Jeremy W. Peters is an American author and New York Times employee who contributes to and vigorously defends their anti-transgender coverage.
Peters and Adam Nagourney also claim there is a “medical disagreement” about trans healthcare. In actuality, there is clear medical consensus on best practices which is opposed by a conservative fringe minority.
Background
Jeremy Warren Peters was born on January 25, 1980. Peters earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan in 2002, then worked as a freelance writer. Peters wrote for The Virgin Islands Daily News before joining the Times Detroit bureau, followed by the Albany bureau. While at Albany, Peters helped cover the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal.
In 2010 Bruce Headlam announced Peters would take over the publishing beat, covering both newspapers and magazines.
Peters’ book Insurgency came out in 2017. Peters also appears in the 2018 documentary series The Fourth Estate.
Peters is in a relationship with dermatologist Brendan Camp.
2023 attack on News Guild of New York
After the union representing Times journalists noted the profound anti-trans discrimination and hostile workplace created by Carolyn Ryan, Peters attacked union leadership, drafting the letter below and gathering signatures from colleagues.
Dear Susan,
We are writing to you privately in response to your February 17th letter, which we were surprised to see.
Like you, we support the right to a non-hostile workplace where everyone is respected and supported. We believe The New York Times should never engage in biased or discriminatory practices of any kind. We all strive to be part of a truly diverse news organization where everyone is treated fairly. We welcome robust and respectful critical feedback from colleagues, either in direct conversation or through internal Times channels.
But your letter appears to suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of our responsibilities as journalists. Regretfully, our own union leadership now seems determined to undermine the ethical and professional protections that we depend on to guard the independence and integrity of our journalism.
Factual, accurate journalism that is written, edited, and published in accordance with Times standards does not create a hostile workplace.
Every day, partisan actors seek to influence, attack, or discredit our work. We accept that. But what we donât accept is what the Guild appears to be endorsing: A workplace in which any opinion or disagreement about Times coverage can be recast as a matter of âworkplace conditions.â Our duty is to be independent. We pursue the facts wherever they may lead. We are journalists, not activists. That line should be clear.
Debates over fairness and accuracy are perfectly reasonable. We understand and respect that the Guild has an absolute duty to offer representation to members when they are subject to discipline by management. But we do not think it is the role of our union to be engaged in â and taking sides in â public debates over internal editorial decisions.
Our hope is that the coming days will bring more constructive internal dialogue among Times employees and with Guild leadership that can help unify and improve our news organization. And we ask that our union work to advance, not erode, our journalistic independence.
Sincerely,
Reed Abelson Maria Abi-Habib Peter Baker Emily Bazelon Brooks Barnes Julian Barnes Susan Beachy Jack Begg Ginia Bellafante Walt Bogdanich Alan Blinder Kellan Browning Russ Buettner David Chen Nicholas Confessore Rob Copeland Reid Epstein Elizabeth Dias Harvey Dickson Susan Dominus Joe Drape Jesse Drucker Sydney Ember Maureen Farrell Matt Flegenheimer Ellen Gabler Trip Gabriel Robert Gebeloff Adam Goldman Ruth Graham Michael Grynbaum Danny Hakim Anemona Hartocollis Virginia Hughes Sharon LaFraniere Joshua Katz Clifford Krauss Nicholas Kulish Steven Lee Myers Lisa Lerer Sarah Lyall Veronica Majerol Jonathan Mahler Sapna Maheshwari Apoorva Mandavilli Mark Mazzetti Mike McIntire Jennifer Medina Phyllis Messinger Rebecca OâBrien Dennis Overbye Ken Paul Michael Paulson Ivan Penn Jeremy Peters Michael Powell William Rashbaum Rebecca Robbins Matthew Rosenberg Katie Rosman Michael Rothfeld Jim Rutenberg Margot Sanger-Katz Charlie Savage Stephanie Saul Jennifer Schuessler Kim Severson Jessica Silver-Greenberg Jeff Sommer Nicole Sperling Emily Steel Katie Thomas Marcela Valdes Ken Vogel Nancy Wartik Mark Walker Ben Weiser Elizabeth Williamson Michael Wilson Michael Wines David Yaffe-Bellany Kate Zernike
2026 Dr. Oz meeting story
In March 2026, Peters reported on a meeting where Mehmet Ăz, the Trump Administration head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, summoned representatives of major medical societies to discuss their positions on what Ăz called “sex-rejecting” healthcare for trans people. Zhenya Abbruzzese of anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine was also invited. Abbruzzese and Kathleen McDeavitt, who also attended, are both authors of the Trump Administration’s 2025 US HHS report attacking trans healthcare for minors.
In the comments section, Peters espoused the belief that prominent medical journals have a “lack of viewpoints” [emphasis and links added below]:
@Aaron The integrity of academic journals is a major issue here. It’s not something specific to gender medicine, though certainly the lack of viewpoints published on the subject hasn’t helped. The problems here are twofold. First, there’s the one-sidedness of most of the published articles. It’s much easier to get something published in JAMA or the New England Journal of Medicine if it’s supportive of gender-affirming care. Second, there have been some major problems with some of the studies published on this subject. In some cases, bad outcomes for patients were overlooked. That’s what the evidence reviews have found. And that doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence from the public.
@David Bruce If there’s one area of agreement between the health professionals who support limiting access to medical treatments and those who don’t, it’s that they both believe the political interference has been harmful. Medicine is definitely an area where an either/or binary doesn’t usually work. And what I’ve found in my reporting is the same thing Hilary Cass, the noted British pediatrician, found when she conducted a review of gender medicine for the NHS. Evidence for and against these procedures is often misrepresented and cherry picked. So what’s a parent who doesn’t know how to read academic journals supposed to do?
@Emily I mostly write about issues of free speech and censorship. And that’s how I came to this topic initially, after hearing stories about doctors who have raised questions like Dr. McDeavitt has only to be shouted down. I think that’s changing. But Trump’s aggressive undermining of transgender rights hasn’t made this easier because many people now associate the policy with politics. And if there is disagreement on the policy specifics, medical societies all agree on one thing: they don’t want politicians setting guidelines for care.
@Linda F I hear this sentiment all the time from medical professionals, psychologists and parents. One psychologist I spoke to recently, who is herself transgender [probably Erica Anderson], told me the challenge with young patients is to give them the care they need, not the care they ask for. Then there’s the separate but related issue of irreversibility. How do you explain to a teenager that the medical decision they are making now will be at least partially permanent and could mean they can’t have kids of their own in 15 years?
@BiffNYC This is one of the biggest gaps in the research. Even if some of the problems that evidence reviews have identified were solved, there isn’t strong enough research yet on the long-term impact that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery has on the mental health of kids who were treated as teenagers. Simply put, not enough time has passed since these treatments became easier to get and more common. Someone who was 12 in 2018, for instance, is only 20 today. So we not only need better studies, we need more time.
Sulzberger, A. G. (October 7, 2015). Our Path Forward (PDF). The New York Times Company. https://nytco-assets.nytimes.com/m/Our-Path-Forward.pdf
Sulzberger, A. G. (January 1, 2018). A Note from Our New Publisher. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/01/opinion/Arthur-Gregg-Sulzberger-The-New-York-Times.html
Seto has used disease models to describe trans people, including misusing the scientific term “gynandromorph.” No reputable scientist uses this term for humans. It is only used by anti-trans activists in the context of attraction to transgender people. The disease “gynandromorphophilia” was created by Peter Collins and Ray Blanchard, two anti-trans colleagues of Seto’s. Blanchard has published articles with Seto. Collins has quoted research by Seto in testimony about the use of child-sized sex dolls as a possible way to prevent sex offenses against children.
Background
Michael Chikong Seto was born in 1967. Seto earned a bachelor’s degree from University of British Columbia in 1989, then earned a master’s degree from Queen’s University in 1992, followed by a doctorate in 1997.
Seto worked at notorious anti-transgender facility The Clarke Institute (later renamed CAMH) from 1998 to 2008. Much of Seto’s research focuses on adolescent sex offenders, minor attracted persons, and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Seto was named a consulting editor of Journal of Sex Research in 2014 and editor of Sexual Abuse in 2015.
Seto is married to sexologist Meredith Chivers. In 2003, Chivers and Seto sat on a panel at the Kinsey Institute with anti-trans extremist J. Michael Bailey as part of a multidisciplinary group of researchers in sexual psychophysiology.
Seto’s Wikipedia biography was written by anti-transgender troll James Cantor, who is now banned. Seto has personally made additional edits to it.
“Gynandromorphs”
In science, a gynandromorph is an animal with bilateral intersex traits and sex mosaics. Gynandromorph has never been used by scientists to describe mammals, let alone primates like humans. No human has ever been observed with bilateral intersex traits.
Seto’s beliefs and unscientific use of this terminology have made their way into articles in anti-trans publications like Reason:
Even the gender dimension is more complex than most realize, writes Seto, with some people “attracted to gynandromorphs, that is⊠individuals with physical features of both sexes ⊠other individuals who are attracted specifically to transgender people, and those who would describe themselves as more pansexual with regard to gender, for example, being attracted to both cis- and trans-gender women or men.”
References
Canadian Press (March 21, 2017). Child sex doll trial raises issue of what constitutes child porn. Hamilton Spectator https://www.thespec.com/news/canada/child-sex-doll-trial-raises-issue-of-what-constitutes-child-porn/article_6ada4f18-c464-5106-b045-f6892a0d07ff.html original url https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/7201493-child-sex-doll-trial-raises-issue-of-what-constitutes-child-porn/
Uzielli, Julian (May 31, 2012). Expert provides snapshot of a child pornographer. Metro. http://metronews.ca/news/london/245302/expert-provides-snapshot-of-a-child-pornographer/ [archive]
Leger, Donna Leinwand (November 15, 2011). Misconceptions make pedophiles hard to detect. USA Today PDF https://www.stopitnow.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/misconceptions_make_pedophiles_hard_to_detect_-_usatoday.pdf original url https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-11-15/sexual-predators-penn-state/51225988/1 [archive]
CAMH (2004). Psychobiology of Aggression and Antisocial Behaviour across the Lifespan. http://www.camh.net/research/research_psychobiology.html [archive]
Kinsey Institute (2003). Methodological Approaches In Reproductive Psychophysiology Saturday July 12 – Tuesday July 15, 2003 http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/services/psychophys.html [archive]
Seto, M. C., Leroux, E. J., Kane, L., Ashbaugh, A. R., LalumiĂšre, M. L., Curry, S., Stephens, S., & Chivers, M. L. (2024). Does the Paraphilia Scale Work for Everyone? Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Measurement Invariance Across Gender and Sexual Orientation Groups. The Journal of Sex Research, 62(3), 411â420. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2024.2353303
Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., & Blanchard, R. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to sexual activities versus gender of actors in sexual films. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(6), 1108â1121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108
Seto, M. C., Khattar, N. A., LalumiĂšre, M. L. & Quinsey, V. L. (1997). Deception and sexual strategy in psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 22 (3), 301-307.
Jenn Burleton is an American musician and activist whose later work focuses on trans and gender diverse youth. Burleton is the program director for TransActive Gender Project.
Background
Jennifer Eileen “Jenn” Burleton was born in November 1953 and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Burleton’s parent Hugh “Eddie” Burleton (1914â1984) was also a musician. Jenn Burleton has a sibling Hugh, Jr. (born 1940).
After graduating from Milwaukee’s Washington High School in 1970, Burleton was involved with progressive musical organizations Sing Out and Up With People.
According to an email sent to this site in 2026, Burleton “originally transitioned in 1974, and retransitioned again in April [of] 1975.” Burleton then “transitioned again in April of 1979 (for the final time).” Burleton then began working in community activism.
In 1983 Burleton became life partners with Cheryl Ann Noonan (born 1957). They married in 2004.
In 2006 Burleton was involved in founding the nonprofit TransYouth Family Allies with three cisgender parents of trans children. Burleton soon left and founded TransActive Education and Advocacy in 2007. That organization later became affiliated with Lewis & Clark University.
The piece summarizes Burleton’s activism after attending endocrinologist Norman Spack’s presentation on puberty blockers at the 2006 Philadelphia Trans Health Conference.
Transgender activists across the country pushed for early and easy access to the treatment. At a 2006 Philadelphia medical convention, Jenn Burleton, an advocate from Oregon, heard Dr. Spack describe his experience starting to treat adolescents with blockers. Like others of her generation, Ms. Burleton, now 68, could not medically transition until adulthood, and puberty had been traumatic. Treating adolescents with blockers was âgame-changing,â she said. Back home, Ms. Burleton prodded pediatric endocrinologists to adopt the practice for their patients. âWe have a chance to prevent them from being emotionally broken,â she recalled saying.
Shortly after the piece was published, Burleton said on Facebook:
I stand by my comments quoted in this article. The truth and evidence is out there, as are examples of objective journalism about transgender lives. Sadly, “out there” does not include the New York Times.
Kowalska, Monika (May 29, 2014). Interview with Jenn Burleton.The Heroines of My Life https://theheroines.blogspot.com/2014/05/interview-with-jenn-burleton.html
Before becoming an anti-trans activist, Dansky worked for the ACLU and other groups that advocated for civil rights and prisoner rights. Dansky has witten for Spiked, Reality’s Last Stand, and The Hill and has worked with right-wing groups, including Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.
Background
Kara Patrice Dansky was born March 17, 1972. Dansky earned a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1994 and a law degree from University of Pennsylvania Law School. According to a self-supplied biography, Dansky has been:
Founder and Managing Director of One Thousand Arms.
Special Advisor to the Director of the New York City Mayorâs Office of Criminal Justice
Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Securityâs Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Executive Director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center
Public defender and federal law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
Staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Senior Counsel with the ACLU Center for Justice
Dansky is a member of the bar for the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
In 2026, Dansky published a post with a recommended template for contacting people in the media about trans coverage. Dansky recommended the following anti-trans activists:
response to Currah, Paisley (December 15, 2025). The Anti-Trans Playbook.New York Review https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2025/12/18/the-anti-trans-playbook-paisley-currah/
Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author, professor, and activist. Boylan has written several memoirs and novels and has frequently appeared in the media to discuss trans issues.
Notable work involving gender and media includes:
The memoir She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003)
Jennifer Finney “Jenny” Boylan was born June 22, 1958 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Boylan earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1980, then earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. Boylan was a professor at Colby College from 1988 to 2014, then took an appointment at Barnard College. Several of Boylan’s early books were published prior to beginning transition in 2000. Boylan wrote an opinion column for the New York Times from 2007 to 2022 among other writing. Boylan has published opinion pieces in the Washington Post since 2014, increasing the frequency after leaving the New York Times.
In 1988 Boylan married Deirdre Finney Boylan (born 1960). They have two children, Sean (born 1996), and Zaira (born 1994), who is also trans.
Boylan served on the board of GLAAD and has held other roles at organizations benefiting sex and gender minorities. Boylan has appeared on Oprah and the Caitlyn Jenner reality show I Am Cait.
In 2023, Boylan was named President of PEN America.
Anti-drag factionalism
Boylan was a key figure with Christina Kahrl in the 2014 transbian attacks led by Parker Molloy that were critical of drag artists and the offensive language some of them use. This strain of respectability politics reached a boiling point when the three of them combined their ongoing anti-drag and anti-slur crusades to extract an apology from RuPaul and RuPaul’s Drag Race for a transphobic segment that was ultimately pulled. They bragged about taking over GLAAD, an organization built by the entire community that had previously helped settle intra-community disputes out of the public eye. In a mutually beneficial piece of logrolling, Boylan told Molloy:
“This is, to coin a phrase, not your father’s GLAAD, and this is not the work that was being done a decade ago. One reason why I think we’ve been able to make a little progress is that GLAAD is now largely run by trans people. We occupy positions from staff to volunteers to the board of directors, including its national co-chair, which is me. These are our lives we are talking about; the people demeaned by incidents like this one are the men and women who work here. And other cis staff members have been working for trans rights for years and years now. I am proud of the board and staff for their passion.”
Even after being presented with extensive evidence of Parker Molloy’s abuse and slurs toward other trans people, Boylan remained one of Molloy’s staunchest supporters. In exchange, Molloy would write publicity pieces for Boylan and launder them through Advocate.com until being suspended and ultimately resigning.
2020 Harper’s Letter
Boylan was a signatory on the 2020 “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” in Harper’s Magazine. That open letter was criticized for the high percentage of “gender critical” people in the media, most notably anti-trans extremist J.K. Rowling. Boylan had been in awe of Rowling to the point that in 2010 Boylan created a children’s fantasy series called Falcon Quinn that shared remarkable similarities with Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise.
Boylan asked to be taken off the Harper’s Letter, claiming ignorance of the other signatories, while trans economist Deirdre McCloskey remained a signatory.
Books
Remind Me to Murder You Later (1988)
The Planets (1991)
The Constellations: A Novel (1994)
Getting In (1998)
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003)
I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir (2008)
Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror (2010)
Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor (2011)
Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
Foreword fo Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community (2014)
You Are You (2015)
Falcon Quinn and the Bullies of Greenblud (2016)
Long Black Veil (2017)
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs (2020)
Mad Honey: A Novel (2022) [with Jodi Picoult]
Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us (2025)
James, Andrea (July 24, 2014). The GLAAD Boardâs âTrannyâ Trouble: How Its Trans Takeover Is Reshaping LGBT Politics. Queerty https://www.queerty.com/the-glaad-boards-tranny-trouble-how-its-trans-takeover-is-reshaping-lgbt-politics-20140724 [archive]
Boylan, Jennifer Finney (February 5, 2025). On cleavage: Mind the gap.The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/05/cleavage-men-women-transgender-marriage-love/
Deirdre McCloskey is an American economist and philosopher. McCloskey made a gender transition in 1995 in the midst of a distinguished career, described in the 1999 autobiography Crossing: A Memoir.
Background
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey was born in 1942 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. McCloskey attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and a doctorate in 1970. McCloskey has held appointments at University of Chicago, University of Iowa, and University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2015 McCloskey was named Distinguished Professor of Economics and of History, and Professor of English and of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, Emerita.
A central theme of McCloskeyâs work is a critique of mainstream economic methodology and its heavy reliance on formal models, positivism, and narrow conceptions of âeconomic manâ (Homo economicus), a perfectly rational, self-interested individual who consistently makes logical choices to maximize personal utility. McCloskey argues that economics should incorporate rhetoric, narrative, and humanistic insights. McCloskey champions a âhumanomicsâ approach that places humans instead of abstract models at the center of economic inquiry.
McCloskey is known for the Bourgeois Era trilogy:
The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006)
Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Canât Explain the Modern World (2010)
Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World (2016)
In the series, McCloskey reframes the role of the middle class and capitalism. McCloskey rejects the idea that markets inherently corrupt and argues that bourgeois virtues such as prudence, justice, courage, temperance, faith, hope, and love underpin ethical commercial life. McCloskey argues this helped drive the âgreat enrichment,â the significant rise in global living standards over the past two centuries.
McCloskey holds a number of views that are considered conservative within the trans community. In 2019, McCloskey chose to share reflections on gender transition in Quillette, a notoriously anti-trans publication. The since-deleted comments section is an excellent survey of anti-trans talking points from the time.
Like many people who spend their lives in academia, McCloskey has sometimes framed the academic exploitation of transgender people as an “academic freedom” or “free speech” issue.
“A few weeks ago, I was asked to sign the Harperâs Magazine open letter supporting a bromidic recommendation that free speech, free of dogmatic âcancellingâ from left or right, is a good idea. I did sign it, as did JK Rowling ⊠She and I disagreeâbut we both believe in free speech.”
McCloskey, Deirdre (November 10, 2019). Reflections on My Decision to Change Gender. Quillette https://quillette.com/2019/11/10/reflections-on-my-decision-to-change-gender/
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
J.K. Rowling is a British author and the most prominent anti-transgender activist in the world. Rowling has used wealth and influence to cause tremendous harm to the trans rights movement worldwide, and particularly in the United Kingdom.
opposing legal recognition on the basis of gender identity and expression
opposing value-neutral and inclusive scientific language about human anatomy and body functions
supporting the “LGB erasure” conspiracy theory, particularly the conspiracy that gender-affirming care is “conversion therapy” on lesbian, gay, and bisexual minors
opposing those who note Rowling is transphobic or a TERF, often threatening legal action against those who do
opposing what Rowling calls the “new trans activism”
Background
Joanne “Jo” Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Rowling’s parents both served in the British Navy before marrying. Rowling has a younger sibling Dianne. Rowling earned a bachelor’s degree from Exeter in 1987.
Rowling came up with the idea for the Harry Potter series in 1990. After holding several unfulfilling jobs, Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English. There, Rowling met journalist Jorge Arantes, and they married in 1992. They had a child Jessica in 1993, but Rowling left because the relationship was abusive. They divorced in 1995. Rowling earned a teaching certificate in 1996 and began teaching.
The first Harry Potter book was published in 1997. Since publication of the final book in 2007, the series has amassed a huge fandom for the franchise, including movie series, plays, video games, amusement park tie-ins, and extensive merchandizing. Rowling is one of the most successful authors in the history of publishing.
In 2001 Rowling married physician Neil Murray and purchased Killiechassie House, a Scottish estate. They have two children: David (born 2003) and Mackenzie (born 2005).
Rowling subsequently wrote additional children’s books and adult novels, including some under the pen name Robert Galbraith.
Anti-transgender activism
After a series of increasingly anti-transgender statements starting in 2019 with a tweet in support of anti-trans activist Maya Forstater. In 2022 Rowling came out against the proposed Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. As Rowling’s anti-trans views became more strident, Rowling began openly supporting anti-transgender extremists in the UK and beyond.
Rowling also created Beira’s Place, a privately funded trans-exclusionary help center for cisgender women who have experienced sexual assault or domestic violence. Rowling was enraged that other local resources offered help to trans people who had been sexually assaulted. Rowling was also enraged that the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre’s CEO Mridul Wadhwa is transgender. In a 2021 interview, Wadhwa said “this is about who has power and who doesn’t,” adding:
Sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well. And so, you know, it is not discerning crime. But these spaces are also for you. But if you bring unacceptable beliefs that are discriminatory in nature, we will begin to work with you on your journey of recovery from trauma. But please also expect to be challenged on your prejudices, because how can you heal from trauma and build a new relationship with your trauma, because you can’t forget, and you can’t go back to life before traumatic incident or traumatic incidents. And some of us never, ever had a life before traumatic incidents. But if you have to reframe your trauma, I think it is important as part of that reframing, having a more positive relationship with it, where it becomes a story that empowers you and allows you to go and do other more beautiful things with your life, you also have to rethink your relationship with prejudice. Otherwise, you can’t really, in my view, recover from trauma and I think that’s a very important message that I am often discussing with my colleagues that in various places.
2024 comments on Nazi persecution of trans people (2024)
On March 13, 2024, X user jaytuberr posted in a thread on trans healthcare, “The Nazis burnt books on trans healthcare and research, why are you so desperate to uphold their ideology around gender?” Rowling then responded, “How did you type this out and press send without thinking âI should maybe check my source for this, because it mightâve been a fever dreamâ?” Many people interpreted Rowling’s post as denial of the 1933 Nazi looting and burning of Magnus Hirschfeld’s clinical books and research on trans people and sexual minorities. Rowling stated in part: “Iâm familiar with such activistsâ assertions that transgender people have been uniquely persecuted and oppressed throughout history, but claims that trans people were âthe first targetsâ of the Nazis â a claim I refuted on X, and which led to these accusations â and that I âuphold [Nazi] ideology around genderâ is a new low.”
Critics
Rowling’s critics include numerous LGBT rights organizations, authors, actors who have appeared in filmed versions of Rowling’s books, and the vast majority of the trans community.
Thorpe, Vanessa (14 June 2020). JK Rowling: from magic to the heart of a Twitter storm. The Observer. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020. Arrayed on Rowling’s side are some of the veteran voices of feminism, including the radical Julie Bindel, who spoke out in support this weekend: “Her political position is nothing to do with transgender issues. She has always been a feminist and she has inspired generations of young women and men to look into issues of sex-based discrimination,” she told the Observer.
JK Rowling backs protest over Scottish gender bill. BBC News. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022. Author JK Rowling has supported a protest rally by wearing a T-shirt calling Scotland’s first minister a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
Schwirblat, Tatiana; Freberg, Karen; Freberg, Laura (2022). Chapter 21: Cancel culture: a career vulture amongst influencers on social media. In Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris; Freberg, Karen; Luttrell, Regina (eds.). The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media. Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221021
Kat Rosenfield is an American writer and “dissident feminist” whose work frequently appears in conservative outlets.
Background
Rosenfield earned a bachelor’s degree from Drew University in 2003. Rosenfield worked in marketing and publicity before becoming a reporter at MTV in 2010. Rosenfield has done freelance work in pop culture.
Rosenfield is an advice columnist at anti-trans publication UnHerd and co-host of the Feminine Chaos podcast with Phoebe Maltz Bovy.
Like many trans-suspicious writers, Rosenfield claims to be part of a left-wing but “heterodox” movement standing up against cancel culture to speak the truth.
Thereâs a loose but growing coalition of lefties out there, artists and writers and academics and professionals, whoâve drawn sympathetic attention from conservatives after being publicly shamed out of the progressive clubhouse (that is, by the type of progressive who thinks there is a clubhouse, which is of course part of the problem). Itâs remarkably easy these days to be named an apostate on the left. Maybe you were critical of the looting and rioting that devastated cities in the wake of George Floydâs murder by police in 2020. Maybe you were skeptical of this or that viral outrage: Covington Catholic, or Jussie Smollett, or the alleged racial abuse at a BYU volleyball game that neither eyewitness testimony nor video evidence could corroborate. Maybe you were too loud about the continued need for due process in the middle of #MeToo. Maybe you wouldnât stop asking uncomfortable questions about the proven value of certain divisive brands of diversity training, or transgender surgeries for kids, or â come the pandemic â masking. Maybe you kept defending the right to free speech and creative expression after these things had been deemed âright-wing valuesâ by your fellow liberals.
When Bari Weiss and team went after a Missouri children’s hospital and its gender clinic with some questionably obtained medical records of children and adolescents, Rosenfield sided with the unsupportive parents:
Zooming out for a moment here, seems both unsurprising and weâll-articulated by the original piece that the child who wants [life-altering medical procedure] against a parentâs wishes is going to have a different perspective on said topic than the parent https://t.co/3leYalr6SV
In a piece on author and anti-trans activist JK Rowling, Rosenfield makes the oft-used false equivalence of Christians protesting Rowling’s occult themes and trans people and their supporters protesting Rowling’s vocal support of anti-transgender activists:
In the 15 years since Harry Potter made his final stand against Voldemort, the angst directed at Rowling has evolved from nebulous fears of neo-paganism into a far more sustained and focused rage over her perceived transphobia. But when it comes to the shape the anger takes, very little has changed. Rowlingâs haters canât stop her from writing, and they canât stop people from reading her writing â but by god, theyâll do what they can to make sure those people donât enjoy it.
This framing was later used by Megan Phelps-Roper in “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling,” a podcast apologia produced by Bari Weiss.
References
Rosenfield, Kat (August 9, 2021). How cancel culture hurts the Left.UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/08/how-the-left-will-lose-the-culture-wars/
Rosenfield, Kat (October 27, 2022). Why I keep getting mistaken for a conservative.National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/11/07/why-i-keep-getting-mistaken-for-a-conservative/
Rosenfield, Kat (September 2, 2022). JK Rowling sees through her enemies.unHerd https://unherd.com/2022/09/j-k-rowling-sees-through-her-enemies/
Rosenfield, Kat (September 10, 2020). How Do I Stop Being a TERF?Persuasion https://www.persuasion.community/p/how-do-i-stop-being-a-terf
“Shape Shifter” is the stage name of July R. Carlan, an American accountant and ex-transgender activist who gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.
Background
July Roxella Carlan was born on July 11, 1990. Carlan had a “consensual” sexual experience at age 11 and came out as gay to unaccepting parents at 16.
At age 22 in graduate school, Carlan learned about nonbinary identities and booked an appointment at Fenway Health in Boston on November 15, 2012. At the initial consultation, Carlan described a pattern of high-risk sexual behavior as well as incidents of anti-LGBT discrimination and assault. Carlan also expressed a desire to become pregnant.
Affter signing an informed consent form on December 27, 2012, Carlan began hormones via Fenway Health. In a follow-up appointment in March 2013, a therapist noted Carlan’s âinternalized transphobia,â because Carlan wanted to âbe seen as more than a trans woman.â
By mid-December 2013, Carlan reported inconsistent use of hormones in order to regain sexual function and engage in high-risk sexual behavior. In December 2014, Carlan reported:
depression and anxiety
seeking validation through sex
struggles with sexual compulsivity and hopes that GRS will reduce sexual urges
did not want to take hormones in order to enjoy sex
could not find a job in finance and had âbegun a career in strip dancingâ
In the first half of 2015, Carlan had multiple therapy sessions and received clearance for bottom surgery.
After getting elective bottom surgery as an adult, Carlan “realized I was just a castrated man.” Carlan has sometimes identified as a “homosexual transsexual,” a term promoted by anti-transgender activists.
On or about May 10, 2022, at age 31, Carlan publicly announced plans to make additional gender changes. Carlan no longer identifies as a trans woman, “but as a gender-non-conforming man.” Carlan reportedly just liked feminine clothing and makeup.
Carlan is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts. Carlan is in a relationship with a “sugar daddy” who is nearly 50 years older. Howard Carlan (born December 6, 1941) goes by “Cat Man” in their videos.
Anti-transgender activism
Carlan has regret about taking some medical gender transition steps and has found an anti-trans audience who wants to amplify these rare cases of regret.
In 2022, Carlan testified against healthcare for trans youth before the Florida Board of Medicine.
In addition to numerous media appearances about regret, Carlan has also been critical of trans athletes and supports misinformation and conspiracy theories about trans healthcare.
In 2022, Carlan launched a YouTube channel featuring videos about transition regret. In 2024, all original content was deleted, and it was converted into an AI slop channel featuring similar content about regret.
Lawsuit
On October 12, 2023, Carlan filed a lawsuit against Fenway Community Health Center. Carlan was repreented by Mitra N Forouhar. On March 28, 2025 Judge Myong J. Joun entered a decision that “Fenway is dismissed from this action.”
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 31, 2025). “Long Awaited #DeTransLaw Update in the case of July Carlan (aka ShapeShifter): The United States’ Motion to Intervene has been GRANTED which means Fenway Health has been Dismissed from this case. Plaintiff has been granted leave to refile the complaint against the US per FTCA.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1906764321771962765
Goldstein, Julie Rei (May 14, 2024). “#DeTransLaw NEWS: US Attorney’s Office has officially substituted Fenway Community Health in July Carlan’s (ShapeShifter) case as they were deemed an officer/employee of the Public Health Service. This is the 3rd case (Ulery and Towe) against GAC Providers where this has occurred.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1790441950148968708
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 11, 2024). “Some #DeTransLaw news: In July Carlan’s case (a.k.a. Shape Shifter), the US Attorney’s offce has asked for a 60 day stay for the Sec of Health & Human Services to determine if Fenway is a “deemed” Public Health Service Employee. The Judge has stayed the case until May 11, 2024.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1767296891044438351
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 5, 2024). “Something I forgot to mention. There’s a stay on the Carlan v. Fenway case until March 12, 2024 when the US Attorney’s Office is directed to file a status report or a response to Defendant Fenways Motion to Dismiss (on or before said date). #DeTransLaw” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1765160198099112288
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 3, 2024). “Second piece of #DeTransLaw I missed: July Carlan (aka Shape Shifter) has substituted her counsel of Samuel Blatchely for Ryan McClane who famously went on the right wing media circuit when he unsuccessfuly represented Hunter Harris against UMASS for their COVID vaccine mandate.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1764468309838205431
Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly (November 2023). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc.US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Case 1:2023cv12361 https://rilawyersweekly.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2023/11/Carlan-v.-Fenway-Community-Health-Center.pdf
Court Listener (October 12, 2023). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc. 1:23-cv-12361, (D. Mass.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67878127/carlan-v-fenway-community-health-center-inc/
Alasdair Gunn is an English anti-transgender extremist living in Ireland. Gunn, originally hiding behind the pseudonym “Angus Fox,” Gunn has served as Vice Director of anti-trans hate group Genspect.
Background
Gunn is reportedly a translator and linguistics researcher who has been credited in some academic texts. Gunn identifies as gay and is a cancer survivor.
Anti-trans activism
Gunn, using the name “Angus Fox,” published a series of anti-trans articles for Quillette called “When Sons Become Daughters.”
The Texas Tribune reported on a 2023 chat log leak posted on Daily Dot where Gunn said:
âThe key point here is: eyes on the prize! We have to stop child transitions. On those over 25 we say little, because itâs not in YOUR interests to mention this. We have to break through to the policymakers who are left of center, and the way to do that is to focus relentlessly on the problem of transition for under 25s.â
âThe endocrinologist Quentin Van Meter sees a difference between the boys and girls he has treated. He said I could quote him on this,â Gunn said.
In one conversation about ideology, Gunn says, âIâm a huge Bilek fan.â He elaborated, âGender ideology is only possible if you believe that there is a consciousness which is not just a product of biochemistry, but its own entity.â
Jennifer Bilek has put forth a conspiracy theory claiming that Jewish billionaires are are engaging in a transhumanist plot by funding the transgender rights movement.
In 2023 Gunn was a key author of a “Gender Framework” document drafted by Genspect’s Killarney Group. It is intended to be an alternative to the WPATH Standards of Care.
I was heartened by Freemanâs piece about the medical professionals group the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG). Itâs good to see this thorny subject tackled with compassion and heart.
Like CAN-SG, we are concerned about the culture of fear created by spurious accusations of transphobia. The fact is, the medicalised approach to gender care is not working. It is time to consider alternatives. This group can bring experience and integrity to a sector in crisis. Weâre lucky to have it. Alasdair Gunn, vice-director, Genspect, Tipperary
Gunn frequently collaborates with other anti-trans activists and is a regular guest on Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce.
Piper, Ernie (July 25, 2023). EXCLUSIVE: âFocus relentlessly on under 25â: Leaked chats reveal influential gender-critical groupâs plan to use children to push for bans on transitioning Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/debug/genspect/ [archive]
Epoch Times with Jan Jekielek (August 17, 2023). How the Gender Industry Has Parasitized People’s Emotions. https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/how-the-gender-industry-has-parasitized-peoples-emotions-alasdair-gunn-on-the-spike-in-teens-seeking-to-transition-5470406
