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Catriona Moore vs. transgender people

Catriona Moore is a Scots policy researcher and anti-transgender activist. Moore is an advisor to anti-trans group Sex Matters.

Background

Catriona Moore was born in June 1964. Moore earned a master’s degree from University of St Andrews in 1994, then attended Emory University until 1995. In 2002, Moore earned a master’s degree from Birkbeck, University of London.

Moore has worked as a policy researcher, advisor, and analyst for the Liberal Democrats, Parliamentary Information Unit, CancerBACUP (now part of Macmillan Cancer Support), Long-term Conditions Alliance (now National Voices), Commission for Social Care, Care Quality Commission, Social Care Institute for Excellence, The National Autistic Society, and the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA).

Moore is married to artist David Lyon (born 1958). In 2009, one of their children was diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a genetic neurodevelopmental issue, and Moore engaged in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) activism. Their child died in 2025.

In 2015, Moore and Lyon co-founded Iona Publishing Ltd, which does business as The English Art Co.

Anti-trans activism

“Sex matters because, while gender stereotypes should be challenged and overcome, biology is real and unchanging. Children and young people need to be told the truth about this, and supported to be the person they are in the body they have.

Feminists fought for years to liberate women from the tyranny of restrictive gender stereotypes, and to establish the right to physical spaces that protect our privacy and bodily autonomy. 

Privacy and autonomy matter to all of us – but these things are crucial for disabled women who rely on other people to help them with personal care and who are, as a result, extra vulnerable to abuse, particularly if they struggle to communicate. We need to be brave enough – and kind enough – to say this clearly.”

References

Staff report (December 20, 2024). Sex Matters’ advisory group is growing. Sex Matters https://sex-matters.org/posts/updates/sex-matters-advisory-group-is-growing/

Selected writing by Moore

Moore, Catriona (February 28, 2018). Partnering with clinicians to reverse Rett, my daughter’s rare disease. Special Needs Jungle https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/partnering-clinicians-reverse-rett-daughters-rare-disease/

Resources

Sex Matters (sex-matters.org)

  • Catriona Moore
  • ex-matters.org/about-us/advisory-group/catriona-moore

X/Twitter (x.com)

Davis Lyon Art (davidlyonart.co.uk)

The English Art Co. (theenglishartco.co.uk)

Special Needs Jungle (specialneedsjungle.com)

  • Catriona
  • specialneedsjungle.com/about-snj/our-columnists/about-catriona

Substack (substack.com)