The Human Biodiversity Institute was a project by conservative writer and anti-transgender activist Steve Sailer.
Anti-transgender activism
When J. Michael Bailey published the anti-transgender book The Man Who Would Be Queen in 2003, Sailer’s Human Biodiversity Institute member list was an important piece of evidence connecting Bailey and like-minded sexologists to the modern eugenics movement. Among the Human Biodiversity Institute members giving early promotion to Bailey’s book were:
- J. Michael Bailey
- Ray Blanchard
- Chris Brand
- Chandler Burr
- David Buss
- John Derbyshire
- Lee Ellis
- Simon LeVay
- Steven Pinker
- Steve Sailer
- Dan Seligman
- Ron Unz
Members
Full membership list as of 1999:
- Louis R. Andrews
- Rosalind Arden
- George Armelagos
- Michael Bailey
- Doug Bandow
- Jennifer Beamish
- Gary Becker
- Ray Blanchard
- Howard L. Bloom
- George Borjas
- Chris Brand
- Peter Brimelow
- Amby Burfoot
- Chandler Burr
- David M. Buss
- William Calvin
- Gregory M. Cochran
- Daniel C. Dennett
- John Derbyshire
- Lee Ellis
- Jon Entine
- James Fallows
- Tom Farrey
- Peter Frost
- Francis Fukuyama
- David Gelernter
- James Guest
- William D. Hamilton
- Henry Harpending
- Lawrence Harrison
- Natasha Hassan
- Patti Hausman
- James J. Heckman
- Anthony Hilton
- Ken Hirsch
- Ralph L. Holloway
- Arthur Hu
- Carol Iannone
- Ken Jacobs
- Marek Kohn
- Paul Krugman
- Hugo Kugiya
- Steven E. Landsburg
- Kathryn Jean Lopez
- Kevin MacDonald
- Kate MacKay
- John H. Manners
- Jonathan Marks
- William C. Martin
- John McCarthy
- Frank Miele
- Ed Miller
- John J. Miller
- Charles Murray
- Tim Noakes
- Helmuth Nyborg
- Walter Olson
- John O’Sullivan
- Steven Pinker
- Ian Pitchford
- Daniel D. Polsby
- Virginia Postrel
- John Relethford
- Richard W. Rodgerson
- David Rowe
- J.P. Rushton
- Steve Sailer
- Frank Salter
- Vincent Sarich
- Dan Seligman
- Jeremy G. Taylor
- Steven D. Tripp
- Ron K. Unz
- Pierre Van den Berghe
- Ben J. Wattenberg
- Glayde Whitney
References
Beirich H, Moser B (December 31, 2003) Queer Science: A group of scientists and journalists tries to turn back the clock on sex, gender and race using eugenics and controversial genetic theories. SPLC Intelligence Report https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2003/northwestern-university-psychology-professor-j-michael-bailey-looks-queer-science
Sailer, Steve (2005). “I’m […] the founder of the Human Biodiversity Institute, which runs the invitation-only Human Biodiversity discussion group for top scientists and public intellectuals.” isteve.com
Hermansson, Patrik; Lawrence, David; Mulhall, Joe; Murdoch, Simon (2020). For Whom the Bell Curves: The alt-right and pseudoscientific racism. The International Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century? Routledge. ISBN 978-0429032486.
Phillips, Jon (28 May 2014). Troublesome Sources: Nicholas Wade’s Embrace of Scientific Racism. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2014/05/28/troublesome-sources-nicholas-wade%E2%80%99s-embrace-scientific-racism
Hatewatch Staff (4 June 2018). In letter to Amazon, Alliance Defending Freedom cited white nationalist writer who once promoted ‘gay germ’ theory. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/06/04/letter-amazon-alliance-defending-freedom-cited-white-nationalist-writer-who-once-promoted
Feldman, Ari (5 August 2016). Human Biodiversity: The Pseudoscientific Racism of the Alt-Right. Forward. https://forward.com/opinion/346533/human-biodiversity-the-pseudoscientific-racism-of-the-alt-right/
Panofsky, Aaron; Dasgupta, Kushan; Iturriaga, Nicole (June 2021). “How White nationalists mobilize genetics: From genetic ancestry and human biodiversity to counterscience and metapolitics”. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 175 (2): 387–398. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24150.
Hawley, George (2017). Making Sense of the Alt-Right. Columbia University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0231185134.
Evans, Gavin (2 March 2018). The unwelcome revival of ‘race science’. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/02/the-unwelcome-revival-of-race-science
Hemmer, Nicole (28 March 2017). ‘Scientific racism’ is on the rise on the right. But it’s been lurking there for years. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/3/28/15078400/scientific-racism-murray-alt-right-black-muslim-culture-trump
Hultgren, John (2015). Naturalizing Nativism. Border Walls Gone Green: Nature and Anti-immigrant Politics in America University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1452945699.
Holthouse, David (25 August 2008). Extremist Steve Sailer is Source for CNN’s ‘Black in America’ Series. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2008/07/25/extremist-steve-sailer-source-cnns-black-america-series
Hayes, Richard (Spring 2001). The Quiet Campaign for Genetically Engineered Humans. Earth Island Journal. 16 (1). https://fbaum.unc.edu/lobby/_107th/121_Human_Cloning/Organizational_Statements/CGS/CGS_Quiet_Campaign_01.htm
Donovan, Joan; Dreyfuss, Emily; Friedberg, Brian (2022). Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-1635578638.
Alt-right. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alt-right
White Nationalist. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/white-nationalist
Alt Right: A Primer on the New White Supremacy. Anti-Defamation League. 10 February 2016. https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/alt-right-a-primer-on-the-new-white-supremacy
MacDougal, Park; Willick, Jason (30 April 2017). The Man Who Invented Identity Politics for the New Right. New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/04/steve-sailer-invented-identity-politics-for-the-alt-right.html
Fielitz, Maik; Thurston, Nick (2019). Post-Digital Cultures of the Far Right: Online Actions and Offline Consequences in Europe and the US. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. p. 29. ISBN 978-3837646702.
Richards, Imogen; Jones, Callum (2021). Quillette, classical liberalism, and the international New Right. Contemporary Far-Right Thinkers and the Future of Liberal Democracy. London: Routledge. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-1003105176.
Marantz, Andrew (2019). Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 121. ISBN 978-0525522287.
Saini, Angela. “Human Biodiversity: How race was rebranded for the twenty-first century”. Superior: The Return of Race Science. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. pp. 87–92. ISBN 978-0807076910.
Dreger, Alice (June 2008). The controversy surrounding “The man who would be queen”: a case history of the politics of science, identity, and sex in the Internet age. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 37 (3): 366–421. doi:10.1007/s10508-007-9301-1.
Ordover, Nancy (2003). American Eugenics: Race, Queer Anatomy, and the Science of Nationalism. University of Minnesota Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0816635580.
Sailer, Steve (March 2003). iSteve.com Exclusives Archive: March 2003. iSteve.com. http://isteve.com/Web%20Exclusives%20Archive-Mar2003.htm
Hatewatch Staff (7 April 2016). Anti-LGBT Hate Group Releases Anti-Trans Position Statement. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/04/07/anti-lgbt-hate-group-releases-anti-trans-position-statement
Hatewatch Staff (15 May 2018). 10 things you need to know about Tony Perkins and the Family Research Council. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/05/15/10-things-you-need-know-about-tony-perkins-and-family-research-council
Ashley, Florence (10 August 2020). A critical commentary on ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria’. The Sociological Review. 68 (4): 779–799. doi:10.1177/0038026120934693
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Human Biodiversity Institute (humanbiodiversity.org) [archive]
Steve Sailer (members.aol.com/steveslr) [archive]
Steve Sailer (isteve.com) [archive]