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‘The Journal of Controversial Ideas’ vs. transgender people

The “gender critical” anti-transgender movement Reviewed May 31, 2026 10 min read

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The Journal of Controversial Ideas (JCI) is a publication founded in 2021 as part of the academic exploitation of sex and gender minorities.

A significant portion of its content involves attacks on the transgender community presented as “academic” debate. The editors are Jeff McMahan, Francesca Minerva, and Peter Singer. Their editorial board is comprised of a number of prominent anti-trans activists, including Alice Dreger, Jonathan Haidt, Holly Lawford-Smith, John H. McWhorter, Christina Hoff Sommers, Nadine Strossen, Rebecca Tuvel, and Thomas Chatterton Williams.

Several contributors are key figures in the “academic freedom” faction of anti-transgender activism, including Michael Biggs, Tomas Bogardus, Peter Boghossian, Alex Byrne, Jerry Coyne, Callie H. Burt, “J. Cohn,” Cordelia Fine, Moti Gorin, Lee Jussim, Daniel Kodsi, Holly Lawford-Smith, Glen Loury, John Maier, and John McWhorter.

Background

Journal of Controversial Ideas was founded by three philosophers who each received harsh criticism after publishing work on the ethics of child euthanasia. In 1979, Peter Singer argued in Practical Ethics that newborns are not yet “persons” in the full moral sense and could be ethically euthanized under certain conditions, such as significant disability. Jeff McMahan made similar arguments in the 2002 book Beginnings. In 2012, Francesca Minerva and Alberto Giubilini made similar arguments in a paper later published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.

In 2014, Minerva wrote an article titled “Why Publishing Pseudonymously Can Protect Academic Freedom.” Singer joined Minerva and McMahan in developing a project to that end, which they announced in late 2018. In 2019, Singer incorporated the nonprofit Foundation for Freedom of Thought and Discussion Inc. (EIN 83-4396765). The first issue of The Journal of Controversial Ideas was published on April 23, 2021.

Anti-trans focus

In a 2018 interview, editor Peter Singer explained why JCI gets so many anti-trans submissions:

There’s a lot of hostility about it.

So there are two things about a journal. One is, as I say, that we are prepared to publish controversial ideas that other places are not prepared to publish. The other is, we’re prepared to publish under a pseudonym if the authors don’t wish to be identified with the article. Roughly, I’d say about a third of the articles in each issue, authors prefer to publish under a pseudonym.

In the area of transgender studies, that’s because many academics have been severely abused and harassed and their lives made quite difficult if they have published things that were seen as transphobic, although I think that term is used far too broadly. We could simply say they were not accepting the idea that a person’s identification as a gender is necessarily the last word as to what their gender is.

Censorship in the Sciences special issue (2025)

In 2025, anti-transgender activists in academia and media participated in a conference called Censorship in the Sciences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Anti-trans presenters included J. Michael Bailey, Jerry Coyne, Meghan Daum, Diana Fleischman, Carole Hooven, Lee Jussim, Greg Lukianoff, Wilfred Reilly, Michael Shermer, and Jesse Singal.

The conference had two panels on trans topics:

In October 2025, JCI published a special issue related to the Censorship in the Sciences event.

People

Editors

Editorial board

  • Geoffrey Alderman
  • Gustaf Arrhenius
  • David Benatar
  • Paola Bergallo
  • Nigel Biggar
  • Susan Blackmore
  • April Bleske-Rechek
  • Johan Braeckman
  • Paula Casal
  • Sophie-Grace Chappell
  • J.M. Coetzee
  • Rebecca Cook
  • Thomas Cushman
  • Sir Partha Dasgupta
  • Angus Deaton
  • Bernard Dickens
  • Debora Diniz
  • Paul Dolan
  • Alice Dreger
  • Gerald Dworkin
  • Elisabeth Ellis
  • Jessica Flanigan
  • James Flynn*
  • Robert George
  • Jonathan Glover
  • Bashshar Haydar
  • Olle Häggström
  • Jonathan Haidt
  • Thomas Hurka
  • Douglas Husak
  • Godfrey Kangaude
  • Frances Kissling*
  • Claus Kress
  • Holly Lawford-Smith
  • Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek
  • John H. McWhorter
  • Karim Mattar
  • Reinhard Merkel
  • Erick Valdes Meza
  • Maurizio Mori
  • Freddy Mortier
  • Samuel Murumba
  • Philip Pettit
  • Robert Plomin
  • Janet Radcliffe-Richards
  • Alvin Roth
  • Bo Rothstein
  • Udo Schuklenk
  • Todd K. Shackelford
  • Tom Shakespeare
  • Christina Hoff Sommers
  • Allison Stanger
  • Nadine Strossen
  • Lawrence Summers
  • Torbjörn Tännsjö
  • Philip Tetlock
  • Andrew Timming
  • Michael Tooley
  • Rebecca Tuvel
  • Veronica Undurraga
  • Oriol T Valls
  • Eduard Verhagen
  • Thomas Chatterton Williams
  • Walter E. Williams*

note: * = no longer on board

Contributors

Those whose JCI articles are directly or tangentially related to sex and gender minorities include:

  • “Fira Bensto”
  • “J. Cohn”
  • “Maggie Heartsilver”
  • “Shuichi Tezuka”
  • “Brecht Vaerwaeter”
  • “K. Whittaker”
  • Michael Biggs
  • Susanna Flavia Boxall
  • Callie H. Burt
  • Alex Byrne
  • Spencer Case
  • Pamela L. Caughie
  • Becky Cox-White
  • James Dyer
  • Cordelia Fine
  • M. Oreste Fiocco
  • Yves Gingras
  • Raja Halwani
  • Mark Horowitz
  • Miroslav Imbrišević
  • Edward Jarvis
  • Daphna Joel
  • Daniel Kodsi
  • Holly Lawford-Smith
  • John Maier
  • Kate M. Phelan
  • Andre Leo Rusavuk
  • Emmanuel Smith
  • Uwe Steinhoff
  • John Turri
  • Michael Veber

One 2023 article on “merit in science” featured over two dozen authors, including many prominent anti-trans activists:

  • Dorian Abbot, University of Chicago
  • Andreas Bikfalvi, University of Bordeaux
  • April L. Bleske-Rechek, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
  • Walter Bodmer, University of Oxford
  • Peter Boghossian, University of Austin
  • Carlos M. Carvalho, University of Texas, Austin
  • Joseph Ciccolini, Aix Marseille University
  • Jerry Coyne, University of Chicago
  • Jürgen Gauss, University of Mainz
  • Pete M.W. Gill, University of Sydney
  • Svetlana Jitomirskaya, Georgia Tech/UC Irvine
  • Lee Jussim, Rutgers University
  • A.I. Krylov, University of Southern California
  • Glen Loury, Brown University
  • Luana S. Maroja, Williams College
  • John McWhorter, Columbia University
  • Sadredin Moosavi, Rochester Community Technical College (MN)
  • Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle, UCLA
  • J. Pearl, Michigan State University
  • Marisol A. Quintanilla-Tornel, University of Georgia
  • Henry F. Schaefer III, JustusLiebig University
  • P.R. Schreiner, Massey University, Auckland
  • Peter Schwerdtfeger, Heidelberg University/Monash University
  • Dan Shechtman, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology/Iowa State University
  • Mikhail Shifman, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
  • Jay Tanzman, Independent Statistician, Pasadena CA
  • Bernhardt L. Trout, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Arieh Warshel, University of Southern California
  • James D. West, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Selected articles in JCI

note: many of the digital object identifiers (DOIs) for JCI articles are inoperable. The URLs are therefore listed below.

Phelan, Kate M. (May 10, 2026). Feminism and Trans-Inclusionism: Enemies, Not Friends. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/321

Kodsi, Daniel; Maier, John (May 10, 2026). Should Sports Be Organized on the Basis of Sex? Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/320

Smith, Emmanuel; Rusavuk, Andre Leo (May 10, 2026). Treatment for Gender Transition & Parental Obligations. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/319

Byrne, Alex; Gorin, Moti (May 10, 2026). Trans Kids and “Making Up People.” Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/323

Dyer, James (May 10, 2026). Why the Transgender–Transracial Analogy Holds Up. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/324

Lawford-Smith, Holly (April 29, 2026). Is It Morally Wrong for Transwomen to Claim to Be Women? Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/6/1/317

Spencer, Jillian (November 11, 2025). Is Gender Affirming Care the Latest Example of the Politicisation of Psychiatry? Journal of Controversial Ideas, 5(3), 1. https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/5/3/297

“Cohn, J.” (October 27, 2025). Censorship of Essential Debate in Gender Medicine Research. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/5/2/298

Imbrišević, Miroslav (October 30, 2024). Trapped in the Trans Experience: What Mary Couldn’t Know. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/4/2/276

Bogardus, Tomas; Byrne, Alex (April 29, 2024). Ashley on Gender Identity1. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/4/1/268

Phelan, Kate M.; Lawford-Smith, Holly (October 31, 2023). Feminist Separatism Revisited. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/2/261

Halwani, Raja (October 31, 2023). Sex and Sexual Orientation, Gender and Sexual Preference. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/2/257

Caughie, Pamela L. (October 31, 2023). The Word That Dare Not Speak Its Name. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/2/252

“Cohn, J.” (April 28, 2023). Politics Aside, Healthcare Considerations Motivate More Caution before Medical Intervention for Trans-Identifying Youth. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/1/235

Boxall, Susanna Flavia; Cox-White, Becky (April 28, 2023). Sex Categories in Healthcare Contexts―A Consequentialist Analysis1 Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/1/234

Byrne, Alex (April 28, 2023). Pronoun Problems1. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/1/229

Joel, Daphna; Fine, Cordelia (October 31, 2022). Who Is a Woman: Sex, Gender and Policy Making. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/2/211

Case, Spencer (October 31, 2022). The Limits of Identity: Running Tuvel’s Argument the Other Way. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/2/205

Biggs, Michael (April 29, 2022). Queer Theory and the Transition from Sex to Gender in English Prisons. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/1/183

Jarvis, Edward (April 29, 2022). “Men” and “Women” in Everyday English. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/1/181

Byrne, Alex (April 29, 2022). The Female of the Species: Reply to Heartsilver. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/1/180

Burt, Callie H. (April 29, 2022). Discounting Females, Denying Sex, and Disregarding Dangers from Self-ID—A Reply and a Defense of Open Debate. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/1/179

Fiocco, M. Oreste (April 29, 2022). A Quandary of Wokeness. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/2/1/172

“Heartsilver, Maggie” (April 25, 2021). Deflating Byrne’s “Are Women Adult Human Females?” Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/1/1/129

Byrne, Alex (April 25, 2021). Gender Muddle: Reply to Dembroff. Journal of Controversial Ideas https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/1/1/136

References

Clarke, Peter (April 22, 2025). Has the “Journal of Controversial Ideas” Become Irrelevant? Merion West https://www.merionwest.com/has-the-journal-of-controversial-ideas-become-irrelevant/

Timsit, Annabelle; Wener-Fligner, Zach (July 20, 2022). The Journal of Controversial Ideas promises anonymity to academics with unpopular opinions. Quartz https://qz.com/1460071/the-journal-of-controversial-ideas-is-already-controversial

Blackford, Russell (December 3, 2021). Oh No, That’s Controversial! The Philosophers’ Magazine https://www.philosophersmag.com/essays/250-oh-no-that-s-controversial

Thompson, Jay Daniel (May 5, 2021). A journal of controversial ideas, or the same old culture wars? Overland https://overland.org.au/2021/05/a-journal-of-controversial-ideas-or-the-same-old-culture-wars/

Princeton University Center for Human Values (April 28, 2021). Peter Singer launches Journal of Controversial Ideas. https://uchv.princeton.edu/news/peter-singer-launches-journal-controversial-ideas [archive]

Kernohan David, (April 27, 2021). I read every paper in the first issue of the Journal of Controversial Ideas… and you’ll never believe what I found. Actually, you will, it’s mostly the same old contrarian stuff you always hear. Bit of a disappointment. Wonkhe https://wonkhe.com/blogs/i-read-every-paper-in-the-first-issue-of-the-journal-of-controversial-ideas/

Weinberg, Justin (April 23, 2021). Journal of Controversial Ideas Publishes Inaugural Issue. Daily Nous https://dailynous.com/2021/04/23/journal-of-controversial-ideas-publishes-inaugural-issue/

Lim, Woojin; Shin, Daniel (May 4, 2020). Courting Controversy. The Harvard Crimson https://www.thecrimson.com/column/the-conversation/article/2020/5/4/lim-shin-courting-controversy/

Eckstrand, Nathan (January 28, 2019). The Journal of Controversial Ideas: An Interview with Jeff McMahan and Francesca Minerva. The Blog of the American Philosophical Association https://blog.apaonline.org/2019/01/28/the-journal-of-controversial-ideas-an-interview-with-jeff-mcmahan-and-francesca-minerva/

Editorial (January 2019). A Journal of Controversial Ideas: Samizdat in Oxford. Philosophy. 94 (1): 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819118000499

Hendricks, Scotty (November 30, 2018). Is “The Journal of Controversial Ideas” dangerous? Big Think https://bigthink.com/the-present/journal-of-controversial-ideas/

Dang, Haixin; Habgood-Coote, Joshua (November 19, 2018). The Journal of Controversial Ideas: it’s academic freedom without responsibility, and that’s recklessness. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/the-journal-of-controversial-ideas-its-academic-freedom-without-responsibility-and-thats-recklessness-107106

Matthews, Dylan (November 19, 2018). The Journal of Controversial Ideas is already, well, controversial. Here’s a founder’s defense. Vox https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18101600/journal-of-controversial-ideas-censorship-politically-correct-academia

Cowen, Tyler (November 15, 2018). The Coming Controversy in Academia. Bloomberg Opinion https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-11-15/controversial-ideas-deserve-a-hearing-in-academia

Rosenbaum, Martin (November 12, 2018). Pseudonyms to protect authors of controversial articles. BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46146766

Anti-trans coverage

McDermott, Nancy (May 23, 2026). The Philosophers Have Weighed In — and It’s Glorious! Inspecting Gender https://genspect.substack.com/p/the-philosophers-have-weighed-in

Katz, Joshua T. (May 25, 2023). A Hearing for Heterodoxy: A journal dedicated to controversial ideas is of high quality but risks being ignored. City Journal https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-hearing-for-heterodoxy

Case, Spencer (April 28, 2021). The Journal of Controversial Ideas Is Here. Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/04/28/the-journal-of-controversial-ideas-is-here/

Whipple, Tom (April 24, 2021). Journal of Controversial Ideas dares to print the unsayable. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/journal-of-controversial-ideas-dares-to-print-the-unsayable-lrgvwp620

Anthony, Andrew (December 2, 2018). Do we need to hide who we are to speak freely in the era of identity politics? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/02/journal-of-controversial-ideas-jeff-mcmahan-peter-singer-francesca-minerva-identity-politics

Routledge, Clay; Campbell, Bradley (November 27, 2018). The Problem with the Journal of Controversial Ideas. Quillette https://quillette.com/2018/11/27/the-problem-with-the-journal-of-controversial-ideas/

Turner, Camilla (November 12, 2018). ‘Controversial ideas’ journal where academics can publish under pseudonyms for fear of backlash. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/11/12/controversial-ideas-journal-academics-can-publish-pseudonyms/

Bartlett, Tom (November 12, 2018). Here Comes ‘The Journal of Controversial Ideas.’ Cue the Outcry. The Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.chronicle.com/article/Here-Comes-The-Journal-of/245068

Flaherty, Colleen (November 12, 2018). A Very Controversial Idea. The Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/11/13/philosophers-will-launch-interdisciplinary-journal-allows-authors-publish-under

Media

FIRE / So to Speak with Nico Perrino and Peter Singer (August 4, 2020). ‘Journal of Controversial Ideas’ with Prof. Peter Singer. So to Speak / FIRE https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-journal-controversial-ideas-prof-peter-singer

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

RationalWiki (rationalwiki.org)

Journal of Controversial Ideas (journalofcontroversialideas.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

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