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Amy Eileen Hamm is a Canadian nurse and anti-transgender extremist.

Hamm co-founded anti-trans group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar). Hamm was fired in 2025 following a hearing brought by the nursing regulatory board, which found that Hamm publicly identified as a nurse while engaging in anti-transgender activity.

Background

Hamm earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Thompson Rivers University, followed by a bachelor’s degree in nursing from University of British Columbia in 2012.

Hamm worked for 7 months as a psychiatric nurse in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. Hamm then became a nurse educator in the psychiatric unit at a hospital in Richmond (part of Vancouver Coastal Health). Hamm resides in New Westminster, British Columbia.

In 2011, Hamm responded to the question “If you could live in a certain time period and place what would it be?” Hamm said:

1950s, small-town ‘merica. I could go for some “ignorance is bliss”. I’d be a stupid housewife with a stupid optimistic outlook on life.

Hamm (2011)

Hamm ended up in a much more modern cliché. Hamm is divorced and has children. Hamm has discussed being a single parent and the stigma involved:

It has been a few years since I left my marriage, and I did end up meeting someone wonderful. In the time between, I realized that single motherhood is the largest unquestioned stigma of my era. It can be achingly lonely and—if you let it get to you—it can crush your self-esteem.

Hamm (2023)

Anti-transgender activism

Hamm is a sex segregationist who co-founded gender critical group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) in 2019. Hamm claims to be fighting “the harms that gender-identity ideology was inflicting on women and children.”

In 2021 and 2022 Hamm and “Esme Vee” hosted Gender Critical Story Hour podcast. Episodes include:

  • 0 – trailer
  • 1 – Meghan Murphy (February 21, 2021)
  • 2 – Marguerite Stern (February 22, 2021)
  • 3 – Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún (February 23, 2021)
  • 4 – Barbara Kay (February 24, 2021)
  • 5 – Graham Linehan (February 28, 2021)
  • 6 – Heather Mason and Madeline Riversong (March 20, 2021)
  • 7 – Linda Blade (June 4, 2021)
  • 8 – Bad Women: Amy & Esme (June 20, 2021)
  • 9 – Cancel Club: Amy & Esme (July 26, 2021)
  • 10 – Heather Mason and Linda Blade (April 7, 2022)
  • 11 – Sue-Ann Levy (April 26, 2022)
  • 12 – The Haters Inside the Canadian “Anti-Hate” Network (July 25, 2022)
  • 13 – How Far Can They Go: Are we reaching peak trans? (September 29, 2022)

Hamm and Holly Stamer co-founded GIDYVR, an anti-trans speaker series based in Vancouver. Their first event at the Vancouver Public Library on January 10, 2019 featured Meghan Murphy, Fay Blaney, and Lee Lakeman, moderated by Mary-Lee Bouma. Vancouver Public Library Chief Librarian Christina de Castell issued a statement about the event.

Hamm is best known for purchasing billboards that say “I ♥ JK Rowling” with Chris Elston. They have been quickly removed for being a reference to anti-transgender views of transphobic author J.K. Rowling.

Hamm’s writing has appeared in conservative and fascist publications including the Post Millennial, The New Westminster Times, Human Events, and Quillette.

Disciplinary hearing

In 2022 the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) initiated a disciplinary hearing against Hamm:

Between approximately July 2018 and March 2021, you made discriminatory and derogatory statements regarding transgender people, while identifying yourself as a nurse or nurse educator. These statements were made across various online platforms, including but not limited to, podcasts, videos, published writings and social media.

BCCNM (2022)

Hamm reportedly rejected a proposed settlement from the college that would have included a two-week license suspension and social media training.

Hamm was represented by Lisa Bildy and Karen Bastow of Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF). JCCF brought in anti-trans activists James Cantor, Kathleen Stock, and Linda Blade to testify on Hamm’s behalf in 2023.

On March 13, 2025, the College found that Hamm, while identifying herself as a member of the medical profession, made statements that were “untruthful and unfair as they challenge the existence of transgender women, argue for less constitutional protection for transgender women, and are designed, in part, to elicit fear, contempt and outrage against members of the transgender community.”

Tabs 4, 24, 28 and S3 of the Extract were found to be violative:

  • Tab 4: Responded stated “trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces.” Respondent also stated that Vancouver Women’s Shelter [VRR] will “surely (and maddeningly) face continued backlash from trans activists determined to infiltrate or destroy women-only spaces. The women of VRR, however, are clearly up to the task”. […] The suggestion that trans activists are seeking to “infiltrate or destroy” women-only spaces strongly connotes illegal, aggressive, and improper conduct and mischaracterizes transgender women seeking access to support services available to cisgender women in crisis situations as dangerous individuals. The Panel finds that the statement is not true nor is it fair to transgender women.
  • Tab 24: in her article entitled “On feeling like a woman”. The Respondent states “there is no absconding” from female bodies, the feeling of being a woman does not exist, and there is no “incantation or initiation that can transcend bodily reality.” The Panel finds that these statements are untrue and unfair to transgender women as they deny the possibility that that an individual born into a male body can feel like a woman and effectively deny the existence of transgender women.
  • Tab 28: In a book review entitled “Review: ‘Love Lives Here – A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family,” Respondent refers to the “falsehood that babies can be ‘born in the wrong body’ or that humans can change their sex”. She asserts that everyone “who believes in wrong bodies or innate genders” would rather devastate a child than acknowledge that men cannot become transgender women, that gender identity ideology is akin to a Satanic Panic craze, that lesbians do not have penises, that a gender soul does not exist, and that men cannot literally become women. […] These statements, which appear to be designed to elicit fear, contempt and hostility towards the transgender community, particularly transgender women
  • S3 of the Extract: Respondent makes several statements in the context of the YouTube interview entitled, “The Same Drugs Live with Amy Hamm on I heart JK Rowling”. As the Respondent is asked in the interview about the background to the billboard, those comments must be considered in conjunction with the billboard itself and J.K. Rowling’s essay. The billboard message must be assessed from the perspective of a “reasonable person in the claimant’s circumstances” […] From the perspective of a transgender person, the essay contains some references that could be interpreted as portraying them as a risk to cisgender women and girls and predatory. Such characterizations unquestionably elicit fear and hostility towards transgender people.

On March 27, 2025, Hamm reported being fired without severance from Vancouver Coastal Health.

References

Ruttle, Joseph (March 13, 2025). B.C. nurse committed professional misconduct with transgender commentary, hearing rules. Vancouver Sun https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-nurse-misconduct-transgender-commentary-hearing-rules

British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives (March 13, 2025). In the matter of a Discipline Hearing under s. 38 of the Health Professions Act, RSBC 1996, c 183 between British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives and Amy Eileen Hamm. https://bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2025_03_13_BCCNM_Hamm_Decision.pdf

Higgins, Michael (Jan 23, 2023). Michael Higgins: B.C. nurse Amy Hamm is being persecuted for believing in biology. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michael-higgins-amy-hamm-is-being-persecuted-for-believing-in-biology

Lindsay, Bethany (October 23, 2023). Nurse’s ‘discriminatory and derogatory’ comments on transgender people at issue in B.C. hearing. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-1.7005480

Lindsay, Bethany (October 24, 2023). Controversial psychologist tells B.C. hearing he feels a duty to speak out on transgender issues. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-oct-24-1.7007014

Lindsay, Bethany (October 25, 2023). Lawyer says contentious psychologist will ‘dispel the myth’ that B.C. nurse’s comments harm trans people. CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-oct-25-1.7008318

Lindsay, Bethany (November 3, 2023). Nurse tells B.C. hearing she’s not transphobic, but calls gender identity ‘metaphysical nonsense.’ CBC https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-amy-hamm-disciplinary-hearing-nov-3-1.7018573

Pawson, Chad (September 12, 2020). I Love J.K. Rowling sign makes brief, controversial appearance in Vancouver. CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/i-love-j-k-rowling-sign-makes-brief-controversial-appearance-in-vancouver-1.5722244

Takeuchi, Craig (September 12th, 2020). Transphobia concerns prompt East Vancouver billboard supporting J.K. Rowling to be covered up. The Georgia Straight https://www.straight.com/living/transphobia-concerns-prompt-east-vancouver-billboard-supporting-jk-rowling-to-be-covered-up

Christina de Castell (January 27, 2020). Statement from VPL’s Chief Librarian regarding March 21 GIDYVR event. Vancouver Public Library https://www.vpl.ca/statement-on-gidyvr-event

Publications by Hamm

Hamm, Amy Eileen (June 22, 2023). On the stigma of single motherhood. Substack https://preta6.substack.com/p/on-the-stigma-of-single-motherhood

Hamm, Amy Eileen (February 14, 2023). Teaching UBC Medical Scholars that Biological Sex is a ‘Colonial Imposition.’ Quillette https://quillette.com/blog/2023/02/14/teaching-ubc-medical-students-that-biological-sex-is-a-colonial-imposition/

Hamm, Amy Eileen (April 8, 2022). I’m Being Investigated by the British Columbia College of Nurses Because I Believe Biological Sex Is Real. Quillette https://quillette.com/2022/04/08/im-being-investigated-by-the-british-columbia-college-of-nurses-because-i-believe-biological-sex-is-real/

Resources

BCCNM (bccnm.ca)

  • Notice: Hamm, Amy, RN Hearing
  • bccnm.ca/Public/complaints/Pages/Notice.aspx?NoticeID=790
  • Hamm Citation (June 28, 2022)
  • bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2022_06_28_BCCNM_Hamm_Citation.pdf
  • Hamm Decision (March 13, 2025)
  • bccnm.ca/Documents/complaints/2025_03_13_BCCNM_Hamm_Decision.pdf

Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (cawsbar.ca)

Substack (substack.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Reddit (reddit.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Gwendolyn Ann Smith is an American writer, designer, and transgender rights activist. Smith is a pioneer in online trans resources and created what became the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Background

Gwendolyn Ann “Gwen” Smith was born July 22, 1967. Smith attended Pasadena City College, then began doing desktop publishing and digital design under the entity designstylestudios. Smith was an early adopter in online communities, rising to Programming Director at America Online’s onQ community, which later merged with PlanetOut.

Smith has been involved with the game Second Life since its release in 2003 and since 2019 has offered high-end professional support to the game’s power users.

Smith is married to Bonnie “Bon” Smith and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Transgender activism

Starting in 1992, Smith was the driving force behind making America Online (AOL) trans-friendly, lobbying them to change anti-trans policies. Smith developed and maintained a repository of information and resources on AOL and hosted many chats. Smith developed the Transgender Community Forum (TCF), which AOL forced to close.

In 1998, Smith founded the Remembering Our Dead Project to document anti-trans murders. That project evolved into the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In 2000, Jamison Green, Dallas Denny, Jessica Xavier, Gwen Smith, Penni Ashe Matz, and Sandra Cole launched the nonprofit Gender Education and Advocacy (GEA) at the website gender.org.

Smith has written and edited for many publications, including LGBTQ Nation, The New Civil Rights Movement, and Genderfork. Smith has written a column titled “Transmisisons” for the Bay Area Reporter since 2000.

Smith designed the accompanying booklet and attended our 2004 all-transgender benefit performance of The Vagina Monologues.

Smith is subject of the 2017 book Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith.

This site (transgendermap.com) is dedicated to Smith and Melanie Anne Phillips for their key roles in early online resources for the community.

References

Leveque, Sophia Cecilia (2017). Trans/Active: A Biography of Gwendolyn Ann Smith. ISBN 9781618460448

Burns, Katelyn (November 20, 2019). Founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith on the 20th Anniversary of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/gwendolyn-ann-smith-interview-transgender-day-of-remembrance

Inkster, Andy (2008). Gwendolyn Ann Smith (1967–). In LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia. ISBN 978-0313339905

Resources

Gwen Smith (gwensmith.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Transgender Day of Remembrance (tdor.info) [archive]

Gender.org (gender.org) [archive]

  • Remembering Our Dead: gender.org/remember [archive]
  • Host: Above & Beyond (abgender.com) [archive]

Bay Area Reporter (ebar.com)

Genderfork (genderfork.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)

Sierra Weir is an American ex-transgender activist who posts gender critical content online using the handle “Exulansic.” Weir gets money and attention by making it harder for others to access trans health services.

If you are transgender, gender diverse, or supportive of the LGBTQ community, do not support Weir’s business. There are many better voice practice and voice therapy options.

Background

Sierra Dullea Weir was born in April 1987.

In 2008, Weir studied Turkish for a year at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Weir earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 2011. Weir then earned a master’s degree from San Jose State University in 2015. Weir identified as transgender for about four years, then as non-binary:

I lived as a trans man for several years, in community with other gender non-conforming people in the Bay Area, where the culture is open to non-traditional expressions of identity. I went to UC Berkeley, where Judith Butler, author of the seminal Gender Trouble, teaches, and where I majored in Gender and Women’s Studies. At one point, a significant other and I (both trans men at the time) attended a brunch with a group that included Julia Serano, a trans woman biologist whose book Whipping Girl argues that transphobia is a form of misogyny and that rights for trans people must be central to feminism. 

Weir practiced speech therapy at Jewett & Associates, at a middle school via Staffing Options and Solutions, and at Nova Health Therapies. Weir founded Say the Word Speech Therapy in 2018.

Anti-transgender activism

Weir is now part of the gender critical and ex-transgender movements.

Under the pseudonyms “Exulansic” aand “TT Exulansic,” Weir has appeared on Savage Minds, Lou Perez, TRIGGERnometry, Benjamin Boyce, and other anti-trans shows.

References

TT Exulansic (April 8, 2021). How Gender Atheism Saved My Body. The American Mind https://americanmind.org/salvo/how-gender-atheism-saved-my-body/

Resources

Exulansic (exulansic.com) [archive]

Say the Word Speech Therapy (saythewordspeech.com) [archive]

  • NPI: 1144598970 [last updated 2019]

Therapy by Sierra (therapybysierra.com) [archive]

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

The American Mind (americanmind.org)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Odysee (odysee.com)

Rumble (rumble.com)

Locals (locals.com)

Shopify (myshopify.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Gettr (gettr.com)

Discord (discord.com)

Dan Savage is an American author and activist. Savage has been glitter-bombed many times for anti-transgender views. Some of Savage’s views have evolved following criticism.

Savage has written about sex and relationships since the 1990s and has supported the work of many gender critical and transphobic public figures. Savage has also been involved in a number of important projects that have improved the lives of sex and gender minorities, including trans people.

Background

Daniel Keenan “Dan” Savage (born October 7, 1964) grew up in a Catholic household in Chicago. Savage graduated with a theater degree from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, then moved to Germany for two years before moving to Madison, Wisconsin.

In 1991 The Onion founder Tim Keck told friend Savage about a plan to start The Stranger, an alternative newspaper in Seattle. Savage suggested writing a sex and relationship advice column. The title was proposed as Hey Faggot!, but Keck refused to use that title, so they settled on Savage Love. For years, all answered letters started with “Hey Faggot!” as the greeting. The column was syndicated, and Savage dropped the greeting in 1999 when the column started accepting emailed questions.

Savage moved to Seattle for the job. Under the stage name “Keenan Hollahan,” Savage also founded Seattle’s Greek Active Theater, producing reimagined classics in the mid-1990s. Savage was active in the Seattle theater scene until around 2003.

Savage created the It Gets Better project in 2010 with spouse Terry Miller. They were married in Canada in 2005 and remarried in the US when it was legalized. They have one child. The nonprofit has helped many trans and gender diverse young people through its message. The nonprofit’s President Paul Dien and founding member Seth Levy have noted that Savage is no longer involved in the project day to day:

“I don’t agree with what he has said, and I think it’s important to call out our privileges,” said Dien. “I think in our communities, cisgender white folks do have that privilege, and it’s okay to talk about when people are wrong or offensive to other parts of our community. And I think it’s important to have those discussions.”

“I really can’t comment on whatever Dan’s relationship with the trans community is; that’s been a complicated one for a long time,” added Levy. “All I know is that as a co-founder with them and having done a lot of work with them over the years, he’s done a lot for that community, often through this project. And so I hope at the end of the day, that’s what people start to understand, is that we’ve all really been trying to fight the same fight, even if we don’t always get along along the way.”

Ennis (2021)

Controversies

Savage’s strong opinions and acerbic tone have been criticized by numerous groups.

Biphobia allegations

Savage’s support of transphobic psychologist J. Michael Bailey and like-minded sexologists has caused the greatest reputational harm. Savage uncritically repeated Bailey’s claims that bisexual men don’t exist, and Savage told gay men “DON’T MESS AROUND WITH BISEXUALS” and likened bisexuality to “incest and dog-fucking.”

It was “the way most gay men were at the time, and it was shitty,” Savage says now. “A lot of my hostility to bi guys early was because I dated bi guys who were gay closet cases who felt superior to the gay men that they were dating, because they weren’t 100 percent polluted by gayness.” Over the years, “pushback from my readers” and some new bi lovers helped change his mind.

Anderson (2021)

Bailey and friends magically “discovered” bisexuality as soon as they got a payment from The American Institute of Bisexuality. Savage supported Bailey’s claims about that “discovery” as well.

Transphobia allegations

Then there are the transphobic slurs that frequently appeared in Savage Love over the first 20-odd years, along with some gender nonaffirming advice about trans people and cheap jokes about the appearance of trans women. Savage told me that he used those words in the same spirit as he invited readers to call him a “faggot.” He offered a similar explanation when, at a much-covered event at the University of Chicago in 2014, he was challenged by a trans student who objected to his continued use of the slurs while talking about the slurs, and wrote a scorched-earth takedown of the student in the Stranger. (Savage now uses the phrase “t-slur” instead of saying the word out loud.)

Anderson (2021)

Savage says those views have evolved:

“How do you disprove a charge like you’re transphobic? I’m not afraid of trans people. […] I certainly have had a journey in the last 20 years — as have we all — on trans issues. When I started writing Savage Love 20 years ago, and you can yank quotes 15, 18 years ago and flat them up today and say, ‘You know, that’s transphobic,’ I’d probably agree with you. 15 years ago I didn’t know as much as I know now — nor did anybody.”

Badash (2014)

Savage is one of the few people to reify “autogynephilia,” writing in 2010: “You might want to google autogynephilia. Not saying that’s where you’re at or headed, don’t know enough about it to endorse it, but . . . it seemed relevant.” Gender critical and anti-trans people Savage has platformed and supported include:

Here Savage cites Singal’s promotion of conservative clinician Erica Anderson as evidence Singal is not transphobic.

There is a tendency among this collection of people to back each other up and logroll for each other when accused of acting against the best interests of the trans community. Let’s hope that changes in the future, as their monopolization of media opportunities by shutting out trans critics is one of the key ways they perpetuate harm.

References

Rude, Mey (March 24, 2021). Cis Men Like Jesse Singal, Dan Savage Don’t Decide What’s Transphobic. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2021/3/24/cis-men-jesse-singal-dan-savage-dont-decide-whats-transphobic

Badash, David (April 29, 2014). Dan Savage Does Not Hate You. The New Civil Rights Movement. https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2014/04/dan_savage_does_not_hate_you/

Anderson, LV (September 23, 2021). Dan Savage Revolutionized Sex. Then the Revolution Came for Him. Slate https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/09/dan-savage-advice-savage-love-criticism-interview.html

Savage, Dan (December 2, 1999). Gay Ol’ Time. Savage Love https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/SavageLove?oid=2686 [archive]

Abad-Santos, Alexander (November 3, 2011). Dan Savage: Queer-on-Queer Glitter-Bombing Victim. The Wire via The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/dan-savage-queer-queer-glitter-bombing-victim/335921/

Lowder, J. Bryan (November 4, 2011). Did Dan Savage Deserve to be Glitter-Bombed?. Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/11/04/did_dan_savage_deserve_to_be_glitter_bombed_.html

Dan Savage Gets Glitterbombed, Called Transphobic At University Of Oregon. The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/dan-savage-glitterbombed-oregon-transphobia-_n_1071627.html

Hill-Meyer, Tobi (November 2, 2011). Dan Savage Gets Glitter Bombed for Being Transphobic. The Bilerico Project. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_savage_gets_glitter_bombed_for_being_transphob.php

Hill-Meyer, Tobi (November 14, 2011). Dan Savage Glittered Again, Student Arrested. The Bilerico Project. http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_savage_glittered_again_student_arrested.php

Oommen, Isaac (January 21, 2012). Dan Savage Glitterbombed. Vancouver Media Co-op. http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/dan-savage-glitterbombed/9681

Schmidt, Christine (May 30, 2014). Comments at IOP spark controversy. [archive] Chicago Maroon http://chicagomaroon.com/2014/05/30/comments-at-iop-spark-controversy/

University of Chicago Institute of Politics (May 27, 2014). IOP Statement on Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion. http://politics.uchicago.edu/news/entry/iop-statement-on-commitment-to-diversity-inclusion

Johnson, Andrew (June 5, 2014). UChicago Students: Dan Savage’s Use of ‘T-Slur’ Made Us Feel ‘Unsafe’. National Review http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/379649/uchicago-students-dan-savages-use-t-slur-made-us-feel-unsafe-andrew-johnson

Soave, Robby (June 9, 2014). Dan Savage Stands Up to the Speech Police, Defends His Use of ‘Tranny’, Reason http://reason.com/blog/2014/06/09/dan-savage-stands-up-to-the-speech-polic

Savage, Dan (2014). About That Hate Crime I Committed at University of Chicago | Slog”. The Stranger http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2014/06/07/about-that-hate-crime-i-committed-at-university-of-chicago

Ennis, Dawn (May 3, 2021). ‘It Gets Better’ Gets New Leadership. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2021/05/03/it-gets-better-gets-new-leadership/

Resources

Dan Savage (savage.love)

The Stranger (thestranger.com)

It Gets Better (itgetsbetter.org)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

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

Scott Newgent is a conservative American transgender activist critical of healthcare protocols for trans and gender diverse youth. Newgent also has regret about personal surgical outcomes and complications. Newgent is best known for appearing in the transphobic Matt Walsh project What Is a Woman? and has been affiliated with extremist group Gays Against Groomers.

Background

According to self-reports, Thomas Scott Newgent was born in Tucson on November 6, 1972 to Scott and Cindy King (other sources give November 10). In several recent interviews, Newgent referred to previously living under the name Kellie Ellen King. Newgent attended Missouri State University before earning a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 1994. Newgent worked in sales. Newgent is reportedly a parent to three, including giving birth to a set of twins; their names are Joshua, Julia, and Justice. Newgent has listed over 30 different places in eight states as residences:

  • Indiana: Kendallville, South Bend, Fort Wayne
  • Texas: Rockwall, Ben Wheeler, Fort Worth, Dallas, Denton
  • Kansas: Olathe, Overland Park
  • Washington: Spokane, Port Angeles
  • Idaho: Post Falls
  • Oregon: Deadwood
  • Tennessee: Murfreesboro, Antioch
  • California: San Diego, Jamul, El Cajon

As is common with people who move this frequently, Newgent has a criminal history that includes serving a sentence relating to a court order in 2019.

Gender transition

Newgent reportedly began transition in 2016 but applied for a legal name and gender change in Texas in 2015. This took longer than usual because the court needed Newgent’s certification of criminal history record information, which Newgent’s lawyer supplied on November 2, 2015.

Newgent is dissatisfied with the reported seven surgeries, claiming that medical complications include:

  • a massive pulmonary embolism
  • a helicopter life-flight ride
  • an emergency ambulance ride
  • a stress-induced heart attack
  • sepsis
  • a 17-month recurring infection due to “using the wrong skin during a (failed) phalloplasty”
  • 16 rounds of antibiotics
  • three weeks of daily IV antibiotics
  • the loss of all my hair
  • (only partially successful) arm reconstructive surgery
  • permanent lung and heart damage
  • a cut bladder
  • insomnia-induced hallucinations
  • frequent loss of consciousness “due to pain from the hair on the inside of my urethra” (“six inches” of it)
  • a form of PTSD “that made me a prisoner in my apartment for a year”

Newgent would transition again, but differently. Newgent says transition came with many costs, including “home, car, savings, career, wife, medical insurance, and most importantly his faith within himself and God.”

TReVoices

During the COVID pandemic in 2020, Newgent founded Indiana for-profit company TRans Educational Voices (TReVoices), a group that opposes “radical gender activism.” Newgent claims the medical and pharmaceutical industries are pushing children to transition medically.

Newgent has appeared on or been featured by many conservative outlets, including Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Preston Sprinkle, GBNews, Plebity, Indie Thinker, Benjamin Boyce, Candace Owens, Madeleine Kearns, National Review, UpperhandMARS, and The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (Jennifer Lahl).

In 2023, Newgent briefly claimed to be done with anti-transgender activism and deleted some online presence. In 2024, Newgent self-published an autobiography titled THE LESBIAN DEVIL TO THE STRAIGHT MAN SAINT: – A trip through trans HELL & back!

Trans Regretters

In 2024 Newgent redirected the site TReVoices to a new site called Trans Regretters. The site listed several people with regret about aspects of their medical transitions:

References

Myers, Ashlyn (March 21, 2023). Emotions stir the House before committee’s approval of bill banning gender-affirming care. TheStatehouseFile.com https://www.thestatehousefile.com/politics/emotions-stir-the-house-before-committee-s-approval-of-bill-banning-gender-affirming-care/article_067d462c-c820-11ed-b589-0beadfab96ae.html

Markowicz, Karol (June 12, 2022). ‘What is a woman?’ exposes the lunacy of pro-trans extremism. The New York Post https://nypost.com/2022/06/12/what-is-a-woman-exposes-the-lunacy-of-pro-trans-extremism/

[uncredited] (Dec 18, 2021). Meet Scott Newgent. Gender Dysphoria Alliance https://www.genderdysphoriaalliance.com/post/meet-scott-newgent

Kearns, Madeleine (January 28, 2021). A Trans Person Speaks Out against Biden’s Transgender Activism. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/a-trans-person-speaks-out-against-bidens-transgender-activism/ [alt title: A Trans Campaigner Speaks Out against Biden’s Transgender Activism]

Kearns, Madeleine (February 13, 2020). The Cowardly Republicans of South Dakota. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/02/transgender-politics-south-dakota-senate-republicans-cowardly/

Publications by Newgent

Newgent, Scott (2024), THE LESBIAN DEVIL TO THE STRAIGHT MAN SAINT: – A trip through trans HELL & back! ‎#SCREAMLouder Publishing, ISBN ‎979-8895463376

Newgent, Scott (December 16, 2023). Opinion: I’m working to save children from my deepest regret: gender-affirming medical transition. Dallas Morning News https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2023/12/16/transgender-regretter-scott-newgent/

Newgent Scott (May 12, 2023). Scott Newgent, TReVoices [2023 Maine LD1735 (Summary) An Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care.] https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getTestimonyDoc.asp?id=10023409

Newgent, Scott (April 19, 2021). Bill C-6 needs more nuance: Conversion therapy is wrong, but pushing kids to transition medically is
worse. [Testimony to Canada Senate] https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/432/LCJC/Briefs/2021-04-19_LCJC_C-6_ScottNewgent_e.pdf

Newgent, Scott (February 9, 2021). Opinion: We Need Balance When It Comes To Gender Dysphoric Kids. I Would Know. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/we-need-balance-when-it-comes-gender-dysphoric-kids-i-would-know-opinion-1567277

Newgent, Scott (October 20, 2020). Opinon | Trans activist: Serious concern over child re-assignment surgery. The Catholic Weekly https://catholicweekly.com.au/trans-activist-serious-concern-over-child-re-assignment-surgery/

Media

Tammi Faraday (December 11, 2023). Scott Newgent – The Truth About Transitioning Children from a Transman (S06E03). Brave Journeys https://podcasts.apple.com/it/podcast/scott-newgent-the-truth-about-transitioning-children/id1536041978?i=1000638104941

Tamara Ugolini (October 23, 2023). Transman Scott Newgent fights to save children from the harms of medical transition. Rebel News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tKn6Ap0mH4

(October 16, 2023). Transition Tensions: Scott Newgent’s Stand on Childhood Choices. Become your own Superhero podcast

Robert Scott Bell (August 3, 2023). Special Guest Scott Newgent The Robert Scott Bell Podcast Network

Matt Walsh (June 10, 2023). What is a Woman? Reunion. The Matt Walsh Show https://www.dailywire.com/clips/what-is-a-woman-reunion

Jay Fantom (April 24, 2023). Scott Newgent Unboxing | Becoming Trans Ruined My Life. The Story Box https://shows.acast.com/thestorybox/episodes/scott-newgent-unboxing-becoming-trans-ruined-my-life

Jen Hardy (July 6, 2022). “What is a Woman” star Scott Newgent tells about the side-effects from medically transitioning, and their affect on kids. Fabulous Over 50 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-a-woman-star-scott-newgent-tells-about-the/id1353195153?i=1000568967275

Bryce Eddy (October 13, 2022). Scott Newgent | Stop Mutilating Children | Liberty Station Ep 141. Godspeak Calvary Chapel https://rumble.com/v1nq8yc-scott-newgent-stop-mutilating-children-liberty-station-ep-141.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

Allie Beth Stuckey (October 4, 2023). Ep 884 | Sex Change Regret: Why the Surgeries Never Work | Guest: Scott Newgent. Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vY5_LI8Gbc

Andrew Doyle (April 30, 2023). Trans man who says he REGRETS his transition says medically transitioning is just cosmetic surgery. Free Speech Nation / GBNews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_o2Q2EgeLY

Nana Akua (Apr 1, 2023). Transgender man says he REGRETS his transition | ‘It’s cosmetic surgery, it doesn’t fix anything.’ GBNews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZtwom8_J6o

Ben Shapiro (December 10, 2022). Transgender Male Exposes the Horrors of Gender Reassignment Surgery. The Ben Shapiro Show Daily Wire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzWtjHirh0

Candace Owens (Sep 24, 2022). Perez Hilton and Candace Owens Discuss Parenting and Gender Dysphoria in Children. [Scott Newgent guest]. Taboo with Candace Owens Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Kkw3zMRMo

Sandra Currie, Rose Medina (June 29, 2022) Scott Newgent Founder of TRevoices. An American Conversation Podcast™ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQMQ4VDiRZg

Michael Brown (March 22, 2022). A Female-to-Male Transgender Shouts a Warning About Transitioning Children. The Line of Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsNmvH9Alh4

Aaron Kimberly and Aaron Terrell (August 26, 2021). Measuring Medical Transition Outcomes with Kenneth Pirie and Scott Newgent. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14TIEgAVmow

Aaron Kimberly and Aaron Terrell (August 26, 2021). Autogynephilia with Kenneth Pirie and Scott Newgent. Transparency https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4qBxYbvhl8

Laval, Mary (13th July 2021). Scott Newgent of TReVoices in conversation with Stella O’Malley. Genspect https://genspect.org/scott-newgent-of-trevoices-in-conversation-with-stella-omalley/

Reed Uberman (August 16, 2021). Ep. 31- The Truth About Medically Transitioning Kids | Guest Scott Newgent. Indie Thinker with Reed Uberman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f2aucvGX-E

Jennifer Lahl (August 8, 2021). Scott Newgent on his permanent ban from Twitter. The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziBc6HYHVUM

Preston Sprinkle (July 1, 2021). #880 – A Transman’s Unexpected Thoughts on Trans* Related Issues: Scott Newgent. Theology in the Raw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zazsZ_HO3LM

Dan Crenshaw (March 5, 2021). Let’s Talk About Transgenderism, with Scott Newgent. Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDXAKXPlsdg

Mars Fernandez (September 8, 2020). BROmance with Buck Angel & Scott. UpperhandMARS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSfUas924U [deleted]

Benjamin Boyce (July 27, 2020). 257 | Children’s Rights, Trans Realities with Scott Newgent. Calmversations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lly1prUzksI

Jennifer Lahl (March 31, 2020). Podcast #015: Scott Newgent. Venus Rising https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/venusrising/episodes/2020-03-31T16_07_52-07_00

Mars Fernandez (August 30, 2019). Phalloplasty gone wrong with Scott Newgent. UpperhandMARS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y72zb-cJi8k [deleted]

Resources

Trans Regretters (transregretters.com) [archive]

TRans Educational Voices: TReVoices (trevoices.org) [archive]

  • trevoices.org/drcurtiscranecranets (deleted) [archive]

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

X.Twitter (x.com)

  • scottnewgent [suspended]
  • NotScottNewgent [deleted]

TikTok (tiktok.com)

Reddit (reddit.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

  • scottnewgent [deleted – archive]

Sarah Pedersen is professor of communications and media at Robert Gordon University. Pedersen has researched the rise of the “gender critical” movement and has espoused “gender critical” views.

Background

Sarah Pedersen was born in October 1965. Pedersen attended University of York, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1987 and a master’s degree in 1989. Pedersen has been affiliated with Robert Gordon University since 2008.

Gender critical activism

Pedersen has researched toxic online community Mumsnet, a key forum for anti-trans extremism.

The June 2019 event “Women’s Sex-Based Rights: What Does (& Should) the Future Hold?” featured a panel of “gender critical” speakers including Pedersen, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Louise Moody, Lucy Hunter Blackburn, and Claire Heuchan. There, Pedersen acknowledged a recent move into gender critical activism:

“I am often asked at these talks whether I would have been a militant suffragette or a constitutional suffragist. I have always answered that I saw myself very much as a suffragist, quietly writing letters and signing petitions, only dipping a toe in the public sphere of the day, and probably rather disapproving of the militant actions of the suffragettes. However, by coming here today and speaking so publicly, I think I am beginning to embrace my inner suffragette.”

Pedersen drew comparisons between suffragette protests against Scotland’s 1911 census and efforts by “gender critical” groups like For Women Scotland to confound sex data in the 2022 Scottish census.

Pedersen gave a blurb for the 2023 anti-trans book Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader:

‘Debates on sex and gender go back a long way, but recently they’ve become more contentious—and for many people, more confusing—than ever. This collection, covering a range of subjects from biology and neuroscience to law and public policy, is a welcome attempt to clarify what’s at stake in current disputes about the significance of sex and gender both in theory and in everyday life. I hope the book will be read by the confused and the undecided as well as by those who are already inclined to agree with it.’

References

Baker, Katie J. M. (January 2021). The Road to Terfdom. Lux https://lux-magazine.com/article/the-road-to-terfdom/

Davidson, Gina (May 8, 2019). University debate on women’s rights branded ‘transphobic.’ The Scotsman https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/university-debate-on-womens-rights-branded-transphobic-1418085

Reisz, Matthew (September 28, 2020). Books interview: Sarah Pedersen. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/books-interview-sarah-pedersen

Livingston, Eve (December 6, 2018). How an Online Forum for Moms Became a Toxic Hotbed of Transphobia. VICE https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3mn9k/mumsnet-uk-mom-forum-terf-transphobia-feminism

Selected writing by Pedersen

Pedersen S (2022). “It’s what the suffragettes would have wanted”: the construction of the suffragists and suffragettes on Mumsnet. Feminist Media Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2022.2032788

Pedersen, Sarah (February 18, 2022). The SNP won’t silence women. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/02/scotlands-women-wont-be-erased/

Pedersen, Sarah (2020). The Politicization of Mumsnet. Emerald Publishing, ISBN ‎9781839094712

Pedersen, Sarah (June 5, 2019). [speech at Women’s Sex-Based Rights panel] https://forwomen.scot/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Sarah-Pedersen-Edinburgh-Uni-speech.pdf

Media

Moray House School of Education and Sport (July 25, 2019). Women’s Sex-Based Rights: What Does (& Should) the Future Hold? panel event, 5 June 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHn1Bj5It8

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Lynn Conway was an American engineer and one of history’s most notable computer scientists. Conway was also a key figure in online transgender resources.

Background

Lynn Ann Conway was born on January 2, 1938 and grew up in White Plains, New York. Conway enrolled at MIT in 1955, but dropped out. After working as an electronics technician, Conway enrolled at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1962 and 1963.

Conway began at IBM Research in 1964, helping to develop new supercomputer technology. After coming out as transgender in 1968, Conway was fired by IBM.

After making a gender transition, Conway worked at Computer Applications and Memorex before joining Xerox PARC in 1973 to develop new integrated circuits. Conway co-authored Introduction to VLSI Systems with Carver Mead in 1978. The book’s insights are widely considered one of the most important advances in microchip technology.

Conway left Xerox to join DARPA’s Strategic Computing Initiative. Conway joined the University of Michigan in 1985 as professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and associate dean of engineering. Conway was appointed Professor Emerita in 1998.

Conway and engineer Charlie Rogers began a relationship in 1987, marrying in 2002.

Conway died on June 9, 2024 following heart issues.

Transgender activism

After creating an academic page in 1997, Conway bought the domain lynnconway.com in 2000 and began building a large personal website that included information about gender transition. Conway’s Transsexual Women’s Successes pages were an important early source of community inspiration, later expanded with a similar page for notable trans men.

Conway was a key figure in the transgender community response to the 2003 publication of the anti-transgender book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Conway methodically documented events as they unfolded, creating an important archive. Gender studies professor K. Surkan said our work “represented one of the most organized and unified examples of transgender activism seen to date.”

Conway also performed in our first all-trans performance of The Vagina Monologues in 2004.

Conway was also among the first to question academia’s deliberate undercounting of trans and gender diverse people.

References

Staff (June 12, 2024). Lynn Conway obituary. Sherwood Funeral Home https://memorials.sherwoodfh.com/lynn-conway/5445916/index.php

Trip Gabriel (June 15, 2024). Lynn Conway, Computing Pioneer and Transgender Advocate, Dies at 86. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/15/technology/lynn-conway-dead.html

Lang, Kristy (June 21, 2024). Last Word: Lynn Conway. BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00208pq

Smith, Harrison (June 13, 2024). Lynn Conway, microchip pioneer and trans rights advocate, dies at 86. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/13/lynn-conway-dead/

Hicks, Mar (June 21, 2024). Remembering Lynn Conway, of the Conway Effect, Who Helped Launch the Computing Revolution. Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/remembering-lynn-conway-of-the-conway-effect-who-helped-launch-the-computing/

Goodrich, Joanna (June 20, 2024). Honoring the Legacy of Chip Design Innovator Lynn Conway. IEEE Spectrum https://spectrum.ieee.org/chip-design-innovator-lynn-conway

Hiltzik, Michael (June 11, 2024). Column: Lynn Conway, leading computer scientist and transgender pioneer, dies at 86. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-06-11/lynn-conway-leading-computer-scientist-and-transgender-pioneer-dies-at-85

Moore, Nicole Casal (June 11, 2024). The legacy of Lynn Conway, chip design pioneer and transgender-rights advocate. University of Michigan Engineering News https://news.engin.umich.edu/2024/06/the-legacy-of-lynn-conway-chip-design-pioneer-and-transgender-rights-advocate/

Dodds, Io (June 15, 2024). Why losing trans pioneer Lynn Conway feels like a death in the family. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lynn-conway-death-obituary-b2563216.html

Olyslager F, Conway L (2007). On the calculation of the prevalence of transsexualism. WPATH 20th International Symposium http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Prevalence/Reports/Prevalence%20of%20Transsexualism.pdf

Cramer, Maria (November 21, 2020). 52 Years Later, IBM Apologizes for Firing Transgender Woman. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/21/business/lynn-conway-ibm-transgender.html

Surkan, K. Transsexuals protest academic exploitation. In Faderman, Lillian (ed). Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Events, 1848-2006. Salem Press, 2007, pp. 700–702.ISBN 9781587652653 [PDF]

Staff report (May 29, 2014). 21 Transgender People Who Influenced American Culture. Time https://time.com/130734/transgender-celebrities-actors-athletes-in-america/

Dodds, Io (December 4, 2023). ‘I was completely, manically joyful’: How a trans woman changed computing in the modern world. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/iphone-science-trans-woman-lynn-conway-b2458269.html

Alicandri, Jeremy. IBM Apologizes For Firing Computer Pioneer For Being Transgender…52 Years Later. Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyalicandri/2020/11/18/ibm-apologizes-for-firing-computer-pioneer/

Paul Wallich (December 2000). Profile: Lynn Conway—Completing the Circuit. Scientific American https://www.jstor.org/stable/26058967

Conway, Lynn (2012). Reminiscences of the VLSI Revolution: How a Series of Failures Triggered a Paradigm Shift in Digital Design (PDF). Solid-State Circuits Magazine. Vol. 4, no. 4. IEEE. pp. 8–31. doi:10.1109/MSSC.2012.2215752.

Media

Mead, Carver; Conway, Lynn (1980). Introduction to VLSI Systems. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0201043580

National Inventors Hall of Fame (April 14, 2023). Providing Freedom: The Lynn Conway Story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6tb8qBgWXU

Michigan Engineering (October 8, 2014). Lynn Conway reflects on her gender transition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJ-N54cQu4

Resources

Lynn Conway (lynnconway.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Facebook (facebook.com)

National Inventors Hall of Fame (invent.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

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

Rebecca Allison, aka “Dr. Becky,” was an American cardiologist who created one of the earliest and most important online resources for transgender medical information.

Allison was deeply involved in transgender activism and served in leadership roles at GLMA and AMA.

Background

Rebecca Anne “Becky” Allison was born in Greenwood, Mississippi on December 21, 1946. Allison’s parents were Errol Ward Atkinson and Mabel Blackwell Atkinson.

Allison earned a medical degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1971. After working as a general practitioner, Allison completed a specialty in cardiology in 1987, but lost that practice within a year of making a gender transition.

Allison served as chief of cardiology at CIGNA based in Arizona starting in 1998. Allison was named one of Phoenix Magazine’s Top Doctors in Phoenix for 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2012 Allison went into private practice before retiring in 2018.

Allison died on August 11, 2024 following a long illness.

Activism

Allison was a frequent contributor to the Grace and Lace Letter, an evangelical publication for trans and gender diverse people founded and edited by Lee Frances Heller in 1990.

In 1998, Allison created drbecky.com, a resource site focusing on the medical, legal, and spiritual aspects of gender transition. Among Allison’s innovations were a state-by-state listing on how to update a birth certificate, criticism of “autogynephilia,” criticism of The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey, a digital version of a brochure on facial feminization surgery by Douglas Ousterhout, and a section on spirituality that collected Allison’s writings for the Grace and Lace Letter.

Allison and partner Margaux Schaffer performed in our 2004 all-transgender performance of The Vagina Monologues and appear in the accompanying documentary Beautiful Daughters.

Allison was instrumental in the passage of the 2008 American Medical Association policy “Removing Financial Barriers to Care for Transgender Patients” H-185.950.

In 2009, Allison joined our protest at the American Psychiatric Association protest for including Kenneth Zucker and Ray Blanchard on the revision committee for the DSM-V. After speaking at the protest, Allison gave a speech at the meeting:

Inside the conference, Rebecca Allison, MD, a transsexual and cardiologist from Phoenix, who also chairs the American Medical Association’s committee on LGBT issues, said that the ideal solution would be to remove GID from the DSM, but retain it in the International Classification of Diseases as a “gender variance.”

The reason? So that insurance companies continue to pay for expensive medical procedures, such as hormones and surgeries. “In a perfect world,” Allison said, “psychiatrists would treat patients with gender variance, but not for gender variance.”

Allison was also active in Soulforce and organized Phoenix Transgender Day of Remembrance with spouse Margaux Schaffer for many years.

References

American Medical Association (2024). 2024 LGBTQ+ Interim Meeting – Rebecca Allison Memorial. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/i24-lgbtg-rebecca-allison-memorial.pdf

Jackson NC, Berlew GK (2024). “There is Not One Shred of Evidence That [Being Trans] is Not a Divine Gift”: Grace and Lace Letter and the Rhetorical Construction of an Evangelical Transfeminine Identity. Rhetoric Review, 43(3), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350198.2024.2349840

American Heart Association (June 2022). Pride With Heart Ambassadors. https://www.heart.org/en/about-us/diversity-inclusion/pride-with-heart

Petros, George (November 2018). Dr. Becky Allison, Cardiologist. https://www.georgepetros.com/writings/tnt/Dr-Becky-Allison.htm

American College of Cardiology (July 1, 2016). Clinical Innovators: Advocating for Equal Treatment | An Interview with Rebecca Allison, MD. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2016/07/19/10/14/clinical-innovators

Avicolli-Mecca, Tommi (May 21, 2009). Being Transgender is Not a Mental Disorder. BeyondChron https://beyondchron.org/being-transgender-is-not-a-mental-disorder/

Selected publications

Deutsch MB, Green J, Keatley J, Mayer G, Hastings J, Hall AM, Allison R, Blumer O, Brown S, Cody MK, Fennie K, Moscoe G, St Claire R, Stone MR, Wilson A, Wolf-Gould C (2013). Electronic medical records and the transgender patient: recommendations from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health EMR Working Group. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Volume 20, Issue 4, July 2013, Pages 700–703, https://doi.org/10.1136/amiajnl-2012-001472

Allison RA (2012). Ten things transgender persons should discuss with their health care provider. Gay and Lesbian Medical Association https://glma.org/10_things_transgender_people_s.php

Allison RA (2010). Aligning Bodies with Minds: The Case for Medical and Surgical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 14(2), 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359701003609872

Allison RA (2007). Transsexualism. In Fink G (ed.) Encyclopedia of Stress (2nd Edition). Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-12-088503-9

Allison RA (2007). Transsexualism. In Pfaff D, Arnold A, Etgen A, Fahrbach S, Rubin R (eds.) Hormones, Brain, and Behavior (2nd Edition). Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-12-532104-4

Allison RA (April 13, 2003). The National Academy Meets The National Enquirer. Dr. Becky http://www.drbecky.com/blog05.html [archive]

Allison RA (1999, Summer). Autogynephilia: Reply to Dr. Anne Lawrence. Transgender Tapestry, 1(86), 50-52. https://archive.org/details/transgendertapes9220unse

Allison RA (December 16, 1998). Janice Raymond and Autogynephilia. Dr. Becky http://www.drbecky.com/raymond.html [archive] Also published in Transgender Tapestry #94, Spring 2001 https://archive.org/details/transgendertapes9320unse

Media

HRC Arizona (March 28, 2012). Dr Becky Allison Individual Equality Awardee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dsujnNDhDY

Shadow Rock UCC (December 8, 2024). Celebration of Life – Dr. Rebecca Allison. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTSQLZtIR7c

Resources

Dr. Becky (drbecky.com) [archive]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Like Her (likeher.org)

LGBTQ Religious Archives Network (lgbtqreligiousarchives.org)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Prabook (prabook.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Robyn Kanner is an American marketing executive and graphic designer who has worked on several corporate and political projects. Kanner created a resource project for the trans community and has published several first-person essays.

Kanner is a favorite among anti-progressives for embracing “detransition” as a legitimate term.

Background

Robyn Grace Kanner was born July 9, 1987 and grew up in Fairfield, Maine. After initially studying history at a local college, Kanner took art classes at University of Maine at Farmington and University of Minnesota. Kanner then worked as a graphic designer at several companies in Portland, Maine before moving to Boston to do graphic design at Staples and New Balance. After working on user experience design at Amazon, Kanner moved to Brooklyn and did design work for Etsy.

In 2015 Kanner and The Betsy Community Fund crowdfunded $33,000 via Kickstarter for MyTransHealth, a website and app listing gender-supportive resources. The project included co-founders Kade Clark and Amelia Gapin, but at some point Gapin left the project for unstated reasons. Their service provider directory was updated for a couple of years, until around 2018.

After working on the creative for Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign, Kanner worked as a creative advisor on the 2020 Biden campaign. Kanner’s work included revising Aimee Brodbeck’s campaign logo to include Kamala Harris as well as various designs within the themes of the campaign and inauguration. In 2021 Kanner founded design firm Studio Gradients and serves as Vice President of Digital at STG.

Kanner has written about struggling with alcohol and drugs. In 2010 Kanner was arrested in Farmington, Maine for driving under the influence of drugs after crashing into parked cars and a sign. Kanner got sober in summer 2018 and has described how running helps in staying sober.

When a Child Says She’s Trans (2018)

Kanner has been critical of podcasters Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal for the ways in which they have covered trans issues, especially the ex-transgender movement. Kanner has written about struggling with gender identity and has unfortunately embraced the controversial term “detransition” to describe that gender expression. In fact, Kanner’s reification of the term is one reason Herzog and Singal are so keen to put Kanner forth as a representative of the trans community.

Kanner was one of the people who published responses to Singal’s widely-criticized 2018 Atlantic piece, “When a Child Says She’s Trans.” Below are some key passages:

Singal is eager throughout his piece to stress to his readers that young people who are exploring a trans identity might not be trans. Singal notes, “Some kids are dysphoric from a very young age, but in time become comfortable with their body.” With this, Singal is attempting to provide hope to parents that their child who says they’re trans might not be. He leaves enough doubt for you to consider gatekeeping your child’s identity. This is irresponsible.

Singal goes on to express how investigating that identity could cause harm, if adolescents begin physical transitions: “Some of these interventions are irreversible. People respond differently to cross-sex hormones, but changes in vocal pitch, body hair, and other physical characteristics, such as the development of breast tissue, can become permanent.” Here, it sounds like Singal is essentially trying to scare readers into not letting young trans people be themselves.

He implies that if you are a parent of a child who is exploring a trans identity, then you should be in a state of panic. Moreover, it behooves you, as a parent, to draw a line in the sand, marking just how far you should let your child explore their identity. 

When adults prevent young people from sifting through their identity, it leads to self-harm or worse.

There’s something so glaringly obvious about the people Singal interviewed for his feature on detransitioning. Did you catch it? They’re all alive.

Kanner (2018)

“Cancel culture” comments

Kanner became a darling of anti-progressives and members of the “intellectual dark web” after comments critical of online shaming. Kanner posted a personal phone number and invited critics to call. As part of this commitment to stopping the cycle of online shaming, Kanner has spoken directly with both Singal and Herzog on podcasts despite the criticisms of their work. Podcaster Dylan Marron described Kanner’s response to Herzog’s piece “The Detransitioners” for The Stranger:

In the summer of 2017 journalist Katie Herzog wrote a piece that was widely criticized. Ultimately she found herself at the bottom of a social media pile-on. 3,000 miles east of Katie, a woman named Robyn Kanner joined that pile-on tweeting “ur just trash.” In this episode, taped live in front an audience, Katie and Robyn meet onstage for the first time to discuss what happened between them, and the unlikely twist that brought them closer than they would have ever guessed.

Marron (2020)

In 2019, Kanner appeared on Singal’s podcast to discuss online shaming, but they did not go into Singal’s work or Kanner’s criticism of it. Singal claimed, “I think it would be great to have a critic of my work on the subject on my podcast at some point, whether it’s Robyn or someone else, and I’m looking into possibilities on that front because I’d like that to happen.”

Anti-trans activist Meghan Daum also praised Kanner for defending writers who have been criticized for their views:

In February of this year, Kanner was on the receiving end of the same kind of Twitter invective. Her crime: writing a New York Times op-ed expressing compassion for Ryan Morgan, a 17-year-old Wisconsin boy profiled in a much-maligned Esquire cover story about the difficulties of growing up white, male, middle-class, and conservative (his parents support President Trump) in the era of #MeToo, MAGA and and “toxic masculinity.” The magazine itself was criticized for the story but Morgan himself also became a target of online invective.

Daum (2019)

References

Bryant, Ann (January 28, 2010). Driver arrested after crashing into two parked cars. Lewiston Sun Journal

Kanner, Robyn (June 22, 2018). I Detransitioned. But Not Because I Wasn’t Trans. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/i-detransitioned-but-not-because-i-wasnt-trans/563396/

Daum, Meghan (June 26, 2019) The Outrage Antidote: Writer and recovering Twitter-holic Robyn Kanner on social media call-out culture and making a human connection. https://gen.medium.com/the-outrage-antidote-a8c2a76a4789

Christine, Theresa (March 9, 2021). After a Winning Election Campaign Design, Robyn Kanner Has Started Her Own Studio. Print https://www.printmag.com/post/after-a-winning-election-campaign-design-robyn-kanner-has-started-her-own-studio

Marron, Dylan (January 26, 2020) Episode 32: Trash. Conversations with People Who Hate Me https://podbay.fm/p/conversations-with-people-who-hate-me/e/1580101260

Olcott, Mike (February 3, 2011). Making Noise: Designer making the seen with Portland’s best bands. Portland Press Herald

Singal, Jesse (May 23, 2019). Those Who Speak Out Against Cancel Culture Must Be Cancelled Immediately (Robyn Kanner). Singal-Minded / Substack https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/those-who-speak-out-against-cancel

Essmaker, Tina (June 13, 2017). Robyn Kanner. The Great Discontent https://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/robyn-kanner/

Zanger, Doug (April 25, 2017 ). Changing the transgender narrative through design and care. The Drum https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/04/25/changing-the-transgender-narrative-through-design-and-care

Smith, Lilly (December 22, 2020). Design for all Americans: How Biden’s design team helped defeat Trump. Fast Company https://www.fastcompany.com/90583515/design-for-all-americans-how-bidens-design-team-helped-defeat-trump

Resources

MyTransHealth (mytranshealth.com) [last updated ~2018] [archive]

Studio Gradients (studiogradients.com)

Studio Mosaic (studiomosaic.co)

  • mosaicstg.com

Robyn Kanner (robynkanner.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • robynkanner [deleted]

Instagram (instagram.com)

  • robynkanner [deleted]

Medium (medium.com)

  • robynkanner [deleted – archive]

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Chartwell Speakers (chartwellspeakers.com)

  • Robyn Kanner [removed – archive]

The Atlantic (theatlantic.com)

New York Times (nytimes.com)

VICE (vice.com)

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

John Gale Kenney is an American plastic surgeon and artist who served the transgender community.

Background

John Gale Kenney was born on January 13, 1950.

Kenney practiced with Milton Edgerton and focused on surgery to repair burns and traumatic injuries. In 1984, they wrote the influential article “The bladder flap for urethral reconstruction in total phalloplasty.”

After retiring from medicine, Kenney moved to South Carolina and focused on painting.

Publications

Kenney JG, DiMercurio S, Angel M. Tissue-expanded radial forearm free flap in neck burn contracture. J Burn Care Rehabil. 1990 Sep-Oct;11(5):443-5. PMID: 2246314

Stuart JD, Morgan RF, Kenney JG. Single-donor fibrin glue for hand burns. Ann Plast Surg. 1990 Jun;24(6):524-7. PMID: 2363566

Kenney JG, Fairbanks DW, Berman DE. The dartos musculocutaneous island flap in urethral reconstruction. Ann Plast Surg. 1990 Jan;24(1):63-7. PMID: 2301886

Stuart JD, Kenney JG, Lettieri J, Spotnitz W, Baker J. Application of single-donor fibrin glue to burns. J Burn Care Rehabil. 1988 Nov-Dec;9(6):619-22. PMID: 2464603

Bardakjian VB, Kenney JG, Edgerton MT, Morgan RF. Pulse oximetry for vascular monitoring in burned upper extremities. J Burn Care Rehabil. 1988 Jan-Feb;9(1):63-5. PMID: 2965708

Stuart JD, Kenney JG, Morgan RF. Pediatric burns. Am Fam Physician. 1987 Oct;36(4):139-46. PMID: 3673860

Mayer NE, Kenney JG, Edlich RC, Edlich RF. Fractures in women lacrosse players: preventable injuries. J Emerg Med. 1987 May-Jun;5(3):177-80. PMID: 3429809

Kenney JG, Smoot EC, Morgan RF, Shapiro D. Recognizing the temporomandibular joint ganglion. Ann Plast Surg. 1987 Apr;18(4):323-6. PMID: 3579173

Edlich RF, Kenney JG, Morgan RF, Nichter LS, Friedman HI, Rodeheaver GT. Antimicrobial treatment of minor soft tissue lacerations: a critical review. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 1986 Aug;4(3):561-80. Review. PMID: 3522205

Edlich RF, Kenney JG, Nichter LS, Silloway KA, Horowitz JH. Toxic epidermal necrolysis. Compr Ther. 1986 May;12(5):43-9. PMID: 3709103

Horowitz JH, Nichter LS, Kenney JG, Morgan RF. Lawnmower injuries in children: lower extremity reconstruction. J Trauma. 1985 Dec;25(12):1138-46. PMID: 2866256

Silloway KA, Morgan RC, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. The arcuate skin staple: its influence on pain of staple penetration and removal. Am J Surg. 1985 Nov;150(5):612-4. PMID: 4061743

Silloway KA, Morgan RF, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. Innovations in skin suture removal. Am J Surg. 1985 Jun;149(6):799-801. PMID: 4014557

Cardany CR, Rodeheaver GT, Horowitz JH, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. Influence of hydrotherapy and antiseptic agents on burn wound bacterial contamination. J Burn Care Rehabil. 1985 May-Jun;6(3):230-2. PMID: 3855197

Tribble CG, Persing JA, Morgan RF, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. Lightning injuries. Compr Ther. 1985 Feb;11(2):32-40. PMID: 3971698

Morgan RF, Nichter LS, Haines PC, Kenney JG, Friedman HI, Edlich RF. Management of head and neck burns. JBurn Care Rehabil. 1985 Jan-Feb;6(1):20-38. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 3916420

Edgerton MT, Gillenwater JY, Kenney JG, Horowitz J. The bladder flap for urethral reconstruction in total phalloplasty. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1984 Aug;74(2):259-66. PMID: 6540460

Keenan KM, Rodeheaver GT, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. Surgical cautery revisited. Am J Surg. 1984 Jun;147(6):818-21. PMID: 6731701

Bryant CA, Rodeheaver GT, Reem EM, Nichter LS, Kenney JG, Edlich RF. Search for a nontoxic surgical scrub solution for periorbital lacerations. Ann Emerg Med. 1984 May;13(5):317-21. PMID: 6711927

Edlich RF, Nichter LS, Morgan RF, Persing JA, Van Meter CH Jr, Kenney JG. Burns of the head and neck. Otolaryngol Clin North Am. 1984 May;17(2):361-88. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 6377194

McIntire MR, Morgan RF, Kenney JG, Edgerton MT. Postoperative protection for the external ear. Ann Plast Surg. 1983 Sep;11(3):261-2. PMID: 6638828

Archival contact information

  • Address: 914 E Jefferson St # 202 Charlottesville, VA 22902-5376
  • Phone: (434) 296-3622
  • University of Virginia Medical Center, Gender Identity Clinic, P. O. Box 376 Charlottesville, VA 22908 USA

Resources

Anderson Kenney Fine Art (andersonkenney.com)

University of Virginia Archives (archives.lib.virginia.edu/)