Jami Kathleen Taylor is an American political scientist who has published on the transgender rights movement.
Background
Taylor earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, then a Masters in Public Administration from Old Dominion University in 2001. She then earned a Masters in Library Science at University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2005 before earning a PhD in Public Administration from North Carolina State University in 2008.
Roberta Angela Dee (October 31, 1950âMarch 13, 2003) was an American author and transgender rights activist. A longtime critic of sexologists Ray Blanchard and Anne Lawrence for their promotion of the disease “autogynephilia,” Dee was the journalist who broke the story of Lawrence’s unconsented genital examination of an unconscious Ethiopian patient during a surgical procedure. The incident led to Lawrence’s resignation as an anesthesiologist.
Background
Dee was born in Brooklyn, New York, grew up in Long Island, and lived in Atlanta before becoming a resident of Augusta, Georgia. She had a journalism degree. Her writing was published widely, and she was founder of the Women on the Net (WON) website, an early online resource for women of color. Her work includes:
On October 10, 2002, Dee published the following post to soc.support.transgendered. It included the November 20, 1997 letter concluding the Washington State investigation and the 2-page Activity Report summarizing the case. While Dee says the patient was a minor, the documentation does not support that assumption. The patient was anesthetized by Lawrence prior to a hysterectomy, and the surgeon told Lawrence that the patient’s genitals appeared that way due to aging.
File on Anne A. Lawrence, M.D.
Dear Members:
I am in receipt of the document from the State of Washington, Department of Health, concerning the allegations that Anne A. Lawrence, MD, had, inappropriately examined a female minor. Of the 10 page document provided to me, I have reproduced the most pertinent three pages as text.
Appendix G indicates that Anne Lawrence plea bargained in order to avoid a complete investigation. This, in my humble opinion, is not indicative of someone who is innocent.
If a charge of sexual impropriety had been directed at me, I would seek a thorough investigation to clear my name and remove any suspicion. Why would an innocent person do any less?
Lawrence, at one point, had two attorneys defending her. I doubt that the little girl’s parents could afford the ensuing legal battle. Consequently, Lawrence is cleared by default.
Each of us, I’m sure, will reach his or her own conclusions. However, I must say that the activities do not sit well with me. I’ve seen this kind of thing before. A dirty doctor walks away unscathed but an innocent child, though not physically harmed, is emotionally scarred for life.
With Kind Regards,
Roberta Angela Dee
PS If anyone suspects that I might have doctored the document or that I omitted any pertinent information, the address is provided and you may request a copy of the original document.
STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 1300 SE Quince Street · P.O. Box 47866 · Olympia, WA 98504-7866
05-22-97 Call from Lee Norman. Lawrence resigned. Reason threat of adverse action. She plea bargained to stave off investigation. Unauthorized exam of pateint. [… redacted* …] The patient was not harmed. Question of moral turpitude.
* Dee’s version said the edited line about Lawrence said: “Respondent has been having bizarre behavior for a while.”
References
Dee, Roberta Angela (October 10, 2002). File on Anne A. Lawrence, M.D. soc.support.transgendered [via Google Groups archive]
Monica Katrice Roberts (May 4, 1962 â October 5, 2020) was an American journalist and transgender rights activist. Roberts was founding editor of the award-winning blog TransGriot.
Background
Roberts grew up in Houston, Texas, graduating from Jones High School in 1980 and University of Houston in 1984. Roberts was a United Airlines Customer Service Representative from 1987 to 2001.
Roberts’ writing appeared at the Bilerico Project, Ebony.com, The Huffington Post and the Advocate. Roberts began writing TransGriot as a column in 2004, then as a standalone blog in 2006.
Roberts was honored many times for this work:
IFGE Trinity Award (2006)
Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award (2015)
Phillips Brooks House Association’s Robert Coles Call of Service Award (2016)
HRC John Walzel Equality Award (2017)
GLAAD Media Awards (2016 and 2018)
Out 100 (2019)
Roberts was critical of medical and religious leaders who are critical of the transgender rights movement, including Paul McHugh. Roberts also raised the voices of trans women of color who were important historical figures in online activism, including Roberta Angela Dee.
Shey, Brittanie (January 30, 2018). 8 Houston Women to Watch on Social Media.Houstonia Magazine https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2018/1/30/houston-women-social-media
Miranda Yardley (born 1967) is a British accountant, publisher, and “autogynephilia” activist. Yardley identifies as transsexual and is a prominent conservative voice in the “gender critical” movement.
Background
Yardley earned a degree in accounting from Bangor University in 1990. Yardley started an accounting firm in 2000 and took over publishing music magazine Terrorizer in 2002 under the auspices of Dark Arts, Ltd. Yardley later added the titles Dominion and Sick Sounds.
In 2008, Yardley made a gender transition.
Activism
In 2014, Yardley became heavily involved in online fights about transgender politics, specifically rejecting the idea that trans women are women:
The gender critical approach establishes that âbeing a womanâ is not a matter of an individualâs identity. Someone who is gender critical recognises that trans women are biologically male (and trans men are biologically female), that human beings are sexually dimorphic, that we are all subject to sex-based socialisation from birth. These are not value judgements; being biologically male is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It is morally neutral.
This feminist approach views gender essentialism as the basis of womenâs oppression, which as an extreme example would include violence (by men) against women. This is not to say that all men are violent, rather that male socialisation has violent aspects (like female socialisation has aspects that are, to quote a phrase, âsugar and spice and all things niceâ). I therefore view gender as a harmful social construct which divides power unequally. I think of it as a hierarchy, with the sex-class âmaleâ at the top.
In 2018, Yardley was suspended from Twitter for saying Green Party spokesperson Aimee Challenor is a man. In April 2018 pro-trans cisgender activist Helen Islan brought a “transgender hate crime” complaint against Yardley that led to police involvement and a long investigation. The case was dropped in Yardley’s favor in March 2019.
Since that time, Yardley has been embraced by anti-transgender activists, appearing on their platforms, writing about trans community controversies, and working to change the UK’s 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
Andrea James is an American filmmaker and consumer activist.
Background
Andrea Jean James was born on January 16, 1967 in Wisconsin. James and sibling Greg (born 1969) were adopted. Their parent Nancy (born 1937) worked at several nonprofits, and their parent Warren (1934-2016) ran a small farm before taking several roles at a steel mill.
James grew up in Franklin, Indiana, earned a bachelor’s degree in English, Latin, and Greek at Wabash College in 1989, then received a master’s degree in English at University of Chicago in 1990. James then worked in advertising in Chicago at the Chicago Tribune and several ad agencies. During gender transition, James developed several consumer resources for trans people, including tsroadmap.com, the predecessor to this website.
Media activism
James moved to Los Angeles and produced several popular instructional videos with Calpernia Addams, covering voice, makeup, facial feminization surgery, and coming out. They also produced and performed in the first all-transgender production of The Vagina Monologues in 2004. In 2008, they were in the first dating show with trans-attracted suitors, with Addams as the first out transgender star.
James served on the boards of several nonprofits and has consulted on and helped produce many film and television projects with trans themes.
James published the 2006 overview “A defining moment in our history.” The community response was described as “one of the most organized and unified examples of trans activism to date” (Surkan, 2007).
Academic backlash (2007)
Following a 2007 campaign of defamation led by the academics promoting disease models of gender identity and expression, James began working to close ringleader Kenneth Zucker‘s gender clinic at CAMH in Toronto. James gathered evidence for Zucker’s employer, presented a 2008 paper about the populist response called “Fair comment, foul play,” and began collecting information from former CAMH patients. Alice Dreger reprinted a piece from Zucker’s journal in the 2015 book Galileo’s Middle Finger, prompting James to respond with “Sexologyâs war on transgender children.” Zucker was fired in 2015 and the clinic was closed.
Media backlash (2014)
The American trans rights movement entered a decadent phase following the election of Barack Obama. Following a series of political gains, complacency and infighting reached a peak in late 2014, and both media coverage and public opinion began to turn negative. The backlash accelerated following the election of Donald Trump, concentrated on several hot-button topics: military service, sports, prisoners, public accommodation, and gender diverse youth.
Following publication of an egregiously biased 2018 cover story on transgender “desistance” in The Atlantic, James began working on The Transphobia Project, a long-term effort to document the key media figures and platforms engaged in propagating biased content about gender identity and expression.
Hiscott, Rebecca (June 26, 2019). This Is What Transphobia in the Media Looks Like. Kickstarter Magazine https://medium.com/kickstarter/this-is-what-transphobia-in-the-media-looks-like-3b9da535322e
When The Atlantic published its July/August 2018 cover story on transgender youth, Andrea James was among the chorus of trans writers and activists who excoriated it for being biased. âEditor Jeffrey Goldberg published it despite many warnings that it was likely to be a dog whistle, a kind of bias that most people wonât notice,â she says.
The article focused on the disputed concept of âdesistance,â which views gender nonconforming children as having a disease to be cured, delegitimizing the experiences and struggles of the majority of trans youth. âIt also came out that elite journalistsâ â including the author of the Atlantic piece â âwere excluding transgender journalists from backchannels where they were discussing coverage,â James says.
Bolded sections removed after complaint by Jesse Singal
Wilson was born in Detroit, Michigan and earned a bachelorâs degree in liberal arts from College of Wooster in 1982. She joined The Chronicle in 1985 and wrote for them until 2017. She and her husband Darryl Ozias (born 1956) have two sons. She joined the Iowa State University wrestling program as Director of Operations in 2017, having previously volunteered for Head Coach Kevin Dresser when one of her sons wrestled for Dresser at Virginia Tech.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
In 2003 and 2004, Wilson wrote six articles about the book and the fallout for the Chronicle. The first, which Dreger characterizes as “gossipy,” came out shortly after Bailey’s vulgar misuse of gender diverse children at Stanford University. Wilson joined Bailey on on one of his voyeuristic sex tours (see Charlotte Allen) to the gay nightclub Circuit with Anjelica Kieltyka and the woman called “Juanita” in his book. Wilson describes Bailey as using medical gatekeeping to gain access to young attractive trans women: “As a psychologist, he has written letters they needed to get sex-reassignment surgery, and he has paid attention to them in ways most people donât.”
In her 2008 article published by Kenneth Zucker, in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, Dreger singled out Wilson as the journalist who failed to cover the story objectively:
Wilson wrote these scandal reports as if she had just come upon the scene with no previous insider knowledge and no insider connections to use to figure out the truth behind this âcontroversy.â When I realized the strange role Wilson had played, I tried asking her and her editor why they hadnât used her before-and-after-scandal positioning to ask deep questions about why Baileyâs relationships appeared, at least in public accounts, to have suddenly changed with these women. Wilsonâs editor [Bill Horne] sent me back boilerplate: âWe stand by the accuracy, and fairness, of Robinâs reporting and are not inclined to revisit decisions Robin and her editors made here with regard to what to include or exclude from those stories in 2003.â But I was left obsessing about an if: If Wilson had used her special journalistic position as someone who was there just before the mushroom cloud, she might have seenâright awayâwhat I saw when years later I charted the journey.
Now, maybe Wilson would have concluded that Conway had just educated all these women into understanding they had been abused. But if she had taken this or any other theory of what had changed the scene so dramatically, and then bothered to look into the actual charges, as I was finally doing years later, she might have seen them fall apart one by one. And then she could have reported that. Was Wilson a good liberal simply afraid to look as though she was defending a straight, politically incorrect sex researcher against a group of supposedly downtrodden trans women? Had Conway and James scared the crap out of her, as they seemed to scare everybody else? Or was the explanation simpler? Was it just that trying to figure out what the hell was really going on would have taken too much time and other resources?
References
Dreger, Alice (2015). Galileo’s Middle Finger.
Dreger, Alice (2008). The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen. Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Wilson, Robin (September 3, 2016). Citing Safety Concerns, Northwestern U. Bans Tenured ‘Gadfly’ Professor From Campus.
Wilson, Robin (December 10, 2004). Northwestern U. Will Not Reveal Results of Investigation Into Sex Researcher.
Wilson, Robin (December 1, 2004). Northwestern U. Concludes Investigation of Sex Researcher but Keeps Results Secret.
Wilson, Robin (December 12, 2003). Northwestern U. Psychologist Is Accused of Having Sex With Research Subject.
Wilson, Robin (July 25, 2003). Transsexual ‘Subjects’ Complain About Professor’s Research Methods.
Wilson, Robin (July 17, 2003). 2 Transsexual Women Say Professor Didn’t Tell Them They Were Research Subjects.
Horne earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Cornell University and a law degree from Albany Law School of Union University in 1984. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1985 and practiced for several years before going into journalism, where he has published with bylines including William W. Horne and Bill Horne.
Horne joined the Chronicle in 2000 as Deputy Managing Editor, rising to editor from 2004 to 2007. He then held editor positions at World History Group from 2008 to 2013, then joined AARP in 2014 as Executive Editor of their magazine. His wife Kathleen “Kathy” Broadbent Horne is also a lawyer.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
Chronicle staffer Robin Wilson wrote six articles covering the controversy, and Dreger was critical of the coverage, citing her correspondence with Horne:
When I realized the strange role Wilson had played, I tried asking her and her editor why they hadnât used her before-and-after-scandal positioning to ask deep questions about why Baileyâs relationships appeared, at least in public accounts, to have suddenly changed with these women. Wilsonâs editor sent me back boilerplate: âWe stand by the accuracy, and fairness, of Robinâs reporting and are not inclined to revisit decisions Robin and her editors made here with regard to what to include or exclude from those stories in 2003.â
References
Dreger, Alice (2008). The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age. Archives of Sexual Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-007-9301-1
Dreger, Alice (2015). Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and One Scholar’s Search for Justice. Penguin Books ISBN 978-0143108115
Christine McGinn is an American plastic surgeon based in Pennsylvania.
Background
Christine Noelle McGinn was born May 31, 1969 and grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. McGinn earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Moravian College in 1991, followed by a medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1995. McGinn then joined the United States Navy, Naval Aerospace Medicine Institute US Naval Flight Surgery Training.
McGinn made a gender transition starting in 2000.
McGinn was a consultand on the 2015 film The Danish Girl and has appeared on Dr. Oz, CNN with Anderson Cooper, IAm Jazz, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Memberships:
American Medical Association
American Osteopathic Association
American College of Osteopathic Surgeons
Society of United States Naval Flight Surgeons
Aerospace Medical Association
World Professional Association for Transgender Health
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Society for the Scientific Study of Sex
Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists
Marci Bowers is an American gynecologist, surgeon, media personality, and activist. Bowers is one of the transgender community’s most notable surgeons.
Background
Marci Lee Bowers was born January 18, 1958 in Wisconsin.
After earning a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980, Bowers earned a medical degree from University of Minnesota Medical School in 1986. Bowers completed an OB/GYN residency at the University of Washington in 1990, then worked at Swedish Medical Center. Bowers has licensure in Washington, California, New York, and Colorado.
Bowers was chosen by Stanley Biber to take over Biber’s Colorado practice in 2003. In 2010, Bowers relocated to Burlingame, California.
Bowers has completed many medical missions to Africa to make surgical revisions to the organs of women subjected to traditional genital cutting. Bowers is an elected board member of WPATH and has served on the board of directors for both GLAAD and the Transgender Law Center.
Media appearances
Bowers has appeared frequently in the media, including TransGeneration, Sex Change Hospital, Trinidad, The Tyra Banks Show, I Am Cait, and I Am Jazz.
2021 60 Minutes interview
Bowers was a source for a 60 Minutes piece on “detransition” by Lesley Stahl, Alexandra Poolos, and Collette Richards titled “Transgender Healthcare” on May 23, 2021. That report was described by GLAAD thus:
Tonight 60 Minutes / Lesley Stahl aired a shameful segment fearmongering about trans youth. Parents of trans youth could walk away with the false belief that young people are being rushed into medical transition. That is simply untrue. As the piece noted, every major medical association supports affirming, age-appropriate care for trans youth and the guidelines for that care are safe and well-established. And yet, the majority of the story was devoted to âraising concernsâ about youth accessing that care. [60 Minutes] heard concerns from several trans leaders and, after spending months on the segment, they delivered a piece which still promulgates the same anti-trans dog whistles that we hear from anti-LGBTQ activists and in state legislatures like Arkansas.
Bowers’ appearance has been cited in reporting critical of the transgender rights movement, including Fox News, The Daily Signal, and The Federalist.
In October 2021, Bowers and USPATH officer Erica Anderson chose to express their concerns about healthcare for gender diverse minors to Abigail Shrier, one of the most prominent anti-transgender activists.
When asked whether children in the early stages of puberty should be put on blockers, Bowers said: âIâm not a fan.â
When I asked Bowers if she still thought puberty blockers were a good idea, from a surgical perspective, she said: âThis is typical of medicine. We zig and then we zag, and I think maybe we zigged a little too far to the left in some cases.â She added âI think there was naivete on the part of pediatric endocrinologists who were proponents of early [puberty] blockade thinking that just this magic can happen, that surgeons can do anything.â
I asked Bowers whether she believed WPATH had been welcoming to a wide variety of doctorsâ viewpoints â including those concerned about risks, skeptical of puberty blockers, and maybe even critical of some of the surgical procedures?
âThere are definitely people who are trying to keep out anyone who doesnât absolutely buy the party line that everything should be affirming, and that thereâs no room for dissent,â Bowers said. âI think thatâs a mistake.â
The problem for kids whose puberty has been blocked early isnât just a lack of tissue but of sexual development. Puberty not only stimulates growth of sex organs. It also endows them with erotic potential. âIf youâve never had an orgasm pre-surgery, and then your puberty’s blocked, it’s very difficult to achieve that afterwards,â Bowers said. âI consider that a big problem, actually. It’s kind of an overlooked problem that in our âinformed consentâ of children undergoing puberty blockers, weâve in some respects overlooked that a little bit.â
Nor is this a problem that can be corrected surgically. Bowers can build a labia, a vaginal canal and a clitoris, and the results look impressive. But, she said, if the kids are âorgasmically naiveâ because of puberty blockade, âthe clitoris down there might as well be a fingertip and brings them no particular joy and, therefore, theyâre not able to be responsive as a lover. And so how does that affect their long-term happiness?â
Shrier called the article “probably the most important piece of my career thus far.” Bowers’ views were once again widely reported in the conservative press, including the Daily Mail, the Christian Post, TheFederalist, and the Patriot Post.
In response to Bowers’ ill-informed decision, USPATH and WPATH released a joint statement:
The United States Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH) and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) stand behind the appropriate care of transgender and gender diverse youth, which includes, when indicated, the use of “puberty blockers” such as gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs and other medications to delay puberty, and, when indicated, the use of gender-affirming hormones such as estrogen or testosterone. Guidelines for the assessment of transgender and gender diverse youth, as well as for the use of pubertal delay and gender affirming hormone medications have been published by reputable professional bodies, including the Endocrine Society, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and the American Psychiatric Association.
USPATH and WPATH support scientific discussions on the use of pubertal delay and hormone therapy for transgender and gender diverse youth. We believe that such discussions should occur among experts and stakeholders in this area, based on scientific evidence, and in fora such as peer-reviewed journals or scientific conferences, and among colleagues and experts in the assessment and care of transgender and gender diverse youth. USPATH and WPATH oppose the use of the lay press, either impartial or of any political slant or viewpoint, as a forum for the scientific debate of these issues, or the politicization of these issues in any way. Furthermore, individual decisions about gender affirming interventions and treatments for transgender and gender diverse youth should be made only among the patient, their parent(s) or guardian(s), their medical and mental health provider(s), and any other identified stakeholders on a case-by-case basis, and opposes any attempts to dictate or restrict, by statute, judiciary, or otherwise, access to such treatment when recommended according to accepted standards and guidelines.
Anderson resigned from USPATH and WPATH, and Bowers posted a letter about the Shrier interview online in November 2021:
I remain disappointed by the tone and intent of the article. My comments were taken out of context and used to cast doubt upon trans care, particularly the use of puberty blockers. Worse, Jazz Jennings was disrespectfully and erroneously portrayed as a puberty blockade failure, based solely upon her television portrayal.
[…] What I hope for, most of all, is that my out-of-context comments will not be excerpted to weaponize ongoing attacks upon transgender persons.
In 2023, the New York Times published a piece by Bowers critical of the wave of anti-transgender legislation in America. Bowers touched on transgender youth medicine, low rates of regret and “detransition,” the history of WPATH and trans healthcare, then urged lawmakers not to interfere in medical decisions made by doctors with their patients.
To be sure, worthwhile questions about how best to address gender diversity, adolescent mental health and teensâ expectations about gender remain. But answers to them will not be found in legislation thatwillharm â not protect â children, families and their health care providers. We must ask ourselves: Why are legislators and politicians making medical decisions for patients and families instead of doctors?
[…]
Anti-treatment bills will not protect children, and they will not help the medical community provide better care for patients in need. We should instead take anti-transgender legislation for what it is: thinly veiled cruelty to a specific minority population of the country. These bills are symptoms of a larger problem, where belittlement and bullying are reminders of what many trans people endure as children, teenagers and young adults.
Bowers, Marci (November 2021). Dear colleagues, clients and friends. Marci L. Bowers, M.D. https://marcibowers.com/transfem/dear-colleagues-clients-and-friends/
WPATH (October 12, 2021). Joint Letter from USPATH and WPATH. (PDF) https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2021/Joint%20WPATH%20USPATH%20Letter%20Dated%20Oct%2012%202021.pdf
Winters, Kelley (October 9, 2021). Transgender Affirmation in Retrograde. Trans Policy Reform. https://transpolicyreform.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/transgender-affirmation-in-retrograde/
Smith, Martin J. (2021). Going to Trinidad: A Doctor, a Colorado Town, and Stories from an Unlikely Gender Crossroads. ISBN 9781917895101
Publications
Bradley-Springer L (2010). Interview with Marci Bowers, MD. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 2010 May-Jun;21(3):186-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jana.2010.02.008
Doo FX, Khorsandi A, Avanessian B, Bowers M, Somwaru AS. Gender Affirmation Surgery: A Primer on Imaging Correlates for the Radiologist. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2019 Dec;213(6):1194-1203. doi: 10.2214/AJR.19.21686
Kvach EJ, Hyer JS, Carey JC, Bowers M. Testicular Seminoma in a Transgender Woman: A Case Report. LGBT Health. 2019 Jan;6(1):40-42. doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2018.0173
Atkinson HG, Bowers M, Mishori R, Ottenheimer D. Comments on “Female Genital Mutilation Reconstruction: A Preliminary Report”. Aesthet Surg J. 2017 Oct 1;37(9):NP111-NP112. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjx096
Gaither TW, Awad MA, Osterberg EC, Romero A, Bowers ML, Breyer BN. Impact of Sexual Orientation Identity on Medical Morbidities in Male-to-Female Transgender Patients. LGBT Health. 2017 Feb;4(1):11-16. doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2016.0097
