Candace Owens is a conservative American writer and anti-transgender activist. Owens is part of a group of conspiracy theorists involved in “transvestigations,” where they make claims that public figures are secretly transgender.
Background
Candace Amber Owens was born on April 29, 1989. Owens grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, graduated from Stamford High School, and attended University of Rhode Island, dropping out before completing a degree. After an internship at Vogue, Owens worked at a private equity firm in administration.
Owens married George Farmer in 2019. They have two children.
In 2021, Owens joined The Daily Wire and hosted Candace, a political talk show. Owens left Daily Wire in March 2024, reportedly over remarks about Israel.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2017, Owens supported banning transgender people without bottom surgery from serving in the United States military.
In 2022, Owens falsely claimed the Robb Elementary School shooter could be transgender.
In 2022, Owens described Drag Queen Story Hour as “child abuse,” adding that parents who take their children “should have their children taken away from them.”
In 2022, Owens said that society would benefit by discriminating more against transgender and non-binary people.
In 2023, Owens said “It is worse than Jim Crow laws because we are mutilating the bodies of children. […] It is Frankenstein. These are human experiments that are being performed on children.”
In February 2025 Owens released Becoming Brigitte, a “transvestigation” into Brigitte Macron, First Lady of France and spouse of French president Emmanuel Macron. Owens concludes that Brigitte Macron is trans, and there’s a vast conspiracy to keep this information hidden.
References
Smith, Ian (February 4, 2025). Why are false rumours about Brigitte Macron being transgender resurfacing? MSN https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-are-false-rumours-about-brigitte-macron-being-transgender-resurfacing/ar-AA1yom8r
Staff report (April 6, 2023). Candace Owens says the existence of trans people is “worse than Jim Crow laws.” Media Matters for America https://www.mediamatters.org/candace-owens/candace-owens-says-existence-trans-people-worse-jim-crow-laws
Assunção, Muri (December 13, 2022). Candace Owens calls for discrimination against trans, nonbinary people: ‘Society would be safer if we discriminated more’. New York Daily News https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-cancace-owens-discrimination-trans-nonbinary-people-sam-brinton-20221213-irewcydb2jg4bgwgdarw2jgupi-story.html
Sardarizadeh, Shayan; Devlin, Kayleen (May 27, 2022). Texas shooting: How false rumours spread that gunman was trans. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/61607042
Yurcaba, Jo; Goggin, Ben; Collins, Ben (May 25, 2022). Trans woman’s photo used to spread baseless online theory about Texas shooter. NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/trans-womans-photo-used-spread-baseless-online-theory-texas-shooter-rcna30511
Alcorn, Chauncey (June 23, 2018). Critics call out Candace Owens’ transphobic views and want Kanye West, Caitlyn Jenner to do the same. Mic [archive] https://mic.com/articles/189887/critics-call-out-candace-owens-transphobic-views-and-want-kanye-west-caitlyn-jenner-to-do-same
Bernstein, Joseph (May 15, 2018). The Newest Star of the Trump Movement Ran a Trump-Bashing Publication – Less Than Two Years Ago. BuzzFeed [archive] https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-newest-star-of-the-trump-movement-ran-a-trump-bashing
Resources
GLAAD Accountability Project (glaad.org/gap)
Candace Owens (candaceowens.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Paul Garcia-Ryan is a conservative American social worker and ex-transgender activist. Garcia-Ryan believes people under age 26 should not get trans healthcare under an informed consent model.
Do not go to Garcia-Ryan for therapy. If you are a minor forced to see Garcia-Ryan, do everything in your power to end the sessions and find a supportive local therapist.
Background
Paul A. Garcia-Ryan was born on June 17, 1991. At age 15, Garcia-Ryan reportedly met with a therapist about gender identity and expression.
As an adult, Garcia-Ryan began using the name Charlotte Garcia-Ryan and took medical transition steps.
Garcia-Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree from Alfred University in 2014 and a master’s degree from Hunter College in 2018.
In 2021, at age 30, Garcia-Ryan made additional gender changes following reportedly poor surgical results.
Practice
Garcia-Ryan is president of Therapy First, a directory of therapists who believe they should be paid to determine if trans and gender diverse people should be allowed to undertake medical transition steps.
Garcia-Ryan has been affiliated with the Open Therapy Institute and was listed with these therapists:
- Camilo Ortiz
- Katherine Cullen
- Neil Kressel
- Paul Garcia-Ryan
That site stated: “Paul Garcia-Ryan is a New York City based psychotherapist providing care to a wide variety of patients, including gay and lesbian adults who don’t feel they have a place in LGBT culture and individuals/families facing gender related challenges.”
Garcia-Ryan feels that young adults should not be allowed to make a gender transition unless they pay for “gender exploratory therapy” from Garcia-Ryan or other conservative colleagues.
Garcia-Ryan is listed on the Gender Exploratory Therapy Association site. “Gender exploratory therapy” is a non-affirming model of care. The American Academy of Pediatrics calls this practice “delayed transition” and advises against it.
Garcia-Ryan’s promotional site includes quotes from anti-trans activists Lisa Marchiano, Leonore Tiefer, and Lisa Selin Davis.
Ex-transgender activism
Garcia-Ryan was an invited participant at a 2023 anti-trans conference organized by the SLPC-designated hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.
In 2024, Garcia-Ryan was featured in a New York Times article by anti-trans activist Pamela Paul. Garcia-Ryan stated:
“When a professional affirms a gender identity for a younger person, what they are doing is implementing a psychological intervention that narrows a person’s sense of self and closes off their options for considering what’s possible for them.”
Paul (2024)
References
OTI (November 7, 2024). Coming soon: OTI shines light on overlooked clinical populations with Dr. Phil. Open Therapy Institute https://opentherapyinstitute.substack.com/p/whats-new-at-the-open-therapy-institute-3fb
Ryan, Benjamin (October 19, 2024). Pain, confusion and compassion: How the US has reached a trans ‘tipping point.’ New York Post https://nypost.com/2024/10/19/us-news/pain-confusion-compassion-how-the-us-has-reached-a-trans-tipping-point/
Kirkey, Sharon (July 17, 2024). Kids identifying as transgender need ‘talk therapy,’ not drugs, therapists say. National Post https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/transgender-gender-dysphoria-treatment
Ryan, Benjamin (February 24, 2024). A landmark Finnish study is changing how we approach transgender kids. New York Post https://nypost.com/2024/02/24/opinion/a-finnish-study-is-changing-how-we-approach-trans-kids/
Staff report (February 14, 2024). Young adults tell of irreparable damage caused in teens by trans-affirming medics. Christian Institute https://www.christian.org.uk/news/young-adults-tell-of-irreparable-damage-caused-in-teens-by-trans-affirming-medics/
McGhee White, Kaylee (February 8, 2024). For these detransitioners, there’s no reversing the cost of gender ideology’s lies. Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2843144/for-these-detransitioners-theres-no-reversing-the-cost-of-gender-ideologys-lies/
Foley, Ryan (February 7, 2024). Founder of first pediatric gender clinic in the US fears providers are rushing gender transitions. Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/doctors-are-rushing-gender-transition-process-psychologist-warns.html
Alexander, Harriet (February 3, 2024). Gay teens who couldn’t come to terms with their sexuality share how they removed their breasts and genitals in false hope that becoming transgender would ‘cure’ them, as concerns mount that ‘gender-affirming care’ for children is homophobic. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13040507/transgender-children-gay-teenagers-surgery-hormones-detransition.html
Hays, Gabriel (February 2, 2024). Detransitioners open up to NY Times about feeling abandoned, harm of ‘gender-affirming care:’ ‘It’s a mess.’ Fox News https://www.foxnews.com/media/detransitioners-open-ny-times-feeling-abandoned-harm-gender-affirming-care-mess
Paul, Pamela (February 2, 2024). As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/opinion/transgender-children-gender-dysphoria.html
Action Network (2024). Raising the Alarm on Gender Identity Change Efforts Disguised as Talk Therapy. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/raising-the-alarm-on-gender-identity-change-efforts-disguised-as-talk-therapy [archive]
SPLC (December 12, 2023). Group dynamics and division of labor within the anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network. https://www.splcenter.org/captain/defining-pseudoscience-network
Reed, Erin (January 13, 2023). Unpacking ‘gender exploratory therapy,’ a new form of conversion therapy. Xtra https://xtramagazine.com/health/gender-exploratory-therapy-243833
Selected writing by Garcia-Ryan
Garcia-Ryan, Paul (April 18, 2024). Opinion: A new report roils the debate on youth gender care. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/18/cass-review-young-people-gender-transition/
- Resposes https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/25/cass-review-transgender-kids-treatment/
Resources
Paul Garcia-Ryan (paulgarciaryan.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Licensure
- NPI 1326685694
- NY License # 093503
Brooklyn Holistic Therapy (brooklynholisticpsychotherapy.com)
Open Therapy Institute (opentherapyinstitute.org)
Therapy First (therapyfirst.org)
Instagram (instagram.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Psychology Today (psychologytoday.com)
- Paul Garcia-Ryan
- psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/paul-garcia-ryan-brooklyn-ny/427351
Angel Eduardo is an American anti-transgender activist.
Background
Angel Lemuel Eduardo was born in March 1985 and grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Eduardo earned a bachelor’s degree from New Jersey City University in 2008 and a master’s degree from Hunter College in 2015.
Eduardo was in the band Blue Food from 2008 to 2016 and contributed to NewsCult.com while doing research for TitleVest. Eduardo the wrote for Action Without Borders (also known as Idealist) from 2019 to 2021.
Eduardo has been a columnist for Center for Inquiry since 2020, and advisor for Greenhouse Scholars since 2022.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2021, Eduardo defended a transphobic special by Dave Chappelle.
Since 2022, Eduardo has been writing for anti-trans publication Quillette.
Eduardo joined Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism in 2022, quickly rising to board chair.
Eduardo joined Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as a senior writer in 2023.
Eduardo joined the Institute for Liberal Values as an advisor in 2023.
References
Eduardo, Angel (October 27, 2021). ‘The Closer’ Isn’t About Laughing at Trans People. It’s About Laughing at Yourself | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/closer-isnt-about-laughing-trans-people-its-about-laughing-yourself-opinion-1643101
Resources
Angel Eduardo (angeleduardo.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
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)
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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
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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
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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