Stanley Goldfarb is an American physician and anti-transgender activist. Goldfarb is founder and board chair of anti-trans group Do No Harm.
Background
Stanley Goldfarb was born on January 12, 1934 in The Bronx, New York. After graduating Bronx High School of Science, Goldfarb earned a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York in ~1957. Goldfarb’s first job was with Wright Air Development Center in Dayton, Ohio. Goldfarb then worked at Westinghouse on electroluminescence. In 1961 Goldfarb joined AVS [American Vacuum Society].
Goldfarb earned a medical degree from University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1969. Goldfarb later specialized in nephrology. Goldfarb served as Associate Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania until retiring in 2019.
Goldfarb was married to Rayna Block Goldfarb (1945–2016). They had two children.
Anti-trans activism
Goldfarb is author of the 2022 book, Take Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns: Why Turning Doctors into Social Justice Warriors is Destroying American Medicine. It was based on a 2019 Wall Street Journal op-ed of the same name.
Goldfarb founded Do No Harm in 2022. For the first two season, Goldfarb was co-host of the Do No Harm podcast.
References
Crowe, Jack (June 1, 2022). UPenn Med School Leaders Turn on Former Dean over ‘Racist’ Affirmative-Action Criticism. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/news/upenn-med-school-leaders-turn-on-former-dean-over-racist-affirmative-action-criticism/
Cook, Bonnie, L. (March 9, 2016). Rayna Goldfarb, longtime teacher in Phila. schools. Phildelphia Inquirer https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20160309_Rayna_Goldfarb__longtime_teacher_in_Phila__schools.html
[death notice] (March 7, 2016). Rayna Block Goldfarb. Philadelphia Inquirer https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/inquirer/name/rayna-goldfarb-obituary?id=9471621
Brewster R (2020). Justice is the Best Medicine. And, Yes, You Can Call Us by Our Pronouns. (2020). AMA Journal of Ethics, 22(3), E253-254. https://doi.org/10.1001/amajethics.2020.253
Leonard, Ben; Cirruzzo, Chelsea; Lim, David (July 15, 2024). The man behind the effort to limit gender care. Politico https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-pulse/2024/07/15/the-man-behind-the-effort-to-limit-gender-care-00168191
Holloway, Paul (November 9, 2009). Interview: Stanley Goldfarb. AVS https://avs.org/about-avs/history/historical-interviews/stanley-goldfarb-2009/
McMillan, Jeff; Kruesi, Kimberlee (May 20, 2023). Meet the influential new player on transgender health bills. AP https://apnews.com/article/transgender-bills-lobbying-do-no-harm-94f56059d24608d724eb78fefecf4e09
Payne, Daniel (July 21, 2024). The conservative doctor who’s got the GOP’s ear on trans kids’ care. Politico https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/21/conservative-kidney-doctor-trans-kids-care-00166641
Gottleib, Eric R. (Oct. 17, 2022). UpToDate has a racism problem. Its name is Dr. Stanley Goldfarb. STAT News https://www.statnews.com/2022/10/17/uptodate-racism-problem-stanley-goldfarb/
Harjai, Kavish’; McMillan, Jeff; Kruesi, Kimberlee (May 23, 2023). Transgender health: Comparing model bills to real proposals. AP https://apnews.com/article/transgender-health-model-legislation-bills-4eb5e34c72f8a0d91d00158586289ba3
Editorial Board (February 4, 2025). Tish James has some nerve threatening hospitals that won’t defy Trump’s sex-change order. New York Post https://nypost.com/2025/02/04/opinion/tish-james-has-some-nerve-warning-hospitals-to-defy-trump-on-trans-gender-treatment/
Selected anti-trans writing by Goldfarb
Eappen, Roy; Goldfarb, Stanley (October 14, 2024). Money Is Driving Medicine’s Embrace of Child Transgenderism. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/10/money-is-driving-medicines-embrace-of-child-transgenderism/
Goldfarb, Stanley; Eappen, Roy (January 4, 2025). Trump Can Bring Transparency to the Transgender Mess. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/01/trump-can-bring-transparency-to-the-transgender-mess/
Goldfarb, Stanley, Eappen, Roy (May 1, 2025,). Sanity returns as feds condemn transgender treatments for kids. New York Post https://nypost.com/2025/05/01/opinion/sanity-returns-as-feds-condemn-trans-treatments-for-kids/
Goldfarb, Stanley (September 12, 2019). Take two aspirin and call me by my pronouns. Wall Street Journal. . https://www.wsj.com/articles/take-two-aspirin-and-call-me-by-my-pronouns-11568325291.
Books
Goldfarb, Stanley (2022). Take Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns: Why Turning Doctors into Social Justice Warriors is Destroying American Medicine. Bombardier Books, ISBN 978-1642938494
Resources
Trans Data Library (transdatalibrary.org)
- Stanley Goldfarb
- transdatalibrary.org/person/stanley-goldfarb/
Do No Harm (donoharmmedicine.org)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
X/Twitter (x.com)
University of Pennsylvania (upenn.edu)
- The Rayna Goldfarb Gynecologic Oncology Patient Care Fund
- socialfundraising.apps.upenn.edu/socialFundraising/jsp/fast.do?fastStart=customTemplate&id=105829475