Margaret Ann McGhee (born 1942) is an American technology executive. Shewas a prolific contributor on the support group dedicated to “autogynephilia” in early 2004, before group founder Willow Arune inadvertently got the group banned from Yahoo in 2005 for trolling and defamation.
Background
Her 2009 autobiography states:
My adolescence, growing up in Texas in the fifties, was a nightmare of guilt, self-hate, confused emotions and sexuality – and, oh yeah, don’t forget the abusive step-mother. At fifteen I left home and headed to California where my grandparents graciously supported me while I completed high school. After graduating I moved out on my own and started working my way through college. Over the years and despite the confusion I gradually developed a male persona that gave me sufficient happiness. Perhaps to kill off that inner female once and for all, I married a smart and attractive wife who soon gave us a wonderful son. This marriage only lasted a few years however as my inner female was becoming restless. After our separation the “do your own thing” sexually permissive spirit of California in the sixties became my great escape. Those were heady times when I grew my hair long, resisted the war, smoked lots of dope and wore bell-bottoms and flowing shirts. My inner female was wishing for flowing skirts as well but I kept her repressed enough that my male existence was still the only face I presented to the world.
Over the next several years I started migrating northward. With stops in Santa Cruz and Eugene, the farther north I went the more I liked it. I eventually established a good life in Bellingham in the wet, cool and intensely green northwest corner of Washington state. I met and married a wonderful woman there. After a few years we moved to Idaho and together raised my son from my earlier marriage. Life was good. Except for the occasional stealth cross-dressing episode my inner female was safely tucked away from everyone. Then one day in 1997, after 22 years of marriage, my wife was killed by a drunk driver. In the weeks and months that followed, the woman inside me firmly reclaimed her place in my life. It was an overwhelming force that I could not resist. It just felt right. I became convinced that my destiny was to become as close to a biological female as possible through sexual reassignment surgery. I started down that path including the necessary psychological counseling and a year of HRT (hormone replacement therapy). However, as time went by I realized that I was not ready to completely abandon my male side which I had nurtured so carefully all those years and had become an important part of who I was. Also, I was reluctant to surgically alter my body unless I was absolutely sure that my happiness required it. I couldn’t confidently come to that conclusion and so I stepped off that train.
At the time I wasn’t sure how all this would work out but by following my feelings as honestly as I could and not analyzing things too much I seem to have found a happy middle ground for now, where I spend as much time as I wish in either persona. That’s not to say that my life is all happiness and bliss these days juggling dual external identities but it is far better than hiding my true feelings from those close to me. The few problems I face these days are practical ones, not ethical. I do try to stay focused on my many other interests in life and living each day to its fullest which is always a wise plan anyway. Aside from exploring human nature, some of these interests include playing the guitar and making music with friends, fly fishing, cooking and outdoor photography. A large part of my happiness these days is no doubt due to my marriage, going on three years now, to a wonderful and intelligent woman who appreciates both of us as much as we do her. And also, to the many new friends I have found since moving back to Washington.
This evening I was browsing tsroadmap and was surprised to find a page there dedicated to some information about me. This was regarding some posts that I made in the past to the now long defunct autogynephila forum.
I seem to be described as being a supporter of Blanchard’s theory of autogynephilia.
I did spend a lot of time at the ag forum as you say. I did try to be as friendly as possible with the other members of the ag forum. However, my presence there was to politely argue against the concept.
While there I presented counter-arguments. I confronted both Anne Lawrence and Michael Bailey with those arguments. Much of the substance of my counter-arguments were taken from information that I found following links from your website.
Willow Arune referred to me as one of the non-believers – who was allowed to stay (probably because I did not personally attack anyone there even though I was frequently attacked myself). I was accused more than once by other members of being in cahoots with you, Susan James and Lynn Conway – or perhaps being a spy for you Finally, they got fed up with me and I was kicked off.
While there, I think I learned a bit and gained some understanding of the psychology of the transsexuals who supported the theory. That’s one reason I hung out there. I couldn’t understand how anyone could go through life feeling that badly about themself – and I wanted to understand it better.
In any case, I am definitely not a supporter of Blanchard’s theory. Nor do I believe that transsexuality or gender variance is in any sense a pathology. In the interest of accuracy, and because I would not want anyone to get the wrong impression it would be helpful if you corrected your listing.
Feel free to check me out further or ask me any questions you like. I wouldn’t expect you to change anything you’ve written unless you were certain that it was correct.
I do have an interest in evolutionary psychology. That may be why you assumed I supported Bailey. I’d say my understanding of the intersection of evolution and transsexuality is more along the lines of what Joan Roughgarden writes in Evolution’s Rainbow.
Yes, I believe human transsexuality is the result of evolution, as is every single aspect of human nature. I believe it is a perfectly natural outcome – to be celebrated, not pathologized.
I have not been active in any ts online groups for some time now. My interests have lately been in more general aspects of identity. I am working on an hypothesis that relates worldview to group conflict, alliance and other social phenomema. One reason I find this interesting is the firsthand experience I gained about the autogynephilia conflict from having in-depth discussions with members of the ag forum.
Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter, Margaret McGhee
My response:
Hi Margaret–
Thanks for writing. When all this was going down, I found the best thing to do was to document everyone who got involved and sort it out later. This led to a pretty quick vectoring of the institutions from which all this BBL stuff was emanating, and how Bailey operates (science by press conference). Ultimately, Lawrence and Bailey are both self-hating [trans] chasers with different strategies for getting closer to the objects of their desire. This brings profound bias to the knowledge they produce and their writings about that knowledge.
I knew Arune would eventually be seen as a crank, based on Arune’s long trolling history on Usenet. Arune is simply replaying some old injury again and again in an attempt to control it. Lisanne Anderson aka Lori Anjou eventually was seen that way, too, as well as Deni aka Suki aka Alejandra aka Steffie and all the other old school web trolls inhabiting that group. As I note here below the chart:
“Please note that several of the people listed above have expressed concern about the term, and do not necessarily agree it is a legitimate diagnosis.”
That was meant to include you.
I also note that you stopped posting after an initial burst of activity, another common pattern as people began to see that it was a troll site. By the time Arune’s incompetence led to that group’s demise, it was basically a carbon copy of Arune’s Usenet “contributions” before and since: cut-and-paste jobs from other publications, plus slander and baiting of people Arune doesn’t like.
So, now we have a record of a bizarre attempt to create a community around an identity based on a sex-fueled mental illness. Several of the people involved had a similar learning trajectory as I did: my first impression was that “autogynephilia” was a love of self as a woman. I even sent Anne Lawrence a note around the time Lawrence published an introduction to the concept saying that it made sense. As with many others, I did not grasp that this was a paraphilic model which casts our motivations as a sex-fueled mental illness. One of my majors was classical Greek, so I assumed “philia” (friendly love, affection, friendship) could be considered in apposition to “phobia” (panic fear/hatred) and suggested to Dr. Lawrence that my own motivation might be better described as “autoandrophobia,” a hatred of my self as male. It was only when the Bailey book came out that I understood how “philia” was used by these guys.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to include your letter and this response on that page, as well as anything else you’d like to include. I knew a lot of the debate would be ephemeral, which is why I had a “document now, sort out later” philosophy. I wanted a historical record of the contemporaneous response. I still consider this event a turning point in trans history, the beginning of the end for the gatekeeping “authorities” who would medicalize and pathologize us the way they used to with gays and lesbians. Unfortunately, they have some key people in the President’s Council on Bioethics and involved in the DSM-V revision committees, so we are not out of the woods, yet. This will prove to be a decisive turning point in our fight for rights. BBL have done more to mobilize an international coalition of trans activists that anything since the invention of the internet itself.
Thanks again for contacting me! I look forward to hearing back from you.
In February 2006, I got the following note:
Hi Andrea, I mentioned several weeks ago that I would attempt to write an essay describing my experience as a dissenting member of the Yahoo AG-support group and what I thought about it all now. It’s been a major project but I seem to be running out of reasons to revise it further. So, if you want to post a link you are welcome to do that. It’s at:
Dallas Denny (born August 18, 1949) is an American author, counselor, and transgender rights activist known for publishing and archiving community resources. Denny is one of the most important transgender figures of the 1990s.
Background
Denny was born on August 18, 1949 in Asheville, North Carolina. Denny earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University in 1974 and a master’s degree from University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1977. Denny also did postgraduate work at East Tennessee State University, Georgia State University, and Vanderbilt University.
Denny worked for the State of Tennessee from 1979 to 1990 as a caseworker and analyst. From 1990 to 2008 Denny worked as a behavior analyst for the DeKalb Community Service Board.
Transgender activism
In 1990 Denny founded AEGIS (American Educational Gender Information Service), later renamed Gender Education & Advocacy. Denny also founded the print journal Chrysalis Quarterly. In 1993 Denny founded the National Transgender Library & Archive.
In the 1990s Denny continued the work of the Erickson Educational Foundation, helped found Atlanta’s transgender Southern Comfort Conference, and directed Fantasia Fair. From 1999 to 2008 Denny was editor of Transgender Tapestry, published by the International Foundation for Gender Education.
Books include:
Gender Dysphoria: A Guide to Research (1994)
Current Concepts in Transgender Identity (1998)
Honors include:
IFGE’s Trinity Virginia Prince Lifetime Achievement Award
Bruce Alberts, President, the National Academy of Sciences Harvey V. Fineberg, President, the Institute of Medicine
The National Academies 2101 Constitution Avenue NW Washington DC 20418
Dear Dr. Alberts and Dr. Fineberg:
I am writing in regard to a recent publication under the National Academies of Sciences imprimatur, namely Michael Bailey’s The Man Who Would be Queen. As you know, Bailey’s book is deliberately provocative and is considered highly offensive by many who have read it. I count myself in this growing number.
Also as you know, Bailey is claiming he is advancing a science-based argument in his deliberately objectional depictions of gay men and transsexuals. However, there is no science in his book, merely sweeping generalizations and grand statements which are not backed up by data or even citations for publications which might contain such data.
Controversial books often serve to advance science, but only when they use carefully considered arguments and present data to convince the reasoned reader of the validity of the author’s arguments. Darwin did this. Thomas Kuhn did this. Even popular works such as the late Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man discuss actual research and interpret the findings. The Jerry Springer approach used by Bailey informs no one; it serves merely to further polarize an already-polarized issue.
My question to you is: why has the esteemed National Academies of Sciences lent its credibility and dignity to such a discreditable and undignified work as The Man Who Would Be Queen? In this age of reality TV and junk journalism, are you deliberately tarnishing your heretofore respected image– or was someone asleep at the wheel?
The APA was founded in 1892. Nineteen divisions were approved in 1944, and by 2007 there were 54 divsions.
APA Division 44, which is the APA’s division for psychologists who are sex and gender minorities or who specialize in the topic, was a stronghold of anti-trans psychologists for many years.
In 2024 they had approximately157,000 members,
2008 Task Force
In 2008 APA published a controversial report prepared Task Force consisting of several people heavily involved in promoting disease models of trans and gender diverse people, including Kenneth J. Zucker and Anne Lawrence.
2024 policy resolution
On February 28, 2024, APA published a policy resolution after it passed 153-9.
Nicola R. Brown is a Canadian psychologist who has worked at Toronto’s CAMH gender clinic. Brown has published resources and consumer information for transgender people, as well as published psychological research, including a book chapter with fired sexologist Kenneth Zucker.
Background
Nicola Ruth Brown was born in 1976. She attended York University, earning a master’ss degree in 2001 and a doctorate in 2006. Brown then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University in the Victims of Violence Program. Brown has served as staff psychologist in the Gender Identity Clinic for adults at CAMH. Brown also has a private practice.
According to a profile of Brown on the 2018 CAMH website, “Clinical interests include sexual orientation and gender identity concerns. Research interests include clinical decision-making and best practice models for working with trans people, adaptive processes of the significant others of trans people, and the social determinants of health.”
While working at Central Toronto Youth Service, Brown published the first edition of Families in TRANSition in 2008. This guide provides information and resources for families with a gender-diverse or transgender member.
Collaboration with Ken Zucker
Brown and Zucker published the chapter “Gender Dysphoria” in the 2014 book Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, edited by Yitzchak M. Binik and Kathryn S.K. Hall. The chapter heavily favors Zucker’s point of view on pathologization and cures of trans youth, devoting only one paragraph in the chapter to affirmative care for children. They claim affirmative care that is the consensus among pediatricians is merely the model “that receives the most media attention, and it certainly dominates Internet discourse.” Zucker was fired from CAMH a year after publication.
References
McIntosh C, Brown NR (2023). Psychotherapy with trans and gender diverse people. In H. Crisp & G.O. Gabbard (Eds.), Textbook of Psychotherapeutic Treatments (2nd ed), pp. 667-680. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. ISBN 9781615373260
Brown NR. (2021). Intimate partner violence. In A. Goldberg & G. Beemyn (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies. SAGE Publishing. ISBN 9781544393841
Kallivayalil D, Levitan J, Brown NR, Harvey MR (2013). Preliminary findings from a qualitative study of trauma survivors in treatment: Changes in personal narratives. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 22 (3), 262-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2013.743942
Zucker KJ, Brown NR (2014). Gender Dysphoria. In Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy, Fifth Edition. Binik YM, Hall KSK, eds. Guilford Publications. ISBN 9781462513895
Brown NR, Kallivayalil D, Mendehlson M, Harvey MR (2011). Working the double edge: Unbraiding pathology and resiliency in the narratives of early-recovery trauma survivors. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024969
Brown NR (2011). Holding tensions of victimization and perpetration: Partner abuse in trans communities. In J. Ristock (Ed.), Intimate Partner Violence in LGBTQ Lives. Routledge. ISBN 9780415998796
Brown NR (2010). The sexual relationships of sexual-minority women partnered with trans men: A qualitative study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 561- 572. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-009-9511-9
Brown NR (2009). “I’m in transition too”: Sexual identity renegotiation in sexualminority women’s relationships with transsexual men. International Journal of Sexual Health, 21, 62-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317610902720766
Brown NR (2005). Queer Women Partners of Female-to-Male Transsexuals: Renegotiating Self in Relationship. [unpublished doctoral dissertation], York University, UK. https://bac-lac.on.worldcat.org/oclc/191239034
Brown NR (2001). Women’s passionate friendships. Typescript Masters Thesis, York University.
Randi Ettner is an American psychologist and author known for affirming work with transgender and gender diverse people.
Background
Randi Joy (Cahan) Ettner was born in 1952 in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Ettner earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, followed by a master’s degree from Roosevelt University.
Ettner began working with transgender people in 1977 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Ettner received a doctorate in psychology at Northwestern University, with a dissertation on childbirth. Ettner had additional training at Moray House School of Education in Scotland.
Ettner is founder of New Health Foundation Worldwide and works with spouse Frederic M. “Fred” Ettner, a physician.
Ettner has helped pass anti-discrimination laws, provided testimony on behalf of trans people seeking workplace rights, and works to secure appropriate treatment for prisoners. Ettner has also been a critic of psychologist J. Michael Bailey‘s 2003 book The Man Who Would Be Queen. Bailey claims the book was initially motivated by “gross inaccuracies in Ettner’s account of transsexualism.” Ettner works to improve understanding of trans issues, and has spoken out against attitudes used to justify violence against trans people.
Below is a clip from a 2006 interview I did with Dr. Ettner on coming out.
Publications
Cahan RJ (1976). A Psychology Internship: Cook County Hospital. Roosevelt University
Ettner R (1979). Childbirth at Home: A Preliminary Attempt to Predict Dysfunctional Labor. Northwestern University
Ettner R (1996). Confessions of a Gender Defender: A Psychologist’s Reflections on Life Among the Transgendered. Chicago Spectrum Press, ISBN 9781886094512
Ettner R (1999). Gender Loving Care: A Guide to Counseling Gender-variant Clients. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 9780393703047, W W Norton page
Ettner R (2002). Book Review: Sex, Gender & Sexuality: 21st Century Transformations. By Tracie O’Keefe. Archives of Sexual Behavior Volume 31, Number 2 / April, 2002.
Ettner R, Harima K, King D, Landen M, Nodin Ñ, VP (2003). Transgender and Transsexuality. In Ember CR, Ember M (eds.). Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World’s Cultures. Springer, ISBN 9780306477706
White T, Ettner R (2004). Disclosure, Risks and Protective Factors for Children Whose Parents Are Undergoing a Gender. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 8 (1/2), 129-145.
White T, Ettner R (2004). Disclosure, risks, and protective factors for children whose parents are undergoing a gender transition. In Leli U, Drescher J (eds.) Transgender Subjectivities: A Clinician’s Guide. Haworth Press ISBN 9780789025760
Ettner R, White T, Brown GR, Shah BJ (2006). Client Aggression Towards Therapists: Is It More or Less Likely with Transgendered Clients? International Journal of Transgenderism, 2006, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 1–7.
White T, Ettner R (2007). Adaptation and adjustment in children of transsexual parents. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2007, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 215–221.
Ettner R, Monstrey S, Eyler AE (2007). Principles of Transgender Medicine and Surgery. Haworth Press, ISBN 9780789032683
References
Staff report (August 28, 1977). Randi Joy Cahan is engaged to Dr. Frederic Mark Ettner. New York Times
Lieberman AB (1992). Easing Labor Pain. Harvard Common Press, ISBN 9781558320437 p. 170
Marilynn Marchione (August 14, 1995). Small Neenah hospital a leader in sex changes. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Staff (Oct 22, 2007). Experts testify in case for hormones in prison. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Rodkin, Dennis (2003). Sex and Transsexuals. Chicago Reader
Dreger AD (2008). The controversy surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: a case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the Internet age. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2008 Jun;37(3):366-421.
Deardorff, Julie (March 22, 2001). Gender conflicts are given a clear place of study. Chicago Tribune
Morning Edition (April 3, 2001). Profile: Center opens in Chicago to help promote understanding of transsexual issues. National Public Radio
Patrick Grzanka is an American academic and applied social issues researcher. Grzanka’s work often focuses on sex and gender minorities.
Background
Patrick Ryan Grzanka was born in November 1983. Grzanka attended University of Maryland, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2004 and working as a lecturer there while earning a doctorate in American studies in 2010. From 2010 to 2014 Grzanka taught at the Honors College at Arizona State University. In 2014 Grzanka took an appointment at University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Grzanka is founder and director of Social Action Research Team (SART), a group conducting applied social research with a commitment to social justice-informed scholarship and praxis.
Grzanka became known to many from a confrontational interview conducted by anti-trans extremist Matt Walsh in the transphobic film What Is a Woman? The appearance led to significant backlash.
References
Grzanka PR, DeVore EN, Gonzalez KA, Pulice-Farrow L, Tierney D (2018). The biopolitics of passing and the possibility of radically inclusive transgender health care. The American Journal of Bioethics, 18(12), 17-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2018.1531167
Fishman JR, Mamo L, Grzanka PR (2017). Sex, gender, & sexuality in biomedicine. In U Felt, R Fouché, C Miller, & L Smith-Doerr (Eds.), The handbook of science and technology studies (4th ed., pp. 379-405). MIT Press. ISBN 9780262035682
Grzanka PR (2017). Undoing the psychology of gender: Intersectional feminism and social science pedagogy. In KA Case (Ed.), Intersectional pedagogy: A model for complicating identity and social justice (pp. 61-79). Routledge. ISBN 9781138942974
DeVore EN. Frantell KA, Grzanka PR, Miles JR, Spengler ES (2019, August). Conscience clauses and sexual and gender minority mental health care: A case study. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Chicago, IL https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000396
Gert Comfrey is an American therapist who identifies as nonbinary and queer. Comfrey specializes in marriage and family therapy issues that affect sex and gender minorities.
Background
Comfrey was born in November 1985, grew up in Central Pennsylvania, and was known by another name prior to adulthood.
Comfrey earned a bachelor’s degree from Elizabethtown College in 2008, then earned two master’s degrees; one from Vanderbilt Divinity School in 2010, and one from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2015.
In 2019 Comfrey was a panelist at the LGBT+ College Conference held at Middle Tennessee State University.
Comfrey opened a marriage and family therapy practice in Nashville, Tennessee in 2019:
I have extensive experience working with transgender clients and clients wanting to explore gender identity, along with letter-writing for gender affirming surgeries. I am also a trained Circle facilitator and have offered trainings to healthcare professionals, counseling interns, and students regarding best practices when working with queer clients.
Comfrey is known to many from an appearance in the 2022 anti-trans propaganda piece What Is a Woman? In it, Comfrey earnestly explains that sex and gender are more complicated than binaries, prompting interviewer Matt Walsh to ask about personal gender identity, “So how do I know?” Comfrey responds, “That question, when it’s asked with a lot of curiosity, that’s the beginning of a lot of people’s gender identity development journey.” Many people who enjoy Walsh’s incurious bad-faith tactics found the exchange entertaining.
References
2019 LGBT+ College Conference Schedule https://www.mtsu.edu/mtlambda/2019LGBTplusCCSchedule.php]
Media
Community Changers (May 27, 2022). DDC S3 Gert Comfrey: The LGBTQ+ Community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd4vlZCbAeM
Zhana Vrangalova is an anti-trans psychologist and “autogynephilia” activist.
Background
Snezana Zhana Vrangalova was born in November 1981 in Skopje, Macedonia. Vrangalova earned a bachelor’s degree from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje. She earned a doctorate from Cornell University in 2014. She worked with Ritch Savin-Williams, Anthony Ong, and David Pizarro.
She was appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at New York University in 2014. She authored the 2016 book The Casual Sex Project and often writes about hookup culture.
“Autogynephilia” activism
On April 13, 2015, Vrangalova made a comment about about the video game Gender Bender DNA Twister Extreme, summoning “autogynephilia” creator Ray Blanchard.
When video games & psych research clash w/ views of ‘politically correct’ http://ow.ly/LxZK4#GenderBender#autogynephilia @BlanchardPhD
On June 13, 2015 Vrangalova made a comment about Caitlyn Jenner that revealed her anti-trans views:
The link went to religion site Patheos and an article by conversion therapist Warren Throckmorton discussing “autogynephilia” with unethical sexologist J. Michael Bailey.
When people pointed out the problem with her beliefs, she said:
I’m aware of the controversy, but there’s a lot of research to support #autogynephilia, pc or not pc.
When people pointed out that once-skeptical Bailey magically discovered bisexuality exists after getting paid by the American Institute of Bisexuality.
they didn’t “recant”, the conducted a study using more rigorous definition of “bisexual”.
It’s good science accepted by scientists.Those rejecting it r nonscientist activists who wrongly think it’s transphobic
Vrangalova co-hosted the The Science of Sex podcast with Joe Pardavila from 2017 to 2019. Guests included a number of anti-trans sexologists associated with J. Michael Bailey, including James Cantor and Gerulf Rieger.
Throckmorton, Warren (June 11, 2015). What Kind of Woman is Caitlyn Jenner? Part One of a Q&A on Autogynephilia with Michael Bailey. Patheos https://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2015/06/11/what-kind-of-woman-is-caitlyn-jenner-part-one-of-a-qa-on-autogynephilia-with-michael-bailey/ [archive]
Vrangalova Z (Apr 13, 2015). https://twitter.com/DrZhana/status/587695608976248832 https://archive.ph/KWNkh
Sara Stockton is an American therapist whose views on controlling trans healthcare have gotten more conservative and extreme.
Do not go to Stockton for any kind of therapy, trans or otherwise. If you are a trans or gender diverse minor forced to see Stockton, do everything in your power to end the sessions and find supportive local resources instead.
Stockton is known for appearances in conservative media. Stockton expresses concerns about trans healthcare to anti-trans extremists like Jordan Peterson, Sasha Ayad, and Stella O’Malley.
Sara E. Burke was born in June 1986 and was married to Daniel J. Farmer (born 1984), having a child together in 2012.
Stockton is currently married to Quincy J. Stockton (born 1979).
Stockton earned a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s degree from Medaille College in 2018.
In 2012, Stockton co-authored a mental health assessment for gatekeeping trans healthcare. Stockton initially treated, advocated for, and taught about youth and families regarding gender identity and expression. Stockton worked with over one hundred families, often clearing youth for medical transition. Stockton later shifted focus, citing concerns about outcomes.
Since then Stockton has become a favored source for other anti-transgender activists.
References
Farmer S (2016). Considerations in Mentoring From a Transgender Ally, All About Mentoring, SUNY Empire State College Publication, Winter 2016.
Coolhart D, Baker A, Farmer S, Malaney M, Shipman D. (2012). Therapy with transsexual youth and their families: A clinical tool for assessing youth’s readiness for gender transition. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 39, 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2011.00283.x
Media
Peterson, Jordan B. (March 23, 2023). Regrets of a Trans-Care Specialist. Daily Wire https://www.dailywire.com/episode/k-k-k-k-k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCH-bUFR3WM
Jordan B. Peterson is a Canadian psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Peterson is one of the foremost figures in the global anti-transgender movement.
Background
Jordan Bernt Peterson was born June 12, 1962 in Alberta. Peterson earned two bachelor’s degrees from University of Alberta and a doctorate from McGill University, then took a teaching position at University of Toronto. Peterson’s 1999 book Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, formed the basis of subsequent teaching.
Anti-transgender activism
Peterson is a central alt-right figure and part of the so-called intellectual dark web, a group of academics and media figures described as a gateway to the far right.
Peterson is also the key figure in the Jungian psychology faction of anti-transgender activism. It’s not clear why followers of Carl Jung are especially susceptible to anti-trans beliefs.
In 2016, Peterson criticized Canada’s Bill C-16, which introduced gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds for discrimination. Much of Peterson’s argument focused on pronouns and misgendering. Peterson believed the law constituted “compelled speech.”
Peterson’s 2019 book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos became an international hit due to claims that there is a “crisis of masculinity” in the West.
Peterson is married and has two children. In 2019 Peterson underwent treatment in Russia for a benzodiazepine habit.