Lynn Meagher is an American anti-transgender extremist and unsupportive parent to two adult transgender children, both of whom are estranged from Meagher.
Meagher also uses the alias “Lynn Chadwick.” As Chadwick, Meagher is associated with anti-trans hate group Genspect and the affiliated Themis Resource Fund.
Background
Lynn Frances Meagher was born on January 26, 1962. Meagher worked in nursing in Washington State from 1985 to 2021.
According to a social media account, in 2022 Chadwick was in a relationship with biology professor Arla Hile (born 1962).
Anti-transgender activism
Meagher has appeared on religious and conservative programs. Meagher reportedly lost both children to the “transgender cult.”
Meagher’s children disagree:
“She didn’t lose me to a cult,” her eldest daughter said, clarifying that she is estranged from her mum because Meagher is “racist”, “abusive”, “transphobic”, “greedy”, “cruel” and “religiously intolerant”.
“She lost me because she’s a piece of s**t,” she added. “It’s true, we won’t speak to her, although her TERF-ness was only the tip of the iceberg. She was extremely emotionally and physically abusive growing up.”
Meagher frequently appears at anti-trans events and was part of the group blog Compassion Coalition. On that blog, Meagher’s self-written bio states:
Lynn works as an advocate for parents of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) kids and as a spokesperson for the Kelsey Coalition. She feels honored to work with many gifted and talented women through the Hands Across the Aisle coalition.
Lynn has recently become involved in activism against Drag Queen Story Hours at public libraries and helped to start Ask Moms on Facebook to inform and equip ordinary people everywhere to stand against the sexualization of children. She worked as a nurse in Neonatal Intensive Care for 28 years.
“Alix Aharon” is the stage name of Alexandra “Alix” Hecht, a Scottish anti-transgender activist. Hecht is a co-founder of anti-transgender group Partners for Ethical Care.
Hecht took data from a map of trans-supportive healthcare providers to create an anti-trans project called The Gender Offender Mapper (later called The Gender Mapping Project). Hecht is an advisor for Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF).
Background
Hecht was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Hecht graduated from Craigholme School for Girls in 2003 and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Aberdeen in 2007. Hecht has worked in sales for SuperDerivatives, Checkmarx, WalkMe, AppSee, dLocal, Wishbox, Duve, and Coro.
Hecht reportedly had an “aggressive eating disorder” for ten years. Hecht reportedly emigrated to Israel and spends time in California and Tel Aviv.
Hecht has used a number of aliases:
Alix Aharon
Alexandra Hecht
Lara Alix
Alix Hecht
Alex Hecht
Lara Alix Hecht
Anti-trans activism
While living in Israel, Hecht reportedly saw a 2019 documentary on four young trans men who were scheduled to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. Hecht was enraged and embarked on anti-trans activism.
Hecht’s most notable project is the Gender Offender Mapper.
Hecht has appeared on and has been mentioned in conservative and fascist media, including Newsmax and New York Post.
Hecht has logrolled for other anti-trans efforts, such as the documentary Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? Hecht called it “crucial.”
Leveille, Lee (July 5, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From.Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/07/05/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-where-it-came-from/
Leveille, Lee (April 12, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is “TAnon”?Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/04/12/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-what-is-tanon/
Jennifer Lahl is an American nursing executive and anti-transgender activist. Lahl is is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, an organization that opposes reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
In addition to opposing trans healthcare, Lahl opposes stem cell research, assisted suicide, egg and sperm donation, and surrogacy. Lahl calls these practices “egg and womb trafficking.”
Background
Jennifer D. Chenoweth was born on May 9, 1958, then earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree from Trinity International University in 2000.
Lahl married marketing executive and church planter Daniel E. “Dan” Lahl (born October 7, 1956). Both attended Trinity International University. They have three children, Allison, Julia, and Katherine.
Jennifer Lahl has worked as a pediatric critical care nurse and administrator. Lahl’s California licenses were as a registered nurse (1982–2021) and public health nurse (1985–2019).
Lahl’s film projects have included:
Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate (2009)
Eggsploitation (2010)
Anonymous Father’s Day (2011)
Breeders: A Subclass of Women? (2014)
Maggie’s Story (2015)
Compassion and Choice: Denied (2016)
#BigFertility: It’s All about the Money (2018)
Anti-transgender activism
Lahl produced the 2021 film Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? It is critical of gender affirming care for youth.
In 2022 Lahl produced a documentary on the ex-transgender movement The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters.
Helen Lewis is a British author and anti-transgender activist who launders gender critical extremism into mainstream media. Lewis is one of the key importers of British anti-trans views into United States media. Lewis is a key media figure from the reactionary center publishing anti-trans writing.
Lewis is a sex segregationist who claims to be writing from a feminist and leftist viewpoint. Lewis demonstrates that anti-trans sentiment extends into every political point of view and movement.
Lewis’ anti-trans views center around:
Challenging legal recognition of trans people in systems developed on the basis of sex, particularly opposing the UK’s Gender Recognition Act
Maintaining systems of sex segregation, particularly in matters of law, public accommodation, prisons, sports, and other remaining sex-segregated institutions
Maintaining the strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called “gender clinics”) in the 20th century
Maintaining medico-juridical control over trans and gender diverse people though disease models and medical requirements for legal recognition (sterilization requirements, etc.)
Maintaining non-affirming models of care for gender diverse youth, developed last century for “the prevention of transsexualism” and now widely outlawed
Promoting anti-trans government reports created as pretexts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, including the Cass Review and the 2025 Trump HHS report.
Lewis frequently promotes and collaborates with other anti-trans activists, notably Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog of the podcast Blocked and Reported. Lewis is their most frequent guest.
Background
Helen Alexandra Lewis was born on September 30, 1983, grew up Catholic in Worcester, and attended St Mary’s School there. Lewis then read English at St Peter’s College, Oxford, followed by a journalism degree from City University London. Lewis no longer identifies as Catholic.
After graduating, Lewis worked at the Daily Mail, then joined the New Statesman in 2010. Lewis married designer and creative director Matthew “Matt” Hasteley in 2010 and wrote professionally as Helen Lewis-Hasteley from 2010 until their divorce in 2013. During the marriage, Lewis met and got involved with someone else, eventually leaving the marriage. Like many gender-critical public figures, this starter marriage seems to have had a significant impact on Lewis’ views about sex and gender.
Lewis married Guardian digital editor Jonathan Haynes in 2015. In 2019 Lewis joined the staff of The Atlantic, which has never had an out trans person listed on their masthead in its 160+ years of existence. In 2020 game developer Ubisoft removed Lewis’ voice from in-game audio in Watch Dogs: Legion due to transphobic views.
Anti-trans activism
In 2013, Lewis devoted a week at the New Statesman to trans issues, inviting trans-supportive authors to publish pieces. By late 2015, Lewis began writing increasingly frequent anti-trans pieces there.
2017 Times op-ed
Lewis has been critical of the UK’s Gender Recognition Act, claiming that what used to be called the “real life test” that lasts for two years should be required for anyone to be legally recognized as their gender. In a piece for The Times titled “A man can’t just say he has turned into a woman,” Lewis wrote:
What the government proposes is a radical rewriting of our understanding of identity: now it’s a question of an internal essence — a soul, if you will. Being a woman or a man is now entirely in your head. In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women’s changing room? That’s why feminists have raised the alarm over the move to self-identification, along with some older trans people who fear that “trendsters” will erode the goodwill they have worked hard to acquire.
Removal from Watch Dogs: Legion
By 2018, Lewis’ anti-trans views were so well-known that Lewis was removed as a featured voice in the game Watch Dogs: Legion. This “cancellation” caused Lewis to start making even more strident and frequent attacks on trans people.
2018 New Statesman op-ed
While writing for The New Statesman, Lewis was accused of laundering transphobic talking points into a major media outlet around the topics of sex segregation and trans healthcare for youth.
Want to talk about how letting people self-define their gender might affect female-only spaces such as prisons and changing rooms? Then you’re a bigot, cloaking your bigotry in the language of “legitimate concerns”. Want to discuss whether we are rushing to medicalise gender non-conforming children because they and their desperate parents have been sold the idea there is a universal “fix” for their profound, genuine unhappiness? These are yet more “legitimate concerns” that can be dismissed, even as medical professionals warn that not every gender non-conforming child will benefit from puberty blockers and (later) medical transition.
We should all be in favour of the right of transgender people to live their lives free of discrimination, harassment and abuse. […] But the right of someone who has been through male puberty, with the consequences for skeleton and muscle development that brings, to compete in women’s sports that depend on raw strength? That’s more difficult. […]
Our ideas about gender are undergoing a profound shift. I hope that they will end up in a place where a boy can wear a princess dress without people assuming he is “really” a girl.
2018 GQ interview of Jordan Peterson
In September 2018, Lewis interviewed fellow anti-trans activist Jordan Peterson for GQ. It quickly turned into a tense but civil debate that went viral. One of the few times they agree in the 90-minute conversation is on what Lewis calls “transgender issues.” At about 1:09.45, Lewis’s views overlap significantly with Peterson’s anti-trans viewpoints. Lewis repeats the unsupported generalization that “transgender activists” believe they have a “female soul.” Lewis also believes “We are very quick to diagnose and treat children in a way that I find – and not waiting for the research – and that I find concerning.”
The Atlantic
In July 2019, Lewis joined anti-trans publication The Atlantic as a staff writer and began writing anti-trans pieces even more frequently.
Steinfeld, J. (2020). Not my turf: Helen Lewis argues that vitriol around the trans debate means only extreme voices are being heard. Index on Censorship, 49(1), 34–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306422020917609
Lewis, Helen (2025). The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea. Thesis, ISBN 979-8217178582
Lewis, Helen (2021). Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights. Vintage, ISBN 978-1784709730 alternatively titled Difficult Women: An Imperfect History of Feminism
Lewis, Helen [presenter] (2021). The Spark: 11 Ideas to Change the World. BBC Audio, ASIN B091FTHY11
with Emily Oster, Hilary Cottam, Paul Krugman, Roy Baumeister, Margaret Heffernan, Stuart Russell, Peter Macfadyen, Pragya Agarwal, Paul Collier and John Kay, Kiran Gill, Chris Daw
Lewis, Helen (April 18, 2025). Britain Rules on What a Woman Is.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/britain-rules-woman-supreme-court/682511/
Lewis, Helen (February 24, 2025). The Internet’s Favorite Sex Researcher.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/aella-internet-sex-researcher/681813/
Lewis, Helen (October 23, 2024). The Positions That the Democrats Won’t Defend. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-rachel-levine-trans-issues/680333/
Lewis, Helen (March 19, 2024). The Worst Argument for Youth Transition.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/trans-youth-transition-andrea-long-chu/677796/
Lewis, Helen (December 8, 2023). The Left Can’t Afford to Go Mad.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-biden-democratic-left-opposition/676141/
Lewis, Helen (August 8, 2023). The Gender War Is Over in Britain.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/uk-trans-rights-labour-party/674944/
Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Only Way Out of the Child-Gender Culture War.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/texas-puberty-blockers-gender-care-transgender-rights/673941/
Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Hogwarts Legacy Boycott That Wasn’t.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/hogwarts-legacy-game-jk-rowling-transphobia-accusation/673583/
Lewis, Helen (September 2, 2022). What If Joan of Arc Wasn’t a Woman?The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/joan-of-arc-nonbinary-globe/671321/
Lewis, Helen (August 18, 2022). How Social Justice Became a New Religion.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/social-justice-new-religion/671172/
Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2022). The Twitching Generation.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/social-media-illness-teen-girls/622916/
Lewis, Helen (26 October 2021). In Defense of Saying ‘Pregnant Women.’The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/pregnant-women-people-feminism-language/620468/ [headline stealth edited to Why I’ll Keep Saying ‘Pregnant Women’]
Lewis, Helen (13 October 2021). Dave Chappelle’s Rorschach Test.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/dave-chappelle-the-closer/620364/
Lewis, Helen (March 16, 2021). The Identity Hoaxers.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/03/krug-carrillo-dolezal-social-munchausen-syndrome/618289/
Lewis, Helen (April 2021). What Happened to Jordan Peterson?The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/what-happened-to-jordan-peterson/618082/
Lewis, Helen (July 14, 2020). How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/cancel-culture-and-problem-woke-capitalism/614086/
Lewis, Helen (July 2020). Why Millennial Harry Potter Fans Reject JK Rowling. [stealth edited to How J. K. Rowling Became Voldemort] The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/why-millennial-harry-potter-fans-reject-jk-rowling/613870/
Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2020). Feminism’s Purity Wars.The Atlantichttps://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/feminism-mens-rights-activism-cancel-culture/607057/
Lewis, Helen (25 July 2017). A man can’t just say he has turned into a woman. The Times (London) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-man-can-t-just-say-he-has-turned-into-a-woman-m5lltcgv7
Lewis, Helen (28 October 2016). Would you let your child change their gender?New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2016/10/would-you-let-your-child-change-their-gender
Lewis, Helen (14 January 2013). Introducing Trans Issues Week.New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/introducing-trans-issues-week
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Caitlyn Jenner is an American media personality and Olympic gold medalist. Upon coming out as transgender in 2015, Jenner became the most famous transgender person alive. Jenner’s conservative views frequently cause tension with more progressive trans community members.
Background
Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born on October 28, 1949 in Mount Kisco, New York. Jenner attended high school in Sleepy Hollow, New York and Newtown, Connecticut. Jenner earned a bachelor’s degree from Graceland College in 1973. While there, Jenner played football until an injury forced a switch to decathlon. Jenner placed 10th in decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. After that, Jenner dominated the event through the 1976 Summer Olympics. That gold medal and world record made Jenner a national hero.
Jenner secured many endorsement deals and began appearing in film and television regularly for the next 30 years. In 2007 Jenner’s family starred in the hit unscripted series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Jenner has been married three times and has six children and four stepchildren. Jenner was married to Kris Kardashian from 1991 to 2015. In 2015, as transition rumors swirled, Jenner was involved in a fatal car crash. Jenner and trans entrepreneur Sophia Hutchins met in 2015 and had a close personal and professional relationship until Hutchins’ death in 2025.
As a transgender public figure
Jenner’s coming out as trans caused a media frenzy, including appearances on magazine covers and many interviews in print and television. Jenner starred in the “unscripted” series I Am Cait with “friends” Jennifer Finney Boylan, Candis Cayne, Zackary Drucker, Chandi Moore, Jen Richards, Mimi Marks, and Kate Bornstein. Jenner also made a cameo on Transparent and continued appearing in film and television. Jenner was named one of 25 Glamour Women of the Year and received other recognitions, including the 2016 Time 100. In 2017 Jenner published a memoir, The Secrets of My Life, and had facial feminization surgery and bottom surgery. In 2017, Jenner founded the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation. The board included Andrea Metz, Nick Adams, and Zackary Drucker, with Sophia Hutchins as an executive.
Jenner made a number of controversial comments after coming out, such as joking that the hardest part about being a woman “is figuring out what to wear.” The glib sexist comments combined with the media attention led to a backlash among many conservatives and anti-transgender activists.
Jenner has continued to take conservative positions and make controversial comments about LGBT issues that have led to backlash from the community. Ellen Degeneres pressed Jenner about opposing gay marriage. Jenner’s comments about transgender athletes became a major talking point in 2021 during an unsuccessful run for California governor. In 2022 Jenner joined Fox News as an on-air contributor. In 2023 Jenner founded the Fairness First PAC “to keep boys out of women’s sports.”
Paul L. Vasey is a Canadian psychologist who promotes harmful ideas about sex and gender minorities, especially transgender and gender diverse people and those who love us:
Vasey is one of the last of the old-school Canadian evolutionary psychologists allied with fired sexologist Kenneth Zucker. Vasey’s coauthors and associates are part of an activist minority in sexology, most of whom are cisgender and born before 1970. Vasey holds some supportive views, but they are all colored by an embrace of unscientific and pseudoscientific terminology created by Vasey’s friends. Science and its operational definitions must be value-neutral in order to produce bias-free scientific results.
Background
Paul L. Vasey (born January 30, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1989, then earned a master’s degree from Simon Fraser University in 1991. Vasey earned a doctorate from Université de Montréal in 1997. Vasey’s dissertation was on Japanese macaques under advisor Bernard Chapais. Vasey then did postdoctoral work at Université de Montréal, Concordia University (Montréal) and York University.
Vasey was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Lethbridge in 2000. While preparing to teach a course on sex and gender, Vasey became interested in Samoan fa’afafine culture. Vasey describes them as “feminine, same-sex attracted males that are recognized as a non-binary gender.” Vasey’s partner is Vaitulia Alatina Ioelu, a self-identified Samoan fa’afafine.
Vasey co-authored a paper with two Concordia University psychologists on childhood gender diversity.
Bartlett NH, Vasey PL, Bukowski WM (2000) Is gender identity disorder in children a mental disorder? Sex Roles, 43 11/12, 753-785. Article ID: 299688
Empirical studies were evaluated to determine whether Gender Identity Disorder (GID) in children meets the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th Edition ( DSM-IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994) definitional criteria of mental disorder. Specifically, we examined whether GID in children is associated with (a) present distress; (b) present disability; (c) a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom; and if (d) GID represents dysfunction in the individual or is simply deviant behavior or a conflict between the individual and society. The evaluation indicates that children who experience a sense of inappropriateness in the culturally prescribed gender role of their sex but do not experience discomfort with their biological sex should not be considered to have GID. Because of flaws in the DSM-IV definition of mental disorder, and limitations of the current research base, there is insufficient evidence to make any conclusive statement regarding children who experience discomfort with their biological sex. The concluding recommendation is that, given current knowledge, the diagnostic category of GID in children in its current form should not appear in future editions of the DSM .
Below is a course description for Vasey’s Sex & Gender Diversity (Psychology 3850) Spring 2003
In this course, we will explore issues related to sex and gender diversity. To this end, we will critically examine the binary construction of sex and gender through such topics as intersexuality, gender identity disorder, and “third” sexes and genders in non-Western societies. A central part of this theoretical examination involves discussing the real-world consequences individuals face for deliberately or inadvertently transgress dichotomous sex and gender boundaries.
Required Readings:
(1) Kessler, S. (1997). Lessons From the Intersexed. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, New Jersey.
(2) Course-pack containing Chapter #1, “Behavior,” from: Burke, P. (1996). Gender Shock: Exploding the Myths of Male and Female.Anchor Books, Doubleday: New York.
(3) Additional short readings drawn mainly from popular magazine will be distributed in class.
Below is a course description for Vasey’s Science & Sexuality (Psychology 4000NA) Spring 2004
In this seminar, we will explore the controversy surrounding the publication of J. Michael Bailey’s book, “ The Man Who Would be Queen .” Bailey’s book deals with the subject of male femininity through such topics as gender identity disorder in childhood, homosexuality, transvestitism, and male-to-female (MtF) transsexualism. Although reaction from the gay community has been largely unremarkable, the book has ignited a storm of protest in the MtF transexual community. In particular, some transsexual women dispute Bailey’s claim (based on the work by Toronto sexologist, Ray Blanchard) that there are two distinct sub-categories of MtF transsexuals: homosexual versus autogynephilic.
We will familiarize ourselves with the controversy by reading The Man Who Would be Queen and the contents of two websites managed by transsexual women, [] & Lynn Conway, who are spearheading the response to Bailey. We will then critically investigate the evidence for each point of view. We will begin by examining the claim that two specific types of MtF transsexuals exist primarily by reading scientific articles written by Ray Blanchard and Anne Lawrence. Anne Lawrence, a Seattle-based doctor who specializes in sexual medicine, is a self-identified autogynephilic transsexual woman and a supporter of Blanchard’s work. We will then read “ True Selves: Understanding Transsexualism ” by Mildred L. Brown & Chloe Ann Rounsley and “ Mom, I Need to Be a Girl ,” by Just Evelyn, which [], Lynn Conway and several transsexual advocacy groups highly recommend as a more accurate depiction of the MtF transsexual experience and an alternative to the Bailey/Blanchard model. Through the semester we will weigh the evidence for, and against, Blanchard’s dichotomous conceptualization of transsexuality. In addition to the readings, documentary films on homosexuality, cross-dressing and transsexualism will be screened during the last hour of some seminar classes.
Required Readings :
(1) Bailey, J.M. (2003). The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science and Psychology of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism . NY: Joseph Henry Press.
(2) Additional required readings will be placed on reserve in the library.
Anne Lawrence’s writings on autogynephila can be found at:
http://www.annelawrence. com/sexualityindex.html
see: (1) “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies:” An Introduction to the Concept of Autogynephilia” (2) Sexuality and Transsexuality: A New Introduction to Autogynephilia (3) Autogynephilia: Frequently-Asked Questions (4) 28 Narratives About Autogynephila (5) 31 New Narratives About Autogynephilia
Michael Bailey’s responses to his critics can be found at:
The reading “Transgendering, Migrating and Love of Oneself as a Woman: A Contribution to a Sociology of Autogynephilia,” by Richard Ekins and Dave King can be found at:
www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtvo05no03_01.htm .
A reading by Carl Elliot on apotemnophilia can be found at:
Bailey JM, Vasey PL, Diamond LM, Breedlove SM, Vilain E, Epprecht (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science (vol 17, pg 45, 2016) Psychological Science in the Public Interesthttps://doi.org/10.1177/1529100616637616
LJ Petterson, BJ Dixson, AC Little, PL Vasey (2018) Viewing time and self-report measures of sexual attraction in Samoan cisgender and transgender androphilic males. Archives of Sexual Behavior 47 (8), 2427-2434 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1267-7
Do not go to Morandini for therapy of any kind. Instead look for supportive local resources where practitioners do not promote unscientific ideas like “autogynephilia” or “autoandrophilia.”
Background
James Simon Morandini earned a bachelor’s degree in 2009 from University of Newcastle and a doctorate from University of Sydney in 2016. Morandini is the founder and director of King Street Psychology, the largest private gender clinic in Australia.
Morandini is the National Convener of the Australian Psychological Society Gender & Sexuality Interest group. Morandini is also a psychologist at The Gender Centre, founding a clinical psychology internship while there “to ensure the next generation of clinical psychs are trained in evidence based and culturally competent gender care.”
Anti-transgender activism
Morandini is an activist in the “autogynephilia” and “autoandrophilia” movements. These transphobic sex-fueled mental illnesses were created in 1989 and are supported by a small group of activists from sexology’s conservative fringe. Morandini claims to be interested in “understanding and destigmatising trans women/non-binary femmes who experience autogynephilia/autoheterosexuality.”
At the 2023 Puzzles of Sexual Orientation meeting, Morandini presented research titled “Bisexual Phenomena Among Autogynephilic Men.”
On October 26, 2023, Morandini respectfully requested that this page be removed or revised. The reasons mentioned included Morandini’s therapeutic support for hundreds of gender diverse adolescents and supportive involvement in trans-led organizations. My response is below.
Thank you for your message. The term “autogynephilia” is transphobic in the same way “nymphomania” is misogynistic. The issue is not the phenomenon, but your reification of an idea that is at its core biased and thus unscientific.
It took feminist activists over a century to convince misogynistic and biased scientists to stop using the term “nymphomania” because it is unscientific. It has taken trans activists and scientist allies decades to convince transphobes to stop using the term “autogynephilia.” You are one of the last holdouts.
I understand that some people have latched onto “autogynephile” as an identity the way some women latched onto “nymphomaniac” as an identity. “Autogynephilia” as a term appeals to a very specific type of person: neurodiverse, fixated on collecting and categorizing, socially isolated/eccentric, rigid thinking. That makes it very hard for them to let go of bad ideas, in the way it’s hard to convince believers that horoscopes or Myers-Briggs types are unscientific. It helps them make sense of the world, and they “see themselves” in the scheme.
Via Ekins and King (2012):
[Anne] Lawrence says that on reading Blanchard’s journal articles that she experienced the ‘kind of epiphany that trans people often feel when first coming across words and formulations that fit and work for them’ (Lawrence 1999a). Not only do they feel empowered to make sense of their predicament, but the formulations are proof to them that they are not alone.
People have invested their lives in this bad idea, and they succumb to the sunk cost fallacy rather than entertain the idea they might be mistaken about something so deeply important to them.
I know there is hope for someone like you. Even transphobic sexologists walked away from “erotic target location error” because of its obvious bias, replacing it with “identity inversion.” The issue is not the phenomenon, but the term. “Paraphilia” in general and “autogynephilia” in particular are based on a disease model that impedes scientific progress.
I have written extensively about value-neutral alternatives proposed by scientists and activists:
genderplay or gender play (used since middle 20th century)
I have also written extensively about value-neutral terms used by these communities to describe themselves, like fujoshi and sissy. The issue is not the phenomenon, but the biased term you are using.
Science proceeds through definitional refinement, and activism is an important part of guiding science toward value-neutral terminology.
If you are interested in learning about the bleak future of “autogynephilia” and its proponents, I recommend Nymphomania: A History by Carol Groneman.
I have spoken at The Gender Centre and consider it an important resource. I hope for the sake of your career and legacy that you reconsider your allegiance to a transphobic cult within sexology and within the community of sex and gender minorities.
Morandini, James (June 18, 2024). Understanding gender dysphoria.ReachOut Australia https://au.reachout.com/identity/gender/understanding-gender-dysphoria
Media
Kristina Anj (July 11, 2023). Transgender In A Blender: Episode 3 – Youth Is Not Wasted On The Young with James Morandini. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvNkGQCogs [deleted]
Hontas Farmer is an American educator and “autogynephilia” activist. Farmer has an extensive online presence and has identified as a Muslim, Republican, physicist, “homosexual transsexual,” and sex worker. Farmer is part of the conservative trans community.
Hontas Farmer appearing on Fox News in a burqa in 2008.
Background
Hontas Freeman Farmer was born in July 1980. Farmer has stated the given name Hontas is an abbreviation of Pocahontas. It is also a given name previously used in Farmer’s family. As with many African Americans, Farmer has claimed Native American ancestry. Farmer grew up in the Chicago area and attended Proviso West High School in Hillside.
In 1998, Farmer was arrested and given a psychiatric evaluation for allegedly threatening to shoot up the high school after being turned down by a girl for the prom. Local police also confiscated two firearms from Farmer’s family home. Farmer was allegedly bullied in high school with the nickname “The Unabomber.”
As an adult, Farmer began using the alternative name Aisha Abd Al-Rashid, including on the cover of Farmer’s 2008 self-published book Quantum Space-Time Dynamics (ISBN 978-0578007328).
Farmer earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in 2005 and a master’s degree from DePaul University in 2013.
Farmer has subsequently worked as a tutor and taught in adjunct positions in the Chicago City Colleges system as well as at College of DuPage and Elmhurst University. Farmer has also been involved in union organizing, serving as an officer representing other part-time educators via the City Colleges Contingent Labor Organizing Committee (CCCLOC), part of Region 67 of the Illinois Education Association (IEANEA), the state-level union of the National Education Association.
In 2019, Farmer filed a lawsuit against Randall Miller, an apparent colleague of Farmer’s.
Online activity
Farmer has been a major forum contributor on the transkids.us hoax site, the Hung Angels forum, Wikipedia, and the Science 2.0 blogging platform. Farmer has used a number of usernames, including:
BrendaQG
Hfarmer
Hontasfx
Lucasain
Smartgirl62
Gravitygirl62
Zahara_TS
Aisha_a_ts
“Autogynephilia” activism
Farmer became heavily involved in Wikipedia editing of “autogynephilia” and related concepts in 2006.
In 2008, Farmer gained access to the apartment of economist Deirdre McCloskey through McCloskey’s assistant Beth while McCloskey was out of town. McCloskey is a prominent critic of “autogynephilia.” Via Farmer’s blog:
Dr. McCloskey on the other hand. I have an impression of her based on seeing her home and hearing people around UIC talk about her and compare her to me (when they thought I couldn’t hear them). According to Beth her RA who is watching her house Dr. McCloskey was in south Africa. There are those at UIC who call her Dierdre McKrazy and say she is pushy and mannish. Having seen her house that surprises me a bit. A persons home says allot about them. Dr McCloskey’s Condo in downtown Chicago is quite nice, quite large and very comfortable looking. On the inside the furnishings are of good classic taste which would be expected of a lady of her age and means. Walking in I felt like Gill Chesterton seeing Frasier’s condo for the first time, very impressed. It is actually two condo’s joined by stairs. A large part of one is devoted to her personal library which is quite extensive. My friend Beth, a PhD. Student in philosophy’s job for the summer is to put that large library in order. A notable and surprising thing to me was that Dr. McCloskey has a copy of “The man Who Would Be Queen”.
At the 2009 Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil in Chicago, Farmer approached “Juanita,” one of the trans women featured in the transphobic book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Farmer was wearing a burqa and asked several questions that prompted “Juanita” to alert the community about Farmer’s questioning.
Teresa Binstock was an independent researcher based in Colorado. Binstock was best known for hypotheses about causes of autism, including suggestions that vaccines may be connected. Binstock also had connections to Denise Magner / “Kiira Triea” (1951–2012), former owner and author of the transkids.us hoax site.
Background
Teresa Christine Binstock was born February 12, 1944. Several articles from 1961 suggest that Binstock grew up in Hammond, indiana, graduated from Roosevelt Military Academy in Aledo, Illinois, then attended Purdue University Calumet Center. Binstock was also reportedly involved in folk music around that time.
Binstock reportedly earned a bachelor’s degree, claiming a major in mathematics as well as minors in physics, chemistry, creative writing, literature, and philosophy. The school and year were not specified in self-supplied biographies. Binstock claimed to have been accepted into 3 graduate departments, changed direction, then went into making a living at art. Binstock reportedly conducted 8 years of independent research at University of Colorado Health Science Center (UCHSC) and The Children’s Hospital in Denver. Binstock’s mentors were reportedly psychiatrist Gordon Farley, MD and pediatrician Randi Hagerman, MD, a Fragile X syndrome specialist.
Binstock was reportedly diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome by UCHSC post-doc fellow Cynthia Naseem Ahmed Smith, M.D., “who presented me and two other Aspies at a Grand Rounds at USHSC in 1997.” Binstock frequently published on the topic of autism and Asperger’s.
Binstock was founder of the Institute for Molecular Introspections in 1997. It was later administratively dissolved. Binstock was also registered agent for Raven Intellections starting in 2003.
Binstock died on January 27, 2021 in Colorado.
Sex development and gender
In 1998 Binstock co-authored a paper with “Kiira Triea” (aka Denise Magner) and Heike Bödeker (aka Heike Spreitzer). Though cited as a co-author initially, in later versions of the article, Binstock’s name was dropped from author list without explanation.
Binstock has also published on the etiology of gender identity and sexual orientation, proposing a variant of the “gay germ” hypothesis (a viral cause) for the latter. In 2000, “Kiira Triea” wrote:
A biologist named Teresa Binstock actually has found what may be the actual biological reason for transsexuality or a very strong piece of the puzzle. The TS people I’ve told of her work seem uninterested though perhaps because it seems not to have any “essentialist” appeal.
Binstock has been cited by those who propose a genetic cause for gender diversity as well. The Council for Responsible Genetics has cited Binstock’s paper in their Genetic Determinism and Sexual Orientation bibliography. They monitor abuses of genetics via Gene Watch.
Though Binstock did not publicly acknowledge being transgender, there is evidence this was the case. One book describes Binstock thus:
Teresa, in her mid-fifties, looked something like an aging mountain woman. Six feet tall and dressed in sensible shoes and a full-length skirt, her long gray-blond hair was braided into pigtails.
Binstock never seemed to have identified as intersex, though some of Binstock’s writings support the model that gender diversity is a form of intersex.
Teresa Binstock
Former contact information
Teresa Binstock Researcher in Developmental and Behavioral Neuroanatomy Institute for Molecular Introspections Box 1788, Estes Park CO 80517
Binstock T (2004). Increased susceptibility to adverse effects from vaccinations. IOM Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, February 9, 2004. http://www.vaccinationnews.com/sites/default/files/DailyNews/2004/February/Binstock7.pdf [no archive]
Bernard S, Enayati A, Roger H, Binstock T, Redwood L (2002). The role of mercury in the pathogenesis of autism. Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7 Suppl 2:S42-3 https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001177
Binstock T, Hoffmann J, Rivera M, Nelson S, Crook J. Fragile X and the Amygdala: Cognitive, Interpersonal, Emotional, and Neuroendocrine Considerations. Poster presented at: 11th International Fragile X Conference; July 2008; St. Louis, MO. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1761.2163
McCandless, Jaquelyn; Teresa Binstock; Jack Zimmerman (2002). Children with starving brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum. Bramble Books, ISBN 978-1883647179. Binstock worked as science editor on the book. archive https://archive.org/details/childrenwithstar00jaqu
Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T (2001). Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001 Apr;56(4):462-71. https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2000.1281
Bernard S, Enayati A, Binstock T, Roger H, Redwood L, McGinnis W (2000). Autism: A unique type of mercury poisoning. SafeMinds https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Autism_Unique_-Type_-of_-Mercury_-Poisoning.pdf
Binstock T (2001). Anterior insular cortex: linking intestinal pathology and brain function in autism-spectrum subgroups. Medical Hypotheses. 2001 Dec;57(6):714-7. https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2001.1440
Bödeker, Heike; Triea, Kiira; Binstock, Teresa (October 1, 1998). Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective. Yumtzilob.
For a citation with Binstock’s name included, see Gerds, Heike (2004). Living Beyond the Gender Trap: Concepts of Gender and Sexual Expression Envisioned by Marge Piercy, Cherríe Moraga and Leslie Feinberg. Shaker, ISBN 9783832233594. Note, p. 247.
version with Binstock’s name removed: http://web.archive.org/web/20040718154038/http://www.2tough.com/~kiira/cisae/yumtzilob.html
Bolte, ER (1998). Autism and Clostridium Tetani: An Hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, vol. 51, 1998, pages 133-144. [Binstock served as science editor] https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-9877(98)90107-4
Binstock TC (May 11, 1997). Changing the autism paradigm: a critique of Kemper & Bauman’s speculations regarding in-utero timing” Bit.listserv.autism, (posts 13491, 13493, 13494, 13495, and 13496). Formerly available at Autism Research Monographs, http://www.jorsm.com/binstock [no archive]
Binstock TC (1995). Fragile X and the Amygdala: Cognitive, Interpersonal, Emotional, and Neuroendocrine Considerations. Developmental Brain Dysfunction.abstract https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0029549969&origin=inward&txGid=9330c60a277f986a8d4aebd890788ac7
Resources
Institute for Molecular Introspections (amnix.com/~imi2dnvr/) [no archive]
Kimberly is cohost of the conservative podcast Transparency. Kimberly frequently testifies against gender affirming care for minors and promotes academic work that is frequently characterized as anti-trans.
Kimberly is especially interested in promoting disease models of gender diversity, including “gender dysphoria,” “autogynephilia,” and “autoandrophilia.” Kimberly has occasionally expressed interest in a personal “detransition,” or making additional gender changes.
Background
Aaron Kimberly was reportedly born in 1973. In a self-reported biography, Kimberly makes the following claims:
“at age 19 I had surgery to remove a grapefruit-sized cyst from one of my ovaries”
following a biopsy was reportedly diagnosed with “Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)”
Kimberly earned a bachelor’s degree from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
in 2006 saw a documentary on mainstream TV about “trans kids” that led to a trans identification
began medical transition that year at age 33
in 2008 became a registered nurse/BScN wtih a specialty in Psychiatric Nursing
worked in the mental health department at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, for 10 years
In 2017 moved to Kelowna, Canada, to help launch a multidisciplinary youth clinic and do intake assessments
consulted with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)’s Trans Care BC
during this consulting, “I started to become confused and concerned about the current state of trans healthcare”
“I was removed from the clinical mentorship mailing list, I was accused of using the listserv for anti-trans activism, our clinic was boycotted, and I was moved to another program”
was registered in British Columbia as a Practising RN from 2008 until that registration was canceled on April 1, 2023
Kimberly then enrolled in the Women’s and Gender Studies graduate program at University of Alberta.
Conservative activism
Kimberly began engaging in conservative activism in 2021 after being alarmed about how the clinic where Kimberly worked was treating trans and gender diverse youth. Kimberly explained to anti-trans activist Pamela Paul:
In 2021, Aaron Kimberly, a 50-year-old trans man and registered nurse, left the clinic in British Columbia where his job focused on the intake and assessment of gender-dysphoric youth. Kimberly received a comprehensive screening when he embarked on his own successful transition at age 33, which resolved the gender dysphoria he experienced from an early age.
But when the gender-affirming model was introduced at his clinic, he was instructed to support the initiation of hormone treatment for incoming patients regardless of whether they had complex mental problems, experiences with trauma or were otherwise “severely unwell,” Kimberly said. When he referred patients for further mental health care rather than immediate hormone treatment, he said he was accused of what they called gatekeeping and had to change jobs.
In a profile provided to this site in June 2025, Kimberly stated:
My major influences are second wave lesbian feminism and early queer theory. In the early days (1990s), lesbians like Butler and Halberstam conceptualized the FTM experience as a form of female masculinity (eg. Halberstam’s book Female Masculinity, in which she included FTM as under the banner of lesbian masculinities). That’s still a view I hold, in my self-conception. My current work focuses on applications of radical feminism to transmen, looking for ways, throught a sex-realist perspective, at quality of life measures and the nature of our oppression as masculinized/male passing females.
2024 Stone Butch Disco collaboration
Stone Butch Disco is a Substack newsletter described as “a butch-femme lesbian feminist project: nerd comedy, experiential insights, & alt-academic analysis.”
In September 2024 members of the collective began collaborating on podcast episodes with Kimberly. By November, they announced a split in a since-deleted post:
Aaron repetitively focused conversation onto specific women that Aaron felt slighted by. Due to Rachel and Akiva’s personal histories in abusive relationships, they entertained conversation around uniquely butch vulnerabilities to abuse for a few weeks, culminating in an unreleased 6th podcast episode in which Aaron’s relationships with these women were discussed under the false premise that they were targeting Aaron. It became clear from conversations on and off the recording that Aaron’s treatment of women and especially feminine women was of serious concern. Despite the fact that Rachel requested that Aaron not post the 6th episode anywhere, including on Aaron’s personal channels, Aaron posted it to personal YouTube and Facebook accounts, and used pieces of the audio to harass women via direct message.We were lied to, manipulated, and used. Following these revelations, we removed Aaron from the Stone Butch Disco team.
Kimberly said via email in June 2025 that the announcement was removed “after legal action” because it contained false statements and defamation. Kimberly also stated “my lawyers have evidence that the Statements by both parties are false and defamatory.” This site has requested that evidence for inclusion here. Kimberly provided the following statement:
They fabricated a conspiracy that I only made friends with a couple of butch lesbians for the purpose of lying and manipulating them to harass women. No, I did not. When I left the courage coalition, I made new friendships outside that circle and we generated many ideas for projects that I was excited about, such as an archive about butch lesbians. I built the website. We were ready to launch it. Because I saw them as friends I confided in them some of what I had felt and was processing in regards to interactions I had with certain women. I needed someone to talk to because I was confused by aspects of what had occurred. I couldn’t talk to anyone in the network about it. Meanwhile, those women were plotting behind my back and finding ways to sabotage me in the dark
and taking disrespectful shots at me online to hint they were doing so. They shared private text messages, emails and secretly recorded conversations. They publicly accused me of having mental illness I don’t have and for doing things I didn’t do. I feel played by these women. I expect people to come honest. I fully own that I overstepped some boundaries but I was also misjudged and mistreated. They did psychological harm and when I spoke my truth in defence, they weaponized that against me too.
The mistake we (Stone Butch Disco) made is trying to engage those other women in a conversation via the podcast. Instead of engaging up front, they contacted the Stone Butch Disco and manipulated them into thinking I’d lied and manipulated them. No. I did not. There was no underhanded scheme going on, on my part, and I was severed from new friendships. I found myself caught in a trap of manipulation, and had to manipulate my way out of it. I’m not normally a manipulative person, at all. I’m blunt to a fault and despise head games. I’ve withdrawn myself entirely from the entire network to get my own head straight and stand in my own truth. I’m focussing on transmen and our needs. I’m not interested in playing dirty games.
My work is based on respectful conversations about ideas and needs. My ideas are not ones everyone agrees with, but people should not be threatened, intimidated, or coerced, simply for having different views, which aren’t motivated by hate.
I push back on all hateful activity. People are allowed to hate me. They are not allowed to hurt me just because they have feelings about what I believe.
And I mean you too Andrea. There are more constructive ways to negotiate needs and deal with fears, than tearing people down. I’m not playing this game. Both sides are playing dirty. Someone has to stay in the lane of having peaceful and honest conversations for problem solving. If you believe I’m harming you in some way, then let’s have a conversation. Because your way isn’t working. It just drives more hate.
Since you’ve publicized where I’m enrolled in an MA program, I’m sure you expect that everyone, both TERFs and the trans-queer community will hate me. What they’ll all find, is that I’m reasonable and easy to engage in respectful and honest conversations across multiple lines of disagreement. And I will expect to be treated with fairness and dignity in return. I will work hard and do well in academia to think things through with care.
I want to build and mend bridges with human beings on any side of the issue, and I will always preserve myself as a human being who has faults and strengths. My door is always open for honest people who aren’t trying to hurt anyone. I’m not afraid to kick the asses of trespassers (metaphorically speaking). I intend to live in peace.
If you publish any of this, you must post all of it in whole and exactly how I’ve stated it.
2024 MIT event
According to anti-trans philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith, Kimberly has exhibited concerning behavior after the two met in 2024 at a debate also attended by anti-trans activists Alex Byrne and Alice Dreger. On February 3, 2025, Lawford-Smith posted:
On the 17th of April 2024, Alex Byrne & I took part in a debate at MIT. Our opponents were Aaron Kimberly and Alice Dreger. Alex and Alice took opposite sides on the question of whether sex is biological and binary, and Aaron and I took opposite sides on the question of whether gender identity should replace sex in social policy. Aaron & I had some friendly communications in the lead-up to the debate, much of which were me making suggestions as to a topic that we could disagree about productively. We met up for a couple of hours on the afternoon of the debate. At the time, Aaron was associated with the LGBT Courage Coalition, and I was occasionally doing freelance interviews for the LGB Alliance Australia. I figured it would be good to establish some kind of link between the two organizations.
Since April 2024 or so, I have been dealing with inappropriate and unwanted behaviour by Aaron Kimberly. This includes him repeatedly sending emails to my work address (after I had blocked him on Twitter); contacting my friends and colleagues about me; attempting to organize an in-person event to take place on my campus, at which I would be a speaker, without my permission or input; mischaracterizing our brief interaction to mutual acquaintances; publishing a full podcast episode mischaracterizing our interaction; posting three separate Substack articles about me (one sharing personal information about me and embedding deleted video content that I own the copyright to); sending huge volumes of messages to other people about me; and, most recently, contacting my employer. This has all been the aftermath of Aaron making several romantic advances toward me, which I rejected. To say he’s taken rejection badly would appear to be an understatement.
On February 22, 2025, Kimberly posted a lengthy response addressing many of Lawford-Smith’s claims and assertions about their interactions.
Staff (November 25, 2024). Ending our relationship with Aaron Kimberly. Stone Butch Disco https://stonebutchdisco.substack.com/p/ending-our-relationship-with-aaron [deleted]
The Lesbian Project Podcast (May 24, 2024). Episode 28 FREE – a chat with Aaron Kimberly; plus the music of Chappell Roan, and bars (again). [unavailable]
