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Mia Hughes / “Mia Ashton” vs. transgender people

Mia Hughes, aka “Mia Ashton” and “Mia Sedley,” is a Canada-based British writer and anti-transgender extremist.

Hughes is associated with anti-trans group Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) and is closely associated with American anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. Hughes is key author of The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece funded by Environmental Progress featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members. Hughes is associated with anti-trans hate group Genspect as Director of Genspect Canada and is a Senior Fellow at Canada’s conservative Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Hughes co-hosts anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Genspect founder Stella O’Malley.

Background

Hughes is from Cheshire, a rural county south of Liverpool and Manchester.

Hughes taught in Taiwan for almost ten years after college. Hughes met a Canadian citizen there, and they married there and had their first child there. Hughes and spouse moved to Ottawa in around 2011 and now have three children. Hughes was a stay-at-home parent who began homeschooling their children: “I got to spend a precious decade with my children while they were young.”

Hughes has published under several names, including:

  • “Mia Sedley”
  • “Mia Ashton”
  • “Mia Hughes”

Hughes has written for anti-trans publications The Post Millennial, The Critic, Lesbian and Gay News, Environmental Progress, and Gender Dissent.

Anti-transgender activism

Hughes was radicalized by a tweet by J.K. Rowling on December 19, 2019 that supported anti-trans activist Maya Forstater:

Hughes stated in 2022:

There were signs that I wasn’t truly woke, and then it was a very rapid change from the tweet, JK’s tweet. I read it and I just couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. And I even asked woke friends, I went into it on Facebook: “I don’t see what the fuss is about.” And that was the first time that I experienced something of a pile-on, where they were all calling her a TERF and trying to show me why it was hateful, and I just couldn’t see why it was hateful at all. And so I plunged down a rabbit hole that possibly I wish I’d never gone down. Then I emerged as a fully fledged TERF. I was outraged about what I had learned and just started tweeting about it.

“Ashton” (2022)

Hughes was soon suspended by Twitter for anti-transgender posts, then created a new ban evasion account.

Hughes writes for anti-trans extremist Michael Shellenberger. A profile at the non-profit Environmental Progress stated Hughes focused on “the controversy of pediatric medical transition and how trans rights collide with the rights of women and the LGB community.” Shellenberger retained Hughes to write at the for-profit Substack and podcast called Public. Hughes has contributed the majority of anti-trans content there. Hughes continues to do anti-trans work under the aegis of Environmental Progress, including The WPATH Files, a 2024 propaganda piece featuring Hughes’ distorted explanations of non-public communication by WPATH members.

Maëlys McArdle profiled Hughes in 2023:

Mia is a founding member of caWsbar, an advocacy group focused on one issue: denying trans people rights. It was part of a wave of anti-trans organizations using the sex-based rights dog whistle. She along with a local group of bigots are linked to multiple transphobic incidents in Ottawa, which I’ve previously covered here, here, here, and here.

Mia Ashton participated in the mob along with National Post columnist Rupa Subramanya and another active member of that local group, @MrsDrBee on Twitter.

McArdle (2023)

Beyond Gender

In 2025, Hughes launched the anti-trans podcast Beyond Gender with Stella O’Malley and Bret Alderman.

References

Lourenco, Denio (August 13, 2025). This Canadian think tank is claiming ‘victory’ over anti-trans legislation: The Macdonald-Laurier Institute routinely publishes material targeting trans rights. Xtra* https://xtramagazine.com/power/politics/macdonald-laurier-institute-think-tank-policy-trans-275781

Gingerich, Mia (April 3, 2024). San Fransicko author Michael Shellenberger laid out a plan to attack the scientific consensus behind gender-affirming care. Some mainstream outlets took the bait. Media Matters https://www.mediamatters.org/sinclair-broadcast-group/san-fransicko-author-michael-shellenberger-laid-out-plan-attack-scientific

Urquhart, Evan (March 5, 2024). Actually Nothing: The Non-Starter Non-Story of the WPATH Files. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/wpath-nothingburger-waste-of-time

McArdle, Maëlys (June 11, 2023). Anti-trans mob in Ottawa. https://www.maelys.bio/2023/06/anti-trans-mob-in-ottawa/

Kelleher, Patrick (Mar 28 2022). Gender-critical outlet Lesbian and Gay News shuts down due to lack of support and advertising. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/03/28/lesbian-gay-news-shut-down-david-bridle/

Coverage in anti-trans press

Levy, Sue-Ann (April 25, 2022). Women’s rights activist warns gender dysphoria has become an epidemic. True North https://tnc.news/2022/04/25/levy-womens-rights-activist-warns-gender-dysphoria-has-become-an-epidemic/

Linehan, Graham (April 24, 2022). One woman’s guide to peaking the wokest of the woke. https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/one-womans-guide-to-peaking-the-wokest

Selected anti-trans writing by Hughes

Hughes, Mia (July 7, 2025). Mia Hughes: Alberta judge relies on myth that gender drugs are lifesaving. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-alberta-judge-relies-on-myth-that-gender-drugs-are-lifesaving

Hughes, Mia (June 6, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canadian Medical Association wants to force Alberta to ignore science on gender care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadian-medical-association-wants-to-force-alberta-to-ignore-science-on-gender-care

Hughes, Mia (May 19, 2025). Mia Hughes: Nova Scotia ignores growing evidence against youth gender affirming care. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-nova-scotia-ignores-growing-evidence-against-youth-gender-affirming-care

Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada must launch review of paediatric gender clinic practices. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canada-must-launch-review-of-paediatric-gender-clinic-practices

Hughes, Mia (April 24, 2025). Mia Hughes: Canada’s courts must protect women’s sex-based rights, like the U.K. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/mia-hughes-canadas-courts-must-protect-womens-sex-based-rights-like-the-u-k

Hughes, Mia (April 18, 2025). HUGHES: Canadian Paediatric Society’s journal follows gender ideology and ignores the science. Toronto Sun https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hughes-canadian-paediatric-societys-journal-follows-gender-ideology-and-ignores-the-science

Hughes, Mia (March 18, 2025). How gender activists stole the media, distorted medicine, and hurt Canadian kids. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/how-gender-activists-stole-the-media-distorted-medicine-and-hurt-canadian-kids-mia-hughes-for-inside-policy/

Hughes, Mia (February 17, 2025). Mia Hughes: Kids deserve more than slogans when it comes to gender medicine. National Post https://nationalpost.com/opinion/kids-deserve-more-than-slogans-when-it-comes-to-gender-medicine

Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (January 27, 2025). Canada must follow the Brits—and the science—and ban puberty blockers. The Hub https://thehub.ca/2025/01/27/mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-canada-must-follow-the-brits-and-the-science-and-ban-puberty-blockers/

Hughes, Mia; Copeland, Peter (December 10, 2024). Prison-onset gender dysphoria – a new low for women’s dignity: Mia Hughes and Peter Copeland for Inside Policy. Inside Policy https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/prison-onset-dysphoria-a-new-low-for-womens-dignity-mia-hughes-and-peter-copeland-for-inside-policy/

Hughes, Mia (March 4, 2024). The WPATH Files. Environmental Progress https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/wpath-files

Media

Genspect (January 29, 2025). There is no such thing as a transgender child. – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VCg-VKwoZRs

The Epoch Times (November 4, 2024). Leaked Files Reveal Trans Medicine Harms: Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IZLTTtO1EU

Genspect (November 2, 2024). How Misguided Diagnoses Fuel Irreversible Harm – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBLFvzDZAU8

Stanford Classical Liberalism Initiative (October 24, 2024) Classical Liberalism Seminar – Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_JZXzocqd8

Andrew Gold (May 19, 2024). 410. Is Transgender A Mental Illness? – Mia Hughes. On the Edge with Andrew Gold https://www.patreon.com/posts/is-transgender-104543977

Stephanie Winn (Some Kind of Therapist) (April 29, 2024). 107. Exposing Gender Malpractice: Mia Hughes on the WPATH Files, Medical Ethics, & Informed Consent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebkVt5GDIU

Macdonald-Laurier Institute with Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes (April 25, 2024). How a trans activist group undermined medical science / Aaron Wudrick and Mia Hughes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CjBc3102g

Gender: A Wider Lens (March 23, 2024). Premium: How Has WPATH Responded to the Leaked Files?

Gender: A Wider Lens (March 21, 2024). “WPATH Has No Respect for Medical Ethics” with Mia Hughes | Episode 156. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikM6ziYLb4c

Meghan Daum and Sarah Haider (March 10, 2024). Activists in Charge: Major Disregard for Ethics at Transgender Health Authority Revealed. A Special Place in Hell https://aspecialplace.substack.com/p/activists-in-charge-major-disregard

Resources

X/Twitter (x.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Lesbian and Gay News (lesbianandgaynews.com) [archive]

Human Events (humanevents.com)

National Post (nationalpost.com)

  • Mia Hughes
  • nationalpost.com/search/?search_text=%22mia+hughes%22

The Post Millennial (thepostmillennial.com)

  • Mia Ashton
  • thepostmillennial.com/author/mia-ashton

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)

  • Mia Ashton [Mia Sedley]
  • thecritic.co.uk/author/mia-sedley

Macdonald-Laurier Institute (macdonaldlaurier.ca)

  • Mia Hughes
  • macdonaldlaurier.ca/cm-expert/mia-hughes