Maria Keffler is an American anti-transgender activist. Keffler is part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Background
Maria Lee Schlatter was born July 2, 1970 and attended Purdue University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1992 and a master’s degree in 1994. Schlatter taught in Japan from 1995 to 1999, then worked for a year at Sea Life Park Hawaii in Waimanalo Beach.
Keffler is married to Aaron B. Keffler (born September 20, 1974), currently a Senior Engineer at Science and Technology Associates. Keffler has been a homemaker since 2003, when oldest child Christopher was born. Keffler and spouse live in Arlington, Virginia with their three children. Keffler has volunteered for the parent-teacher association at Arlington Public Schools. Keffler self-publishes via Smashwords and KDP.
Keffler also runs a knitting business called Wylde & Plumb and is active on Ravelry and other knitting platforms.
Anti-transgender activism
Keffler is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. Keffler is also a co-founder of non-profit Advocates Protecting Children and the website Arlington Parent Coalition.
Keffler is the author of multiple self-published books, including
Desist, Detrans & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult (2021)
Year-In-Review: the Entirely True Histories of a Perfectly Wretched Family (2013)
Keffler and Erin Brewer have also produced two video series, Commonsense Care for parents of trans-identified children, and Teacher Talks for educators.
References
Keffler, Maria (April 5, 2019). Gender politics don’t belong in the classroom, but Title IX protections do.Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/local-opinions/gender-politics-dont-belong-in-the-classroom-but-title-ix-protections-do/2019/04/05/1cd1a156-5561-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html Parents should decide what their children learn about sexuality and gender
Jennifer Dellasega is an American anti-transgender activist. She is a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care (PEC), an American anti-transgender front group. They are part of the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists.
Anti-trans activism
According to Krohn’s testimony:
We found out our daughter was being socially transitioned by her elementary school teacher and therapist when she was in 5th grade at 10/11 years old. The therapist and teacher were using male pronouns and a new made up name. This was something my child was trying on like a teen would have tried a style like punk or goth in years past. The problem is that it’s hard to get out of once they go down this road, for many reasons, not the least of which are the adults who are encouraging them.
[…]
We removed our daughter’s access to the internet and took her out of public school and found her a therapist who explored with our daughter what might be causing her discomfort. she is now comfortable knowing she is a girl. The exploratory therapist worked in partnership with us and treated us as a whole family unit. Our daughter is now happy and flourishing and we are stronger and closer as a family. If we had not removed our daughter from all of the influences that were affirming her as a boy at age 10 or 11, she could likely have gone down the path of medicalization. I believe school and medical and mental health professionals would have encouraged it. I have learned that I cannot trust these blindly-affirming professionals with my daughter’s medical and mental well-being.
References
Dellasega, Jennifer (March 20, 2023). Testimony opposing House Bill 2002. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Downloads/PublicTestimonyDocument/68314
Erin K. Player was born in January 1967 and grew up in Salt Lake City. Brewer claims to be a “former ‘trans kid’ who was talked back to reality by talk therapy.”
In first grade, my elementary school teacher Ms. Hicken asked the school psychologist to evaluate me. She was concerned because I insisted I was a boy. I wore my brother’s hand me downs. I cut my hair short. I was verbally aggressive to both adults and my classmates. I was physically aggressive with the other children. In addition, I profoundly hated my female anatomy.
Brewer earned a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in 1990. Brewer returned to school at Utah State University, earning a master’s degree in 2000 and a doctorate in 2004. Brewer works as a Project Coordinator at Utah State University.
Following a first marriage, Brewer went by Erin Edwards. Brewer is currently married to Kevin Brewer (born 1955) and lives in Logan, Utah.
Media
Brewer’s anti-trans books include:
Gender Confusion: A Personal Story of Childhood Gender Dysphoria (2018)
Childhood Gender Dysphoria: The Fallacy of Affirmation (2019)
“Alix Aharon” is the stage name of Alexandra “Alix” Hecht, a Scottish anti-transgender activist. Hecht is a co-founder of anti-transgender front 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 (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/
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/
Jeannette Cooper is an American anti-transgender activist. After losing parental custody, Cooper co-founded anti-trans front group Partners for Ethical Care. Cooper is known as Jeannette Srivastava outside of anti-trans activism.
Background
Jeannette Michelle Cooper was born on November 6, 1977 and grew up in southeastern Ohio. Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in 2000 from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree from Michigan State University in 2005. Cooper then taught English and did technical writing. Cooper married Prashant Srivastava (born 1978), and they had one child together.
Cooper founded an organization called Immigrants to Women Empowered Chicago in 2008 and ran it until 2014. Since 2013 Cooper has been involved in homeschooling. In 2015 Cooper enrolled in a doctorate program at DePaul University.
Cooper and Srivastava divorced in 2015. In 2019, when their 12-year-old child began going by Ash and using xe/xyr pronouns, Cooper’s ex-spouse filed for full custody, stating that Ash was “no longer mentally or emotionally safe” around Cooper.
Despite group family therapy sessions, Cooper still opposed any medical transition steps for Ash, stating:
“But the thing that I clearly am not complying with is this concept that good parenting means that you affirm a child’s claim that there is something wrong with their body. I’m not willing to do that. I don’t think that’s good parenting.”
Cooper runs a private anti-trans Facebook group called Parents of Transgender/Non-binary Kids, Teens, and Young Adults.
Cooper has provided testimony in several states supporting anti-trans legislation, including Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky.
Cooper, Jeannette (March 14, 2023). 03 14 2023 Jeannette Cooper Testimony for KY HB470. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/362/22848/03%2014%202023%20Jeannette%20Cooper%20Testimony%20for%20KY%20HB470.pdf
Geoffrey Miller is an American evolutionary psychologist who holds a number of fringe views that are sex segregationist and anti-transgender.
Anti-transgender activism is a family business; Miller’s spouse Diana Fleischman is also an anti-trans activist.
Background
Geoffrey Franklin Miller was born on April 23, 1965 in Cincinnati, Ohio. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from Columbia University in 1987, Miller earned a doctorate in cognitive psychology from Stanford University in 1994. Miller took a position at University of New Mexico in 2001 and has written a number of books:
If you think autogynephilia is a 'fringe idea', you don't know anything about contemporary sex research, and you have no business writing about this issue.
When you hear the phrase 'trans woman', what is your first, reflexive, gut-level reaction about what this phrase means? 1) biological man who identifies as a woman 2) biological woman who identifies as a man 3) it confuses me; I have to think about it 4) other/just show results
Suzy Weiss is an American cultural critic and anti-transgender activist. Weiss’ work focuses on maintaining sex segregation and attacking healthcare for gender diverse youth.
Background
Suzanne Lee “Suzy” Weiss was born July 6, 1995. Parents Lou and Amy Weiss run Weisslines, a flooring retailer. Weiss’ sibling is intellectual dark web promoter Bari Weiss. Weiss grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 2013.
In 2013, Weiss wrote a piece for Bari’s former employer The Wall Street Journal about being rejected from colleges for being a straight white person with normal abilities and habits. The piece received widespread negative attention, and Weiss later claimed it was “satire.”
Weiss then earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan in 2018.
While in high school, Weiss served as a US Senate page, followed by college internships at STATE Bags, Zola.com, Funny or Die, The Heymann Brothers, and Ogilvy & Mather.
Weiss was a reporter for the New York Post from 2018 to 2023, then joined Bari Weiss’ publication in 2021.
Weiss, Suzy Lee (March 29, 2013). To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me.Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324000704578390340064578654
Gachman, Dina (April 3, 2013). Suzy Lee Weiss and the Age of Entitlement.Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/dinagachman/2013/04/03/suzy-lee-weiss-and-the-age-of-entitlement/?sh=4e1c0b2e2bbc
Bari Weiss (March 6, 2022). Watching Lia Thomas Win.Honestly with Bari Weiss https://podcasts.apple.com/hu/podcast/watching-lia-thomas-win/id1570872415?i=1000553066075
Heather B. Armstrong was an American “mommy blogger” nicknamed “dooce.” After one of Armstrong’s children began identifying as nonbinary, Armstrong made a number of anti-transgender statements.
Background
Heather Brooke Hamilton was born July 19, 1975, grew up in a Mormon household in Memphis, Tennessee, and was sexually assaulted shortly before earning a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in 1997.
After marrying web designer Jon Armstrong and and starting to blog in 2001, Heather Armstrong was terminated in 2002 after colleagues learned they were discussed on the blog. The couple had two children: Leta Elise (born 2004), and Marlo Iris (born 2009). In 2009 Armstrong published a memoir, appeared on Oprah, and was named one of “30 most influential women in media” by Forbes.
In 2012, the couple divorced. As social media began to replace blogging, Armstrong’s readership began to dwindle, leading to struggles with depression. Armstrong began a relationship with Utah internet executive Pete Ashdown. In 2019 Armstrong published The Valedictorian of Being Dead. Armstrong underwent medically induced comas to treat depression. In 2021 Armstrong went sober.
Anti-transgender views
Writers and readers of the “mommy blogging” genre have been particularly susceptible to anti-transgender radicalization. In 2022, Armstrong posted a long piece full of anti-trans views after Armstrong’s younger child began identifying as nonbinary.
Titled “America is wrong,” it revealed Armstrong was deeply involved in the “parental rights” faction of anti-transgender activists. Armstrong created a standalone page called “Trans Central Station” and solicited “desistance” and “detransition” narratives from “ex-transgender” activists:
Desisters and Detransitioners, America needs your stories.
You can trust that I will not censor you or expose you in any way. You are safe here.
You can make up a name and leave any field blank. We all just need to hear from you.
What do you wish you had known before you began to question your biological gender?
The pages were soon removed and Armstrong replaced them with a poem prefaced with this:
Your children are asking you through their behavior, “Why are you agreeing with me when I am telling you that I hate myself?” Remember that and consider it every day for the rest of your lives.
[emphasis in original]
The revelations had a significant impact on Armstrong’s reputation. Armstrong died by suicide on May 9, 2023.
References
Armstrong, Heather (2009). It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita. ISBN 978-1416936015
Armstrong, Heather (August 10, 2022). America is wrong. Dooce https://dooce.com/2022/08/10/america-is-wrong/ [archive]
Armstrong, Heather (August 10, 2022). Trans central station. Dooce https://dooce.com/trans-central-station/ [archive]
“Posie Parker” is a stage name of Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, a British anti-transgender extremist. Keen-Minshull is one of the most strident campaigners against trans rights in history. Keen-Minshull’s events often turn into tense standoffs due to gender-critical and fascist supporters.
Background
Kellie-Jay Nyishie Keen was born June 13, 1974 and grew up in Somerset with an older sibling. Keen earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from University of Leeds. Keen worked for Posie Parker photography, Cornhill Publishing (joining as a consultant in 1999), and GDS International.
Keen-Minshull married Ryan Miles Minshulll aka “Max Ford” (born 1974) in 2008. Minshulll runs DigiLive Events. They have four children: Roman, Artemus, Mabel, and Carter. They were all delivered as c-sections. The youngest was born in ~2008, three days after their marriage.
Anti-trans activism
Keen-Minshull is listed as a leader of three entities:
Woman By Definition Ltd (incorporated 2020, dissolved 2021)
Keen-Minshull is also a special advisor to anti-trans organization Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF).
Out-of-home ad campaigns
In 2018 Keen-Minshull paid for a billboard in Liverpool that said “woman, wʊmən, noun, adult human female,” a slogan used by anti-transgender activists. It was taken down following complaints. Keen-Minshull then had the same message placed in Leeds, which was also taken down.
In 2020 Keen-Minshull paid for a poster that said “I ♥ JK Rowling” to run in an Edinburgh railway station before it was taken down. This inspired Chris Elston and Amy Hamm to do the same thing in Vancouver. It also inspired Speak Up For Women in New Zealand to place billboards in 2021 that said “adult human female.”
Social media
Keen-Minshull has been temporarily and permanently restricted on various social media platforms.
In 2018 gender critical organization Woman’s Place UK said they would no longer be working with Keen-Minshull. Others have expressed similar concerns due to Keen-Minshull’s association with right-wing and fascist activists.
In 2019 Keen-Minshull and Julia Long recorded themselves verbally abusing trans HRC press secretary Sarah McBride at the US Capitol. HRC then criticized religious conservative group The Heritage Foundation for their role in bringing the two to their event. Keen-Minshull has also published attacks on Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre director Mridul Wadhwa, who is trans.
Keen-Minshull and allies have held anti-trans rallies in Manchester, Bristol, Brighton, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Glasgow. Following a 2020 WoLF conference in New York, Keen-Minshull went to Atlanta for the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championship to protest trans swimmer Lia Thomas. Keen-Minshull then scheduled appearances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland (cancelled), Tacoma, Austin, Chicago, New York, and Belfast. Following a Melbourne event that was attended by Nazis, Keen-Minshull’s Wellington event shut down early and required a police escort due to the thousands of counter-protestors, one of whom doused Keen-Minshull with tomato soup.
After returning to the UK, Keen-Minshull announced the creation of the Party of Women in order to run for office.
Media
Keen-Minshull is a favored source among right-wing and anti-transgender activists:
Keen-Minshull has said about cisgender women who support trans rights:
Each and every one of you women who stand in my way–each and every one of you–let me just tell you, you will be annihilated. Because I genuinely don’t lose.
Greer was born 29 January 1939 in Melbourne. Greer’s parent lived under an assumed identity as an adult. Greer’s family was Catholic, but Germaine Greer longed to assume a Jewish identity as an adolescent. Greer learned Yiddish, joined a Jewish theatre group, dated Jewish people, and reportedly “felt Jewish.”
After graduating from convent school, Greer earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Melbourne, a master’s degree from University of Sydney and a doctorate in English from Newnham College, Cambridge.
Greer was sexually assaulted in college, which strongly influenced Greer’s thinking and writing on sex and gender.
In 1968, Greer began teaching at University of Warwick. Greer was officially married to Paul du Feu from 1968 to 1973, but Greer cheated on du Feu seven times in the first month, and they separated. Greer wrote for Oz and co-founded Suck, a “new pornogrqaphy” venture based around sexual liberation that sometimes depicted graphic nonconsensual sex. Suck published a nude photo of Greer, prompting Greer to resign.
In 1970 Greer published The Female Eunuch, an important second-wave feminist text. Greer said, “I don’t like women. I probably share in all the effortless and unconscious contempt that men pour on women.” Greer had notable debates with Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley, and others throughout a steady string of television appearances.
Greer founded the Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature as part of her work to reclaim women’s cultural contributions. Through the 1990s Greer continued to write about women’s issues.
Anti-transgender activism
Greer has made many inflammatory comments about trans people. One chapter of Greer’s 1999 book The Whole Woman is titled “Pantomime Dames.” In keeping with the views presented in The Female Eunuch, Greer wrote:
Governments that consist of very few women have hurried to recognise as women, men who believe that they are women and have had themselves castrated to prove it, because they see women not as another sex but as a non-sex.
She added: “When a man decides to spend his life impersonating his mother (like Norman Bates in Psycho), it is as if he murders her and gets away with it.”
Greer protested the appointment of trans physicist Rachael Padman to a women’s college and Glamour magazine’s 2015 Woman of the Year honor given to Caitlyn Jenner.
References
Greer, Germaine (1999). The Whole Woman. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd. p. 64. ISBN 978-0385720038
De Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko (24 October 2015). Cardiff University Rejects Bid to Bar Germaine Greer. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/world/europe/cardiff-university-rejects-bid-to-bar-germaine-greer.html
Campbell, Beatrix; et al. (14 February 2015). We cannot allow censorship and silencing of individuals. The Observer. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014630/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2015/feb/14/letters-censorship
