Skip to content

Alex Byrne vs. transgender people

Alex Byrne is an American philosopher and anti-transgender activist. Byrne is a key historical figure in the oppression of trans and gender diverse youth. Byrne has been involved in several controversies where publishers have rejected Byrne’s writing on trans topics, most notably two separate controversies at Oxford University Press.

Trolling and attacking the trans community for money and attention is a family business; Byrne’s spouse Carole Hooven is an anti-transgender anthropologist.

Background

Alexander “Alex” Byrne was born on January 25, 1960. Byrne earned a bachelor’s degree from Birkbeck College London at age 28 in 1988 and a master’s degree from King’s College London in 1989. Byrne earned a doctorate from Princeton University in 1994. After teaching at Caltech during postdoctoral research in 1993, Byrne joined MIT in 1994.

Byrne’s work focuses on philosophy of mind (especially perception), metaphysics (especially color) and epistemology (especially self-knowledge).

Byrne married anti-trans anthropologist Carole Hooven (born 1966). They has one child, Griffin.

Anti-transgender activism

Byrne reportedly “began to take a serious interest in the philosophy of sex and gender in 2018.” Hooven’s work is largely a defense of sex segregationism through promoting the concept of sexual dimorphism, and Byrne’s work builds on that.

Byrne started with the standard “just asking questions” style beloved by anti-trans activists:

  • Is Sex Binary?
  • Is Sex Socially Constructed?
  • What Is Gender Identity?
  • Are Women Adult Human Females?

Byrne publishes in the Journal of Controversial Ideas, a publication designed to allow academics to publish using fake names, thus relieving them of responsibility and accountability that are foundational to academic freedom. Byrne also publishes in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the “academic” platform of choice for anti-trans activists for over 50 years.

Philosophical Studies controversy (2020)

In 2020, Bryne was involved in an academic journal controversy that led to editor Stewart Cohen resigning after 25 years. As Justin Weinberg explained:

“Philosophical Studies published “Are Women Adult Human Females?” by Alex Byrne (MIT). It then accepted an article replying to Byrne’s article, “Escaping the Natural Attitude about Gender” by Robin Dembroff (Yale). Cohen objected to what he called “unprofessional personal attacks” on Byrne in Dembroff’s paper. He wanted the journal to issue an announcement declaring that it was a mistake to have accepted Dembroff’s paper “without removing the personal attacks.” He also wanted to invite Byrne to reply to Dembroff. The other editors, Wayne Davis (Georgetown) and Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern), along with the publisher, Springer, declined to go along with Cohen’s wishes, so he resigned.”

Dubbing it “GenderGate,” Byrne stated Dembroff’s passage in bold was “changed in late May” and was not in the initial version of their
paper:

“Byrne’s paper fundamentally is an unscholarly attempt to vindicate a political slogan that is currently being used to undermine civic rights and respect for trans persons. And it is here that I return to Byrne’s advice to question the motivations behind this debate. “If someone is personally heavily invested in the truth of p,” Byrne writes, “it is prudent to treat [their] claim that p is true with some initial caution.” I agree. So we may ask: What are the motivations of someone who would so confidently insert themself into this high-stakes discourse while so ill-informed?”

Weinberg reported that “Cohen apparently wanted to avoid the normal editorial process at the journal for Byrne’s reply to Dembroff. The other editors and Springer did not agree with giving Byrne’s paper special treatment.”

MIT Civil Discourse project (2023–)

In 2023, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation funded a project on “civil discourse” at MIT. The four organizers are Alex Byrne, Anne McCants, Linda R. Rabieh, and Brad Skow. Since its founding, invited speakers have been predominantly anti-trans.

  • November 9, 2023: Has Feminism Made Progress? with Mary Harrington and MIT’s Anne McCants
  • February 26, 2024: Can We Trust Medical Science? with Vinay Prasad and MIT’s Peko Hosoi
  • April 8, 2024: Did Elites Eat the Social Justice Movement? with Freddie deBoer and MIT’s Edward Schiappa
  • March 3, 2025: Should American Society Commit to Colorblindness? with Coleman Hughes and MIT’s Sandy Alexandre
  • April 15, 2025: Is Social Media a Threat to Democracy? with Jesse Singal and MIT’s Adam Berinsky
  • September 25, 2025: Should Monogamous Marriage be the Social Ideal? with Diana Fleischman and Brad Wilcox (University of Virginia)
  • October 14, 2025: Do Universities Need Radical Reform? with Danielle Allen (Harvard) and Brandon Warmke (University of Florida)
  • February 12, 2026: Should Minors Have Access to Gender-Affirming Care? with James Cantor and Amy Tishelman
  • April 6, 2026: The Covid lab leak theory and scientific integrity: an evening with Alina Chan
  • September 22, 2026: Assisted dying with Kathleen Stock and Jessica Flanigan (Richmond) 

Trouble with Gender (2023)

In 2022, Byrne was invited by Luvell Anderson and Ernie Lepore to contribute a chapter on pronouns for the Oxford Handbook of Applied Philosophy of Language. That was dropped after Byrne posted a link to a draft to Twitter, prompting colleagues and the lay public to criticize the chapter and the author. The 2024 published version did not include Byrne and had three chapters on pronouns:

  • 12. Pronouns and Gender, Cameron Domenico Kirk-Giannini and Michael Glanzberg
  • 13. How to Do Things with Gendered Words, E. M. Hernandez and Archie Crowley
  • 14. Beyond Pronouns: Gender Visibility and Neutrality across Languages, Iz GonzĂĄlez VĂĄzquez, Martina Rosola, and Anna Klieber

Byrne had contracted with Oxford University Press to publish Trouble with Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions. Byrne even got fellow anti-trans activist Nina Paley to make a cover. After peer review, the editors decided not to proceed, saying “the book does not treat the subject in a sufficiently serious and respectful way.”

Oxford University Press philosophy editor Peter Momtchiloff added in response:

The decision not to proceed with Alex’s book manuscript was editorial in nature. By way of clarification, let me assure you that the manuscript underwent peer review, and Alex was given comments on the manuscript from me and from four expert readers. On the basis of these assessments, my judgement was indeed that the work was not appropriate for publication by OUP. And Alex’s submission for the Handbook also went through a process of review by expert readers.

Byrne took to anti-trans publication Quillette to complain.

Polity then agreed to publish Byrne’s book, which has been blurbed by all the usual anti-trans suspects, including Daniel Kodsi, John Maier, Steven Pinker, Jesse Singal, Christina Hoff Sommers, Kathleen Stock, Janet Radcliffe Richards, and Nina Power.

Criticism of this site (2024–)

Byrne has been critical of this site and its author. In a 2024 defense of unethcial sexologist John Money in anti-trans publication Quillette, Byrne wrote:

Andrea James is a filmmaker and trans activist. Two decades ago, James became well-known as one of the chief tormentors of psychologist Michael Bailey, who’d just published a book about feminine males and male-to-female transsexuals, The Man Who Would Be Queen. In that book, Bailey endorses the theory, originally proposed by American-Canadian sexologist Ray Blanchard, that transgender women typically fall into one of two categories. In the first category are feminine gay men who find it easier to live as women; in the second are straight men who transition because they are sexually aroused by the idea of themselves as female. Perhaps not surprisingly, Bailey’s promotion of Blanchard’s typology enraged some transgender women, including James. (While Bailey was not literally burnt at the stake, he came as close as contemporary civilisation permits.)

To this day, James maintains a kooky website called Transgender Map with many pages devoted to those she sees as “anti-transgender activists.” These include Bailey, of course, but also some impressive journalists, such as the UK’s Hannah Barnes, formerly of the BBC. Quillette, too, features on Transgender Map, with a page that lists almost 70 “anti-trans contributors.”

In 2025, Byrne and anti-trans philosopher Moti Gorin contributed a chapter to The War on Science, an anti-trans book edited by Lawrence Krauss. In it, they blame this site for the cancellation of a proposed philosophy panel where Gorin was to speak:

When organizers of the 2025 American Philosophical Association (APA) Eastern Division Meeting attempted to assemble a panel on philosophy and pediatric gender medicine, they were unable to find enough philosophers or bioethicists to participate. The explanation for this unusual state of affairs—there is typically no shortage of scholars keen to present at an APA meeting—was that a critic of the gender-affirming model (one of us—Gorin) had already agreed to sit on the panel. This inspired nearly all other invitees to decline the APA’s invitation on explicitly “no platform”-style grounds. One opined that Gorin was an “anti-trans activist”—language likely borrowed directly from “Transgender Map,” a website that exhaustively catalogs the perceived enemies of the site’s owner, trans activist Andrea James. James also posts information about her targets’ family members, including their children (Singal 2023); the present authors each have dedicated webpages on James’s website, complete with personal information, and where we are characterized as “anti-transgender activists.” What would have been the APA’s first panel on this politically urgent and philosophically rich topic never took place. To add insult to injury, the plans were dashed even before they had reached the stage at which some ambitious APA member might have accrued progressive credit by rallying for the panel’s cancellation. A missed opportunity, no matter how one looks at it.

Trump Administration HHS report (2025)

On May 1, 2025, The Trump Administration released Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices (aka Gender Dysphoria Report) as a pretext for banning healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth.

Byrne is cited throughout the document and was revealed through EXIF data to have compiled an appendix. Byrne was not forthcoming about being involved, according to Daily Nous:

One of Byrne’s colleagues at MIT emailed him over the weekend, saying “I’m getting a LOT of email about the social media posts claiming you compiled the Appendices to the HHS report Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria. Among other things, people want to know if the claims are true. I don’t know what to say. Any guidance is appreciated.” Byrne replied, “Thanks. I have seen this floating around on social media. I’m afraid I can’t shed any light on this – I’m sorry!” When the colleague asked if they could share his response, Byrne wrote, “Sure (not at all helpful, admittedly).”

Byrne finally admitted being involved on June 26, 2025, describing the co-authors thus: “Collectively, we had all the bases covered, with experts in endocrinology, the methodology of evidence-based medicine, medical ethics, psychiatry, health policy and social science, and general medicine.”

Months later, the full list of authors was released, revealing that all the authors are prominent anti-trans activists: Evgenia Abbruzzese, Alex Byrne, Farr Curlin, Moti Gorin, Kristopher Kaliebe, Michael K. Laidlaw, Kathleen McDeavitt, Leor Sapir, and Yuan Zhang.

“Autogynephilia” meeting (2025)

In 2025, Byrne participated in a meeting with other key “autogynephilia” activists:

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews rejection (2026)

In March 2026, Byrne reported that an online publication dedicated to philosophical book reviews had rejected one of Byrne’s submitted reviews. In October 2025, Byrne contacted Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (NDPR) about reviewing Gender Identity: What It Is and Why It Matters by Rach Cosker-Rowland. In January 2026, Byrne submitted a review. In February, managing editor Kirsten Anderson informed Byrne that NDPR had decided not to “move forward” with publication after consultation with the board. In a reply to Byrne about the process and reasons, NDPR editor Christopher Shields acknowledged having personally reviewed it and found “no obvious problems.” One board member then declined to vet it, and a second gave a “clear and unswerving recommendation” that it be rejected outright. Byrne’s review was then published in Philosophy & Public Affairs.

References

Baum, S. (November 20, 2025). Trump’s Anti-Trans Report Authors Revealed: Hate Groups and Billionaire-Funded Anti-Trans Activists. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/trumps-anti-trans-report-authors

Urquhart, Evan (June 27, 2025). HHS Report Author Wrote a Book Claiming Gender Identity is Fiction. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/alex-byrne-gender-mit-author-trans-disinformation

Weinberg, Justin (June 26, 2025). Philosopher Wraps Cooperation with Trump in Flag of Academic Freedom. Daily Nous https://dailynous.com/2025/06/26/philosopher-wraps-cooperation-with-trump-in-flag-of-academic-freedom/

Burns, Katelyn (May 6, 2025). The problem with HHS’ proposed alternative to gender-affirming care. MSNBC https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/gender-affirming-care-trans-minors-discouraged-hhs-report-trump-rcna205054

Weinberg, Justin (May 5, 2025). Philosopher’s Apparent Role in Government’s “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria” Report Revealed by Metadata (updated). Daily Nous https://dailynous.com/2025/05/05/philosophers-apparent-role-in-governments-treatment-for-pediatric-gender-dysphoria-report-revealed-by-metadata/

Reed, Erin (May 1, 2025). Fact Check: Trump’s HHS Review On Trans Care Filled With Pseudoscience, Pushes Conversion Therapy. Erin in the Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/fact-check-trumps-hhs-review-on-trans

Arthur Vining Davis Foundation (February 29, 2024). MIT Initiative Models Civil Discourse on Challenging Topics. https://www.avdf.org/news/mit-initiative-models-civil-discourse-on-challenging-topics/

Beal, James (September 2, 2023). Oxford dropped my book for challenging gender, says author. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/oxford-dropped-my-book-for-challenging-gender-says-author-bkfvmq55c

Urquhart, Evan (April 18, 2023). A Philosopher Takes to Quillette to Complain About His Book Reviews. Assigned Media https://assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/a-philosopher-takes-to-quillette-to-complain-about-his-book-reviews/

Weinberg, Justin (April 18, 2023). What It’s Like to Be a Philosopher with Unpopular Views on a Controversial Subject (multiple updates). Daily Nous https://dailynous.com/2023/04/21/what-its-like-to-be-a-philosopher-with-unpopular-views-on-a-controversial-subject/

Hipwell, Kim (February 16, 2022). The Preposterous Pronoun Pantomime Of Alex Byrne. Medium https://kim-hipwell.medium.com/the-preposterous-pronoun-pantomime-of-alex-byrne-a5399feb6cea

Weinberg, Justin (June 12, 2020). A Resignation at Philosophical Studies and a Reply from the Editors (updated w/ comments from Cohen, Dembroff, Byrne). Daily Nous https://dailynous.com/2020/06/12/resignation-philosophical-studies-reply-editors/

Anti-trans coverage

Kodsi, Daniel; Maier, John (August 15, 2025). Philosophers Shouldn’t Duck the Gender Debate. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/gender-identity-debate-philosophers-united-states-v-skrmetti

Crane, Emily (June 26, 2025). Researcher behind Trump-ordered gender dysphoria report outs himself, doubles down that medical transitions for minors isn’t ethical. New York Post https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/us-news/anonymous-researcher-behind-trump-ordered-gender-dysphoria-report-outs-himself/

Coleman, Rachel (February 13, 2024). What’s at Stake in Sexual Difference? A Review of Trouble with Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions by Alex Byrne. Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2024/02/92644/

Gambotto-Burke, Antonella (September 22, 2023). Can you really demand to become a woman? The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/can-you-really-demand-to-become-a-woman/news-story/4f709c353731cde443966a020b5dc950 [archive]

Bogardus T (2020). Evaluating Arguments for the Sex/Gender Distinction. Philosophia 48 (3):873-892. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-019-00157-6

Selected writing by Byrne

Byrne, Alex (March 19, 2026). On being rejected. The Philosophers’ Magazine https://philosophersmag.com/on-being-rejected/

Byrne, A. (2026). [Review] Gender Identity: What It Is and Why It Matters. By Rach Cosker‐Rowland, Oxford University Press, 2025. 368 pp. $40.00 (hardback). ISBN: 978‐0‐19‐894798‐1. Philosophy & Public Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1111/papa.70022

Byrne, Alex; Gorin, Moti (May 10, 2026). Trans Kids and “Making Up People.” Journal of Controversial Ideas, 2026, 6(1), 9 https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/323/htm reported doi: 10.63466/jci06010009 [malformed]

Evgenia Abbruzzese, Alex Byrne, Farr Curlin, Moti Gorin, Kristopher Kaliebe, Michael K. Laidlaw, Kathleen McDeavitt, Leor Sapir, and Yuan Zhang (December 8, 2025). Opinion: We wrote the HHS review on treatment for minors with gender dysphoria. We hope our critics actually read our report. STAT https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/hhs-gender-dysphoria-minors-report-authors/

Bryne, Alex (November 26, 2025). Beyond the Binary Is a Sea of Nonsense: What Fuentes and Lents get wrong about the sex binary. Reality’s Last Stand https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/beyond-the-binary-is-a-sea-of-nonsense

Byrne, A (2025). How Many Sexes? How Many Genders? Archives of Sexual Behavior 54, 3803–3804 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03209-z

Byrne, Alex (June 26, 2025). I co-wrote the anonymous HHS report on pediatric gender medicine. Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/26/hhs-review-anonymous-author/

Byrne A, Gorin M (2025). A deafening silence: bioethics and gender-affirming healthcare. In Lawrence Krauss [editor] The War on Science. Post Hill Press, ISBN 979-8888457566

Byrne A (2024). Another Myth of Persistence? Archives of Sexual Behavior 53, 3705–3709 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03005-1

Bogardus T, Byrne,A (2024). Ashley on Gender Identity. Journal of Controversial Ideas, 4(1), 2 https://doi.org/10.35995/jci04010002

Byrne, Alex; Hooven, Carole K. (April 3, 2024). The Problem With Saying ‘Sex Assigned at Birth.’ New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/opinion/sex-assigned-at-birth.html alt title: A Person’s Sex Is Not Assigned

Byrne, Alex (June 16, 2024). In Defence of John Money. Quillette https://quillette.com/2024/06/16/in-defence-of-john-money/

Byrne, Alex (March 13, 2024). Exposing Sex Pseudoscience in American Scientist. Reality’s Last Stand https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/exposing-sex-pseudoscience-in-american

Byrne, Alex (December 15, 2023). Trans Typologies: A Brief History. Quillette https://quillette.com/2023/12/15/trans-typologies-a-brief-history/

Byrne A (September 12, 2023). More on “Gender Identity.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 52, 2719–2721 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02695-3

Byrne, Alex; Lawford-Smith, Holly; McLaughlin, John (September 12, 2023). Gender-critical philosophy: a defence. Areo https://areomagazine.com/2023/09/12/gender-critical-philosophy-a-defence/ [archive]

Byrne A (June 5, 2023). The Origin of “Gender Identity.” Archives of Sexual Behavior https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02628-0

Byrne A (April 28, 2023). Pronoun Problems. Journal of Controversial Ideas, 3(1), 5 https://doi.org/10.35995/jci03010005

Byrne, Alex (Junuary 26, 2023). The Gender Revolution Comes for Biology Textbooks. Reality’s Last Stand https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/the-gender-revolution-comes-for-biology

Byrne, Alex (November 4, 2022). Patriarchy and the Original Position. Part of Sex, and the Politics of Sex: with Tomas Bogardus, Holly Lawford-Smith, and Eric Sampson [moderator]. 6th Annual Meeting of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Society. New Orleans. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qR2SPnmvwPY1azc82CdqfuR8nLnx39K0/view?pli=1

If politics is the art of the possible, political philosophy is the science of the possible. What kinds of societies could there be, not just for Homo economicus, but for Homo sapiens, a recent product of a long lineage of primate ancestors? One obvious—in political philosophy, often ignored— feature of sapiens is sex. Unlike economicus, humans come in two distinct sexed forms, female and male. And one striking apparently universal feature of past human societies (including at least many contemporary societies), is patriarchy: the dominance of males in political and social decision-making. As the historian Yuval Noah Harari says, it is plausible that some ‘universal biological reason’ accounts for patriarchy. If that is right, then patriarchy may seem inevitable, or at least hard to avoid. The first part of the paper outlines some evidence for Harari’s ‘universal biological reason’. The second part brings the first part to bear on Rawls’s use of the original position, and the subsequent feminist adoption of it by Susan Okin. I will argue that ignorance of one’s sex in the original position fails to deal with the problem of patriarchy, and that the Rawlsian approach should be abandoned.

Byrne, Alex (April 17, 2023). Philosophy’s No-Go Zone. Quillette https://quillette.com/2023/04/17/philosophys-no-go-zone/

Byrne, Alex (2023). Pronouns [rejected draft]. https://philpapers.org/archive/BYRP-3.pdf [archive]

Byrne A (2022). The Female of the Species: Reply to Heartsilver, Journal of Controversial Ideas 2(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.35995/jci02010011

Byrne A (April 25, 2021). Gender Muddle: Reply to Dembroff. Journal of Controversial Ideas 1(1): 1-24. https://doi.org/10.35995/jci01010005

Byrne, Alex (June 16, 2020). GenderGate: Some Comments. https://web.mit.edu/abyrne/www/GenderGate.pdf

Byrne A (January 6, 2020). Are Women Adult Human Females? Philosophical Studies 177, 3783–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-019-01408-8

Byrne, Alex (January 9, 2019). What Is Gender Identity? Arc Digital https://medium.com/arc-digital/what-is-gender-identity-10ce0da71999

Byrne, Alex (2018). Skepticism about the Internal World. in The Norton Introduction to Philosophy (Second Edition). W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0393624427

Byrne, Alex (November 2, 2018). Is Sex Binary? Arc Digital https://medium.com/arc-digital/is-sex-binary-16bec97d161e

Byrne, Alex (December 1, 2018). Is Sex Socially Constructed? Arc Digital https://medium.com/arc-digital/is-sex-socially-constructed-81cf3ef79f07

Books

Rosen, Gideon; Byrne, Alex; Cohen, Joshua; Shiffrin, Seana [editors] (2026). The Norton Introduction to Philosophy (Third Edition). W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-1324073093

Byrne, Alex (2023). Trouble With Gender: Sex Facts, Gender Fictions. Polity, ISBN  978-1509560011

Byrne, Alex (2022). Transparency and Self-Knowledge. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0192868992

Rosen, Gideon; Byrne, Alex; Cohen, Joshua; Shiffrin, Seana [editors] (2018). The Norton Introduction to Philosophy (Second Edition). W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0393631463

Rosen, Gideon; Byrne, Alex; Cohen, Joshua; Shiffrin, Seana [editors] (2015). The Norton Introduction to Philosophy (First Edition). W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0393932201

Byrne, Alex; Logue, Heather [editors] (2008). Disjunctivism: Contemporary Readings. MIT Press, ISBN 9780262524902

Thomson, Judith; Byrne, Alex [editors] (2006). Content and Modality: Themes from the Philosophy of Robert Stalnaker. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199282807

Byrne, Alex; Stanaker, Robert C.; Wedgwood, Ralph [editors] (2001). Fact and Value: Essays on Ethics and Metaphysics for Judith Jarvis Thomson. MIT Press ISBN 978-0262525626

Byrne, Alex; Hilbert, David R. [editors] (1997). Readings on Color, Volume 2: The Science of Color. MIT Press, ISBN 978-0262522311

Byrne, Alex; Hilbert, David R. [editors] (1997). Readings on Color, Volume 1: The Philosophy of Color, MIT Press, ISBN 978-0262269636

Media

American Enterprise Institute with Sally Satel, Cory Clark, Alex Byrne, Carole Hooven, and Christina Hoff Sommers (May 27, 2026). Has Science Become Feminized? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNT0ozJfpOc

Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences with Alex Byrne and Amy Tishelman (February 11, 2026). Democracy and Disagreement: Gender-Affirming Care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eDUQk048No

Agree to Disagree About Gender with Laura Targownik, Yvette Nary, and Alex Byrne (January 28, 2026). Agree to Disagree About Gender – Episode 4 – A Conversation with Dr. Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9qdQmPVnQk

Friends & Fellow Citizens with Sherman Tylawsky and Alex Byrne (January 19, 2026). #192: Untangling Science and Ideology – Biological Sex and the Trouble with Gender feat. Dr. Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL9NDNMD7D0

National Institutes of Health (NIH) with Jay Bhattacharya, Evgenia Abbruzzese, Alex Byrne, Farr Curlin, Moti Gorin, Kristopher Kaliebe, Michael K. Laidlaw, Kathleen McDeavitt, Leor Sapir, and Yuan Zhang (December 16, 2025). Director’s Desk: HHS & NIH Evidence Review on Pediatric Gender Dysphoria — Expert Panel Discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9UP5yi7HY

Radio Free Campus with Steve McGuire, Justin Garrison and Alex Byrne (August 26, 2025). Gender, Philosophy, and Public Engagement with guest Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNllb-9biHA

Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss, Moti Gorin, and Alex Byrne (August 11, 2025). Alex Byrne & Moti Gorin on Philosophy’s Silence Around Pediatric Gender Care | War on Science. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcJeAarichc

Informed Dissent with Ben Appel, Cori Cohn, Lisa Selin Davis, “Eliza Mondegreen,” Jamie Reed, and Alex Byrne (July 5, 2025). Episode 32: Revisiting the HHS report, with co-author Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc3j0Wqes0Y

Sasha White with Alex Byrne (October 7, 2024). Can Academia Recover from the Trans Takeover? | Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2YjePMbdnE

Gender: A Wider Lens with Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Alex Byrne (September 6, 2024). What Exactly is a “Transcendent Sense of Gender”? with Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDt0dWHgVLQ

Ray Alex Williams with Alex Byrne (July 15, 2024). MIT Philosopher Alex Byrne Finds Trouble with Gender | Deep Dive Discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ3V-eFuwJQ

National Association of Scholars with Alex Byrne and Holly Lawford-Smith (April 17, 2024). Is Sex Binary? A conversation with Alex Byrne and Holly Lawford-Smith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mokBifV-OpE

MIT Free Speech Alliance with Alex Byrne, Holly Lawford-Smith, Alice Dreger, and Aaron Kimberly (April 17, 2024). Debate: Is Sex Binary? Co-hosted by the MIT Free Speech Alliance & Adam Smith Society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoT_ayxjXpg

The Unspeakable With Meghan Daum and Alex Byrne (March 11, 2024). The Linguistic Confusion Of Gender: Philosopher Alex Byrne on how we got into so much trouble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ONIIuwxU8

Persuasion with Yascha Mounk and Alex Byrne (March 2, 2024). Alex Byrne on the Trouble with Gender. https://www.persuasion.community/p/byrne alt url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFlsZf-oUnA

Genspect with Alex Byrne (February 2, 2024). How We Are Overcomplicating Gender with Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps3GFVQonlM

Nature & Nurture with Adam Omary and Alex Byrne (January 31, 2024). Nature & Nurture #130: Dr. Alex Byrne – There Is No Gender Without Sex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpJZnS2lHeM

Brain in a Vat with Mark Oppenheimer, Jason Werbeloff, and Alex Byrne (January 15, 2024). The Trouble with Gender | Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyAG9y5YqyQ

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Alex Byrne (December 14, 2023). The Trans Takeover of Feminist Philosophy – Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6OWAe52Rk

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Alex Byrne (December 3, 2023). Trouble with Philosophy – Alex Byrne | Maiden Mother Matriarch 42. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZamsLoFks

Brain in a Vat with Mark Oppenheimer, Jason Werbeloff, and Alex Byrne (July 16, 2023). What is a woman? | Alex Byrne. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uOxLEHLWaY

Heterodorx with Nina Paley and Corinna Cohn (September 30, 2021). Episode 32: Gettin’ Philosophical with Alex Byrne. https://heterodorx.com/podcast/episode-32-gettin-philosophical-with-alex-byrne/

The Veritas Forum (September 16, 2011). Alex Byrne Shares His Worldview at The Veritas Forum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEMVoN9BR-4

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Alex Byrne (alexbyrne.org)

MIT (mit.edu)

  • Alex Byrne
  • philosophy.mit.edu/byrne
  • Alex Byrne
  • web.mit.edu/abyrne [archive]
  • Alex Byrne
  • web.mit.edu/abyrne/www [archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)