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“J. Cohn” / “Jay Cohn” vs. transgender people

“J. Cohn” is the name used by an anti-transgender activist who has published under the pseudonyms “J. Cohn” and “Jay Cohn.” Cohn is a member of anti-trans hate group Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine.

Cohn has been cited and published in a number of prominent anti-trans publications, including Journal of Controversial Ideas, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and the 2025 US HHS report attacking gender-affirming care.

Background

“J. Cohn” claims to have a Ph.D.

2022 HHS meeting

“J. Cohn” first appeared in 2022, registering as an attendee under that name at a teleconference SEGM arranged with HHS officials.

On April 25, 2022, Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine president William Malone arranged a teleconference with US Health & Human Services officials on healthcare for trans and gender diverse youth. Attendees included “J. Cohn.”

Also in 2022, Cohn published a response critical of gender-affirming endocrinologist Stephen Rosenthal that outlined five assumptions which Cohn considers unproven or false:

  • Gender identity, which underlies gender dysphoria, is a fundamental personal characteristic that is biologically “ingrained.”
  • The sharp rise in the number of youth presenting with gender dysphoria does not signal a true increase in cases—it’s merely better detection.
  • Medical interventions in gender-dysphoric minors have clear eligibility criteria.
  • Medical interventions for gender dysphoric minors have been demonstrated to be safe and effective.
  • Detransition does not represent medical harm and is rare.

2023 open letter criticizing the American Psychiatric Association

In 2023, anti-trans group Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism attacked the American Psychiatric Association for publishing the book Gender-Affirming Psychiatric Care. The open letter was signed by many key figures in anti-transgender extremism, including “J. Cohn.” 

2023 Jennifer Block praise

In 2023, anti-trans activist Jennifer Block was able to publish FUD propaganda about gender affirming care for minors in the BMJ. The publisher then killed the rest of Block’s project. “J. Cohn” submitted a rapid response supporting Block. “J. Cohn” cited the usual suspects in the response, including Stephen Levine, Zhenya Abbruzzese, Julia Mason, Michael Biggs, Alison Clayton, James Cantor, Gender Exploratory Therapy Association, Marcus Evans, and Sue Evans.

2024 WHO Decides petition

In 2024, “J. Cohn” signed the WHO Decides petition, which sought to stop the World Health Organization from convening a trans supportive guideline development group for a guideline on the health of trans and gender diverse people. Trans philosopher Florence Ashley left the group in the wake of the protests.

2024 Alex Byrne acknowledgement

In a letter published in anti-trans “academic” journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, anti-trans activist Alex Byrne wrote: “I am indebted to J. Cohn for very helpful correspondence that prompted this Letter, and to an anonymous referee, Leor Sapir, Jilles Smids, a researcher who prefers anonymity, and the Editor for comments and correspondence.”

2025 US HHS report

“J. Cohn” was cited in the 2025 US HHS report attacking gender-affirming care.

References

Staff (June 24, 2025). When Hate Groups Masquerade as Medical Research. People with Inconvenient Truths about Transphobes [PITT] https://pittpeople.substack.com/p/when-hate-groups-masquerade-as-medical

Lee JY, Rosenthal SM (2023). Gender-Affirming Care of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth: Current Concepts. Annual Review of Medicine, 74(1), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-043021-032007

Selected anti-trans writing by “J. Cohn”

“Cohn J,” McDeavitt K (2025). Debating the Evidence for Gender-Affirming Care. (2025). Psychiatric News, 60(7). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.07.7.23.a

Kirby J (2025). A multi-lens ethics analysis of gender-affirming care for youth with implications for practice and policy. The American Journal of Bioethics 25 (6):57–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2025.2497983

McDeavitt K, “Cohn J,” Levine SB (2025). Critiques of the Cass Review: Fact-Checking the Peer-Reviewed and Grey Literature. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 51(2), 175–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623x.2025.2455133

McDeavitt K, “Cohn J,” Kulatunga-Moruzi C (2025). Pediatric Gender Affirming Care is Not Evidence-based. Curr Sex Health Rep 17, 12 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-025-00404-w

Byrne A (2024). Another Myth of Persistence?. Arch Sex Behav 53, 3705–3709 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03005-1

“Cohn J” (2023). The Detransition Rate Is Unknown. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1937–1952. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02623-5

“Cohn J” (2023). Politics Aside, Healthcare Considerations Motivate More Caution before Medical Intervention for Trans-Identifying Youth Journal of Controversial Ideas, 3(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.35995/jci03010010

“Cohn J” (2023). Elaboration of some points in “The association of gender dysphoria with psychosis.” Psychiatry Research, 325, 115264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115264

Block J (2023). Gender dysphoria in young people is rising—and so is professional disagreement. BMJ, p382. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p382

Rosenthal SM (2021). Challenges in the care of transgender and gender-diverse youth: an endocrinologist’s view. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 17(10), 581–591. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-021-00535-9

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) (April 25, 2022). EO 12866 Meeting 0945-AA17. Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities https://mobile.reginfo.gov/public/do/viewEO12866Meeting?viewRule=true&rin=0945-AA17&meetingId=131923&acronym=0945-HHS/OCR

  • J. Cohn – SELF
  • Remarks HHS Meeting 2022 https://mobile.reginfo.gov/public/do/eoDownloadDocument?pubId=&eodoc=true&documentID=136692

note: This page previously connected this identity to someone with a similar name. This site regrets the error.