Forest Romm vs. transgender people

Forest Romm is an American graduate student and anti-transgender activist. Romm served as the Massachusetts state contact for Women’s Declaration International and is affiliated with anti-trans separatists LGB Courage Coalition and Democrats for Informed Approach to Gender. Romm is a contributor to anti-trans group blog Quillette. Romm frequently collaborates with anti-trans activist Kevin Waldman.

Background

Forest Grace Inanna Romm was born in April of 1992. Romm’s parent Aviva is a physician and midwife. Romm graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2022, then attended Northwestern University starting in 2024, seeking a master’s degree through The Family Institute.

In 2025, Romm and Kevin Waldman founded psychFORM Research Lab, “an independent research entity unaffiliated with university departments or funding sources.” They have reportedly filed an application for nonprofit status for psychFORM. They have published the results of several college student surveys, including one that claims “gay male students experience conditional belonging when situated within a trans-centered LGBTQ identity hierarchy,” based on 49 respondents. They also began a “transgender visibility study” in 2025.

Romm and Waldman have represented themselves to the media as “Northwestern researchers” and represented at least one report as a “Northwestern study.” Much of it is critical of higher education and other left-leaning institutions and appears designed to be picked up in conservative and anti-trans media. Romm and Waldman have since clarified that their self-published survey results were not conducted through official processes for research at Northwestern.

Anti-trans activism

In 2025, Romm joined LGB Courage Coalition in protesting at Salem Pride and at Boston Children’s Hospital, both in Massachusetts. Romm held signs at both protests that said “Stop Transing Gay Kids.” Romm also appeared at Rhode Island Pride with Democrats for Informed Approach to Gender holding a sign that said “Support Detransitioners.”

In Quillette, Romm and fellow Northwestern graduate student Kevin Waldman wrote:

In our Northwestern University course on multicultural counselling skills, the challenges faced by “transgender women”—by which the instructor meant biological men who self-identify as women—were examined in great detail. But women as a sex class were never mentioned. Issues that disproportionately affect that class—such as sexual violence, commercial sexual exploitation, and reproductive health and rights—were entirely overlooked.

In a July 2025 piece for The Hill, Romm and Waldman praised the Cass Review and the Supreme Court decision in Skrmetti, “not as anti-trans activists, but as psychology researchers alarmed by the extent to which ideology has overtaken evidence in mental health care.” They continue by promoting the ex-trans movement:

The field of mental health has long misread female trauma. Borderline personality disorder, for instance, is disproportionately assigned to women — especially survivors of sexual abuse. Many detransitioners describe a similar pattern. Young women like Prisha Mosley, Chloe Cole, Luka Hein, and Isabelle Ayala have publicly linked their dysphoria to trauma. Simon Amaya Price, a fellow at Do No Harm, told us he hasn’t encountered a single detransitioner whose gender distress had not been trauma-related.

Selected writing by Romm

Romm, Forest; Waldman, Kevin; Booth, Zoe (November 9, 2025). We Need to Talk About Trans-Identified Killers: The Westman school massacre, explained. Quillette https://quillette.com/2025/11/09/on-trans-identified-killers/

Romm, Forest; Waldman, Kevin (October 16, 2025). We Need to Talk About Trans-Identified Killers. Quillette https://quillette.com/2025/10/16/we-need-to-talk-about-trans-identified-killers/

Romm, Forest; Waldman, Kevin (July 24, 2025). The Rise and Fall of ‘Gender-Affirming’ Therapeutic Care. Quillette https://quillette.com/2025/07/24/the-rise-and-fall-of-gender-affirming-therapeutic-care/

Romm, Forest; Waldman, Kevin (July 24, 2025). Opinion: Northwestern study reveals a culture abandoning NPR. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5415019-northwestern-study-reveals-a-culture-abandoning-npr/

Romm, Forest; Waldman, Kevin (July 9, 2025). Opinion: Gender medicine after Skrmetti: A call for accountability at Northwestern. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5390101-gender-medicine-after-skrmetti-a-call-for-accountability-at-northwestern/

Romm, Forest (May 8, 2025). Opinion: Romm: Where have all the women gone? The Daily Northwestern https://dailynorthwestern.com/2025/05/08/opinion/romm-where-have-all-the-women-gone/

Swenson, Samantha (July 9, 2025). Northwestern newspaper uses DEI leaders, transgender guide to edit opinion pieces. The College Fix https://www.thecollegefix.com/northwestern-newspaper-uses-dei-leaders-transgender-guide-to-edit-opinion-pieces/

Forest Romm in comments: “This is how at least two Northwestern students feel about the policy change: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5390101-gender-medicine-after-skrmetti-a-call-for-accountability-at-northwestern/amp/“

Media

Women’s Declaration International with Donna Hughes, Emma Jones, Katherine Kinney, and Forest Romm (December 15, 2025). The Effect of Pornography on Women’s Lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm5ofp9ud8E

Quillette with Zoe Booth narrating an article by Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman (November 3, 2025). We Need to Talk About Trans-Identified Kille r s | The Westman School Massacre Explained. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uQZvMi6Pjg

DIAG Democrats with Lisa Simeone, Kevin Waldman, and Forest Romm (October 31, 2025). Silent Dissent: What Students Really Think About Gender. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRQkFI7lm28

Western Standard with Leah Mushet, Kevin Waldman, and Forest Romm (August 21, 2025). Performative virtue signaling rewires your brain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV6exBXHaU0

Berklee College of Music with Forest Romm (November 9, 2020). Forest Romm – Roll the Dice (#BerkleeAnywhere Concert Series). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc-_Hxg9Ppg