Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politician. Ali is an anti-Islam and anti-transgender activist. Ali is often associated with the intellectual dark web, a gateway to the far right.
Background
Ayaan Hirsi Magan was born November 13, 1969 in Mogadishu. Ali’s parent Hirsi Magan Isse was a political prisoner who escaped Somalia in 1977, eventually settling the family in Kenya.
In 1992 Ali sought asylum in The Netherlands to avoid an arranged marriage. Ali worked as a translator while earning a master’s degree in 2000 from Leiden University. Ali became a Muslim apostate around that time. Ali’s 2004 film “Submission” with Theo Van Gogh criticized Islam and led to Van Gogh’s murder. Ali faced threats and went into hiding. In 2006 an exposé revealed Ali lied on the Dutch asylum application. Ali resigned from Parliament and was ultimately allowed to retain Dutch citizenship. Ali took a position at the American Enterprise Institute in the US, getting her green card in 2007.
In 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Ali as an anti-Muslim extremist, though they later removed the whole list.
Ali created the AHA Foundation and has worked for conservative organizations like the Hoover Institution.
Those who would divorce “woman” from its biological implications often present their ideas as innocuous. They are, we are told, simply champions of “inclusion”. But their ideology is hardly uncontroversial, and surrendering to it is not harmless. The past year has seen reports of transgender women attacking women in female-only spaces and unfairly winning trophies in women’s sports. The spirit of these failures was perhaps best-distilled in the words of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who in March was unable to define what being a woman entailed during her Senate confirmation hearing. “I’m not a biologist,” she said, as if one needed to be a professional scientist to know basic biological facts.
A word of clarification. I am immensely sympathetic to the plight of transgender people and believe they ought to have the same moral and legal rights as everyone else. To be against militant trans activists’ gender ideology is not to be transphobic. Rather, it is simply to agree, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie succinctly put it, that “trans women are trans women”. Adichie was savaged for this and other statements evincing wrongthink, but acknowledging that trans women are distinct from women, that there are potential conflicts between their rights, and that gender ideology opens the door to abusive men masquerading as women, should not be controversial. Standing up for the rights of transgender people should not mean pretending sex does not exist altogether.
Podcast
Ali’s podcast logrolls for other anti-trans activists, including:
Patrick Healy is an American journalist involved in anti-transgender coverage at the New York Times. Healy served as Deputy Editor of the Opinion section during its anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s.
No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. As of 2023 there were no trans journalists on staff, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. At the same time, Healy helped beef up anti-trans staff, including bringing in David French.
Background
Patrick Durham Healy was born on August 31, 1971 to Carol Ann Higginbotham Healy (1936–2023) and Gerald T. Healy, Jr. (1934–2021). Healy has an older sibling and grew up gay in a conservative Catholic household. Healy earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1990, and a second bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in 1993.
After reporting in local New Hampshire papers, Healy wrote for the transphobic Chronicle of Higher Education from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004, Healy wrote for the Boston Globe, then joined the New York Times in 2005.
After about ten years as a political correspondent, Healy held editor roles in the Culture, Politics, and Opinion sections. Healy reports to anti-trans ringleader Kathleen Kingsbury as well as to Charlotte Greensit.
Healy has made television appearances as guest host of The New York Times Close Up with Sam Roberts on NY1 News and as an analyst on CNN.
Healy married physician assistant Raymond Alejandro “Ray” Delgado on October 1, 2022.
Schindler, Paul (July 26, 2006). That Darn New York Times.Gay City News https://gaycitynews.com/that-darn-new-york-times/
Staff report (April 8, 2005). The Mayor Gets Sound Advice, But Will He Pay Attention to It? The Quotidian / New York Civic http://www.nycivic.org/QLIST/050408.html [archive]
Scocca, Tom (January 24, 2005). Off the Record.New York Observer https://observer.com/2005/01/off-the-record-75/
“I speak in support of legislation to limit access to so-called “gender affirmative” medical and surgical treatments which are unproven to reduce mental suffering in minors experiencing gender discordance.”
“Alix Aharon” is the stage name of Alexandra “Alix” Hecht, a Scottish anti-transgender activist. Hecht is a co-founder of anti-transgender group Partners for Ethical Care.
Hecht took data from a map of trans-supportive healthcare providers to create an anti-trans project called The Gender Offender Mapper (later called The Gender Mapping Project). Hecht is an advisor for Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF).
Background
Hecht was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Hecht graduated from Craigholme School for Girls in 2003 and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Aberdeen in 2007. Hecht has worked in sales for SuperDerivatives, Checkmarx, WalkMe, AppSee, dLocal, Wishbox, Duve, and Coro.
Hecht reportedly had an “aggressive eating disorder” for ten years. Hecht reportedly emigrated to Israel and spends time in California and Tel Aviv.
Hecht has used a number of aliases:
Alix Aharon
Alexandra Hecht
Lara Alix
Alix Hecht
Alex Hecht
Lara Alix Hecht
Anti-trans activism
While living in Israel, Hecht reportedly saw a 2019 documentary on four young trans men who were scheduled to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. Hecht was enraged and embarked on anti-trans activism.
Hecht’s most notable project is the Gender Offender Mapper.
Hecht has appeared on and has been mentioned in conservative and fascist media, including Newsmax and New York Post.
Hecht has logrolled for other anti-trans efforts, such as the documentary Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? Hecht called it “crucial.”
Leveille, Lee (July 5, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From.Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/07/05/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-where-it-came-from/
Leveille, Lee (April 12, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is “TAnon”?Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/04/12/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-what-is-tanon/
Jennifer Lahl is an American nursing executive and anti-transgender activist. Lahl is is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, an organization that opposes reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
In addition to opposing trans healthcare, Lahl opposes stem cell research, assisted suicide, egg and sperm donation, and surrogacy. Lahl calls these practices “egg and womb trafficking.”
Background
Jennifer D. Chenoweth was born on May 9, 1958, then earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree from Trinity International University in 2000.
Lahl married marketing executive and church planter Daniel E. “Dan” Lahl (born October 7, 1956). Both attended Trinity International University. They have three children, Allison, Julia, and Katherine.
Jennifer Lahl has worked as a pediatric critical care nurse and administrator. Lahl’s California licenses were as a registered nurse (1982–2021) and public health nurse (1985–2019).
Lahl’s film projects have included:
Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate (2009)
Eggsploitation (2010)
Anonymous Father’s Day (2011)
Breeders: A Subclass of Women? (2014)
Maggie’s Story (2015)
Compassion and Choice: Denied (2016)
#BigFertility: It’s All about the Money (2018)
Anti-transgender activism
Lahl produced the 2021 film Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? It is critical of gender affirming care for youth.
In 2022 Lahl produced a documentary on the ex-transgender movement The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters.
Caitlyn Jenner is an American media personality and Olympic gold medalist. Upon coming out as transgender in 2015, Jenner became the most famous transgender person alive. Jenner’s conservative views frequently cause tension with more progressive trans community members.
Background
Caitlyn Marie Jenner was born on October 28, 1949 in Mount Kisco, New York. Jenner attended high school in Sleepy Hollow, New York and Newtown, Connecticut. Jenner earned a bachelor’s degree from Graceland College in 1973. While there, Jenner played football until an injury forced a switch to decathlon. Jenner placed 10th in decathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. After that, Jenner dominated the event through the 1976 Summer Olympics. That gold medal and world record made Jenner a national hero.
Jenner secured many endorsement deals and began appearing in film and television regularly for the next 30 years. In 2007 Jenner’s family starred in the hit unscripted series Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Jenner has been married three times and has six children and four stepchildren. Jenner was married to Kris Kardashian from 1991 to 2015. In 2015, as transition rumors swirled, Jenner was involved in a fatal car crash. Jenner and trans entrepreneur Sophia Hutchins met in 2015 and had a close personal and professional relationship until Hutchins’ death in 2025.
As a transgender public figure
Jenner’s coming out as trans caused a media frenzy, including appearances on magazine covers and many interviews in print and television. Jenner starred in the “unscripted” series I Am Cait with “friends” Jennifer Finney Boylan, Candis Cayne, Zackary Drucker, Chandi Moore, Jen Richards, Mimi Marks, and Kate Bornstein. Jenner also made a cameo on Transparent and continued appearing in film and television. Jenner was named one of 25 Glamour Women of the Year and received other recognitions, including the 2016 Time 100. In 2017 Jenner published a memoir, The Secrets of My Life, and had facial feminization surgery and bottom surgery. In 2017, Jenner founded the Caitlyn Jenner Foundation. The board included Andrea Metz, Nick Adams, and Zackary Drucker, with Sophia Hutchins as an executive.
Jenner made a number of controversial comments after coming out, such as joking that the hardest part about being a woman “is figuring out what to wear.” The glib sexist comments combined with the media attention led to a backlash among many conservatives and anti-transgender activists.
Jenner has continued to take conservative positions and make controversial comments about LGBT issues that have led to backlash from the community. Ellen Degeneres pressed Jenner about opposing gay marriage. Jenner’s comments about transgender athletes became a major talking point in 2021 during an unsuccessful run for California governor. In 2022 Jenner joined Fox News as an on-air contributor. In 2023 Jenner founded the Fairness First PAC “to keep boys out of women’s sports.”
Hontas Farmer is an American educator and “autogynephilia” activist. Farmer has an extensive online presence and has identified as a Muslim, Republican, physicist, “homosexual transsexual,” and sex worker. Farmer is part of the conservative trans community.
Hontas Farmer appearing on Fox News in a burqa in 2008.
Background
Hontas Freeman Farmer was born in July 1980. Farmer has stated the given name Hontas is an abbreviation of Pocahontas. It is also a given name previously used in Farmer’s family. As with many African Americans, Farmer has claimed Native American ancestry. Farmer grew up in the Chicago area and attended Proviso West High School in Hillside.
In 1998, Farmer was arrested and given a psychiatric evaluation for allegedly threatening to shoot up the high school after being turned down by a girl for the prom. Local police also confiscated two firearms from Farmer’s family home. Farmer was allegedly bullied in high school with the nickname “The Unabomber.”
As an adult, Farmer began using the alternative name Aisha Abd Al-Rashid, including on the cover of Farmer’s 2008 self-published book Quantum Space-Time Dynamics (ISBN 978-0578007328).
Farmer earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in 2005 and a master’s degree from DePaul University in 2013.
Farmer has subsequently worked as a tutor and taught in adjunct positions in the Chicago City Colleges system as well as at College of DuPage and Elmhurst University. Farmer has also been involved in union organizing, serving as an officer representing other part-time educators via the City Colleges Contingent Labor Organizing Committee (CCCLOC), part of Region 67 of the Illinois Education Association (IEANEA), the state-level union of the National Education Association.
In 2019, Farmer filed a lawsuit against Randall Miller, an apparent colleague of Farmer’s.
Online activity
Farmer has been a major forum contributor on the transkids.us hoax site, the Hung Angels forum, Wikipedia, and the Science 2.0 blogging platform. Farmer has used a number of usernames, including:
BrendaQG
Hfarmer
Hontasfx
Lucasain
Smartgirl62
Gravitygirl62
Zahara_TS
Aisha_a_ts
“Autogynephilia” activism
Farmer became heavily involved in Wikipedia editing of “autogynephilia” and related concepts in 2006.
In 2008, Farmer gained access to the apartment of economist Deirdre McCloskey through McCloskey’s assistant Beth while McCloskey was out of town. McCloskey is a prominent critic of “autogynephilia.” Via Farmer’s blog:
Dr. McCloskey on the other hand. I have an impression of her based on seeing her home and hearing people around UIC talk about her and compare her to me (when they thought I couldn’t hear them). According to Beth her RA who is watching her house Dr. McCloskey was in south Africa. There are those at UIC who call her Dierdre McKrazy and say she is pushy and mannish. Having seen her house that surprises me a bit. A persons home says allot about them. Dr McCloskey’s Condo in downtown Chicago is quite nice, quite large and very comfortable looking. On the inside the furnishings are of good classic taste which would be expected of a lady of her age and means. Walking in I felt like Gill Chesterton seeing Frasier’s condo for the first time, very impressed. It is actually two condo’s joined by stairs. A large part of one is devoted to her personal library which is quite extensive. My friend Beth, a PhD. Student in philosophy’s job for the summer is to put that large library in order. A notable and surprising thing to me was that Dr. McCloskey has a copy of “The man Who Would Be Queen”.
At the 2009 Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil in Chicago, Farmer approached “Juanita,” one of the trans women featured in the transphobic book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Farmer was wearing a burqa and asked several questions that prompted “Juanita” to alert the community about Farmer’s questioning.
Teresa Binstock was an independent researcher based in Colorado. Binstock was best known for hypotheses about causes of autism, including suggestions that vaccines may be connected. Binstock also had connections to Denise Magner / “Kiira Triea” (1951–2012), former owner and author of the transkids.us hoax site.
Background
Teresa Christine Binstock was born February 12, 1944. Several articles from 1961 suggest that Binstock grew up in Hammond, indiana, graduated from Roosevelt Military Academy in Aledo, Illinois, then attended Purdue University Calumet Center. Binstock was also reportedly involved in folk music around that time.
Binstock reportedly earned a bachelor’s degree, claiming a major in mathematics as well as minors in physics, chemistry, creative writing, literature, and philosophy. The school and year were not specified in self-supplied biographies. Binstock claimed to have been accepted into 3 graduate departments, changed direction, then went into making a living at art. Binstock reportedly conducted 8 years of independent research at University of Colorado Health Science Center (UCHSC) and The Children’s Hospital in Denver. Binstock’s mentors were reportedly psychiatrist Gordon Farley, MD and pediatrician Randi Hagerman, MD, a Fragile X syndrome specialist.
Binstock was reportedly diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome by UCHSC post-doc fellow Cynthia Naseem Ahmed Smith, M.D., “who presented me and two other Aspies at a Grand Rounds at USHSC in 1997.” Binstock frequently published on the topic of autism and Asperger’s.
Binstock was founder of the Institute for Molecular Introspections in 1997. It was later administratively dissolved. Binstock was also registered agent for Raven Intellections starting in 2003.
Binstock died on January 27, 2021 in Colorado.
Sex development and gender
In 1998 Binstock co-authored a paper with “Kiira Triea” (aka Denise Magner) and Heike Bödeker (aka Heike Spreitzer). Though cited as a co-author initially, in later versions of the article, Binstock’s name was dropped from author list without explanation.
Binstock has also published on the etiology of gender identity and sexual orientation, proposing a variant of the “gay germ” hypothesis (a viral cause) for the latter. In 2000, “Kiira Triea” wrote:
A biologist named Teresa Binstock actually has found what may be the actual biological reason for transsexuality or a very strong piece of the puzzle. The TS people I’ve told of her work seem uninterested though perhaps because it seems not to have any “essentialist” appeal.
Binstock has been cited by those who propose a genetic cause for gender diversity as well. The Council for Responsible Genetics has cited Binstock’s paper in their Genetic Determinism and Sexual Orientation bibliography. They monitor abuses of genetics via Gene Watch.
Though Binstock did not publicly acknowledge being transgender, there is evidence this was the case. One book describes Binstock thus:
Teresa, in her mid-fifties, looked something like an aging mountain woman. Six feet tall and dressed in sensible shoes and a full-length skirt, her long gray-blond hair was braided into pigtails.
Binstock never seemed to have identified as intersex, though some of Binstock’s writings support the model that gender diversity is a form of intersex.
Teresa Binstock
Former contact information
Teresa Binstock Researcher in Developmental and Behavioral Neuroanatomy Institute for Molecular Introspections Box 1788, Estes Park CO 80517
Binstock T (2004). Increased susceptibility to adverse effects from vaccinations. IOM Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, February 9, 2004. http://www.vaccinationnews.com/sites/default/files/DailyNews/2004/February/Binstock7.pdf [no archive]
Bernard S, Enayati A, Roger H, Binstock T, Redwood L (2002). The role of mercury in the pathogenesis of autism. Mol Psychiatry. 2002;7 Suppl 2:S42-3 https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001177
Binstock T, Hoffmann J, Rivera M, Nelson S, Crook J. Fragile X and the Amygdala: Cognitive, Interpersonal, Emotional, and Neuroendocrine Considerations. Poster presented at: 11th International Fragile X Conference; July 2008; St. Louis, MO. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.1761.2163
McCandless, Jaquelyn; Teresa Binstock; Jack Zimmerman (2002). Children with starving brains: A Medical Treatment Guide for Autism Spectrum. Bramble Books, ISBN 978-1883647179. Binstock worked as science editor on the book. archive https://archive.org/details/childrenwithstar00jaqu
Bernard S, Enayati A, Redwood L, Roger H, Binstock T (2001). Autism: a novel form of mercury poisoning. Med Hypotheses. 2001 Apr;56(4):462-71. https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2000.1281
Bernard S, Enayati A, Binstock T, Roger H, Redwood L, McGinnis W (2000). Autism: A unique type of mercury poisoning. SafeMinds https://childrenshealthdefense.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Autism_Unique_-Type_-of_-Mercury_-Poisoning.pdf
Binstock T (2001). Anterior insular cortex: linking intestinal pathology and brain function in autism-spectrum subgroups. Medical Hypotheses. 2001 Dec;57(6):714-7. https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2001.1440
Bödeker, Heike; Triea, Kiira; Binstock, Teresa (October 1, 1998). Native vs. White Sex Cosmologies: Sex and Gender Variability vs. Variance in Inter- vs. Intracultural Perspective. Yumtzilob.
For a citation with Binstock’s name included, see Gerds, Heike (2004). Living Beyond the Gender Trap: Concepts of Gender and Sexual Expression Envisioned by Marge Piercy, Cherríe Moraga and Leslie Feinberg. Shaker, ISBN 9783832233594. Note, p. 247.
version with Binstock’s name removed: http://web.archive.org/web/20040718154038/http://www.2tough.com/~kiira/cisae/yumtzilob.html
Bolte, ER (1998). Autism and Clostridium Tetani: An Hypothesis. Medical Hypotheses, vol. 51, 1998, pages 133-144. [Binstock served as science editor] https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-9877(98)90107-4
Binstock TC (May 11, 1997). Changing the autism paradigm: a critique of Kemper & Bauman’s speculations regarding in-utero timing” Bit.listserv.autism, (posts 13491, 13493, 13494, 13495, and 13496). Formerly available at Autism Research Monographs, http://www.jorsm.com/binstock [no archive]
Binstock TC (1995). Fragile X and the Amygdala: Cognitive, Interpersonal, Emotional, and Neuroendocrine Considerations. Developmental Brain Dysfunction.abstract https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0029549969&origin=inward&txGid=9330c60a277f986a8d4aebd890788ac7
Resources
Institute for Molecular Introspections (amnix.com/~imi2dnvr/) [no archive]
Kimberly is cohost of the conservative podcast Transparency. Kimberly frequently testifies against gender affirming care for minors and promotes academic work that is frequently characterized as anti-trans.
Kimberly is especially interested in promoting disease models of gender diversity, including “gender dysphoria,” “autogynephilia,” and “autoandrophilia.” Kimberly has occasionally expressed interest in a personal “detransition,” or making additional gender changes.
Background
Aaron Kimberly was reportedly born in 1973. In a self-reported biography, Kimberly makes the following claims:
“at age 19 I had surgery to remove a grapefruit-sized cyst from one of my ovaries”
following a biopsy was reportedly diagnosed with “Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development (DSD)”
Kimberly earned a bachelor’s degree from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
in 2006 saw a documentary on mainstream TV about “trans kids” that led to a trans identification
began medical transition that year at age 33
in 2008 became a registered nurse/BScN wtih a specialty in Psychiatric Nursing
worked in the mental health department at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, for 10 years
In 2017 moved to Kelowna, Canada, to help launch a multidisciplinary youth clinic and do intake assessments
consulted with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)’s Trans Care BC
during this consulting, “I started to become confused and concerned about the current state of trans healthcare”
“I was removed from the clinical mentorship mailing list, I was accused of using the listserv for anti-trans activism, our clinic was boycotted, and I was moved to another program”
was registered in British Columbia as a Practising RN from 2008 until that registration was canceled on April 1, 2023
Kimberly then enrolled in the Women’s and Gender Studies graduate program at University of Alberta.
Conservative activism
Kimberly began engaging in conservative activism in 2021 after being alarmed about how the clinic where Kimberly worked was treating trans and gender diverse youth. Kimberly explained to anti-trans activist Pamela Paul:
In 2021, Aaron Kimberly, a 50-year-old trans man and registered nurse, left the clinic in British Columbia where his job focused on the intake and assessment of gender-dysphoric youth. Kimberly received a comprehensive screening when he embarked on his own successful transition at age 33, which resolved the gender dysphoria he experienced from an early age.
But when the gender-affirming model was introduced at his clinic, he was instructed to support the initiation of hormone treatment for incoming patients regardless of whether they had complex mental problems, experiences with trauma or were otherwise “severely unwell,” Kimberly said. When he referred patients for further mental health care rather than immediate hormone treatment, he said he was accused of what they called gatekeeping and had to change jobs.
In a profile provided to this site in June 2025, Kimberly stated:
My major influences are second wave lesbian feminism and early queer theory. In the early days (1990s), lesbians like Butler and Halberstam conceptualized the FTM experience as a form of female masculinity (eg. Halberstam’s book Female Masculinity, in which she included FTM as under the banner of lesbian masculinities). That’s still a view I hold, in my self-conception. My current work focuses on applications of radical feminism to transmen, looking for ways, throught a sex-realist perspective, at quality of life measures and the nature of our oppression as masculinized/male passing females.
2024 Stone Butch Disco collaboration
Stone Butch Disco is a Substack newsletter described as “a butch-femme lesbian feminist project: nerd comedy, experiential insights, & alt-academic analysis.”
In September 2024 members of the collective began collaborating on podcast episodes with Kimberly. By November, they announced a split in a since-deleted post:
Aaron repetitively focused conversation onto specific women that Aaron felt slighted by. Due to Rachel and Akiva’s personal histories in abusive relationships, they entertained conversation around uniquely butch vulnerabilities to abuse for a few weeks, culminating in an unreleased 6th podcast episode in which Aaron’s relationships with these women were discussed under the false premise that they were targeting Aaron. It became clear from conversations on and off the recording that Aaron’s treatment of women and especially feminine women was of serious concern. Despite the fact that Rachel requested that Aaron not post the 6th episode anywhere, including on Aaron’s personal channels, Aaron posted it to personal YouTube and Facebook accounts, and used pieces of the audio to harass women via direct message.We were lied to, manipulated, and used. Following these revelations, we removed Aaron from the Stone Butch Disco team.
Kimberly said via email in June 2025 that the announcement was removed “after legal action” because it contained false statements and defamation. Kimberly also stated “my lawyers have evidence that the Statements by both parties are false and defamatory.” This site has requested that evidence for inclusion here. Kimberly provided the following statement:
They fabricated a conspiracy that I only made friends with a couple of butch lesbians for the purpose of lying and manipulating them to harass women. No, I did not. When I left the courage coalition, I made new friendships outside that circle and we generated many ideas for projects that I was excited about, such as an archive about butch lesbians. I built the website. We were ready to launch it. Because I saw them as friends I confided in them some of what I had felt and was processing in regards to interactions I had with certain women. I needed someone to talk to because I was confused by aspects of what had occurred. I couldn’t talk to anyone in the network about it. Meanwhile, those women were plotting behind my back and finding ways to sabotage me in the dark
and taking disrespectful shots at me online to hint they were doing so. They shared private text messages, emails and secretly recorded conversations. They publicly accused me of having mental illness I don’t have and for doing things I didn’t do. I feel played by these women. I expect people to come honest. I fully own that I overstepped some boundaries but I was also misjudged and mistreated. They did psychological harm and when I spoke my truth in defence, they weaponized that against me too.
The mistake we (Stone Butch Disco) made is trying to engage those other women in a conversation via the podcast. Instead of engaging up front, they contacted the Stone Butch Disco and manipulated them into thinking I’d lied and manipulated them. No. I did not. There was no underhanded scheme going on, on my part, and I was severed from new friendships. I found myself caught in a trap of manipulation, and had to manipulate my way out of it. I’m not normally a manipulative person, at all. I’m blunt to a fault and despise head games. I’ve withdrawn myself entirely from the entire network to get my own head straight and stand in my own truth. I’m focussing on transmen and our needs. I’m not interested in playing dirty games.
My work is based on respectful conversations about ideas and needs. My ideas are not ones everyone agrees with, but people should not be threatened, intimidated, or coerced, simply for having different views, which aren’t motivated by hate.
I push back on all hateful activity. People are allowed to hate me. They are not allowed to hurt me just because they have feelings about what I believe.
And I mean you too Andrea. There are more constructive ways to negotiate needs and deal with fears, than tearing people down. I’m not playing this game. Both sides are playing dirty. Someone has to stay in the lane of having peaceful and honest conversations for problem solving. If you believe I’m harming you in some way, then let’s have a conversation. Because your way isn’t working. It just drives more hate.
Since you’ve publicized where I’m enrolled in an MA program, I’m sure you expect that everyone, both TERFs and the trans-queer community will hate me. What they’ll all find, is that I’m reasonable and easy to engage in respectful and honest conversations across multiple lines of disagreement. And I will expect to be treated with fairness and dignity in return. I will work hard and do well in academia to think things through with care.
I want to build and mend bridges with human beings on any side of the issue, and I will always preserve myself as a human being who has faults and strengths. My door is always open for honest people who aren’t trying to hurt anyone. I’m not afraid to kick the asses of trespassers (metaphorically speaking). I intend to live in peace.
If you publish any of this, you must post all of it in whole and exactly how I’ve stated it.
2024 MIT event
According to anti-trans philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith, Kimberly has exhibited concerning behavior after the two met in 2024 at a debate also attended by anti-trans activists Alex Byrne and Alice Dreger. On February 3, 2025, Lawford-Smith posted:
On the 17th of April 2024, Alex Byrne & I took part in a debate at MIT. Our opponents were Aaron Kimberly and Alice Dreger. Alex and Alice took opposite sides on the question of whether sex is biological and binary, and Aaron and I took opposite sides on the question of whether gender identity should replace sex in social policy. Aaron & I had some friendly communications in the lead-up to the debate, much of which were me making suggestions as to a topic that we could disagree about productively. We met up for a couple of hours on the afternoon of the debate. At the time, Aaron was associated with the LGBT Courage Coalition, and I was occasionally doing freelance interviews for the LGB Alliance Australia. I figured it would be good to establish some kind of link between the two organizations.
Since April 2024 or so, I have been dealing with inappropriate and unwanted behaviour by Aaron Kimberly. This includes him repeatedly sending emails to my work address (after I had blocked him on Twitter); contacting my friends and colleagues about me; attempting to organize an in-person event to take place on my campus, at which I would be a speaker, without my permission or input; mischaracterizing our brief interaction to mutual acquaintances; publishing a full podcast episode mischaracterizing our interaction; posting three separate Substack articles about me (one sharing personal information about me and embedding deleted video content that I own the copyright to); sending huge volumes of messages to other people about me; and, most recently, contacting my employer. This has all been the aftermath of Aaron making several romantic advances toward me, which I rejected. To say he’s taken rejection badly would appear to be an understatement.
On February 22, 2025, Kimberly posted a lengthy response addressing many of Lawford-Smith’s claims and assertions about their interactions.
Staff (November 25, 2024). Ending our relationship with Aaron Kimberly. Stone Butch Disco https://stonebutchdisco.substack.com/p/ending-our-relationship-with-aaron [deleted]
The Lesbian Project Podcast (May 24, 2024). Episode 28 FREE – a chat with Aaron Kimberly; plus the music of Chappell Roan, and bars (again). [unavailable]
Sam Hope is a British counsellor and trauma specialist who works with our community.
Background
Hope graduated from North Warwickshire and Hinckley College in 2004 with Certificates in Counselling Skills, Therapeutic Counselling, and an Advanced Diploma in Humanistic Counselling. In 2007 Hope earned a PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) from South Notts College, followed by a master’s degree in trauma studies at University of Nottingham in 2013. Hope also holds a Diploma in Supervision Studies from Open College.
Hope is an Accredited Member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).
