Sallie Baxendale is a British psychologist and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Sallie Ann Baxendale earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Surrey in 1990, followed by a master’s degree there in 1992. Baxendale earned a doctorate from UCL in 1997.
Much of Baxendale’s research involves epilepsy and brain development.
Anti-transgender activism
Baxendale began appearing in anti-trans media in 2021, starting with Transgender Trend.
Baxendale supports the ex-transgender movement and is critical of gender affirming healthcare for minors, especially use of puberty blockade. Baxendale was alarmed that some people describe puberty blockade as “fully reversible.”
Baxendale was an invited speaker at a 2023 anti-trans conference organized by the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM).
Since 2023 Baxendale has contributed to anti-trans publication UnHerd,
In 2024 Baxendale published a summary of the 2024 Acta Paediatrica literature review (described below) on anti-trans site Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG).
2024 puberty blockade literature review
In 2024 conservative Swedish psychiatrist Mikael Landén leaked a pre-publication paper by Baxendale to anti-trans activist Bernard Lane. Baxendale’s academic literature review reflected Landén’s view that puberty blockade should be strictly controlled because of unknown risks, particularly cognitive effects.
On the day of publication, Baxendale published a piece in UnHerd about how this puberty blockade literature review was rejected by three journals as well as accepted by Acta Paediatrica, which previously promoted more gatekeeping of healthcare for gender diverse youth in Sweden’s healthcare system. Baxendale claimed, “it wasn’t the methods they objected to, it was the actual findings.” Of the rejection reasons that Baxendale shared, all were about the obvious bias of the author and the stigmatizing potential from how the material is tendentiously presented.
The obvious and simple answer is to skip puberty blockers and go straight to hormones. Baxendale cites studies about young people who experience central precocious puberty having more robust brain development and cognition, so Baxendale has made a strong case for use of puberty-inducing drugs in all minors who desire improved cognition and IQ.
References
Baxendale, Sallie (February 19, 2024). Why did three journals reject my puberty-blocker study? Trans children deserve to know the facts. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2024/02/why-did-three-journals-reject-my-puberty-blocker-study/
Baxendale, S. (2024). The impact of suppressing puberty on neuropsychological function: A review. Acta Paediatrica. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.17150
- Gender diverse youth studies cited:
- Staphorsius AS, Kreukels BPC, Cohen-Kettenis PT, Veltman DJ, Burke SM, Schagen SEE, Wouters FM, Delemarre-van de Waal HA, Bakker J (2015). Puberty suppression and executive functioning: An fMRI-study in adolescents with gender dysphoria. Psychoneuroendocrinology (Vol. 56, pp. 190–199). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.03.007
- Arnoldussen M, Hooijman EC, Kreukels BP, de Vries AL (2022). Association between pre-treatment IQ and educational achievement after gender-affirming treatment including puberty suppression in transgender adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp. 1069–1076). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045221091652
- Schneider MA, Spritzer PM, Soll BMB, Fontanari AMV, Carneiro M, Tovar-Moll F, Costa AB, da Silva DC, Schwarz K. Anes M, Tramontina S, Lobato, MIR (2017). Brain Maturation, Cognition and Voice Pattern in a Gender Dysphoria Case under Pubertal Suppression. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Vol. 11). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00528
Baxendale, Sallie (January 21, 2024). Research Raises Concerns About the Impact of Puberty Blockers on the Development of Cognitive Function. CAN-SG https://can-sg.org/2024/01/21/puberty-blockers-and-teenage-brain-development/
Lane, Bernard (January 17, 2024). Evidently correct: New support for brain studies: the WHO steers clear of paediatric transition. Gender Clinic News https://www.genderclinicnews.com/p/evidently-correct
Manning, Sanchez (January 13, 2024). Puberty blockers given to children who say they were born in the wrong body and want to ‘change gender’ may lower their’ IQs. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12960869/Puberty-blockers-given-children-say-born-wrong-body-want-change-gender-lower-IQs.html
Baxendale, Sallie (July 7, 2023). Doctors have failed detransitioners. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/07/doctors-have-failed-detransitioners/
Baxendale, Sallie (July 26, 2023). Has Gids learned from its failure? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/07/has-gids-learned-from-its-failure/
Baxendale, Sallie (July 1, 2021). The Teenage Brain. Transgender Trend https://www.transgendertrend.com/teenage-brain/
Media
Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (January 16, 2024). SEGM NYC23 – Sallie Baxendale – The Effect of Puberty Blockers on the Teenage Brain. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5ZnRKqqByg
Resources
University College London Hospitals (uclh.nhs.uk)
- Sallie Baxendale
- uclh.nhs.uk/our-services/find-consultant/professor-sallie-baxendale
Ivan D. Florez is a Colombian pediatrician and anti-transgender activist.
Florez was an invited speaker at a 2023 anti-trans conference organized by anti-transgender hate group the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.
Background
Ivan D. Florez-Gomez lists the following affiliations:
- Pediatrician, M.Sc. Clinical Epidemiology, Ph.D. in Health Research Methodology
- Full (tenured) Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia
- Pediatrician (PedsICU), Clinica Las Américas-AUNA, Medellin, Colombia
- Adjunct Professor, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Canada
- Leader of the Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch & Evaluation (AGREE) Collaboration
- Director, Cochrane Colombia
- Editor-In-Chief: Clinical & Pub Health Guidelines (Guidelines International Network-GIN)
- Editorial Board: Journal of Clinical Epidemiology; Journal of the American Heart Association, Cochrane Evidence Synthesis Methods, & Pediatric Discovery)
- Membership: SPOR-EA, GIN, Cochrane & the GRADE working group
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
ORCID (orcid.org)
Stephen Beck is an American healthcare executive and anti-transgender activist. Beck is a member of anti-trans group Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM).
Background
Stephen Richard “Steve” Beck was born May 22, 1967. Beck earned a medical degree from University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1992. Beck practices internal medicine in Ohio.
Anti-transgender activism
Beck coathored a 2021 letter with SEGM members William J. Malone, Paul W. Hruz, and Julia W. Mason critical of clnical guidelines published by endocrinology groups.
References
Abby Walch, Caroline Davidge-Pitts, Joshua D Safer, Ximena Lopez, Vin Tangpricha, Sean J Iwamoto (2021). Proper Care of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Jan 23;106(2):305-308. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa816.
William J. Malone, Paul W. Hruz, Julia W. Mason, and Stephen Beck (2021). Letter to the Editor from William J. Malone et al: “Proper Care of Transgender and Gender-diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 106, Issue 8, August 2021, Pages e3287–e3288, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab205
Abby Walch, Caroline Davidge-Pitts, Ximena Lopez, Vin Tangpricha, Sean J Iwamoto, Joshua D Safer (2021). Response to Letter to the Editor from Malone: “Proper Care of Transgender and Gender Diverse Persons in the Setting of Proposed Discrimination: A Policy Perspective.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 106, Issue 8, August 2021, Pages e3295–e3296, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgab206
Jones, Zinnia (January 11, 2023). Anti-trans group SEGM’s cofounder Stephen Beck is an executive at Bon Secours Mercy Health, the fifth-largest Catholic healthcare network in the US. Gender Analysis https://genderanalysis.net/2023/01/anti-trans-group-segms-cofounder-stephen-beck-is-an-executive-at-bon-secours-mercy-health-the-fifth-largest-catholic-healthcare-network-in-the-us/
Julie Maxwell is a British pediatrician and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Child Health Services, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Winchester, UK
Anti-trans activism
Via Trans Safety Network:
As recently as April 2021, NHS paediatrician Julie Maxwell was one of their “Clinical and Academic Advisors”. She was1, and is very open about working for Christian anti-LGBT and anti-abortion sex education charity LoveWise UK. Recordings of her training seminars for LoveWise are available publicly, where she offers to help push abstinence based and anti-LGBT sex education resources into secular schools.
Maxwell was also involved with a DVD campaign run by Creationist science think tank Truth In Science sent last year to every sitting MP and school on the so-called “Transgender Agenda”. We covered this last year when we heard about it originally. Creationism is the anti-scientific belief that humans were intelligently designed, and did not evolve as part of biological evolution.
Since 2012, Maxwell has also been, a director for the Family Education Trust, a religiously “family values” campaigning charity who promote anti-LGBT views and smacking children contrary to a growing body of evidence that children are harmed by the use of physical assault as a form of discipline. SEGM launched publicly in early 2020, and so far as we can tell Maxwell was part of their organisation from their inception.
References
Moore, Mallory (August 26, 2021). SEGM uncovered: large anonymous payments funding dodgy science. Trans Safety Network https://transsafety.network/posts/segm-uncovered/
Christopher Richards, Julie Maxwell, Noel McCune. Use of puberty blockers for gender dysphoria: a momentous step in the dark. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2018-315881
Julie Maxwell, Katherine Clyde, Lucy Griffin (2019). Gender dysphoria: a question of informed consent BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6442
Media
Living Out (August 31, 2023). Thinking About Transgender feat. Dr. Julie Maxwell (Youth Leaders’ Crash Course #6). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THT_5OQ4g9o
Resources
Christian Action Research and Education (care.org.uk)
Henrik Anckarsäter was a Swedish psychologist and anti-transgender activist.
Anckarsäter was affiliated with anti-trans group Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine (SEGM) and with the Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health.
Background
Pär Henrik Georg Söderström was born October 12, 1966 in Göteborg, Sweden.
In 2005 Anckarsäter was appointed associate professor at Lund University, and in 2008 assumed a professorship in forensic psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg. Anckarsäter was also a visiting professor at the University of Paris XII from 2006 to 2007 and in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Lund University, Malmö, from 2009 to 2015.
Anckarsäter’s spouse is Rolf Anckarsäter. Anckarsäter died on March 9, 2021 in Askim, Sweden.
References
Staff (May 11, 2021). In memory of Henrik Anckarsäter. https://akademiliv.se/en/2021/05/74108/
Henrik Anckarsäter 1, Christopher Gillberg (2020). Methodological Shortcomings Undercut Statement in Support of Gender-Affirming Surgery. Am J Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 1;177(8):764-765. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19111117
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
James Caspian is a British therapist and anti-transgender activist in the “ex-transgender” movement.
Caspian was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric & Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Background
James Caspian was born in ~1959.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2016, Caspian proposed studying “detransition” while in graduate school, but Bath Spa University rejected the proposal.
Caspian then became a cause célèbre among anti-trans activists, who showered Caspian with money and attention.
Caspian appeared in the 2018 anti-trans propaganda piece Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk hosted by Stella O’Malley.
References
Staff report (September 25, 2017). Bath Spa University ‘blocks transgender research.’ BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41384473
Petherick, Sam (). Bath Spa University vetoes ‘politically incorrect’ transgender surgery reversal study -https://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/news/bath-news/bath-spa-university-vetoes-politically-533956
Media
Genspect (June 7, 2022). Trans Kids: It’s Time to Talk 4: James Caspian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXH_6CEjnRQ
Oren Amitay (January 27, 2018). Academic Cleansing: Fight for Truth & Free Speech vs Political Correctness and Trans Ideology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQIWoDW63ak
Resources
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
CrowdJustice (crowdjustice.com)
- Free Speech Matters
- https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/free-speech-matters-round2/
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077577183412)
- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077577183412
Alessandra Cavalli was an Italian therapist and anti-transgender activist.
Cavalli was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric & Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Background
Alessandra Cavalli was born in Italy on April 27, 1957 and grew up with five siblings in Concordia. Cavalli studied in Munich, then lived in Belgium.
In 1998, Cavalli moved to London to train in Jungian child analysis.
Cavalli died on May 17 2020, possibly from COVID.
References
Wiener, Jan; Bisagni, Francesco (May 27, 2020). Alessandra Cavalli, 1957 – 2020. https://iaap.org/alessandra-cavalli-1957-2020/
Dianna T. Kenny is an Australian psychologist and anti-transgender extremist.
Kenny was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric & Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Kenny contributed chapters to two anti-trans books by Heather Brunskell-Evans.
Background
Dianna Theadora Kenny earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Sydney in 1975, followed by training in music and education. Kenny then attended Macquarie University, earning a master’s degree in 1980 and a doctorate in 1988. While in school, Kenny worked in troubled students. Kenny taught at University of Sydney from 1988 to 2019. In 2019 Kenny founded DK Consulting.
Media
TERF Talk Down Under (Sep 15, 2022). TERF Talk #48 Dr Dianna Kenny, the truth about gender dysphoria. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZbEsaJMvRU
Resources
Dianna T. Kenny (diannakenny.com.au)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Tania Marshall is an Australian therapist and anti-transgender activist.
Marshall was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric & Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Background
Marshall attended University of Calgary, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1998 and an master’s degree in 2002.
Marshall has written frequently about neurodiversity.
Resources
Substack (substack.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Tania A. Marshall (taniaannmarshall.wpcomstaging.com)
Robert Withers is a British psychologist and anti-transgender activist.
Withers was a member of the anti-trans organization Pediatric & Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group.
Background
Robert “Bob” Withers earned a master’s degree from University of Sussex.
Withers helped establish the Rock Clinic in Kemp Town in 1990.
Anti-trans activism
In 2015, Withers published an article titled “The seventh penis,” which was later withdrawn over patient consent issues:
The above article published online on 19 May 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and in print and online in issue 60:3 (cover date June 2015) has been withdrawn by agreement between the author, the journal’s Editors-in-Chief, Marcus West and Nora Swan-Foster, and John Wiley & Sons Limited. The withdrawal has been agreed because consent to publish was not obtained. The author and the journal apologize for this oversight.
References
Flourish, Clare (July 26, 2020). Robert Withers. https://clareflourish.wordpress.com/2020/07/26/robert-withers-transgender-professional-standards/
Admin (Sep 13, 2021). The full story: the misconduct of anti-trans psychotherapist Robert Withers. We talk with Ms. A. Transiness https://www.transiness.com/post/the-full-story-the-misconduct-of-anti-trans-psychotherapist-robert-withers-we-talk-with-ms-a
Withers R (2020). Transgender medicalization and the attempt to evade psychological distress. J Anal Psychol. 2020 Nov;65(5):865-889. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12641
Withers R (2015). The seventh penis: towards effective psychoanalytic work with pre-surgical transsexuals. J Anal Psychol. 2015 Jun;60(3):390-412. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12157.
Withdrawal statement: R. Withers, ‘The seventh penis: towards effective psychoanalytic work with pre-surgical transsexuals’, Journal of Analytical Psychology, 2015, 60, 3, 390-412, (https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12157).
Resources
Rock Clinic Association (rockclinic.org.uk)
Jungian Therapy Sussex (jungiantherapysussex.info)
- Bob Withers
- http://www.jungiantherapysussex.info/our-therapists/bob-withers/
Twitter (twitter.com)