Diane Frank is a American crossdressing activist. Frank was Director of Outreach and Communications for the Alpha Omega Society AOS), a group which split from Tri-Ess, a national crossdressing group. AOS became inactive in 2005.
The Man Who Would Be Queen
In 2003 Frank was quoted on the Joseph Henry Press site promoting anti-trans book The Man Who Would Be Queen, though the full comments are much more reflective of Frank’s views:
Mike Bailey has finally published his book “The Man Who Would be Queen”. Drawing heavily on Blanchard (see above), Bailey describes in a readable form a theory that works as follows: Boys who are feminine will mostly grow up to be gay, and a few will become what I’ll call transkids. These transkids often go through a ‘gay boy’ phase before seeking to transition. Like gay men, these people who seek sex changes early in life are promiscuous, or “boy crazy” in one observer’s mind. They also seek to become exotically beautiful women and seek heterosexual men as partners. To the extent that so many of these kids are throw aways whose parents cannot face their gender differences, Bailey may be again confusing cause and effect when he talks about promiscuity, sex work and the like in these cases. But it is clear that he does not regard them wholly as women. (According to one ex-trans kid I’ve corresponded with, they don’t care!) Boys who are not particularly feminine discover crossdressing at puberty, and it is an erotic turn on. For some the turn on becomes focused on the idea of actually having a woman’s body, although Bailey cites examples of fantasies about being in a women’s knitting circle as being in this category as well. Blanchard called this kind of eroticism ‘autogynephilia’. Few people like this transition early in life, instead they attempt to cope with a forbidden eroticism, get conventional jobs, marry, have children and so forth. Some will, in middle age find themselves unable to cope with the accumulated desires and ideation and find it impossible to live further as men. Thus, one kind of transsexuality is related to ‘gayness’, while another kind is related to a sexual kink shared with ‘heterosexual crossdressers’. In either case he believes the cause is not a question of moral weakness or bad parenting, but instead is the result of variations in brain development. In other words, it’s not anyone’s fault.
Bailey is not unsympathetic to the plight of either kind, and states emphatically and forcefully that old notions of morality do nothing to help the individuals or improve the situation. He believes the distress caused by these conditions is real, and some people can and should be treated by sexual reassignment. He also notes that the general public finds ‘homosexual transsexuals’ understandable and is generally sympathetic to them, while not understanding and being totally unsympathetic to either crossdressers or late transitioning transsexual’s alleged sexual motivation. He is also emphatic about not believing stories from late transitioning transsexuals or heterosexual crossdressers that don’t acknowledge autogynephilia as part of their being.
I’ll keep my comments brief on this right now: While Bailey and Blanchard are correct in recognizing the existence of ‘autogenyphilia’ as a possible sometime motivator for some late transitioning transsexuals and some heterosexual crossdressers, they confuse cause and effect. We know that there is massive rewiring of the during adolescence. The question of which comes first at this point, identification with the other gender and then a variant eroticism or variant eroticism followed by identification with the other gender. This is a difficult question and I suspect that the answer is that both occur. The other point that Blanchard, Bailey and the rest seem to willfully overlook is about outcomes. Face it, marriages generally don’t occur in Western Societies where people pick their own mates because of sincere devotion, admiration, understanding and mutual respect…and sex comes along as the caboose on the train. We live in a sex saturated society because the sex drive does come first…but out of it come devoted couples who admire, understand and respect each other. Thus the real question isn’t so much why or about categories, but what circumstances can create positive outcomes from these variations, just as we expect positive outcomes from typical heterosexuality? So much of human experience rises from the muck. What we should look for are the transcendent outcomes that show paths to being better people.
In August, Frank sent this follow-up note:
I got a rather snarky reply from Mautner…but they’ve pulled our quote from the website…I had suggested that if they really wanted the proper context for quoting me they should substitute as follows:
If you really must quote us, how about “yet another version of the idea that crossdressing is only and always about sexuality (and transsexuality is just an extreme version of it), presented as if it were based on science but lacking a scientific foundation. Read it so you know what you’ll have to deal with”
Abnormal Psychology
Ms. Frank also excerpted relevant passages from a common anti-trans textbook taught in American colleges at the time: Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life (11th Edition)
authors:
References
Frank, Diane (2004). Psychiatric Writings. http://www.aosoc.org/Webmistress_Choices/psychiatric_writings.htm [archive]
Resources
The Alpha Omega Society (aosoc.org) [2003–2005 – archive]
- Abnormal Psychology and Modern Life excerpts
- http://www.aosoc.org/Webmistress_Choices/AbnormalPsychandModernLife.htm [archive]
Bev Jackson is a Dutch anti-transgender activist. Jackson is a founder of UK anti-trans hate group LGB Alliance.
Jackson promotes the conspiracy theory that trans people and gender recognition based on self-identification are erasing or eradicating lesbians.
Background
Beverley Ruth Jackson was born in June 1951. At 11 years old, Jackson reportedly experienced antisemitism at a new school.
Jackson studied math at the London School of Economics. Jackson was a founding member of the UK Gay Liberation Front, the only woman to attend the first GLF meeting in October 1970:
I was a student at LSE. I started there in 1969, I was studying maths, and I walked down the corridor and I saw a poster which said: “First meeting of the UK Gay Liberation Front.” It was the most astonishing thing because I had to translate it in my head as to what it might mean. I had heard that “Gay” was a new word for homosexual, and I knew “Liberation” was about freedom and “Front” sounded a bit militant. It sounded very exciting and I thought “I think I want to be on there that sounds right.” I went to this first meeting and there were 19 men there, and just one woman – me – so I was immediately voted on to the steering committee.
[…] I was among the minority of lesbians who decided to work within gay liberation; most lesbians worked within women’s liberation because of feeling more in common with other women’s issues. The fact of lesbians being doubly oppressed both as women and as homosexuals is just a really important part of understanding what it means to be a lesbian.
Jackson has worked as a translator and writer. In 2015 Jackson was mostly involved with refugee rights, writing A Month with Starfish, a book about volunteering to aid refugees for a month on the island of Lesbos.
Anti-trans activism
In late 2016 Jackson began criticizing transgender youth and was surprised that other disagreed. Jackson’s radicalization happened in 2018 when Angela Wild went to the front of the Pride march with the “Get the L Out” group.
Jackson wrote a letter to Stonewall president Ruth Hunt expressing concerns “about young lesbians having nowhere to meet, not being able to call themselves lesbians any more, about the way in which people were encouraging children to think that they might be born in the wrong body and a whole range of other concerns that really worried me.” The letter was ignored.
Jackson has said of trans women:
Look: you can be a lovely gentle male and you can wear dresses and you can call yourself Lilian and it’s absolutely fine. But you’re still a male and you can imagine you might be all sorts of things, but you’re still a male.
The final straw for Jackson was when Stonewall opposed ex-transgender activist Keira Bell, who sued the Tavistock GIDS Clinic.
After a meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gay Liberation Front was cancelled, Jackson and Kate Harris decided to have a secret meeting to start LGB Alliance. “But everyone kept the secret. Not one of the 70 people we invited gave away the meeting at which we formed LGB Alliance.”
Jackson remains committed to separatism for lesbian and gay people:
Gay men and lesbians need spaces of their own and they have a right to spaces of their own – and that we have to say this now in 2021 is an absolute outrage. We could really lose a lot here if we don’t stand together and fight against this madness.
References
Power, Nina (January 24, 2023). The Trans War on Tomboys. Compact Magazine https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-trans-war-on-tomboys/
Gentleman, Amelia (July 6, 2023). Mermaids v LGB Alliance: who was involved in tribunal case? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/jul/06/mermaids-v-lgb-alliance-whos-involved-in-tribunal-ruling
Bawer, Bruce (September 12, 2022). How Amsterdam ceased to be gay heaven: The city is becoming Islamicized and gay people are paying the price. Spectator World https://thespectator.com/topic/how-amsterdam-ceased-to-be-gay-heaven/
Bridle, David (February 18, 2021). The first woman in the Gay Liberation Front in 1970 is fighting again for lesbian and gay rights in 2021. Lesbian and Gay News https://lesbianandgaynews.com/2021/02/the-first-woman-in-the-gay-liberation-front-in-1970-is-fighting-again-for-lesbian-and-gay-rights-in-2021/
Parsons, Vic (Augist 21 2020). LGB Alliance founder defends working with anti-abortion, anti-LGBT+ Heritage Foundation in resurfaced tweets. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/08/21/lgb-alliance-founder-bev-jackson-heritage-foundation-tweets/
Wansell, Geoffrey (November 1970). Homosexuals demonstrate for equal rights. The Times
Selected writing by Jackson
Jackson, Bev (October 12, 2023). There is no such thing as a ‘trans lesbian. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/10/12/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-trans-lesbian/
Jackson, Bev (September 18, 2023). Banning ‘trans conversion therapy’ is a threat to gay kids. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/09/18/banning-trans-conversion-therapy-is-a-threat-to-gay-kids/
Jackson, Bev (January 18, 2025). Cotton ceiling 2.0 Straight men should not be trying to seduce lesbians. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/cotton-ceiling-2-0/
Jackson, Bev (July 13, 2023). LGB Alliance will never be silenced. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/07/13/lgb-alliance-will-never-be-silenced/
Jackson, Bev (May 12, 2023). Who took the SO out of SOGI? The UN bumbles on gender identity. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/who-took-the-so-out-of-sogi/
Jackson, Bev (July 23, 2022). CNN’s optical delusion: How American progressives get “TERF Island” wrong. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/cnns-optical-delusion/
Media
“Eliza Mondegreen” and Jenny Poyer Ackerman (December 21, 2024). Episode 20, featuring Bev Jackson. UnMuted https://jennypoyerackerman.substack.com/p/listen-to-episode-20-with-bev-jackson
Resources
A Month with a Starfish (amonthwithstarfish.com)
LGB Alliance (lgballiance.org.uk)
The Distance Magazine (thedistancemag.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
OV.UK (service.gov.uk)
Spiked (spiked-online.com)
Róisín Michaux is an Irish anti-transgender activist based in Brussels who claims to be “researching the explosion of the gender identity movement in EU/global institutions.”
Background
Michaux reportedly grew up experiencing poverty in a housing estate in a single-parent home.
Michaux “wrote for culture magazines in Belgium and abroad” before becoming a “Twitter TERF.”
Michaux is married and is a parent of children, one of whom was born in 2012.
Anti-transgender activism
Michaux writes anti-trans pieces for Substack, UnHerd, 4W, The Critic, and Reduxx.
Michaux says, “I am militant about stopping paediatric transgender transition.”
Working with right-wing media polemicist Roisin Michaux they seem to be the people promoting and hosting SFW followers from the mainland UK.
Peaked podcast
In 2023 and 2024, Michaux hosted a podcast that ran for 11 episodes.
- Ireland: new priestly caste, new child abuse scandal May 3, 2024
- Germany to vote on the wildest, weirdest self-id bill yet April 11, 2024
- Did liberté ideals ripen France for trans? March 26, 2024
- Italian girls haven’t escaped the gender meatgrinder March 16, 2024
- Ireland’s constitutional woman-ectomy March 7, 2024
- Wilders or women – who saved the Dutch from genderwang? Feb. 23, 2024
- The worrying silence on Germany’s self-ID bill Feb. 16, 2024
- Sex-clowning around in Slovakia Jan. 28, 2024
- The trans lobby rolls into rural Ireland July 19, 2023
- A date with a puberty blocker doctor July 17, 2023
References
Wallace, Freda (September 8, 2023). Terf Ireland / Emerald Vile. Inside the Hate Cult. Medium https://medium.com/@missfredawallace/terf-ireland-emerald-vile-f5a8b039e66f
Wallace, Freda (September 1, 2023). The Anti Science of Unherd- Dehumanisation 101. Medium https://medium.com/@missfredawallace/dehumanisation-24996b5686ae
Taln_Reich (December 2, 2022). Róisín Michaux [continued]. Fundies Say The Darndest Things https://fstdt.com/TCJ$N6R5HY$68
Taln_Reich (December 1, 2022). Róisín Michaux. Fundies Say The Darndest Things https://fstdt.com/W9RG.5BJY$S6K
Selected writing by Michaux
Michaux, Róisín; El-Nagashi, Faika; Zobnina, Anna (January 15, 2025). The EU is refusing to change course on gender: While national governments see sense on gender identity, Brussels goes full-speed ahead. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/the-eu-is-refusing-to-change-course-on-gender/
Michaux, Róisín (September 7, 2023). Abuses of affirmation: Inside the communities of trans mums. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/abuses-of-affirmation/
Michaux, Róisín (September 7, 2023). The plot to redefine conversion therapy. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/06/how-the-un-perverted-conversion-therapy/
Michaux, Róisín (August 30, 2023). The new front in the war against HIV. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/08/the-new-front-in-the-war-against-hiv/
Michaux, Róisín (June 16, 2023). Gender critical in Geneva: Yet another failed attempt to silence women. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/gender-critical-in-geneva/
Michaux, Róisín (January 17, 2023). You Meet More Perverts When You’re Poor. 4W https://4w.pub/you-meet-more-perverts-when-poor/
Michaux, Róisín (November 30, 2022). These Men Were Promised Lesbians. 4W https://4w.pub/these-men-were-promised-lesbians/
Michaux, Róisín (October 5, 2022). Trans Activists’ Speeches to Be Streamed into Classrooms of 15k Irish Schoolgirls. 4W https://4w.pub/stream-trans-activists-irish-girls/
Michaux, Róisín (September 22, 2022).Brighton: This is what #NoDebate looks like. 4W https://4w.pub/brighton-this-is-what-nodebate-looks-like/
Michaux, Róisín (September 22, 2022). Castrated ‘Eunuchs’ are Trans, Need Affirming care, says Professional Body. 4W https://4w.pub/castration-added-transgender-care/
Michaux, Róisín (September 13, 2022). The Forstater Verdict Has Wider Reach than You Think. 4W https://4w.pub/forstater-verdict-wider-reach/
Michaux, Róisín (August 31, 2022). Advocates for “Whores’” Rights Shut Down Prostitution Suvivors’ Event in Berlin. 4W https://4w.pub/prostitution-survivors-event/
Media
Paul Boonefaes (July 2, 2023). Roisin Michaux on The Based in Belgium Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw9A241uNao
Women’s Declaration International (WDI) (January 25, 2023). No data, no problem? Róisín Michaux on dangers of Belgium self ID laws. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpiknHBmkkk
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
Substack (substack.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
4W (4w.pub)
UnHerd (unherd.com)
Reduxx (reduxx.info)
The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
“Mr. Menno” is the stage name of Menno Kuijper, a Dutch anti-transgender extremist and separatist based in the UK.
Background
Menno Kuijper was born June 19, 1976. Kuijper held numerous roles in marketing and social media from 1996 to 2012. From 2012 to 2021 Kuijper was head of design and production at mobile marketing firm Gappt.
Menno appeared in theatrical productions before focusing exclusively on anti-trans content. Performances include Brixton Batty Boy (2012).
Anti-trans activism
Since 2022 Kuijper has been director of communications for anti-trans group The Gay Men’s Network.
Kuijper considers the trans rights movement to be “gender woo woo,” promoting the outdated terminology “homosexual male” and other binary ideas about traits and behaviors.
In 2022 Kuijper created a “sea shanty” for queer trans-exclusionary group LGB Alliance.
Also in 2022, Kuijper showed up to an anti-trans “Save Our Sex Jubilee campaign” in a black morph suit and a diaper with a sign that said “Right Side of History.” Kuijper was apparently mocking black bloc protesters who interrupted the anti-trans “Standing for Women” protest in Manchester earlier that month. Transphobes mocked those protesters online as “Black Pampers,” a play on Black Panthers. Kuijper insisted it was not a blackface performance.
Kuijper appears in the 2023 anti-trans proaganda series Uncomfortable Truths.
Kuijper has appeared in the media with other anti-trans extremists, including Graham Linehan, joey brite, and Isabella Malbin.
References
Milton, Josh (June 2, 2022). Anti-trans protester wears black morph suit and nappy in bizarre stunt. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/06/02/anti-trans-denies-blackface-nappy-mr-menno/
Kuijper, Menno (August 15, 2012). Brixton Batty Boy Polari http://www.polarimagazine.com/tag/menno-kuijper/
Resources
Gay Men’s Network (gaymensnetwork.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Patreon (patreon.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
PayPal (paypal.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Razib Khan is a Bangladeshi-American writer and anti-transgender activist. Khan comes to anti-trans “sex science” via “race science” and is best known for laundering extremist views about race into mainstream media.
Khan hopes to usher in the “second age of eugenics” through genetic screening and manipulation to increase “good” traits and eliminate “bad” traits. Many of Khan’s like-minded colleagues consider being trans and gender diverse to be undesirable traits to be eliminated from the gene pool.
Since founding the group blog Gene Expression in 2002, Khan has been published in numerous anti-trans publications, including, Quillette, Substack, New York Times, Unz Review, Taki’s Magazine, and VDARE.
Background
Newamul K. “Razib” Khan was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1977. Khan’s family moved to the US in 1982. Khan lived in upstate New York as a child before the family moved to Oregon.
Khan earned two bachelor’s degrees from University of Oregon in 2000 and 2006. While there, Khan wrote a blog called Razib’s Rants, which later became Gene Expression. Following graduate work at UC Davis, Khan was a software engineer before receiving money from Ron Unz to write about hereditarian and eugenic topics.
In 2010, Khan co-founded the group blog Brown Pundits with Zachary L. Zavidé and Omar Ali. Khan has also promoted an “intellectual brown web.”
In 2015, the New York Times announced they had contracted with Khan to write monthly pieces, but they rescinded the offer following protests.
Podcast
Khan has platformed a number of anti-trans guests, including:
In a 2023 Steven Pinker interview, they discuss “The ghost in the machine, particularly as repurposed today in service of gender ideology.”
References
Khan, Razib (March 16, 2023). Steven Pinker: The Blank Slate 20+ years later. Razib Khan’s Unsupervised Learning https://www.razibkhan.com/p/steven-pinker-the-blank-slate-20
Khan, Razib (April 2, 2023). Steven Pinker: The Blank Slate 20+ years later. Unsupervised Learning https://unsupervisedlearning.libsyn.com/steven-pinker-the-blank-slate-20-years-later
Cussins, Jessica (June 26, 2014). Quantified and Analyzed, Before the First Breath. Center for Genetics and Society https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/biopolitical-times/quantified-and-analyzed-first-breath
Khan, Razib (June 18, 2008). Curing the Gay. Unz Review https://www.unz.com/gnxp/curing-the-gay/
Mallot, Jason (June 02, 2006). Happy 4th Birthday GNXP. Gene Expression. https://www.gnxp.com/blog/2006/06/happy-4th-birthday-gnxp.php
“Godless Capitalist” (July 11, 2003). GENE EXPRESSION biographical sketches. Gene Expression http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/000734.html [archive]
Media
Ali Rizvi and Armin Navabi (June 29, 2020). EP143: When Truth Is Controversial ? Evolution & Genetics With Razib Khan. Secular Jihadists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n05ovnXvSUo
Resources
RationalWiki (rationalwiki.org)
Razib’s Rants (kattare.com/jsp/blog.jsp) [no archive]
Razib Khan (razib.com)
Razib Khan (razibkhan.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Brown Pundits (brownpundits.com)
Gene Expression (gnxp.com)
GenRAIT (genrait.com)
Discover Magazine (discovermagazine.com)
- Gene Expression
- discovermagazine.com/blog/gene-expression
- blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp
YouTube (youtube.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Corinna Cohn is an American software developer who identifies as transsexual and gender critical. Cohn frequently appears in media to share conservative opinions and criticize various aspects of the trans rights movement.
Cohn was an officer in the Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network, an organization which promotes gatekeeping models of care.
Background
Corinna Ariel “Cori” Cohn was born on June 13, 1975 and transitioned in the 1990s.
Cohn ran a comic store and website called Otakurama from 2002 to 2005.
Cohn is a software engineer who has worked for Fusion Alliance and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance.
Activism
Cohn is a longtime internet troll who participates in virulently anti-trans forums.
In 2018 Cohn was triggered by Twitter’s revised policies that prohibited deadnaming and misgendering trans and gender diverse people. Cohn began making media appearances soon after.
Cohn has appeared in media with an number of gender critical and anti-transgender people, including Benjamin Boyce, Miranda Yardley, Nina Paley, Carey Callahan, Genspect, Call Me Sam, Mars F (Upperhandmars), Stephanie Winn, Gender Dysphoria Alliance, ICONS – Independent Council on Women’s Sports, and Feminist Heretics.
Cohn is a board member of Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network, an activist group involved in the “ex-trans” movement that seeks to reduce options for medical transition.
In 2021 Cohn and fellow gender critical activist Nina Paley began the podcast Heterodorx.
In 2022 Cohn published a regret narrative in the Washington Post, suggesting that minors and young adults considering transition should “slow down.” Cohn has expressed the following regrets:
- “a lifetime set apart from my peers”
- “I wasn’t old enough to make that decision”
- “I have resigned myself to never finding a partner”
- “became a medical patient and will remain one for the rest of my life”
- “intercourse never became pleasurable”
- “I’m still working out how much regret to feel”
Via Media Matters for America:
Cohn, who hosts the podcast Heterodorx, has recently begun to put her anti-trans views into action. In late January, Cohn spoke in front of the Indiana House of Representatives in favor of HB 1041, a legislative effort that Cohn claimed would “strengthen the rights for girls and young women competing in sport” by excluding trans student athletes from competition. In her testimony, Cohn defined herself as “a transsexual,” arguing that her “sex is male, and neither science nor medicine can change that.” In the months since, Cohn has served as an expert and a witness for legislative efforts to restrict gender-affirming care in both Alabama and Ohio.
Cohn signed her testimony to the Ohio General Assembly as the secretary and treasurer of Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network. GCCAN was founded in 2019 under the stated mission “to empower recipients of gender transition-related care to become healthy and whole,” but it has rapidly aligned itself with the right-wing campaign against gender-affirming care policies, with Cohn serving as a board member.
References
Tirrell, Alyssa (October 31, 2022). Recent witness in anti-trans legislative hearings claims that trans people “did not even exist in 1939” and could not have been victims of the Holocaust. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/recent-witness-anti-trans-legislative-hearings-claims-trans-people-did-not-even-exist-1939
Steve Hammer and Chuck Workman (September 3, 2003). 30 under 30: Innovators in the arts. Nuvo https://www.nuvo.net/arts/30-under-30-innovators-in-the-arts/article_c99ebd9c-ae71-5c71-93dd-4f0f26bc75bc.html
Selected writing by Cohn
Cohn, Corinna (April 11, 2022). Opinion: What I wish I’d known when I was 19 and had sex reassignment surgery. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/11/i-was-too-young-to-decide-about-transgender-surgery-at-nineteen/
Cohn, Corinna (June 22, 2020). For 30 Years, I’ve Tried to Become a Woman. Here’s What I Learned Along the Way. Quillette https://quillette.com/2020/06/22/for-30-years-ive-tried-to-become-a-woman-heres-what-i-learned-along-the-way/
Resources
Substack (substack.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
- corinna-cohn-83026a24 [deleted]
Otakurama (otakurama.com) [archive]
Blogspot (blogspot.com)
Gender Care Consumer Advocacy Network (gccan.org) [archive]
- Who We Are [archive]
- gccan.org/who-we-are
X/Twitter (x.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Helen Pluckrose is a British writer and anti-transgender activist. Pluckrose was editor of anti-trans group blog Areo magazine from 2018 to 2021.
Pluckrose is critical of postmodernism and cultural constructivism. While claiming to take a centrist position that is generally trans-supportive, Pluckrose has espoused many anti-transgender views.
Background
Pluckrose was born in August 1974. Pluckrose earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of East London and a master’s degree from Queen Mary University of London.
Pluckrose was a social care worker from age 17 to 34.
In 2017 Pluckrose, Peter Boghossian, and James A. Lindsay carried out the “grievance studies” affair, where they submitted 20 hoax papers to academic journals in hopes of getting them published. One recommended that people challenge their transphobia by inserting sex toys into their anuses.
Pluckrose was editor of anti-trans group blog Areo magazine from 2018 to 2021, founding Areo Magazine Ltd in 2019. Pluckrose and Lindsay published the book Cynical Theories in 2020. Pluckrose founded Counterweight Support Limited in 2021.
Pluckrose and spouse David have one child.
Anti-transgender activism
Pluckrose asserts that “extreme trans activists” want to compel people to accept the following:
- people must believe that trans people “straightforwardly are the gender they experience themselves to be”
- people must use language that reflects a trans person’s gender
- people must be trans-inclusive when choosing sexual partners
Pluckrose’s most significant anti-trans position is that “transitioning children is difficult to justify ethically.”
Pluckrose’s reasoning is a form of cisgender supremacy that prioritizes the well-being of cisgender children over the well-being of transgender children. According to Pluckrose, giving parental consent to medical transition for a trans youth “cannot justify permanently damaging the bodies” of young people who might not benefit in the long term from medical transition. In Pluckrose’s argument this “collateral damage” is worse than collateral damage to trans young people denied medical transition.
Pluckrose’s position is predicated on the potent “regret” narrative and its medicalized manifestations: “desistance” in minors and “detransition” in adults. Regret narratives are vastly overrepresented in mainstream media because it taps into parental anxiety and justifies suspicion about all trans people. Those who believe being trans is a medical problem like “social contagion” often believe there is a cure. Those who believe being trans is an ideology or cult often cling to the powerful fantasy of trans apostasy.
Ideologues who wish to involve themselves in the bodily autonomy of others often amplify regret narratives. For instance, though abortion regret is rare, abortion opponents amplify regret narratives to make abortion less accessible for those who might benefit, including minors.
During Pluckrose’s tenure at Areo, there were several articles critical of trans people (written by people like anti-trans activist Louise Perry), and no articles written by trans people.
In a 2020 Quillette interview, Pluckrose complained about trans activism:
People are being no-platformed, fired, and cancelled for disagreeing with these ideas. Here in the UK, the police have investigated somebody posting a limerick on Twitter that did not adhere to trans activism’s concept of gender identity and a journalist publishing an interview with a historian who said slavery was not genocide. Gender critical feminists are routinely threatened and intimidated for making arguments that self-ID is a threat to women’s sex-based rights.
References
Pluckrose, Helen (September 27, 2017). An Argument for a Liberal and Rational Approach to Transgender Rights and Inclusion. Areo https://areomagazine.com/2017/09/27/an-argument-for-a-liberal-and-rational-approach-to-transgender-rights-and-inclusion/
Hill, Jason D. (December 16, 2020). On Activist Scholarship: An Interview with Helen Pluckrose. Quillette https://quillette.com/2020/12/16/on-activist-scholarship-an-interview-with-helen-pluckrose/
Perry, Louise (July 8, 2019). Minds Without Bodies: Transgenderism and the Authentic Self. Areo https://areomagazine.com/2019/08/07/minds-without-bodies-transgenderism-and-the-authentic-self/
Smith M (pseudonym) (2018). Going in Through the Back Door: Challenging Straight Male Homohysteria and Transphobia through Receptive Penetrative Sex Toy Use. Sexuality & Culture. 22 (4): 1542. 10.1007/s12119-018-9536-0
Resources
X/Twitter (x.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Caroline Farrow is a British writer and anti-transgender extremist.
Background
Farrow attended Brentwood School, Essex and New Hall School in Chelmsford, Essex.
Farrow worked as an accountant before working as an airline flight crew member. In 2010 Farrow began a pro-Catholic blog. Farrow has served as campaign director for the far-right lobby group CitizenGo.
Farrow is married to a priest named Robin and has five children. They live in Ash, Surrey.
Anti-transgender activism
Farrow posted on anti-trans site Kiwi Farms as Caroline Farrow, without a pseudonym, which was very unusual. After Farrow made a number of transphobic comments during a debate with Susie Green on Good Morning Britain, an investigation was opened. Farrow complained about being investigated on a 2019 Quillette podcast hosted by Toby Young.
In 2022 Farrow was arrested at home after many years of harassing, doxxing, and misgendering Stephanie Hayden. Surrey Police said:
“On Monday, 3 October, officers attended an address in the Guildford area as part of an investigation into allegations of malicious communications (sending of indecent, grossly offensive messages, threats, or information) and harassment. A 48-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of both offences. A number of electronic devices were seized as potential evidence from this address under section 19 of PACE. Where an offence is alleged to have been committed on an electronic device, for example, it may hold a key piece of evidence and may routinely be seized during an investigation. The woman was taken to Guildford police station where she was interviewed. She has now been released under investigation and inquiries remain ongoing.”
In October 2023, Farrow announced that CPS were not proceeding with prosecution because “the evidential test has not been met.”
References
Wakefield, Lily (October 13, 2022). Anti-trans activist Caroline Farrow sues trans woman she’s accused of doxxing. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/10/13/stephanie-hayden-caroline-farrow-arrest-kiwi-farms/
Gilbert, David (October 6, 2022). J.K. Rowling Ally Arrested for Allegedly Doxing a Trans Activist. Vice News https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k87vq/caroline-farrow-arrested-kiwi-farms
Young, Toby (March 26, 2019). Quillette Podcast 23 – Catholic journalist Caroline Farrow talks about being investigated by the British police for misgendering a transwoman. Quillette https://quillette.com/2019/03/26/quillette-podcast-23-catholic-journalist-caroline-farrow-talks-about-being-investigated-by-the-british-police-for-misgendering-a-transwoman/
Staff report (March 20, 2019). Surrey Police investigation over ‘misgendering’ tweets. BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-47638527
Hill, Amelia (March 20, 2019). Mother drops action against woman who said she ‘mutilated’ trans daughter. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/20/catholic-journalist-investigated-by-police-after-misgendering-trans-woman
Resources
Caroline Farrow (carolinefarrow.net)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Premier Christianity (premierchristianity.com)
CitizenGO (citizengo.org)
Crisis Magazine (crisismagazine.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Dennis Prager is a conservative writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Dennis Mark Prager was born on August 2, 1948 in Brooklyn to Max and Hilda (Friedfeld) Prager. Prager has a sibling Kenneth.
Prager attended Yeshiva of Flatbush and earned a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in 1970. Prager then took graduate courses but did not complete further degrees.
Prager was recruited by a British Jewish group to interview Jewish people in the Soviet Union, then toured speaking about the findings. From 1976 to 1983 Prager ran the Brandeis-Bardin Institute.
In 1982 Prager began a religious talk show and began writing more about antisemitism. Prager became known for criticism of narcissism and secularism. Prager has been married three times.
In the 1990s Prager began working to forge alliances between conservative Jews and Conservative Christians. Since 1999 Prager has hosted the nationally syndicated radio talk show The Dennis Prager Show.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2009, Prager and producer Allen Estrin started PragerU, which creates five-minute videos promoting conservative views.
References
Vaush (March 1, 2023). Debunking DERANGED Anti-Trans Prager U Propaganda. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggPrrXnAPw
Jessie Gender (December 3, 2021). How PragerU Creates Transphobia (in Trans-Affirming Folks). YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-vIGz2SuO0
January, Brianna (November 23, 2020). YouTube removed anti-trans PragerU videos for violating hate speech policies. Media Matters for America
Staff report (Jun 30, 2022). Daily Wire Tightens Alliances With ‘The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast’ And Dennis Prager. Inside Radio https://www.insideradio.com/free/daily-wire-tightens-alliances-with-the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast-and-dennis-prager/article_4da336f0-f8ba-11ec-ab59-137e6e6efdb2.html
Ben Shapiro is a conservative American writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Benjamin Aaron “Ben” Shapiro was born January 15, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. Shapiro’s parent Cynthia Block Shapiro (born 1956) has worked as an executive coach, and parent David Jay Shapiro (born 1956) has been a writer and musician. David Shapiro has also written under the pseudonym “William Bigelow” and possibly “Hank Berrien,” often puff pieces praising child Ben.
Ben Shapiro studied classical violin as a child. Shapiro has a sibling named Leah and another sibling Abigail, a singer known as Classically Abby.
Shapiro used the online handle frumfiddle in college at UCLA, while earning a bachelor’s degree awarded in 2004. Shapiro was hired by Creators Syndicate at 17 to become America’s youngest nationally syndicated columnist, publishing the first of many subsequent books that year.
Shapiro earned a law degree from Harvard in 2007. Shapiro worked at Goodwin Procter LLP before setting up Benjamin Shapiro Legal Consulting in Los Angeles.
Ben Shapiro married Israeli physician Mor Toledano Shapiro (born 1988) in 2008. They have four children.
In 2012, Shapiro became editor of Breitbart News, resigning in 2016. In 2012, Shapiro also began work as a radio host.
In 2013, Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing co-founded conservative media watchdog TruthRevolt, which continued until 2018. In 2015, they founded Daily Wire and the podcast The Ben Shapiro Show. In 2020, Shapiro became editor emeritus of Daily Wire.
Shapiro frequently appears in the media and on campuses, usually making provocative statements in hopes of getting a response.
Anti-LGBTQ activism
Shapiro considers sex and gender minorities mentally ill and sinful. Shapiro does not think they should be able to marry or adopt.
Shapiro has said trans people should not be allowed to own guns, and Shapiro believes transgender youth are caused by “social contagion” or “crap parenting.”
References
Harris, Dan (September 2017). Outspoken conservative Ben Shapiro says political correctness breeds insanity. Nightline https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/outspoken-conservative-ben-shapiro-political-correctness-breeds-insanity-50603406 [archive]
Harris, Dan; Torres, Ignacio; Effron, Lauren (October 21, 2017). Conservative commentator on future of free speech on campus. ABC News https://abcnews.go.com/US/outspoken-conservative-ben-shapiro-free-speech-place-college/story?id=50610394 [archive]
Goldstein, Sasha (July 15, 2015). Ben Shapiro files complaint against transgender reporter Tur. New York Daily News http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ben-shapiro-files-complaint-transgender-reporter-tur-article-1.2298804 [archive]
Walker, Lauren (July 21, 2015). Editor Ben Shapiro Files Police Report Against Transgender Reporter After Heated TV Exchange. Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/conservative-editor-files-police-report-against-transgender-reporter-after-355851 [archive]
Tobin, Andrew (July 21, 2015). Jewish pundit, trans journalist in on-air spat. The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-pundit-trans-journalist-in-on-air-spat/ [archive]
Walker, Lauren (July 21, 2015). Editor Ben Shapiro Files Police Report Against Transgender Reporter After Heated TV Exchange. Newsweek. https://web.archive.org/web/20170318225103/http://www.newsweek.com/conservative-editor-files-police-report-against-transgender-reporter-after-355851 [archive]
Tavernise, Sabrina (November 23, 2017). Ben Shapiro, A Provocative ‘Gladiator,’ Battles to Win Young Conservatives. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/us/ben-shapiro-conservative.html [archive]
Wilburn, Caroline (November 1, 2022). Ben Shapiro visits A&M, criticizes transgender community. The Battery https://www.thebatt.com/news/ben-shapiro-visits-a-m-criticizes-transgender-community/article_9340e138-5a5f-11ed-bd70-4b233c964e13.html
Henry, Vesper (March 22, 2023). Facts trump Ben Shapiro’s feelings on social contagion theory of trans identity. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/facts-trump-ben-shapiros-feelings-social-contagion-theory-trans-identity
Staff report (March 7, 2023). Ben Shapiro accuses parents of trans children of “crap parenting.” Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-accuses-parents-trans-children-crap-parenting
Prieb, Natalie (April 13, 2022). Ben Shapiro gets into scrap with student at ‘Men Cannot Be Women’ event. The Hill https://thehill.com/homenews/3266482-ben-shapiro-gets-into-scrap-with-student-at-men-cannot-be-women-event/
Staff report (March 31, 2023). Ben Shapiro says trans people should be banned from owning firearms. Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-says-trans-people-should-be-banned-owning-firearms
Resources
Media Matters for America (mediamatters.org)
GLAAD Accountability Project (glaad.org/gap)
Daily Wire (dailywire.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
X/Twitter (x.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)