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Mark Regnerus vs. transgender people

Mark Regnerus is a conservative American sociologist and anti-transgender activist. Regnerus is a member of the anti-trans group Academic Freedom Alliance and has testified against trans healthcare for minors.

Background

Mark Daniel Regnerus was born on December 31, 1970 and grew up in McBain, Michigan. Regnerus earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity Christian College in 1993. Regnerus then attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a master’s degree in 1997 and a doctorate in 2000. Regnerus taught at Calvin College before taking a position at University of Texas at Austin in 2002.

In the 2010s, Regnerus surveyed more than 15,000 Americans aged 18–39 about their childhood family arrangements and later-life outcomes. The project received large grants from conservative organizations including the Witherspoon Institute, and later-released emails suggested funders had influence on aspects of the study.

The first major paper based on the data was published in July 2012 in the journal Social Science Research. Regnerus reported that adults who said a parent had been in a same-sex relationship were more likely to experience negative outcomes, including lower educational attainment, higher unemployment, and greater use of public assistance. In 2012, more than 150 scientists criticized the peer-review process. A journal audit later concluded that review failures occurred due to “ideology and inattention.”

Regnerus converted to Catholicism. Regnerus and spouse Deeann K. (Latal) Regnerus (born 1971) have three children.

Anti-trans activism

Regnerus was an expert witness in Brandt v. Griffin, the 2021 lawsuit challenging Arkansas Act 626 (the SAFE Act), a ban on trans healthcare for minors, The judge excluded Regnerus’ testimony over lack of relevant expertise.

US District Judge James M. Moody, Jr. commented on Regnerus’ qualifications in ruling that the Arkansas ban on trans youth healthcare was unconstitutional:

“The Court does not credit the testimony of Professor Regnerus and gives it no weight because the Court finds that he lacks the qualifications to offer his opinions and failed to support them.”

In 2022, Regnerus and Brad Vermurlen published a paper in anti-trans publication Archives of Sexual Behavior:

We used data from the 2018 Post-Midterm Election Study, a survey representative of adults in the USA ages 20 to 65 years (N = 5285), to examine the social factors associated with approval or disapproval of hormonal and/or surgical interventions for adolescents seeking medical treatment for gender dysphoria. Higher fertility, race/ethnicity (in this case, black), sex (male), and heterosexual self-identity were each robustly associated with disapproval.

References

Riso, Alana L.; Johnson, Matthew D. (June 26, 2025). 10 years after Obergefell, a discredited study lingers on same-sex marriage. The Hill https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/5369166-regnerus-study-ethics-concerns/

Leonard, Arthur S. (June 28, 2023). Judge strikes down Arkansas ban on affirming care for youth. Gay City News https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1909

Moody, James M. Jr. [judge] (June 20, 2023). Brandt v. Rutledge (2023) Case No. 4:21CV00450 JM https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-dis-crt-e-d-ark-cen-div/2293064.html

ACLU et al. (June 22, 2022). BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO EXCLUDE EXPERT TESTIMONY OF MARK REGNERUS. Case No. 4:21-CV-00450-JM https://files.eqcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/156-P-Brief-iso-Mtn-to-Exclude-Regnerus-Testimony.pdf

Cohen, Philip N. (June 21, 2023). UT-Austin sociologist Mark Regnerus, still not an expert, again has testimony thrown out by a federal judge. Family Inequality https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/2023/06/21/ut-austin-sociologist-mark-regnerus-still-not-an-expert-again-has-testimony-thrown-out-by-a-federal-judge/

Ellis, Dale; Wickline, Michael R. (November 29, 2022). Judge questions relevance of sociologist’s testimony in transgender ban trial. Arkansas Democrat Gazette https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/nov/29/judge-questions-relevance-of-sociologists-testimony-in-transgender-ban-trial/

Gelder, Austin (November 29, 2022). Arkansas calls controversial sociologist and former plastic surgeon to defend state’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. Arkansas Times https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2022/11/29/arkansas-calls-controversial-sociologist-and-former-plastic-surgeon-to-the-stand-to-defend-states-ban-on-gender-affirming-care-for-trans-youth

Parke, Cole (March 11, 2014). Profile on the Right: Mark Regnerus. Political Research Associates https://politicalresearch.org/2014/03/11/profile-right-mark-regnerus

Schlatter, Evelyn (March 4, 2014). Mark Regnerus, Author of Discredited Anti-LGBT Study, Testifies in Federal Court. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/mark-regnerus-author-discredited-anti-lgbt-study-testifies-federal-court/

Mekelburg, Madlin (February 27, 2014). College of Liberal Arts distances itself from sociology professor Mark Regnerus’ statements. The Daily Texan https://thedailytexan.com/2014/02/27/college-of-liberal-arts-distances-itself-from-sociology-professor-mark-regnerus/

Staff report (February 11, 2014). Mark Regnerus Using Discredited Research to Support Anti-Equality Efforts in Utah. HRC https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/mark-regnerus-using-discredited-research-to-support-anti-equality-efforts-i

Staff report (February 6, 2014). Mark Regnerus’ Junk Science under Scrutiny in Michigan Marriage Equality Case. HRC https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/mark-regnerus-junk-science-under-scrutiny-in-michigan-marriage-equality-cas?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Anderson, Eric (2013). The Need to Review Peer Review: The Regnerus Scandal as a Call to Action. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 17(3), 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2013.789459

Sherkat, D. E. (2012). The editorial process and politicized scholarship: Monday morning editorial quarterbacking and a call for scientific vigilance [Editorial]. Social Science Research, 41(6), 1346–1349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.08.007

Yurkiewicz, Ilana (June 16, 2012). Why Mark Regnerus study shouldn’t matter, even if it were the most scientifically robust study in the world. Scientific American https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/unofficial-prognosis/why-mark-regnerus-study-shouldnt-matter-even-if-it-were-the-most-scientifically-robust-study-in-the-world/

Redden, Molly (June 12, 2012). It’s Time for Mark Regnerus to Get Collectively Dumped. The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/article/104019/misogynys-favorite-social-scientist-why-mark-regnerus-still-respectable

Gates, G. J. and signatories (2012). Letter to the editors and advisory editors of Social Science Research. Social Science Research, 41(6), 1350–1351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.08.008 full tect PDF https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ssr-gates-letter.pdf

Staff report (February 24, 2012). Mark Regnerus’ Discredited Anti-Gay Study Front-and-Center as MI Marriage Equality Trial Begins. HRC https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/mark-regnerus-discredited-anti-gay-study-front-and-center-as-mi-marriage-eq

Anti-trans coverage

Steffan, Melissa (September 12, 2012). Mark Regnerus Cleared Of Misconduct in Research Involving Gay Parents. Christianity Today https://www.christianitytoday.com/2012/09/mark-regnerus-cleared-of-misconduct-in-research-involving/

Smith, Christian (July 23, 2012). An Academic Auto-da-FĂ©: A sociologist whose data find fault with same-sex relationships is savaged by the progressive orthodoxy. Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.chronicle.com/article/an-academic-auto-da-fe/

Selected writing by Regnerus

Regnerus, Mark (October 19, 2025). Why Same-Sex Marriage Momentum Failed to Launch a Transgender Revolution. Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2025/10/99216/

Regnerus, Mark (June 25, 2023). What the Surge in LGBTQ Self-Identity Means. Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/06/89539/

Regnerus, M., Vermurlen, B. (2022). Attitudes in the U.S. Toward Hormonal and/or Surgical Interventions for Adolescents Experiencing Gender Dysphoria. Archives of Sexual Behavior 51, 1891–1902. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02214-2

Regnerus, Mark (October 2021). The Rolling Revolution. First Things https://firstthings.com/the-rolling-revolution/

Regnerus, M. (July 9, 2021). Exhibit 2.Declaration of Mark Regnerus, Ph.D. â€” Document #45, Attachment #2 Brandt v. Griffin https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59935566/45/2/brandt-v-griffin/

Regnerus, Mark (April 11, 2021). Arkansas and the Politics of Experimenting on Children. Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2021/04/75212/

Regnerus, Mark (November 13, 2019). New Data Show “Gender-Affirming” Surgery Doesn’t Really Improve Mental Health. So Why Are the Study’s Authors Saying It Does? Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/11/58371/

Regnerus, Mark (September 18, 2019). Does ‘Conversion Therapy’ Hurt People Who Identify as Transgender? Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2019/09/57145/

Regnerus, Mark (December 2018). Queering Science. First Things https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/12/queering-science

Regnerus, M. (2012). Parental same-sex relationships, family instability, and subsequent life outcomes for adult children: Answering critics of the new family structures study with additional analyses. Social Science Research, 41(6), 1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.08.015

Regnerus, M. (2012). How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study. Social Science Research, 41(4), 752–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.03.009

Regnerus, Mark (February 25, 2011). Sex is cheap: Why young men have the upper hand in bed, even when they’re failing in life. Slate http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/02/sex_is_cheap.html

Media

The Austin Institute with Mark Regnerus (May 30, 2022). The Unsettled and Unsettling Science of Gender Identity with Professor Mark Regnerus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW1vetSl1rc

Psalm133 (May 23, 2022). Mark Regnerus: The Unsettled and Unsettling Science of Gender Identitiy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyFqhsLKr00

Resources

Trans Data Liibrary (transdatalibrary.org)

GLAAD Accountability Project (glaad.org/gap)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

University of Texas at Austin (utexas.edu)

Mark Regnerus (markregnerus.com)

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Family Structure Studies (familystructurestudies.com)

Public Discourse (thepublicdiscourse.com)

Austin institute (austin-institute.org)

Catholic Information Center (cicdc.org)

Institute for Family Studies (ifstudies.org)

Focus on the Family (focusonthefamily.com)

Salem Center for Policy (salemcenter.org)

Identity Project (identityproject.tv)

Slate (slate.com)

Crisis Magazine (crisismagazine.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)

The Federalist Society (fedsoc.org)

Home Renaissance Foundation (homerenaissancefoundation.org)

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