Erec Smith is an American academic and anti-transgender activist. Smith’s work opposing progressive racial policies and views overlaps with people and groups opposing progressive gender policies and views, including:
Background
Smith earned a doctorate from University of Illinois Chicago in 2002. Smith began teaching at York College of Pennsylvania.
Free Black Thought
Smith co-founded Free Black Thought, a group of “heterodox” academics who oppose progressive policies and positions regarding race. They produce a Substack newsletter and podcast.
- Michael DC Bowen
- Dave Gilbert
- Tabia Lee
- Jason Littlefield
- Jake Mackey
- Connie Morgan
- Glenn C. Loury
- John McWhorter
References
Smith, Erec (August 4, 2021). They Donât Speak for Me: The need for free black thought in academiaâand beyond. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/they-dont-speak-for-me
Media
Institute for Liberal Values and Free Black Thought (September 28, 2021). AUTHENTICITY: ERASED & REPLACED, with Prof. Erec Smith, Angel Eduardo, and Zander Keig. Host Jen Richmond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg0v5y_7cQE
Resources
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Free Black Thought (freeblackthought.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Cato Institute (https://www.cato.org/people/erec-smith)
Dan Hollaway is an American podcaster and anti-transgender activist.
Hollaway frequently discusses transgender controversies, including guest appearances on anti-trans podcasts like Debra Soh and hosting ex-trans activist Chloe Cole.
Background
Daniel James “Dan” Hollaway was born in 1981.
After earning an associate’s degree at ECPI University in 2005, Hollaway served in the US Army from 2005 to 2010. Hollaway earned a bachelor’s degree at American Military University in 2013.
From 2013 to 2015 Hollaway managed training at Security Management Group International. After earning a master’s degree from Penn State in 2016, Hollaway investigated fraud at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services until 2017.
From 2017 to 2019, Hollaway was VP Marketing at Black Rifle Coffee Company. In 2019 Hollaway began the Drinkin’ Bros Podcast. Hollaway is a partner in Hard AF Seltzer.
Anti-transgender activism
Hollaway is a critic of providing healthcare for trans and gender diverse American veterans, which Hollaway feels is an example of the “woke military.”
References
Soh, Debra (February 22, 2022). 36. Dan Hollaway – Woke Military, Media Manipulation, PTSD. The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast
Hollaway, Dan (December 12, 2022). Episode 1143 – Detransitioned Teen Speaks Out. Drinkin’ Bros Podcast https://m.imdb.com/title/tt24250038/
Resources
Drinkin’ Bros (drinkinbros.com)
Hard AF Seltzer (hardafseltzer.com)
Tetherball Academy Media (tetherballacademy.com) [archive]
Facebook (facebook.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Seth Dillon is an American media executive and anti-transgender extremist.
Dillon is CEO of the Babylon Bee, a satire site banned from Twitter for anti-trans content. The account was reinstated by Elon Musk.
Dillon has also partnered with Chaya Raichik to support Raichik’s transphobic Libs of TikTok account.
Background
Seth Michael Dillon was born on January 5, 1983 in Washington D.C. to Mitchell Wayne “Mitch” Dillon and Faith Barnett Dillon and grew up in an itinerant religious family. Reverend Mitch Dillon wrote the 2010 book Beyond Earthbound Dreams. Dillon has two siblings, including photographer and entrepreneur Daniel R. “Dan” Dillon (born 1985), who is also a colleague.
Dillon earned a degree from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2004. Dillon is involved in the following business entities:
- Babylon Bee Media, LLC
- Dillon Asset Management LLC
- Dillon Venture Capital LLC
- Libs of Tik Tok LLC
- Optisearch Marketing LC
- Venture Tech LLC
- Veritas Publishing LLC
- Volentric LLC
Several operate out of the same business complex Dillon owns on Indiantown Road in Jupiter, Florida.
Dillon and spouse Tara Lynn Dillon have two children and live in in Juno Beach, Florida.
References
Dodds, Io (March 21, 2022). Conservative satire site The Babylon Bee locked out of Twitter for misgendering trans White House official. The Independent https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-satire-babylon-bee-locked-022115051.html
Zeisloft, Ben (October 3, 2020). Babylon Bee CEO’s Christian alma mater disinvites him from speaking in chapel Campus Reform https://www.campusreform.org/article/exclusive-babylon-bee-ceos-christian-alma-mater-disinvites-him-from-speaking-in-chapel/15849
Graham, Jennifer (November 10, 2021). How a preacherâs son made The Babylon Bee sting. Deseret News https://www.deseret.com/2021/11/10/22770662/how-a-preachers-son-made-the-babylon-bee-sting-politics-fakenews-evangelical-fox-news-jokes-humor
Persaud, Chris (May 10, 2022). Libs of TikTok creator backed by Babylon Bee CEO of Juno Beach. Palm Beach Post https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2022/05/10/babylon-bee-ceo-juno-beach-backs-libs-tiktok-creator/7385009001/
Media
Kyle Mann and Seth Dillon (June 2, 2023). The Babylon Bee Talks With Elon Musk at Twitter Headquarters. Babylon Bee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHaczOsMQ20
Seth Dillon (July 14, 2023). Seth Dillon: In An Age of Absurdity, We Need More Mockery. University of Auston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJBsKpaED1c
Resources
Instagram (instagram.com)
Babylon Bee (babylonbee.com)
Not the Bee (notthebee.com)
Substack (substack.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Dan Dillon (dillonphoto.com / dillonphotoblog.wordpress.com)
Volentric (volentric.com / volentricportal.com)
https://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/West-Palm-Beach/seth-m-dillon/25908261.aspx [deleted]
Telegram (t.me)
Jake Shields is an American mixed martial artist and anti-transgender extremist.
Background
Jacob Sequoyah “Jake” Shields was born on January 9, 1979 and grew up in eastern California. After graduating from Calaveras High School, Shields attended Cuesta College, where wrestling abilities led to a scholarship to San Francisco State University. Shields went on to fight in MMA and UFC, winning 33 times in 46 matches. Shields developed a style called American Jiu-Jitsu (AJJ) and has gone on to be a coach.
Shields has a daughter born in 2000.
Anti-transgender activism
On February 15, 2023, Shields stated on Twitter, “Any teacher telling children they can chose their gender should be arrested tried and then executed.”
On April 25, 2023, Shields asked on Twitter, “Would you support public executions of anyone who helps a child transition?”
Shields also offered to fight ten trans men in a row. Wrestler Mack Beggs accepted the challenge.
Shields also attacked trans and gender diverse people who choose to breastfeed their children.
Shields’ views are popular among other anti-trans extremists. In 2022 Debra Soh had Shields on to attack transgender athletes.
References
Shields, Jake (February 15, 2023). “Any teacher telling children they can chose their gender should be arrested tried and then executed. The trans kid issue would immediately disappear.” https://twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1626189068735332353 [archive]
Webb, Karleigh (April 25, 2023). MMA fighter wants to fight 10 trans men. A trans wrestler says âGame on!â OutSports https://www.outsports.com/2023/4/25/23696668/jake-shields-trans-men-fight-mma-mack-beggs-challenge-mclaughlin-owned
Bucholtz, Andrew (April 26, 2023). Ex-UFC star ponders ‘public executions’ for helping children transition. The Comeback https://thecomeback.com/mma/ex-ufc-fighter-public-executions-child-transition.html
 Khatwani, Shivam (April 28, 2023 ). Transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin react to Jake Shields demanding ‘public executions’ of trans allies. Sportskeeda https://www.sportskeeda.com/mma/news-transgender-mma-fighter-alana-mclaughlin-react-jake-shields-demanding-public-executions-trans-allies
Brinsford, James (July 6, 2023). MMA Fighter Jake Shields Lashes Out at Breastfeeding Trans Women. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/mma-jake-shields-lashes-out-breastfeeding-trans-women-1811311
Resources
Jake Shields (jakeshields.com) [archive]
American Jiu-jitsu (americanfight.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
IMDb (imdb.com)
Lou Perez is an American writer, podcaster, and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Luis Gregorio Amate Perez was born on February 26, 1974. Perez earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University and got into performing improv and sketch comedy while there. Perez earned a master’s degree from The City College of New York.
Perez went on to write for several television and web shows and founded We the Internet TV. Perez wrote for the 2015 series Unsafe Space, later a podcast. Perez wrote the 2022 book That Joke Isnât Funny Anymore.
Perez is married to educator Marcela Valentina (Grassia) Amate Perez (born 1975). Their child Valentina Amate Perez (born 1999) graduated from Yale in 2021 and joined PACT that year.
Podcast
From 2020 to 2023, Perez hosted a podcast that frequently featured anti-trans guests. Guests include:
References
Perez, Lou (December 30, 2020). Opinion: How I Became a âFar-Right Radical.â Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-i-became-a-far-right-radical-11609370135
Marcus, David (October 26, 2018). YouTube Bans âDangerousâ Ad For Video Critiquing Transgenderism. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2018/10/26/youtube-bans-dangerous-ad-video-critiquing-transgenderism/
-https://unsafespace.com/ep0523/
Resources
Lou Perez (louperez.net) [archive]
Greg and Lou (gregandlou.com) [archive]
We The Internet (wetheinternet.tv)
Unsafe Space (unsafespace.com)
Lou Perez (thelouperez.com)
Locals (locals.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
Minds (minds.com)
TikTok (tiktok.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Jennifer Kabbany is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Kabbany is editor of anti-trans publication The College Fix and has appeared in the media to attack trans people.
Background
Jennifer Messera “Jenn” Kabbany was born in 1975 and graduated from Rancho Buena Vista High School in 1993. After a year of community college, Kabbany transferred to Santa Barbara City College, earning an assopciate’s degree in 1997. Kabbany earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State in 2002.
Since marrying journalist Chad Christopher Dawson (born June 17, 1976), some publications have come out under the name Jennifer Kabbany Dawson. The couple has two children.
From 2002 to 2013, Kabbany worked in various capacities for the North County Times and San Diego Union-Tribune. Kabbany has worked for and contributed to FrontPage Magazine, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, and the National Review.
Anti-transgender activism
Kabbany has appeared on platforms with anti-trans views, including Benjamin Boyce, OANN, Andrew Klavan, Wilfred Reilly, and Debra Soh.
References
Blair, Billie G. (2011). How To Build A Fire: Organizational Change Management (1st Edition), edited by Jennifer Kabbany Dawson ISBN 978-0979588167
Kabbany, Jennifer June 3, 2012). Life lessons learned at college. San Diego Union-Tribune https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-kabbany-life-lessons-learned-at-college-2012jun03-story.html
Resources
Twitter (twitter.com)
The College Fix (thecollegefix.com)
Muck Rack (muckrack.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
Simon Edge is a British writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Simon John Edge was born on December 25, 1964 in Chester, England. Edge graduated from King’s School, Chester, then earned master’s degrees from St Catharine’s College, Cambridge in 1986 and from City University in 2006.
From 1993 to 1995, Edge was editor of Capital Gay, a publication founded in 1981 that folded in 1995. Edge was freelance and on staff at several publications, including the Evening Statndard, Daily Express, WhatsOnStage, and Attitude. Edge has done press for Green Party candidates.
Edge was married to former Catholic priest Ezio Alessandroni from 2014 until Alessandroni’s death in 2017.
Anti-transgender activism
Edge wrote the 1995 nonfiction book With Friends Like These: Marxism and Gay Politics, which attacks progressive aspects of the LGBTQ rights movement.
Edge was a signatory of a 2020 Sunday Times open letter supporting anti-transgender activist J.K. Rowling. Edge said, “Like many others, I was horrified by the grotesque treatment of JK Rowling, who has received the vilest abuse for daring to challenge extreme gender ideology.”
Edge published The End of the World is Flat (2021) and In the Beginning (2021), satires of the transgender rights movement.
References
Edge, Simon (1995). With Friends Like These: Marxism and Gay Politics. UNKNO, ISBN 9780304333202
Greenhalgh, Hugo (September 29, 2020). Literary figures defend JK Rowling, say she’s been subjected to ‘an onslaught of abuse.’ Sunday Times https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2020-09-29-literary-figures-defend-jk-rowling-say-shes-been-subjected-to-an-onslaught-of-abuse/
Edge, Simon (2023). In the Beginning. Lightning Books, ISBNÂ 978-1785633546
Resources
Simon Edge (simon-edge.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Twitter (twitter.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
Milo Yiannopoulos is a British right-wing extremist and troll. Yiannopoulos is a key figure in the alt-right and intellectual dark web movements.
Background
Milo Hanrahan was born on October 18, 1983 in Chatham, Kent, England to Catholic parents who soon divorced. Yiannopoulos is the surname of Milo’s subsequent stepparent.
Yiannopoulos attended University of Manchester and Wolfson College, Cambridge, but did not earn degrees from either. Yiannopoulos published works and photos as Milo Andreas Wagner around this time. Yiannopoulos founded Wrong Agency Limited in 2009. It dissolved in 2011.
Yiannopoulos wrote for the Catholic Herald and covered technology for the Daily Telegraph. There, Yiannopoulos developed a knack for clickbait and anti-progressive trolling. Yiannopoulos co-founded technology “drama” blog The Kernel and subscription newsletter The Nutshell with Stephen Pritchard. Following closure over unpaid debts, investor Berlin42 purchased the domain and settled all debts, relaunching The Kernel with Yiannopoulos as editor. In 2014, The Kernel was acquired by Daily Dot Media, and Yiannopoulos stepped down.
From 2014 to 2017, Yiannopoulos covered technology for Breitbart News. While there, Yiannopoulos was a key figure in Gamergate, a complex misogynistic online harassment campaign and right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. Yiannopoulos was also a key figure in the 2016 presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.
Yiannopoulos left Breitbart in 2017, founded Milo Worldwide LLC, and self-published the book Dangerous after it was dropped by publisher Simon & Schuster after earlier comments Yiannopoulos made about pedophilia resurfaced. The ACLU filed suit on behalf of Yiannopoulos after transit ads for Dangerous were rejected by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority,.
In 2018, Yiannopoulos self-published the books How to Be Poor and How to Be Straight. In 2021 Yiannopoulos claimed to be an ex-gay and began fundraising to create a conversion therapy center in Florida. In 2023, Yiannopoulos was involved in the presidential campaign of Kanye West.
Anti-transgender activity
Yiannopoulos made countless inflammatory statements about transgender people during the 2010s, especially in connection with Donald Trump.
Hereâs the dirty secret that only the progressive left doesnât understand: Nobody cares about trannys. There arenât any of them anywhere. No one cares. If youâre obsessed with gay issues, if you are gay and you go to gay clubs and you only read the left wing press, all youâll ever hear about is âpeople want to cut their (expletives) off.â But the rest of the country doesnât care. There just arenât that many of them around. Who cares? And Donald Trump knows this, which is why it wasnât damaging to him when he said he doesnât care what bathroom Caitlyn Jenner uses, and itâs not damaging to him now when heâs gone the other direction and said he doesnât want them in the military. No one in America actually cares, and Donald Trump instinctively understands this.
Mitchell (2017)
References
Dowell, Ben (July 7, 2012). Milo Yiannopoulos – meet the ‘pit bull’ of tech media. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jul/08/milo-yiannopoulos-kernel-technology-interview
Williams-Grut, Oscar (June 2, 2013). The Kernel’s back to make new enemies. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-kernel-s-back-to-make-new-enemies-8640597.html
Dunbar, Max (January 9, 2013). Milo Yiannopoulos and the Kernel. WordPress https://maxdunbar.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/milo-yiannopoulous-and-the-kernel/
Reynolds, Daniel (October 26, 2016). Milo Yiannopoulos Takes Transphobia on Tour. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2016/10/26/milo-yiannopoulos-takes-transphobia-tour
Lynskey, Dorian (February 21, 2017). The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos â how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/21/milo-yiannopoulos-rise-and-fall-shallow-actor-bad-guy-hate-speech
Long, Camilla (February 26, 2017). Milo Yiannopoulos is not so âfunny and hot and rightâ any more. The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/milo-yiannopoulos-the-pied-piper-of-hate-goes-up-in-flames/news-story/a302709bea5b6fdc571c3a025992f3ff
Mitchell, Conner (July 31, 2017). Yiannopoulos doesn’t hold back on transgender rights, women in military, more. The Palm Beach Post https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/31/yiannopoulos-doesn-t-hold-back/7089635007/ [archive]
Resources
RationalWiki (rationalwiki.org)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Twitter (twitter.com)
- nero [suspended]
- KernelMag
Wrong Agency Limited [UK]
Sentinel Media Ltd [UK]
The Kernel (kernelmag.com) [archive]
Milo Worldwide LLC
Milo Entertainment Inc.
Milo Inc.
Dangerous (dangerous.com) [archive 2017-2019]
Flickr (flickr.com)
- Milo Andreas Wagner
- flickr.com/photos/milo_wagner/
- The Kernel
- flickr.com/people/37025991@N08
Daily Dot (dailydot.com)
- The Kernel [archive]
- kernelmag.dailydot.com
Peter Thiel is a German-American entrepreneur and investor.
While Thiel has not been explicitly anti-trans in public statements, many people and institutions Thiel supports are anti-trans. Thiel is closely associated with several anti-trans Republicans and has provided them significant campaign funding, most notably Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Blake Masters, and Ted Cruz. After Trump won election in 2016, Thiel was part of Trump’s transition team.
Thiel is associated with the anti-trans intellectual dark web and has collaborated with other members, including Eric Weinstein, Joe Rogan, Bari Weiss, Tim Ferriss, and Dave Rubin.
Background
Thiel was born on October 11, 1967 in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. Thiel’s parents moved to America soon after, then to South Africa before moving to the San Francisco Bay area. Thiel has a younger sibling.
Thiel earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford in 1989. While there Thiel co-founded and edited conservative publication The Stanford Review. Via Newsweek:
Some of the wealthiest men in the New Billionaires club are Peter Thiel (who financed Zuckerberg) and David Sacksâtwo guys who spent their formative years at Stanford in the 1990s writing anti-feminist screeds for their school paper. According to Kantor in The New York Times, “In the pages of [Stanford’s] The Review, they defined feminism in negative termsâalarmist, accusatory toward men, blind to inherent biological differences.Â
Thiel earned a law degree there in 1992, then clerked for 11th Circuit Judge James Larry Edmondson. After a couple of years working in finance on the east coast, Thiel returned to California and founded Thiel Capital Management.
One early investment got developed into PayPal, which merged with X.com founded by Elon Musk. PayPal went public in 2002 and was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion. Thiel is a co-founder of Palantir Technologies and Founders Fund. Thiel was the first outside investor in Facebook. These investments earned Thiel billions of dollars.
Thiel was outed as gay in 2007 by the Gawker gossip blog network. Thiel then funded a successful $140 million lawsuit against Gawker brought by Hulk Hogan for invasion of privacy. The 2016 verdict led to a $31 million settlement that effectively ended Gawker.
The Thiel Foundation supports young adult visionaries, speculative scientific research, AI, life extension, and seasteading.
Thiel has citizenship in Germany by birth, the US via naturalization, and New Zealand in 2011 through investments there.
Thiel married longtime partner Matt Danzeisen in 2017. Thiel was also reportedly in a relationship with model Jeff Thomas, who died in 2023 at age 35.
Anti-transgender activism
In 1995, Thiel and David O. Sacks co-authored The Diversity Myth, an attack on progressive policies in higher education. Thiel is a Republican and has become a major figure in conservative gay activism. Thiel has been a major donor to Republican and libertarian political candidates and founded Free Forever, an America-first political action committee.
Thiel was a major contributor to Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign. In 2016, Thiel spoke at the Republican National Convention, saying “I am proud to be gay” and criticizing the GOP focus on cultural issues:
“When I was a kid, the great debate was about how to defeat the Soviet Union. And we won. Now we are told that the great debate is about who gets to use which bathroom. This is a distraction from our real problems. Who cares?”
In 2016, Thiel was revealed to be the instructor behind a “Heterodox Science” course offered by the Berkeley Institute, a private academic institution that Thiel bankrolls. “Heterodox” is a term popular among right-wing academics like anti-trans activist Jonathan Haidt, founder of Heterodox Academy. The Berkeley Institute course description included buzzwords used by anti-trans academics, including “sexual differences,” a term frequently used in anti-trans fields like eugenics, evolutionary psychology, “race science,” and “sex science”:
This seminar will discuss possible instances of âheterodox science,â fields of study that dissent from mainstream science. Areas to be examined will include neuroscience and human consciousness; biology and human nature; evolution and sexual differences; and economics and urban social policy.
The seminar was later removed from the Berkeley Institute website.
At the 2022 National Conservatism conference, Thiel discussed “wokeness” in California, likening it to Wahhabism, an orthodox Islamic reform movement in Saudi Arabia:
In his view, the main problem with California is that, like Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, it is the victim of a âresource curseâ. That is, the wealth generated from Californiaâs tech sector is so tremendous that it ends up distorting the stateâs entire political economy. âWokenessâ, he posited, plays the same role as Wahabbism in the similarly afflicted Saudi Arabia.
In 2024, Thiel reiterated these views on the Joe Rogan Experience.
In 2023, Thiel decided not to fund political candidates, “reportedly voicing frustration over the right’s attacks on abortion and transgender rights,” according to Vanity Fair.
References
Warnke, Melissa Batchelor (December 21, 2016). Peter Thiel is almost definitely behind this mysterious âHeterodox Scienceâ course. The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2016/12/21/14025760/peter-thiel-heterodox-science-class-berkeley-institute
Pershan, Caleb (July 22, 2016). Gay Tech Billionaire Peter Thiel Belittles Trans Rights In Republican Convention Speech. SFist https://sfist.com/2016/07/22/peter_thiel_gay_republican_hypocrite/
Holden, Dominic (July 21, 2016). Peter Thiel Calls Transgender Bathroom Access “A Distraction” At GOP Convention. BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/dominicholden/peter-thiel-calls-transgender-bathroom-access-a-distraction
Ecarma, Caleb (April 26, 2023). Peter Thiel Reportedly Doesnât Want to Give Republicans Any More Money, for Very Confusing Reasons. Vanity Fair https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/04/peter-thiel-reportedly-doesnt-want-to-give-republicans-any-more-money-for-very-confusing-reasons
MacDonald, Park (September 12, 2022). Peter Thiel: wokeness is like Wahhabism. UnHerd https://unherd.com/newsroom/peter-thiel-wokeness-is-like-wahhabism/
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Ballotpedia (ballotpedia.org)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Zero to One (ZeroToOneBook.com)
Maajid Nawaz is a British media personality and activist. Nawaz is considered part of the intellectual dark web. Nawaz has platformed and supported other members who hold anti-transgender views.
Background
Maajid Usman Nawaz born on November 2, 1977 in Southend-on-Sea, England. Nawaz’s sibling became involved in Islamist political activity through Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Nawaz also got involved.
Nawaz attended Newnham College. While in school, Nawaz had a year abroad in Egypt. Nawaz was arrested and imprisoned there for involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Upon release, Nawaz returned to the UK and earned an undergraduate degree at SOAS, University of London, then earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics.
Nawaz founded the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-extremism think tank, and became a critic of Islamism. Nawaz has written about leaving Islamist extremism and ran for office as a Liberal Democrat.
Anti-transgender activity
Nawaz is critical of a kind of progressivism dubbed “control left,” which includes people supportive of gender minorities. Nawaz accuses the control left of “post factual behaviour, violence being seen as an option and prioritising group identity over individual rights” and “they want to control our lives, control what we think, control how we even feel.”
Nawaz hosted a weekend afternoon radio show on LBC from 2016 to 2022.
Nawaz has appeared on shows with other intellectual dark web figures, including Joe Rogan and Sam Harris. Nawaz hosted the podcast Radical and covered gender on several episodes, including one devoted to the anti-trans propaganda piece What Is a Woman?
Media
LBC (May 22, 2018). Jordan Peterson On Why He Refuses To Use Special Pronouns For Transgender People – LBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_UbmaZQx74
Sky News (Feb 14, 2020). Should gender transition for children take longer? | The Pledge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tG6SPmqVUw
References
Nawaz, Maajid (November 20, 2016). Maajid: The Left Is No Longer Liberal. LBC https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/maajid-nawaz/maajid-the-left-is-no-longer-liberal/
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)