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Katie Alcock vs. transgender people

Katie Alcock is a British psychologist and anti-transgender activist. Alcock was announced as a featured speaker on “Gender Constancy and Neurodiversity in Childhood” at the 2025 conference by anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Background

Katie J. Alcock earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Edinburgh in 1990 and a doctorate from University of Oxford in 1995.

From 2000 to 2003, Alcock was a lecurer at City University London. In 2004, Alcock began teaching at Lancaster University. In 2008, Alcock was a visiting scholar at UCSD, and in 2010 was a British Science Association media fellow at the BBC.

Anti-trans activism

Alcock and Helen Watts were expelled from Girlguiding in September 2018 for espusing gender critical beliefs. Following a 2022 lawsuit settlement, Alcock was allowed to rejoin.

In 2024, Alcock made a number of inaccurate posts on X about toilets The Sugarhouse at Lancaster University Student Union. LUSU Chief Executive, Misbah Ashraf, said: “It is completely unacceptable for a Lancaster academic to make such ill-founded statements as this. If she had contacted me I could have listed the many, many things we do to make Sugarhouse safe. Dr Alcock should delete her tweets and apologise to the students and staff who work so hard at Sugar every night.”

References

Staff report (February 9, 2024). LUSU Responds to Comments Made by Dr Katie Alcock. https://lancastersu.co.uk/articles/lusu-responds-to-comments-made-by-dr-katie-alcock

Staff report (April 19, 2022). Girlguiding settlement statement. Girlguiding https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/about-us/press-releases/girlguiding-settlement-statement/

UK Parliament (November, 22, 2023). Hormone Treatments for Children and Young People with Gender Dysphoria. https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pb-0055/

Coverage in anti-trans press

Siddique, Haroon (January 19, 2024). ‘A politically toxic issue’: the legal battles over gender-critical beliefs. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/19/a-politically-toxic-issue-the-legal-battles-over-gender-critical-beliefs

Hardy, Frances (April 28, 2022). I was an outcast, shunned like a criminal – just for wanting to keep my Girl Guides safe: We’ve all read stories of good people cancelled by woke warriors but Guide leader Katie Alcock’s ordeal will make you despair. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10765045/I-outcast-shunned-like-criminal-just-wanting-Girl-Guides-safe.html

Griffiths, Sian (April 24 2022). Girlguiding ‘tied itself in knots’ over trans rights. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/girlguiding-tied-itself-in-knots-over-trans-rights-kn89nx6xm

Corless, Blathnaid (April 24, 2022). Girlguiding should describe itself as mixed not single-sex as it welcomes trans members, says former leader. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/04/24/girlguiding-should-describe-mixed-not-single-sex-welcomes-trans/

Ames, Jonathan (April 21, 2022). Girlguiding leader sacked in trans row may rejoin. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/girlguiding-boss-sacked-in-trans-row-may-rejoin-cp96npkr8

Hussain, Danyal (April 21, 2022). Girlguiding leader who was sacked after objecting to policy allowing boys who identify as female to join may rejoin after reaching settlement with the organisation. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10738521/Girlguiding-leader-sacked-objecting-trans-policy-reaches-settlement.html

Staff report (April 19, 2022). Girlguiding settles gender-critical case. Sex Matters https://sex-matters.org/posts/single-sex-services/girlguiding-settles/

O’Dwyer, Garrett (March 6, 2020). Lancaster lecturer deemed ‘transphobic’ responds to student backlash. The Tab https://archive.thetab.com/uk/lancaster/2020/03/06/lancaster-lecturer-deemed-transphobic-responds-to-student-backlash-16723

Kirkup, James (August 6, 2019). The new trans orthodoxy is scaring even the most stalwart of organisations into silence. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/06/new-trans-orthodoxy-scaring-even-stalwart-organisations-silence/

Payne, Daniel (May 31, 2019). Professor warns: Children are particularly susceptible to transgender ideology. The College Fix https://www.thecollegefix.com/professor-warns-children-are-particularly-susceptible-to-transgender-ideology/

Selected anti-trans writing by Alcock

Alcock, Katie (May 4, 2022). Are people with autism also more likely to have gender dysphoria? Medium https://medium.com/@katieja/are-people-with-autism-also-more-likely-to-have-gender-dysphoria-32b5ed9beb4f

Alcock, Katie (Dec 18, 2019). But HOW CAN YOU TELL. Medium https://medium.com/@katieja/but-how-can-you-tell-7901324d0919

Alcock, Katie (Sep 30, 2019). A year ago I was removed from Girlguiding. Medium https://medium.com/@katieja/a-year-ago-i-was-removed-from-girlguiding-d72f0e9f9692

Alcock, Katie (May 29, 2019). Young children, reality, sex and gender. Medium https://medium.com/@katieja/young-children-reality-sex-and-gender-3421f4f165f1

Media

Woman’s Place UK with Gemma Moss, Victoria Smith, Stella O’Malley, and Katie Alcock (February 21, 2023). Education for Women’s Liberation, Panel 3: Katie Alcock (UCL, Conference 4 February 2023). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC2KPqM5hYs

The Mess We’re In with Graham Linehan, Helen Staniland, and “Arty Morty” (May 19, 2021). The Mess We’re In Ep. #53: Katie Alcock and Girlguiding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IexuJavKV_8

Resources

Lancaster University (lancaster.ac.uk)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

  • Katie Alcock
  • scholar.google.com/citations?user=5s8tS1oAAAAJ

Medium (medium.com)

LuCiD (lucid.ac.uk)

  • Katie Alcock
  • lucid.ac.uk/who-we-are/our-people/co-investigators/katie-alcock

Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (segm.org)