Devendra Singh was an Indian-American evolutionary psychologist who held harmful and biased views about sex and gender minorities.
Background
Singh was born January 12, 1938 in Urai, India. Singh earned a master’s degree in philosophy at Agra University before earning a doctorate in psychology at Ohio State University in 1966. Following positions at Wright State University and North Dakota State University, Singh began teaching at University of Texas at Austin in 1969.
Singh is best known for research about waist-to-hip ratio in women, which Singh claimed has evolutionary significance.
Singh was married to Barbara Singh (1943â2022) and had three children. Singh died on May 18, 2010.
Views on sex and gender minorities
In 2000 Scott M. Strong, Singh, and Patrick K. Randall published an article that claimed “a ‘high feminine’ subtype of gay males had greater body dissatisfaction than ‘less feminine’ subtypes had.”
Singh appeared with a number of anti-trans activists on the series The Sex Files in an episode titled “Homosexuality.”
Why are some people gay? That’s the $64,000 question – at least in the scientific community. Is it something genetically predetermined? Or does environment have an impact on whether an individual turns out to be gay or lesbian? These questions are beginning to be probed in ways that might finally be leading to an answer, and the Sex Files has interviewed the foremost authorities on the topic to uncover some of those scientific clues:
Dr. Devendra Singh, University of Texas psychologist specializing in the evolutionary significance of human physical attractiveness
Dr. Michael Bailey, professor of psychology at Northwestern University in Illinois and specialist in the genetics and environment of sexual orientation
Dr. Marc Breedlove, professor of psychology* specialising in the sexual differentiation of the brain.
Singh was also a mentor to J. Michael Bailey’s son Drew Bailey.
Exploration Production (November 20, 2000). S02 E08: Homosexuality. The Sex Files
Strong SM, Singh D, Randall PK (2000). Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Body Dissatisfaction in Gay and Heterosexual Men. Sex Roles https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007126814910
* The original episode guide described Dr. Breedlove as a “professor of psychology at UCLA.” Dr. Breedlove noted in 2008 “I am not, and have never been, a professor of psychology or of anything else at UCLA.” Breedlove earned his Ph.D. at UCLA but taught at UC Berkeley before taking an appointment at Michigan State.
David Sylva is an American psychologist whose graduate work involved questionable studies about sex and gender minorities.
Background
David M. “Dave” Sylva was born in July 1980. Sylva did graduate work with controversial Northwestern University psychologist J. Michael Bailey. Bailey is well known for work in the field of anti-LGBT eugenics, which Bailey euphemistically calls “parental selection of children’s sexual orientation.” Bailey’s other students at the time included Gerulf Rieger, Chris Skidmore, and Elizabeth Latty.
One of Sylva’s early projects was to claim that gay men can be identified by their stereotypical gait.
Bailey claimed for years that male bisexuality did not exist, stating that men are “gay, straight, or lying.” After taking money from the American Institute of Bisexuality, Sylva and Bailey grad students Jeremy Jabbour and Luke Holmes magically “discovered” bisexual orientation among men.
After the bisexuality organization paid Sylva to “discover” male bisexuality, Sylva’s 2012 dissertation was titled âNeural Correlates of Sexual Arousal in Bisexual, Homosexual, and Heterosexual Men.â Since that payoff, Sylva’s work has been used to shore up one of Bailey’s other claims: that women may not have a sexual orientation.
Impact on transgender clients at Kaiser
Following this amazing “discovery” with Bailey, Sylva then began working for insurance company Kaiser Permanente in California.
Licensure:
NPI Number: #1790106961
Medical license: PSY26122 (CA)
Though Sylva is a member of WPATH, sex and gender minorities should avoid getting healthcare from Sylva due to this professional affiliation with J. Michael Bailey and associated anti-trans psychologists.
Safron A, Sylva D, Klimaj V, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2018). Neural Correlates of Sexual Orientation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Women. Scientific Reports. 8: 673 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep41314
Safron A, Sylva D, Klimaj V, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2017). Neural Correlates of Sexual Orientation in Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Homosexual Men. Scientific Reports. 7: 41314 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18372-0
Jabbour J, Holmes L, Sylva D, Bailey JM (2020). Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 (31) 18369-18377 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003631117
Klimaj V, Safron A, Sylva D, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, Bailey JM (2021). Sexual Orientation and Neuroanatomy: An MRI Study of Gray Matter Differences in Homosexual, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women and Men. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/zuyhp
Klimaj V, Safron A, Sylva D, Rosenthal AM, Li M, Walter M, and Bailey JM (2021). Comparing the Structure and Function of Social-cognition-related Brain Areas in Bisexual, Heterosexual, and Homosexual Women and Men. PsyArXiv, August 16 https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/62wvd
Sylva D, Safron A, Rosenthal AM, et al. (2013) Neural correlates of sexual arousal in heterosexual and homosexual women and men. Hormones and Behavior. 64: 673-84 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.08.003
Sylva D, Rieger G, Linsenmeier JAW, Bailey JM (2010). Concealment of sexual orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 39: 141-52 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9466-2
Can you tell whether someone’s gay just by the way he or she walks?
David Sylva wants to know. He straps bright red lights to people’s bodies and videotapes them walking in the dark. He then shows the videotape to observers (who won’t be biased by clothing or hairstyles since the walker is in the dark) and asks them to guess the walker’s sexual orientation.
Sylva’s observations focus on the physical characteristics of the individual’s stride, such as the closeness of the knees.
Why does Sylva, a graduate student at Northwestern University, care so much about how gay people walk? Because he’s one of a growing number of researchers who think sexual orientation may be as basic as how you walk, something inborn that you don’t choose.
David Sylva, a graduate student at Northwestern University, has been studying individual walking styles to see if homosexuals’ strides are different from those of their straight counterparts. He hopes the data will give support to the nature side of the sexual orientation argument.
Connie Lee (July 6, 2007). Research points to inherit [sic] trait for homosexuality; some dispute. The Purdue Exponent. http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php?module=article&story_id=6347 [archive]
Below: Skidmore as he appears on Bailey’s website.
Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Distress in Lesbians and Gay Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Volume 35, Number 6 / December, 2006
W. Christopher Skidmore, Joan A. W. Linsenmeier and J. Michael Bailey
Abstract
Some lesbians and gay men tend to be more gender nonconforming, on average and for certain traits, than their heterosexual counterparts. Gender nonconformity in childhood has also been linked to adult homosexuality. Studies of both lesbians and gay men also find elevated rates of psychological distress. We hypothesized that these facts may be related. Individuals who violate social norms for gender-appropriate behavior may suffer from stigmatization by both heterosexual and homosexual people, leading to higher levels of psychological distress. We examined whether several measures of gender nonconformity were related to psychological distress in a community-based sample of gay men and lesbians. These included self-reports of childhood and adulthood gender nonconformity, as well as observer ratings of current behavior. Several measures of gender nonconformity were related to each other for both lesbians and gay men. In addition, gender nonconformity was related to psychological distress, but only for gay men. Finally, both lesbian and gay male participants reported more positive attitudes towards gender conformity than nonconformity, although the pattern was somewhat different for each group. We discuss the implications of these results for future studies of gender nonconformity and for the promotion of psychological health in lesbians and gay men.
29. 03. 2007 :: :: Sexuality Experiment for Heterosexual, Homosexual, Bisexual, and Queer Men Chris Skidmore Northwestern University Your answers are completely confidential, and you won ‘t have to provide identifying information about yourself. People say the study is fun, and it doesn’t take long. You will have a chance to enter to win a gift certificate, too. Men, over the age of 18, wanted for a study about relationships and health (IRB #0108-017). Participation takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes. You will have a chance to win one of three $50 gift certificates if you choose to participate.
Bailey is well known for his work in the field of eugenics.
Barbara Kline Pope is an American marketing executive responsible for publishing one of the most transphobic books ever written, The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey.
Background
Pope was born on October 27, 1959 and grew up in York, Pennsylvania. Pope earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and a master’s degree from University of Maryland in 1990.
Pope held various marketing positions at the National Academies from 1983 until 2017, then was appointed Director of Johns Hopkins University Press.
Pope’s spouse Andrew M. “Andy” Pope (born 19500 has also worked at the National Academies, serving as Director of the Board on Health Sciences Policy and at the Institute of Medicine. They have adult children.
The Man Who Would Be Queen (2003)
In 2003 Pope was Executive Director of the National Academies Press (NAP) in Washington, DC. During the controversy, Pope was also named Executive Director of Communications, a post formerly held by Suzanne Woolsey.
Pope was responsible for training and direction of professional managers in all areas of publishing, including their trade arm Joseph Henry Press. Pope’s employees, editor Stephen Mautner and publicist Robin Pinnel, were key contributors in the decisions about editing, fact-checking, and promoting Bailey’s book. Pope’s major focus is marketing:
“Branding, marketing research, derivative products, and reputation management occupy her time as executive director of communications. She has studied consumer behavior and her published work examines business models for the digital publishing arena and the use of information sources among organizational buyers.”
Pope’s enthusiasm for generating revenue came at the expense of scientific integrity and basic editorial standards expected of an academic press.
The book Pope published has been widely condemned as a eugenic screed against sex and gender minorities. In it, author J. Michael Bailey claims that transgender women are really men who are “especially well-suited to prostitution” (page 185). Bailey also presents a case report of a child named “Danny Ryan” who was allegedly cured of being transgender. Pope and Mautner did not bother to confirm if this child actually exists. The book they put out helped the author get tenure.
When marketing trumps science and academic rigor
Pope wrote a widely-cited article on NAP’s successes in The Journal of Electronic Publishing. In it, she tells why the National Academy decided to give away its intellectual property, what happened, and why she thinks others might do the same.
Pope has also worked with The Oxford Publicity Partnership, a marketing service specially designed for nonfiction publishers and specialty presses. It is not clear if OPP is involved in the marketing of the Bailey book in the US or abroad.
Despite the outpouring of concern about Pope’s decision to market the Bailey book, NAP and Joseph Henry Press have made no efforts to rectify this decision. Pope has never made any public statements about the book or her responsibility.
Lynn Conway’s 2004 encounter with Pope
American engineer Lynn Conway is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a prominent critic of the transphobic book Pope published. In 2004, Conway happened to be at National Academies headquarters for a meeting, where she spoke directly with Pope about the harm Pope’s work had caused to a vulnerable population. Conway’s report appears below.
On Thursday, July 22, 2004, I was in Washington, D.C. to participate in a meeting of one of the National Academiesâ boards [the U.S. Air Force Science and Technology Board] of which I am a member.
The meeting was held in the Academiesâ new Keck office building at 500 Fifth Street, NW. The Keck Building is a large metal and glass building with a security-guarded entrance. Itâs one of those places in D.C. where visitors are screened and can only get in if they are cleared for entry.
That morning the idea crossed my mind that since I was already in the building that day, it would be interesting to introduce myself, at least informally, to the National Academies Press (NAP)/Joseph Henry Press (JHP) staff.
As an elected Academy member Iâd often taken advantage of meeting breaks to interact opportunistically with Academy staff. In this case, I hoped to introduce myself to the NAP/JHP staff members responsible for editing, publishing and overseeing the promotion of The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism, a book by Northwestern University psychologist J. Michael Bailey.
Since the publication of that book in early 2003, it has been widely condemned. By now those staff members must certainly be aware of the awful impact its publication has had on the trans community. After all, the author was by now widely discredited in the court of public opinion for his sloppy science and defamatory caricatures of trans women.
However, up to now Academy leadership and NAP/JHP staff had stonewalled the community, giving us the âsilent treatmentâ by never responding directly to our many complaints and requests to meet with them. It was as if we were invisible as they dismissed us as apparently powerless, friendless and of little consequence to them.
I thought to myself, âThe Academy folks must sense that they should reach out to us a bit and try to build some bridges with the trans community if they are to have any hope of saving face as Bailey and his supporters go down in infamy…â
With that thought in mind, I walked out to the lobby area during the morning break and asked the receptionist for office locations for Stephen Mautner (Executive Editor of the JHP) and Robin Pinnel (publicist for the Bailey book). She looked up the room numbers for me, and I went upstairs to see if they were in.
The NAP offices are on the third floor of the building, which is also the ground floor of a big multi-story atrium that runs up through the middle of the building. The architecture is consistent with the antiseptic style of the remainder of the building  spare and colorless, and yet somewhat pretentious in its visual display of bright metal and glass. As in the rest of the building few people are seen moving about. Itâs very quiet everywhere there, and seems as if most staff members are simply ânot inâ on any given day.
I walked through the atrium and wandered on into the NAP area. The offices were very nice and many had wonderful outside views. However, even here almost no one seemed to âbe inâ except for an administrative assistant down at one end of the hall.
I wandered the NAP corridor for a while, looking for Stephen Mautnerâs office. I found a sign for Joseph Henry Press on the wall, marking off the offices for this function of the National Academy Press. Mautnerâs office was there, but he wasnât in.
Just then the assistant to the NAPâs director, a very pleasant lady named Olive Schwarzschild, walked up to me and asked if I needed any assistance.
I introduced myself, and said I was on a break from a board meeting and thought Iâd check to see if Stephen Mautner and Robin Pinnel were in. I mentioned that they were involved in publishing a book that I was interested in Âand that Iâd hoped to briefly introduce myself to them and say hi while I was here.
Olive seemed nicely surprised by having an elected member of the National Academies stop in at the NAP offices, and she went out of her way to be very polite and helpful. She checked her notes and said that Mautner was away that day but that maybe Robin Pinnel would be in. She called over to Ms. Pinnelâs office (which apparently was in another section of the floor), but it turned out that Pinnel wasnât in at work that morning either.
While standing by Oliveâs desk I noticed out of the corner of my eye a well-dressed middle-aged woman seated at a desk in the large nearby corner office. She was looking at me and listening to what I was saying. I turned my head slightly and read the name on the outside office wall. It was the office of Barbara Kline Pope, the Director of the NAP.
I mentioned to Olive that although Mr. Mautner and Ms. Pinnel werenât in, it would be nice to be able to briefly introduce myself to Ms. Pope while I was there. I said it just loudly enough for Ms. Pope to hear me, hoping that sheâd acknowledge my presence and weâd get a chance to introduce ourselves.
Just then, Ms. Pope picked up the phone and called someone. It was 10:45 am.
Olive asked if Iâd like to sit down somewhere to wait for a few minutes, but I said âno, thatâs OK, Iâll just hang out here in hopes of having a couple of minutes to meet Barbara.â Olive assured me that Ms. Pope knew that I was there, saying that she had mentioned to her who I was shortly after Iâd first introduced myself.
I stood outside Ms. Popeâs office and waited – and waited.
Suddenly, a little after 11:00, Ms. Pope hung up the phone, walked towards the office door and, without looking at me, said quite loudly to Olive âI have a meeting at 11:00.â
This seemed odd to me, because Olive apparently didnât know about any meeting, and there was no one else waiting outside Ms. Popeâs office (plus, as things would turn out, Ms. Pope didnât leave the area after I had left nor did any other visitors enter the areaâŠ).
Anyways, by now Ms. Pope was standing in the middle of the office a few yards away from me, and she started to turn back towards her desk.
I turned towards the office door and said âHi Barbara, Iâm Lynn Conwayâ.
Ms. Pope turned back slightly towards me, but was silent.
I then said, âIâd like to introduce myselfâŠâ
Thinking that she would at least briefly invite me into her office, I started to bring my right hand up to invite a friendly handshake.
However, she cut me short by saying âI know who you are!â in a rather firm tone and with heavy emphasis on the âyouâ. This response stunned me, since Iâd never met or communicated with her, but had only criticized one of the books she had published.
I then said in as nice and calm a voice as possible: âIâm in a board meeting here and thought Iâd stop by and see if Stephen and Robin were here ÂI thought it might be helpful to put names on faces so weâd all feel we knew each other a bit better, and itâs nice to have this chance to see you while Iâm here, tooâ.
Ms. Pope was expressionless and silent, and made no move whatsoever to greet me or respond to me, much less invite me into her office. This was a long and awkward silence.
At this point I decided to shift gears and ask some questions while I had Ms. Popeâs attention. After all, sheâd set the tone for the interaction by her odd refusal to acknowledge my initial gesture of openness towards her.
âYou are aware of what a horror you folks have caused out there?â I asked, as politely and calmly as possible.
âWeâve learned a lotâ, Ms. Pope responded rather quickly, blankly and off-handedly.
âThen why are you continuing to so heavily promote Baileyâs book?â I asked.
âBecause we have a responsibility to the author!â she asserted very strongly.
I was absolutely stunned by this response, and stood silent for a while.
Recalling the Southern Poverty Law Centerâs expose of the violence against young trans women in D.C. and the role of hate science in fueling such violence, I asked her:
âBut didnât you feel any responsibility towards a very large, endangered community?â
This led to another, very awkward silence.
Ms. Pope stared blankly at me for quite a while, clearly not knowing what to say Âand possibly oblivious to what I was even referring to.
I didnât know what to say to break the silence either.
Sensing that the interaction was over, I simply said, âWell, good luck to you.â
She then turned away. The interaction was over.
Olive had been right there during all this, and seemed quite taken aback that Ms. Pope had not greeted me, had not shaken my hand and had acted so strangely during the interaction. I felt sorry about Olive being put in this unexpected position, especially since sheâd been so polite and welcoming to me as a member of the Academies.
Not wanting Olive to think that she had somehow done something wrong, I mentioned to her that the NAP/JHP had published a book that is causing lots of angst in an endangered social community, and that was probably why Ms. Pope was uncomfortable, i.e., that Ms. Pope was likely feeling a bit on the defensive about that book. Olive didnât appear to have heard of the controversy, but now sensed Ms. Popeâs uneasiness was simply due to some kind of ideological problem with a publication, and I think this made her feel better. I thanked her for her help and left the NAP office area.
Although I was running late returning from my board-meeting break, I took my time heading back through the atrium towards the elevators. Sitting down in the cafeteria, I jotted down key details of these interactions while they were fresh in my mind.
Meanwhile, I kept an eye out for possible visitors going into the NAP office area to meet with Ms. Pope. No one went into that area while I was sitting there, and at around 11:25 I headed back downstairs to the board meeting.
And so the âsilent treatmentâ continues at the National AcademiesâŠ
Lynn Conway September 19, 2004
References
Pope BK (2004). Conference biography. http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/netconference/chairs.html [archive]
Pope BK (1999). How to Succeed in Online Markets: National Academy Press: A Case Study. Journal of Online Publishing, 4;4 (May 1999). https://doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0004.408
Bailey JM (2003). The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 978-0309084185 http://www.nap.edu/books/0309084180/html/ [archive]
Anthony Francis “Tony” Bogaert (born 1963) is a Canadian psychologist who has written on asexuality and paraphilia.
Background
Bogaert earned a PhD in Psychology from the Western University in 1993, with a dissertation titled “The Sexual Media: The Role Of Individual Differences.”
He then did postdoctorate work at the University of Toronto and Queenâs University. In 1996, he was appointed to a position at Brock University.
Asexuality and transgender people
Bogaert argues that some asexual people have a lack of subjective sexual attraction, meaning that they experience objective attraction or arousal, but their subjective identity as a person is not connected to that attraction. Via his book Understanding Asexuality:
Theyâas individualsâ are disconnected from their sexual responses to others of to sexual stimulation on some level. The missing piece for them is the I or me, or an identity as an individual, in subjective sexual attraction. In other words, the I is missing in the statement “I am attracted to . . .”
A similar phenomenon may occur in some forms of transgenderism. A transgendered person who was born as a biological male, for example, may not “own” his masculine responses. This individual may behave in a traditional masculine way, he may appear masculine, and his body my respond to stimulation in a traditionally masculine way, even sexually. But if this person does not “own” her responses, and in fact is completely disconnected from them because of an internal sense of self as female, these masculine responses are not part of her identity, or her I or me.
Similar forms of disconnected sexuality have been discussed in the clinical literature on paraphilias. Indeed, this phenomenon may be construed as a rather exotic paraphilia, which literally means “beyond love,” or “love beyond the usual.” Thus, a paraphilia can mean that an individual has a sexual attraction to something unusual. It could also imply something broader: any kind of unusual sexual phenomenon associated with a person, and not merely a sexual attraction to something unusual. As a consequence, if you are keeping score, the label of “asexuality” could still apply to masterbating asexuals with “disconnected” fantasies, because their paraphilia is an unusual sexual phenomenon: there is no subjective sexual attraction to anything. Complicated indeed!
Bogaert, p. 118-119
Automonosexualism and transgender people
Automonosexualism was proposed by Rohleder in 1907 as a term for people who are attracted to themselves sexually. Bogaert subscribes to Blanchard’s “erotic target location error” hypothesis, where someone directs their sexual interests inward instead of outward:
Automonosexualism is rare and has sometimes been associated with transgendered individuals. For example, the phenomenon of autogynephilia (in which a man is sexually attracted to himself, but as a woman) is a type of auyomonosexualism.
Bogaert, p. 120
Publications
Understanding Asexuality
Bogaert, A.F., Ashton, M.C., & Lee, K. (in press). Sexual orientation and personality: Extension to asexuality and the HEXACO model. Journal of Sex Research.
Ellis, L., Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A.F. (in press). Handedness, sexual orientation, and biomarkers for prenatal androgens: Are southpaws really that gay? Laterality.
Hafer, C. L., Mantonakis, A., Fitzgerald, A., & Bogaert, A. F. (in press). The effectiveness of deservingness-based advertising messages: The role of product knowledge and belief in a just world. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences.
Hoffarth, M., & Bogaert, A. F. (in press). Opening the closet door: Openness to experience, masculinity, religiosity, and coming out among same-sex attracted men. Personality and Individual Differences.
Bogaert, A. F. (2017). What asexuality tells us about sexuality: Commentary on Brotto and Yule (2016). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 629.
Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Pubertal Stress and nutrition, and the association of sexual orientation and height in the Add Health data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 217-236.
Skorska, M., Blanchard, R., Zucker, K., VanderLaan, D. & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Gay Male Only-Children: Evidence for Low Birth Weight and High Maternal Miscarriages. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 205-215.
Skorska, M. N., & Bogaert, A. F. (2017). Sexual orientation, objective height, and self-reported height. Journal of Sex Research, 54, 19-32.
Bogaert, A. F. (2016). Asexuality as an orientation. In S. B. Levine (Ed.) Handbook of Clinical Sexuality for Mental Health Professionals, 3rd Ed. (pp. 385-388).New York: Routledge.
Bogaert, A. F., Visser, B. A., & Pozzebon, J. A. (2015). Gender differences in object of desire self-consciousness sexual fantasies. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 2299-2310.
Skorska, M. N., Geniole, S. N., Vrysen, T., McCormick, C.M., & Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Face structure predicts sexual orientation in men and women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44, 1377-1394.
Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Asexuality: What is it, and why it matters. Annual Review of Sex Research, 52, 362-379.
Pozzebon, J.A., Visser, B. A., & Bogaert, A. F. (2015). Vocational interests, personality, and sexual fantasies as indicators of a general masculinity/femininity factor. Personality and Individual Differences, 86, 291â296.
Visser, B. A., DeBow, V., Pozzebon, J. A., Bogaert, A. F., & Book, A. (2015). Psychopathic sexuality: The thin line between fantasy and reality. Journal of Personality, 83, 376â388.
*Bogaert, A. F., & Brotto, L. (2014). Object of desire self-consciousness theory. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 40, 323-338. *Awarded the best theory paper for 2014, Ira and Harriet Reiss Theory Award, by the Society for Scientific Study of Sex (SSSS) and the Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sex (FSSS) in September, 2015.
Rubel, A.N., & Bogaert, A.F. (2014). Consensual non-monogamy: Psychological well-being and relationship quality correlates. Journal of Sex Research, 4, 1-22.
Bogaert, A. F. (2013). The demography of asexuality. In A. Baumle (Ed.), International handbook on the demography of sexuality. (pp. 275-288). New York: Springer Press.
Bogaert, A. F., & Liu, J. (2013). Physical size and sexual orientation: Analysis of the Chinese Health and Family Life Survey. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 1555â1559
.Bogaert, A. F. (2012). Understanding Asexuality. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Inc.
Bogaert, A.F. (2012). Asexuality and autochorissexualism (identity-less sexuality). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 1513-1514.
Pozzebon, J. A., Visser, B. A., & Bogaert, A. F. (2012). What makes you think youâre so sexy, tall, and thin? The prediction of self-rated attractiveness, height, and weight. Journal of Applied Social Psychology,42, 2671â2700.
Anthony Bogaert on transsexualismAnthony Bogaert is and associate professor at Brock University in Ontario. He has published work with Ray Blanchard and J. Michael Bailey.
Johnson is Managing editor of The Archives of Sexual Behavior journal controlled by Clarke Institute personnel via the International Academy of Sex Research.
Co-authors include race scientist Julian-Phillippe Rushton (at Western Ontario University) John Cairney (also at Brock) and Ray Blanchard of the Clarke Institute.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Proportion of homosexual men who owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order: An estimate based on two national probability samples. Am J Human Biol. 2004 Mar-Apr;16(2):151-7. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF, Cairney J. The interaction of birth order and parental age on sexual orientation: an examination in two samples. J Biosoc Sci. 2004 Jan;36(1):19-37. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St Catharines, Canalda L2S 3A1.
Bogaert AF. Interaction of older brothers and sex-typing in the prediction of sexual orientation in men. Arch Sex Behav. 2003 Apr;32(2):129-34. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. tbogaertATspartan.ac.brocku.ca
Bogaert AF. The interaction of fraternal birth order and body size in male sexual orientation. Behav Neurosci. 2003 Apr;117(2):381-4. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Number of older brothers and sexual orientation: new tests and the attraction/behavior distinction in two national probability samples. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Mar;84(3):644-52. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Friesen C. Sexual orientation and height, weight, and age of puberty: new tests from a British national probability sample. Biol Psychol. 2002 Mar;59(2):135-45. Department of Community Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Friesen C, Klentrou P. Age of puberty and sexual orientation in a national probability sample. Arch Sex Behav. 2002 Feb;31(1):73-81. Department of Community Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Cantor JM, Blanchard R, Paterson AD, Bogaert AF. How many gay men owe their sexual orientation to fraternal birth order? Arch Sex Behav. 2002 Feb;31(1):63-71. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF. Personality, individual differences, and preferences for the sexual media. Arch Sex Behav. 2001 Feb;30(1):29-53. Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Handedness, criminality, and sexual offending. Neuropsychologia. 2001;39(5):465-9. Community Health Sciences, Brock University, L2S 3A1, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected]
Blanchard R, Barbaree HE, Bogaert AF, Dickey R, Klassen P, Kuban ME, Zucker KJ. Fraternal birth order and sexual orientation in pedophiles. Arch Sex Behav. 2000 Oct;29(5):463-78. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Hershberger S. The relation between sexual orientation and penile size. Arch Sex Behav. 1999 Jun;28(3):213-21. Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected] Comment in: Arch Sex Behav. 2000 Jun;29(3):303-5.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Birth order in homosexual versus heterosexual sex offenders against children, pubescents, and adults. Arch Sex Behav. 1998 Dec;27(6):595-603. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. The relation of closed birth intervals to the sex of the preceding child and the sexual orientation of the succeeding child. J Biosoc Sci. 1997 Jan;29(1):111-8. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF. Birth order and sibling sex ratio in homosexual and heterosexual non-white men. Arch Sex Behav. 1998 Oct;27(5):467-73. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Birth order and sexual orientation in women. Behav Neurosci. 1997 Dec;111(6):1395-7. Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF, Bezeau S, Kuban M, Blanchard R. Pedophilia, sexual orientation, and birth order. J Abnorm Psychol. 1997 May;106(2):331-5. Department of Behavioral Sexology, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Additive effects of older brothers and homosexual brothers in the prediction of marriage and cohabitation. Behav Genet. 1997 Jan;27(1):45-54. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [email protected]
Bogaert AF. Genital asymmetry in men. Hum Reprod. 1997 Jan;12(1):68-72. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Biodemographic comparisons of homosexual and heterosexual men in the Kinsey Interview Data. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Dec;25(6):551-79. Gender Identity Clinic, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bogaert AF, Blanchard R. Handedness in homosexual and heterosexual men in the Kinsey interview data. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Aug;25(4):373-8. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Bogaert AF. Volunteer bias in human sexuality research: evidence for both sexuality and personality differences in males. Arch Sex Behav. 1996 Apr;25(2):125-40. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.
Blanchard R, Bogaert AF. Homosexuality in men and number of older brothers. Am J Psychiatry. 1996 Jan;153(1):27-31. Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comment in: Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136-7. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136; author reply 137. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Jan;154(1):136; author reply 137.
Rushton JP, Bogaert AF. Population differences in susceptibility to AIDS: an evolutionary analysis. Soc Sci Med. 1989;28(12):1211-20. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
Ann Merchant (born circa 1957) is an American marketing executive who was involved in creating promotional material for the transphobic 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Merchant has never commented publicly on her involvement.
Ann Merchant in 2012. Source: YouTube
At that time, Merchant was Marketing Director at Joseph Henry Press and National Academies Press. Merchant’s computer signature was found in the code for the promotional material entitled “Praise” included in the press kit prepared by Joseph Henry Press publicist Robin Pinnel.
Biography
Ann G. Merchant earned her Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She worked in fulfillment at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before joining the National Academies Press in 1990. In 2004 she was named Director of Outreach & Marketing for The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). In 2009, she was named Deputy Executive Director of NASEM’s Office of Communications.
Allen Rosenthal is an American psychologist and anti-transgender activist who published pathologizing research on transgender people and trans-attracted people with advisor J. Michael Bailey at Northwestern University.
Rosenthal is based in Vallejo California. Do not go to Rosenthal for therapy of any kind, especially if you are trans or gender diverse.
Background
Allen Michael Rosenthal was born December 10, 1979. Rosenthal graduated in 1997 from Robinson Secondary in Fairfax, Virginia, then attended Brigham Young University from 2004 to 2006. Around that time, Rosenthal earned the first of two Bachelor’s degrees.
Rosenthal earned a second Bachelor’s Degree in psychology from University Of Utah in 2006, where he was a member of Psi Chi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Golden Key Honor Society. He then came to Northwestern University for his PhD.
Rosenthal wrote in 2008:
I moved to Chicago in July of 2007 after having spent ten bittersweet years in Utah. While there, I started college at Brigham Young University, came out of the closet at the ripe ol’ age of 18, left BYU, moved to Salt Lake City, and met my partner (now of nine years). Together, we became ‘New Agers’ for several years, were heavily involved with life enhancement trainings, and then became anti-‘New Agers’ (read: realists). Finally, beginning in 2004, I discovered psychology–the ‘science of the mind’–and completed a BS (my second) in Psychology at the University of Utah.
The Northwestern University psychology department profiled him in 2011:
Originally from the suburbs of Washington, DC, Allen Rosenthal completed his undergraduate work at the University of Utah, where he graduated with a major in psychology in 2006. Before he began attending graduate school, he worked in three psychology labs and gained clinical experience doing psychological assessments of sex offenders. Allenâs primary research area is sexual orientation and the paraphilias (i.e., uncommon / unusual sexual interests). Although his interests within this field are many, he is especially interested in the relationships between sexual arousal, behavior, and orientation. His lab has recently published two papers on a study of the sexual arousal of bisexual men. Contrary to earlier controversial findings which suggested that bisexual men are only aroused by men, they found that a subpopulation of bisexual men are aroused by both men and women (in the lab). Currently, Allen is conducting two studies of men who are sexually attracted to partially transitioned male-to-female transsexuals. This phenomenon is referred to as gynandromorphophilia (GAM), which roughly translates to woman-man-form-lover. Very little is known about men with GAM. Perhaps of greatest interest is whether they are otherwise primarily sexually attracted to men or women; one could easily tell the story either way. In another ongoing study, they are assessing the genital arousal of some of these men in the lab. When Allen is not doing research or clinical work, he enjoys being with his partner of twelve years and their two cats. He and his partner enjoy good food, movies, and gardening. His idea of heaven is making dinner with him using their own produce while Frank Sinatra plays in the background. He is also an avid cyclist and is oft to be found on the lakeshore trail bordering Lake Michigan. He gets some of his best thinking done while biking to and from Northwestern everyday. After graduate school, he plans on finding an academic job that will allow him to continue to wear his three favorite hats: researcher, clinician, and teacher.
Rosenthal interned from 2015-2016 at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Charleston. That school says he then worked in the Department of Psychiatry at a Kaiser Permanente facility in Vallejo, California.
Rosenthal was reportedly subjected to sexual orientation change efforts by NARTH.
Anti-transgender activism
Rosenthal diagnoses the common attraction to trans women as “gynandromorphophilia” (GAMP), which he and his colleagues describe as “sexual interest in gynandromorphs (GAMs; colloquially, shemales).”
Rosenthal and Bailey also magically “discovered” that bisexual men exist after receiving money from the American Institute of Bisexuality. Before the payment, Bailey had proclaimed in the press that bisexual men do not exist, saying males are “gay, straight, or lying.”
Hsu KJ, Rosenthal AM, Miller DI, Bailey JM (2015). Who are gynandromorphophilic men? Characterizing men with sexual interest in transgender women. Psychological Medicine. 2016 Mar;46(4):819-27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291715002317 Epub 2015 Oct 26.
Rosenthal AM, Hsu KJ, Bailey JM (2017). Who are gynandromorphophilic men? An internet survey of men with sexual interest in transgender women. Archives of Sexual Behavior [17 Nov 2016, 46(1):255-264] https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0872-6
Khytam Dawood was a J. Michael Bailey student at Northwestern University and is now a geneticist at University of Chicago trying to replicate the “gay gene” work reported by Dean Hamer.
Dawood wrote one of the first glowing Amazon reviews for Bailey’s 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen. This book is widely considered the most defamatory book on gender variance since Janice Raymond published The Transsexual Empire in 1979. Dawood is a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church as well as the member of a n number of behavior genetics trade groups.
Dawood is also involved in the gay brothers study with Alan Sanders.
This study reports on genetic and environmental influences on the frequency of orgasm in women during sexual intercourse, during other sexual contact with a partner, and during masturbation. Participants were drawn from the Australian Twin Registry, and recruited from a large, partly longitudinal twin-family study. Three thousand and eighty women responded to the anonymous self-report questionnaire, including 667 complete monozygotic (MZ) pairs and 377 complete dizygotic (DZ) same-sex pairs, 366 women from complete DZ opposite-sex pairs, and 626 women whose co-twins did not participate. Significant twin correlations were found for both MZ and DZ twin pairs for all three items of interest. Age effects were statistically significant for some items. Models incorporating additive genetic, shared and nonshared environmental influences provided the best fit for Items 1 and 3, while a model with additive and nonadditive genetic influences along with nonshared envir-onment fitted the data from Item 2. While an independent pathway model fits the data most par-simoniously, a common pathway model incorporating additive genetic (A), shared environment (C), and unique environment (E) effects cannot be ruled out. Overall, genetic influences account for approximately 31% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during sexual intercourse, 37% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during sexual contact other than during intercourse, and 51% of the variance of frequency of orgasm during masturbation. Following Baker (1996), we speculate that this additive genetic variance might arise from frequency-dependent selection for a variety of female sexual strategies.
Research has generally supported the existence of familial-genetic factors for male sexual orientation, but has not shed much light on the specific nature of those influences. Gay men with gay brothers provide the opportunity to examine several hypotheses. Sixty-six men, representing 37 gay male sibling pairs, completed questionnaires assessing behavior on various measures including childhood and adult gender nonconformity, timing of awareness of homosexual feelings, self-acceptance, and the quality of family relationships. Consistent with prior findings using twins, gay brothers were similar in their degree of childhood gender nonconformity, suggesting that this variable may distinguish etiologically (e.g., genetically) heterogeneous subtypes. The large majority of gay men with brothers knew about their own homosexual feelings before they learned about their brothersâ homosexual feelings, suggesting that discovery of brothersâ homosexuality is not an important cause of male homosexuality.
Available evidence suggests that male homosexuality is both familial and somewhat heritable and that some cases may be caused by an X-linked gene. However, most studies have recruited subjects in a relatively unsystematic manner, typically via advertisements, and hence suffer from the potential methodological flaw of ascertainment bias due to volunteer self-selection. In the present study we assessed the familiality of male homosexuality using two carefully ascertained samples and attempted to replicate findings consistent with X-linkage in three samples. The percentage of siblings of the probands rated as either homosexual or bisexual, with a high degree of certainty, ranged from 7 to 10% for brothers and 3 to 4% for sisters. These estimates are higher than recent comparable population-based estimates of homosexuality, supporting the importance of familial factors for male homosexuality. Estimates of lambda s for male homosexuality ranged from 3.0 to 4.0. None of the samples showed a significantly greater proportion of maternal than paternal homosexual uncles or homosexual male maternal first cousins. Although our results differed significantly with those of some prior studies, they do not exclude the possibility of moderate X-linkage for male sexual orientation.
University of Chicago researchers Khytam Dawood and Alan Sanders seek assistance in a research study entitled âMolecular Genetic Study of Sexual Orientationâ. The study seeks to recruit approximately 500 pairs of homosexual brothers and available parents in order to perform a linkage study to better understand the genetic contributions to this trait. A sample size of 500 brother pairs will allow the study to clear up some of the statistical uncertainty in this field of inquiry in previous work (~50 or fewer pairs of brothers each, and only examining the X chromosome, i.e., Dean Hamer’s work and others). For further information, contact Alan Sanders, M.D., University of Chicago, phone: 773 834-3502, email: [email protected]; website: http://psychiatry.bsd.uchicago.edu/research/familyschizophrenia.html
Khytam Dawood, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in human behavior genetics research. Her work is primarily focused on investigating the genetics and development of human sexual orientation. A related area of clinical and research interest is in child and adolescent gender nonconformity, and gender identity disorder.
Child/Adolescent Gender Identity Service. This rotation includes clinical experience with both children and adolescent populations. Interns will also receive training in providing comprehensive psychological evaluation for gender identity problems in children and adolescents where there is concern about a childâs gender identity development, or an adolescent who is struggling with sexual orientation. A support group for parents will also be offered. The rotation requires participation in weekly group supervision and a weekly clinical/research seminar, and guided practice in cognitive-behavioral case formulation. (Director: Khytam Dawood)
Marc Breedlove is an American psychologist and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Stephen Marc Breedlove was born in 1954 in Missouri. After graduating from Springfield High School in 1952, Breedlove aerned a bachelor’sdegree from Yale University, then attended University of California, Los Angelesm earning a master’s degree and doctorate.
Breedlove was a professor of psychology at the notoriuosly transphobic psychology department at University of California, Berkeley, from 1982 to ~2002. Â Breedlove then moved to Michigan State University.
Breedlove was featured on a show about homosexuality with Bailey and his usual suspects:
The Sex Files HOMOSEXUALITY IN THIS EPISODE
Why are some people gay? That’s the $64,000 question – at least in the scientific community. Is it something genetically predetermined? Or does environment have an impact on whether an individual turns out to be gay or lesbian? These questions are beginning to be probed in ways that might finally be leading to an answer, and the Sex Files has interviewed the foremost authorities on the topic to uncover some of those scientific clues:
Dr. Devendra Singh, University of Texas psychologist specializing in the evolutionary significance of human physical attractiveness
Dr. Ken Zucker, head of the Child and Adolescent Gender Identity Clinic at the University of Toronto’s Clarke Institute of Psychiatry
Dr. Marc Breedlove, professor* specialising in the sexual differentiation of the brain.
* The original episode guide described Dr. Breedlove as a “professor of psychology at UCLA.” Dr. Breedlove noted in 2008 “I am not, and have never been, a professor of psychology or of anything else at UCLA.” Breedlove earned his Ph.D. at UCLA but taught at UC Berkeley before taking an appointment at Michigan State.
Whatâs the fuss about? Read the book, think for yourself
Why this vehement response to this terrific book? Because Bailey describes male-to-female transsexuals who report an experience that is quite different from the familiar “a woman trapped in a man’s body”. Bailey never casts doubt that there are such people, in fact he interviews and describes several. But he finds that not all M2F transsexuals fit that mold. So the fuss you’re reading in these reviews are from M2F transsexuals who refuse to acknowledge that other M2F transsexuals might have a different experience than their own. There’s no reason to think the women Bailey interviewed would have been lying to him, and why isn’t their experience as valid as yours, mine or that of other transsexuals?
So get past all the landmines the critics are trying to use to deflect you from reading a thought-provoking, honest and entirely sympathetic view of the fascinating phenomenon of transsexuality.
By the way, it’s a great read, not at all stodgy. I promise you the pages will fly by.
Whom You Love (2014)
In 2012 Breedlove launched a failed crowdfunding campaign for a film called Whom You Love: the biology of sexual orientation. The project was then relaunched and reached half its original funding goal.
In 2014, Breedlove released a series of YouTube videos on a channel with that name, featuring many key anti-trans activists in academia.
