns Hopkins is named in Edgerton’s honor.
This paper reviews the senior author’s long-term experience with the surgical-psychiatric treatment of 100 aesthetic surgery patients with significant psychological disturbances. Patients with psychological disturbances of a magnitude generally considered an “absolute contraindication” for surgery were operated on and later assessed to determine the psychological impact of surgery. Patient follow-up averaged 6.2 years (maximum follow-up 25.7 years). Of the 87 patients who underwent operation (7 patients were refused surgery and 6 voluntarily deferred surgery), 82.8 percent had a positive psychological outcome, 13.8 percent experienced “minimal” improvement from surgery, and 3.4 percent were negatively affected by surgery. There were no lawsuits, suicides, or psychotic decompensations. Patients with severe psychological disturbances frequently benefited from combined surgical-psychiatric treatment designed to address the patient’s profound sense of deformity. This study suggests that plastic surgeons are “passing up” a significant number of patients who may be helped by combined surgical-psychological intervention. Comment in: * Plast Reconstr Surg. 1992 Aug;90(2):333-5.* Plast Reconstr Surg. 1992 Jun;89(6):1173-5.
This article describes plastic surgery patients who sought symmetrical recontouring of the width of the face and skull. The basic demographic and personality characteristics of these facial width deformity (FWD) patients and the surgical procedures performed on them are discussed. Details of the surgical and psychological management of three representative cases are given. Speculative conclusions regarding the general characteristics of the FWD population are offered. Suggestions are proposed for a combined surgical-medical psychotherapeutic collaboration in managing these patients.Comment in: * Aesthetic Plast Surg. 1990 Fall;14(4):299-300.
The evaluation and treatment of individuals with gender identity problems has resulted in an interesting and productive collaboration between several specialties of medicine. In particular, the psychiatrist and surgeon have joined hands in the management of these fascinating patients who feel they are trapped in the wrong body and insist upon correcting this cruel mistake of nature by undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Over the last two decades, some 40 centers have emerged in which interdisciplinary teams cooperate in the evaluation and treatment of these gender dysphoric patients. The model for this collaboration began at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where the Gender Identity Clinic began its operation in 1965 (Edgerton, 1983; Pauly, 1983). This “gender identity movement” has brought together such unlikely collaborators as surgeons, endocrinologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, gynecologists, and research specialists into a mutually rewarding arena. This paper deals with the background and modern era of research into gender identity disorders and their evaluation and treatment. Finally, some data are presented on the outcome of sex reassignment surgery. This interdisciplinary collaboration has resulted in the birth of a new medical subspecialty, which deals with the study of gender identification and its disorders.
The increasing use of surgery for sex reassignment in the treatment of transsexualism is described. The author’s early experience over a twenty-year period with the Gender Identity teams at The Johns Hopkins University and The University of Virginia is summarized. Many of the reasons for slow acceptance of this type of surgery by many members of the medical profession are analyzed. The satisfactory subjective results described by patients who have received sex reassignment continue to exceed the results obtained by other methods. The author concludes that further study of surgical treatment is justified, but that it should be limited to established multidisciplinary teams working in academic settings. Physicians are urged to withhold judgment on the role of surgery in gender disorders until they have had significant personal experience with these desperate and complex patients.
Transsexualism is a poorly understood, uncommon, and controversial entity of recent interest to the lay public and medical profession. Important features of the condition are discussed, surgical procedures for genital conversion in male transsexuals are compared, and our experience at the University of Virginia where 53 patients have been treated surgically is presented. All patients have made satisfactory postoperative psychosocial adjustment despite a surgical complication rate approaching 50 per cent. It is concluded that alternative (better) surgical procedures for male transsexuals should be explored.
A 49-year-old male-to-female transsexual was administered voice therapy following surgery. Tape recordings were made of her speech prior to and each week during therapy. Selected sentences from these reocrdings were analyzed. Results indicate that changes in both fundamental frequency and perceptual judgments of femininity were statistically significant and supportive to the client. The voice of the client was still discernible from that of a female speaker, although less so than before therapy. It is suggested that a composite treatment program combined with laryngeal modification through surgical intervention may be necessary.
Turner, Edlich & Edgerton, 1978 Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottville, VA, USA In structure and representation this publication is closely related to the one of Edgerton & Meyer (1973), that is, it is no follow-up study with reliable data. Related are mostly surgical techniques for MFTs and surgical complications. Under historical viewpoints it is an interesting statement that Edgerton was already in 1963 the director of the Johns Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic in Baltimore, MD, while everywhere else the founding of this institution is generally dated two years later. Also it is interesting that a psychologist is given a key role or a veto right to the indication to surgery. For the rest, the necessity for a successful one-year-long “Real-Life-Test” as it was already in Edgerton & Meyer (1973), the experimental surgical breast enlargement is recommended as a step if the patient and treatment provider are insecure regarding the stability of the female identity of the patient. In how far the statement: “The only justification for the ongoing evaluation of surgery as a definite treatment entity is that patients with this condition have proved resistant to psychotherapy and drug therapy” (p. 121) is a general postulate or if the corresponding possibility has been tested with those who underwent surgery is not to be discerned by the publication. It is reported about 53 gender reassignment surgeries of MFTs that Edgerton made after changing from Baltimore to Virginia. Forty seven females came to the follow-up study in the first year after surgery. Globally it is said that all were subjectively happy and self-secure and socially better adjusted. “Psychological testing has substantiated these subjective claims” (p. 128). Suicide attempts after surgery or desires to role re-reversal were not observed. Eighteen females had gotten married and six had adopted children. In the series of the first 20 surgically treated, 14 females required corrective surgery; in the series of the second 20, only eight. The most frequent complication was the stenosis of the vagina. Injuries of the urethra or rectum with corresponding fistulae did not occur.
Morgan RF, Morgan EA (2019). Milton T Edgerton, MD: A Pioneer of Surgery of the Hand. Journal of Craniofacial Surgery: March/April 2019 – Volume 30 – Issue 2 – p 303â305 https://doi.org/10.1097/SCS.0000000000005063
Resources
Archival contact information:
University of Virginia Medical Center, Gender Identity Clinic, P. O. Box 376 Charlottesville, VA 22908 USA
Phone: (434) 924-5068
Thomas Steensma is a Dutch psychologist who researches gender diverse youth. Steensma’s research and clinical guidelines are frequently cited by anti-transgender extremists who reject affirmative models of care for young people seeking trans health services.
Steensma is also popular with anti-transgender activists for reporting high rates of “desistance” and “detransition.” Steensma co-authored a 2013 longitudinal study tracking 127 adolescents. approximately 37% continued with “gender dysphoria” (which they call âpersistersâ), while 63% did not (âdesistersâ) by age 15â16 .
Background
Thomas D. Steensma, works at the Department of Medical Psychology / Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Steensma’s research is focused on people of all ages with gender incongruence. Steensma’s primary projects focus on treatment evaluation, psychosexual development and (gender) identity development (including non-binary gender identities). Steensma studied social and clinical psychology, and is trained as a child and adolescent health psychologist.
“Desistance” research
In a 2013 paper, Steensma and co-authors stated that 63% of adolescents included in the study “desisted”:
Between 2000 and 2008, 225 children (144 boys, 81 girls) were consecutively referred to the clinic. From this sample, 127 adolescents were selected who were 15 years of age or older during the 4-year period of follow-up between 2008 and 2012. Of these adolescents, 47 adolescents (37%, 23 boys, 24 girls) were identified as persisters.
Because this is one of the highest “desistance” rates reported, anti-trans activists frequently cite this study. Critics have discussed methodological issues, particularly how to count people lost to follow-up / non-responders.
Press coverage
In 2018 KQED reported:
In Amsterdam, clinicians at the Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria are much more cautious about recommending social transitions because of the statistics on desistance. Thomas Steensma, a researcher and clinician at the center, acknowledges these studies probably included some kids who would not be diagnosed with gender dysphoria today. Nevertheless, despite the problems with the way they classified children, “the only evidence I have from studies and reports in the literature … is that not all transgender children will persist in their transgender identity,” Steensma said. ‘Why are we asking a child to conform to something that is not them because society hasn’t done its learning yet?’
In 2013, Steensma co-authored an oft-cited study that examined 127 adolescents, all of whom had displayed various levels of gender dysphoria as children. The researchers found that 80 of the children had desisted by the ages of 15 and 16. That works out to 63 percent of kids who basically stopped being transgender — a lower rate than in previous studies, but still a majority.
Some clinicians criticize this study, however, on methodological grounds, because the researchers defined anyone who did not return to their clinic as desisting. Fifty-two of the children classified as desistors or their parents did send back questionnaires showing the subjects’ present lack of gender dysphoria. But 28 neither responded nor could be tracked down.
van Dijken, J. B., Steensma, T. D., Wensing-Kruger, S. A., den Heijer, M., & Dreijerink, K. M. A. (2023). Tailored Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatment in Nonbinary Transgender Individuals: A Retrospective Study in a Referral Center Cohort. Transgender Health, 8(3), 220â225. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2021.0032
van der Loos, M. A. T. C., Klink, D. T., Hannema, S. E., Bruinsma, S., Steensma, T. D., Kreukels, B. P. C., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., de Vries, A. L. C., den Heijer, M., & Wiepjes, C. M. (2023). Children and adolescents in the Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria: trends in diagnostic- and treatment trajectories during the first 20 years of the Dutch Protocol. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 20(3), 398â409. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdac029
Pang, K. C., Hoq, M., & Steensma, T. D. (2022). Negative Media Coverage as a Barrier to Accessing Care for Transgender Children and Adolescents. JAMA Network Open, 5(2), e2138623. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.38623
Pang, K. C., de Graaf, N. M., Chew, D., Hoq, M., Keith, D. R., Carmichael, P., & Steensma, T. D. (2020). Association of Media Coverage of Transgender and Gender Diverse Issues With Rates of Referral of Transgender Children and Adolescents to Specialist Gender Clinics in the UK and Australia. JAMA Network Open, 3(7), e2011161. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.11161
Indremo, M., Jodensvi, A. C., Arinell, H., Isaksson, J., & Papadopoulos, F. C. (2022). Association of Media Coverage on Transgender Health With Referrals to Child and Adolescent Gender Identity Clinics in Sweden. JAMA Network Open, 5(2), e2146531. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.46531
Chong, L. S. H., Kerklaan, J., Clarke, S., Kohn, M., Baumgart, A., Guha, C., Tunnicliffe, D. J., Hanson, C. S., Craig, J. C., & Tong, A. (2021). Experiences and Perspectives of Transgender Youths in Accessing Health Care. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1159. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2061
Pham, A., Morgan, A. R., Kerman, H., Albertson, K., Crouch, J. M., Inwards-Breland, D. J., Ahrens, K. R., & Salehi, P. (2020). How Are Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Affected by the News? A Qualitative Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 66(4), 478â483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.11.304
Hughto, J. M. W., Pletta, D., Gordon, L., Cahill, S., Mimiaga, M. J., & Reisner, S. L. (2021). Negative Transgender-Related Media Messages Are Associated with Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in a Multistate Study of Transgender Adults. LGBT Health, 8(1), 32â41. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0279
Bungener, S. L., Post, L., Berends, I., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC, & Popma, A. (2022). Talking About Sexuality with Youth: A Taboo in Psychiatry? The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 19(3), 421â429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2022.01.001
Van Mello, N., De Nie, I., Asseler, J., Arnoldussen, M., Steensma, T., Den Heijer, M., de Vries ALC, & Huirne, J. (2022). P-506âReflecting on the Importance of Family Building and Fertility Preservation: Transgender Peopleâs Experiences with Starting Gender-affirming Treatment as Adolescent. Human Reproduction, 37(Supplement_1). https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deac107.469
Arnoldussen, M., van der Miesen, A. I. R., Elzinga, W. S., Alberse, A.-M. E., Popma, A., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC(2022). Self-Perception of Transgender Adolescents After Gender-Affirming Treatment: A Follow-Up Study into Young Adulthood. LGBT Health, 9(4), 238â246. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0494
de Rooij, F. P. W., van der Sluis, W. B., Ronkes, B. L., Steensma, T. D., Al-Tamimi, M., van Moorselaar, R. J. A., Bouman, M.-B., & Pigot, G. L. S. (2022). MP20-09âComparison of clinical outcomes after phalloplasty with versus without urethral lengthening in transgender men. Journal of Urology, 207(Supplement 5). https://doi.org/10.1097/ju.0000000000002553.09
van der Vaart, L. R., Verveen, A., Bos, H. M., van Rooij, F. B., & Steensma, T. D. (2022). Differences in self-perception and social gender status in children with gender incongruence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27(4), 1077â1090. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045221099394
de Rooij, F. P. W., van der Sluis, W. B., Ronkes, B. L., Steensma, T. D., Al-Tamimi, M., van Moorselaar, R. J. A., Bouman, M.-B., & Pigot, G. L. S. (2022). Comparison of surgical outcomes and urinary functioning after phalloplasty with versus without urethral lengthening in transgender men. International Journal of Transgender Health, 24(4), 487â498. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2110548
van der Sluis, W. B., Bruin, R. J. M. de, Steensma, T. D., & Bouman, M.-B. (2021). Gender-affirmation surgery and bariatric surgery in transgender individuals in The Netherlands: Considerations, surgical techniques and outcomes. International Journal of Transgender Health, 23(3), 355â361. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2021.1890302
de Graaf, N. M., Huisman, B., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Twist, J., Hage, K., Carmichael, P., Kreukels, B. P. C., & Steensma, T. D. (2021). Psychological Functioning in Non-binary Identifying Adolescents and Adults. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 47(8), 773â784. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623x.2021.1950087
van der Sluis, W. B., de Nie, I., Steensma, T. D., van Mello, N. M., Lissenberg-Witte, B. I., & Bouman, M.-B. (2021). Surgical and demographic trends in genital gender-affirming surgery in transgender women: 40 years of experience in Amsterdam. British Journal of Surgery, 109(1), 8â11. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znab213
Kennedy, E., Lane, C., Stynes, H., Ranieri, V., Spinner, L., Carmichael, P., Omar, R., Vickerstaff, V., Hunter, R., Senior, R., Butler, G., Baron-Cohen, S., de Graaf, N., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC, Young, B., & King, M. (2021). Longitudinal Outcomes of Gender Identity in Children (LOGIC): study protocol for a retrospective analysis of the characteristics and outcomes of children referred to specialist gender services in the UK and the Netherlands. BMJ Open, 11(11), e054895. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054895
Verveen, A., Kreukels, B. P., de Graaf, N. M., & Steensma, T. D. (2021). Body image in children with gender incongruence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26(3), 839â854. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045211000797
MJA Verbeek, MA Hommes, TD Steensma, AER Bos, J van Lankveld (2021). Transgender specific problem situations experienced during transition: Development of a Transgender Coping Questionnaire part 1. 4th EPATH Hybrid Conference: Reconnecting and Redefining Transgender Healthcare 2021https://epath.eu/past-conferences/conference-2021/
Castellini G, Ristori J, Steensma T (2021). Psychopathology in adult transgender people. European Psychiatry. 2021;64(S1):S47-S47. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.151
de Vries ALC, Beek, T. F., Dhondt, K., de Vet, H. C. W., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Steensma, T. D., & Kreukels, B. P. C. (2021). Reliability and Clinical Utility of Gender Identity-Related Diagnoses: Comparisons Between the ICD-11, ICD-10, DSM-IV, and DSM-5. LGBT Health, 8(2), 133â142. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0272
Spizzirri, G., EufrĂĄsio, R., Lima, M.C.P. et al. (2021). Proportion of people identified as transgender and non-binary gender in Brazil. Sci Rep11, 2240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81411-4
Claahsen – van der Grinten, H., Verhaak, C., Steensma, T., Middelberg, T., Roeffen, J., & Klink, D. (2020). Gender incongruence and gender dysphoria in childhood and adolescenceâcurrent insights in diagnostics, management, and follow-up. European Journal of Pediatrics, 180(5), 1349â1357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03906-y
Bungener, Sara. L., de Vries ALC, Popma, A., & Steensma, T. D. (2020). Sexual Experiences of Young Transgender Persons During and After Gender-Affirmative Treatment. Pediatrics, 146(6), e20191411. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-1411
de Graaf, N. M., Steensma, T. D., Carmichael, P., VanderLaan, D. P., Aitken, M., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., de Vries ALC, Kreukels, B. P. C., Wasserman, L., Wood, H., Zucker KJ (2020). Suicidality in clinic-referred transgender adolescents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(1), 67â83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01663-9
Steensma TD, Wensing-Kruger SA, Klink D (2017). How Should Physicians Help Gender-Transitioning Adolescents Consider Potential Iatrogenic Harms of Hormone Therapy? (2017). AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(8), 762â770. https://doi.org/10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.8.ecas3-1708
de Vries ALC, Steensma, T.D., Cohen-Kettenis, P.T., VanderLaan DP, Zucker KJ (2016). Poor peer relations predict parent- and self-reported behavioral and emotional problems of adolescents with gender dysphoria: a cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry25, 579â588 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-015-0764-7
Steensma TD, McGuire JK, Kreukels BPC, Beekman AJ, Cohen-Kettenis P.T (2013). Factors Associated With Desistence and Persistence of Childhood Gender Dysphoria: A Quantitative Follow-Up Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 52, Issue 6, pp. 582â590). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.03.016
Temple Newhook, J., Pyne, J., Winters, K., Feder, S., Holmes, C., Tosh, J., Sinnott, M.-L., Jamieson, A., & Pickett, S. (2018). A critical commentary on follow-up studies and âdesistanceâ theories about transgender and gender-nonconforming children. International Journal of Transgenderism, 19(2), 212â224. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2018.1456390
Zucker KJ (2018). The myth of persistence: Response to âA critical commentary on follow-up studies and âdesistanceâ theories about transgender and gender non-conforming childrenâ by Temple Newhook et al. (2018). International Journal of Transgenderism, 19(2), 231â245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2018.1468293
Steensma, T. D., Biemond, R., de Boer, F., Cohen-Kettenes PT (2011). Desisting and persisting gender dysphoria after childhood: A qualitative follow-up study. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16(4), 499â516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104510378303
Pedagogische en Onderwijswetenschappen (UvA) with Henny Bos and Thomas Steensma (Apr 14, 2021). Gender – Preventieve Jeugdhulp en Opvoeding. [Gender – Preventive Youth Care and Education] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5JweVHLeU
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
The previous version of this site had occasional essays and news posts between 2003 and 2014. This is an archive of those notes, shown in reverse chronological order.
Items in bold have been ported to this site. Other links go to archive.org for now.
I wrote a few essays in 2003, outlining philosophical and theoretical issues that have an effect on our community and beyond. They were intended to correct misunderstandings which arise in the course of debates.
This addresses accusations that I am “anti-science” and gives an overview of some ethical issues raised by first-wave sexologists like Bailey-Blanchard-Lawrence.
A reply to a post from Kendra Blewitt regarding my comments about those who identify as “autogynephiles.”
Scott Leibowitz is an American pediatric psychiatrist best known for working with gender diverse youth and with anti-trans journalists.
Like many psychologists and psychiatrists who get paid to do them, Leibowitz promotes “comprehensive psychological assessments,” a form of gatekeeping used for over a century to delay or deny medical transition options for trans and gender diverse people.
Leibowitz is a key source for journalists who feel it has become too easy for adolescents and young adults to get hormones and surgery, covering trans healthcare like an unfolding medical scandal. Leibowitz participated in numerous articles about the ex-transgender movement, most notably pieces by anti-trans activists Jesse Singal in The Atlantic and Emily Bazelon in the New York Times. Those pieces have been cited in proposed legislation banning trans healthcare.
Leibowitz believes that science, medicine, and journalism can somehow be separated from politics. In 2024, despite Leibowitz’s objections, Ohio passed HB 68 banning the care that Leibowitz offers in that state.
Background
Scott Farrell Leibowitz was born on May 20, 1978 in Smithtown, New York. Leibowitz earned a bachelorâs degree from Cornell University and a medical degree from the Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine New York State/American Program. Leibowitz completed residencies at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Long Island Jewish Health System. Leibowitz then did a Fellowship at the children’s gender clinic at Boston Childrenâs Hospital with colleague Laura Edwards-Leeper. In 2013 Leibowitz took a similar position at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrenâs Hospital in Chicago. In 2015 Leibowitz was recruited to Nationwide Childrenâs in Columbus, Ohio.
2018 Atlantic article
Leibowitz was quoted throughout a 2018 Atlantic article by Jesse Singal on the ex-transgender movement. Similar to the ex-gay movement, the people who promote the medicalized concepts of “desistance” and “detransition” believe that interest in gender transition is a disease that can resolve on its own or through medical intervention. Proponents of these loaded terms make several assumptions that are not value-neutral and therefore not scientific.
[Laura] Edwards-Leeper is hoping to promote a concept of affirming care that takes into account the developmental nuances that so often come up in her clinical work. In this effort, she is joined by Scott Leibowitz, a psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents. He is the medical director of behavioral health for the THRIVE program at Nationwide Childrenâs Hospital, in Columbus. Leibowitz has a long history of working with and supporting TGNC youthâhe served as an expert witness for the Department of Justice in 2016, when President Barack Obamaâs administration challenged state-level âbathroom billsâ that sought to prevent trans people from using the public bathroom associated with their gender identity. Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz met at Boston Childrenâs, where Leibowitz did his psychiatry fellowship, and the two have been close friends and collaborators ever since.
While itâs understandable, for historical reasons, why some people associate comprehensive psychological assessments with denial of access to care, that isnât how Leibowitz and Edwards-Leeper view their approach. Yes, they want to discern whether a patient actually has gender dysphoria. But comprehensive assessments and ongoing mental-health work are also means of ensuring that transitioningâwhich can be a physically and emotionally taxing process for adolescents even under the best of circumstancesâgoes smoothly.
[…]
Scottâs assessment process centered mostly on the basic readiness questions Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz are convinced should be asked of any young person considering hormones.
[…]
But progressive-minded parents can sometimes be a problem for their kids as well. Several of the clinicians I spoke with, including Nate Sharon, Laura Edwards-Leeper, and Scott Leibowitz, recounted new patientsâ arriving at their clinics, their parents having already developed detailed plans for them to transition. âIâve actually had patients with parents pressuring me to recommend their kids start hormones,â Sharon said.
[…]
Leibowitz noted that a relationship with a caring therapist may itself be an important prophylactic against suicidal ideation for TGNC youth: âOften for the first time having a medical or mental-health professional tell them that they are going to take them seriously and really listen to them and hear their story often helps them feel better than theyâve ever felt.â
[…]
âWould you rather have a live daughter or a dead son?â is a common response to such questions. âThis type of narrative takes an already fearful parent and makes them even more afraid, which is hardly the type of mind-set one would want a parent to be in when making a complex lifelong decision for their adolescent,â Leibowitz said.
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, a physician who specializes in pediatric and adolescent medicine at Childrenâs Hospital Los Angeles and who is the medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development, is one of the most sought-out voices on these issues, and has significant differences with Edwards-Leeper and Leibowitz. In âMental Health Disparities Among Transgender Youth: Rethinking the Role of Professionals,â a 2016 JAMAPediatrics article, she wrote that âestablishing a therapeutic relationship entails honesty and a sense of safety that can be compromised if young people believe that what they need and deserve (potentially blockers, hormones, or surgery) can be denied them according to the information they provide to the therapist.â
[…]
Perhaps a first step is to recognize detransitioners and desisters as being on the same âsideâ as happily transitioned trans people. Members of each of these groups have experienced gender dysphoria at some point, and all have a right to compassionate, comprehensive care, whether or not that includes hormones or surgery. âThe detransitioner is probably just as scarred by the system as the transitioner who didnât have access to transition,â Leibowitz told me. The best way to build a system that fails fewer people is to acknowledge the staggering complexity of gender dysphoriaâand to acknowledge just how early we are in the process of understanding it.
The story is about the editing of the WPATH Standards of Care 8 chapter on youth.
Leibowitz, [Annelou] de Vries and their co-authors held their ground on assessments. The final version of their chapter said that because of the limited long-term research, treatment without a comprehensive diagnostic assessment âhas no empirical support and therefore carries the risk that the decision to start gender-affirming medical interventions may not be in the long-term best interest of the young person at that time.â
[from original version] In his Atlantic story, Singal also justified his skepticism of letting kids transition by relying heavily on two care providers, Scott Leibowitz and Laura Edwards-Leeper, who believe in the desistance myth, and whom Singal has cited in the past. Despite the fact that their views are shared by few other experts, Singal has suggested in the past that their theory is mainstream.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article referenced child and adolescent psychiatrist Scott Leibowitz and his colleague Laura Edwards-Leeper in a context that misrepresented their work. It has been updated to remove reference to them.
Singal, Jesse (July 2018). When a child says she’s trans. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/
Simons LK, Leibowitz SF, Hidalgo MA (2014). Understanding gender variance in children and adolescents. Pediatr Ann. 2014 Jun;43(6):e126-31. https://doi.org/10.3928/00904481-20140522-07
Edwards-Leeper L, Leibowitz SF, Sangganjanavanich VF (2016). Affirmative practice with transgender and gender nonconforming youth: Expanding the model. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity 3(2):165-172 https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000167
Calzo JP, Melchiono M, Richmond TK, Leibowitz SF, Argenal RL, Goncalves A, Pitts S, Gooding HC, Burke P (2017). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adolescent Health: An Interprofessional Case Discussion. MedEdPORTAL. 2017 Aug 9;13:10615. https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.10615
Janssen A, Scott Leibowitz SF, eds. (2018). Affirmative Mental Health Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth: A Clinical Guide. ISBN 9783319783079
The research term for this is desistance. This has become a rather controversial discussion because the studies themselves vary in the populations they included and how they handled the children that were lost to follow up.
Strang JF, Powers MD, Knauss M, Sibarium E, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, Sadikova E, Wyss S, Willing L, Caplan R, Pervez N, Nowak J, Gohari D, Gomez-Lobo V, Call D, Anthony LG (2018). “They Thought It Was an Obsession”: Trajectories and Perspectives of Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018 Dec;48(12):4039-4055. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3723-6
Strang JF, Janssen A, Tishelman A, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, McGuire JK, Edwards-Leeper L, Mazefsky CA, Rofey D, Bascom J, Caplan R, Gomez-Lobo V, Berg D, Zaks Z, Wallace GL, Wimms H, Pine-Twaddell E, Shumer D, Register-Brown K, Sadikova E, Anthony LG (2018). Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov;57(11):885-887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.04.023
Leibowitz SF, Lantos JD (2019). Affirming, Balanced, and Comprehensive Care for Transgender Teenagers. Pediatrics. June 2019, 143 (6) e20190995 https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-0995
Exhibit 37: Expert Declaration of Scott F. Leibowitz, MD. United States of America v. State of North Carolina, et al. (2017). No. 1:16-cv-00425 [PDF] https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/de_076-37_-_leibowitz_decl_iso_mot_for_pi_us_07-06-2016.pdf
Leibowitz SF, Telingator C (2012). Assessing gender identity concerns in children and adolescents: evaluation, treatments, and outcomes. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2012 Apr;14(2):111-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0259-x
Leibowitz SF, Norman Spack (2011). The development of a gender identity psychosocial clinic: treatment issues, logistical considerations, interdisciplinary cooperation, and future initiatives. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2011 Oct;20(4):701-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.07.004
Stoddard J, Leibowitz SF, Ton H, Snowdon S (2011). Improving medical education about gender-variant youth and transgender adolescents. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2011 Oct;20(4):779-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.07.008
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Laura Edwards-Leeper is a conservative American psychologist best known for working with gender diverse youth. Edwards-Leeper has become a favored source for journalists promoting the ex-transgender movement and a leading voice in a faction of therapists who have “concerns” that affirmative models of care for trans youth do not have enough gatekeeping. Edwards-Leeper believes trans people and their families should pay someone like her before getting access to medical transition options.
Background
Laura Ann Edwards-Leeper was born on January 18, 1975. Edwards-Leeper earned a bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark College in 1997, then attended Bowling Green State University, earning a graduate certificate in 2003 and a doctorate in 2004. Edwards-Leeper did internships through Montana State University, Bozeman at Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital and through Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School.
Edwards-Leeper is married to Todd Steven Edwards-Leeper (born 1973).
Transgender youth
Edwards-Leeper worked closely with endocrinologist Norman Spack at Boston Children’s Hospital. Spack is an innovator in offering medical options to gender diverse youth, founding the Gender Management Service (GeMS) there in 2007. Edwards-Leeper and Spack co-authored several articles through 2012, when Edwards-Leeper left GeMs for a similar role at Seattle Children’s Hospital. After a year, Edwards-Leeper went into private practice.
After 2012, Edwards-Leeper began publishing on the correlation between neurodiversity and gender diversity.
2018 Atlantic article
Edwards-Leeper was quoted throughout a 2018 Atlantic article by Jesse Singal on the ex-transgender movement. Similar to the ex-gay movement, the people who promote the medicalized concepts of âdesistanceâ and âdetransitionâ believe that being trans is a disease that can resolve on it own or through medical intervention. Proponents of these loaded terms make several assumptions that are not value-neutral and therefore not scientific.
Singal presents Edwards-Leeper and fellow clinicians Erica Anderson and Dianne Berg as therapists who have “concerns” that more affirming care for minors may lead to negative transition outcomes. Edwards-Leeper’s assessment methods had led to a controversial reputation, Critics reportedly “nearly threw things” at Edwards-Leeper at conferences:
Those conference troubles signaled to Edwards-Leeper that her field had shifted in ways she found discomfiting. At one conference a few years ago, she recalled, a co-panelist who was a well-respected clinician in her field said that Edwards-Leeperâs comprehensive assessments required kids to âjump through more fiery hoopsâ and were âretraumatizing.â This prompted a standing ovation from the audience, mostly families of TGNC young people. During another panel discussion, at the same conference with the same clinician, but this time geared toward fellow clinicians, the same thing happened: more claims that assessments were traumatizing, more raucous applause.
Edwards-Leeper isnât alone in worrying that the field is straying from its own established best practices. âUnder the motivation to be supportive and to be affirming and to be nonstigmatizing, I think the pendulum has swung so far that now weâre maybe not looking as critically at the issues as we should be,â the National Center for Gender Spectrum Healthâs Dianne Berg told me. Erica Anderson, the UCSF clinician, expressed similar concerns: âSome of the stories weâve heard about detransitioning, I fear, are related to people who hastily embarked on medical interventions and decided that they werenât for them, and didnât thoroughly vet their decision either by themselves or with professional people who could help them.â
Singal (2018)
Via Jenny Cyphers, an activist in the ex-trans movement:
Two of the most important aspects of my familyâs experience that are not adequately addressed in the Atlantic article, are: 1) my daughter was given a clinical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, so she was just as âtruly transâ as the next kid, and 2) it was my insistence that my child wait to medically transition, not her therapistâs. My teenâs therapist, Laura Edwards-Leeper, listened to me and agreed. We were lucky. While there are some cautious, thoughtful providers, the current situation in the US is that there is also no oversight. The most vocal professionals are firmly in the affirmation camp which believes, without any long-term data to validate, that withholding hormonal interventions is tantamount to abuse.
2021 60 Minutes segment
Edwards-Leeper appeared on a 60 Minutes segment about the ex-transgender movement and was presented as a practitioner of “comprehensive assessment” in a way that suggested some colleagues were not doing this. When CBS’s Lesley Stahl asked about “this whole area of accepting what young people are saying too readily,” Edwards-Leeper said:
Yes, everyone is very scared to speak up because we’re afraid of not being seen as affirming or supportive of these young people or doing something to hurt the trans community. But even some of the providers are trans themselves and share these concerns.
This is a reference to conservative trans therapist Erica Anderson, who also appeared in the segment.
2021 Washington Post op-ed
Edwards-Leeper again joined fellow conservative clinician Erica Anderson to denounce what they consider insufficient gatekeeping in healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth.
In response, DC-area parents Rachel Cornwell and Liz Matthews wrote:
As parents of transgender youths, we are deeply concerned by Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Andersonâs Nov. 28 Outlook essay, âThe mental health establishment is failing trans kids.â Though we agree with their conclusion that improvements in care for gender-diverse youths are needed, their alarmist concerns about insufficient psychological evaluations for gender-affirming care are unfounded and sensationalized.
The writers based their opinion on anecdotal experiences and even admitted that âproviders and their behavior havenât been closely studied.â They pointed to a single study of an extremely small number of people who have detransitioned to support their argument in favor of delaying or even denying gender-affirming medical care to gender-diverse youths. They recklessly conflate safe, reversible medical interventions such as hormone blockers with more permanent gender-confirmation treatments such as surgeries, which are typically not performed on minors in the United States. And they dangerously play down the risk of suicide that can result from denying gender-affirming care.
Thousands of trans youths are now thriving because of gender-affirming care. Thankfully, our children are among that number because of the intervention of mental health providers and physicians, as well as the support of our communities. Trans kids need all the support they can get because they live in a world that too often denies and degrades them. That is why itâs such a shame that the authors would increase barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, rather than expand access for all who need it.
Clinician AJ Eckert, who was identified in the piece, wrote:
The essay misrepresented gender-affirming care, which is nuanced, complex and comprehensive. The writers mischaracterized transgender youths and pushed a damaging pseudoscientific narrative that serves to further limit health care for an already underserved, marginalized and vulnerable population. The writers leaned on the World Professional Association for Transgender Healthâs standards of care but failed to note that the standards acknowledge the damaging and irreversible consequences of an incongruent puberty, reject the stereotype of trans psychopathology and include harm-reduction strategies.
Contrary to the anti-trans arguments spread throughout mass media and repeated by the writers, research shows that detransition and regret are rare, trans youth suicide rates are alarmingly high, and trans children supported in their identities have better mental health outcomes. One of their most egregious lies was that those opposed to gender-affirming care are being silenced. This article was proof that isnât true.
Trans children deserve love, support and thoughtful medical care as much as cisgender children do. Pieces such as this are responsible for the closure of gender clinics, anti-trans sentiment and the spate of laws and regulations targeting trans youths.
Strang JF, McClellan LS, Raaijmakers D, Caplan R, Klomp SE, Reutter M, Lai MC, Song M, Gratton FV, Dale LK, Schutte A, de Vries ALC, Gardiner F, Edwards-Leeper L, Minnaard AL, Eleveld NL, Corbin E, Purkis Y, Lawson W, Kim DY, van Wieringen IM, RodrĂguez-RoldĂĄn VM, Harris MC, Wilks MF, Abraham G, Balleur-van Rijn A, Brown LXZ, Forshaw A, Wilks GB, Griffin AD, Graham EK, Krause S, Pervez N, Bok IA, Song A, Fischbach AL, van der Miesen AIR (2023). The Gender-Diversity and Autism Questionnaire: A Community-Developed Clinical, Research, and Self-Advocacy Tool for Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Young Adults. Autism Adulthood. 2023 Jun 1;5(2):175-190. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0002
Coleman E, Radix AE, Bouman WP, Brown GR, de Vries ALC, Deutsch MB, Ettner R, Fraser L, Goodman M, Green J, Hancock AB, Johnson TW, Karasic DH, Knudson GA, Leibowitz SF, Meyer-Bahlburg HFL, Monstrey SJ, Motmans J, Nahata L, Nieder TO, Reisner SL, Richards C, Schechter LS, Tangpricha V, Tishelman AC, Van Trotsenburg MAA, Winter S, Ducheny K, Adams NJ, AdriĂĄn TM, Allen LR, Azul D, Bagga H, BaĆar K, Bathory DS, Belinky JJ, Berg DR, Berli JU, Bluebond-Langner RO, Bouman MB, Bowers ML, Brassard PJ, Byrne J, CapitĂĄn L, Cargill CJ, Carswell JM, Chang SC, Chelvakumar G, Corneil T, Dalke KB, De Cuypere G, de Vries E, Den Heijer M, Devor AH, Dhejne C, D’Marco A, Edmiston EK, Edwards-Leeper L, Ehrbar R, Ehrensaft D, Eisfeld J, Elaut E, Erickson-Schroth L, Feldman JL, Fisher AD, Garcia MM, Gijs L, Green SE, Hall BP, Hardy TLD, Irwig MS, Jacobs LA, Janssen AC, Johnson K, Klink DT, Kreukels BPC, Kuper LE, Kvach EJ, Malouf MA, Massey R, Mazur T, McLachlan C, Morrison SD, Mosser SW, Neira PM, Nygren U, Oates JM, Obedin-Maliver J, Pagkalos G, Patton J, Phanuphak N, Rachlin K, Reed T, Rider GN, Ristori J, Robbins-Cherry S, Roberts SA, Rodriguez-Wallberg KA, Rosenthal SM, Sabir K, Safer JD, Scheim A⊠(2022). Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8. Int J Transgend Health. 2022 Sep 6;23(Suppl 1):S1-S259. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644
Spivey LA, Edwards-Leeper L (2019). Future Directions in Affirmative Psychological Interventions with Transgender Children and Adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2019 Mar-Apr;48(2):343-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1534207
Strang JF, Janssen A, Tishelman A, Leibowitz SF, Kenworthy L, McGuire JK, Edwards-Leeper L, Mazefsky CA, Rofey D, Bascom J, Caplan R, Gomez-Lobo V, Berg D, Zaks Z, Wallace GL, Wimms H, Pine-Twaddell E, Shumer D, Register-Brown K, Sadikova E, Anthony LG (2018). Revisiting the Link: Evidence of the Rates of Autism in Studies of Gender Diverse Individuals. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2018 Nov;57(11):885-887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2018.04.023
Chen D, Edwards-Leeper L, Stancin T, Tishelman A. Advancing the Practice of Pediatric Psychology with Transgender Youth: State of the Science (2018), Ongoing Controversies, and Future Directions. Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol. 2018 Mar;6(1):73-83. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpp0000229
Strang JF, Meagher H, Kenworthy L, de Vries ALC, Menvielle E, Leibowitz S, Janssen A, Cohen-Kettenis P, Shumer DE, Edwards-Leeper L, Pleak RR, Spack N, Karasic DH, Schreier H, Balleur A, Tishelman A, Ehrensaft D, Rodnan L, Kuschner ES, Mandel F, Caretto A, Lewis HC, Anthony LG (2018). Initial Clinical Guidelines for Co-Occurring Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gender Dysphoria or Incongruence in Adolescents. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2018 Jan-Feb;47(1):105-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1228462
Shumer DE, Reisner SL, Edwards-Leeper L, Tishelman A (2016). Evaluation of Asperger Syndrome in Youth Presenting to a Gender Dysphoria Clinic. LGBT Health. 2016 Oct;3(5):387-90. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2015.0070
Tishelman AC, Kaufman R, Edwards-Leeper L, Mandel FH, Shumer DE, Spack NP (2015). Serving Transgender Youth: Challenges, Dilemmas and Clinical Examples. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2015;46(1):37-45. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037490
Tishelman AC, Kaufman R, Edwards-Leeper L, Mandel FH, Shumer DE, Spack NP (2015). Reply to comment on “Serving Transgender Youth: Challenges, Dilemmas, and Clinical Examples” by Tishelman et al. (2015). Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2015 Aug;46(4):307. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000029
Children and adolescents with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center. Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L, Feldman HA, Leibowitz S, Mandel F, Diamond DA, Vance SR. Pediatrics. 2012 Mar;129(3):418-25. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0907
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2012). Psychological evaluation and medical treatment of transgender youth in an interdisciplinary âGender Management Serviceâ (GeMS) in a major pediatric center. Journal of Homosexuality, 59 (3), 321-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2012.653302
Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L, Feldman HA, Leibowitz S, Mandel F, Diamond DA, Vance SR (2012). Children and adolescents with gender identity disorder referred to a pediatric medical center. Pediatrics, 129 (3), 418-425. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-0907
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2012). Psychological Evaluation and Medical Treatment of Transgender Youth in an Interdisciplinary âGender Management Serviceâ (GeMS) in a Major Pediatric Center. Journal of Homosexuality 59(3):321-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2012.653302
Spack NP, Edwards-Leeper L (2011). Medical treatment of the transgender adolescent. In Fisher M, Alderman E, Kreipe R, Rosenfeld W (Eds). Textbook of Adolescent Health Care. American Academy of Pediatrics, ISBN 9781581102697
Edwards-Leeper L, Spack NP (2011). Gender identity disorder. In Augustyn M, Zuckerman B, Caronna EB (Eds.), The Zuckerman Parker Handbook of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics for Primary Care (3rd ed., pp. 229-233). Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-1608319145
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Rya Jones is an American former publishing executive who has espoused conservative transgender views. Jones posted many videos expressing conservative or religious views about gender, many of which were later deleted.
Background
Rya Jones was born on June 24, 1974. Jones graduated from high school in 1992, then earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996. Jones served as CEO of Jones Publishing, Inc. It was founded by Jones’ parents in 1986 and has produced a number of specialty periodicals:
Religious (via Crosslife LLC): Today’s Christian Living, Today’s Pastor
Arts and crafts: Sunshine Artist, Dolls, Doll Costuming, Doll Crafter, Dollmaking, Popular Ceramics, Ceramics Arts and Craft, Teddy Bear Review
Jones transitioned in around 2015. Jones’ time as CEO ended in 2016. In 2017, JP Media LLC purchased Jones Publishing, Inc. in a planned transfer of the company from Joe and Maggie Jones to Diana Jones, Rya Jones’ former spouse. Rya and Diana Jones had seven children who were home-schooled. Jones has served as an ordained pastor in Cornerstone Churches in Wisconsin and studied part-time for a Master’s in Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jones now identifies as a “former pastor.” Jones has been involved with Madison Community Cooperative and has been licensed as a health insurance agent with Humana.
Online activity
Jones uses several online handles, including:
Rya N.T. Jones
HeyThisIsRya
In around 2017, Jones published a number of videos on YouTube about various gender-critical topics including a possible “detransition” before removing all of the videos. One video, titled “I am an autogynephile,” led to Jones being listed on this site as an autogynephilia activist. Jones claimed in the 2025 statement below that the provocative title was to generate engagement and was not a statement of identity.
Starting in September 2022, Rya Jones and parent Joe Jones produced dozens of episodes of a podcast titled TranDescendant.
Statement from Rya Jones
In June 2025. Jones sent the following statement for publication on this profile:
I am not, nor have I have I ever been, an âAutogynephilia activist.â On November 3, 2017, I published a video arguing that gatekeeping in the transgender community needed to stop. I told the story of my interaction with a straight trans woman who told me I was not really trans because I am attracted to women instead of men. I then made the point that some people that call my condition autogynephilia in order to marginalize us. The point I intended to make was that, no matter what you choose to call me, it does not make me less authentically-trans. The thumbnail had a picture of me with the phrase, âNot Trans Enough.â
But then almost as an afterthought, I titled it âI am an autogynephile.â I knew that YouTube likes controversy, and that using such a title would almost certainly get more views. Once people saw the video, I reasoned, they would hear my argument and stop belittling women like me. That was almost certainly the wrong decision, because nearly everyone, from transphobes to trans people, took the title at face value. Ironically, some people used it as an admission that I was not really trans after all.
It didnât help that I posted some similarly provocative videos, including one where I talked about challenging gender norms by âdetransitioningâ but continuing to present female. I regretted the idea almost instantly after I published the video. I used my very next video to explain why I was wrong. Some commenters accused me of broadcasting internalized transphobia on that channel. I did my best not to do so. Looking back, they were probably right. I donât think I ever described myself as Gender Critical, but I was certainly trying to engage a Gender Critical audience in order to change their minds. When I realized that approach was never going to work, I quit the channel.
To those I hurt with my words, I am sincerely sorry. I cannot change that I said those things. But I did unpublish the channel years ago. I reject Ray Blanchardâs widely-rejected hypothesis of autogynephelia. And I most certainly would NEVER describe myself as a âman trapped in a manâs body.â If thereâs anything more I can do to right the wrongs I may have caused, please email me at rya dot nt dot jones at gmail.
Miranda Yardley and Rya Jones (July 12, 2017). ‘TERF’ and ‘Cis’: Misogyny and Homophobia in Transgender Culture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUP2csDBG-E [deleted]
Why I Didn’t Realize I was Transgender for Most of My Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oyc_Aq4llI
A Transgender Woman Talks About the Pressures of Gender Conformity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn_Wo5NzRo4
WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO WITH THIS CHANNEL | A chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakFBxmD7aY
DO OUR OPPRESSORS DESERVE TO HAVE US LISTEN TO THEM? | A Thougtful Response to Riley J. Dennis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gDgEz6BAOc
ARE TRANSGENDER PEOPLE POSSESSED? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMzsv8ab4W8
WHEN YOUR DAD GOES FROM FUNDAMENTALIST TO TRANSGENDER | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L96esw36h8Q
HOW TO OVERCOME THE COTTON CEILING | A Transgender Response to Arielle Scarcella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_VXfZE0Hg8
Are Trans Women Biologically Male?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXHeifREMbA
THE TRUTH ABOUT TERFS | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrOudAt-yUs
WHAT MAKES SOMEONE A WOMAN? | A Chat With Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaXbqvYU5iQ
STOP CALLING PEOPLE TERFS! | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGUBfoTAJ5Y
IS IT OKAY TO HAVE WOMEN-ONLY SPACES THAT EXCLUDE TRANS WOMEN? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB-R3o5fQ0w
WHY AREN’T TRANS FOLKS LISTENING?! | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDM92WgrmI0
FIRST KISS AT THE ALTAR | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnU6DdxjwKo
GENDER IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giAOLuibmNg
I’M A TRANSGENDER TERF? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY_8SWBUvoc
ARE TRANSWOMEN WOMEN? | A Chat with Miranda Yardley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUNuD8WUSY
CAN A TRANS PERSON HIT PEAK TRANS? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ggX-lvgErc
People are FREAKING OUT about Miranda Yardley’s Attack on Transgenderism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPi021G9lls
WHY I ADORE RILEY J. DENNIS, YOUTUBE’S MOST HATED TRANS PERSON | A Chat With Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNs8A4pAIoY
WELL THIS WAS A HUGE LET DOWN | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioJsfXLbDs4
DOES THE BIBLE CONDEMN HOMOSEXUALITY? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h9d8OC7KZQ
‘TERFS’ DON’T HATE TRANS PEOPLE! | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtOKFUe7JBg
I DEBATE MY FUNDAMENTALIST SELF FROM 17 YEARS AGO | A Chat With Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcMSZEIekW8
DO RADICAL FEMINISTS HATE TRANSPEOPLE? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-jVhZdJEg
I AM AN AUTOGYNEPHILE | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ferdf6iRTOg
WARNING: TRANS LEGISLATION IS DANGEROUS (But Not for the Reason You Think) | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0WLFOLO7vE
A FEMINIST RESPONSE TO THE CURRENT STATE OF THE TRANS MOVEMENT | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_oKPUZxEBA
ARE TRANSWOMEN WOMEN? | A Battle to the Death Between Rya Jones and Miranda Yardley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwlQLBfknE
TERFS | A response to ContraPoints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh0E_gM_Sf4
HAS THERYN MEYER LOST IT? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVrm96aX4NE
RESPONDING TO TROLLS | A Chat With Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWgsWCNaG40
I’m Sick of Being a TERF | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0evnXBNjqVI
I MIGHT DE-TRANSITION (Not Clickbait) | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRpxHA7p9wQ
MY DECISION ABOUT DE-TRANSITIONING | A Chat With Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcqpJY-W7p0
YOUR GENITAL PREFERENCES MAKE JESUS CRY | A Response to Ash Hardell and Arielle Scarcella
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0xkAG4bOA
I’M SO SICK OF THIS!!! | A Rant from Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rtkPYyHyzI
10 BOOKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFwDYRzir6Q
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SKYLAR BAKER-JORDAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvUe7cUVk0Y
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MY MELTDOWN LAST WEEK | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dZcsIhWQ5Y
DO TRANS WOMEN HAVE FEMALE BRAINS? | A Chat with Rya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciAFCe6V0sU
AESTHETICS ARE OVERRATED | A Response to Contrapoints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTbjiWA-Gz4
Howard Wilbur Jones, Jr. (December 30, 1910 â July 31, 2015) was an American gynecologist and surgeon. He performed sex reassignment surgeries at Johns Hopkins University.
Background
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in 1931 and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1935, then completed his surgery residency there. He led a U.S. Army Auxiliary Surgical Group during World War II, after which he completed a gynecology residency. Jones was a colleague of surgeon Milton Edgerton.
Jones made many important innovations in cancer and fertility research, first at Johns Hopkins and later at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
Genital surgeries
Jones performed “normalizing” surgeries on infants with differences of sex development on the recommendation of John Money, including vaginoplasty for David Reimer at age 22 months in 1967. Money fabricated the outcome of Reimer’s social adjustment, and Reimer eventually killed himself at age 38.
Jones also performed surgeries on adults. Confirmed patients include:
Phyllis Avon Wilson (~1965)
Dawn Langley Hall (1968)
Transgender hoaxer Kiira Triea/Denise Magner also claimed to have surgery from Jones at age 14, but there is no evidence that this is true.
