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Thomas Steensma is a Dutch psychologist who researches gender diverse youth. Steensma’s research and clinical guidelines are frequently cited by anti-transgender extremists who reject affirmative models of care for young people seeking trans health services.

In 2022, Steensma attended a conference organized by anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine at Tampere University in Finland.

Steensma is also popular with anti-transgender activists for reporting high rates of “desistance” and “detransition.” Steensma co-authored a 2013 longitudinal study tracking 127 adolescents. approximately 37% continued with “gender dysphoria” (which they call “persisters”), while 63% did not (“desisters”) by age 15–16 .

Background

Thomas D. Steensma, works at the Department of Medical Psychology / Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Steensma’s research is focused on people of all ages with gender incongruence. Steensma’s primary projects focus on treatment evaluation, psychosexual development and (gender) identity development (including non-binary gender identities). Steensma studied social and clinical psychology, and is trained as a child and adolescent health psychologist.

“Desistance” research

In a 2013 paper, Steensma and co-authors stated that 63% of adolescents included in the study “desisted”:

Between 2000 and 2008, 225 children (144 boys, 81 girls) were consecutively referred to the clinic. From
this sample, 127 adolescents were selected who were 15 years of age or older during the 4-year period of follow-up between 2008 and 2012. Of these adolescents, 47 adolescents (37%, 23 boys, 24 girls) were identified as persisters.

Because this is one of the highest “desistance” rates ever reported, anti-trans activists frequently cite this study. Critics have discussed methodological issues, particularly how to count people lost to follow-up / non-responders.

Press coverage

In 2018 KQED reported:

In Amsterdam, clinicians at the Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria are much more cautious about recommending social transitions because of the statistics on desistance. Thomas Steensma, a researcher and clinician at the center, acknowledges  these studies probably included some kids who would not be diagnosed with gender dysphoria today. Nevertheless, despite the problems with the way they classified children, “the only evidence I have from studies and reports in the literature  … is that not all transgender children will persist in their transgender identity,” Steensma said. ‘Why are we asking a child to conform to something that is not them because society hasn’t done its learning yet?’

In 2013, Steensma co-authored an oft-cited study that examined 127 adolescents, all of whom had displayed various levels of gender dysphoria as children. The researchers found that 80 of the children had desisted by the ages of 15 and 16. That works out to 63 percent of kids who basically stopped being transgender — a lower rate than in previous studies, but still a majority.

Some clinicians criticize this study, however, on methodological grounds, because the researchers defined anyone who did not return to their clinic as desisting. Fifty-two of the children classified as desistors or their parents did send back questionnaires showing the subjects’ present lack of gender dysphoria. But 28 neither responded nor could be tracked down.

Brooks (2018)

Coverage in anti-trans media

In 2020, Steensma co-authored research and overviews on how negative media coverage affects transgender youth and their access to care.

Anti-trans activists who cite Steensma include:

References

Gorcenski, Emily (May 4, 2021). Jesse Singal Still Got More Wrong Than He Thinks. https://emilygorcenski.com/post/jesse-singal-still-got-more-wrong-than-he-thinks/

Brooks, Jon (May 23, 2018). The Controversial Research on ‘Desistance’ in Transgender Youth. KQED https://www.kqed.org/futureofyou/441784/the-controversial-research-on-desistance-in-transgender-youth

Selected coverage in anti-trans press

Klotz, Frieda (May 20, 2024). Pediatric Transgender Care and the Contentious Rise of SEGM. Undark https://undark.org/2024/05/20/pediatric-transgender-care-contentious-segm/

Ryan, Benjamin (September 18, 2024). New Evidence Challenges Institutionalized Belief That Transgender Teens Become Transgender Adults, Undermining Core Defense of Medical Gender Transitions for Minors. New York Sun https://www.nysun.com/article/new-evidence-challenges-institutionalized-belief-that-transgender-teens-become-transgender-adults-undermining-core-defense-of-medical-gender-transitions-for-minors

Singal, Jesse (April 4, 2021). A (Sorta) Quick Response To The Errors In Emily Gorcenski’s Article, “Jesse Singal Got More Wrong Than He Thinks” (Updated). Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/a-sorta-quick-response-to-the-errors

Lane, Bernard (March 17, 2021). Dutch expert warns on ‘blind adoption’ of puberty blockers. The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/dutch-expert-warns-on-blind-adoption-of-puberty-blockers/news-story/d235ce6ebe409e8efde979f1ae0739cc

Singal, Jesse (July 2018). When a Child Says She’s Trans. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/

Navarro, Danielle (May 6, 2018). Nevertheless, she desisted: A brief review of Steensma et al (2013). https://djnavarro.net/desistance-essay/

Singal, Jesse (March 27, 2018). A Lot of People, Myself Included, Have Been Misreading the Single Biggest Published Study on Childhood Gender Dysphoria Desistance and Persistence — It Offers Stronger Evidence for Desistance Than We Thought. Medium https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/everyone-myself-included-has-been-misreading-the-single-biggest-study-on-childhood-gender-8b6b3d82dcf3

Selected publications by Steensma

van Dijken, J. B., Steensma, T. D., Wensing-Kruger, S. A., den Heijer, M., & Dreijerink, K. M. A. (2023). Tailored Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatment in Nonbinary Transgender Individuals: A Retrospective Study in a Referral Center Cohort. Transgender Health, 8(3), 220–225. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2021.0032

van der Loos, M. A. T. C., Klink, D. T., Hannema, S. E., Bruinsma, S., Steensma, T. D., Kreukels, B. P. C., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., de Vries, A. L. C., den Heijer, M., & Wiepjes, C. M. (2023). Children and adolescents in the Amsterdam Cohort of Gender Dysphoria: trends in diagnostic- and treatment trajectories during the first 20 years of the Dutch Protocol. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 20(3), 398–409. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdac029

Pang, K. C., Hoq, M., & Steensma, T. D. (2022). Negative Media Coverage as a Barrier to Accessing Care for Transgender Children and Adolescents. JAMA Network Open, 5(2), e2138623. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.38623

  • Pang, K. C., de Graaf, N. M., Chew, D., Hoq, M., Keith, D. R., Carmichael, P., & Steensma, T. D. (2020). Association of Media Coverage of Transgender and Gender Diverse Issues With Rates of Referral of Transgender Children and Adolescents to Specialist Gender Clinics in the UK and Australia. JAMA Network Open, 3(7), e2011161. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.11161
  • Indremo, M., Jodensvi, A. C., Arinell, H., Isaksson, J., & Papadopoulos, F. C. (2022). Association of Media Coverage on Transgender Health With Referrals to Child and Adolescent Gender Identity Clinics in Sweden. JAMA Network Open, 5(2), e2146531. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.46531
  • Chong, L. S. H., Kerklaan, J., Clarke, S., Kohn, M., Baumgart, A., Guha, C., Tunnicliffe, D. J., Hanson, C. S., Craig, J. C., & Tong, A. (2021). Experiences and Perspectives of Transgender Youths in Accessing Health Care. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1159. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2061
  • Pham, A., Morgan, A. R., Kerman, H., Albertson, K., Crouch, J. M., Inwards-Breland, D. J., Ahrens, K. R., & Salehi, P. (2020). How Are Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Affected by the News? A Qualitative Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 66(4), 478–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.11.304
  • Hughto, J. M. W., Pletta, D., Gordon, L., Cahill, S., Mimiaga, M. J., & Reisner, S. L. (2021). Negative Transgender-Related Media Messages Are Associated with Adverse Mental Health Outcomes in a Multistate Study of Transgender Adults. LGBT Health, 8(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0279

Wensing-Kruger SA , Nes L, Steensma TD (2022). Genderdysforie. Het lichaam en psychisch functioneren, 261-277 2022 https://mijn.bsl.nl/genderdysforie/19783376

Bungener, S. L., Post, L., Berends, I., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC, & Popma, A. (2022). Talking About Sexuality with Youth: A Taboo in Psychiatry? The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 19(3), 421–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2022.01.001

Van Mello, N., De Nie, I., Asseler, J., Arnoldussen, M., Steensma, T., Den Heijer, M., de Vries ALC, & Huirne, J. (2022). P-506 Reflecting on the Importance of Family Building and Fertility Preservation: Transgender People’s Experiences with Starting Gender-affirming Treatment as Adolescent. Human Reproduction, 37(Supplement_1). https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deac107.469

Arnoldussen, M., van der Miesen, A. I. R., Elzinga, W. S., Alberse, A.-M. E., Popma, A., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC(2022). Self-Perception of Transgender Adolescents After Gender-Affirming Treatment: A Follow-Up Study into Young Adulthood. LGBT Health, 9(4), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0494

de Rooij, F. P. W., van der Sluis, W. B., Ronkes, B. L., Steensma, T. D., Al-Tamimi, M., van Moorselaar, R. J. A., Bouman, M.-B., & Pigot, G. L. S. (2022). MP20-09 Comparison of clinical outcomes after phalloplasty with versus without urethral lengthening in transgender men. Journal of Urology, 207(Supplement 5). https://doi.org/10.1097/ju.0000000000002553.09

van der Vaart, L. R., Verveen, A., Bos, H. M., van Rooij, F. B., & Steensma, T. D. (2022). Differences in self-perception and social gender status in children with gender incongruence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27(4), 1077–1090. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045221099394

de Rooij, F. P. W., van der Sluis, W. B., Ronkes, B. L., Steensma, T. D., Al-Tamimi, M., van Moorselaar, R. J. A., Bouman, M.-B., & Pigot, G. L. S. (2022). Comparison of surgical outcomes and urinary functioning after phalloplasty with versus without urethral lengthening in transgender men. International Journal of Transgender Health, 24(4), 487–498. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2022.2110548

van der Sluis, W. B., Bruin, R. J. M. de, Steensma, T. D., & Bouman, M.-B. (2021). Gender-affirmation surgery and bariatric surgery in transgender individuals in The Netherlands: Considerations, surgical techniques and outcomes. International Journal of Transgender Health, 23(3), 355–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2021.1890302

de Graaf, N. M., Huisman, B., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Twist, J., Hage, K., Carmichael, P., Kreukels, B. P. C., & Steensma, T. D. (2021). Psychological Functioning in Non-binary Identifying Adolescents and Adults. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 47(8), 773–784. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623x.2021.1950087

van der Sluis, W. B., de Nie, I., Steensma, T. D., van Mello, N. M., Lissenberg-Witte, B. I., & Bouman, M.-B. (2021). Surgical and demographic trends in genital gender-affirming surgery in transgender women: 40 years of experience in Amsterdam. British Journal of Surgery, 109(1), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znab213

Kennedy, E., Lane, C., Stynes, H., Ranieri, V., Spinner, L., Carmichael, P., Omar, R., Vickerstaff, V., Hunter, R., Senior, R., Butler, G., Baron-Cohen, S., de Graaf, N., Steensma, T. D., de Vries ALC, Young, B., & King, M. (2021). Longitudinal Outcomes of Gender Identity in Children (LOGIC): study protocol for a retrospective analysis of the characteristics and outcomes of children referred to specialist gender services in the UK and the Netherlands. BMJ Open, 11(11), e054895. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054895

Verveen, A., Kreukels, B. P., de Graaf, N. M., & Steensma, T. D. (2021). Body image in children with gender incongruence. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26(3), 839–854. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045211000797

MJA Verbeek, MA Hommes, TD Steensma, AER Bos, J van Lankveld (2021). Transgender specific problem situations experienced during transition: Development of a Transgender Coping Questionnaire part 1. 4th EPATH Hybrid Conference: Reconnecting and Redefining Transgender Healthcare 2021 https://epath.eu/past-conferences/conference-2021/

Castellini G, Ristori J, Steensma T (2021). Psychopathology in adult transgender people. European Psychiatry. 2021;64(S1):S47-S47. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.151

de Vries ALC, Beek, T. F., Dhondt, K., de Vet, H. C. W., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., Steensma, T. D., & Kreukels, B. P. C. (2021). Reliability and Clinical Utility of Gender Identity-Related Diagnoses: Comparisons Between the ICD-11, ICD-10, DSM-IV, and DSM-5. LGBT Health, 8(2), 133–142. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0272

Spizzirri, G., Eufrásio, R., Lima, M.C.P. et al. (2021). Proportion of people identified as transgender and non-binary gender in Brazil. Sci Rep 11, 2240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81411-4

Claahsen – van der Grinten, H., Verhaak, C., Steensma, T., Middelberg, T., Roeffen, J., & Klink, D. (2020). Gender incongruence and gender dysphoria in childhood and adolescence—current insights in diagnostics, management, and follow-up. European Journal of Pediatrics, 180(5), 1349–1357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-020-03906-y

Bungener, Sara. L., de Vries ALC, Popma, A., & Steensma, T. D. (2020). Sexual Experiences of Young Transgender Persons During and After Gender-Affirmative Treatment. Pediatrics, 146(6), e20191411. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-1411

de Graaf, N. M., Steensma, T. D., Carmichael, P., VanderLaan, D. P., Aitken, M., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., de Vries ALC, Kreukels, B. P. C., Wasserman, L., Wood, H., Zucker KJ (2020). Suicidality in clinic-referred transgender adolescents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(1), 67–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01663-9

Steensma TD, Wensing-Kruger SA, Klink D (2017). How Should Physicians Help Gender-Transitioning Adolescents Consider Potential Iatrogenic Harms of Hormone Therapy? (2017). AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(8), 762–770. https://doi.org/10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.8.ecas3-1708

Ristori, J., & Steensma, T. D. (2016). Gender dysphoria in childhood. International Review of Psychiatry, 28(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.3109/09540261.2015.1115754

de Vries ALC, Steensma, T.D., Cohen-Kettenis, P.T., VanderLaan DP, Zucker KJ (2016). Poor peer relations predict parent- and self-reported behavioral and emotional problems of adolescents with gender dysphoria: a cross-national, cross-clinic comparative analysis. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 25, 579–588 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-015-0764-7

Steensma TD, McGuire JK, Kreukels BPC, Beekman AJ, Cohen-Kettenis P.T (2013). Factors Associated With Desistence and Persistence of Childhood Gender Dysphoria: A Quantitative Follow-Up Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 52, Issue 6, pp. 582–590). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.03.016

  • Temple Newhook, J., Pyne, J., Winters, K., Feder, S., Holmes, C., Tosh, J., Sinnott, M.-L., Jamieson, A., & Pickett, S. (2018). A critical commentary on follow-up studies and “desistance” theories about transgender and gender-nonconforming children. International Journal of Transgenderism, 19(2), 212–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2018.1456390
  • Zucker KJ (2018). The myth of persistence: Response to “A critical commentary on follow-up studies and ‘desistance’ theories about transgender and gender non-conforming children” by Temple Newhook et al. (2018). International Journal of Transgenderism, 19(2), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/15532739.2018.1468293

de Vries ALC., McGuire, J. K., Steensma, T. D., Wagenaar, E. C. F., Doreleijers, T. A. H., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. (2014). Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment. Pediatrics, 134(4), 696–704. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2958

Steensma TD, Kreukels BPC, de Vries ALC, Cohen-Kettenes PT (2013). Gender identity development in adolescence. Hormones and Behavior, July 2013, 64(2) pp. 288-297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.02.020

Steensma, T. D., Biemond, R., de Boer, F., Cohen-Kettenes PT (2011). Desisting and persisting gender dysphoria after childhood: A qualitative follow-up study. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16(4), 499–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104510378303

Media

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, Annelou de Vries, and Thomas Steensma (March 11, 2022). EPISODE 66 – Pioneers Series – Where it All Started: The Dutch Researchers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISYeDL38tQ

Pedagogische en Onderwijswetenschappen (UvA) with Henny Bos and Thomas Steensma (Apr 14, 2021). Gender – Preventieve Jeugdhulp en Opvoeding. [Gender – Preventive Youth Care and Education] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU5JweVHLeU

Resources

Amsterdam VUMC (research.vumc.nl/en)

ResearchGate (researchgate.net)

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

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

Gert Comfrey is an American therapist who identifies as nonbinary and queer. Comfrey specializes in marriage and family therapy issues that affect sex and gender minorities.

Background

Comfrey was born in November 1985, grew up in Central Pennsylvania, and was known by another name prior to adulthood.

Comfrey earned a bachelor’s degree from Elizabethtown College in 2008, then earned two master’s degrees; one from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2010, and one from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2015.

In 2019 Comfrey was a panelist at the LGBT+ College Conference held at Middle Tennessee State University.

Comfrey opened a marriage and family therapy practice in Nashville, Tennessee in 2019:

I have extensive experience working with transgender clients and clients wanting to explore gender identity, along with letter-writing for gender affirming surgeries. I am also a trained Circle facilitator and have offered trainings to healthcare professionals, counseling interns, and students regarding best practices when working with queer clients.

Comfrey is known to many from an appearance in the 2022 anti-trans propaganda piece What Is a Woman? In it, Comfrey earnestly explains that sex and gender are more complicated than binaries, prompting interviewer Matt Walsh to ask about personal gender identity, “So how do I know?” Comfrey responds, “That question, when it’s asked with a lot of curiosity, that’s the beginning of a lot of people’s gender identity development journey.” Many people who enjoy Walsh’s incurious bad-faith tactics found the exchange entertaining.

References

2019 LGBT+ College Conference Schedule https://www.mtsu.edu/mtlambda/2019LGBTplusCCSchedule.php]

Media

Community Changers (May 27, 2022). DDC S3 Gert Comfrey: The LGBTQ+ Community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd4vlZCbAeM

Resources

Gert Comfrey (gertcomfrey.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Therapy Den (therapyden.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Nashville Psychotherapy Institute (nashvillepsychotherapyinstitute.org)

Psychology Today (psychologytoday.com)

Alasdair Gunn is an English anti-transgender extremist living in Ireland. Gunn, originally hiding behind the pseudonym “Angus Fox,” has served as Vice Director of anti-trans hate group Genspect.

Background

Gunn is reportedly a translator and linguistics researcher who has been credited in some academic texts. Gunn identifies as gay and is a cancer survivor.

Anti-trans activism

Gunn, using the name “Angus Fox,” published a series of anti-trans articles for Quillette called “When Sons Become Daughters.”

The Texas Tribune reported on a 2023 chat log leak posted on Daily Dot where Gunn said:

“The key point here is: eyes on the prize! We have to stop child transitions. On those over 25 we say little, because it’s not in YOUR interests to mention this. We have to break through to the policymakers who are left of center, and the way to do that is to focus relentlessly on the problem of transition for under 25s.”

Gunn, who uses the pseudonym Angus Fox, talked about speaking with Quentin van Meter, the president of the Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group the American College of Pediatrics (ACPeds):

“The endocrinologist Quentin Van Meter sees a difference between the boys and girls he has treated. He said I could quote him on this,” Gunn said. 

In one conversation about ideology, Gunn says, “I’m a huge Bilek fan.” He elaborated, “Gender ideology is only possible if you believe that there is a consciousness which is not just a product of biochemistry, but its own entity.”

Jennifer Bilek has put forth a conspiracy theory claiming that Jewish billionaires are are engaging in a transhumanist plot by funding the transgender rights movement.

In 2023 Gunn was a key author of a “Gender Framework” document drafted by Genspect’s Killarney Group. It is intended to be an alternative to the WPATH Standards of Care.

In May 2023, Gunn commended anti-trans activist Hadley Freeman for a piece in The Times titled “Welcome to the doctors’ resistance,” which promotes anti-trans group Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender.

I was heartened by Freeman’s piece about the medical professionals group the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender (CAN-SG). It’s good to see this thorny subject tackled with compassion and heart.

Like CAN-SG, we are concerned about the culture of fear created by spurious accusations of transphobia. The fact is, the medicalised approach to gender care is not working. It is time to consider alternatives. This group can bring experience and integrity to a sector in crisis. We’re lucky to have it.
Alasdair Gunn, vice-director, Genspect, Tipperary

Gunn frequently collaborates with other anti-trans activists and is a regular guest on Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce.

References

O’Malley, Stella (May 29, 2025). When You’re Gender-Critical – and You’re Woke. Genspect https://genspect.org/when-youre-gender-critical-and-youre-woke/

Downen, Robert (August 21, 2024). Rep. Shawn Thierry joins anti-trans policy group after losing Democratic primary. Texas Tribune https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/21/shawn-thierry-lgbtq-gender-transitioning-care-genspect/

Piper, Ernie (July 25, 2023). EXCLUSIVE: ‘Focus relentlessly on under 25’: Leaked chats reveal influential gender-critical group’s plan to use children to push for bans on transitioning Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/debug/genspect/ [archive]

Mannisto, Jessie (July 22, 2021). A Fresh Perspective on Gender: An Interview with Angus Fox of Genspect. Third Factor https://www.thirdfactor.org/angus-fox-genspect/

Selected anti-trans writing by Gunn

Gunn, Alasdair and others (May 14, 2023). Letters: ‘Inclusive’ language is misogyny in disguise. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/comment/letters-to-editor/article/inclusive-language-is-misogyny-in-disguise-kr8068xz2

“Angus Fox” (June 18, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters: It’s Time to Admit That Reflexive ‘Affirmation’ Has Been a Mistake. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/06/18/when-sons-become-daughters-its-time-to-admit-that-reflexive-affirmation-has-been-a-mistake/

“Angus Fox” (June 7, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters, Part VI: Asexuality, Intelligence, and the Trans Co-Option of Intersex Discourse. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/06/07/when-sons-become-daughters-part-vi-asexuality-intelligence-and-the-trans-co-option-of-intersex-discourse/

“Angus Fox” (May 11, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters, Part V: The Links Between Trans Identity, Gifted Minds, Categorical Thinking—And Anime. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/05/11/when-sons-become-daughters-part-v-the-links-between-trans-identity-gifted-minds-categorical-thinking-and-anime/

“Angus Fox” (April 21, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters, Part IV: Parents of Transitioning Boys Speak Out on Their Own Suffering. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/04/21/when-sons-become-daughters-part-iv-parents-of-transitioning-boys-speak-out-on-their-own-suffering/

“Angus Fox” (April 12, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters, Part III: Parents of Transitioning Boys Speak Out on Their Own Suffering. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/04/12/when-sons-become-daughters-part-iii-parents-of-transitioning-boys-speak-out-on-their-own-suffering/

“Angus Fox” (April 6, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters, Part II: Parents of Transitioning Boys Speak Out on Their Own Suffering. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/04/06/when-sons-become-daughters-part-ii-parents-of-transitioning-boys-speak-out-on-their-own-suffering/

“Angus Fox” (April 2, 2021). When Sons Become Daughters: Parents of Transitioning Boys Speak Out on Their Own Suffering. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/04/02/when-sons-become-daughters-parents-of-transitioning-boys-speak-out-on-their-own-suffering/

Media

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Alasdair Gunn (April 14, 2025). Alasdair Gunn: Life After Cancer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNmZMOlQV8

Genspect Australia/NewZealand (March 2, 2024). Alasdair Gunn in Conversation with parents from New Zealand and Australia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0juLCZWKUV4

Genspect with Joe Burgo and Alasdair Gunn (January 13, 2024). AusNZ Webinar: Introducing the Genspect Gender Framework with Alasdair Gunn and Joe Burgo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUsJq4OTcsY

Epoch Times with Jan Jekielek (August 17, 2023). How the Gender Industry Has Parasitized People’s Emotions. https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/how-the-gender-industry-has-parasitized-peoples-emotions-alasdair-gunn-on-the-spike-in-teens-seeking-to-transition-5470406

Genspect (August 5, 2023). The Bigger Picture Conference: Normalising Excellence in Healthcare with Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WEpdtgy-fk

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, “Eliza Mondegreen,” and Alasdair Gunn (June 13, 2023). So Over The Rainbow | with Alasdair Gunn & Eliza Mondegreen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpKJ9DXavk

Heterodorx with Nina Paley, Corinna Cohn, and Alasdair Gunn (May 25, 2023). Episode 100: Alasdair Gunn: It’s Fun To Play Scrabble With A Linguist. https://heterodorx.com/podcast/episode-100-alasdair-gunn-its-fun-to-play-scrabble-with-a-linguist/

Genspect with Maya Forstater, Helen Joyce, Stella O’Malley, Alasdair Gunn and Malcolm Clark (May 24, 2023). The Importance of Pronouns and Compelled Speech – Panel Debate Moderated by Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY1TSWPr97E

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Stella O’Malley, and Alasdair Gunn (May 3, 2023). Winning the Gender War | with Stella & Alasdair (On Location in Ireland). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVRSdGpdWCQ

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, Joe Bargo, and Alasdair Gunn (Mar 31, 2023). EPISODE 108: Genspect Vision: The Bigger Picture w/ Joe Burgo & Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgKL2_ty6I

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Joe Burgo, and Alasdair Gunn (March 13, 2023). Announcing: Genspect’s “The Bigger Picture” Conference | with Joseph Burgo & Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKn3uraXQ-s

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce, Joe Burgo, and Alasdair Gunn (January 5, 2023). A Masculine Calmversation with Joe Burgo and Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB9mtWnhlxc

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and Alasdair Gunn (December 22, 2022). Life, Death, & Everything Else | with Alasdair Gunn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpXJ4eo5b_A

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “Angus Fox” (September 24, 2022). The Secret Life of Angus Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZqMRDk05RQ

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “Angus Fox” (November 27, 2021). Ballads of Gender Banditry | with Angus Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78shDBe4j74

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “Angus Fox” (July 11, 2021). Over the Rainbow | with Claire Graham & Angus Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqB-ePn97Qk

Calmversations with Benjamin Boyce and “Angus Fox” (June 3, 2021). The Lost Boys of Genderland | with Angus Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78XZCuRsDKs

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and “Angus Fox” (April 30, 2021). EPISODE 21 – Gender Dysphoria in Males: Part 2 – A Conversation with Angus Fox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8VdySAopgs

Resources

Conservative Home (conservativehome.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Quillette (quillette.com)

Etsy (etsy.com)

Randi Ettner is an American psychologist and author known for affirming work with transgender and gender diverse people.

Background

Randi Joy (Cahan) Ettner was born in 1952 in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Ettner’s aunt was noted sexologist Leah Cahan Schaefer. Ettner earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, followed by a master’s degree from Roosevelt University.

Ettner began working with transgender people in 1977 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Ettner received a doctorate in psychology at Northwestern University, with a dissertation on childbirth. Ettner had additional training at Moray House School of Education in Scotland.

Ettner is founder of New Health Foundation Worldwide and works with spouse Frederic M. “Fred” Ettner, a physician.

Ettner referred transgender patients to surgeon Eugene Schrang until Schrang’s retirement. Ettner is a member of the American Psychological Association and is a Fellow, Diplomate, and served on the Board of Directors from 2001 to 2005 for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

Ettner has helped pass anti-discrimination laws, provided testimony on behalf of trans people seeking workplace rights, and works to secure appropriate treatment for prisoners. Ettner has also been a critic of psychologist J. Michael Bailey‘s 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen. Bailey claims the book was initially motivated by “gross inaccuracies in Ettner’s account of transsexualism.” Ettner works to improve understanding of trans issues, and has spoken out against attitudes used to justify violence against trans people.

Below is a clip from a 2006 interview I did with Dr. Ettner on coming out.

Publications

  • Cahan RJ (1976). A Psychology Internship: Cook County Hospital. Roosevelt University
  • Ettner R (1979). Childbirth at Home: A Preliminary Attempt to Predict Dysfunctional Labor. Northwestern University
  • Ettner R (1996). Confessions of a Gender Defender: A Psychologist’s Reflections on Life Among the Transgendered. Chicago Spectrum Press, ISBN 9781886094512
  • Ettner R (1999). Gender Loving Care: A Guide to Counseling Gender-variant Clients. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 9780393703047, W W Norton page
  • Ettner R (2002). Book Review: Sex, Gender & Sexuality: 21st Century Transformations. By Tracie O’Keefe. Archives of Sexual Behavior Volume 31, Number 2 / April, 2002.
  • Ettner R, Harima K, King D, Landen M, Nodin Ñ, VP (2003). Transgender and Transsexuality. In Ember CR, Ember M (eds.). Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World’s Cultures. Springer, ISBN 9780306477706
  • White T, Ettner R (2004). Disclosure, Risks and Protective Factors for Children Whose Parents Are Undergoing a Gender. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 8 (1/2), 129-145.
  • White T, Ettner R (2004). Disclosure, risks, and protective factors for children whose parents are undergoing a gender transition. In Leli U, Drescher J (eds.) Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician’s Guide. Haworth Press ISBN 9780789025760
  • Ettner R, White T, Brown GR, Shah BJ (2006). Client Aggression Towards Therapists: Is It More or Less Likely with Transgendered Clients? International Journal of Transgenderism, 2006, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1–7.
  • White T, Ettner R (2007). Adaptation and adjustment in children of transsexual parents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2007, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 215–221.
  • Ettner R, Monstrey S, Eyler AE (2007). Principles of Transgender Medicine and Surgery. Haworth Press, ISBN 9780789032683

References

Staff report (August 28, 1977). Randi Joy Cahan is engaged to Dr. Frederic Mark Ettner. New York Times

Lieberman AB (1992). Easing Labor Pain. Harvard Common Press, ISBN 9781558320437 p. 170

Marilynn Marchione (August 14, 1995). Small Neenah hospital a leader in sex changes. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Staff (Oct 22, 2007). Experts testify in case for hormones in prison. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Rodkin, Dennis (2003). Sex and Transsexuals. Chicago Reader

Dreger AD (2008). The controversy surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: a case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the Internet age. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2008 Jun;37(3):366-421.

Deardorff, Julie (March 22, 2001). Gender conflicts are given a clear place of study. Chicago Tribune

Morning Edition (April 3, 2001). Profile: Center opens in Chicago to help promote understanding of transsexual issues. National Public Radio

Bagby, Dyana (February 10, 2006). Fighting, preventing “trans panic.” Washington Blade http://www.washblade.com/2006/2-10/news/national/nat1.cfm

Resources

Dr. Randi Ettner (randiettner.com) [archive]

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

University of Minnesota Program in Human Sexuality (sexualhealth.umn.edu)

Dana Beyer is an American physician, political candidate, and transgender rights activist.

Background

Dana Beyer was born February 9, 1952 and grew up in New York City. Beyer was reportedly diagnosed with a difference of sex development.

Beyer earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in 1974 and a medical degree from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1978. Beyer practiced as an eye surgeon before going into activism and politics.

Beyer ran three unsuccessful campaigns for public office in Maryland: State Delegate in 2010, and State Senator in 2014 and 2018. Beyer’s bid in 2014 against gay incumbent Richard Madaleno led to criticism from some local LGBT activists.

Trans activism

Beyer was involved in protests of the transphobic 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen. Beyer was a participant in our 2004 all-transgender benefit perfomance of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, performing a piece with fellow physicians Becky Allison and Marci Bowers.

Beyers was part of the DSM-V Task Force for “gender identity disorder,” which was renamed “gender dysphoria” in 2012.

From 2012 to 2017, Beyer wrote many articles on timely trans topics on HuffPost, including an interview with activist Riki Wilchins, a profile of sexologist Milton Diamond, and an obituary for trans-supportive therapist Leah Schaefer. Beyers also criticized Alice Dreger’s attempt to rehabilitate J. Michael Bailey’s reputation in Galileo’s Middle Finger, noting the difference in Lambda Literary Foundation’s response to criticism of their nomination process in 2004 and 2015.

Philanthropic work includes Gender Rights Maryland and Equality Maryland. Beyers served on the board of A Wider Bridge, the North American organization which promotes LGBTQ inclusion in Israel and equality for Israel. Beyer also served as Regional Advocacy Chair for J Street, a national organization which advocates for diplomacy with Israel and a peaceful two-state solution.

Beyer was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame in 2014. Some local LGBT activists protested the selection, including Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin and Equality Maryland Executive Director Carrie Evans.

Conservative views

Beyer is a conservative transmedicalist and transsexual separatist.

In 2017, Beyer wrote:

Ever since the trans community grew into its activism during the 90s, and began to include more than just transsexual persons (those who transition with medical and surgical treatment), the issue of who falls under the umbrella has grown. I myself wrote about this in a column in 2013, and the controversy has waxed and waned. Now, I believe the growth in the non-binary movement is the greatest challenge to our internal cohesion.

In a 2024 conversation with Josh Szeps, the show notes say:

“Transsexual” sounds like an old-fashioned term. But it describes a real medical condition in which your brain has the opposite sex from your body. Are transsexuals threatened by newer gender-queer, non-binary theories of sex? Dr Dana Beyer says so. She’s one of the most influential and effective trans activists in history. A medical doctor and self-described transsexual, she’s been striding the hallways of power since the 1970s meeting with the likes of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden to achieve landmark wins for LGBT rights. Today, she believes modern gender theory is harming transsexuals like herself.

References

Turque, Bill (October 3, 2014). Montgomery County Hall of Fame induction leads to harsh words among LGBT leaders. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-news/montgomery-county-hall-of-fame-induction-leads-to-harsh-words-among-lgbt-leaders/2014/10/03/ee6c090e-4a3a-11e4-a046-120a8a855cca_story.html

Confessore, Nick (June 19, 2025). How the Transgender Rights Movement Bet on the Supreme Court and Lost. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/magazine/scotus-transgender-care-tennessee-skrmetti.html

Lavers, Michael K. (October 14, 2014). Honor for trans activist sparks controversy. Washington Blade https://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/10/14/beyer-induction-md-county-hall-fame-sparks-controversy/

Herzog, Brad (). Identity Politics. Cornell Alumni Magazine https://cornellalumnimagazine.com/identity-politics/

Selected writing by Beyer

Beyer, Dana (September 13, 2018). Transgender Lives: Your Stories: Dana Beyer. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/opinion/transgender-today/stories/dana-beyer

Beyer, Dana (September 11, 2017). Don’t Punish Trans Girls For The Mistakes Of Others. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dont-punish-trans-girls-for-the-mistakes-of-others_b_59b6f4dae4b0883782dec24a

Beyer, Dana (July 9, 2017). The Nomenclature Wars: Conflict In The LGBTQ Trenches. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-nomenclature-wars-conflict-in-the-lgbtq-trenches_b_5962c740e4b08f5c97d06aec

Beyer, Dana (June 23, 2017). Are There Too Many Ribs in the Trans Umbrella? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/are-there-too-many-ribs-in-the-trans-umbrella_b_594d6060e4b0c85b96c6590f

Beyer, Dana (June 5, 2017). An Interview With Pioneering Trans Activist And Author, Riki Wilchins. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/an-interview-with-pioneering-trans-activist-and-author_b_59355798e4b062a6ac0ad19a

Beyer, Dana (October 29, 2016). Gavin Grimm And The Future Of Trans Rights. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gavin-grimm-and-the-futur_b_12705444

Beyer, Dana (October 27, 2016). The Crisis Of Timidity And Retrenchment In The Trans Rights Movement. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-crisis-of-timidity-an_b_12675332

Beyer, Dana (September 15, 2016). Learned Helplessness In Trans World, A Continuing Discussion. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/learned-helplessness-in-t_b_12037750

Beyer, Dana (September 12, 2016). Doing the Right Thing for Trans Health is Now Easier Than You Think. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doing-the-right-thing-for_b_11978340

Beyer, Dana (September 9, 2016). Learned Helplessness in Trans World Today. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/learned-helplessness-in-t_b_11938382

Beyer, Dana (September 1, 2016). Professor Mickey Diamond: “Nature Loves Variety; Unfortunately, Society Hates It.” HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/professor-mickey-diamond_b_11820398

Beyer, Dana (August 11, 2016). Bill Maher Is Right: Trans Rights Require A Clinton Victory. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-maher-is-right-trans_b_11458198

Beyer, Dana (July 8, 2016). Has the Movement for LGBT Equality, and, Particularly, Trans Equality, Become Self-Sustaining? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/has-the-movement-for-lgbt_b_10886732

Beyer, Dana (July 1, 2016). Musings On WPATH — The War Against Trans Children Is Over, Part 3. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/musings-on-wpath—-the-w_b_10777292

Beyer, Dana (June 23, 2016). Amen to That – The War Against Trans Children is Over, Part 2. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amen-to-that—the-war-ag_b_10637312

Beyer, Dana (June 23, 2016). The War Against Trans Children is Over – Part 1 on the WPATH Conference. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-war-against-trans-chi_b_10636030

Beyer, Dana (May 9, 2016). Tears of Gratitude — The United States Publicly Embraces the Trans Community. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tears-of-gratitude—the_b_9876332

Beyer, Dana (May 4, 2016). The Trans Political Tipping Point, All Within the Past 24 Hours. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-trans-political-tippi_b_9843914

Beyer, Dana (April 4, 2016). A New Day Dawns – America’s First National Trans Political Advocacy Group Lifts Off. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-new-day-dawns—america_b_9609440

Beyer, Dana (March 30, 2016). Passing Privilege, the Gender Binary, and the Productive Power of Stereotypes. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/passing-privilege-the-gen_b_9575736

Beyer, Dana (March 22, 2016). The Lambda Literary Foundation Trips but Rights Itself Quickly and With Dignity. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-lambda-literary-found_b_9526090

Beyer, Dana (February 24, 2016). LGBT Aimlessness — Victory Blindness, AWOL Leadership, and Trans Panic. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbt-aimlessness—-victo_b_9308470

Beyer, Dana (January 31, 2016). We Are Not Your Enemies — Pinklying, Pinkwashing and the Decline of the LGBTQ Left. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/we-are-not-your-enemies_b_9128730

Beyer, Dana (January 11, 2016). Two Forgotten Communities — Bisexual and Crossdresser. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/two-forgotten-communities_b_8956102

Beyer, Dana (December 30, 2015). 2015 Trans Year in Review — The Downside / A Long Time Comin’. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2015-trans-tear-in-review_b_8894586

Beyer, Dana (December 28, 2015). 2015 Trans Year in Review — The Upside. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/2015-trans-year-in-review_b_8884358

Beyer, Dana (December 24, 2015). A Tale of Two Clinics. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-tale-of-two-clinics_b_8875066

Beyer, Dana (November 12, 2016). A Message to the American Trans Community. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-message-to-the-american_b_12926266

Beyer, Dana (November 12, 2015). Gay Transphobia, 2015 Style. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gay-transphobia-2015-styl_b_8546278

Beyer, Dana (November 10, 2015). The State of the Trans Community, Part 4 — Allies or Adversaries? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-state-of-the-trans-co_b_8525538

Beyer, Dana (November 6, 2015). The State of the Trans Community, Part 3 – the Houston Debacle and Its Significance. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-state-of-the-trans-co_b_8492996

Beyer, Dana (October 30, 2015). The State of the Trans Community, Part 2 — Awkwardness as Progress. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-state-of-the-trans-co_b_8437614

Beyer, Dana (October 28, 2015). The State of the Trans Community — Great Expectations. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-state-of-the-trans-co_b_8414106

Beyer, Dana (July 21, 2015). Open Trans Military Service — The Final Barrier To Full Inclusion Falls. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/open-trans-military-servi_b_7841388

Beyer, Dana (June 8, 2015). What Makes a Woman? A Trans Woman Responds to a Mid-20th Century Era Feminist. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-makes-a-woman-a-tran_b_7533324

Beyer, Dana (May 28, 2015). Strange Bedfellows Perpetuate the Denial of Proper Care for Young Trans Girls. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/strange-bedfellows-perpetuate-the-denial-of-proper-care-for-young-trans-girls_b_7463428

Beyer, Dana (May 22, 2015). A Brief Timeline of Trans Activism to Bolster The New York Times Timeline. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-brief-timeline-of-trans-activism-to-bolster-the-new-york-times-timeline_b_7423618

Beyer, Dana (May 15, 2015). Must We Alienate Our Women Allies? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/must-we-alienate-our-wome_b_7294032

Beyer, Dana (April 22, 2015). Galileo’s Middle Finger Reflected Back at the Defenders of the Anti-trans Pseudoscience of J. Michael Bailey. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/galileos-middle-finger-re_b_7119420

Beyer, Dana (February 26, 2015). The Second Coming of the Man Who Would Be Queen. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-second-coming-of-the_b_6763188

Beyer, Dana (February 4, 2015). Political Correctness and Its Diffusion Into the Trans Community. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/political-correctness-and_b_6614800

Beyer, Dana Beyer, Dana (January 21, 2015). Kids Do the Darndest Things! The Vagina Monologues in the Context of Historical Ignorance. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kids-do-the-darndest-thin_b_6502018

Beyer, Dana (August 15, 2014). TERF Wars: Trans Women and Feminist Extremism in Context. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/terf-wars-trans-women-and-feminist-extremism-in-context_b_5682910

Beyer, Dana (March 24, 2014). Anti-Trans Slurs and Drag: Who Exactly Is Transgender, and Does It Matter? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-trans-slurs-drag_b_5022301

Beyer, Dana (February 4, 2014). Suicidality and Resilience in the Trans Community. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/suicidality-and-resilience-in-the-trans-community_b_4719512

Beyer, Dana (October 31, 2013). The Fundamentals of Transphobia. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-fundamentals-of-transphobia_b_4183760

Beyer, Dana (August 14, 2013). Who, Then, Really Is Trans? HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/who-then-really-is-trans_b_3750240

Beyer, Dana (July 1, 2013). Gender Transition in Children: A Dialogue Continued. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gender-transition-in-children_b_3530335

Beyer, Dana (May 9, 2013). It Really Isn’t Getting Better For Some Trans Women. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/it-really-isnt-getting-better-for-some-trans-women_b_3231738

Beyer, Dana (February 12, 2013). The Ethics of Gender Transition. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-ethics-of-gender-tran_b_2666438

Beyer, Dana (January 30, 2013). Remembering Dr. Leah Schaefer, The Sweet Singer-Turned-Psychiatrist Who Healed A Generation Of Trans Women. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/leah-schaefer-trans-women_b_2569123

Beyer, Dana (December 5, 2012). The End Of Transgender As A Mental Illness. HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-end-of-transgender-as-a-mental-illness_b_2238147

Beyer, Dana (2003). Willow Arune and Dana Beyer debate “Autogynephilia.” https://transgendermap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/05/willow-arune-dana-beyer.pdf

Media

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps (July 11, 2024). “Is Trans Ideology Harming Transsexuals?” with Dana Beyer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60j_juiuhrw

The Weekly Dish with Andrew Sullivan (November 27, 2020). Dana Beyer On Her Trans Victories, The Science Of Sex, And The Tensions Within “LGBTQ.” https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/dana-beyer-on-her-trans-victories

Resources

Dana Beyer (danabeyer.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

HuffPost (huffpost.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections (uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org)

Scott Barry Kaufman is an American psychologist who frequently platforms anti-transgender activists and people associated with the intellectual dark web, a gateway to the far right. Kaufman also platforms academics who promote evolutionary psychology, an ideology frequently opposed to value-neutral scientific conceptualizations of trans and gender diverse people.

Ever since a graduate thesis on the subject, Kaufman been invested in misusing science to maintain and justify sex categories and sex segregation, in the way that race science has been misused to maintain and justify racial categories and segregation. Academic sex segregationists have staked their careers and legacies on defending the few remaining sex-segregated institutions.

Kaufman objects to being listed on this site, saying, “I try every day to do good in the world and have never done anything damaging to trans people.”

Background

Scott Barry Kaufman was born June 3, 1979 to Barbara Alpert (born ~1956), a professor of medicine, and Michael Stephen Kaufman (born ~1954), a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Both parents went to Harvard and were from families of high social standing.

Kaufman earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a master’s degree from Cambridge. Kaufman’s 2007 master’s thesis was titled “Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial visualization ability: Can they be accounted for by differences in working memory capacity?” Kaufman then earned a doctorate in cognitive psychology from Yale, with a research focus on intelligence.

After personally experiencing challenges in early formal education, much of Kaufman’s work involves helping children realize their full potential. Kaufman has authored, co-authored, edited, and contributed to several books for a lay audience:

  • The Psychology of Creative Writing (2009)
  • Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined (2013)
  • Mating Intelligence Unleashed: The Role of the Mind in Sex, Dating, and Love (2013)
  • The Complexity of Greatness: Beyond Talent or Practice (2013)
  • The Philosophy of Creativity: New Essays (2014)
  • Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (2015)
  • Twice Exceptional: Supporting and Educating Bright and Creative Students with Learning Difficulties (2018)
  • Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization (2020)
  • Learned Hopefulness: The Power of Positivity to Overcome Depression (2020)
  • Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (2022)

The Psychology Podcast

Kaufman hosts The Psychology Podcast and has consistently platformed gender-critical and anti-transgender guests, including:

Guests involved in the intellectual dark web, “viewpoint diversity,” “academic freedom,” and “anti-woke” movements include:

In December 2022, Kaufman outlined agreement with anti-trans activist Jesse Singal about disagreements:

My friend @jessesingal convinced me that the following is probably true: “People look at someone’s behavior, and then, based on how much it outrages them, they decide whether to attribute it to personal shortcomings (their fault) or mental illness (not their fault).”

In 2022, Kaufman expressed an interest in a “debate” on trans issues and trans rights.

Who would you like to see have a respectful, healthy debate about trans issues and trans rights? I’d love some suggestions of reputable evidence-based experts who have differing viewpoints. I will moderate this on @psychpodcast. Thanks!

Kaufman (2022)

When I asked Kaufman to provide more details on which rights for trans people should be debated, Kaufman said, “I’m afraid I don’t have the time to respond to your questions. I am extremely busy.”

If a podcaster consistently platformed antisemitic guests then suddenly wanted to have a “respectful healthy debate on Jewish issues and Jewish rights,” Kaufman would probably have a few questions. It’s also interesting that none of Kaufman’s gender critical guests appeared with someone who had opposing views.

Psychology is one of the key ways the state exerts social control on trans people. Academic exploitation of sex and gender minorities is well documented. People like Kaufman perpetuate these oppressive systems, probably unintentionally. It’s what biologist Julia Serano calls “trans unaware” and “trans suspicious” thinking.

In 2023, Kaufman released a series of podcast episodes on sex and gender. The episode titles reflect Kaufman’s anti-trans bias. Episodes Kaufman calls “science” are by gender critical people who have similar conservative views.

Kaufman chose not to use science to describe the episode with noted biologist/geneticist Anne Fausto-Sterling, even though Fausto-Sterling is by far the most notable and accomplished scientist Kaufman interviewed. That’s because Fausto-Sterling’s views are informed by the latest in scientific understanding of sex and gender and not Kaufman’s own biased views.

Episode list

  • “What we get wrong about transgender people” with Aaron Rabinowitz and Callie Wright
    • a decent introductory discussion about minutiae that ignores larger systemic issues
  • “The Science of Testosterone” with activist Carole Hooven
    • covers many of Hooven’s areas of activism
    • sex-segregated sports
    • disease models of gender identity and expression
    • maintaining a sex binary “the opposite sex”
    • fearmongering about “irreversible” puberty blockers
    • desistance” narratives: most gender diverse youth will turn out gay without access to healthcare
    • gatekeeping narratives: social transition leads to medical transition (Kaufman quipped “pronouns are a gateway drug”)
    • ROGD” talking points: “lifetime of surgery and drugs and complications”
    • Hooven praises federal gatekeeping of reproductive healthcare: “United States is behind Europe”
  • “The Scientific Realities of Biological Sex” with gender critical psychologist Debra Soh, evolutionary psychologist Marco Del Giudice, and conservative trans porn star Buck Angel
  • “Gender/Sex and the Body” with biologist/geneticist Anne Fausto-Sterling
    • This is the only one worth listening to

References

Kaufman SB (2007). Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial visualization ability: Can they be accounted for by differences in working memory capacity? Intelligence https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.07.009

Holiday, Ryan (October 7, 2020). Scott Barry Kaufman – How to Use Psychology to Solve Real-World Problems. The Daily Stoic https://podcasts.apple.com/se/podcast/scott-barry-kaufman-how-to-use-psychology-to-solve/id1430315931?i=1000493870872&l=en

Kaufman says this quote exemplifies the psychologist’s views on trans people:

You tweeted something this morning that caught me. You were talking about a study that was showing how hard it must be to be a transgender person because you walk through the world and the entire world has evolved to really only see two gender identities in this. So it’s like a millisecond in our evolutionary perspective. We just don’t quite have the ability to see them they way they see themselves.

Resources

Scott Barry Kaufman (scottbarrykaufman.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

TikTok (tiktok.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

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

Meghan Daum is an American anti-transgender activist who got involved through the intellectual dark web.

Background

Daum was born February 13, 1970 in California. Daum earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

The Unspeakeasy

Daum founded The Unspeakeasy in 2022 and is host of The Unspeakable podcast. Guests have included:

2021

2020

Daum co-hosts the podcast A Special Place In Hell with Sarah Haider.

Daum published the essay collections My Misspent Youth and The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion. Daum’s work has appeared in The New YorkerThe New York Times MagazineThe AtlanticVogueGQ, and Harper’s.

Daum authored the book The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through The New Culture Wars.

Comments on Leelah Alcorn’s suicide

In 2018, Daum expressed what many felt was more sympathy for Leelah Alcorn’s unsupportive parents than for the dead teen.

“There’s no question that Leelah’s death and the circumstances leading to it are worthy of—and, in fact, demand— public rage. But along with that rage should come compassion, not just for the Alcorns but for anyone who’s ever been slow to reach acceptance, or whose circumscribed worldview has clouded their understanding of somebody else’s experience.”

References

Daum, Meghan (August 24, 2018). Nuance: A Love Story. GEN https://gen.medium.com/nuance-a-love-story-ae6a14991059

Daum, Meghan (2015-01-15). Op-Ed: Why blaming Leelah Alcorn’s parents only compounds the bigotry. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-daum-alcorn-transparent-suicide-20150115-story.html

Schares, Evan Mitchell (2019-02-01). The Suicide of Leelah Alcorn: Whiteness in the Cultural Wake of Dying QueersQED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking6 (1): 1–25. doi:10.14321/qed.6.1.0001

Daum, Meghan (January 5, 2023). Why Do I Talk So Much About Trans Stuff? Because I Have Nothing To Lose.
The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum https://meghandaum.substack.com/p/why-do-i-talk-so-much-about-trans

Resources

Substack (substack.com)

The Unspeakeasy (theunspeakeasy.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Jamie Reed is an American anti-transgender extremist who wants to eliminate gender-affirming healthcare for adolescents and young adults. Reed is also part of the LGB separatist movement, founding the anti-trans organization LGB Courage Coalition in 2023.

Reed’s anti-trans extremism has been heavily promoted by other anti-trans activists, including Bari Weiss, Jesse Singal, Azeen Ghorayshi, Jonathan Chait, Andrew Bailey, Emily Yoffe, Stella O’Malley, Jennifer Block, Sasha Ayad, Konstantin Kisin, and Francis Foster, as well as conservative trans activists Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly of Gender Dysphoria Alliance.

In December 2024, Reed became a co-host of the podcast Informed Dissent with Ben Appel, Corinna Cohn, Lisa Selin Davis, and “Eliza Mondegreen.”

Background

Jamie Lynn Smith was born in June 1980. After marrying Joshua David Rickly (born 1982), Jamie began using the name Jamie Lynn Smith-Rickly. During this time, Jamie was apparently using the email [email protected].

In 2009, Jamie Smith-Rickly, Zachary Smith, and Byron Case founded the Midwestern Liberty Foundation, but it was dissolved by the state of Missouri the following year for failure to submit required documents.

The couple had two children and later divorced.

Jamie then married librarian Tiger Reed, who at the time identified as a transgender man. They have Jamie’s two children from the first marriage as well as three foster children. In 2024, after announing a “detransition,” Tiger Reed began using the name Roxxanne Reed.

Reed earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri St. Louis and a master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Reed began working at Washington in 2016.

Anti-trans activism

From 2018 until late 2022, Reed was a case manager at the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Reed became increasingly upset that the clinic was not doing more psychological and psychiatric gatekeeping. As with many providers, Washington relied on patients to find a local therapist who would recommend them for treatment to reduce backlogs and improve patient care.

Reed was against prescribing hormone options for minors. Like many other people opposed to youth gender affirming care, Reed considers puberty blockers less problematic than hormones, but opposes those as well. Puberty blockers are a rarely-used short-term option prior to prescribing hormones. Some people opposed to gender-affirming care would prefer trans youth to stay on puberty blockers until they are adults, rather than start hormones and go through puberty with their non-transgender peers.

Like many other people opposed to gender-affirming care, Reed cites the conservative “Dutch protocol” that used extensive gatekeeping under a nationalized healthcare system.

2023 affidavit

In an affidavit presented to anti-trans Attorney General Andrew Bailey dated February 7, 2023, Reed stated:

I witnessed staff at the Center provide puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children without complete informed parental consent and without an appropriate or accurate assessment of the needs of the child. I witnessed children experience shocking injuries from the medication the Center prescribed. And I saw the Center make no attempt or effort to track adverse outcomes of patients after they left the Center.

[…]

One patient came to the Center identifying as a “communist, attack helicopter, human, female, maybe non binary.” The child was in very poor mental health and early on reported that they had no idea their gender identity.

[…]

Most children who come into the Center were assigned female at birth. Nearly all of them have serious comorbidities including, autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma histories, OCD, and serious eating disorders.

[…]

last year Dr. [Chris] Lewis and Dr. [Sarah] Garwood told the Missouri legislature, “at no point are surgeries on the table for anyone under 18” and also, “surgeries are not an option for anyone under 18 years of age.” This was a lie. The Center regularly refers minors for gender transition surgery. The Center routinely gives out the names and contact information of surgeons to those under the age of 18. At least one gender transition surgery was performed by Dr. Allison Snyder-Warwick at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the last few years.

[…]

The Center had two in-house psychologists. They were Dr. Alex Maixner and Dr. Sarah Girresch-Ward as well as several outside therapists.

[…]

Doctors knew that many of our former patients had stopped taking cross-sex hormones and were detransitioning. Doctors did not share this information with parents or children.

[…]

Children come into the clinic using pronouns of inanimate objects like “mushroom,” “rock,” or “helicopter.” Children come into the clinic saying they want hormones because they do not want to be gay. Children come in changing their identities on a day-to-day basis. Children come in under clear pressure by a parent to identify in a way inconsistent with the child’s actual identity.

[…]

I created a “red flag” list of children where other staff and I had concerns. The doctors told me I had to stop raising these concerns. I was not allowed to maintain the red flag list after that. During the time I was creating the red flag list, noting my concern that these children were not good candidates for permanent, irreversible medication treatment, the doctors would simply send these children to our in-house therapists. Those therapists would inevitably provide letters to the doctors, and then the doctors would say there can’t be any concern over these children because another therapist was fine with prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

[…]

One doctor at the Center, Dr. Chris Lewis, is giving patients a drug called Bicalutamide. I know of at least one patient at the Center who was advised by the renal department to stop taking Bicalutamide because the child was experiencing liver damage. The child’s parent reported this to the Center through the patient’s online self-reporting medical chart (MyChart). The parent said they were not the type to sue, but “this could be a huge PR problem for you.”

[…]

the Center has prescribed puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones hundreds of times where they should not have.

Reed (2023)

Particularly upsetting to Reed are young people whose identities are fluid:

Patient was on hormones and had decompensating mental health, outlandish name changes, self-diagnosis of multiple personalities (DID).

[…]

Patient has desisted in male identity to a vague non binary with their own self-diagnosis of autism. Patient has changed their name numerous times and is clearly struggling with thoughts about desistence,

[..]

Patient changed to non-binary identity, then changed preferred name and stated that their identity was shifting day to day.

Reed (2023)

Reed gave several other vivid anecdotes, including one about a youth sex offender, and others about youths with history of self-harm, sexual trauma, forced cross-dressing, factitious blindness, and “gender identities that were likely the result of social contagion.”

2023 Free Press piece

Two days after the affidavit was signed, Reed repeated these allegations in the Free Press for anti-trans activist Bari Weiss.

  • “clinics like the one where I worked are creating a whole cohort of kids with atypical genitals—and most of these teens haven’t even had sex yet.”
  • “Some weeks it felt as though almost our entire caseload was nothing but disturbed young people.”
  • “Another disturbing aspect of the center was its lack of regard for the rights of parents.”
  • “In 2019, a new group of people appeared on my radar: desisters and detransitioners.”
  • “I believe that to ensure the safety of American children, we need a moratorium on the hormonal and surgical treatment of young people with gender dysphoria.”

Reed and the clinic’s nurse, Karen Hamon, kept a private spreadsheet, which they called the “red flag list.” Following a 2021 review that contained criticisms and a 2022 retreat where Reed was allegedly told “Get on board, or get out,” Reed transferred to a different department.

2023 New York Times profile

Anti-trans activist Azeen Ghorayshi of the New York Times presented Reed as part of a long-running “cisgender person under siege” series the paper has been running since the early 2000s.

Ghorayshi mentioned the following people:

  • Jamie Reed, former case manager at a youth gender clinic at Washington University in St. Louis
  • Bari Weiss, anti-trans activist who first published Reed’s allegations in the Free Press
  • Andrew Bailey, Missouri’s anti-trans Attorney General
  • Colleen Schrappen, reporter at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Annelise Hanshaw, reporter at Missouri Independent
  • Andrew D. Martin, Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor

Reporter Evan Urquhart wrote, “unlike other stories covering these allegations, the Times downplays the falsehoods and seeks to make a case that despite Reed’s lies there’s something to be taken seriously in her attacks on a highly-regarded, University-linked clinic serving transgender youth.”

LGBT Courage Coalition and purge of trans members

Reed founded LGBT Courage Coalition in 2023 as a Substack and later registered it as a nonprofit. About a year later, Reed purged all trans leadership and renamed in LGB Courage Coailition, installing Lauren Leggieri as co-executive director.

Lawsuits

In 2024 a subpoena was issued to Reed in the matter of Noe v. Parson (Missouri case # 23AC-CC04530). In it, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. and ACLU of Missouri Foundation requested communication between Reed and Karen Hamon, as well as any communication with Missouri officials and families at Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

The subpoena also requested “All communications, including any documents exchanged, concerning Gender-Affirming Care involving media or between you and any media outlet or any member of the media,” as well as specifically requesting communications with Jesse Singal. Those requests were later removed.

The subpoena also requested any communication with the following organizations:

2025 activity

In July 2025, Reed was a panelist at the 2025 US Federal Trade Commission anti-trans workshop.

Also in 2025, Reed was named as part of the core team at anti-trans website Resilience Health Network.

References

Conlon, Rose (January 28, 2025). Transgender Kansans urge lawmakers to reject bill banning gender-affirming care for youth. KMUW https://www.kmuw.org/2025-01-28/transgender-kansans-urge-lawmakers-to-reject-bill-banning-gender-affirming-care-for-youth

Schrappen, Colleen (November 2, 2024). Her life changed after calling out transgender care at WashU. But she’s pushing ahead. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_ca9fa3a6-9588-11ef-8910-6f3a4a9697f9.html

Urquhart, Evan (Oct 4, 2024). TWIBS: Tiger Reed Tells All. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/tiger-reed-tells-all

Suntrip, Jack (October 1, 2024). Jamie Reed testifies in defense of Missouri state law on transgender health care. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_416bc1de-7f33-11ef-b125-e37291fc739f.html

Urquhart, Evan (August 22, 2024). How Conservative Officials Are Using Private Medical Records For Their Anti-Trans Agenda. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-patients-medical-records-anti-trans-agenda

Graham, Michael (February 27, 2025). Gender Clinic Whistleblower to Testify Before NH House Committee Monday. NH Journal https://nhjournal.com/gender-clinic-whistleblower-to-testify-before-nh-house-committee-monday/

Hanshaw Annelise (September 30, 2024). Former caseworker testifies in defense of Missouri transgender health care ban. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2024/09/30/former-caseworker-testifies-in-defense-of-missouri-transgender-health-care-ban/

Lovelace, Eric (September 30, 2024). St. Louis gender clinic whistleblower testifies in Noe v. Parson. KOMU https://www.komu.com/news/midmissourinews/st-louis-gender-clinic-whistleblower-testifies-in-noe-v-parson/article_2f612e3c-7f53-11ef-ad63-abba11ecb77e.html

Reed, Erin (October 13, 2023). Family Of Missouri Trans Kid: Jamie Reed Lied About Liver Damage, Caused By COVID Drug And Not HRT. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/family-of-missouri-trans-kid-jamie

Urquhart, Evan (August 23, 2023). NYT Treats Key Source’s Many Lies as an Aside in Latest Anti-Trans Smear. Assigned https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/nyt-treats-key-sources-many-lies-as-an-aside-in-latest-anti-trans-smear

Sapir, Leor (May 2, 2023). Nothing to See Here: After a suspicious internal report, a truly comprehensive and impartial investigation of Washington University’s Transgender Center is needed more than ever. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/nothing-to-see-here

Yurcaba, Jo (April 24, 2023). St. Louis gender clinic accusations ‘unsubstantiated,’ internal investigation finds. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/st-louis-gender-clinic-accusations-unsubstantiated-internal-investigat-rcna81233

Hanshaw, Annelise (April 24, 2023). Former employee of St. Louis transgender clinic reaffirms allegations of misconduct. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/24/former-employee-of-st-louis-transgender-reaffirms-allegations-of-misconduct/

Henry, Vesper; Tirrell, Alyssa (April 13, 2023). Timeline: The unfolding saga between The Free Press and a Missouri gender clinic. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/bari-weiss/timeline-unfolding-saga-between-free-press-and-missouri-gender-clinic

Schrappen, Colleen (March 20, 2023). Parents of patients at St. Louis transgender center fear privacy breaches, file complaints. St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/parents-of-patients-at-st-louis-transgender-center-fear-privacy-breaches-file-complaints/article_6b623743-e441-5119-92a4-27c19547e4b2.html

Urquhart, Evan (March 11, 2023). Jamie Reed’s Misinformation Exposed by Jesse Singal. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jamie-reeds-misinfo-exposed-by-jesse-singal

Singal, Jesse (March 10, 2023). Gender-Clinic Whistleblower Jamie Reed Has Provided A Detailed Account Of Her Most Controversial Claim, Including The Names Of Those Involved. Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/gender-clinic-whistleblower-jamie

Lynch, James (March 8, 2024). ACLU Targets Whistleblower Jamie Reed in Fight against Missouri Law Banning Transgender Procedures for Minors. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/news/aclu-targets-whistleblower-jamie-reed-in-fight-against-missouri-law-banning-transgender-procedures-for-minors/

Urquhart, Evan (March 8, 2023). There Are Two Sides to the Debate on Health Care for Trans Kids. Here’s What You’re Missing About One of Them. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2023/03/trans-youth-health-care-debate-affirmative-new-york-times-jamie-reed.html

Singal, Jesse (March 7, 2023). Journalists Are Exhibiting Far Too Much Credulousness Toward Jamie Reed’s Critics. Singal-Minded https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/journalists-are-exhibiting-far-too

Cooper, Ryan (March 2, 2023). The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic. The American Prospect https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-02-right-wing-transphobia-panic/

Danner, Chas (March 3, 2023). Whistleblower’s Claims About a St. Louis Transgender Center Are Under Fire. New York https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/jamie-reeds-claims-about-transgender-care-are-under-fire.html

Kesslen, Ben (March 2, 2023). Parents hit back at Missouri trans clinic whistleblower Jamie Reed. New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/parents-hit-back-at-missouri-trans-clinic-whistleblower-jamie-reed/

Hanshaw, Annelise (March 1, 2023), Families dispute whistleblower’s allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/01/transgender-st-louis-whistleblower/

Ballentine, Summer (February 10, 2023). Missouri officials investigate transgender youth clinic. AP News https://apnews.com/article/josh-hawley-jamie-reed-st-louis-missouri-health-83953afb898dff7caa2b542c91480069

Burke, Cathy (February 9, 2023). Whistleblower lifts lid on St. Louis kids gender clinic: ‘Morally and medically appalling.’ New York Post https://nypost.com/2023/02/09/whistleblower-lifts-lid-on-st-louis-kids-gender-clinic/

Hanshaw, Annelise (February 9, 2023 ). Missouri agencies launch investigation into health center for transgender youth. Missouri Independent https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/09/missouri-agencies-launch-investigation-into-health-center-for-transgender-youth/

St. John’s, Tower Grove (June 8, 2012). Jamie Smith-Rickly / [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/towergrovechurch/posts/please-make-reservations-soon-so-that-the-chefs-can-plan-appropriately-celebrate/10151786138200576/

Selected publications by the Reeds

Reed, Jamie (January 30, 2025). I’m a trans-clinic whistleblower — Trump is right to ban sex changes for kids. New York Post https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/opinion/im-a-clinic-whistleblower-trans-kids-ban-will-save-lives/

Reed, Jamie (December 3, 2024). Why I Hope the Supreme Court Upholds the Ban on Child Transition. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/supreme-court-gender-transiton-skrmetti-whistleblower-jamie-reed

Reed, Roxxanne (September 9, 2024). I Spent 13 Years Living as a Man. But After My Spouse’s Exposé, I’m Detransitioning. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/tiger-jamie-reed-detransition-wash-u-transgender-affirming-care

Reed, Jamie (February 7, 2023). Affidavit of Jamie Reed https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2-07-2023-reed-affidavit—signed.pdf

Reed, Jamie (December 31, 2023). Jamie Reed: The Courage to Admit You’re Wrong. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/whistleblower-jamie-reed-courage-admit-wrong

Reed, Jamie (February 9, 2023). I Thought I Was Saving Trans Kids. Now I’m Blowing the Whistle.The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/i-thought-i-was-saving-trans-kids

Media

Genetic Literacy Project with Cameron English, Jamie Reed, and Liza Dunn (April 24, 2025). GLP podcast: Common sense ‘out the window.’ Whistleblower Jamie Reed challenges safety, efficacy of ‘gender-affirming care.’ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/04/24/glp-podcast-common-sense-out-the-window-wash-u-whistleblower-jamie-reed-exposes-bad-science-behind-gender-affirming-care/

America Reports (December 4, 2024). Whisleblower implores SCOTUS to uphold the ban on child transition. Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/video/6365541665112

Emily Yoffe (February 14, 2023). Jamie Reed Blows the Whistle on Pediatric Gender Care. The Free Press https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6sPG7gleOs

Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad (May 5, 2023). EPISODE 112: A Conversation with Gender Clinic Whistleblower, Jamie Reed. Gender: A Wider Lens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QafpwKrz-lw

Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster (April 16, 2023). Trans Clinic Whistleblower Speaks Out. TRIGGERnometry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbuGMbqjsSw

Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster (June 14, 2023). The Dark Truth: What Happens At a Trans Clinic? TRIGGERnometry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue19IjK3ELA

Gender Dysphoria Alliance [Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly] (March 19, 2023). EP60 – The sound a whistle makes – with Jamie Reed. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BkuJBwbUU

Gender Dysphoria Alliance [Aaron Terrell and Aaron Kimberly] (August 6, 2023). EP 71 – The Denton Report – with Jamie Reed. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7BkuJBwbUU

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Resilience Health Network (resiliencehealth.network)

  • Core Team
  • resiliencehealth.network/committed-to-individual-health

Jennifer Block is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Block is a key historical figure in 21st-century media attacks on trans healthcare.

Block is an embedded reporter with anti-trans hate groups like Genspect, attending their events and laundering their extremist views into mainstream media.

Overview

Block believes that US medical consensus about care for trans and gender diverse youth is a scandal in the making. As similar bigots in media did in the late 1970s, Block keeps rewriting the same FUD propaganda piece and selling it to different outlets. The 1979 backlash eliminated healthcare options for many trans people that took four decades to reverse, and Block is at the forefront of this new backlash against our children.

Block’s work focuses on several anti-transgender positions:

  • disease models of gender diversity, especially “gender dysphoria”
  • psychological gatekeeping as a model of care
  • supporting strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via centralized government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called “gender clinics”) in the 20th century
  • the “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) disease model: “More adolescents with no history of gender dysphoria—predominantly birth registered females—are presenting at gender clinics.”
  • disproportionately amplifying outliers and bad outcomes: Andrew Martinez (suicide) and Chloe Cole (ex-trans movement)
  • not describing a single positive outcome
  • the ex-trans movement, especially “detransitioners

Background

Jennifer Lori “Jen” Block was born on November 22, 1976 to surgeon Leonard Block (born 1948) and Roberta Block (born 1947). Block has two siblings. Block’s parents divorced, which may explain Block’s animosity toward the medical establishment.

Block earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University in 1998. Block held editorial roles at Ms. magazine, Plenty, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and The OpEd Project.

Block’s articles and commentary have appeared in The BMJ, The Washington Post Magazine, Newsweek, The Cut, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Pacific Standard, The Baffler, and Type Investigations (formerly The Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute).

Block is author of Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (2007) and Everything Below the Waist: Why Health Care Needs a Feminist Revolution (2019).

“Mommy bloggers” and their fans are especially susceptible to anti-transgender radicalization and social contagion. Block thanks fellow anti-trans extremist Lisa Selin Davis in the acknowledgements for Pushed.

BMJ article series, 2023–

In 2023, Block was commissioned to write an investigative piece for the BMJ. The resulting piece was deeply slanted toward the views of conservative clinicians and anti-transgender activists.

An accompanying video featured conservative therapists Laura Edwards-Leeper and Erica Anderson, and gender-affirming endocrinologist Joshua Safer.

In 2025, Block revealed that BMJ had commissioned more work, but the British Medical Association killed it following negative response to Block’s 2023 article and video.

Supporters

Anti-trans activist Helen Joyce said of Block’s article: “Fantastic article, and so important that it appears in BMJ.” Anti-trans organization Rethink Identity Medicine Ethics also liked the piece.

It was also liked and shared by several of Block’s peers, including Sean CW Korsgaard, Liz Highleyman, Mark Tighe, Sonia Gallego, Michael Marshall (@m_c_marshall), Kevin Bass, Vinay Prassad, Dr. Dina McMillan, Milli Hill, Julia Mason, Moti Gorin, Charlotte Schubert, and Benjamin Ryan.

The staff at The BMJ issued a statement:

The BMJ believes in investigative journalism as a force for change. Over the past decade, our investigative journalism has unearthed research fraud and misconduct, prompted improvements in the transparency of clinical research, led to changes in guidelines and clinical practice, and triggered parliamentary inquiries.

High quality investigative journalism requires time to research, gather evidence, and ask questions. Developing in-depth stories is expensive, and we actively seek external funding to help expand our efforts. Current no-strings funding comes from Arnold Ventures and William McGuire. Past supporters include the European Commission and Open Society Foundations. In 2022, we hope to expand our impact through crowdfunding. If you would like to support us, please contact Head of Journalism Rebecca Coombes.

We retain editorial independence—the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from any funders—for all content that is produced and published; all decisions are taken strictly within the editorial structures of the journal.

If you have a story for us, please contact [email protected].

Rebecca Coombes, Head of Journalism
Peter Doshi, Senior editor
Madlen Davies, Investigations editor
Jennifer Block, Investigations reporter
Hristio Boytchev, Freelance investigations reporter

Critics

The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors & Dentists (GLADD), Pride in Surgery Forum, and the British Medical Association all published criticisms of the piece.

British Medical Association deputy council chair Emma Runswick said:

We have recently written to the BMJ, which is editorially independent, to challenge its article “Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement” and express our concern, that alongside criticisms made by LGTBQ+ organisations such as GLADD and neurodivergent doctors, in our view, it lacks equality, diversity and inclusion awareness and patient voice. That the article has been used by transphobic lobby groups around the world is of particular concern to us.

2023 Twitter responses

Block was very unhappy about being called out for bias, posting a number of times on Twitter about this alleged mistreatment, suggesting any criticism is an attack on journalism as an institution.

February 27

  • Since my @bmj_latest piece on care for gender dysphoria in minors, some are curious about my background. I’ve been reporting on contested areas of medicine for 20 years. I wrote a book about the gap between evidence and routine practice in maternity care (still quite large!).
  • Politicization gets people no closer to evidence-based maternity care either, and I’d argue it hampered work toward expanding rights and reducing maternal mortality. In states that have advanced birth justice, it’s the result of red/blue folks accepting they have a common goal.
  • I see dismissing any clinician or researcher who has concerns about the best treatment for kids/adolescents in the face of inconclusive evidence as “anti-trans” as an attempt to silence important conversation and debate. I hope my piece is contributing.
  • FWIW, the organizer of the AAP rally I spoke with, who directed me to video footage, is a lifelong coastal democrat. You can’t just smear every person with concerns RE treatments, or the concerns themselves, as “anti-trans.” At least I’m not going to be baited into that tautology

March 3

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1631768413378084864
  • TLDR: Dear reporters, don’t report on transgender medicine. Don’t be curious about detransition or medical disagreement. Label the above anti-trans. Quote children of all ages rather than research. Cover “trans joy rather than the ‘difficult’ questions.”

March 5 [referring to anti-trans media figure Michael Knowles saying transgenderism must be eliminated.

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632464903046066177
  • THIS is anti-trans–and violent and inhumane. Reporting on disagreement and unknowns in medical practice for children with gender dysphoria is not. Both the trans community and journos can condemn such rhetoric and support open exchange of info & dialogue to support Rx decisions

This is in response to an opinion piece by trans journalist Katelyn Burns.

  • [referring to https://nbcuacademy.com/trans-kids-journalism/#.ZAIfHq868m8.twitter]
  • OK, this was a snarky tweet. But it’s a serious issue. A certain corner of journalism is conflating necessary, important reporting on the issue of medical treatment for kids with transphobia. I read this piece as saying “look over here, don’t look over there.” That’s advocacy.
  • Maybe @transscribe is not familiar with my recent piece looking into the evidence base for treatments like puberty blockers and hormones in minors. She can correct me if I’m wrong, but I read her how-to as discouraging such reporting.
  • “A story about trans health care should make clear all the facts… They should include that nearly every major medical association supports the current protocol of gender-affirming care for minors.” Well, as I report, consensus does not equal evidence-based practice.
  • Reviews in Sweden, Finland, and now UK have made clear the uncertainties and potential for harm, and those countries are pulling back on medicalization and focusing instead on mental health and social support. They are not denying anyone’s existence. It’s not political there.
  • For years, these labels of “anti-trans” “transphobe” and accusations of genocide have scared journalists who are obviously not those things from pursuing reasonable questions about benefit v. harm of medical treatment. This is regressive and I hope we’re moving past it.

Author Katelyn Burns replied “but you obscured the biases of the sources your piece depended upon. that’s advocacy.”

Block said:

  • https://twitter.com/writingblock/status/1632446552668266496
  • You haven’t pointed to any such thing. Everyone is ID’d with their relationship to professional orgs. The research methodologists who evaluated the guidelines/evidence base have no history with this issue whatsoever. Just hurling the label of “anti-trans” doesn’t make it so.

2024 Free Press piece attacking Planned Parenthood

Free Press founder Bari Weiss is known for sustained attacks on trans rights. Weiss paid Block to continue these attacks by attacking Planned Parenthood.

In 2024, Block employed the same rhetoric used in anti-abortion regret propaganda in a profile of Cristina Hineman, an ex-trans activist who reports regret about making a gender transition as a consenting adult. Block then approvingly describes the legal assault on Planned Parenthood initiated by Hineman. Block then tells a similar story about “Anna,” likely the plaintiff in a similar Jane Doe lawsuit. Throughout the piece, Block denigrates trans-supportive physicians and promotes anti-trans gatekeepers like Riittakerttu Kaltiala.

2025 short film

In July 2025, Block started a Substack titled Unpopular Science. Its first post was a short propaganda piece produced with Eric S. Vaughan titled “The Liberal Case for Rethinking Gender Medicine.” Block notes:

“The genesis for this film was the investigative feature I wrote for The BMJ, which came out in February 2023. My editors committed serious resources toward producing a high-quality video component. But my print piece drew the ire of the British Medical Association, which owns the journal, and ultimately the video and follow-up reporting were killed.”

The piece features anti-trans activists Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri from LGB Courage Coalition, as well as Hilary Cass, Hannah Barnes, Zhenya Abbruzzese, Laura Edwards-Leeper, and Moti Gorin. It continues Block’s attacks on WPATH, Rachel Levine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

References

Urquhart, Evan (November 8, 2023). If Gender Affirming Care Doesn’t Have Enough Evidence, Should We Prefer a Treatment With None? Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/if-gender-affirming-care-doesnt-have-enough-evidence-should-we-prefer-a-treatment-with-none

Runswick, Emma (June 19, 2023). Take Pride in progress. The Doctor https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/take-pride-in-progress

Selected anti-trans writing by Block

Block, Jennifer (July 8, 2025). The most heated and divisive issue of our time — in 18 minutes. Unpopular Science https://jenniferblockauthor.substack.com/p/the-most-heated-and-divisive-issue

Block J (October 2024). Dispute arises over World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s involvement in WHO’s trans health guideline. BMJ, q2227. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2227

Block, Jennifer (August 7, 2024). How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Country’s Largest Suppliers of Testosterone? The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/how-did-planned-parenthood-become

Block J (May 2024). Gender medicine in the US: how the Cass review failed to land. BMJ, q1141. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q1141

Block, Jennifer (November 7, 2023). Youth gender medicine has become a hall of mirrors. Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/11/07/opinion/gender-affirming-care-trans-kids

Block J (August 2023). US paediatric leaders back gender affirming approach while also ordering evidence review. BMJ, p1877. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p1877

Block, Jennifer (March 6, 2023). Raft of US state laws restrict access to treatments for gender dysphoria. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p533

Block, Jennifer (February 23, 2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ 2023; 380 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382

  • “her article contains several misleading statements and, crucially, fails to include the perspective of individuals from the trans and gender diverse (TGD) community”
  • Zoe Kristensen and David B Menkes [Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, New Zealand] (06 March 2023). Professional responses to gender dysphoria: reality checks needed. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-3
  • “the mention of neurodivergence when speaking about transgender people is to imply that there is less capacity for making good choices about our bodies, evaluating risks and benefits.”
  • “Samira Khan,” Matthew Sellen, and Bethan Carey Jones [neurodivergent health professionals] (16 March 2023). Diversity in gender identity and neurotypes. https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p382/rr-8

Resources

Jennifer Block (jenniferblock.com)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Free Press (thefp.com)

Natalie Wynn is an American cultural critic whose YouTube channel Contrapoints won a 2022 Peabody Award in the Immersive & Interactive category.

Background

Wynn was born on October 21, 1988 in Arlington, Virginia and grew up in nearby Vienna. Wynn’s parent William is a psychology professor at Georgetown, and parent Marian is a doctor. Wynn has two siblings who also went to Georgetown.

Wynn studied piano at Berklee College of Music, earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2012, and a master’s degree from Northwestern University, then decided not to pursue a doctorate. Wynn did gig work before becoming a video essayist in 2008. Wynn’s work is considered part of “BreadTube,” a loose affiliation of YouTubers who posted videos to challenge right-wing views on subjects.

In 2016, Wynn began the ContraPoints channel. In 2017, Wynn came out as trans and removed all pre-transition videos. In 2020 Wynn came out as lesbian.

Video essays

Wynn is known for criticizing a number of prominent anti-trans figures, including Ray Blanchard, Jordan Peterson, Megan Phelps-Roper, and J.K.Rowling. Wynn has also lampooned segments of the trans community, presenting humorous characters who represent various political factions.

2025

  • CONSPIRACY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teqkK0RLNkI

2024

  • Twilight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqloPw5wp48

2023

2022

  • The Hunger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTRT794IQBg

2021

  • Envy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPhrTOg1RUk
  • J.K. Rowling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gDKbT_l2us

2020

  • Voting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Vah8sUFgI
  • Justice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQsfNw_7V4
  • Cringe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRBsaJPkt2Q
  • Shame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7WvHTl_Q7I
  • Canceling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMPJVmXxV8

2019

2018

  • The Apocalypse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6GodWn4XMM
  • Pronouns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bbINLWtMKI
  • The Aesthetic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1afqR5QkDM
  • Incels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD2briZ6fB0
  • The West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyaftqCORT4
  • Tiffany Tumbles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1dJ8whOM8E
  • Jordan Peterson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LqZdkkBDas

2017

References

Weiss, Max (June 2024). Who Exactly Is Natalie Wynn? Baltimore Magazine https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/artsentertainment/natalie-wynn-viral-baltimore-youtuber-profile/

Peabody Awards (2023). ContraPoints: Natalie Wynn (YouTube) https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/contrapoints/

Nancy Jo, Sales (June 17, 2021). ‘The internet is about jealousy’: YouTube muse ContraPoints on cancel culture and compassionThe Guardian. [archive] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/17/contrapoints-natalie-wynn-youtube-interview

Fleishman, Jeffrey (June 12, 2019). Transgender YouTube star ContraPoints tries to change alt-right mindsLos Angeles Times. [archive] https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-st-transgender-youtuber-contrapoints-cultural-divide-20190612-story.html

McCrea, Aisling; Robinson, Nathan J. (June 9, 2019). Interview: Natalie Wynn of ContraPointsCurrent Affairs. [archive] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/06/interview-natalie-wynn-of-contrapoints

Mark, Clifton (January 6, 2019). ContraPoints Is Political Philosophy Made for YouTubeThe Atlantic. [archive] https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/01/contrapoints-political-philosophy-natalie-wynn-youtube/579532/

N.B. (December 20, 2018). The transgender populist fighting fascists with face glitterThe Economist. [archive] https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/12/21/the-transgender-populist-fighting-fascists-with-face-glitter

Marantz, Andrew (November 19, 2018). The Stylish Socialist Who Is Trying to Save YouTube from Alt-Right DominationThe New Yorker. [archive] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-stylish-socialist-who-is-trying-to-save-youtube-from-alt-right-domination

Cross, Katherine (August 24, 2018). The Oscar Wilde of YouTube fights the alt-right with decadence and seductionThe Verge. [archive] https://www.theverge.com/tech/2018/8/24/17689090/contrapoints-youtube-natalie-wynn

Robinson, Nathan J. (May 6, 2018). God Bless ContraPointsCurrent Affairs. [archive] https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018/05/god-bless-contrapoints

Resources

Contrapoints (contrapoints.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Patreon (patreon.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)