Aaron Sibarium is an American opinion writer and anti-transgender activist.
Background
Aaron Julian Sibarium was born January 9, 1996. Sibarium’s parents are Michael Sibarium, a lawyer, and Laura Govoni-Sibarium, a nursing consultant and synagogue volunteer. Sibarium and sibling Ely (born January 24, 1999) both attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and Yale. Ely Sibarium has published work about gender diversity and neurodiversity with John Strang and Scott Leibowitz.
Sibarium earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2018. Sibarium interned at the center-right American Enterprise Institute and was an editor at The American Interest prior to its closure. Sibarium is an associate editor at the Washington Free Beacon.
Anti-transgender activism
While working as an opinion columnist at the Yale Daily News in 2017, Sibarium was triggered by Yale’s move to the term first-years vs. freshmen.
Sibarium has published anti-trans work in the New York Post, the Free Beacon, and in the Bari Weiss anti-trans publication Common Sense (now Free Press).
Patrik Vankrunkelsven is a Belgian physician, politician, and anti-transgender activist.
Vankrunkelsven is affiliated with the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBAM). Vankrunkelsven was an invited speaker at a 2023 conference organized by anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.
Background
Patrik Jules Maria Vankrunkelsven was born on May 2, 1957. Vankrunkelsven earned a doctorate in 1982 and had been associated with Catholic research university Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [KU Leuven] ever since.
Vankrunkelsven was mayor of Laakdal from 1994 to 2006. During that time, Vankrunkelsven was president of the Volksunie [People’s Union] from 1998 until shortly before it was dissolved in 2001. After briefly aligning with Sociaal-Liberale Partijl [SPIRIT], Vankrunkelsven served as a senator from Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten [VLD] from 2007 until 2011.
Vankrunkelsven then left politics to focus on academia.
Anti-trans activism
Vankrunkelsven and spouse Marleen Finoulst are the driving force behind CEBAM, founded in 2013.
Vankrunkelsven is a prominent Belgian critic of gender affirming care for minors.
Vankrunkelsven believes that “Puberty blockers are a trap that traps children, preventing them from having a chance to change their minds.”
Vankrunkelsven P, Casteels K, De Vleminck J (2025). Opinion: How to Provide the Best Care for Young People with Gender Dysphoria [Hoe kunnen we de beste zorg geven aan jongeren die te maken hebben met genderincongruentie?]. Belgian Journal of Paediatrics, 27(1), 35â38. https://www.belgjpaediatrics.com/index.php/bjp/article/view/340
Patrick Healy is an American journalist involved in anti-transgender coverage at the New York Times. Healy served as Deputy Editor of the Opinion section during its anti-transgender coverage crisis of the 2020s.
No transgender journalist has appeared on the New York Times masthead since its founding in 1851. As of 2023 there were no trans journalists on staff, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. At the same time, Healy helped beef up anti-trans staff, including bringing in David French.
Background
Patrick Durham Healy was born on August 31, 1971 to Carol Ann Higginbotham Healy (1936â2023) and Gerald T. Healy, Jr. (1934â2021). Healy has an older sibling and grew up gay in a conservative Catholic household. Healy earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1990, and a second bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in 1993.
After reporting in local New Hampshire papers, Healy wrote for the transphobic Chronicle of Higher Education from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004, Healy wrote for the Boston Globe, then joined the New York Times in 2005.
After about ten years as a political correspondent, Healy held editor roles in the Culture, Politics, and Opinion sections. Healy reports to anti-trans ringleader Kathleen Kingsbury as well as to Charlotte Greensit.
Healy has made television appearances as guest host of The New York Times Close Up with Sam Roberts on NY1 News and as an analyst on CNN.
Healy married physician assistant Raymond Alejandro “Ray” Delgado on October 1, 2022.
Schindler, Paul (July 26, 2006). That Darn New York Times.Gay City News https://gaycitynews.com/that-darn-new-york-times/
Staff report (April 8, 2005). The Mayor Gets Sound Advice, But Will He Pay Attention to It? The Quotidian / New York Civic http://www.nycivic.org/QLIST/050408.html [archive]
Scocca, Tom (January 24, 2005). Off the Record.New York Observer https://observer.com/2005/01/off-the-record-75/
“I speak in support of legislation to limit access to so-called âgender affirmativeâ medical and surgical treatments which are unproven to reduce mental suffering in minors experiencing gender discordance.”
Christopher Rufo is an American professional anti-transgender activist. Attacking trans rights is part of Rufo’s conservative activism at the Manhattan Institute and elsewhere.
Christopher Ferguson “Chris” Rufo was born August 26, 1984 and grew up in Sacramento, California. Both parents are attorneys.
Rufo earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2006 and a master’s degree from Harvard Extension School in 2022. Rufo has worked at The Heritage Foundation, Claremont Institute, and Discovery Institute.
Rufo has produced documentaries and has run for public office in Seattle.
Rufo is best known for conservative activism around critical race theory, intersectionality, diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and homelessness.
Rufo and spouse Suphatra “Kip” Paravichai live in Gig Harbor, Washington with their three children.
Intellectual dark web
Rufo was considered part of the intellectual dark web (IDW), a loose alliance described as a âgateway to the far right.â Many people involved are prominent opponents of transgender rights. IDW members typically get money and attention by claiming to be âcanceledâ or silenced by the minorities and progressive movements they criticize (called DARVO in general; see also the Dregerian Narrative in relation to trans issues, named after IDW inaugural member Alice Dreger).
The coalition did not hold together long, and Rufo chalked up the collapse to these events that splintered the IDW:
The presidency of Donald Trump
COVID and response to it
The George Floyd protests
Rufo also correctly noted that the alliance collapsed because it was a reactionary movement with no political will. They stood against many things, but as a group, they did not stand for anything.
Most IDW members craved money and/or attention, and once that became more elusive, the alliance began to dissipate.
Anti-transgender activism
As part of a push to end public libraries and public education, Rufo has heavily promoted the idea that LGBTQ people are “groomers,” echoing similar efforts in the 1970s. As part of these “save the children” initiatives, Rufo seeks to stop schools from discussing LGBTQ people and their role in American history and culture (so-called “Don’t Say Gay” activism). Rufo is a major force behind threats and protests at Drag Queen Story Hour events.
In 2023, Florida’s anti-trans governor Ron DeSantis named Rufo to the board of trustees of New College of Florida, part of an attempt to turn the school conservative.
In May 2023, Rufo published an article about gender affirming care at Texas Childrenâs Hospital. In May 2024, surgeon Eithan Haim was charged with illegally obtaining the private medical records of pediatric patients receiving gender transition care at Texas Childrenâs Hospital and providing them to Rufo. In 2025, the Trump administration dropped the charges against Haim.
References
Dreher, Rod (October 25, 2022). Chris Rufo Vs Drag Queen Story Hour Groomers.The American Conservative https://www.theamericanconservative.com/chris-rufo-vs-drag-queen-story-hour-groomers/
Lynn Meagher is an American anti-transgender extremist and unsupportive parent to two adult transgender children, both of whom are estranged from Meagher.
Meagher also uses the alias “Lynn Chadwick.” As Chadwick, Meagher is associated with anti-trans hate group Genspect and the affiliated Themis Resource Fund.
Background
Lynn Frances Meagher was born on January 26, 1962. Meagher worked in nursing in Washington State from 1985 to 2021.
According to a social media account, in 2022 Chadwick was in a relationship with biology professor Arla Hile (born 1962).
Anti-transgender activism
Meagher has appeared on religious and conservative programs. Meagher reportedly lost both children to the “transgender cult.”
Meagher’s children disagree:
âShe didnât lose me to a cult,â her eldest daughter said, clarifying that she is estranged from her mum because Meagher is âracistâ, âabusiveâ, âtransphobicâ, âgreedyâ, âcruelâ and âreligiously intolerantâ.
âShe lost me because sheâs a piece of s**t,â she added. âItâs true, we wonât speak to her, although her TERF-ness was only the tip of the iceberg. She was extremely emotionally and physically abusive growing up.â
Meagher frequently appears at anti-trans events and was part of the group blog Compassion Coalition. On that blog, Meagher’s self-written bio states:
Lynn works as an advocate for parents of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) kids and as a spokesperson for the Kelsey Coalition. She feels honored to work with many gifted and talented women through the Hands Across the Aisle coalition.
Lynn has recently become involved in activism against Drag Queen Story Hours at public libraries and helped to start Ask Moms on Facebook to inform and equip ordinary people everywhere to stand against the sexualization of children. She worked as a nurse in Neonatal Intensive Care for 28 years.
Margaret Nichols is an American psychologist and sex therapist who specializes in LGBTQ+ clients, “including kink and consensual nonmonogamy (swinging, polyamory, etc.).”
Background
Margaret E. “Margie” Nichols Jacobson was born in 1947. Nichols attended Radcliffe College before earning a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1970. Nichols earned a doctorate from Columbia University in 1981 and is a licensed therapist in New Jersey. h did post-doctoral work in sex therapy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now part of Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences.
In 1983 Nichols founded the Institute for Personal Growth. In 1985, Nichols was a founder and the first director of the Hyacinth AIDS Foundation. Nichols became a diplomate of the American Board of Sexology in 1985.
In 2003 Nichols became and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and became a Certified Sex Therapy Supervisor in 2011.
Review of Alice Dreger
In 2008, Nichols published a scathing commentary on a paper by Alice Dreger that attacked trans critics of The Man Who Would Be Queen. Nichols’ review describes and contextualizes Dreger’s activism within the history of disease models of gender identity and expression.
Nichols, Margaret (2016). The Great Escape: Welcome to the World of Gender Fluidity. Psychotherapy Networker, March/April 2016. http://ipgcounseling.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Great-Escape-Welcome-to-the-World-of-Gender-Fluidity-By-Margaret-Nichols.pdf
Nichols M (2013). A Review of âMen Trapped in Men’s Bodies: Narratives of Autogynephilic Transsexualism.â Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 40:1:71-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2013.854559
Nichols M (2006). Psychotherapeutic Issues with âKinkyâ Clients. Journal of Homosexuality, 50(2â3), 281â300. https://doi.org/10.1300/j082v50n02_14
Nichols, Margaret; Shernoff, Michael (2006). Therapy with Sexual Minorities: Queering Practice. In In S. R. Leiblum (Ed.), Principles and practice of sex therapy (4th ed., pp. 379â415). The Guilford Press, ISBN 978-1593853495
Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.
“Alix Aharon” is the stage name of Alexandra “Alix” Hecht, a Scottish anti-transgender activist. Hecht is a co-founder of anti-transgender group Partners for Ethical Care.
Hecht took data from a map of trans-supportive healthcare providers to create an anti-trans project called The Gender Offender Mapper (later called The Gender Mapping Project). Hecht is an advisor for Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF).
Background
Hecht was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Hecht graduated from Craigholme School for Girls in 2003 and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Aberdeen in 2007. Hecht has worked in sales for SuperDerivatives, Checkmarx, WalkMe, AppSee, dLocal, Wishbox, Duve, and Coro.
Hecht reportedly had an “aggressive eating disorder” for ten years. Hecht reportedly emigrated to Israel and spends time in California and Tel Aviv.
Hecht has used a number of aliases:
Alix Aharon
Alexandra Hecht
Lara Alix
Alix Hecht
Alex Hecht
Lara Alix Hecht
Anti-trans activism
While living in Israel, Hecht reportedly saw a 2019 documentary on four young trans men who were scheduled to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. Hecht was enraged and embarked on anti-trans activism.
Hecht’s most notable project is the Gender Offender Mapper.
Hecht has appeared on and has been mentioned in conservative and fascist media, including Newsmax and New York Post.
Hecht has logrolled for other anti-trans efforts, such as the documentary Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? Hecht called it “crucial.”
Leveille, Lee (July 5, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: Where it Came From.Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/07/05/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-where-it-came-from/
Leveille, Lee (April 12, 2021). The Mechanisms of TAnon: What is âTAnonâ?Health Liberation Now! https://healthliberationnow.com/2021/04/12/the-mechanisms-of-tanon-what-is-tanon/
Jennifer Lahl is an American nursing executive and anti-transgender activist. Lahl is is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, an organization that opposes reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
In addition to opposing trans healthcare, Lahl opposes stem cell research, assisted suicide, egg and sperm donation, and surrogacy. Lahl calls these practices “egg and womb trafficking.”
Background
Jennifer D. Chenoweth was born on May 9, 1958, then earned a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree from Trinity International University in 2000.
Lahl married marketing executive and church planter Daniel E. “Dan” Lahl (born October 7, 1956). Both attended Trinity International University. They have three children, Allison, Julia, and Katherine.
Jennifer Lahl has worked as a pediatric critical care nurse and administrator. Lahl’s California licenses were as a registered nurse (1982â2021) and public health nurse (1985â2019).
Lahl’s film projects have included:
Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate (2009)
Eggsploitation (2010)
Anonymous Fatherâs Day (2011)
Breeders: A Subclass of Women? (2014)
Maggie’s Story (2015)
Compassion and Choice: Denied (2016)
#BigFertility: It’s All about the Money (2018)
Anti-transgender activism
Lahl produced the 2021 film Trans Mission: Whatâs the Rush to Reassign Gender? It is critical of gender affirming care for youth.
In 2022 Lahl produced a documentary on the ex-transgender movement The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters.
Helen Lewis is a British author and anti-transgender activist who launders gender critical extremism into mainstream media. Lewis is one of the key importers of British anti-trans views into United States media. Lewis is a key media figure from the reactionary center publishing anti-trans writing.
Lewis is a sex segregationist who claims to be writing from a feminist and leftist viewpoint. Lewis demonstrates that anti-trans sentiment extends into every political point of view and movement.
Lewis’ anti-trans views center around:
Challenging legal recognition of trans people in systems developed on the basis of sex, particularly opposing the UK’s Gender Recognition Act
Maintaining systems of sex segregation, particularly in matters of law, public accommodation, prisons, sports, and other remaining sex-segregated institutions
Maintaining the strict gatekeeping of trans healthcare via government control, developed under nationalized heath systems (so-called “gender clinics”) in the 20th century
Maintaining medico-juridical control over trans and gender diverse people though disease models and medical requirements for legal recognition (sterilization requirements, etc.)
Maintaining non-affirming models of care for gender diverse youth, developed last century for “the prevention of transsexualism” and now widely outlawed
Promoting anti-trans government reports created as pretexts to restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, including the Cass Review and the 2025 Trump HHS report.
Lewis frequently promotes and collaborates with other anti-trans activists, notably Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog of the podcast Blocked and Reported. Lewis is their most frequent guest.
Background
Helen Alexandra Lewis was born on September 30, 1983, grew up Catholic in Worcester, and attended St Mary’s School there. Lewis then read English at St Peter’s College, Oxford, followed by a journalism degree from City University London. Lewis no longer identifies as Catholic.
After graduating, Lewis worked at the Daily Mail, then joined the New Statesman in 2010. Lewis married designer and creative director Matthew “Matt” Hasteley in 2010 and wrote professionally as Helen Lewis-Hasteley from 2010 until their divorce in 2013. During the marriage, Lewis met and got involved with someone else, eventually leaving the marriage. Like many gender-critical public figures, this starter marriage seems to have had a significant impact on Lewis’ views about sex and gender.
Lewis married Guardian digital editor Jonathan Haynes in 2015. In 2019 Lewis joined the staff of The Atlantic, which has never had an out trans person listed on their masthead in its 160+ years of existence. In 2020 game developer Ubisoft removed Lewis’ voice from in-game audio in Watch Dogs: Legion due to transphobic views.
Anti-trans activism
In 2013, Lewis devoted a week at the New Statesman to trans issues, inviting trans-supportive authors to publish pieces. By late 2015, Lewis began writing increasingly frequent anti-trans pieces there.
2017 Times op-ed
Lewis has been critical of the UK’s Gender Recognition Act, claiming that what used to be called the “real life test” that lasts for two years should be required for anyone to be legally recognized as their gender. In a piece for The Times titled “A man canât just say he has turned into a woman,” Lewis wrote:
What the government proposes is a radical rewriting of our understanding of identity: now itâs a question of an internal essence â a soul, if you will. Being a woman or a man is now entirely in your head. In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a womenâs changing room? Thatâs why feminists have raised the alarm over the move to self-identification, along with some older trans people who fear that âtrendstersâ will erode the goodwill they have worked hard to acquire.
Removal from Watch Dogs: Legion
By 2018, Lewis’ anti-trans views were so well-known that Lewis was removed as a featured voice in the game Watch Dogs: Legion. This “cancellation” caused Lewis to start making even more strident and frequent attacks on trans people.
2018 New Statesman op-ed
While writing for The New Statesman, Lewis was accused of laundering transphobic talking points into a major media outlet around the topics of sex segregation and trans healthcare for youth.
Want to talk about how letting people self-define their gender might affect female-only spaces such as prisons and changing rooms? Then youâre a bigot, cloaking your bigotry in the language of âlegitimate concernsâ. Want to discuss whether we are rushing to medicalise gender non-conforming children because they and their desperate parents have been sold the idea there is a universal âfixâ for their profound, genuine unhappiness? These are yet more âlegitimate concernsâ that can be dismissed, even as medical professionals warn that not every gender non-conforming child will benefit from puberty blockers and (later) medical transition.
We should all be in favour of the right of transgender people to live their lives free of discrimination, harassment and abuse. […] But the right of someone who has been through male puberty, with the consequences for skeleton and muscle development that brings, to compete in womenâs sports that depend on raw strength? Thatâs more difficult. […]
Our ideas about gender are undergoing a profound shift. I hope that they will end up in a place where a boy can wear a princess dress without people assuming he is âreallyâ a girl.
2018 GQ interview of Jordan Peterson
In September 2018, Lewis interviewed fellow anti-trans activist Jordan Peterson for GQ. It quickly turned into a tense but civil debate that went viral. One of the few times they agree in the 90-minute conversation is on what Lewis calls “transgender issues.” At about 1:09.45, Lewis’s views overlap significantly with Peterson’s anti-trans viewpoints. Lewis repeats the unsupported generalization that “transgender activists” believe they have a “female soul.” Lewis also believes “We are very quick to diagnose and treat children in a way that I find â and not waiting for the research â and that I find concerning.”
The Atlantic
In July 2019, Lewis joined anti-trans publication The Atlantic as a staff writer and began writing anti-trans pieces even more frequently.
Steinfeld, J. (2020). Not my turf: Helen Lewis argues that vitriol around the trans debate means only extreme voices are being heard. Index on Censorship, 49(1), 34â35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306422020917609
Lewis, Helen (2025). The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea. Thesis, ISBN 979-8217178582
Lewis, Helen (2021). Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights. Vintage, ISBN 978-1784709730 alternatively titled Difficult Women: An Imperfect History of Feminism
Lewis, Helen [presenter] (2021). The Spark: 11 Ideas to Change the World. BBC Audio, ASIN B091FTHY11
with Emily Oster, Hilary Cottam, Paul Krugman, Roy Baumeister, Margaret Heffernan, Stuart Russell, Peter Macfadyen, Pragya Agarwal, Paul Collier and John Kay, Kiran Gill, Chris Daw
Lewis, Helen (April 18, 2025). Britain Rules on What a Woman Is.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/britain-rules-woman-supreme-court/682511/
Lewis, Helen (February 24, 2025). The Internetâs Favorite Sex Researcher.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/aella-internet-sex-researcher/681813/
Lewis, Helen (March 19, 2024). The Worst Argument for Youth Transition.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/trans-youth-transition-andrea-long-chu/677796/
Lewis, Helen (December 8, 2023). The Left Canât Afford to Go Mad.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/01/trump-biden-democratic-left-opposition/676141/
Lewis, Helen (August 8, 2023). The Gender War Is Over in Britain.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/uk-trans-rights-labour-party/674944/
Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Only Way Out of the Child-Gender Culture War.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/texas-puberty-blockers-gender-care-transgender-rights/673941/
Lewis, Helen (May 4, 2023). The Hogwarts Legacy Boycott That Wasnât.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/04/hogwarts-legacy-game-jk-rowling-transphobia-accusation/673583/
Lewis, Helen (September 2, 2022). What If Joan of Arc Wasnât a Woman?The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/joan-of-arc-nonbinary-globe/671321/
Lewis, Helen (August 18, 2022). How Social Justice Became a New Religion.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/08/social-justice-new-religion/671172/
Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2022). The Twitching Generation.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/social-media-illness-teen-girls/622916/
Lewis, Helen (26 October 2021). In Defense of Saying âPregnant Women.âThe Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/pregnant-women-people-feminism-language/620468/ [headline stealth edited to Why Iâll Keep Saying âPregnant Womenâ]
Lewis, Helen (13 October 2021). Dave Chappelleâs Rorschach Test.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/dave-chappelle-the-closer/620364/
Lewis, Helen (March 16, 2021). The Identity Hoaxers.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/03/krug-carrillo-dolezal-social-munchausen-syndrome/618289/
Lewis, Helen (April 2021). What Happened to Jordan Peterson?The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/what-happened-to-jordan-peterson/618082/
Lewis, Helen (July 14, 2020). How Capitalism Drives Cancel Culture.The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/cancel-culture-and-problem-woke-capitalism/614086/
Lewis, Helen (July 2020). Why Millennial Harry Potter Fans Reject JK Rowling. [stealth edited to How J. K. Rowling Became Voldemort] The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/07/why-millennial-harry-potter-fans-reject-jk-rowling/613870/
Lewis, Helen (February 27, 2020). Feminismâs Purity Wars.The Atlantichttps://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/02/feminism-mens-rights-activism-cancel-culture/607057/
Lewis, Helen (28 October 2016). Would you let your child change their gender?New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2016/10/would-you-let-your-child-change-their-gender
Lewis, Helen (14 January 2013). Introducing Trans Issues Week.New Statesman https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/introducing-trans-issues-week
