Deirdre McCloskey is an American economist and philosopher. McCloskey made a gender transition in 1995 in the midst of a distinguished career, described in the 1999 autobiography Crossing: A Memoir.
Background
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey was born in 1942 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. McCloskey attended Harvard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1964 and a doctorate in 1970. McCloskey has held appointments at University of Chicago, University of Iowa, and University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2015 McCloskey was named Distinguished Professor of Economics and of History, and Professor of English and of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, Emerita.
A central theme of McCloskey’s work is a critique of mainstream economic methodology and its heavy reliance on formal models, positivism, and narrow conceptions of “economic man” (Homo economicus), a perfectly rational, self-interested individual who consistently makes logical choices to maximize personal utility. McCloskey argues that economics should incorporate rhetoric, narrative, and humanistic insights. McCloskey champions a “humanomics” approach that places humans instead of abstract models at the center of economic inquiry.
McCloskey is known for the Bourgeois Era trilogy:
The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006)
Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (2010)
Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World (2016)
In the series, McCloskey reframes the role of the middle class and capitalism. McCloskey rejects the idea that markets inherently corrupt and argues that bourgeois virtues such as prudence, justice, courage, temperance, faith, hope, and love underpin ethical commercial life. McCloskey argues this helped drive the “great enrichment,” the significant rise in global living standards over the past two centuries.
McCloskey holds a number of views that are considered conservative within the trans community. In 2019, McCloskey chose to share reflections on gender transition in Quillette, a notoriously anti-trans publication. The since-deleted comments section is an excellent survey of anti-trans talking points from the time.
Like many people who spend their lives in academia, McCloskey has sometimes framed the academic exploitation of transgender people as an “academic freedom” or “free speech” issue.
“A few weeks ago, I was asked to sign the Harper’s Magazine open letter supporting a bromidic recommendation that free speech, free of dogmatic ‘cancelling’ from left or right, is a good idea. I did sign it, as did JK Rowling … She and I disagree—but we both believe in free speech.”
McCloskey, Deirdre (November 10, 2019). Reflections on My Decision to Change Gender. Quillette https://quillette.com/2019/11/10/reflections-on-my-decision-to-change-gender/
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
J.K. Rowling is a British author and the most prominent anti-transgender activist in the world. Rowling has used wealth and influence to cause tremendous harm to the trans rights movement worldwide, and particularly in the United Kingdom.
opposing legal recognition on the basis of gender identity and expression
opposing value-neutral and inclusive scientific language about human anatomy and body functions
supporting the “LGB erasure” conspiracy theory, particularly the conspiracy that gender-affirming care is “conversion therapy” on lesbian, gay, and bisexual minors
opposing those who note Rowling is transphobic or a TERF, often threatening legal action against those who do
opposing what Rowling calls the “new trans activism”
Background
Joanne “Jo” Rowling was born on July 31, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. Rowling’s parents both served in the British Navy before marrying. Rowling has a younger sibling Dianne. Rowling earned a bachelor’s degree from Exeter in 1987.
Rowling came up with the idea for the Harry Potter series in 1990. After holding several unfulfilling jobs, Rowling moved to Portugal to teach English. There, Rowling met journalist Jorge Arantes, and they married in 1992. They had a child Jessica in 1993, but Rowling left because the relationship was abusive. They divorced in 1995. Rowling earned a teaching certificate in 1996 and began teaching.
The first Harry Potter book was published in 1997. Since publication of the final book in 2007, the series has amassed a huge fandom for the franchise, including movie series, plays, video games, amusement park tie-ins, and extensive merchandizing. Rowling is one of the most successful authors in the history of publishing.
In 2001 Rowling married physician Neil Murray and purchased Killiechassie House, a Scottish estate. They have two children: David (born 2003) and Mackenzie (born 2005).
Rowling subsequently wrote additional children’s books and adult novels, including some under the pen name Robert Galbraith.
Anti-transgender activism
After a series of increasingly anti-transgender statements starting in 2019 with a tweet in support of anti-trans activist Maya Forstater. In 2022 Rowling came out against the proposed Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. As Rowling’s anti-trans views became more strident, Rowling began openly supporting anti-transgender extremists in the UK and beyond.
Rowling also created Beira’s Place, a privately funded trans-exclusionary help center for cisgender women who have experienced sexual assault or domestic violence. Rowling was enraged that other local resources offered help to trans people who had been sexually assaulted. Rowling was also enraged that the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre’s CEO Mridul Wadhwa is transgender. In a 2021 interview, Wadhwa said “this is about who has power and who doesn’t,” adding:
Sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well. And so, you know, it is not discerning crime. But these spaces are also for you. But if you bring unacceptable beliefs that are discriminatory in nature, we will begin to work with you on your journey of recovery from trauma. But please also expect to be challenged on your prejudices, because how can you heal from trauma and build a new relationship with your trauma, because you can’t forget, and you can’t go back to life before traumatic incident or traumatic incidents. And some of us never, ever had a life before traumatic incidents. But if you have to reframe your trauma, I think it is important as part of that reframing, having a more positive relationship with it, where it becomes a story that empowers you and allows you to go and do other more beautiful things with your life, you also have to rethink your relationship with prejudice. Otherwise, you can’t really, in my view, recover from trauma and I think that’s a very important message that I am often discussing with my colleagues that in various places.
2024 comments on Nazi persecution of trans people (2024)
On March 13, 2024, X user jaytuberr posted in a thread on trans healthcare, “The Nazis burnt books on trans healthcare and research, why are you so desperate to uphold their ideology around gender?” Rowling then responded, “How did you type this out and press send without thinking ‘I should maybe check my source for this, because it might’ve been a fever dream’?” Many people interpreted Rowling’s post as denial of the 1933 Nazi looting and burning of Magnus Hirschfeld’s clinical books and research on trans people and sexual minorities. Rowling stated in part: “I’m familiar with such activists’ assertions that transgender people have been uniquely persecuted and oppressed throughout history, but claims that trans people were ‘the first targets’ of the Nazis – a claim I refuted on X, and which led to these accusations – and that I ‘uphold [Nazi] ideology around gender’ is a new low.”
Critics
Rowling’s critics include numerous LGBT rights organizations, authors, actors who have appeared in filmed versions of Rowling’s books, and the vast majority of the trans community.
Thorpe, Vanessa (14 June 2020). JK Rowling: from magic to the heart of a Twitter storm. The Observer. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020. Arrayed on Rowling’s side are some of the veteran voices of feminism, including the radical Julie Bindel, who spoke out in support this weekend: “Her political position is nothing to do with transgender issues. She has always been a feminist and she has inspired generations of young women and men to look into issues of sex-based discrimination,” she told the Observer.
JK Rowling backs protest over Scottish gender bill. BBC News. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022. Author JK Rowling has supported a protest rally by wearing a T-shirt calling Scotland’s first minister a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
Schwirblat, Tatiana; Freberg, Karen; Freberg, Laura (2022). Chapter 21: Cancel culture: a career vulture amongst influencers on social media. In Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris; Freberg, Karen; Luttrell, Regina (eds.). The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media. Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221021
Kat Rosenfield is an American writer and “dissident feminist” whose work frequently appears in conservative outlets.
Background
Rosenfield earned a bachelor’s degree from Drew University in 2003. Rosenfield worked in marketing and publicity before becoming a reporter at MTV in 2010. Rosenfield has done freelance work in pop culture.
Rosenfield is an advice columnist at anti-trans publication UnHerd and co-host of the Feminine Chaos podcast with Phoebe Maltz Bovy.
Like many trans-suspicious writers, Rosenfield claims to be part of a left-wing but “heterodox” movement standing up against cancel culture to speak the truth.
There’s a loose but growing coalition of lefties out there, artists and writers and academics and professionals, who’ve drawn sympathetic attention from conservatives after being publicly shamed out of the progressive clubhouse (that is, by the type of progressive who thinks there is a clubhouse, which is of course part of the problem). It’s remarkably easy these days to be named an apostate on the left. Maybe you were critical of the looting and rioting that devastated cities in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020. Maybe you were skeptical of this or that viral outrage: Covington Catholic, or Jussie Smollett, or the alleged racial abuse at a BYU volleyball game that neither eyewitness testimony nor video evidence could corroborate. Maybe you were too loud about the continued need for due process in the middle of #MeToo. Maybe you wouldn’t stop asking uncomfortable questions about the proven value of certain divisive brands of diversity training, or transgender surgeries for kids, or — come the pandemic — masking. Maybe you kept defending the right to free speech and creative expression after these things had been deemed “right-wing values” by your fellow liberals.
When Bari Weiss and team went after a Missouri children’s hospital and its gender clinic with some questionably obtained medical records of children and adolescents, Rosenfield sided with the unsupportive parents:
Zooming out for a moment here, seems both unsurprising and we’ll-articulated by the original piece that the child who wants [life-altering medical procedure] against a parent’s wishes is going to have a different perspective on said topic than the parent https://t.co/3leYalr6SV
In a piece on author and anti-trans activist JK Rowling, Rosenfield makes the oft-used false equivalence of Christians protesting Rowling’s occult themes and trans people and their supporters protesting Rowling’s vocal support of anti-transgender activists:
In the 15 years since Harry Potter made his final stand against Voldemort, the angst directed at Rowling has evolved from nebulous fears of neo-paganism into a far more sustained and focused rage over her perceived transphobia. But when it comes to the shape the anger takes, very little has changed. Rowling’s haters can’t stop her from writing, and they can’t stop people from reading her writing — but by god, they’ll do what they can to make sure those people don’t enjoy it.
This framing was later used by Megan Phelps-Roper in “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling,” a podcast apologia produced by Bari Weiss.
References
Rosenfield, Kat (August 9, 2021). How cancel culture hurts the Left.UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/08/how-the-left-will-lose-the-culture-wars/
Rosenfield, Kat (October 27, 2022). Why I keep getting mistaken for a conservative.National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/11/07/why-i-keep-getting-mistaken-for-a-conservative/
Rosenfield, Kat (September 2, 2022). JK Rowling sees through her enemies.unHerd https://unherd.com/2022/09/j-k-rowling-sees-through-her-enemies/
Rosenfield, Kat (September 10, 2020). How Do I Stop Being a TERF?Persuasion https://www.persuasion.community/p/how-do-i-stop-being-a-terf
Rosenfield, Kat (November 6, 2023). Women’s sport should be a ghetto.UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/11/womens-sport-should-be-a-ghetto/
“Shape Shifter” is the stage name of July R. Carlan, an American accountant and ex-transgender activist who gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.
Background
July Roxella Carlan was born on July 11, 1990. Carlan had a “consensual” sexual experience at age 11 and came out as gay to unaccepting parents at 16.
At age 22 in graduate school, Carlan learned about nonbinary identities and booked an appointment at Fenway Health in Boston on November 15, 2012. At the initial consultation, Carlan described a pattern of high-risk sexual behavior as well as incidents of anti-LGBT discrimination and assault. Carlan also expressed a desire to become pregnant.
Affter signing an informed consent form on December 27, 2012, Carlan began hormones via Fenway Health. In a follow-up appointment in March 2013, a therapist noted Carlan’s “internalized transphobia,” because Carlan wanted to “be seen as more than a trans woman.”
By mid-December 2013, Carlan reported inconsistent use of hormones in order to regain sexual function and engage in high-risk sexual behavior. In December 2014, Carlan reported:
depression and anxiety
seeking validation through sex
struggles with sexual compulsivity and hopes that GRS will reduce sexual urges
did not want to take hormones in order to enjoy sex
could not find a job in finance and had “begun a career in strip dancing”
In the first half of 2015, Carlan had multiple therapy sessions and received clearance for bottom surgery.
After getting elective bottom surgery as an adult, Carlan “realized I was just a castrated man.” Carlan has sometimes identified as a “homosexual transsexual,” a term promoted by anti-transgender activists.
On or about May 10, 2022, at age 31, Carlan publicly announced plans to make additional gender changes. Carlan no longer identifies as a trans woman, “but as a gender-non-conforming man.” Carlan reportedly just liked feminine clothing and makeup.
Carlan is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts. Carlan is in a relationship with a “sugar daddy” who is nearly 50 years older. Howard Carlan (born December 6, 1941) goes by “Cat Man” in their videos.
Anti-transgender activism
Carlan has regret about taking some medical gender transition steps and has found an anti-trans audience who wants to amplify these rare cases of regret.
In 2022, Carlan testified against healthcare for trans youth before the Florida Board of Medicine.
In addition to numerous media appearances about regret, Carlan has also been critical of trans athletes and supports misinformation and conspiracy theories about trans healthcare.
In 2022, Carlan launched a YouTube channel featuring videos about transition regret. In 2024, all original content was deleted, and it was converted into an AI slop channel featuring similar content about regret.
Lawsuit
On October 12, 2023, Carlan filed a lawsuit against Fenway Community Health Center. Carlan was repreented by Mitra N Forouhar. On March 28, 2025 Judge Myong J. Joun entered a decision that “Fenway is dismissed from this action.”
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 31, 2025). “Long Awaited #DeTransLaw Update in the case of July Carlan (aka ShapeShifter): The United States’ Motion to Intervene has been GRANTED which means Fenway Health has been Dismissed from this case. Plaintiff has been granted leave to refile the complaint against the US per FTCA.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1906764321771962765
Goldstein, Julie Rei (May 14, 2024). “#DeTransLaw NEWS: US Attorney’s Office has officially substituted Fenway Community Health in July Carlan’s (ShapeShifter) case as they were deemed an officer/employee of the Public Health Service. This is the 3rd case (Ulery and Towe) against GAC Providers where this has occurred.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1790441950148968708
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 11, 2024). “Some #DeTransLaw news: In July Carlan’s case (a.k.a. Shape Shifter), the US Attorney’s offce has asked for a 60 day stay for the Sec of Health & Human Services to determine if Fenway is a “deemed” Public Health Service Employee. The Judge has stayed the case until May 11, 2024.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1767296891044438351
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 5, 2024). “Something I forgot to mention. There’s a stay on the Carlan v. Fenway case until March 12, 2024 when the US Attorney’s Office is directed to file a status report or a response to Defendant Fenways Motion to Dismiss (on or before said date). #DeTransLaw” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1765160198099112288
Goldstein, Julie Rei (March 3, 2024). “Second piece of #DeTransLaw I missed: July Carlan (aka Shape Shifter) has substituted her counsel of Samuel Blatchely for Ryan McClane who famously went on the right wing media circuit when he unsuccessfuly represented Hunter Harris against UMASS for their COVID vaccine mandate.” https://x.com/JulieRei/status/1764468309838205431
Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly (November 2023). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc.US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Case 1:2023cv12361 https://rilawyersweekly.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2023/11/Carlan-v.-Fenway-Community-Health-Center.pdf
Court Listener (October 12, 2023). Carlan v. Fenway Community Health Center, Inc. 1:23-cv-12361, (D. Mass.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67878127/carlan-v-fenway-community-health-center-inc/
Alasdair Gunn is an English anti-transgender extremist living in Ireland. Gunn, originally hiding behind the pseudonym “Angus Fox,” Gunn 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.”
“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.
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.
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]
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
Devendra Singh was an Indian-American evolutionary psychologist who held harmful and biased views about sex and gender minorities.
Background
Singh was born January 12, 1938 in Urai, India. Singh earned a master’s degree in philosophy at Agra University before earning a doctorate in psychology at Ohio State University in 1966. Following positions at Wright State University and North Dakota State University, Singh began teaching at University of Texas at Austin in 1969.
Singh is best known for research about waist-to-hip ratio in women, which Singh claimed has evolutionary significance.
Singh was married to Barbara Singh (1943–2022) and had three children, including anti-trans evolutionary psychologist Devita Singh. Singh died on May 18, 2010.
Views on sex and gender minorities
In 2000 Scott M. Strong, Singh, and Patrick K. Randall published an article that claimed “a ‘high feminine’ subtype of gay males had greater body dissatisfaction than ‘less feminine’ subtypes had.”
Singh appeared with a number of anti-trans activists on the series The Sex Files in an episode titled “Homosexuality.”
Why are some people gay? That’s the $64,000 question – at least in the scientific community. Is it something genetically predetermined? Or does environment have an impact on whether an individual turns out to be gay or lesbian? These questions are beginning to be probed in ways that might finally be leading to an answer, and the Sex Files has interviewed the foremost authorities on the topic to uncover some of those scientific clues:
Dr. Devendra Singh, University of Texas psychologist specializing in the evolutionary significance of human physical attractiveness
Dr. Michael Bailey, professor of psychology at Northwestern University in Illinois and specialist in the genetics and environment of sexual orientation
Dr. Marc Breedlove, professor of psychology* specialising in the sexual differentiation of the brain.
Singh was also a mentor to J. Michael Bailey’s son Drew Bailey.
Exploration Production (November 20, 2000). S02 E08: Homosexuality. The Sex Files
Strong SM, Singh D, Randall PK (2000). Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Body Dissatisfaction in Gay and Heterosexual Men. Sex Roles https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007126814910
* The original episode guide described Dr. Breedlove as a “professor of psychology at UCLA.” Dr. Breedlove noted in 2008 “I am not, and have never been, a professor of psychology or of anything else at UCLA.” Breedlove earned his Ph.D. at UCLA but taught at UC Berkeley before taking an appointment at Michigan State.
Benjamin John “Ben” Appel was born in February 1983 to Nancy Sue (Lipman) Gunzelman (born 1954) and Randy Appel (1949–2019). Appel grew up in Catonsville and Ellicott City, Maryland in a “fundamentalist” Catholic household with three siblings: Erin, Jessica, and Bret.
Appel had many “feminine” interests as a child (particularly My Pretty Pony) and has concerns that similar children are now encouraged to make a gender transition. Citing anti-trans psychologists Devita Singh, Susan Bradley, and Kenneth Zucker, Appel wote:
“I, like a lot of other LGB (and some trans) people, believe that many children and some adolescents presenting at gender clinics today would likely desist and grow up to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual if they were given proper emotional support. In other words, in many cases, the medicalization of “trans kids” might actually be the medicalization of homosexuality.”
In 2015 Appel married attorney Andrew Charles “Drew” Leaser (born 1976). They live in New York.
Appel worked as a hairdresser in Maryland for ten years before earning a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2020.
Appel has written about getting sober and has criticized Alcoholics Anonymous for working toward inclusivity:
“I was finishing my last year of study at Columbia University. Having entered the university in 2017 as a self-described radical progressive planning a career in LGBT activism, I was graduating an exile. I had become disillusioned with, and spoken out against, my fellow progressives’ tactics: suppressing free speech, purity policing and reducing every individual to his or her skin colour, gender and sexual orientation. During my last semester, which was moved online due to the pandemic, I’d sign on to virtual AA meetings after class, and immediately be struck by how similar the two spaces had become. Pronouns lit up the screen. Whereas opening readings once consisted of the AA preamble, the 12 Steps and 12 traditions, and details about the meeting, now some groups chose to add a thinly veiled threat: ‘We will not tolerate racist, homophobic, sexist or transphobic rhetoric in this space.’”
Appel was also upset that AA revised its language to be more gender-inclusive.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2023, Appel was announced as a participant in an anti-trans conference by SPLC-designated hate groupGenspect.
Appel is an “autogynephilia” activist and frequently criticizes “gender ideology.”
Appel’s 2025 memoir Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic was pitched as:
about growing up in a Christian fundamentalist cult before becoming a gay rights activist while a student at Columbia University, only to encounter there a cultural landscape ruled by gender ideology and a puritanical cult of social justice resembling The Handmaid’s Tale dystopia of his childhood.
Iacia, Samantha (January 14, 2015). Wedded: Ben Appel and Drew Leaser.Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bs-lt-wedded-0118-20150114-story.html
Appel, Ben (February 13, 2026). The Cult of Niceness.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/the-cult-of-queer-niceness
Appel, Ben (February 5, 2026). There Is No Such Thing As ‘LGBTQ+.’Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/there-is-no-such-thing-as-lgbtq
Appel, Ben (January 18, 2026). I’m Glad You Unfriended Me.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/im-glad-you-unfriended-me
Appel, Ben (September 9, 2025). The Demonization of the ‘Cis White Gay.’Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/the-demonization-of-the-cis-white
Appel, Ben (August 21, 2025). The worst people on the planet.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/the-worst-people-on-the-planet
Appel, Ben (July 31, 2025). The f*g-to-trans-fashion-model pipeline.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/the-fg-to-trans-fashion-model-pipeline
Appel, Ben (June 30, 2025). Andrea Long Chu, the libertine.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/andrea-long-chu-the-libertine
Appel, Ben (January 19, 2025). It’s Time for This Madness to End.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/perhaps-its-time-we-went-scorched
Appel, Ben (December 14, 2024). That Which Must Not Be Named.Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/that-which-must-not-be-named
Appel, Ben (September 2, 2022). Victimhood is one helluva drug. [alternate title: “Chase Strangio, you can have ‘fa**ot’ if you want it.”] Queer Majority https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/victimhood-is-one-helluva-drug
Julie Bindel’s Podcast with Julie Bindel and Ben Appel (June 12, 2022). An interview with Ben Appel. https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/an-interview-with-ben-appel
Oren Aaron Amitay was born in 1968, one of three children of artist Jonathan Isador Amitay and Anne Amitay. Amitay’s older adopted sibling died in 2022. Amitay earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto, then attended York University, earning a master’s degree in 1999 and a doctorate in 2006. Since 2000, Amitay has taught at Ryerson University. Since 2008, Amitay has had a private clinical practice.
Amitay and spouse have three children.
Professional misconduct
According to Robert Cribb of the University of Toronto Investigative Journalism Bureau, Amitay “has been disciplined and found guilty of professional misconduct multiple times by professional governing bodies.”
In 2020, The College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario found Amitay to have practiced in a “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional” manner:
A Hearing was held on August 24, 2020. The Discipline Committee panel made findings of professional misconduct with respect to Dr. Amitay’s failure to adhere to a Specified Continuing Education or Remediation Program (SCERP) ordered by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC). The panel found that Dr. Amitay engaged in conduct or performed an act, in the course of practising the profession, that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, contrary to section 1, paragraph 34 of the Professional Misconduct Regulation (O.Reg. 801/93).
The panel imposed an Order, which included a reprimand by video conference, that Dr. Amitay successfully complete the SCERP as ordered by the ICRC on December 23, 2015. The panel also ordered that Dr. Amitay complete a one-on-one course on governability and the role of members of a self governing profession. Finally, the panel ordered Dr. Amitay to pay Discipline hearing costs in the amount of $3500 within 30 days of the Discipline Committee’s order.
According to a 2024 investigative report by Cribb and coauthors, Amitay has been disciplined twice:
Before Toronto psychologist Amitay drew the ire of Indigenous patients and mental health advocates for his online posts, he ran afoul of his profession’s regulator.
Following complaints about a parenting capacity assessment Amitay conducted in a court case, the College of Psychologists ordered he undergo a remedial program in which he’d routinely check in with a peer mentor.
The college’s disciplinary committee had concluded Amitay’s assessment, particularly around allegations of sexual abuse, was not supported by “adequate and reliable information” and warned him to avoid “the appearance of bias.” He also faced criticism for continuing to conduct further assessments without informing children’s aid societies he had been ordered by the college to be mentored.
Amitay resisted, repeatedly expressing that there was nothing to be gained from such frequent mentorship sessions, which he denounced as punitive “babysitting,” according to an agreed statement of facts. In 2020, he was found guilty of professional misconduct for his “ “disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional” conduct in not complying with the mentorship program.
Amitay faced new allegations of professional misconduct before the college related to “conflicts of interest, appearance of bias, record-keeping, and consent,” according to a June 2024 finding. Although unable to reveal the specifics of the case, Amitay described it as an “exceptional situation.” In June, Amitay agreed to undergo peer coaching.
“I fully accept the college’s findings.”
The Real Reality
In 2014 Amitay was an executive producer at Straight Kill Films, founded by Matt Bennett and Matt Wells, supported by Sarah Dawley and Jit Lahiry.
Episode 6: The Real Reality Behind (Research on) Sex, Love & Relationships
Episode 12: The Real Reality Behind Critical Thinking, Social Justice Warriors & Milo Yiannopoulos
Episode 15: The Real Reality Behind Big Pharma and Psychological/Psychiatric Disorders
Episodes 16/17: The Real Reality Behind Narcissism (2 Parts)
Episode 19: The Real Reality Behind the (Evolutionary) Psychology of Fear, and How This May Help Trump Win the 2016 US Election
Episode 21: The Real Reality Behind Today’s Narcissism and Failure to Exemplify Responsibility and Respect for the Social Contract
Episode 22: The Real Reality Behind the Need to Protect Free Speech and Human Rights for All and the Need to Promote Productive Discourse Between Differing “Groups”
Episode 28: The Real Reality Behind Men’s Issues
Episode 30: The Real Reality Behind the Genderization of Serious Societal Issues Such as Domestic Violence, as well as Ugly Social Media Tactics by Certain “Groups”
Episode 34: The Real Reality Behind Dr. Jordan Peterson’s Incendiary Talk at Dr. Amitay’s Class
Episode 35: The Real Reality Behind Dr. Jordan Peterson’s Meteoric Rise as Intellectual Leader of Critical Thinking (Lost Podcast from Nov. 2, 2016)
YouTube channel
In 2011, Amitay started a YouTube channel and posted there through 2018. The majority of guests were other anti-trans activists, as well as conservative trans people and “autogynephilia” activists.
In 2017 Amitay was involved in a controversy over transgender discussions on the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) listserv. That year, an event titled “The Stifling of Free Speech on University Campuses” was cancelled. The event was to be moderated by Sarina Singh and featuring anti-trans activists Jordan Peterson, Gad Saad, Oren Amitay, and Faith Goldy.
In 2019 Amitay was suspended from Twitter for anti-trans posts. Amitay’s X account was reinstated under new owner Elon Musk.
Awake at the Wheel
In 2023, Amitay launched the podcast Awake at the Wheel with co-host Malini Ondrovcik. They did a five-part series on “the gender debate” and have had a number of guests who agree with them, including:
Sasha Ayad is a conservative American psychologist and a key historical figure in anti-transgender extremism. Ayad and collaborator Stella O’Malley are world leaders in the anti-trans movement attacking transgender healthcare, especially for those under age 26.
Do not under any circumstances go to Ayad for any counseling of any kind. If you are a minor forced to see Ayad, do everything in your power to end the sessions and find a supportive local therapist instead.
Attendee, 2022 US Health and Human Services meeting organizaed by SEGM
Presenter, 2023 SEGM conference
Background
Sasha Ayad was born February 1, 1982 and attended University of Houston, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology.
Anti-trans activism
Ayad is connected to a number of anti-trans organizations, most of which are just part of a web farm with reciprocal links to make Ayad’s allies and their fringe ideologies seem more numerous and influential than they are.
