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Jenn Ross is a Canadian software developer and “autogynephilia” activist. Ross was involved in the transkids.us hoax website, allegedly written by transgender youth. Ross made a gender transition around age 30 and was about 35 when transkids.us went online.

Background

Jennifer E. “Jenn” Ross was born November 11, 1969. Ross was associated with Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario and had computer businesses based in Toronto for many years. Ross’s online ventures have included IMN Internet Services, NetDesign Network Holdings, Inc., and Yallery.com. Ross has also served as Chief Technology Officer at GW Hannaway and Associates in Boulder, Colorado.

Ross’ vaginoplasty in the late 1990s was funded by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, which means it’s very likely Ross participated in the regressive programs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in order to get healthcare. Most adults in Toronto avoid CAMH and use private providers, leaving as the primary clientele those adults who enjoyed the humiliation of regressive CAMH gatekeeping. Ray Blanchard, a CAMH psychologist at the time, has written about the “male gender dysphorics, paedophiles, and fetishists” they saw in their clinic. Blanchard has said about patients like Jenn Ross, “A man without a penis has certain disadvantages in this world, and this is in reality what you’re creating.” That’s why anyone who could avoid CAMH went elsewhere.

In 2024, Ross created a Bluesky account. The profile stated: “Athlete, Volunteer, Sport official, Past Commodore—Vancouver Rowing Club, Past President—BC Sailing Association, Colorectal cancer survivor so far.”

Transkids.us hoax

While living in Boulder, Colorado, Ross was involved in developing transkids.us prior to its December 2004 publication. Like site owner and notorious troll Denise Magner (also known as “Denise Tree” and “Kiira Triea”), Ross is a Linux expert and makes a living as a computer technician and web developer. Magner was 53 years old when the transkids.us hoax site went live.

Ross was one of the key people who comprised 85% of all transkids.us visits prior to the site’s publication. Transkids.us had 122 visits from Ross’ Boulder ISP prior to the December 2004 launch, as well as traffic from the Amsterdam-based IP associated with one of Ross’ businesses.

To date, participants identified by name do not embody the self-identity which transkids.us allegedly represents (“homosexual transsexuals,” which they abbreviate HSTS, who transitoned as minors). The front page of transkids.us states:

Our purpose in making this website is to make the voices of transkids, homosexual transsexuals, directly accessable. We prefer to speak about our lives and issues ourselves and we are not helped by having our lives and issues represented and re-interpretted [sic] by non-homosexual transsexuals whose histories, motivations, etiology and personal understanding of their transsexuality is different from our own. [emphasis added]

According to the site, “transkids.us is written by hsts and is about homosexual transsexuality.” Proponents of this term claim this “type” of trans woman is “naturally feminine” from early on, and exhibits “early, extreme, and effortless femininity.” Sexologist Ray Blanchard claims there is a close relation between computer nerdiness and “autogynephilia,” a sex-fueled mental illness Blanchard created. In fact, Blanchard supporter J. Michael Bailey considers Jenn Ross’ occupation as a computer expert to be a key indicator that someone is not a “homosexual transsexual” under their taxonomy.

Trans people as a group vehemently oppose the term “homosexual transsexual” and its pejorative baggage, because it categorizes trans people by their sex assigned at birth rather than by their gender identity. The term is mainly used by a few old-school sexology holdouts in Toronto and their supporters.

After Denise Magner died in 2012, “autogynephilia” activist Candice Brown Elliott took over the hoax site at age 55. The hoax site finally went offline in late 2025.

References

Staff report (2022). North Sails Dominates 2022 Polar Bear Winter Series. NorthSails https://www.northsails.com/blogs/north-sails-blog/north-sails-dominates-2022-polar-bear-winter-series

Staff report (2022). Rivalry Renewed: James Bay AA Senior Women’s Team Ready To Make History. BC Rugby News https://bcrugby.com/james-bay-aa-senior-womens-team-ready-to-make-history/

Collison, Ken (March 30, 1995) Tea Party Time: Tea party concert broadcast on the internet. Humber Et Cetera https://library.humber.ca/digital-archive/sites/default/files/coven/Mar30_95_Vol27_No24.pdf

Resources

“Transkids” (transkids.us) [archive]

Jenn Ross (jenn.com) [archive]

Jenn Ross (jenn.ca) [archive]

Jenn Ross (jennlog.com) [archive]

NetDesign (netdesign.com) [archive]

Yallery (yallery.com) [archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

Mastodon (mastodon.social)

Octodon (octodon.social)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

  • https://linkedin.com/in/jennr/ [deleted]
  • https://linkedin.ca/in/jennr/ [deleted]

Facebook (facebook.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Helen Lewis is a British author and anti-transgender activist who launders gender critical extremism into mainstream media, particularly at The Atlantic. Lewis is one of the key importers of British anti-trans views into United States media. Lewis is a key media figure from the reactionary center publishing anti-trans writing.

Lewis is a sex segregationist who claims to be writing from a feminist and leftist viewpoint. Lewis demonstrates that anti-trans sentiment extends into every political point of view and movement.

Lewis’ anti-trans views center around:

  • Challenging legal recognition of trans people in systems developed on the basis of sex, particularly opposing the UK’s Gender Recognition Act
  • Maintaining systems of sex segregation, particularly in matters of law, public accommodation, prisons, sports, and other remaining sex-segregated institutions
  • Maintaining the strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called “gender clinics”) in the 20th century
  • Maintaining medico-juridical control over trans and gender diverse people though disease models and medical requirements for legal recognition (sterilization requirements, etc.)
  • Maintaining non-affirming models of care for gender diverse youth, developed last century for “the prevention of transsexualism” and now widely outlawed
  • Promoting anti-trans government reports created as pretexts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, including the Cass Review and the 2025 Trump HHS report.

Lewis frequently promotes and collaborates with other anti-trans activists, notably Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog of the podcast Blocked and Reported. Lewis is their most frequent guest.

Background

Helen Alexandra Lewis was born on September 30, 1983, grew up Catholic in Worcester, and attended St Mary’s School there. Lewis then read English at St Peter’s College, Oxford, followed by a journalism degree from City University London. Lewis no longer identifies as Catholic.

After graduating, Lewis worked at the Daily Mail, then joined the New Statesman in 2010. Lewis married designer and creative director Matthew “Matt” Hasteley in 2010 and wrote professionally as Helen Lewis-Hasteley from 2010 until their divorce in 2013. During the marriage, Lewis met and got involved with someone else, eventually leaving the marriage. Like many gender-critical public figures, this starter marriage seems to have had a significant impact on Lewis’ views about sex and gender.

Lewis married Guardian digital editor Jonathan Haynes in 2015. In 2019 Lewis joined the staff of The Atlantic, which has never had an out trans person listed on their masthead in its 160+ years of existence. In 2020 game developer Ubisoft removed Lewis’ voice from in-game audio in Watch Dogs: Legion due to transphobic views.

Anti-trans activism

In 2013, Lewis devoted a week at the New Statesman to trans issues, inviting trans-supportive authors to publish pieces. By late 2015, Lewis began writing increasingly frequent anti-trans pieces there.

2017 Times op-ed

Lewis has been critical of the UK’s Gender Recognition Act, claiming that what used to be called the “real life test” that lasts for two years should be required for anyone to be legally recognized as their gender. In a piece for The Times titled “A man can’t just say he has turned into a woman,” Lewis wrote:

What the government proposes is a radical rewriting of our understanding of identity: now it’s a question of an internal essence — a soul, if you will. Being a woman or a man is now entirely in your head. In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women’s changing room? That’s why feminists have raised the alarm over the move to self-identification, along with some older trans people who fear that “trendsters” will erode the goodwill they have worked hard to acquire.

Removal from Watch Dogs: Legion

By 2018, Lewis’ anti-trans views were so well-known that Lewis was removed as a featured voice in the game Watch Dogs: Legion. This “cancellation” caused Lewis to start making even more strident and frequent attacks on trans people.

2018 New Statesman op-ed

While writing for The New Statesman, Lewis was accused of laundering transphobic talking points into a major media outlet around the topics of sex segregation and trans healthcare for youth.

Want to talk about how letting people self-define their gender might affect female-only spaces such as prisons and changing rooms? Then you’re a bigot, cloaking your bigotry in the language of “legitimate concerns”. Want to discuss whether we are rushing to medicalise gender non-conforming children because they and their desperate parents have been sold the idea there is a universal “fix” for their profound, genuine unhappiness? These are yet more “legitimate concerns” that can be dismissed, even as medical professionals warn that not every gender non-conforming child will benefit from puberty blockers and (later) medical transition.

We should all be in favour of the right of transgender people to live their lives free of discrimination, harassment and abuse. […] But the right of someone who has been through male puberty, with the consequences for skeleton and muscle development that brings, to compete in women’s sports that depend on raw strength? That’s more difficult. […]

Our ideas about gender are undergoing a profound shift. I hope that they will end up in a place where a boy can wear a princess dress without people assuming he is “really” a girl. 

2018 GQ interview of Jordan Peterson

In September 2018, Lewis interviewed fellow anti-trans activist Jordan Peterson for GQ. It quickly turned into a tense but civil debate that went viral. One of the few times they agree in the 90-minute conversation is on what Lewis calls “transgender issues.” At about 1:09.45, Lewis’s views overlap significantly with Peterson’s anti-trans viewpoints. Lewis repeats the unsupported generalization that “transgender activists” believe they have a “female soul.” Lewis also believes “We are very quick to diagnose and treat children in a way that I find – and not waiting for the research – and that I find concerning.”

The Atlantic

In July 2019, Lewis joined anti-trans publication The Atlantic as a staff writer and began writing anti-trans pieces even more frequently.

References

Serano, Julia (May 7, 2025). Why Do Helen Lewis, Victoria Smith, and Other “Gender Critical” Activists Lie About My Work? Switch Hitter https://juliaserano.substack.com/p/why-do-helen-lewis-victoria-smith

Urquhart, Evan (August 8, 2023). Helen Lewis is Cosplaying as a Moderate. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/ideologue-helen-lewis-cosplays-as-a-moderate

Urquhart, Evan (September 14, 2023). On Reading the Atlantic While Trans. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/newsletter/on-reading-the-atlantic-while-trans

Urquhart, Evan (August 8, 2023). Helen Lewis’ Latest Bait and Switch Misleads Readers on the Risks of Gender-Affirming Care. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/helen-lewis-atlantic-puberty-blockers-hormones-transgender

Urquhart, Evan (May 4, 2023). The Atlantic Really Wants You to Think Europe is Turning Against Trans Youth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/gender-affirming-care-europe-redux

White, Charlotte (May 19, 2023). All Trans Kids Deserve Care: A Response To Helen Lewis. Left Voice https://www.leftvoice.org/all-trans-kids-deserve-care-a-response-to-helen-lewis/

Steinfeld, J. (2020). Not my turf: Helen Lewis argues that vitriol around the trans debate means only extreme voices are being heard. Index on Censorship, 49(1), 34–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306422020917609

Wang, Esther (1 April 2019). The Atlantic has a transphobia problem. Jezebel https://jezebel.com/the-atlantic-has-a-transphobia-problem-1833677331

Jackman, Josh (25 July 2017). Left-wing magazine boss says gender reforms will lead to bearded men exposing their penises to women. PinkNews. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/07/25/backlash-against-the-governments-plans-to-reform-transgender-laws/

Stone, Gemma (28 September 2021). Helen Lewis: “We Need to Record Gender and Sex Separately” An Injustice Magazine https://aninjusticemag.com/helen-lewis-we-need-to-record-gender-and-sex-separately-3717c76a2061

Duffy, Nick (10 November 2020). ‘Gender critical’ journalist cut from Watch Dogs video game after developers discovered her views on trans people. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/11/10/watch-dogs-legion-helen-lewis-transgender-trans-podcast/

Muncy, Julie (11 November 2020) Ubisoft Removes a Controversial Voice in Watch Dogs: Legion. WIRED https://www.wired.com/story/war-dogs-legion-podcasts/

Duffy, Nick (26 July 2017). What will actually happen if the UK adopts a ‘self-declaration’ gender recognition law? PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/07/26/what-will-actually-happen-if-the-uk-adopts-a-self-declaration-gender-recognition-law/

Jackman, Josh (25 July 2017). Left-wing magazine boss says gender reforms will lead to bearded men exposing their penises to women. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/07/25/backlash-against-the-governments-plans-to-reform-transgender-laws/

Books

Lewis, Helen (2025). The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea. Thesis, ISBN 979-8217178582

Lewis, Helen (2021). Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights. Vintage, ISBN  978-1784709730 alternatively titled Difficult Women: An Imperfect History of Feminism

Lewis, Helen [presenter] (2021). The Spark: 11 Ideas to Change the World. BBC Audio, ASIN B091FTHY11

  • with Emily Oster, Hilary Cottam, Paul Krugman, Roy Baumeister, Margaret Heffernan, Stuart Russell, Peter Macfadyen, Pragya Agarwal, Paul Collier and John Kay, Kiran Gill, Chris Daw

Selected anti-trans writing by Lewis

Lewis, Helen (March 22, 2026). The Death of Millennial Feminism. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/lindy-west-millennial-feminism/686488/

Lewis, Helen (September 24, 2025). The Gaza Left and the Gender Left. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/uk-your-party-corbyn-sultana/684343/

Lewis, Helen (September 2, 2025). The Arrest That Demonstrates Europe’s Free-Speech Problem. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/09/graham-linehan-arrest-europe-free-speech/684081/

Lewis, Helen (June 29, 2025). The Liberal Misinformation Bubble About Youth Gender Medicine. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/transgender-youth-skrmetti/683350/

Lewis, Helen (June 9, 2025). The Trump Administration’s Nasty Campaign Against Trans People. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/trump-transgender-treatments-gender/683046/

Lewis, Helen (April 18, 2025). Britain Rules on What a Woman Is. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/britain-rules-woman-supreme-court/682511/

Lewis, Helen (March 30, 2025). The White Lotus Is the First Great Post-‘Woke’ Piece of Art. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/white-lotus-is-post-woke-art/682231/

Lewis, Helen (February 24, 2025). The Internet’s Favorite Sex Researcher. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/aella-internet-sex-researcher/681813/

Lewis, Helen (December 30, 2024). What the Left Refused to Understand About Women’s Sports. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/democrats-trans-rights-sports/681130/

Lewis, Helen (December 16, 2024). The Push for Puberty Blockers Got Ahead of the Research. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/why-supreme-court-puberty-blockers/680998/

Lewis, Helen (November 10, 2024). The Democrats Need an Honest Conversation on Gender Identity. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/democrats-dishonest-gender-conversation-2024-election/680604/

Lewis, Helen (October 23, 2024). The Positions That the Democrats Won’t Defend. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/trump-rachel-levine-trans-issues/680333/

Lewis, Helen (August 9, 2024). The Olympics Could Have Avoided the Ugly Boxing Debate. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/olympic-boxing-gender-debate-imane-khelif/679410/

Lewis, Helen (April 12, 2024). Britain Is Leaving the U.S. Gender-Medicine Debate Behind. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/cass-report-youth-gender-medicine/678031/

Lewis, Helen (March 19, 2024). The Worst Argument for Youth Transition. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/trans-youth-transition-andrea-long-chu/677796/

Lewis, Helen (December 8, 2023). The Left Can’t Afford to Go Mad. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-biden-democratic-left-opposition/676141/

Lewis, Helen (August 8, 2023). The Gender War Is Over in Britain. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/uk-trans-rights-labour-party/674944/

Lewis, Helen (June 18, 2023). The Feminists Insisting That Women Are Built Differently. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/reactionary-feminism-differences-between-sexes/674447/

Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Only Way Out of the Child-Gender Culture War. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/texas-puberty-blockers-gender-care-transgender-rights/673941/

Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Hogwarts Legacy Boycott That Wasn’t. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/hogwarts-legacy-game-jk-rowling-transphobia-accusation/673583/

Lewis, Helen (February 15, 2023). What Happens When Politicians Brush Off Hard Questions About Gender. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/nicola-sturgeon-resignation-scotland-transgender-bill/673067/

Lewis, Helen (September 2, 2022). What If Joan of Arc Wasn’t a Woman? The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/joan-of-arc-nonbinary-globe/671321/

Lewis, Helen (August 18, 2022). How Social Justice Became a New Religion. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/social-justice-new-religion/671172/

Lewis, Helen (May 14, 2022). The Abortion Debate Is Suddenly About ‘People,’ Not ‘Women.’ The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/abortion-rights-debate-women-gender-neutral-language/629863/

Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2022). The Twitching Generation. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/social-media-illness-teen-girls/622916/

Lewis, Helen (26 October 2021). In Defense of Saying ‘Pregnant Women.’ The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/pregnant-women-people-feminism-language/620468/ [headline stealth edited to Why I’ll Keep Saying ‘Pregnant Women’]

Lewis, Helen (13 October 2021). Dave Chappelle’s Rorschach Test. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/dave-chappelle-the-closer/620364/

Lewis, Helen (March 16, 2021). The Identity Hoaxers. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/03/krug-carrillo-dolezal-social-munchausen-syndrome/618289/

Lewis, Helen (April 2021). What Happened to Jordan Peterson? The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/what-happened-to-jordan-peterson/618082/

Lewis, Helen (July 14, 2020). How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/cancel-culture-and-problem-woke-capitalism/614086/

Lewis, Helen (July 2020). Why Millennial Harry Potter Fans Reject JK Rowling. [stealth edited to How J. K. Rowling Became Voldemort] The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/why-millennial-harry-potter-fans-reject-jk-rowling/613870/

Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2020). Feminism’s Purity Wars. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/feminism-mens-rights-activism-cancel-culture/607057/

Lewis, Helen (26 February 2020). Things You Only Know If You’re Divorced Before 30. Grazia https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/divorce-before-30/

Lewis, Helen (22 May 2019). How an email with a secret location led me to the most vibrant feminist meeting of the year. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/05/how-email-secret-location-led-me-most-vibrant-feminist-meeting-year

Lewis, Helen (3 January 2019). Maria Miller called me a fake feminist over gender self-ID. Now she says I was right all along. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2019/01/maria-miller-called-me-fake-feminist-over-gender-self-id-now-she-says-i

Lewis, Helen (30 October 2018). My experience of interviewing Jordan Peterson. GQ https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/helen-lewis-jordan-peterson

Lewis, Helen (17 October 2018). The problem that gender self-ID is designed to solve is real but the debate has failed. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2018/10/problem-gender-self-id-designed-solve-real-debate-has-failed

Lewis, Helen (20 April 2018). The madness of our gender debate, where feminists defend slapping a 60-year-old woman. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/04/madness-our-gender-debate-where-feminists-defend-slapping-60-year-old

Lewis, Helen (19 March 2018). From immigration to gender, the left is avoiding the hard work of persuasion. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2018/03/immigration-gender-left-avoiding-hard-work-persuasion

Lewis, Helen (25 July 2017). A man can’t just say he has turned into a woman. The Times (London) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/a-man-can-t-just-say-he-has-turned-into-a-woman-m5lltcgv7

Lewis, Helen (28 October 2016). Would you let your child change their gender? The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2016/10/would-you-let-your-child-change-their-gender

Lewis, Helen (27 May 2016). So many teenage girls don’t want to identify as girls any more. And who can blame them? The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2016/05/so-many-teenage-girls-don-t-want-identify-girls-any-more-and-who-can-blame

Lewis, Helen (28 January 2016). Deciding which jail to send a trans prisoner to isn’t always clear-cut. And accusations of bigotry don’t help. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2016/01/deciding-which-jail-send-trans-prisoner-isn-t-always-clear-cut-and-accusations

Lewis, Helen (27 October 2015). What the row over banning Germaine Greer is really about. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/10/what-row-over-banning-germaine-greer-really-about

Lewis, Helen (14 January 2013). Introducing Trans Issues Week. The New Statesmanhttps://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/introducing-trans-issues-week

Media

British GQ with Jordan Peterson and Helen Lewis (October 30, 2018). Jordan Peterson: “There was plenty of motivation to take me out. It just didn’t work.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZYQpge1W5s

Resources

GLAAD Accountability Project (glaad.org/gap)

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Helen Lewis Writes (helenlewiswrites.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)

The Guardian (theguardian.com)

The New Statesman (newstatesman.com)

  • Helen Lewis
  • newstatesman.com/helen-lewis [archive]
  • blog
  • newstatesman.com/blogs/helen-lewis-hasteley [archive]

Tumblr (tumblr.com)

Flickr (flickr.com)

  • lewishasteley [deleted in 2022 in response to this profile]

Instagram (instagram.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.

India Willoughby is an English journalist and media personality. Willoughby is Britain’s first transgender national television newsreader and the first transgender co-host of an all-women talk show, Loose Women.

Background

Willoughby was born September 2, 1965 in Carlisle, Cumbria and attended Trinity School in Shaw, Newbury.

Willoughby began working in journalism in 1986. Willoughby trained as a journalist (NCTJ) in newspapers before moving into radio and then television. 

After presenting the news for ITV from 1999 to 2010, Willoughby then transitioned, going public in 2015 before returning to ITV in 2016.

In 2017, Willoughby was a guest on BBC’s Woman’s Hour. Host Jenni Murray asked several pointed questions, then wrote an op-ed telling trans women to stop calling themselves “real women.”

Willoughby then presented on Channel 5 from 2017 to 2018 before returning to ITV in 2018. Willoughby appeared on Celebrity Big Brother 2018.

Willoughby has made a number of controversial statements and often gets into arguments on social media. At one point the death threats against Willoughby got so bad that the UK’s counter-terrorism unit got involved.

References

Akinwumi, Stella (21 February 2023). Loose Women star India Willoughby receives vile ‘hand delivered’ death threat: ‘It’s like a letter from a horror film’. Metro https://metro.co.uk/2023/02/21/loose-women-india-willoughby-receives-hand-delivered-death-threat-18323258/

Rufo, Yasmin; Sandford, Daniel (21 February 2023). Neo-Nazi threats probed by anti-terrorism police. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64720973

Bedigan, Mike (February 3, 2023). India Willoughby: Toxic transgender debate is driven by media misinformation. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/india-scotland-bbc-stirling-catholics-b2274994.html

Gayle, LaToya (January 23, 2023). ‘I’m more of a woman than JK Rowling’: India Willoughby goes viral amid dispute with Harry Potter author. Glasgow World https://www.glasgowworld.com/news/people/jk-rowling-india-willoughby-rally-3997628

Duke, Simon (7 August 2018). Who is India Willoughby? A guide to the Celebrity Big Brother contestant. ChronicleLive http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/tv/who-india-willoughby-guide-celebrity-14105564

Beresford, Meka (9 January 2018). Viewers slam India Willoughby after she compares drag to blackface. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/01/09/viewers-slam-india-willoughby-after-she-compares-drag-to-blackface/

Butterworth, Benjamin (3 January 2018). India Willoughby’s emotional transgender coming out story. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/01/03/who-is-india-willoughby-transgender-loose-women-celebrity-big-brother-2018/

Dyke, Peter; Gleave, Ed (19 September 2017). Channel 5’s India Willoughby becomes victim of online abuse for being transgender. Daily Star https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/india-willoughby-channel-5-transgender-17024706

Murray, Jenni (March 5, 2017). Be trans, be proud — but don’t call yourself a “real woman.” The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/be-trans-be-proud-but-dont-call-yourself-a-real-woman-frtld7q5c

Staff report (March 5, 2017). Jenni Murray trans women article criticised. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39173398

Dene, Sarah (16 November 2016). Loose Women’s India Willougby is first transwoman to host all-female talk show. Metro https://metro.co.uk/2016/11/16/transgender-journalist-india-willougby-to-make-landmark-appearance-on-loose-women-as-co-host-6261562/

Wakefield, Lily (23 June 2021). India Willoughby accuses GB News of ‘opening the gates of hell’ for trans people. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/06/23/india-willoughby-quits-gb-news-trans-transphobia-dan-wootton/

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Ellen Pasternack is a British biologist, sex segregationist, science communicator, and anti-transgender activist. Pasternack is an advisor to Sex Matters and has written for several anti-trans publications.

Background

Ellen Pasternack attended University of Oxford, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2016, a master’s degree in 2017, and a doctorate in 2023. Pasternack’s birthing parent’s background is German and Ashkenazi.

Anti-transgender activism

Pasternack has written for anti-trans publications, including The Critic, UnHerd, New Statesman, The Spectator, The Telegraph, Feminist Current, CapX, and Works in Progress.

Pasternack’s activism around trans people emerged in 2018, when Pasternack was upset that the Oxford University Student Union uninvited Jenni Murray in the wake of Murray’s 2017 anti-trans column, “Be trans, be proud — but don’t call yourself a “real woman.”

In 2022 Fiona MacKenzie, Louise Perry, Olivia Robey, and Pasternack joined forces for The OH Research Ltd d/b/a The Other Half, a UK nonprofit researching “practical, workable policy in the interests of women.”

References

Selected writing by Pasternack

Pasternack, Ellen (February 28, 2023). The uncomfortable truths of Hag feminism. The New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2023/02/uncomfortable-truths-hag-feminism

Pasternack, Ellen (May 3, 2023). Here’s why human sex is binary. UnHerd https://unherd.com/thepost/heres-why-human-sex-is-binary/

Pasternack, Ellen (June 14, 2022). Being ‘intersex’ isn’t that common. UnHerd https://unherd.com/thepost/is-the-trans-lobby-manipulating-science/

Pasternack, Ellen (May 5, 2022). You can’t be born in the wrong body. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/05/you-cant-be-born-in-the-wrong-body/

Pasternack, Ellen (22 September, 2021). “No debate” no longer an option. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/no-debate-no-longer-an-option/

Wheater, Emily; Pasternack, Ellen (November 2020). Transitioning to a medical scandal. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2020/transitioning-to-a-medical-scandal/

Pasternack, Ellen (November 2020). Written evidence submitted by Ms Ellen Pasternack (GRA1406) https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/17525/pdf/

Resources

Weebly (weebly.com)

Substack (substack.com)

The Other Half (theotherhalf.uk)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Medium (medium.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Sex Matters (sex-matters.org)

The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)

UnHerd (unherd.com)

CapX (capx.co)

New Statesman (newstatesman.com)

Cherwell (cherwell.org)

The Spectator (spectator.com)

The Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk)

Feminist Current (feministcurrent.com)

Michael Shellenberger is an American author, environmental policy analyst, politician, and anti-transgender activist.

Background

Michael D. “Mike” Shellenberger was born in 1971 in Colorado and grew up in Greeley. Shellenberger has three siblings born to parent Nancy and two step-siblings via stepparent, Don (1942–2021). Shellenberger graduated from Greeley Central High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Earlham College in 1993. In 1996 Shellenberger earned a master’s degree from University of California, Santa Cruz.

Shellenberger is married to sociologist and policy analyst Helen J. Lee Shellenberger (born 1975). They have two children, Joaquin B. Rosman Shellenberger (born 1999) and Kestrel Shellenberger (born 2005). They live in Berkeley, California.

Environmental policy work

In 2003 Shellenberger co-founded the Apollo Alliance, an umbrella organization now called BlueGreen Alliance.

Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus founded market research firm American Environics. They wanted to look at “mistaken assumptions in progressive political movements.”

After working in public relations, Shellenberger co-founded the Breakthrough Institute with Ted Nordhaus in 2003. In 2016, Shellenberger left Breakthrough to found Environmental Progress, focused on keeping American nuclear power plants online.

Shellenberger is a cofounder of anti-drug organization California Peace Coalition and in 2022 founded Shellenberger LLC.

Anti-progressivism

Like many anti-trans people, Shellenberger began as a progressive, then by being critical of progressive political positions, primarily around the environment. Twenty years later, Shellenberger is among many self-described “centrists” whose anti-progressivism has curdled into conservatism.

Shellenberger is author of the 2021 book San Fransicko: How Progressives Ruin Cities.

Political career

Shellenberger ran for California Governor in 2018 as an independent, coming in 9th in the primary with 31,692 votes, or 0.5%.

In 2022 Shellenberger came in third in the primary with 290,286 votes, or 4.1%.

Anti-trans activism

Shellenberger is a heavy X/Twitter user and was hand-picked by Elon Musk in 2022 to review non-public discussions by former Twitter employees and current users. Anti-trans activist Bari Weiss brought Shellenberger on to write for The Free Press in 2022.

In 2023, Shellenberger started being more open and militant about anti-transgender views. Shellenberger has a Substack called Public which frequently platforms anti-transgender views and guests, notably Leighton Woodhouse, Mia Hughes, and Alex Gutentag. Most of the regular contributors were associated with Shellenberger’s previous project Environmental Progress.

References

“Ashton, Mia”; Shellenberger, Michael (May 25, 2023). Why The Media Attacks Detransitioners. Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-the-media-attacks-detransitioners

Shellenberger, Michael (May 4, 2023). Join The Pro-Freedom Resistance. Public https://public.substack.com/p/join-the-pro-freedom-resistance

Shellenberger, Michael; Woodhouse, Leighton (April 10, 2023). VIDEO: “Oh my God” – San Francisco Students React To Trans “Kidnapping” Of Swimmer Riley Gaines. Public https://public.substack.com/p/video-oh-my-god-san-francisco-students

Klett, Leah MarieAnn (April 10, 2023). Michael Shellenberger tells Joe Rogan he returned to Christianity in response to societal ‘hatred, anger.’ Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/michael-shellenberger-tells-joe-rogan-why-hes-a-christian.html

Shellenberger, Michael; Woodhouse, Leighton; Rowley, Madeleine (April 8, 2023). Why Trans Activists Attack Women. Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-trans-activists-attack-women

Redmond, Tim (April 3, 2023). Michael Shellenberger, who says progressives ruin cities, has alarming transphobic tweets. 48 Hills https://48hills.org/2023/04/michael-shellenberger-who-says-progressives-ruin-cities-has-alarming-transphobic-tweets/

Shellenberger, Michael (March 27, 2023). Why are we sterilizing children? Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-are-we-sterilizing-children

Shellenberger, Michael (March 29, 2023). “We Can’t Even Agree On What A Woman Is.” Public https://public.substack.com/p/we-cant-even-agree-on-what-a-woman

Shellenberger, Michael (March 22, 2023). Why This Detransitioner Is Suing Her Health Care Providers. Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-this-detransitioner-is-suing

Power, Nina (March 16, 2023). “If You Had Asked Me At 11 If I Wanted To Be A Boy, I Would Have Said ‘Yes.’” Public https://public.substack.com/p/if-you-had-asked-me-at-11-if-i-wanted

Power, Nina (March 16, 2023). Need To Keep Masses Afraid Is Behind Elite Embrace Of Wokeism And Censorship. Public https://public.substack.com/p/need-to-keep-masses-afraid-is-behind

Shellenberger, Michael; Woodhouse, Leighton (February 13, 2023). Normies Of The World, Unite! Public https://public.substack.com/p/normies-of-the-world-unite

Woodhouse, Leighton (February 13, 2023). What Happened to the Left? Public https://public.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-the-left

Shellenberger, Michael (December 10, 2022). The Twitter Files, Part 4 https://twitter.com/shellenberger/status/1601720455005511680

Shellenberger, Michael (November 11, 2021). Why Wokeism Is A Religion. Public https://public.substack.com/p/why-wokeism-is-a-religion

Shellenberger, Michael (March 20, 2013). The Ecology of Obesity. The Breakthrough Institute https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/food-agriculture-environment/the-ecology-of-obesity

Satff report (February 17, 2013). Greeley Central High School graduate waxes philosophic on energy. Greeley Tribune https://www.greeleytribune.com/2013/02/17/greeley-central-high-school-graduate-waxes-philosophic-on-energy/

Armstron, David (August 5, 1997). Progressive PR. SFGate https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Progressive-PR-3239880.php

Resources

Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)

Desmog (desmog.com)

  • Michael Shellenberger
  • Excellent overview of Shellenberger’s environmental track record
  • Traces the origins of Shellenberger’s political shift to the far right

SourceWatch (sourcewatch.org)

Michael Shellenberger (shellenberger.org)

Shellenberger for Governor (shellenbergerforgovernor.com)

Breakthrough Institute (thebreakthrough.org)

Lumina Strategies (luminastrategies.com) [archive]

Business Ethics Network (businessethicsnetwork.org)

Communication Works (communicationworks.org) [archive]

Institute for Global Communications (igc.org)

Apollo Alliance (apolloalliance.org) [archive]

California Peace Coalition (californiapeacecoalition.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • ShellenbergerMD [transferred to shellenberger in 2023]
  • shellenberger

Substack (substack.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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 don’t 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 “workplace conditions.”
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 – and taking sides in – 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 O’Brien
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 Öz, the Trump Administration head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, summoned representatives of major medical societies to discuss their positions on what Öz 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.
  • @Aaron For more context, this story by my colleague Nick Confessore has a lot of detail. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/magazine/scotus-transgender-care-tennessee-skrmetti.html You mention stifling the debate around gender medicine. In fact, before these questions ever reach an academic journal, they can be stifled. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health, for instance, has blocked its own review of the evidence from getting out.
  • @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.

References

Urquhart, Evan (March 17, 2026). New York Times Reporter Bemoans “Lack of Viewpoints” in Major Medical Journals. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/new-york-times-conspiracy-theory-jeremy-peters

Reed, Erin (November 26, 2024). New York Times Journalist Says Solution For Trans Rights Is To Be Nicer To JK Rowling. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/new-york-times-journalist-says-solution

Bolies, Corbin (March 7, 2023). The New York Times’ Trans Coverage Debacle Was Years in the Making. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-new-york-times-trans-coverage-debacle-was-years-in-the-making

Klein, Charlotte (February 21, 2023). Dozens of New York Times journalists hit staff union for its defense of trans coverage criticism. Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-journalists-letter-guild

Koenig, Melissa (February 22, 2023). Gray lady at war! Top New York Times journalists attack paper’s union for backing woke staff who signed open letter denouncing its coverage of trans issues. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11781669/New-York-Times-journalists-attack-papers-union-backing-woke-staff-trans-stories.html

Klein, Charlotte (February 27, 2023). Inside the New York Times blowup over transgender coverage. Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-trans-coverage-debate

Romenesko, Jim (May 24, 2010). Peters to cover newspapers, magazines for NYT. Poynter https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2010/peters-to-cover-newspapers-magazines-for-nyt/

Reilly, Patrick (February 15, 2023). New York Times accused of ‘editorial bias’ in coverage of transgender issues. New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/02/15/new-york-times-blasted-for-editorial-bias-in-transgender-coverage/

Bolies, Corbin; Cartwright, Lachlan (February 16, 2023). New York Times blasts staffers who condemned paper’s trans coverage. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-times-blast-staffers-who-condemned-papers-trans-coverage

Eckert, AJ. What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth. Science-Based Medicine https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-the-new-york-times-gets-wrong-about-puberty-blockers-for-transgender-youth/

USPATH and WPATH respond to NY Times article “They Paused Puberty, But Is There a Cost? published on November 14, 2022 (PDF). https://www.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2022/USPATHWPATH%20Statement%20re%20Nov%2014%202022%20NYT%20Article%20Nov%2022%202022.pdf

Urquhart, Evan (November 17, 2022). The NYT’s big piece on puberty blockers mucked up the most important point about them. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/puberty-blockers-side-effects-controversy.html

Oladipo, Gloria (February 18, 2023). Nearly 1,000 contributors protest New York Times’ coverage of trans people. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/new-york-times-contributors-open-letter-protest-anti-trans-coverage

Migdon, Brooke (February 15, 2023). NYT contributors blast paper’s coverage of transgender people. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3859501-nyt-contributors-blast-papers-coverage-of-transgender-people/

Yurcaba, Jo (February 16, 2023). N.Y. Times contributors and LGBTQ advocates send open letters criticizing paper’s trans coverage. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/ny-contributors-lgbtq-advocates-send-open-letters-criticizing-papers-t-rcna70800

Paul, Larisha (February 15, 2023). Gabrielle Union, Tommy Dorfman, more accuse NYT of ‘Harmful’ coverage of trans people. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/new-york-times-coverage-of-trans-people-open-letter-1234680299/

Kalish, Lil. These New York Times contributors say the paper’s coverage of gender issues is hurting trans people. BuzzFeed News. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lilkalish/trans-writers-open-letter-nyt-biased-coverage

Hays, Gabriel (February 15, 2023). Celebs rip into New York Times for ‘irresponsible’ transgender coverage: Demand end to ‘both sides’ focus. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/celebs-rip-new-york-times-irresponsible-transgender-coverage-demand-end-both-sides-focus

Dunlap, David W. (June 19, 2017). How The Times gave ‘gay’ its own voice (again). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

Klein, Charlotte (February 15, 2023). Nearly 200 New York Times contributors are denouncing the paper’s anti-trans coverage. Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-york-times-trans-coverage

Davies, Rachel (February 16, 2023). The NYT knew what it was doing with its ‘Defense of J.K. Rowling’. The Mary Sue. https://www.themarysue.com/the-nyt-knew-what-it-was-doing-with-its-defense-of-j-k-rowling/

Warrington, James (February 16, 2023). How the New York Times was engulfed by a trans culture war. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/15/new-york-times-accused-writers-anti-trans-bigotry/

Mastrangelo, Dominick (February 16, 2023). NYT editors: Paper ‘will not tolerate’ its journalists protesting coverage of transgender people. The Hill. https://thehill.com/homenews/3862101-nyt-editors-paper-will-not-tolerate-its-journalists-protesting-coverage-of-transgender-people/amp/

Smith, Ben (October 18, 2022). Inside the identity crisis at The New York Times. Semafor https://www.semafor.com/article/10/18/2022/inside-the-identity-crisis-at-the-new-york-times

Remnick, David (December 22, 2017). A conversation with A.G. Sulzberger, the new leader of the New York Times. New York https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conversation-with-a-g-sulzberger-the-new-leader-of-the-new-york-times

Ember, Sydney (December 14, 2017). A.G. Sulzberger, 37, to Take Over as New York Times Publisher. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/business/media/a-g-sulzberger-new-york-times-publisher.html

Barron, James (October 20, 2016). A.G. Sulzberger: leading change at The New York Times as journalism evolves. The New York Times. http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2018/02/ag_sulzberger_new_york_times_p.html

Rogoway, Mike (February 9, 2018). A.G. Sulzberger, New York Times’ publisher and former Oregonian reporter, talks journalism in the digital age. The Oregonian.

Wemple, Erik (December 14, 2017). A.G. Sulzberger to assume publisher role at New York Times on Jan. 1. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/12/14/a-g-sulzberger-to-assume-publisher-role-at-new-york-times-on-jan-1/

Benton, Joshua (May 15, 2014). The leaked New York Times innovation report is one of the key documents of this media age. NiemanLab. https://www.niemanlab.org/2014/05/the-leaked-new-york-times-innovation-report-is-one-of-the-key-documents-of-this-media-age/

Snyder, Gabriel (February 12, 2017). The New York Times claws its way into the future. Wired. https://www.wired.com/2017/02/new-york-times-digital-journalism/

Levitz, Eric (October 19, 2016). A.G. Sulzberger Vanquishes His Cousins, Becomes Deputy Publisher of the New York Times. New York. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/10/a-g-sulzberger-becomes-deputy-publisher-of-new-york-times.html

Benton, Joshua. This is The New York Times’ digital path forward. NiemanLab. https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/01/this-is-the-new-york-times-digital-path-forward/

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

Selected trans coverage by Peters

Peters, Jeremy W. (March 16, 2026). In Tense Meeting, Dr. Oz Pressed Medical Societies on Trans Care for Teens. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/us/politics/dr-oz-transgender-meeting.html

Peters, Jeremy W. (November 26, 2024). Transgender Activists Question the Movement’s Confrontational Approach. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/us/politics/transgender-activists-rights.html

Peters, Jeremy W. (November 2, 2024). In Shift From 2020, Identity Politics Loses Its Grip on the Country. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/02/us/politics/election-2024-harris-progressives.html

Goldmacher, Shane [Peters contributed reporting] (October 8, 2024). Trump and Republicans Bet Big on Anti-Trans Ads Across the Country. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/us/politics/trump-republican-transgender-ads.html

Nagourney, Adam; Peters, Jeremy W. (April 16, 2023). How a campaign against transgender rights mobilized conservatives. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/us/politics/transgender-conservative-campaign.html

Peters, Jeremy W. (March 29, 2021). Why Transgender Girls Are Suddenly the G.O.P.’s Culture-War Focus. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/us/politics/transgender-girls-sports.html

Peters, Jeremy W. (November 3, 2019). A Conservative Push to Make Trans Kids and School Sports the Next Battleground in the
Culture War. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/us/politics/kentuckytransgender-school-sports.html

Peters, Jeremy W. (December 15, 2009). Transgender State Workers Expected to Gain Bias Protection. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/nyregion/16transgender.html

Davis, Julie Hirschfeld; Cooper, Helene [Peters contributed reporting] (December 15, 2009). Trump Says Transgender People Will Not Be Allowed in the Military. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/us/politics/trump-transgender-military.html

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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New York Times (nytimes.com)

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Instagram (instagram.com)

Michael Seto is a Canadian evolutionary psychologist whose work focuses on sex and gender minorities. In 2025, Seto was named incoming editor of anti-trans journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.

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 joined the International Academy of Sex Research and the editorial board at the journal they control, Archives of Sexual Behavior. Seto is a senior scientist and Director of the Forensic Mental Health Research, IMHR.

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]

Sullum, Jacob (July 2011). Perverted Justice: Sex offender laws represent the triumph of outrage over reason. Reason https://reason.com/2011/06/14/perverted-justice-2/

(March 30, 2010). Ontario police arrest 31 in massive child-porn bust. National Post https://nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1256779 [excluded from archives] 2010-03-30.

McIlroy, Anne (February 27, 2009). Hot and bothered. The Globe and Mail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hot-and-bothered/article714183/

Staff report (May 4, 2007). Ont. won’t fund pedophile study. CTVNews http://www.ctvnews.ca/ontario-won-t-fund-study-that-pays-sex-offenders-1.239954 [archive]

Staff report (May 4, 2007). Group objects to study that will pay sex offenders. CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/05/04/pedophilia-study.html

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]

Anti-trans coverage

Editors (July 2025). Announcement: Introducing Michael C. Seto, Incoming Editor-in-Chief of Archives of Sexual Behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior https://link.springer.com/journal/10508/updates/27789902

Singal, Jesse (November 17, 2025). Is It Okay To Call Jeffrey Epstein An Ephebophile? Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/is-it-okay-to-call-jeffrey-epstein

Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (August 24, 2016). Beyond Gay and Straight: New Paper Says Sexual Orientation Is Much More Complicated. Reason https://reason.com/2016/08/24/beyond-gay-straight-sexual-orientation/

Singal, Jesse (August 23, 2016). Being Into Middle-Aged People Is Probably a Sexual Orientation. The Cut https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/liking-middle-aged-people-is-probably-a-sexual-orientation.html

Selected writing by Seto

This list is limited to Seto’s writing in relation to trans and gender diverse people.

Seto, M.C. (2025). A Vision for Archives of Sexual Behavior. Archives of Sexual Behavior 54, 2387–2388 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03257-5

Seto, M. C., Leroux, E. J., Kane, L., Ashbaugh, A. R., Lalumière, 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), 411–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2024.2353303

Seto, M. C., Curry, S., Dawson, S. J., Bradford, J. M. W., & Chivers, M. L. (2020). Concordance of Paraphilic Interests and Behaviors. The Journal of Sex Research, 58(4), 424–437. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2020.1830018

Seto, M. C. (2016). The Puzzle of Male Chronophilias. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0799-y

Chivers, M. L., Seto, M. C., Lalumière, M. L., Laan, E., & Grimbos, T. (2010). Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal among men and women: A meta-analysis. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 5-56. 10.1007/s10508-009-9556-9

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), 1108–1121. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1108

Seto, M. C. (2001). Book review: Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior Vol. 30, Iss. 1,  (Feb 2001): 83-85. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026472808270

Seto, M. C., Khattar, N. A., Lalumière, M. L. & Quinsey, V. L. (1997). Deception and sexual strategy in psychopathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 22 (3), 301-307.

Freund, K., Seto, M. C., & Kuban, M. (1996). Two types of fetishism. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34(9), 687–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(96)00047-2

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

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University of Toronto (utoronto.ca)

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X/Twitter (x.com)

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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 (1914–1984) 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.

2022 New York Times article

In 2022, Burleton was photographed and interviewed for a New York Times article on puberty blockers, written by Megan Twohey and Christina Jewett. The piece, titled “They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost?,” culminated in a 2023 newsroom revolt against management during the Times’ anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s.

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 “game-changing,” she said.
Back home, Ms. Burleton prodded pediatric endocrinologists to adopt the practice for their patients. “We have a chance to prevent them from being emotionally broken,” 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.

References

Rook, Erin (November 18, 2022). Reckless NY Times reporting fuels disinformation about trans youth. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/11/reckless-ny-times-reporting-fuels-disinformation-trans-youth/

Dolan, Ciara (February 28, 2019). The TransActive Gender Project Expands the Scope of Its Advocacy for Trans and Gender-Diverse Youth. Portland Mercury https://www.portlandmercury.com/Feature/2019/02/28/26114044/the-transactive-gender-project-expands-the-scope-of-its-advocacy-for-trans-and-gender-diverse-youth

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

Rook, Erin (July 18, 2013). Hidden in plain view: A trans activist reflects on performing at MichFest. PQ Monthly https://erinrook.com/2013/07/18/hidden-in-plain-view-a-trans-activist-reflects-on-performing-at-michfest/

Boyd, Helen (September 23, 2007) SoCo Keynote: Jenn Burleton. My Husband Betty http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/wordPressNEW/2007/09/23/soco-keynote-jenn-burleton/

Johnson, Micheline (August 1989). IFGE Convention San Francisco, 1989 A Transsexual Viewpoint A Report with Comment. Twenty Minutes via The XX (Twenty) Club https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/downloads/8336h2050

Anti-trans coverage

Twohey, Megan; Jewett, Christina (November 14, 2022). They Paused Puberty, but Is There a Cost? New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/health/puberty-blockers-transgender.html [archive]

Resources

Burleton Education (burletoneducation.com)

TransActive (TransActiveOnline.org) [archive]

Lewis & Clark Graduate School (graduate.lclark.edu)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

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YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

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Kara Dansky is an American lawyer, sex segregationist, and anti-transgender extremist. Dansky is a member of Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) and served as president of the American chapter of Women’s Declaration International.

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 Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice
  • Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s 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.

Anti-trans activism

Dansky served on the board of the Women’s Liberation Front from 2016 to 2020.

In November 2021, Dansky published The Abolition of Sex: How the ‘Transgender’ Agenda Harms Women and Girls.

In 2023, Dansky published The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls.

In 2024, Dansky released the Democratic Women’s Declaration.

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:

References

Pauly, Madison (February 5, 2026). Meet the Mastermind Behind Trump’s Definition of “Woman.” Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/trump-anti-trans-may-mailman-sports-ban-womens-bill-of-rights-terf/

Osmundson, Joseph (April 24, 2023). Opinion: How ‘women’s rights’ activists create language that dehumanizes trans people. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/culture/adult-human-female-language-women-249557

The Atlas Society (January 5, 2022). Event: The Atlas Society Asks Kara Dansky. https://www.atlassociety.org/events/the-atlas-society-asks-kara-dansky

Archibald, Ashley (February 10, 2020). Confronting a WoLF at the public library’s door. Real Change News https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2020/02/10/confronting-wolf-public-library-s-door

Schmidt, Samantha (February 7, 2020). Conservatives find unlikely ally in fighting transgender rights: Radical feminists Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/02/07/radical-feminists-conservatives-transgender-rights/

Wax-Thibodeaux, Emily; Schmidt, Samantha (January 22, 2020). South Dakota bill restricting medical treatment for transgender youth passes first major vote”. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2020/01/22/3ec1c824-3d26-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html

January, Brianna (May 10, 2019). “Doreen Denny takes anti-trans talking points she used at Heritage Foundation to bigger platform: Fox News”. Media Matters for America.

Fitzsimmons, Tim (January 29, 2019). Conservative group hosts anti-transgender panel of feminists ‘from the left.’ NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/conservative-group-hosts-anti-transgender-panel-feminists-left-n964246

Anti-trans coverage

Pearce, Georgia (December 9, 2025). Gender-critical feminist tells GB News she fears for her life at upcoming campaign event after Charlie Kirk’s death: ‘I’m terrified.’ GBNews https://www.gbnews.com/news/us/charlie-kirk-murder-gender-critical-feminist-tells-gb-news-she-fears-for-her-life

Bartosch, Jo (April 6, 2024). Realism is not the same as self-pity. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/realism-is-not-the-same-as-self-pity/

Showalter, Brandon (February 13, 2024). The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls’ (book review). Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/voices/the-reckoning-how-the-democrats-and-the-left-betrayed-women.html

Layton, Miles (April 4, 2023). Supporters of women’s rights ‘reject belief systems’ that humans can change sex”. Athens News https://www.athensnews.com/news/supporters-of-womens-rights-reject-belief-systems-that-humans-can-change-sex/article_49894112-d2e5-11ed-a462-abb30de4e959.html

Taibbi, Matt (June 8, 2022). Meet the Censored: Kara Dansky. Racket News https://www.racket.news/p/meet-the-censored-kara-dansky

Robertson, Abigail (May 17, 2019). Feminist & LGBTQ Activist Warns Equality Act ‘Eradicates’ Female Group, ‘Grave Consequences for Women and Girls.’ Christian Broadcasting Network https://cbn.com/news/politics/feminist-lgbtq-activist-warns-equality-act-eradicates-female-group-grave-consequences

Selected writing by Dansky

Dansky, Kara (February 1, 2026). Trans lunacy is still thriving in New York. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2026/02/01/trans-lunacy-is-still-thriving-in-new-york/

Dansky, Kara; Cypher, Elspeth; Chesak, Elizabeth (December 18, 2025). Policy, not biology. New York Review https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/03/26/policy-not-biology/

  • 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/

Dansky, Kara (May 27, 2025). Opinion: With their trans stance, Democrats are pushing women right out of their party. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5316768-with-their-trans-stance-democrats-are-pushing-women-out-of-their-party/

Dansky, Kara (January 24, 2025). Will Democrats ever drop the ‘transgender lunacy’? Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/24/will-democrats-ever-drop-the-transgender-lunacy/

Dansky, Kara (January 5, 2025). What’s at stake in the trans US Supreme Court case. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/05/whats-at-stake-in-the-trans-us-supreme-court-case/

Dansky, Kara (December 3, 2024). Does the US Supreme Court know what a woman is? Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/12/03/does-the-us-supreme-court-know-what-a-woman-is/

Dansky, Kara (August 21, 2024). Opinion: Tim Walz owes Democrats some answers on ‘gender identity’ and children. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4836909-minnesota-trans-refuge-walz-questions/

Dansky, Kara (November 23, 2024). Opinion: Will the Democrats finally start listening to the TERFs? The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5004781-democratic-leftist-feminist-criticizes/

Dansky, Kara (August 7, 2024). An open letter to Kamala Harris from a Democratic woman. Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3112331/an-open-letter-to-kamala-harris-from-a-democratic-woman/

Dansky, Kara (November 12, 2023). Democrats Should Defend Sex-Based Rights for Women and Girls. The Liberal Patriot https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/democrats-should-defend-sex-based

Books

Dansky, Kara (2023) The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls. Bombardier Books, ISBN 979-8888455319

Dansky, Kara (2021). The Abolition of Sex: How the ‘Transgender’ Agenda Harms Women and Girls. Bombardier Books, ISBN  978-1637582299

Media

Women’s Declaration International (WDI) with Kara Dansky (August 3, 2025). Kara Dansky, Where We Are in the Fight to Protect Women’s Sex-Based Rights Globally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5TPDS-lsOk

Kim Iverson with Kara Dansky (Jun 6, 2025). How Dems Betrayed Women For The Trans Agenda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itM-tckeDLE

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy and Kara Dansky (December 5, 2024). The Billionaires Behind the Gender Identity Movement – Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9CNyZCrv_Q

mrmenno with Menno Kuijper and Kara Dansky (November 7, 2024). Will Trump END the Gender Madness? | Interview with Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EbAIHCMpx0

Outkick with Riley Gaines and Kara Dansky (August 24, 2024). Kamala Harris & WOKE Left BETRAYED Women | Kara Dansky | Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkS6jlbZHCc

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” Helen Staniland, and Kara Dansky (July 21, 2024). The Mess We’re In Ep. #165: Special guest Kara Dansky returns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMnPc1gPUnA

Peter Boghossian with Kara Dansky (April 2, 2024). Accepting Biological Sex IS Compassionate | Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TqTRySWRdA

Women’s Liberation Front / Fox News with Lierre Keith and Kara Dansky (May 1, 2023). Radical Feminists Lierre Keith & Kara Dansky Support the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRxNAHuxglM

Women’s Declaration International – USA (April 13, 2023). Dr. Phil Show – Women’s Erasure episode. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgCCULqQ1mqHbKMR7OgptTPgXUGR9dKmb

Fox News with Tucker Carlson and Kara Dansky (March 10, 2023). Tucker: This is a huge middle finger to women everywhere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPXYs_DHpjY

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, “Arty Morty,” Dennis Kavanagh, and Kara Dansky (December 13, 2022). The Mess We’re In Ep. #132: Dennis Kavanagh brings pretty good news! And Kara Dansky drops in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foBt2maYOvo

GBNews / Free Speech Nation with Andrew Doyle and Kara Dansky (January 8, 2023). US Court of Appeals rules schools can maintain separate bathrooms based on biological sex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi4RX0bE3r4

Red Moon Radfem with Kara Dansky (November 29, 2022). Stop Right-Washing TERFs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc9R5Sdk6gQ

Women Are Human with Diana Shaw, Kara Dansky, and Suzanne Vierling (August 14, 2022). Women Are Human Round Table: The Abolition of Sex with Kara Dansky & Suzanne Vierling (Jan 28, 2022). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0LqJsr488

Helen Staniland with Kara Dansky (June 30, 2022). Wine with Women ep. 6: Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNwDo0zHLbs

Mikhaila Peterson with Kara Dansky (June 24, 2022). Inclusiveness or Dangerous Brainwashing?: The Transgender Movement | Kara Dansky 152. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcztAjqcwfo

Racket News with Matt Taibbi and Kara Dansky (June 10, 2022). Meet the Censored: Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpEhOziR4pw

Graham Linehan with Kara Dansky (April 21, 2022). Kara Dansky: Is America peaking? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=574LU94R948

Whose Body is It with Isabella Malbin and Kara Dansky (January 27, 2022). The Abolition of Sex | Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gll_gKkOELY

The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network with Kallie Fell and Kara Dansky (December 15, 2021). Venus Rising with Kara Dansky: How the “Transgender” Agenda Harms Women and Girls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4iLT_Xozoc

Independent Women / She Thinks Podcast with Beverly Hallberg and Kara Dansky (December 10, 2021). One Feminist’s Perspective on How the Transgender Agenda Harms Women & Girls. https://www.independentwomen.com/2021/12/10/one-feminists-perspective-on-how-the-transgender-agenda-harms-women-girls/

Fox News with Tucker Carlson and Kara Dansky (December 8, 2021). Feminist rips ‘gender identity’ as meaningless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QmLFtUemg

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Kara Dansky (May 30, 2021). Liberating Women from Patriarchy (Part I) | with Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRJB2Ht6Rk

Plebity with Sasha White and Kara Dansky (April 2, 2021). A Conversation with Feminist Lawyer Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VrjwUxqt-A

Graham Linehan with Kara Dansky (February 13, 2021). A chat with Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9lNP8z67bg

Whose Body is It with Isabella Malbin and Kara Dansky (February 5, 2021). ‘This is An Emergency’: Protecting Women and Girls | Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8V8Dl3UsU

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Amy Sousa, and Kara Dansky (February 2, 2021). “Grab ‘Em By The E.O.” – Biden’s Gender Identity Order | with Kara Dansky & Amy Sousa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg1wdznSOzU

Allie Beth Stuckey with Kara Dansky (January 26, 2021). Biden Erases Women & Jobs with Executive Orders | Ep 358 | Guest: Kara Dansky. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iRpZIsvEX0

Women’s Liberation Front with Meghan Murphy, Saba Malik, and Kara Dansky (February 6, 2020). Fighting the New Misogyny: A Feminist Critique of Gender Identity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voaYjKMw5rI

The Heritage Foundation with Kara Dansky, Ryan Anderson, Julia Beck, Jennifer Chavez, and Hacsi Horvath (April 4, 2019). Radical Feminist: The Equality Act Would Hurt Women. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYIZjv-l8BQ

Resources

Kara Dansky (karadansky.com)

Women Picket DC (womenpicketdc.org) [archive]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

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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)
  • Writing a New York Times opinion column (2007–2022)
  • The memoir Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
  • Serving on the GLAAD Board (2013)
  • Collaborating with transbians Parker Molloy and Christina Kahrl on pushing GLAAD to adopt their prescriptivist views on slang and slurs (2014)
  • Unsuccessfully lobbying behind the scenes to boycott/cancel RuPaul’s Drag Race (2014)
  • Mentoring and promoting writer Parker Molloy during and after abuse allegations against Molloy
  • Being a consultant for Jeffrey Tambor on the dramedy Transparent (2014) during and after abuse allegations against Tambor
  • Appearing as Caitlyn Jenner’s friend on I Am Cait (2015)
  • Giving the thumbs up to an anti-trans article by Lisa Selin Davis (2017)
  • Signing the Harper’s letter with J.K. Rowling and dozens of other anti-trans activists, later withdrawn (2020)
  • Writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post

Background

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)

References

Tagen-Dye, Carly (February 5, 2025). Jennifer Finney Boylan Doesn’t Speak for All Trans People. And with Cleavage, She’s Ready to Cede the Floor to New Voices. People https://people.com/jennifer-finney-boylan-new-book-cleavage-trans-experience-8786585

Harris, Elizabeth A. (December 11, 2023). Jennifer Finney Boylan to Lead PEN America. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/books/jennifer-finney-boylan-pen-america.html

Bull, Chris (July 11, 2020). These queer media stars are helping save America from itself. Queerty https://www.queerty.com/queer-media-stars-helping-save-america-20200711/4/

Nolan, Emma (July 8, 2020). Trans Author Jennifer Finney Boylan Recants ‘Cancel Culture’ Letter Signed by J.K. Rowling. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/author-jennifer-finney-boylan-recants-cancel-cultureletter-jk-rowling-1516235

Crane, Emily (July 8, 2020). Trans writer Jennifer Finney Boylan distances herself from free speech letter she signed calling out cancel culture after realizing JK Rowling had also endorsed it – but is immediately called out by the Harry Potter author. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8503571/Trans-writer-Jennifer-Finney-Boylan-distances-free-speech-letter.html

Masters, Jeffrey (March 20, 2019). Jennifer Finney Boylan Looks Back on Her Infamous Interview With Oprah. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2019/3/20/jennifer-finney-boylan-looks-back-infamous-interview-oprah

Molloy, Parker Marie (May 2, 2014). Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Aims to Educate the Trans Masses. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/05/02/trans-bodies-trans-selves-aims-educate-trans-masses

Molloy, Parker Marie (May 1, 2014). GLAAD Cochair Jennifer Finney Boylan Joins Barnard College. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/05/01/glaad-cochair-jennifer-finney-boylan-joins-barnard-college

James, Andrea (July 24, 2014). The GLAAD Board’s “Tranny” 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]

Molloy, Parker Marie (March 29, 2014). Logo, RuPaul’s Drag Race Respond to Antitrans Slurs. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/03/29/logo-rupauls-drag-race-respond-antitrans-slurs

Davis, Brendan (November 8, 2013). Meet GLAAD’s new board co-chairs! https://glaad.org/blog/meet-glaads-new-board-co-chairs [archive]

Leung, Rebecca (February 23, 2004). Trapped: Jenny Boylan. CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trapped-jenny-boylan/

Selected writing by Boylan

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (July 13, 2025). Superman’s father taught me how to write. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/13/superman-fd-christopher-reeve-father-jor-el/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (May 8, 2025). What two packs of weed gummies taught me about America. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/08/weed-trans-lgbtq-illegal-moral/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (March 19, 2025). What is a trans woman, really? The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/03/19/misgendering-sarah-mcbride/

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/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (October 30, 2024). Donald Trump wants you to be afraid of me. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/30/trump-trans-ads-strategy-fear/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (September 25, 2024). Will Ferrell’s new film showcases a richer, riskier kind of humor. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/25/will-harper-netflix-movie-humor-transgender-road-trip/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (October 30, 2023). After the Maine shooting, trying to say no to fear. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/30/maine-fear-before-halloween/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (May 1, 2023). To understand biological sex, look at the brain, not the body. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/01/transgender-biology-brain-science-freedom/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (July 29, 2022). Trans people shouldn’t have to hide to help Democrats win. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/29/trans-people-shouldnt-have-hide-help-democrats-win/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (June 1, 2021). A Scottish political party treated trans people like the Loch Ness monster. It won’t be the last time. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/01/scottish-political-party-treated-trans-people-like-loch-ness-monster-it-wont-be-last-time/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (July 2, 2021). Remember the Bicentennial? Celebrating might be even harder for America’s 250th birthday. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/02/remember-bicentennial-celebrating-might-be-even-harder-americas-250th-birthday/

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (February 7, 2014). The Beatles. JFK. Even Julia Child. Help! I need a break from 50th anniversaries. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-beatles-jfk-even-julia-child-help-i-need-a-break-from-50th-anniversaries/2014/02/07/c1eb6666-8e76-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html

Boylan, Jennifer Finney (August 22, 2013). Longing for the day when Chelsea Manning and I both seem boring. The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/longing-for-the-day-when-chelsea-manning-and-i-both-seem-boring/2013/08/22/7bf52c42-0b5d-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html

Media

NPR Podcasts with Robin Young and Jenny Boylan (March 13, 2025). Jennifer Finney Boylan’s latest memoir ‘Cleavage’ is a reflection on transgender life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruhO55D3CB4

NEWS CENTER Maine (February 24, 2025). America’s best-known trans writer, Jennifer Finney Boylan, has a few things to get off her chest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUNzYbRbOF4

Politics and Prose (February 18, 2025). Jennifer Finney Boylan — Cleavage – with Congresswoman Sarah McBride. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUI0J2ClDd0

PEN America (May 20, 2025). Jennifer Finney Boylan’s Opening Remarks at the 2025 PEN America Literary Gala. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQZKflMzVNA

sia_thebestsinger (April 21, 2020). Sia live with Jennifer Finney Boylan on Zoom (04.21.2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqRBmur30lA

The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss and Jenny Boylan (December 2, 2019). Jenny Boylan – The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss – FULL VIDEO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycn6NqZiUAE

E! Entertainment (March 11, 2016). I Am Cait | Kate Bornstein & Jennifer Finney Boylan Discuss “Tranny” | E! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i9k-V51QfY

TEDx Talks (September 30, 2015). A transgender path home | Jennifer Finney Boylan | TEDxMet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0h7LFvlVwk

JennyBoylan (January 10, 2013). We Happy Trans, with Jennifer Finney Boylan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pulsg9QTyNc

GLAAD (November 14, 2012). I AM: Trans People Speak – Jennifer Finney Boylan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMxPdZt7Tso

Chicago Humanities (November 30, 2010). Jennifer Finney Boylan: A Life in Two Genders. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tqQbhDhiVo

nodumbquestions (October 7, 2008). Jennifer Boylan: No Dumb Questions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIbDz7lyGyc

Resources

Jennifer Finney Boylan (jenniferboylan.net)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Harvard University, Hollis Archives (hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Substack (substack.com)

New York Times (nytimes.com)

Colby College (colby.edu)

Barnard College (barnard.edu)

  • Jennifer Boylan
  • english.barnard.edu/profiles/jennifer-boylan
  • barnard.edu/profiles/jennifer-boylan

GLAAD (glaad.org)

  • Professor Jennifer Finney Boylan (Maine) May 2011–Present
  • glaad.org/about/board/jenniferboylan [archive]

PEN America (pen.org/)

Gender Rights Maryland (genderrightsmaryland.org)

  • Policy Advisory Board
  • genderrightsmaryland.org/joomla/about-us/policy-advisory-board [archive]