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Hacsi Horváth and transgender people

by Andrea James Reviewed September 26, 2026 12 min read

Hacsi Horváth is an American researcher and ex-transgender extremist. Horváth was a prolific and virulent anti-trans online troll in the 2010s.

Horváth has collaborated with a number of anti-trans groups and their members, including:

Horváth frequently promotes the disputed diseases “autogynephilia” and “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” described by SPLC researchers as “an enduring, viral argument in transphobic spaces.”

Background

George Hacsi Horváth was born on December 28, 1959 to Diana Healy Horvath (1939–1982). Horváth grew up in Bolinas, California in a chaotic and violent home environment with four siblings including Hermione, Trishna, and Alex. Alex stated “When I was 11 years old, my mother sold our home in Bolinas and took all of us (5 children at the time) to the island of Bali.” The Horváths later returned to the Bolinas area.

Horváth was reportedly placed in foster care several times. In June 2018, Horváth testified:

“I myself was in foster care. I grew up in the chaotic late 60s, early 70s. Things were pretty crazy. And we got put in foster care several times. Not for very long. A few weeks. But it was enough that I knew the anxiety and the feeling freaked out, am I ever going to see my mom? Am I going to see my friends, who have to live over in this town now. And you have no idea when you’re a kid what’s going on. You’re suddenly shifted into a new place and it’s confusing. Through my experiences in life with chaos and drugs all around and violent people, and violent men, and just being in that milieu, I sort of dissociated and had a kind of a fragmented self where I felt like I’m really a girl because I identify with my mom, and all these men are just violent idiots. So I had a secret kind of thing going there. And there in the foster home, too, I had that. What I’m saying is that kids in foster homes are kids in trouble quite often. They come from really difficult backgrounds, and it’s painful back home, and they still want to go there, because it’s familiar, and it’s not an easy thing. They might act out, they might come up with some kind of a coping thing, like “I’m transgender.” And it’s not to be forgotten that there’s a current epidemic going on of rapid onset gender dysphoria.”

Horváth graduated from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley 1976. Horváth has published poetry and was an associate editor of Whole Earth Review in the 1990s.

In 1993, Horváth, Sage Appel, Marcella Whitefield, and Neal Dry were arrested and charged with operating a major nationwide LSD distribution network that sold over one million doses of crystal LSD to undercover agents over a period of four years. Horváth received five years of probation but avoided a prison sentence.

Horváth earned a master’s degree from Sonoma State University in 1993 and a postgraduate certificate from University of Sheffield in health and social research methods in 2013.

Horváth was a Fellow and an adjunct lecturer in University of California San Francisco’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In a profile, Horváth stated:

“I am currently (2015-2016) working with UCSF’s Consortium for the Assessment of Prevention Economics (CAPE) on a range of systematic review projects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). I have often led and provided methodologic oversight on systematic review and other research synthesis activities commissioned to UCSF in HIV/AIDS guideline development projects for the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies. I have expertise in the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, which I have used extensively since 2008. I’m a member of the GRADE Working Group and have served on many occasions as a consultant to WHO guideline development teams. I also develop curricula and provide teaching and mentoring in systematic review and GRADE methodologies, scientific writing and other areas.”

Like many anti-trans activists, Horváth has an interest in the theories of Carl Jung. Horváth has also reported being a parent: “as a father myself…”

Horváth made a gender transition at around age 40 in 2000. Horváth reportedly took hormones and had an orchiectomy. In a post for 4thWaveNow, Horváth stated: “In 2013 I stopped taking estrogen for health reasons and very rapidly came back to my senses.”

After retiring from UCSF, Horváth moved to northern Wyoming and began using the name George Horváth again.

Horváth has used a number of names and handles, including

  • George Horváth
  • Tara Horváth
  • 99hh99hh
  • Angus
  • AWESOME CAT
  • bighornbasin
  • birdcatcher9
  • dontkillfrogs
  • gender_is_a_lie
  • givethemseeds
  • HH (and variants)
  • iforgetalready
  • northwestwinds

Ex-trans activism

Horváth was one of the most virulent anti-trans trolls of the 2010s. Horváth was suspended from many platforms for anti-trans activity. Horváth created several blogs, part of an anti-trans blog network that included GenderTrender by Linda Shanko, 4thWaveNow by Denise Caignon, Gender Identity Watch by Cathy Brennan, and The dirt from Dirt by Lynn Marie Baker. Several of Horváth’s blogs were ultimately suspended for posting private information about transgender people.

In October 2017, Horváth was reportedly consulting with American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) when Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) held a strategy meeting in Arizona led by ADF lawyers Gary S. McCaleb and Jeffrey Alan Shafer. Confirmed attendees included:

In a 2023 email leak by Elisa Shupe, Horváth was revealed to have been a participant with other anti-trans activists strategizing on how to attack trans healthcare academically and legislatively.

In 2018, Minnesota Family Council published The Ask Me First MN Parent Resource Guide in partnership with Family Policy Alliance. In 2019, anti-trans parent Emily Zinos helped develop a national version called Gender Resource Guide. The national version was produced in collaboration with anti-trans groups Family Policy Alliance, The Heritage Foundation, The Kelsey Coalition, Women’s Liberation Front, and Parents of ROGD Kids. Horváth endorse the publication.

In June 2018, Horváth testified in opposition to California Bill AB 2119. That bill was signed into law on September 14, 2018, making California the first state to explicitly guarantee transgender healthcare for youth in its foster care system.

In January 2019, Horváth participated in a panel at The Heritage Foundation with Ryan T. Anderson (moderator) and Women’s Liberation Front members Julia Beck, Jennifer Chavez, and Kara Dansky.

In 2019, Michael Laidlaw, William Malone, and Horváth “wrote a letter to Dr. Jerry Menikoff, the director of the Office of Human Research Protections at the Department of Health and Human Services, expressing his concerns with the grant, providing copies of that letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and NIH director Francis Collins. He received a response on May 23 from Dr. Diana Bianchi, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Development.” In a presentation, Laidlaw stated: “And in 2019, one of my colleagues, Dr. Will Malone, who’s also an endocrinologist, and my colleague Hacsi Horvath of epidemiology, wrote a letter to the Office of Human Resource Research Protections asking for a moratorium on this study because of all the things I mentioned earlier, which would clearly happen. We stated, ‘We contend that neither children, nor their parents, can meaningfully consent to permanent infertility or other potentially serious medical harms to treat a non-medical condition. We questioned whether these parents were fully informed of the health risks or the possibility of tragic regret.'”

On August 18, 2019, Horváth and Walt Heyer, [Elisa] Shupe, Linda Seiler, Billy Burleigh, Laura Perry, Jeffrey Johnston, Jeffrey McCall, and KathyGrace Duncan submitted an amicus brief for the defense in R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC. Transgender funeral director Aimee Stephens was fired after coming out, and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission filed suit against the funeral home. The case was combined with two similar suits brought by fired gay employees. On June 15, 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the plaintiffs.

In October 2019, Horváth was one of several anti-trans activists who replied to a paper on anti-trans conversion therapy and suicide by psychiatrist Jack Turban. Julia Mason also submitted, as did Richard Byng, William Malone, and David Curtis.

On August 8, 2020, Horváth presented at the “Can I Get a Witness” conference organized by “Joey Brite.”

In December 2020, Horváth did an interview with ex-trans activist Erin Brewer. In 2021, Horváth appeared in the anti-trans propaganda videos Dysphoric by Vaishnavi Sundar and Trans Mission by Kallie Fell and Jennifer Lahl.

References

Jones, Zinnia (May 17, 2023). The far-right law firm Alliance Defending Freedom offered a Florida anti-trans hate group $15,000 to “refute” the WPATH Standards of Care “for use in litigation.” Medium https://zinniajones.medium.com/the-far-right-law-firm-alliance-defending-freedom-offered-a-florida-anti-trans-hate-group-15-000-1e826248ea3

Greenesmith, Heron (February 20, 2019). Racism in Anti-Trans “Feminist” Activism. Political Research Associates https://politicalresearch.org/2019/02/20/racism-anti-trans-feminist-activism

Ring, Trudy (January 30, 2019). Anti-Trans Feminists Appear at Panel of Right-Wing Heritage Foundation. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2019/1/30/anti-trans-feminists-appear-panel-right-wing-heritage-foundation

Fitzsimons, Tim (January 29, 2019). Conservative group hosts anti-transgender panel of feminists ‘from the left.’ NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/conservative-group-hosts-anti-transgender-panel-feminists-left-n964246

Schwartz, Stephen (March 9, 1995). Suspect in LSD Distribution Ring Extradited to S.F. San Francisco Chronicle https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/suspect-in-lsd-distribution-ring-extradited-to-3041994.php

Rolland, David (January 11, 1996). Bolinas says goodbye to LSD defendant. Point Reyes Light https://www.ptreyeslight.com/stories/jan11/lsd.html [archive]

California Drug Policy Reform Coalition (July 20, 1993). CDPRC Protests Bolinas LSD Bust. https://wild-bohemian.com/bolinas.htm

Furillo, Andy (1993). No trust after LSD bust: Bolinas turns wary, resentful. McClatchy News Service [not archived]

Associated Press (July 2, 1993). 5 Held After 4-Year Investigation of Huge LSD Network. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-02-mn-9272-story.html

Anti-trans coverage

Bauwens, Jennifer (July 2023). Testimony on the Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care. Submission to the US House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing on “The Dangers and Due Process Violations of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children.” Horváth is cited in the FRC Issue Analysis No. IS20J04 (July 2021 ) “Do Not Sterilize Children.” Center for Family Studies at Family Research Council https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU10/20230727/116284/HHRG-118-JU10-Wstate-BauwensJ-20230727.pdf

Kearns, Madeleine (January 31, 2019). The Sinister Creep of Gender-Identity Ideology. National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/gender-identity-ideology-honest-inquiry-demonized/

Showalter, Brandon (January 29, 2019). To resist gender-transitioning of kids, be willing to lose friends, activists say. Christian Post https://www.christianpost.com/news/to-resist-gender-transitioning-of-kids-be-willing-to-lose-friends-activists-say.html

Lane, Bernard (November 1, 2019). Reason lost to suicide in trans debate. The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Finquirer%2Freason-lost-to-suicide-in-trans-debate%2Fnews-story%2Faf31e3357a4ec08f9a3e91227b3424bf&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-2-NOSCORE

Selected writing by Horváth

Horváth, Hacsi and signatories (June 25, 2026). Opinie: Onvrede met je geslacht kan komen én gaan [Opinion: Dissatisfaction with your gender can come and go]. Trouw https://www.trouw.nl/opinie/opinie-onvrede-met-je-geslacht-kan-komen-en-gaan~b212206e/

Horváth, Hacsi (July 17, 2020). Activist-driven transgender research methods are reckless and will lead to harms. Stop Transing Kids https://stoptransingkids.wordpress.com/2020/07/17/activist-driven-transgender-research-methods-are-reckless-and-will-lead-to-harms/ [comment on What We Know Project. (2018). What does the scholarly research say about the effect of gender transition on transgender well-being? Cornell University. https://whatweknow.inequality.cornell.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-well-being-of-transgender-people/ ]

Horváth, Hacsi (October 6, 2019). A deeply flawed analysis. Online reply to Turban, J. L., Beckwith, N., Reisner, S. L., & Keuroghlian, A. S. (2020). Association Between Recalled Exposure to Gender Identity Conversion Efforts and Psychological Distress and Suicide Attempts Among Transgender Adults. JAMA Psychiatry, 77(1), 68. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.2285

Horváth, Hacsi (February 1, 2019). There is no such thing as “trans.” Stop Transing Kids https://stoptransingkids.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/there-is-no-such-thing-as-trans/ alt url https://medium.com/@hacsi.horvath/there-is-no-such-thing-as-trans-cf4e5b02c64a [removed for violation of TOS]

Horváth, Hacsi (January 30, 2019). Ten things you’re not supposed to know about the transgender industry. Stop Transing Kids https://stoptransingkids.wordpress.com/2019/01/30/ten-things-youre-not-supposed-to-know-about-the-transgender-industry/ alt url https://medium.com/@hacsi.horvath/ten-things-youre-not-supposed-to-know-about-the-transgender-industry-a7e8e7f4bd8c [removed by Medium – archive]

Horváth, Hacsi (December 19, 2018). The Theatre of the Body: A detransitioned epidemiologist examines suicidality, affirmation, and transgender identity. 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2018/12/19/the-theatre-of-the-body-a-detransitioned-epidemiologist-examines-suicidality-affirmation-and-transgender-identity/

Horváth, Hacsi [as “hhorvath384”] (August, 29, 2018). This study is perfectly acceptable. Activists may have other motivations for trying to suppress it. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comment?id=10.1371/annotation/ee00ea47-78a9-4742-bf07-6d8981f18713 comment on Littman, L. (2018). Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs of a rapid onset of gender dysphoria. PLOS ONE, 13(8), e0202330. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202330

Horváth, Hacsi (August 28, 2018). Yet another wave of narcissistic rage sweeps through Transworld. Stop Transing Kids https://stoptransingkids.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/yet-another-wave-of-narcissistic-rage-sweeps-through-transworld/

Horváth, Hacsi [as “Angus”] (May 5, 2018). Detransitioned man blasts “transworld.” 4thWaveNow https://4thwavenow.com/2018/05/05/detransitioned-man-blasts-transworld/

Horváth, Hacsi (May 5, 1999). Yoga: Fitness from the inside out. WebMD via CNN https://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9905/05/fitness.inside.out/

Brief of Walt Heyer et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioner, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC, No. 18-107 (U.S. Aug. 23, 2019), https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-107/113528/20190824011904782_18-107%20Amicus%20Brief%20of%20Walt%20Heyer%20et%20al..pdf

Media criticism

Haberja Splains (November 3, 2019). 10 Reasons Hacsi Horvath is a Male TERF. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JjWoh3Qh9E

Media

The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network / Kallie Fell and Jennifer Lahl (June 16, 2021). Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUeqEoARKOA

Lime Soda Films / Vaishnavi Sundar (January 29, 2021). Dysphoric: Fleeing Womanhood Like a House on Fire.

  • Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8taOdnXD6o
  • Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3dbikSgvR4
  • Part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRePOJ5lbFI
  • Part 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVzodw938c4

Truth Is The New Hate Speech with Erin Brewer and Hacsi Horváth (December 11, 2020). Masquerading As A Woman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbCX8XgvBMI

Heritage Foundation with Hacsi Horváth (April 4, 2019). Former Transgender Activist: Transitioning Is Dangerous—Especially For Youth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJMMqREtQJc

California State Senate Standing Committee on Human Services (June 12, 2018). Bill AB 2119: Foster care: gender affirming health care and mental health care. https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/254959#t=167&f=df1df52f24d36707a7d320f2269fe83c

Resources

University of California San Francisco (ucsf.edu)

  • Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Hacsi Horvath, MA, Fellow
  • epibiostat.ucsf.edu/content/hacsi-horvath-ma
  • Tara Horvath
  • profiles.ucsf.edu/tara.horvath [archive]

WordPress (wordpress.com)

  • Transgender is Wrong
  • transgenderiswrong.wordpress.com [deleted – archive]
  • Northwest Winds
  • northwestwinds.wordpress.com [deleted – archive]
  • The Truth about AUTOGYNEPHILIA
  • autogynephiliatruth.wordpress.com [suspended – archive]

Blogspot (blogspot.com)

Northern Wyoming News (wyodaily.com)

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

  • Hacsi Horvath
  • scholar.google.com/citations?user=_D1ld-sAAAAJ&hl=en

ResearchGate (researchgate.net)

Medium (medium.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Vimeo (vimeo.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

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