Leighton Woodhouse is an American writer, filmmaker, and anti-transgender activist. Woodhouse is closely associated with anti-trans extremists Michael Shellenberger and Bari Weiss. Woodhouse is a co-founder of anti-trans Substack Public and has written for Tablet and The Free Press.
Background
Leighton Akio Woodhouse was born on February 3, 1975 and grew up in Berkeley, California. After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1993, Woodhouse earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1997. Woodhouse earned a master’s degree from UC Berkeley in 2006.
As an adult, Woodhouse replaced the middle name Akio with Akira.
Woodhouse was a union organizer for SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. Woodhouse then worked at Brave New Films before becoming communications director for the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
Woodhouse led the voter mobilization group Driving Votes. Woodhouse has written for The Huffington Post and Calitics.
Woodhouse and spouse Carolina De La Paz Aparicio (born 1986) have one child (born 2020).
References
Woodhouse, Leighton (December 9, 2021). When the Crime Wave Hits Your Family. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/when-the-crime-wave-hits-your-family
Resources
Leighton Woodhouse (leightonwoodhouse.com)
- 2015-2021 [archive]
- since 2023 redirects to writemypaperhub.com
Dog Park Media (dogparkmedia.com) [archive]
Driving Votes (drivingvotes.org) [archive]
Substack (substack.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Tablet (tabletmag.com)
The Free Press (thefp.com)
The Intercept_ (theintercept.com)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Pamela Buffone is a Canadian software executive and anti-transgender activist. Buffone is and advisor to anti-trans hate group Genspect and is founder of anti-trans group blog Canadian Gender Report.
Background
Pamela Neely “Pam” Buffone earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Ottawa in 1993 and a master’s degree from Western University in 1998.
Buffone and spouse Jason Buffone have a child and live in Ottawa.
Anti-transgender activism
Buffone’s child reportedly became “distressed” during a first-grade lesson about gender identity and expression. After complaining to the school, Buffone filed a discrimination case. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal held a hearing in 2022, after which the case was dismissed.
Buffone founded anti-trans group blog Canadian Gender Report. Contributors of original or republished work include:
Buffone lists all the usual anti-trans sources on Canadian Gender Report:
References
Behne, Alexander (September 8, 2022). Tribunal rules ‘teachable moment’ on gender identity did not breach Grade 1 student’s rights. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/tribunal-gender-identity-human-rights-ottawa-1.6575214
Resources
Canadian Gender Report (genderreport.ca)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Jerry T. Lawler is a conservative Catholic American psychologist who is involved in the “ex-transgender” movement. Similar to the ex-gay movement, it is a group of people who believe they have been cured of being trans, either through “desistance” or “detransition.” Lawler offers faith-based therapy to “cure” gender diverse people.
Background
Jerome Timothy Lawler was born in August 1942. Lawler earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin Madison in 1964. Twenty-five years later Lawler returned to school, earning a master’s degree from San Jose State University in 1990 and a doctorate from California School of Professional Psychology in 1994.
Since 2017 Lawler has offered therapy as a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) at Safe Harbor Christian Counseling in Glen Burnie, Maryland.
Anti-transgender activism
Lawler was a founding member of the International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners, an anti-transgender front group focused on the “ex-transgender” movement. Lawler is also associated with Therapy First (and its predecessor Gender Exploratory Therapy Association) and Beyond Trans. Lawler was a signatory on the Beyond WPATH open letter criticizing WPATH, and WHO Decides, a petition critical of a World Health Organization panel on trans healthcare.
In 2024, Lawler published an anti-trans paper with Chan Kulatunga-Moruzi on healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth. That year, Lawler also testified in support of Maryland HB 722, along with Jamie Reed, Ismail Royer, Lisa Geraghty, and Henry Mosley.
References
Staff report (February 21, 2024Â ). Bipartisan bill seeks to ban chemical, surgical gender and sex transition procedures on minors without parental consent. NottinghamMD.com nottinghammd.com/2024/02/21/bipartisan-bill-seeks-to-ban-chemical-surgical-gender-and-sex-transition-procedures-on-minors-without-parental-consent/
Coverage in anti-trans press
Sprinkle, Preston; Eddy, Paul (March 24, 2021). Less Than Affirming: Perspectives Beyond the Gender Affirmative-only Model of Care for Trans* and Gender Dysphoric People. Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender https://www.centerforfaith.com/blog/less-than-affirming-perspectives-beyond-the-gender-affirmative-only-model-of-care-for-trans-and
McCarthy, S.A. (February 23, 2024). Maryland Dems Back Bill Requiring Parental Consent for Gender Transition Procedures on Minors. The Washington Stand https://washingtonstand.com/news/maryland-dems-back-bill-requiring-parental-consent-for-gender-transition-procedures-on-minors
Selected anti-trans writing by Lawler
Kulatunga Moruzi C, Lawler J (2025). Frailties of Memory: Implications for Therapists Treating Gender Dysphoric Youth. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy Volume 51, 2025 – Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2406854
GETA signatories including Lawler (September 11, 2022). Re: Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance; RIN: 1870-AA16; Docket ID No. ED-2021-OCR-0166 https://www.therapyfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Attachment-1_GETA-Title-IX-Comment.pdf
Resources
Safe Harbor Christian Counseling (safeharbor1.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners (iatdd.com)
- Dr Jerry T. Lawler [archive]
- iatdd.com/dr-jerry-t-lawler
Beyond Trans (beyondtrans.org)
Therapy First (therapyfirst.org)
Crisis Magazine (crisismagazine.com)
Jesse Singal is an American podcaster, cultural critic, and anti-transgender activist. Singal launders anti-transgender extremism into mainstream media and is a prominent figure in America’s transphobic moral panic.
See this biography for background. After initially working at progressive publications, Singal found success criticizing progressive public policy, media, and medicine. Singal then began getting even more money and attention by attacking transgender people, especially gender diverse youth.
Singal’s activism against the trans rights movement centers on several anti-transgender tactics:
Singal seeks to influence healthcare decisions about our minors with the same rhetoric and tactics used by activists who seek to restrict reproductive healthcare options like contraception and abortion. Singal attempts to disrupt conversations between healthcare providers and the families they serve by demanding more gatekeeping.
Singal focuses on childhood “desistance” and adult “detransition,” two disputed conceptualizations of people whose gender identity or expression shifts over time. These cure narratives and regret narratives are collectively known as the ex-trans movement. These narratives are vastly over-represented in media coverage of trans issues, but Singal’s coverage often suggests to credulous audiences that these narratives don’t get represented enough.
Singal frequently gets money and attention by exploiting anxiety about trans and gender diverse minors, which gets framed as “concern.” Singal then gets more money and attention by implying that opponents and critics are incompetent, dishonest, or even dangerous. Biologist Julia Serano has described this as the “Dregerian narrative,” named after Singal’s role model, anti-transgender historian Alice Dreger.
Singal has gained a reputation for “sealioning,” or persistent and aggressive challenges to criticism. Singal typically focuses on a critic’s minor error, omission, or word choice and uses that detail to derail the larger points made about Singal’s work. Singal uncritically promotes any supporters, defending these ideological allies by challenging their critics with the same persistent and aggressive tactics.
Singal’s tactics have been especially harmful to trans journalists, writers, cultural critics, and experts. Through immense privilege and nepotistic connections, Singal has access to opportunities and backchannel conversations where trans people are often excluded. Singal holds forth in these trans-exclusionary spaces as an expert on “tricky science stuff,” while implying that trans people cannot competenetly discuss trans issues. Singal claims to be an edgy iconoclast willing to speak up against “activists,” which Singal uses as a thought-terminating pejorative against any trans critic.
Bad-faith cultural critics often become part of the story they attempt to cover. In The Anti-Trans Hate Machine, journalist Imara Jones outlined Singal’s historically significant role in attacks on hundreds of thousands of trans and gender diverse children. Singal is the inspiration for this site’s decade-long Transphobia Project. That project seeks to show that there are many ethical journalists, public intellectuals, cultural critics, and other creators of knowledge and culture who are capable of addressing controversial gender issues in fair and value-neutral ways.
Singal is a compulsive X/Twitter user who self-published over 125,000 posts, an average of about 35 posts a day for ten years. Singal’s reputation for online histrionics and causing harm to the trans community grew, and Singal soon began exploring other self-publishing options. In November 2017, Singal started a Medium account that mostly addressed topics related to trans people and to Twitter. In January 2019, Singal started a Substack newsletter titled Singal-Minded. In March 2020 Singal began a lucrative “drama” podcast called Blocked and Reported with anti-transgender troll Katie Herzog. These platforms generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue each year and allow Singal to continue this pattern of behavior without any editorial oversight or accountability.
In 2024, Singal joined Bluesky and quickly became the most blocked user in this history of the platform due to anti-trans trolling. Users made several efforts to get Singal banned from the platform.
Anti-trans activists like Jesse Singal are an enormous resource drain for a persecuted minority like the trans community. Singal is a once-in-a-generation problem for our children. We owe it to them to focus our limited resources on minimizing the profound harm Singal is causing. It is literally Singal’s business to derail the trans rights movement, and business is booming.
This information will be significantly expanded over the next decade. In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
In this section
.
Laura VanZee Taylor is an American anti-transgender activist who directed the 2023 anti-trans project No Way Back as “L. E. Dawes.” After Taylor’s child came out as trans, Taylor created a propaganda piece about the ex-transgender movement. Taylor and producer Penka Kouneva are responsible for including convicted sex offender David Arthur Kendall as one of the ex-trans activists they featured.
Background
Laura Elinor Van Zee was born August 26, 1970, grew up in Medford, Oregon, then earned a bachelorâs degree from Lewis & Clark College in 1992 and a masterâs degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994.
VanZee Taylor’s husband Jason Daniel Taylor (born 1970) is an executive at Facebook/Meta. They met in college, married in 1992, and have two children: Occidental College student Elinor “Ellie” Taylor and a teen who came out as trans, which sparked VanZee Taylor’s anti-trans activism.
VanZee Taylor was a creative director for Hallmark Cards in Missouri before becoming a stay-at-home parent. In 2010, after a “a mini-midlife crisis” at age 40, VanZee Taylor began making videos.
Previous media
- I Am Maris (ROCO Films 2017) profiles Maris Degener, a yoga instructor who experienced significant body image issues as a teen
- Walk Through This (2018) profiles Sara Schulting Kranz, whose spouse came out as bisexual 17 years into their marriage
- “If Siri Was a Mom” (2016) showcases Whitney Cicero / The New Stepford
- “Somewhere” (2014) features VanZee Taylor’s family
VanZee-Taylor styles both fake and real names in numerous ways:
- L. E. Dawes
- L.E. Dawes
- L E Dawes
- LE Dawes
- Laura VanZee
- Laura Van Zee
- Laura V. Taylor
- Laura VanZee-Taylor
- Laura VanZee Taylor
- Laura Van Zee Taylor
Anti-transgender activism
VanZee Taylor became involved in anti-transgender activism because their younger child identified as gender diverse. VanZee Taylor then connected with other unsupportive parents from the anti-trans “parental rights” movement:
COVID-19 had been hard on my youngest. Previously an extroverted, active and affectionate boy, over the lockdown he became quiet, easily agitated and withdrawn. He spent most of his time online. Then he told us he was transgender.
He said he wanted puberty blockers and then he would go on estrogen. He matter-of-factly stated that he didnât plan on getting âbottom surgery,â but would probably want electrolysis, voice training and facial feminizing surgery such as a tracheal shave. He knew our insurance would cover it all.
My husband and I were shocked at his pronouncement. Not because we are transphobic, but because our son had never exhibited any discomfort with his body or identity. […]
I joined a local support group with more than 100 members for parents of kids with rapid-onset gender dysphoria. Hearing their stories, with so many similarities to ours, I couldnât help but think that something other than kids finding their authentic selves was going on here. […]
And that is why I made this film. Even if my community disapproves. Even if I have to use a pseudonym to protect my son.
In the course of attacking 300,000 American children, VanZee Taylor outed their own child in the Dallas Morning News in 2023, even though their child was not out at school.
VanZee Taylor claims “I have to use a pseudonym to protect my son,” apparently feeling the best way to protect this teen was to divulge deeply personal family information in a major newspaper to promote anti-transgender propaganda.
In June 2023, this site revealed the identities of VanZee Taylor and producer Penka Kouneva and helped get theatrical screenings at AMC canceled.
As of 2024, their trans child Ruby Taylor is out, transitioned, and in college. Kouneva’s child has also transitioned. Despite this, Kouneva and Taylor continue to post anti-trans propaganda online, primarily on the 2022affirmation account.
References
Dawes, L. E. (February 17, 2023). OPINION Filmmaker: I believed in gender affirming care. Then I saw what happened to my son. Dallas Morning News https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/02/18/i-made-a-film-about-transgender-kids-that-doesnt-align-with-my-politics/
KOBI-TV (April 18, 2018). Five on 5 – Laura VanZee Taylor – Film Maker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzgUen2rQq0
Osborne, Matt (February 19, 2023). Affirmation Generation: The Lies Of Transgender Medicine. The Distance https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/affirmation-generation-the-lies-of
PITT (February 21, 2023). AFFIRMATION GENERATION, an original documentary. Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT). https://pitt.substack.com/p/affirmation-generation-an-original
Resources
Peanut Monkey Films (peanutmonkeyfilms.com)
Laura VanZee (lauravanzee.com)
No Way Back (nowaybackfilm.com)
Affirmation Generation (affirmationgenerationmovie.com) [archive]
Vimeo (vimeo.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
TikTok (tiktok.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
ROCO Films (rocofilms.com)
Walk Through This (walkthroughthis.com) [archive starts in 2018]
Open Corporates (opencorporates.com)
Mia Hughes, aka “Mia Ashton” and “Mia Sedley,” is a Canada-based British writer and anti-transgender extremist.
Hughes is associated with anti-trans group Canadian Womenâs Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) and is closely associated with American anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. Hughes is key author of The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece funded by Environmental Progress featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members. Hughes is associated with anti-trans hate group Genspect as Director of Genspect Canada and is a Senior Fellow at Canada’s conservative Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Hughes co-hosts anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Genspect founder Stella O’Malley.
Background
Hughes is from Cheshire, a rural county south of Liverpool and Manchester.
Hughes taught in Taiwan for almost ten years after college. Hughes met a Canadian citizen there, and they married there and had their first child there. Hughes and spouse moved to Ottawa in around 2011 and now have three children. Hughes was a stay-at-home parent who began homeschooling their children: “I got to spend a precious decade with my children while they were young.”
Hughes has published under several names, including:
- “Mia Sedley”
- “Mia Ashton”
- “Mia Hughes”
Hughes has written for anti-trans publications The Post Millennial, The Critic, Lesbian and Gay News, Environmental Progress, and Gender Dissent.
Anti-transgender activism
Hughes was radicalized by a tweet by J.K. Rowling on December 19, 2019 that supported anti-trans activist Maya Forstater:
Hughes stated in 2022:
There were signs that I wasn’t truly woke, and then it was a very rapid change from the tweet, JK’s tweet. I read it and I just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. And I even asked woke friends, I went into it on Facebook: “I don’t see what the fuss is about.” And that was the first time that I experienced something of a pile-on, where they were all calling her a TERF and trying to show me why it was hateful, and I just couldn’t see why it was hateful at all. And so I plunged down a rabbit hole that possibly I wish I’d never gone down. Then I emerged as a fully fledged TERF. I was outraged about what I had learned and just started tweeting about it.
“Ashton” (2022)
Hughes was soon suspended by Twitter for anti-transgender posts, then created a new ban evasion account.
Hughes writes for anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. A profile at the non-profit Environmental Progress stated Hughes focused on “the controversy of pediatric medical transition and how trans rights collide with the rights of women and the LGB community.” Shellenberger retained Hughes to write at the for-profit Substack and podcast called Public. Hughes has contributed the majority of anti-trans content there. Hughes continues to do anti-trans work under the aegis of Environmental Progress, including The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members.
Maëlys McArdle profiled Hughes in 2023:
Mia is a founding member of caWsbar, an advocacy group focused on one issue: denying trans people rights. It was part of a wave of anti-trans organizations using the sex-based rights dog whistle. She along with a local group of bigots are linked to multiple transphobic incidents in Ottawa, which Iâve previously covered here, here, here, and here.
Mia Ashton participated in the mob along with National Post columnist Rupa Subramanya and another active member of that local group, @MrsDrBee on Twitter.
McArdle (2023)
Beyond Gender
In 2025, Hughes launched the anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley and Bret Alderman.
References
Lourenco, Denio (August 13, 2025). This Canadian think tank is claiming âvictoryâ over anti-trans legislation: The Macdonald-Laurier Institute routinely publishes material targeting trans rights. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/macdonald-laurier-institute-think-tank-policy-trans-275781
Gingerich, Mia (April 3, 2024). San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger laid out a plan to attack the scientific consensus behind gender-affirming care. Some mainstream outlets took the bait. Media Matters https://www.mediamatters.org/sinclair-broadcast-group/san-fransicko-author-michael-shellenberger-laid-out-plan-attack-scientific
Urquhart, Evan (March 5, 2024). Actually Nothing: The Non-Starter Non-Story of the WPATH Files. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/wpath-nothingburger-waste-of-time
McArdle, Maëlys (June 11, 2023). Anti-trans mob in Ottawa. https://www.maelys.bio/2023/06/anti-trans-mob-in-ottawa/
Kelleher, Patrick (Mar 28 2022). Gender-critical outlet Lesbian and Gay News shuts down due to lack of support and advertising. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/03/28/lesbian-gay-news-shut-down-david-bridle/
Coverage in anti-trans press
Levy, Sue-Ann (April 25, 2022). Womenâs rights activist warns gender dysphoria has become an epidemic. True North https://tnc.news/2022/04/25/levy-womens-rights-activist-warns-gender-dysphoria-has-become-an-epidemic/
Linehan, Graham (April 24, 2022). One woman’s guide to peaking the wokest of the woke. https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/one-womans-guide-to-peaking-the-wokest
Selected anti-trans writing by Hughes
Hughes, Mia (July 7, 2025). Mia Hughes: Alberta judge relies on myth that gender drugs are lifesaving. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-alberta-judge-relies-on-myth-that-gender-drugs-are-lifesaving
Hughes, Mia (June 6, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canadian Medical Association wants to force Alberta to ignore science on gender care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadian-medical-association-wants-to-force-alberta-to-ignore-science-on-gender-care
Hughes, Mia (May 19, 2025). Mia Hughes: Nova Scotia ignores growing evidence against youth gender affirming care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-nova-scotia-ignores-growing-evidence-against-youth-gender-affirming-care
Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canada-must-launch-review-of-paediatric-gender-clinic-practices
Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada’s courts must protect women’s sex-based rights, like the U.K. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadas-courts-must-protect-womens-sex-based-rights-like-the-u-k
Hughes, Mia (April 18, 2025). HUGHES: Canadian Paediatric Societyâs journal follows gender ideology and ignores the science. Toronto Sun https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hughes-canadian-paediatric-societys-journal-follows-gender-ideology-and-ignores-the-science
Hughes, Mia (March 18, 2025). How gender activists stole the media, distorted medicine, and hurt Canadian kids. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-gender-activists-stole-the-media-distorted-medicine-and-hurt-canadian-kids-mia-hughes-for-inside-policy/
Hughes, Mia (February 17, 2025). Mia Hughes: Kids deserve more than slogans when it comes to gender medicine. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/kids-deserve-more-than-slogans-when-it-comes-to-gender-medicine
Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (January 27, 2025). Canada must follow the Britsâand the scienceâand ban puberty blockers. The Hub https://thehub.ca/2025/01/27/mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-canada-must-follow-the-brits-and-the-science-and-ban-puberty-blockers/
Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (December 10, 2024). Prison-onset gender dysphoria â a new low for womenâs dignity: Mia Hughes and Peter Copeland for Inside Policy. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/prison-onset-dysphoria-a-new-low-for-womens-dignity-mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-for-inside-policy/
Hughes, Mia (March 4, 2024). The WPATH Files. Environmental Progress https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/wpath-files
Media
Genspect (January 29, 2025). There is no such thing as a transgender child. – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VCg-VKwoZRs
The Epoch Times (November 4, 2024). Leaked Files Reveal Trans Medicine Harms: Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IZLTTtO1EU
Genspect (November 2, 2024). How Misguided Diagnoses Fuel Irreversible Harm – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBLFvzDZAU8
Stanford Classical Liberalism Initiative (October 24, 2024) Classical Liberalism Seminar – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_JZXzocqd8
Andrew Gold (May 19, 2024). 410. Is Transgender A Mental Illness? – Mia Hughes. On the Edge with Andrew Gold https://www.patreon.com/posts/is-transgender-104543977
Stephanie Winn (Some Kind of Therapist) (April 29, 2024). 107. Exposing Gender Malpractice: Mia Hughes on the WPATH Files, Medical Ethics, & Informed Consent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebkVt5GDIU
Macdonald-Laurier Institute with Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes (April 25, 2024). How a trans activist group undermined medical science / Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CjBc3102g
Gender: A Wider Lens (March 23, 2024). Premium: How Has WPATH Responded to the Leaked Files?
Gender: A Wider Lens (March 21, 2024). “WPATH Has No Respect for Medical Ethics” with Mia Hughes | Episode 156. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikM6ziYLb4c
Meghan Daum and Sarah Haider (March 10, 2024). Activists in Charge: Major Disregard for Ethics at Transgender Health Authority Revealed. A Special Place in Hell https://aspecialplace.substack.com/p/activists-in-charge-major-disregard
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Lesbian and Gay News (lesbianandgaynews.com) [archive]
Human Events (humanevents.com)
National Post (nationalpost.com)
- Mia Hughes
- nationalpost.com/search/?search_text=%22mia+hughes%22
The Post Millennial (thepostmillennial.com)
- Mia Ashton
- thepostmillennial.com/author/mia-ashton
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)
- Mia Ashton [Mia Sedley]
- thecritic.co.uk/author/mia-sedley
Macdonald-Laurier Institute (macdonaldlaurier.ca)
- Mia Hughes
- macdonaldlaurier.ca/cm-expert/mia-hughes
Jennifer Block is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Block is a key historical figure in 21st-century media attacks on trans healthcare.
Block is an embedded reporter with anti-trans hate groups like Genspect, attending their events and laundering their extremist views into mainstream media, most notably into The BMJ before the journal’s owner, the British Medical Association, shut Block down.
Overview
Block believes that US medical consensus about care for trans and gender diverse youth is a scandal in the making. As similar bigots in media did in the late 1970s, Block keeps rewriting the same FUD propaganda piece and selling it to different outlets. The 1979 backlash eliminated healthcare options for many trans people that took four decades to reverse, and Block is at the forefront of this new backlash against our children.
Block’s work focuses on several anti-transgender positions:
- disease models of gender diversity, especially “gender dysphoria”
- psychological gatekeeping as a model of care
- supporting strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via centralized government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called âgender clinicsâ) in the 20th century
- the “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) disease model: “More adolescents with no history of gender dysphoriaâpredominantly birth registered femalesâare presenting at gender clinics.”
- disproportionately amplifying outliers and bad outcomes: Andrew Martinez (suicide) and Chloe Cole (ex-trans movement)
- not describing a single positive outcome
- the ex-trans movement, especially “detransitioners“
Background
Jennifer Lori “Jen” Block was born on November 22, 1976 to surgeon Leonard Block (born 1948) and Roberta Block (born 1947). Block has two siblings. Block’s parents divorced, which may explain Block’s animosity toward the medical establishment.
Block earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University in 1998. Block held editorial roles at Ms. magazine, Plenty, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and The OpEd Project.
Block’s articles and commentary have appeared in The BMJ, The Washington Post Magazine, Newsweek, The Cut, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Pacific Standard, The Baffler, and Type Investigations (formerly The Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute).
Block is author of Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (2007) and Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (2019).
“Mommy bloggers” and their fans are especially susceptible to anti-transgender radicalization and social contagion. Block thanks fellow anti-trans extremist Lisa Selin Davis in the acknowledgements for Pushed.
BMJ article series, 2023â
In 2023, Block was commissioned to write an investigative piece for The BMJ. The resulting piece was deeply slanted toward the views of conservative clinicians and anti-transgender activists.
An accompanying video featured conservative therapists Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson, and gender-affirming endocrinologist Joshua Safer.
In 2025, Block revealed that The BMJ had commissioned more work, but the British Medical Association killed it following negative response to Block’s 2023 article and video.
Supporters
Anti-trans activist Helen Joyce said of Block’s article: “Fantastic article, and so important that it appears in BMJ.” Anti-trans organization Rethink Identity Medicine Ethics also liked the piece.
It was also liked and shared by several of Block’s peers, including Sean CW Korsgaard, Liz Highleyman, Mark Tighe, Sonia Gallego, Michael Marshall (@m_c_marshall), Kevin Bass, Vinay Prassad, Dr. Dina McMillan, Milli Hill, Julia Mason, Moti Gorin, Charlotte Schubert, and Benjamin Ryan.
The staff at The BMJ issued a statement:
The BMJ believes in investigative journalism as a force for change. Over the past decade, our investigative journalism has unearthed research fraud and misconduct, prompted improvements in the transparency of clinical research, led to changes in guidelines and clinical practice, and triggered parliamentary inquiries.
High quality investigative journalism requires time to research, gather evidence, and ask questions. Developing in-depth stories is expensive, and we actively seek external funding to help expand our efforts. Current no-strings funding comes from Arnold Ventures and William McGuire. Past supporters include the European Commission and Open Society Foundations. In 2022, we hope to expand our impact through crowdfunding. If you would like to support us, please contact Head of Journalism Rebecca Coombes.
We retain editorial independenceâthe freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from any fundersâfor all content that is produced and published; all decisions are taken strictly within the editorial structures of the journal.
If you have a story for us, please contact [email protected].
Rebecca Coombes, Head of Journalism
Peter Doshi, Senior editor
Madlen Davies, Investigations editor
Jennifer Block, Investigations reporter
Hristio Boytchev, Freelance investigations reporter
Critics
The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors & Dentists (GLADD), Pride in Surgery Forum, and the British Medical Association all published criticisms of the piece.
British Medical Association deputy council chair Emma Runswick said:
We have recently written to the BMJ, which is editorially independent, to challenge its article âGender dysphoria in young people is risingâand so is professional disagreementâ and express our concern, that alongside criticisms made by LGTBQ+ organisations such as GLADD and neurodivergent doctors, in our view, it lacks equality, diversity and inclusion awareness and patient voice. That the article has been used by transphobic lobby groups around the world is of particular concern to us.
2023 Twitter responses
Block was very unhappy about being called out for bias, posting a number of times on Twitter about this alleged mistreatment, suggesting any criticism is an attack on journalism as an institution.
February 27
- Since my @bmj_latest piece on care for gender dysphoria in minors, some are curious about my background. I’ve been reporting on contested areas of medicine for 20 years. I wrote a book about the gap between evidence and routine practice in maternity care (still quite large!).
- Politicization gets people no closer to evidence-based maternity care either, and I’d argue it hampered work toward expanding rights and reducing maternal mortality. In states that have advanced birth justice, it’s the result of red/blue folks accepting they have a common goal.
- I see dismissing any clinician or researcher who has concerns about the best treatment for kids/adolescents in the face of inconclusive evidence as “anti-trans” as an attempt to silence important conversation and debate. I hope my piece is contributing.
- FWIW, the organizer of the AAP rally I spoke with, who directed me to video footage, is a lifelong coastal democrat. You can’t just smear every person with concerns RE treatments, or the concerns themselves, as “anti-trans.” At least I’m not going to be baited into that tautology
March 3
- https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1631768413378084864
- TLDR: Dear reporters, don’t report on transgender medicine. Don’t be curious about detransition or medical disagreement. Label the above anti-trans. Quote children of all ages rather than research. Cover “trans joy rather than the ‘difficult’ questions.”
March 5 [referring to anti-trans media figure Michael Knowles saying transgenderism must be eliminated.
- https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632464903046066177
- THIS is anti-trans–and violent and inhumane. Reporting on disagreement and unknowns in medical practice for children with gender dysphoria is not. Both the trans community and journos can condemn such rhetoric and support open exchange of info & dialogue to support Rx decisions
This is in response to an opinion piece by trans journalist Katelyn Burns.
- [referring to https://nbcuacademy.com/trans-kids-journalism/#.ZAIfHq868m8.twitter]
- OK, this was a snarky tweet. But it’s a serious issue. A certain corner of journalism is conflating necessary, important reporting on the issue of medical treatment for kids with transphobia. I read this piece as saying “look over here, don’t look over there.” That’s advocacy.
- Maybe @transscribe is not familiar with my recent piece looking into the evidence base for treatments like puberty blockers and hormones in minors. She can correct me if I’m wrong, but I read her how-to as discouraging such reporting.
- “A story about trans health care should make clear all the facts… They should include that nearly every major medical association supports the current protocol of gender-affirming care for minors.” Well, as I report, consensus does not equal evidence-based practice.
- Reviews in Sweden, Finland, and now UK have made clear the uncertainties and potential for harm, and those countries are pulling back on medicalization and focusing instead on mental health and social support. They are not denying anyone’s existence. It’s not political there.
- For years, these labels of “anti-trans” “transphobe” and accusations of genocide have scared journalists who are obviously not those things from pursuing reasonable questions about benefit v. harm of medical treatment. This is regressive and I hope we’re moving past it.
Author Katelyn Burns replied “but you obscured the biases of the sources your piece depended upon. that’s advocacy.”
Block said:
- https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632446552668266496
- You haven’t pointed to any such thing. Everyone is ID’d with their relationship to professional orgs. The research methodologists who evaluated the guidelines/evidence base have no history with this issue whatsoever. Just hurling the label of “anti-trans” doesn’t make it so.
2024 Free Press piece attacking Planned Parenthood
Free Press founder Bari Weiss is known for sustained attacks on trans rights. Weiss paid Block to continue these attacks by attacking Planned Parenthood.
In 2024, Block employed the same rhetoric used in anti-abortion regret propaganda in a profile of Cristina Hineman, an ex-trans activist who reports regret about making a gender transition as a consenting adult. Block then approvingly describes the legal assault on Planned Parenthood initiated by Hineman. Block then tells a similar story about “Anna,” likely the plaintiff in a similar Jane Doe lawsuit. Throughout the piece, Block denigrates trans-supportive physicians and promotes anti-trans gatekeepers like Riittakerttu Kaltiala.
2025 short film
In July 2025, Block started a Substack titled Unpopular Science. Its first post was a short propaganda piece produced with Eric S. Vaughan titled “The Liberal Case for Rethinking Gender Medicine.” Block notes:
“The genesis for this film was the investigative feature I wrote for The BMJ, which came out in February 2023. My editors committed serious resources toward producing a high-quality video component. But my print piece drew the ire of the British Medical Association, which owns the journal, and ultimately the video and follow-up reporting were killed.”
The piece features anti-trans activists Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri from LGB Courage Coalition, as well as Hilary Cass, Hannah Barnes, Zhenya Abbruzzese, Laura Edwards-Leeper, and Moti Gorin. It continues Block’s attacks on WPATH, Rachel Levine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
References
Urquhart, Evan (November 8, 2023). If Gender Affirming Care Doesnât Have Enough Evidence, Should We Prefer a Treatment With None? Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/if-gender-affirming-care-doesnt-have-enough-evidence-should-we-prefer-a-treatment-with-none
Runswick, Emma (June 19, 2023). Take Pride in progress. The Doctor https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/take-pride-in-progress
Selected anti-trans writing by Block
Block, Jennifer (July 8, 2025). The most heated and divisive issue of our time â in 18 minutes. Unpopular Science https://jenniferblockauthor.substack.com/p/the-most-heated-and-divisive-issue
Block J (October 2024). Dispute arises over World Professional Association for Transgender Healthâs involvement in WHOâs trans health guideline. BMJ, q2227. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2227
Block, Jennifer (August 7, 2024). How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Countryâs Largest Suppliers of Testosterone? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-did-planned-parenthood-become
Block J (May 2024). Gender medicine in the US: how the Cass review failed to land. BMJ, q1141. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1141
Block, Jennifer (November 7, 2023). Youth gender medicine has become a hall of mirrors. Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/07/opinion/gender-affirming-care-trans-kids
Block J (August 2023). US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review. BMJ, p1877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1877
Block, Jennifer (March 6, 2023). Raft of US state laws restrict access to treatments for gender dysphoria. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p533
Block, Jennifer (February 23, 2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is risingâand so is professional disagreement. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382
- “her article contains several misleading statements and, crucially, fails to include the perspective of individuals from the trans and gender diverse (TGD) community”
- Zoe Kristensen and David B Menkes [Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand] (06 March 2023). Professional responses to gender dysphoria: reality checks needed. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-3
- “the mention of neurodivergence when speaking about transgender people is to imply that there is less capacity for making good choices about our bodies, evaluating risks and benefits.”
- “Samira Khan,” Matthew Sellen, and Bethan Carey Jones [neurodivergent health professionals] (16 March 2023). Diversity in gender identity and neurotypes. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-8
Resources
Jennifer Block (jenniferblock.com)
Substack (substack.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
The Free Press (thefp.com)
Anne WĂŠhre is a Norwegian pediatrician involved in conservative clinical practices and anti-transgender activism. WĂŠhre is a strong proponent of psychological gatekeeping for trans health services, especially for minors.
Background
WĂŠhre earned a medical degree from University of Oslo (UiO) in 2000. WĂŠhre has been affiliated with Oslo University Hospital since 2006.
Anti-transgender activism
WĂŠhre has published on sex and gender minorities with other conservative clinicians, including Riittakerttu Kaltiala. WĂŠhre has published in anti-trans journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
WĂŠhre is a prominent critic of Norway’s national professional guidelines for gender incongruence published in 2020 by Helsedirektoratet [The Norwegian Directorate for Health].
WÊhre was an invited speaker at a 2023 conference organized by anti-transgender hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.
References
Eggestad, Silje J. (January 16, 2025). Leder for nasjonalt transtilbud stilte opp hos arrangĂžr utpekt som LHBTQ-hatgruppe: â Uproblematisk, mener OUS [Head of national trans program spoke out against organizer designated as LGBTQ hate group: â Unproblematic, says OUS]. Filter Nyheter https://filternyheter.no/leder-for-nasjonalt-transtilbud-stilte-opp-hos-arrangor-utpekt-som-lhbtq-hatgruppe-uproblematisk-mener-ous/
SÞrli, Aleksander; Wik, Ingun (February 5, 2020). UseriÞst om kjÞnnsbekreftende behandling: Vi er bekymret for at viktige diskusjoner ignoreres til fordel for en rent ideologisk debatt der bÄde forskning og brukerperspektiver mÄ vike til fordel for synsing og overdreven bekymring. [Nonsense about gender confirmation treatment: We are concerned that important discussions are being ignored in favor of a purely ideological debate where both research and user perspectives must give way to opinion and excessive concern]. Dagens Medisin https://www.dagensmedisin.no/debatt-og-kronikk/useriost-om-kjonnsbekreftende-behandling/239573
Coverage in anti-trans press
Nymoen, Ole Christian (April 24, 2025). Stor usikkerhet om kjĂžnnsbehandling for mindreĂ„rige: â Blir stemplet som transfob [Great uncertainty about gender treatment for minors: â Being labeled as transphobic]. Nettavisen https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/stor-usikkerhet-om-kjonnsbehandling-for-mindrearige-blir-stemplet-som-transfob/s/5-95-1777762
Brandvold, Ă
se (April 23, 2024). Mener en hard debatt kan skade pasienter: Overlege Anne WĂŠhre har fĂ„tt ansvaret for Ă„ sikre at kjĂžnnsÂbehandling for barn og unge skal fĂžlges opp med forskning. Hun mener det giftige debattklimaet kan gĂ„ ut over pasientene. [Believes a tough debate could harm patients Chief Physician Anne WĂŠhre has been given the responsibility to ensure that gender treatment for children and adolescents is followed up with research. She believes that the toxic debate climate can affect patients]. Klassekampen https://klassekampen.no/artikkel/2024-04-23/mener-en-hard-debatt-kan-skade-pasienter
Lilleeng, Sverre (April 18, 2024). Har stramma inn tilbud til transÂpersoner: â Behandler fĂŠrre fĂžr de blir 18 Ă„r. Overlege mener det er lite dokumentert at behandlinga hun gir til barn og unge hjelper. NĂ„ blir den ansett som «utprĂžvende». [Has tightened services for transgender people: â Treats fewer before they turn 18. The chief physician believes there is little documentation that the treatment she gives to children and adolescents helps. It is now considered “experimental.”]. NRK https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/har-stramma-inn-tilbud-til-transpersoner_-_-behandler-faerre-for-de-blir-18-ar-1.16841653
Enger, Cecilie (September 1, 2023). Jeg har vel ikke egentlig bearbeidet hvor tungt det har vĂŠrt Ă„ stĂ„ i denne stormen [â I guess I haven’t really processed how hard it has been to stand in this storm. Being critical of the treatment given to transsexuals in Norway has come at a high price for consultant Anne WĂŠhre]. Dagens NĂŠringsliv https://www.dn.no/magasinet/portrettet/transpersoner/rikshospitalet/kjonn/-jeg-har-vel-ikke-egentlig-bearbeidet-hvor-tungt-det-har-vart-a-sta-i-denne-stormen/2-1-1508228
Payne, Daniel (July 14, 2023). 21 international doctors sign open letter against youth transgender âtransitionâ procedures. Catholic News Agency https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254800/21-international-doctors-sign-open-letter-against-youth-transgender-transition-procedures
Staff report (October 13, 2022). Why do so many teenaged girls ask for gender reassignment? CNE [Christian News Europe] https://cne.news/artikel/1843-why-do-so-many-teenaged-girls-ask-for-gender-reassignment
Hodne, Anna Myklebust; Rise, Mina Maria; Five, Mari Linge (October 10, 2022). Plutselig Ăžkte Ă©n pasientgruppe: â PĂ„fallende [Suddenly one patient group increased: â Strikingly]. TV2 https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/innenriks/plutselig-okte-en-pasientgruppe-pafallende/15159773/
Selected publications by WĂŠhre
Pisani Sundhagen, H., WĂŠhre, A., TĂžnseth, K. A., & Fauske, L. (2025). Exploring experiences of metoidioplasty: a qualitative study. International Journal of Transgender Health, 1â14. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2536500
Jessen, Reidar Schei; WĂŠhre, Anne; David, Linda W.; StĂ€nicke, Line Indrevoll & StĂ€nicke, Erik (2025). âIt was actually my family and friends who noticed that my voice changedâ: An interview study on the experiences of transgender and non-binary youth and young adults three years into medical treatment. International Journal of Transgender Health https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2025.2478498
Gulseth, E., Urdal, A., Andersen, M. H., Falk, R. S., Aksnes, G., Emblem, R., Diseth, T., & WĂŠhre, A. (2025). Mental health and health-related quality of life in adolescents surgically treated for hypospadias in childhood. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 21(1), 59â70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2024.09.031 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/116372
Jessen, Reidar Schei; WÊhre, Anne; David, Linda W.; StÀnicke, Line Indrevoll & StÀnicke, Erik (2025). Finding Oneself in the Gazes of Others: An Exploration of Subjective Experiences of Gender Among Young Binary Transgender Men. Studies in Gender and Sexuality, 26(1), p. 52 69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15240657.2025.2453288
Sundhagen, Henriette Pisani; WÊhre, Anne & TÞnseth, Kim Alexander (2024). Metoidioplasty in Norway: A 13-year Experience from a National Center. Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 12(11). https://doi.org/10.1097/gox.0000000000006307 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/116721
Nyquist, Cecilie Bjertness; Torgersen, Leila; David, Linda W.; Diseth, Trond Haaken; Gulbrandsen, Kjersti & WĂŠhre, Anne (2024). Treatment trajectories among children and adolescents referred to the Norwegian National Center for Gender Incongruence. Acta Paediatrica, 114(5), 1006â1014. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.17530 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/115920
WĂŠhre, Anne (September 6, 2024). StĂžrst mulig nytte og minst mulig skade «Det er viktig at ungdom fĂ„r anledning til Ă„ reflektere over sin identitet fĂžr man vurderer medikamentell behandling», skriver Anne WĂŠhre [Maximum benefit and minimum harm: “It is important that young people have the opportunity to reflect on their identity before considering drug treatment,” writes Anne WĂŠhre.]. Psychologisk https://psykologisk.no/2024/09/storst-mulig-nytte-og-minst-mulig-skade/
David, L. W., Stenberg, N., Diseth, T. H., Helverschou, S. B., Nyquist, C. B., Ăien, R. A., & Waehre, A. (2023). Autistic Characteristics in a Nationally Representative Clinical Sample of Adolescents Seeking Medical Gender-Affirming Treatment in Norway. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(1), 147â157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06181-6
Conservative signatories (July 14, 2023). Youth Gender Transition Is Pushed Without Evidence. Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/trans-gender-affirming-care-transition-hormone-surgery-evidence-c1961e27
Nyquist, C. B., Torgersen, L., David, L. W., Diseth, T. H., Magnus, P., Biele, G. P. E., & Waehre, A. (2024). Population-adjusted numbers, demographics and mental health among children and adolescents referred to the Norwegian National Center for Gender Incongruence over two decades. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(2), 647â657. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-024-02508-5 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/114064
MediÄ, L. M., Fauske, L., Sigurdardottir, S., Billaud Feragen, K. J., & Waehre, A. (2024). Differences of sex development and surgical decisions: focus group interviews with health care professionals in Norway. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2024.2371134 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/117942
Sundhagen, H. P., Opheim, A. B., WĂŠhre, A., Oliver, N. K., & TĂžnseth, K. A. (2023). Chest Wall Contouring in Transgender Men: A 20-Year Experience from a National Center. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 11(4), e4952. https://doi.org/10.1097/gox.0000000000004952 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/110528
David, L. W., Stenberg, N., Diseth, T. H., Helverschou, S. B., Nyquist, C. B., Ăien, R. A., & Waehre, A. (2023). Autistic Characteristics in a Nationally Representative Clinical Sample of Adolescents Seeking Medical Gender-Affirming Treatment in Norway. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 55(1), 147â157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-06181-6 Â Full text https://hdl.handle.net/10037/32371
MediÄ, L. M., Sigurdardottir, S., Fauske, L., & Waehre, A. (2023). Understanding sexual health concerns among adolescents and young adults with differences of sex development: a qualitative study. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2023.2204635 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/109429
Gulseth, E., Urdal, A., Andersen, M. H., Falk, R. S., Aksnes, G., Emblem, R., & WÊhre, A. (2023). Sexual well-being and penile appearance in adolescents operated for distal hypospadias in childhood. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 19(3), 293.e1-293.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2023.03.001 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/106930
Waehre, A., Heggeli, C., Hald, K., Myhre, A. G., & Diseth, T. (2022). A 15â20-year follow-up of mental health, psychosocial functioning and quality of life in a single center sample of individuals with differences in sex development. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 10(1), 837â854. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2022.2116329 Full text http://hdl.handle.net/10852/100660
MediĂ„, L. M., Fauske, L., Sigurdardottir, S., Feragen, K. J. B., Heggeli, C., & WĂŠhre, A. (2022). âIt was Supposed to be a Secretâ: a study of disclosure and stigma as experienced by adults with differences of sex development. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 10(1), 579â595. https://doi.org/10.1080/21642850.2022.2102018
Jessen RS, WÊhre A, David L, StÀnicke E (2021). Negotiating Gender in Everyday Life: Toward a Conceptual Model of Gender Dysphoria in Adolescents. Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Nov;50(8):3489-3503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02024-6.
WĂŠhre, Anne (2021). Medisinsk perspektiv pĂ„ behandling av medfĂždt variasjon i kroppslig kjĂžnnsutvikling og kjĂžnnsinkongruens hos barn og unge [Medical perspective on the treatment of congenital variation in physical gender development and gender incongruence in children and adolescents]. In Hellum, Anne & SĂžrlie, Anniken (Ed.), Frihet, likhet og mangfold: KjĂžnnsidentitet og seksuell orientering i rettslig, medisinsk og samfunnsvitenskapelig kontekst [Freedom, equality and diversity: Gender identity and sexual orientation in legal, medical and social scientific contexts.]. Gyldendal Akademisk. ISSN 9788205518698. p. 200â224.
Gulseth, E., Urdal, A., Andersen, M. H., Diseth, T., Aksnes, G., Emblem, R., & WĂŠhre, A. (2021). High satisfaction on genital self-perception and sexual function in healthy Norwegian male adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 17(4), 555.e1-555.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2021.02.015
Kaltiala R, Bergman H, Carmichael P, de Graaf NM, Rischel KE, Frisén L, Schorkopf M, Suomalainen L, Waehre A (2020). Time trends in referrals to child and adolescent gender identity services: a study in four Nordic countries and in the UK. Nord J Psychiatry. 2020 Jan;74(1):40-44. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2019.1667429
Daae, E., Feragen, K. B., Waehre, A., Nermoen, I., & Falhammar, H. (2020). Sexual Orientation in Individuals With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00038
WÊhre A, Schorkopf M (2019). KjÞnnsvariasjon, medisinsk behandling og vÄrt ansvar [Gender variance, medical treatment and our responsibility]. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2019 Apr 8;139(7). https://doi.org/10.4045/tidsskr.19.0178.
Surén, PÄl; WÊhre, Anne; TÞnseth, Kim Alexander; Bauge, Ingvild Skogen; Stoltenberg, Camilla (July 21, 2020). Helsedirektoratet kommer med uforsvarlige retningslinjer for kjÞnnsinkongruens | Fem leger. Kunnskapsgrunnlaget for behandlingen er svakt. [The Norwegian Directorate of Health issues irresponsible guidelines for gender incongruence | Five doctors. The knowledge base for the treatment is weak.]. Aftenposten https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/MRzMWB/helsedirektoratet-kommer-med-uforsvarlige-retningslinjer-for-kjoennsinkongruens-fem-leger
- Guldvog, Bjorn; Roland, Brit; Janbu, Torunn; Torgersen, Johan Georg Rostad (July 24, 2020). [New guideline ensures better healthcare for people with gender incongruence]. Aftenposten https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/i/zGdMBw/ny-retningslinje-sikrer-bedre-helsetjenester-for-personer-med-kjoennsinkongruens
- Surén, PÄl; WÊhre, Anne; TÞnseth, Kim Alexander; Bauge, Ingvild Skogen; Stoltenberg, Camilla (July 31, 2020). Uforsvarlig ny retningslinje for behandling av kjÞnnsinkongruens | Surén, WÊhre, TÞnseth, Bauge og Stoltenberg. Bortfall av psykiatrisk utredning og manglende krav til behandling og oppfÞlging er bekymringsfullt. [Unjustified new guideline for the treatment of gender incongruence | Surén, WÊhre, TÞnseth, Bauge and Stoltenberg. The lack of psychiatric assessment and lack of requirements for treatment and follow-up is worrying]. Aftenposten https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/i/OpGqaw/uforsvarlig-ny-retningslinje-for-behandling-av-kjoennsinkongruens-suren-waehre-toenseth-bauge-og-stoltenberg
Waehre, Anne; TĂžnseth, Kim Alexander (March 21, 2018). Vi har fĂ„tt en eksplosiv Ăžkning i antall tenĂ„ringsjenter som Ăžnsker Ă„ skifte kjĂžnn. Tar du ansvaret, Bent HĂžie? | Anne WĂŠhre og Kim Alexander TĂžnseth. Behandlingsivrige sexologer spanderer hĂ„rvekst og mĂžrk stemme pĂ„ nasjonens dĂžtre [We have had an explosive increase in the number of teenage girls who want to change gender. Do you take responsibility, Bent HĂžie? | Anne WĂŠhre and Kim Alexander TĂžnseth. Treatment-hungry sexologists are treating the nation’s daughters to hair growth and a dark voice]. Aftenposten https://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikk/i/BJvg49/vi-har-faatt-en-eksplosiv-oekning-i-antall-tenaaringsjenter-som-oensker-aa-skifte-kjoenn-tar-du-ansvaret-bent-hoeie-anne-waehre-og-kim-alexander-toenseth
Resources
Oslo University Hospital (ous-research.no)
- Anne Waehre
- ous-research.no/home/diseth/Group+members/15915
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
ResearchGate (researchgate.net)
Emily Yoffe is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Yoffe’s anti-trans coverage in The Free Press was rewarded by the Trump administration, which gave Yoffe the exclusive on their January 2025 executive order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
Background
Emily Joy Yoffe was born October 15, 1955. Yoffe graduated from Wellesley College in 1977.
In 1994 Yoffe married reporter John Douglas Mintz (born 1952). Their child Eliora Rose Mintz (born 1995) is a lawyer.
Yoffe wrote the “Dear Prudence” advice column for Slate from 2006 to 2015.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2020, Yoffe signed the “Harper’s Letter,” which featured many other anti-trans activists in Yoffe’s circle.
Yoffe was a frequent guest on anti-transgender podcast The Femsplainers hosted by Danielle Crittenden and Christina Hoff Sommers.
Yoffe contributed to the anti-trans publication The Free Press in 2022 and joined the staff later that year.
Jamie Reed allegations
In 2023, Jamie Reed came forward to complain about treatment protocols at employer Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Childrenâs Hospital. Republican Ernie Trakas joined Vernadette Broyles in representing Reed. Both are involved in the Child and Parental Rights Campaign, which claims “gender ideology” is a threat to children.
Yoffe interviewed Reed with Broyles and Bari Weiss.
“Caroline” allegations
Also in 2023, Yoffe followed up with a self-report from “Caroline,” an unsupportive parent of “Casey,” who attended the St. Louis Clinic. “Casey”disputed Yoffe’s reporting, feeling it was necessary to do so under the actual name Alex:
My name is Alex. Emily Yoffe and Bari Weiss worked in cooperation with my mom to write an article about our experience with Washington University. The article is filled with falsehoods and misconceptions. Now, my family is being threatened with legal action from big-time lawyers and we need help paying for legal defense. More at https://twitter.com/sleepyoktobur/status/1643347040250781706?s=46
(GoFundMe)
Yoffe has since uplifted other anti-trans activists, including Jesse Singal, Leor Sapir, J. Michael Bailey, and Lisa Selin Davis.
Eithan Haim and children’s stolen medical records
In May 2024, Texas surgeon Eithan Haim was charged with illegally obtaining the private medical records of pediatric patients receiving gender transition care at Texas Childrenâs Hospital and sharing them with anti-trans activist Christopher Rufo. Yoffe presented Haim as a heroic truth-teller in several Free Press articles. In 2025, the Trump administration dropped the charges against Haim.
References
Burns, Katelyn (April 13, 2023 11:59). Wonât somebody think of the children? OPINION: When media publish trans kidsâ medical histories without their full consent, they thrust them into a harmful spotlight. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/health/trans-kids-free-press-249066
McNeill, Zane (April 11, 2023). Trans Teen Calls Out Right-Wing Reporter for Publishing Story Without Consent. Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/trans-teen-calls-out-right-wing-reporter-for-publishing-story-without-consent/
Urquhart, Evan (April 6, 2023). Emily Yoffe Takes Sides Against a Vulnerable Youth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/emily-yoffe-takes-sides
Riedel, Samantha (April 6, 2023). A Trans Teen Is Debunking an Article That Attacked Their Gender Clinic. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-teen-debunking-gender-clinic-article
Hansford, Amelia (April 6, 2023). Teen hits back after mum shares fake news about puberty blockers: âThis is my story, not hers.â PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/04/06/puberty-blockers-transition-story-the-free-press/
Wiggins, Christopher (April 5, 2023). Momâs Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/media/transgender-teen-mother-interview
Bassett, Laura (April 4, 2023). Gender Fluid Teen Pushes Back Against ‘False’ Viral Story Their Mom Gave to Conservative Outlet. Jezebel https://jezebel.com/gender-fluid-teen-pushes-back-against-false-viral-story-1850301057
Schrappen, Colleen (March 5, 2023. Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. ‘I’m baffled..’ STLtoday.com https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/parents-push-back-on-allegations-against-st-louis-transgender-center-i-m-baffled/article_a94bc4d2-e68b-535f-b0c7-9fefb9e8e9f4.html
Hanshaw, Annelise (March 1, 2023). Families dispute whistleblower’s allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/01/transgender-st-louis-whistleblower/
Munz, Michele (February 19, 2023). Choice of lawyers for whistleblower at St. Louis transgender clinic taints her motive, critics say. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/choice-of-lawyers-for-whistleblower-at-st-louis-transgender-clinic-taints-her-motive-critics-say/article_7b36198a-af0d-57cf-a06c-f45952b3b307.html
Hail Flory, Julie (February 9, 2023). Statement on Transgender Center – The Source – Washington University in St. Louis. The Source https://source.wustl.edu/2023/02/statement-on-transgender-center/
Missouri Attorney General’s Office (February 9, 2023). Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Confirms Launch of Multi-Agency Investigation into St. Louis Transgender Center for Harming Hundreds of Children. https://ago.mo.gov/home/news/2023/02/09/missouri-attorney-general-andrew-bailey-confirms-launch-of-multi-agency-investigation-into-st.-louis-transgender-center-for-harming-hundreds-of-children
Cruz, Eliel (August 28, 2014). GLAAD Condemns Slate‘s Emily Yoffe’s Advice. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/bisexuality/2014/08/28/glaad-condemns-slates-emily-yoffes-advice
Staff report (September 18, 1994). Weddings â Emily J. Yoffe, John D. Mintz. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/style/weddings-emily-j-yoffe-john-d-mintz.html
Selected anti-trans writing by Yoffe
Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2025). The End of Youth Gender Transition? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/the-end-of-youth-gender-transition
Yoffe, Emily (January 24, 2025). Eithan Haim: âWe Took On the Federal Leviathan and We Won.â The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-we-took-on-the-federal
Yoffe, Emily (January 19, 2025). EXCLUSIVE: Trumpâs Day One Executive Order on âMale and Female.â The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/trumps-day-one-executive-order-male-female-gender-ideology-pronouns
Yoffe, Emily (June 18, 2024). Whistleblower Surgeon Could Face a Decade in Prison. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-surgeon-eithan-haim-prison
Yoffe, Emily (June 10, 2024). A Doctor Told the Truth. The Feds Showed Up at His Door. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/eithan-haim-gender-distressed-children-indicted
Yoffe, Emily (April 3, 2023). âI Felt Bulliedâ: Mother of Child Treated at Transgender Center Speaks Out. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-felt-bullied-mother-of-child-treated
Yoffe, Emily (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. The Free Press. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs&t=631s
Yoffe, Emily (June 27, 2022). Biden’s Sex Police. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/bidens-sex-police
Yoffe, Emily (July 21, 2020). A Taxonomy of Fear: There is a pattern in the way speech is silenced. Understanding it can help us stand up to the illiberalism of this moment. Persuasion https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-taxonomy-of-fear
Yoffe, Emily and signatories (July 7, 2020). A Letter on Justice and Open Debate. Harper’s https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/
Yoffe, Emily (March 20, 2014). Dear Prudence Need to Know: My ex didnât reveal she was transgenderâuntil her sister told me. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/03/dear-prudence-my-ex-didnt-tell-me-she-was-transgender-until-i-confronted-her.html
Yoffe, Emily (November 20, 2012). He Becomes Her: In a live chat, Prudie advises a woman falling out of love with her transgender husband. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/11/dear-prudence-do-i-have-to-stay-with-my-transgender-husband.html
Media
Manhattan Insights with Yael Hungerford, Abigail Shrier and Emily Yoffe (March 7, 2024). Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up | A Conversation with Abigail Shrier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBILSnloCc
myhomie2taro (April 9, 2023). Trans Teen FIGHTS BACK Against Bari Weiss And Emily Yoffe’s Poor Reporting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q1pGZfPWD4
The Free Press with Bari Weiss, Jamie Reed and Vernadette Broyles (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs
The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk and Emily Yoffe (March 8, 2021). Intent Matters – The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk (Emily Yoffe). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp0SuhEOiI0
The Femsplainers with Danielle Crittenden and Emily Yoffe (Augist 1, 2020). “Use Your Words! Wait, No Cancel That…” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IrbKc5UDwU
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Facebook (facebook.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
Chiara Caignon-Lewis is an American “ex-transgender” activist and a founder of ex-trans website Pique Resilience Project. Anti-trans activism is a family business: Chiara’s parent Denise Caignon is also heavily involved in anti-transgender extremism as owner of the website 4thWaveNow.
Aliases include:
- “Chiara Canaan”
- “Rachel Miller”
Caignon-Lewis claims the transgender rights movement is “nothing more than misogyny disguised as progressive feminism.”
Background
Chiara Lucia Marie Caignon-Lewis was born August 21, 1997 in Santa Cruz, California to Denise Caignon and Tim Lewis. Caignon-Lewis stated, “I was dysphoric because my father sexually abused me as a child” and because of “my internalized homophobia.”
Denise and Chiara Caignon-Lewis moved to North Carolina. In 2013, at age 16, Caignon-Lewis became an ordained youth minister, then came out as transgender shortly after turning 17. Caignon-Lewis had already come out as lesbian and was dating as one, but an incident at school resulted in few friends in real life. Caignon-Lewis turned to online communities, claiming that popular trans users on Tumblr and YouTube led to a multi-year obsession with transition:
Had I not been exposed to the cultish mindset of Tumblrâs transactivists at a vulnerable phase of my life, I would not have become absorbed by a desire to permanently change my body.
Caignon-Lewis’ coming out involved texting a link to a gender clinic with no other details. Being forbidden to take medical transition steps caused Caignon-Lewis to have many family fights. At the height of the fighting, Denise Caignon got heavily involved with posting anti-transgender materials online at 4thWaveNow and elsewhere.
In 2015, Caignon-Lewis graduated from Chapel Hill High School and was sent to a Florida horse farm for nine months. Caignon-Lewis says the desire to transition subsided after that without taking any legal or medical steps. Denise and Chiara have since teamed up to be the most high-profile family in the modern ex-trans movement.
Caignon-Lewis sometimes performs music locally and has had a string of service jobs in the Triangle area, including at insightsoftware, bartaco, Orangetheory Fitness, Stoney River Steakhouse, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and Hawthorne & Wood.
Caignon-Lewis has been riding horses since age two, got a Selle Français cross mare named Tupelo Honey in 2011, and has been involved in competitive jumping and dressage with Honey in North Carolina and at FenRidge Farm in Florida. A self-described “huge horse nerd,” Caignon-Lewis was active on several online platforms, posting about horses and dressage in addition to identity issues (most of which was deleted). Since 2016, Caignon-Lewis has operated a part-time business called Novation Sporthorse, offering training, lessons, and marketing of sales horses.
Caignon-Lewis and three other ex-trans activists created the Pique Resilience Project in 2019 and disbanded in 2020, allegedly because two of the members stopped dating each other.
References
Kennedy, Dana (May 11, 2022). Anguished parents of trans kids fight back against âgender cultâ trying to silence them. New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/05/11/meet-the-parents-of-trans-kids-fighting-gender-cult/
“Williams, Grace” (February 27, 2019). A grand conspiracy to tell the truth: An interview with 4thWaveNow founder & her daughter Chiara of the Pique Resilience Project. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2019/02/27/a-grand-conspiracy-to-tell-the-truth-an-interview-with-4thwavenow-founder-her-daughter-chiara-of-the-pique-resilience-project/
[McCann, Charlie] (September 1, 2018). Why are so many teenage girls appearing in gender clinics? The Economist https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/09/01/why-are-so-many-teenage-girls-appearing-in-gender-clinics
- Canaan, Chiara (2018). [response to Economist piece] https://chiaracanaan.tumblr.com/post/177791904093/why-are-so-many-teenage-girls-appearing-in-gender: “I was interviewed for this magazine recently (Iâm âRachelâ), and have been pleasantly surprised at the positive response so far. I was dysphoric because my father sexually abused me as a child until I learned to associate womanhood with fear and shame, and I was dysphoric because I am a lesbian, but my internalized homophobia jumped at the option of being a straight man instead. Had I not been exposed to the cultish mindset of Tumblrâs transactivists at a vulnerable phase of my life, I would not have become absorbed by a desire to permanently change my body.”
Buddhist Peace Fellowship (1997). Turning Wheel. “Born on August 21, to TW associate editor Denise Caignon and her husband Tim Lewis: Chiara Lucia (Clear Light!)”
Media appearances
Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Chiara Caignon-Lewis (August 14, 2020). Detrans Stories: Taking the Reins | with Chiara. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B05NuuduPro
Pique Resilience Project (September 27, 2019). Dagny & Helena Interview Chiara. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQPQ191LbSQ [deleted]
Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Chiara Caignon-Lewis (February 22, 2019). Detransition & Self Acceptance | with Chiara. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fCOVjhZ3VI
Resources
Open Ministry (oministry.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Pique Resilience Project (piqueresproject.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Tumblr (tumblr.com)
Reverb Nation (reverbnation.com)
WordPress (wordpress.com)
Soundcloud (soundcloud.com)
Quora (quora.com)
Myspace (myspace.com)
Pinterest (pinterest.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Novation Sporthorse (novationsporthorse.com) [not archived]
YouTube (youtube.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
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