Sam Brinton is an American nuclear engineer and LGBTQ activist. In 2022 Brinton briefly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the US Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, the first openly genderfluid person in federal government leadership. The role ended after Brinton was accused of stealing luggage at airports.
Background
Samuel Otis Brinton was born in September 1987 and grew up in Perry, Iowa in a Baptist household. After coming out as bisexual, Brinton was reportedly sent to conversion therapy that practiced harsh aversion techniques. Much of Brinton’s subsequent activism focused on ending conversion therapy.
Brinton graduated from Perry High School in 2006, earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 2011, and earned a dual master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013.
According to an official biography, prior to the DOE role, Brinton held energy policy roles at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Breakthrough Institute, the Clean Air Task Force, Third Way, and Deep Isolation.
Brinton married Kevin Rieck in 2019.
Theft accusations
Shortly after taking office in 2022, Brinton was accused of theft of women’s luggage at airports. The investigation uncovered at least three cases:
Washington Reagan (2018): reportedly arrested in May 2023
Las Vegas (July 2022): pled no contest, paid restitution, 180-day suspended sentence
Minneapolis (September 2022): mental health evaluation ordered
The scandal received widespread media attention and cost Brinton the DOE job.
Susie Green is a British gender rights activist who focuses on transgender youth. Green helped her child Jackie medically transition as a minor, including gender affirming surgery in 2010 at age 16. Green was involved in the British charity Mermaids as a trustee from 2011 to 2015, then as CEO from 2016 to 2022.
Background
Susie Marie Green was born in December 1957. She was an IT manager for Citizens Advice from 2002 to 2015. Green lives in Yorkshire, and is married to Tim Green. They have four adult children, including twins.
Green gave a 2017 talk at TEDx Truro that was criticized by anti-trans activists. Green later removed the video.
Green was a consultant on the 2o18 ITV drama Butterfly and helped shape the WPATH chapter on children and adolescents.
She got involved at Mermaids in 2000 because her daughter Jackie was trying to navigate gender transition as a minor. During her time as CEO, the debate about transgender youth intensified, particularly following a ÂŁ500,000Â grant from the National Lottery and corporate sponsorships.
Under Green, Mermaids launched the first legal challenge of its kind against the LGB Alliance, a trans-exclusionary charity which is critical of “gender ideology.” Mermaids sought to end its charitable status.
In late 2022, Mermaids was hit with several setbacks. New Mermaids trustee Jacob Breslow resigned after a 2011 presentation he gave at a conference for minor-attracted persons held by B4U-ACT came to light. Complaints from staff led to an outside audit conducted by DEI consultants the Social Justice Collective. Days after Green resigned, UK’s Charity Commission launched a statutory inquiry into Mermaids after reports that they offered chest binders to teens whose parents opposed their transitions.
Green has been recognized for her contributions to the trans community on several occasions, including an event at Buckingham Palace. In 2016 she won the Diversity Champion Award. In 2023 Green joined GenderGP as project manager on the GenderGP Trans Youth Fund.
SJC (2022). EDI Audit: Recommendations and Next Steps. https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EDI-Audit_-Recommendations-and-Next-Steps.pdf
Nicola Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023.
Sturgeon became a target of gender critical activists for her support of gender recognition reform.
Background
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon was born on 19 July 1970 in Irvine. She joined the SNP in 1986. She earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Glasgow School of Law in 1992. She soon began working as a solicitor and holding leadership roles within SNP. She served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014 under Alex Salmond, during which time she also served as Health Secretary. She was a key leader in SNP’s unsuccessful 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. She was sworn in a First Minister later that year.
She and former SNP CEO Peter Murrell began a relationship in 2003 and married in 2010. Both were arrested and questioned about SNP finances several weeks after Sturgeon resigned in 2023.
Gender Recognition Reform
In 2016, the SNP vowed to review and reform the way that trans people change their legal gender via the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill . The bill passed in Parliament 86 to 39 in 2022. Weeks later, the UK Government prevented it from gaining Royal Assent under a section 35 order of the Scottish Act 1998. Sturgeon was attacked by critics for her response to the Isla Bryson case involving transgender prisoner housing.
Reverend Alexander Faludy is is a British Anglican priest who has written about trans issues in Hungary.
Background
Alexander “Alex” Faludy was born in 1983 and is grandchild of Hungarian poet György Faludy. Faludy is the youngest student admitted to Cambridge despite living with dyslexia. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Faludy did graduate studies at Oxford, then trained for the priesthood at Mirfield. Faludy served as parish priest in Newcastle from 2008 to 2018.
Trans coverage
Faludy has discussed the anti-LGBTQ policies enacted under Fidesz, Hungary’s right-wing populist party. They have rules prohibiting “promotion to minors” of subjects related to LGBTQ people. Faludi described in UnHerd how Hungary has also made legal change of gender impossible:
Imara Jones is an American journalist. Jones was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people of 2023.
Background
Jones was born on May 9, 1972 and grew up in the Atlanta area.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 1994 and a master’s degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Jones held posts at Viacom, which included work on the campaign “Know HIV/AIDS and Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself” which garnered two EMMY Awards and a Peabody Award.
Jones was a Soros Equality Fellow and chaired the first-ever UN High-Level Meeting on Gender Diversity.Â
Jones’ Translash podcast did a limited series titled “The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality.” The series profiles a number of key anti-trans activists. Season 2 examines how through “the disinformation ecosystem constructed by the Christian Nationalist movement, anti-trans lies are laundered through some of the biggest and most respected news rooms in the country, and how this effort creates a world where the existence of trans people is questioned.”
Coan, Jamie Shearn (April 25, 2019). Imara Jones.New York Trans Oral History Project https://nyctransoralhistory.org/content/uploads/2021/12/NYC-TOHP-Transcript-144-Imara-Jones_UPDATED.pdf
2003 Peabody Awards Know HIV/AIDS and Fight For Your Rights: Protect Yourself Campaigns https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/know-hiv-aids-and-fight-for-your-rights-protect-yourself-campaigns/ https://vimeo.com/160099072
Ralph Leonard is a British-Nigerian writer who writes on international politics, religion, culture, and humanism.
2020 UnHerd article
Using a question India Willoughby posed on Big Brother about dating transgender people, Leonard wrote for anti-transgender publication UnHerd about the so-called “cotton ceiling” debate about cisgender women who won’t date trans women.
Unfortunately, two years on, the ethics of refusing transsexual people as dating partners remains a fraught subject: questions such as âIs it transphobic for lesbians not to date trans women?â are being discussed online. Again, they tend to arouse strong reactions. Some lesbians, for instance, have expressed concerns that raising the question of whether they âshouldâ be attracted to trans women is a surreptitious attempt to pressure, manipulate and guilt trip them into shifting their sexual boundaries into unwanted sex in the name of being more âopenâ.
Of course, there are lesbians who are reluctant to date trans women because they believe they are not actually women (or at least not women in the same way biologically born women are)â. But itâs worth remembering that lesbians have endured a long history of attempts to control their sexuality, whether through hideous practices such as religious indoctrination, conversion therapy or âcorrectiveâ rape to âmake them straightâ. And why focus the attack on lesbians, when many straight men would also reject trans women as a potential mate?
This obviously provokes a wider question: when does a preference become a convenient cover for bigotry and prejudice? On some level, as this tweet declares, âdating is discriminationâ. But the question provoked by that Big Brother episode was: when is discrimination acceptable, and when is it unacceptable?
References
Leonard, Ralph (October 7, 2020). Is dating discrimination? UnHerd https://unherd.com/2020/10/the-dangerous-politics-of-desire/
Ritchie Herron is a British ex-transgender activist. Herron gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare. Herron uses the handle “TullipR” online and frequently appears in conservative or fascist media.
Background
Richard “Ritchie” Herron was born on May 25, 1987. Herron is a child of divorce who claims to have been bullied at school.
After spending time on UK-based The Angels forum, Herron purchased hormones as an adult from a private pharmacy. At age 25, Herron began transition and began using the name Abby. In 2018, at age 30, Herron got vaginoplasty. Five years later, at age 35, Herron made additional gender changes, largely due to dissatisfaction with vaginoplasty results.
Herron is a Newcastle-based civil servant.
In June 2022 Herron claimed lawyers in Liverpool were preparing a legal case against Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
Ex-transgender activism
Similar to the ex-gay activists of the 20th century, people like Herron get money and attention by claiming to be no longer trans.
Herron is heavily invested in metaphors of disease and impairment, identifying as disabled and mentally ill. This is a kind of attention-seeking behavior. Rather than take personal responsibility for life decisions made as a 30-year-old adult, Herron chooses to blame those who tried to help.
Herron’s alleged disorders, diseases, “comorbidities,” and maladies include:
“depression, OCD and latent homosexuality”
autism
“hated myself because I am gay”
“an ear infection that led to deafness”
a series of breakdowns
substance misuse issues
“no skill or co-ordination”
Here is how Herron describes the surgical results and complications:
ânearly bled to deathâ
“It literally looked like an animal had got on my crotch and it just went to town on it”
“like my arsecrack has been extended all the way to the front”
“under constant supervision for ongoing complications related to the deeply invasive surgery”
feel mostly nothing in “my flesh cavity” aside from “occasional stabs of pain”
crotch is numb, âshell-shockedâ
scars “still sometimes weep” and “occasionally become inflamed and cause crippling pain”
“my body aches”
“lifelong pain”
Herron claims these long-term problems:
“killed my confidence”
cannot walk long distances
cannot ride a bike
infertile
incontinent
canât use the toilet properly
“takes ten minutes to empty my bladder”
sex drive “is long gone”
“reliant on synthetic hormones”
“lifelong medical patient”
Herron has discussed ex-trans activism in conservative or fascist outlets that include National Review, Rebel News, Daily Mail, Daily Record, Spiked, The Lion, World News Group, The Times, The Critic, The Washington Examiner.The Telegraph, The Christian Institute, Christian Post, and Christian Broadcasting Network.
Herron also frequently appears on channels featuring anti-trans content:
Naomi Salama on suomalainen rakennusinsinööri ja “autogynefilia”-aktivisti.
Background
Salama was born on July 7, 1998 and grew up in Espoo.
Under the name Janus Syndrome, Salama released an electronic dance music album titled MMXIV in 2014.
Salama attended Aalto University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2020 before continuing on to a master’s degree. In May 2022, Salama began medical transition.
“Autogynephilia” activism
Like a few other neurodiverse trans people with poor social skills, Salama became fixated on an obscure disease model of gender identity and expression created in 1989 by Ray Blanchard. It classifies transgender women into two types: gay men (homosexual transsexuals) and paraphilic men (“autogynephilic” transsexuals). Salama claims to be the “autogynephilic” (AGP) type, which according to Blanchard means Naomi Salama is more likely to be sexually attracted to children, corpses, feces, animals, or have other “paraphilias.”
Most experts and trans people consider this fringe terminology to be scientifically biased and unfalsifiable, but a few isolated activists with personality problems embrace the idea.
âAutogynephiliaâ as a taxonomy appeals to a very specific type of person: neurodiverse, fixated on collecting and categorizing, socially isolated/eccentric, rigid thinking.
In June 2023 Salama sent me a message titled “add me to your stupid agp activist list you hack.”
hello!
I demand an explanation! why am I overlooked for your ridiculous agp activist list? after all, I seem to be an activist in this in the very literal word â very different to for example the researchers on the list.
I have repeatedly defended Blanchard, Bailey and Hsu and interact with all of them quite frequently. I am also friends with multiple other people on the list â such as Phil Illy or Naxela (why you would add him before me is beyond my comprehension, for example my twitter account @Naozymandias is way larger and I speak of agp way more and more publicly â even being retweetes by Blanchard occasionally)
as an academic myself, tho of different field of study, some of the researchers have urges me to do study into agp myself too, perhaps informally. I plan to do this after first finishing my thesis relating to urban economics.
I am also known to have created multiple “memes” relating to autogynephilia, folder of these has also been shared with multiple people on your list.
as you can clearly tell, I am invested in the subject and certainly should be considered an activist of sorts. this baffles me, why am I not on your list??? that feels rather insulting
thus, I demand to be added immediately regards undoubtedly in some sense of the word your enemy, autogynephilic transsexual, and student of urban planning and economics Naomi Salama
Salama spoke with romantic partner Alice Chizita about these bizarre beliefs, then sent a second message clarifying:
while *I* would be glad to be added, my girlfriend hopes I am not, as she would feel bad of that â because she is not in agreement with the typology and “Blanchardism” makes her feel bad and dysphoric.
Hopefully Alice can explain why this ideology is an unhealthy fixation and get Salama professional help. Perhaps Alice can also guide this person toward a better understanding of science. If that is not possible, perhaps Alice can get far away from this toxic person.
“Layla Jane” is the stage name of Kayla Lovdahl, an American ex-transgender activist. Lovdahl gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare.
Background
Kayla Michelle Lovdahl was born August 20, 2004. Lovdahl’s parents are Desiree M. Baggett Lovdahl (born July 11, 1984) and Kevin Allen Lovdahl (born September 30, 1976). Desiree got pregnant at age 19, and they married during the pregnancy on January 28, 2004.
Kayla Lovdahl grew up in the Lodi, California area, and has these problems according to a lawsuit filed by Lovdahl’s lawyers against Kaiser Permanente:
recurrent intense anxiety and panic
extreme mood fluctuations
self-harm
problems at school resulting in suspensions
oppositional behavior
defiant behavior
interpersonal peer relationship problems
anger
depression
crying spells
significant appetite changes
irritability
agitation
decreased energy
panic with hyperventilation
confusion
nausea
nightmares
explosive temper outbursts
poor concentration
gender dysphoria
symptoms “compatible with undiagnosed and untreated bipolar disorder”
“erroneous belief that she was transgender”
mood swings
sadness
lack of known triggers
would write sad notes at age 6-7
does not get much sleep
sleep has been irregular since being a baby
sees figures or things passing on the side when she doesnât get enough sleep
strange reoccurring nightmares
symptoms of depression
mania
abuse from peers
obesity
poor social skills
few friends
2023 lawsuit
The same conservative activists representing Chloe Cole/Brockman are also representing Lovdahl.
Defendants:
Lisa Kristine Taylor, MD, pediatric endocrinologist
Winnie Mao Yiu Tong, MD, plastic surgeon
Susanne E. Watson, PhD, gender therapist
Mirna Escalante, MD, pediatric endocrinologist
The lawyers claim Lovdahl “now has deep physical and emotional wounds and severe regrets” and “has suffered physically, socially, neurologically, and psychologically.” They describe it as:
“mutilation to her body”
“fertility risks”
“health risks”
“lost opportunities for social and physical development along with her peers, and at key developmental milestones that can never be regained”
The complaint alleges in part:
When Kayla was 11, on or around April 26, 2016, Dr. Meridee Loomer saw Kayla and reviewed her file. Dr. Loomer noted that Kaylaâs mother had been requesting mental health services beginning in 2011, when Kayla was around 6 years old, due to school issues and because Kayla had written on her papers about wanting to die. Dr. Loomer also noted that there had not been any consistent psychotherapy services for Kayla. She informed Dr. Loomer privately at her April 26, 2016, visit that she was a boy and that she preferred to be named âKyle.â
Around September 14, 2016, Kayla had a visit with Dr. Doreen Samelson, who counseled them that since Kayla was past Tanner Stage II (the first stage of puberty), she was not a candidate for puberty blockers and was not ready for cross-sex hormones. Kayla received a contraceptive shortly thereafter to reduce her periods.
The lawsuit cites treatment notes from Lovdahl’s doctor:
[Patient] is currently at maternal grandmother’s home, and Mom intends to pick him up to bring him directly into the Stk Cpy office to be seen today. When asked about concerns re: self/other harm, she states that he has made statements such as âwhat’s the point,â or âI should just drink bleachâ recently but not today.
âPatient presented to urgent services after his mother called Kaiser Psychiatry Triage yesterday and today reporting concerns over her son’s agitation/labile behavior, mood fluctuations, and potential for self-harm/harming others. Patient’s reported that her son has been having unprovoked anger outbursts where he’s been lashing out (i.e. cursing) at her mostly and others.
Lovdahl then had counseling and the doctors got signed parental consent:
On July 11, 2017, Kayla had counseling regarding fertility. On September 22, 2017, after Kayla just turned age 13, Dr. Tong performed a double mastectomy on her.
Kayla stopped injecting testosterone around the middle of 2021, while beginning a period of detransition. Thereafter, she stopped all contact and services with the Kaiser Proud Clinic where she had been receiving ongoing evaluation for her transition.
In 2022 Kayla was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder and Mood Disorder with depressive features.
Ex-transgender activism
Lovdahl heard Chloe Cole’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Kaiser and decided to get in on the action.
In March 2023, Lovdahl was among the handful of ex-trans activists at what was billed as their biggest event ever:
Detransitioner @LJDetrans makes her first public appearance at Detrans Awareness Day in Sacramento last week.
Layla Jane had her breasts removed at 13 years old and is now suing some of the same "doctors" that I am suing.
“I was a mentally ill child, and I was able to consent to removing my breasts permanently. And I also heard more â or less… I heard more people telling me I would regret this tattoo than I would regret getting my breasts permanently removed at such a young age. So that is why I felt necessary to speak. Thank you for hearing me out.”
“Overall, I really want to say that I don’t think I should have been allowed to change my sex before I could legally consent to have sex. Overall, I don’t think I’m better off for the experience, and I think that transition just completely added fuel to the fire that was my preexisting conditions.
I was given no information on rates of desistance or anything like that. Really, the surgery and the treatments were kind of pushed as the only way forward.
Between the age I was at and the headspace I was in, I don’t feel like I should have been any place to make those kinds of decisions. And I think proper information and all the side effects, it was really glossed over for my parents.”
Media
In June 2023, producers arranged a meeting with ex-trans activist Chloe Cole:
“Michelle Alleva” is the stage name of Michelle Zacchigna, a Canadian ex-transgender activist. Zacchigna gets money and attention by making it more difficult for others to get trans healthcare.
Zacchigna has used a number of aliases and handles:
“Scarlett P”
“Michelle Alleva”
somenuanceplease
sumenuancepls
Zacchigna transitioned as an adult and made additional identity and expression changes ten years later.
Background
Zacchigna was born in 1988. Zacchigna reports being bullied in school, especially from ages 8 to 13. After a close adolescent friendship ended, Zacchigna experienced even more social isolation. Zacchigna alleges having the following problems as a teen:
developmental trauma
dissociation
low self-esteem
self-harm
anxiety
depression
2008 suicide attempt
dated older people “who didnât seem to have my best interests at heart”
At age 20, Zacchigna identified as asexual:
Although I had never had gender dysphoria before, the more I thought about gender and how I wanted to present myself, the more self-aware I became about my body, and the more I wanted to change it. I thought about my past and became convinced that I had been bullied because I was trans and just didnât know it.
In spring 2010, at age 21, Zacchigna went to the Gender Journeys support group at Toronto’s Sherbourne Health. Two years later, in 2012, Zacchigna saved up and then paid out of pocket for elective top surgery in Florida.
Because transition doesn’t make you a new person or change who you are, Zacchigna felt better for a while, but then reported problems started again:
social anxiety
still difficult to make friends
depression
gender dysphoria
couldn’t cry anymore “because of the hormones”
uncontrolled acne
poor self-care
gained about 70-80 pounds
fired for âinconsistentâ work output
irregular sleep schedule
stopped caring about appearance
became low income
moved back in with family
failed out of college
autism spectrum disorder
ADHD
post-traumatic stress symptoms
major depressive disorder
medical trauma
low voice
male-pattern balding
facial hair
an enlarged clitoris
a flat chest
the inability to ever become pregnant
“among other things”
Following a 2017 evaluation that added to Zacchigna’s long list of problems, in 2018 Zacchigna had a “medically unnecessary” partial hysterectomy because “it was covered by provincial insurance, and I liked the idea of not having any more periods or pap exams.”
Zacchigna is upset and angry “that I wasnât screened for the diagnoses I later received before I was prescribed hormones.” Zacchinga was screened prior to the hysterectomy but still blames others for that decision made at age 30.
Anti-transgender activism
Now based in Orillia, Ontario, Zacchigna’s income is now supplemented by making it harder for other adults to get trans healthcare:
“I have spent the last 18 months involved in health care advocacy related to this topic. I’ve presented at webinars, spoken at universities, been featured in news articles, appeared on Podcasts, and written blogs semi-regularly sharing my experiences and my thoughts about how this could have happened.”
In 2022 Zacchigna announced a planned lawsuit:
âIâve been holding this card close to my chest for a while, and Iâm ready to show it. In November 2022, I commenced legal action against the Canadian healthcare providers that facilitated my medical transition in Ontario,â
Zacchigna is now a source for a number of anti-trans activists and outlets, including Michael Shellenberger, the National Post, and Western Standard. Zacchigna is also active in the anti-trans “parental rights” movement, appearing in Lighthouse and the 2023 film No Way Back.
