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James Morandini vs. transgender people

James Morandini is an Australian psychologist and “autogynephilia” activist.

Do not go to Morandini for therapy of any kind. Instead look for supportive local resources where practitioners do not promote unscientific ideas like “autogynephilia” or “autoandrophilia.”

Background

James Simon Morandini earned a bachelor’s degree in 2009 from University of Newcastle and a doctorate from University of Sydney in 2016. Morandini is the founder and director of King Street Psychology, the largest private gender clinic in Australia. 

Morandini is the National Convener of the Australian Psychological Society Gender & Sexuality Interest group. Morandini is also a psychologist at The Gender Centre, founding a clinical psychology internship while there “to ensure the next generation of clinical psychs are trained in evidence based and culturally competent gender care.”

Anti-transgender activism

Morandini is an activist in the “autogynephilia” and “autoandrophilia” movements. These anti-trans sex-fueled mental illnesses were created in 1989 and are supported by a small group of activists from sexology’s conservative fringe. Morandini claims to be interested in “understanding and destigmatising trans women/non-binary femmes who experience autogynephilia/autoheterosexuality.”

At the 2023 Puzzles of Sexual Orientation meeting, Morandini presented research titled “Bisexual Phenomena Among Autogynephilic Men.”

In 2023 Morandini led an online panel of prominent “autogynephilia” activists, including Anne Lawrence, “Strawberry Lemonade Kristina,” Kevin Hsu, J. Michael Bailey, and “Phil Illy.”

2023 correspondence

On October 26, 2023, Morandini respectfully requested that this page be removed or revised. The reasons mentioned included Morandini’s therapeutic support for hundreds of gender diverse adolescents and supportive involvement in trans-led organizations. My response is below.

Thank you for your message. The term “autogynephilia” is transphobic in the same way “nymphomania” is misogynistic. The issue is not the phenomenon, but your reification of an idea that is at its core biased and thus unscientific.

It took feminist activists over a century to convince misogynistic and biased scientists to stop using the term “nymphomania” because it is unscientific. It has taken trans activists and scientist allies decades to convince transphobes to stop using the term “autogynephilia.” You are one of the last holdouts. 

I understand that some people have latched onto “autogynephile” as an identity the way some women latched onto “nymphomaniac” as an identity. “Autogynephilia” as a term appeals to a very specific type of person: neurodiverse, fixated on collecting and categorizing, socially isolated/eccentric, rigid thinking. That makes it very hard for them to let go of bad ideas, in the way it’s hard to convince believers that horoscopes or Myers-Briggs types are unscientific. It helps them make sense of the world, and they “see themselves” in the scheme.

Via Ekins and King (2012):

[Anne] Lawrence says that on reading Blanchardā€™s journal articles that she experienced the ā€˜kind of epiphany that trans people often feel when first coming across words and formulations that fit and work for themā€™ (Lawrence 1999a). Not only do they feel empowered to make sense of their predicament, but the formulations are proof to them that they are not alone.

People have invested their lives in this bad idea, and they succumb to the sunk cost fallacy rather than entertain the idea they might be mistaken about something so deeply important to them.

I know there is hope for someone like you. Even transphobic sexologists walked away from “erotic target location error” because of its obvious bias, replacing it with “identity inversion.” The issue is not the phenomenon, but the term. “Paraphilia” in general and “autogynephilia” in particular are based on a disease model that impedes scientific progress.

I have written extensively about value-neutral alternatives proposed by scientists and activists:

  • genderplay or gender play (used since middle 20th century)
  • crossdreaming (proposed by Jack Molay)
  • interest in feminization and interest in masculinization (proposed by Andrea James)
  • female embodiment fantasies and male embodiment fantasies (proposed by Julia Serano)
  • erotic femaling and erotic maling (proposed by Richard Ekins and Dave King)
  • Tiresian fantasies (proposed by Will Powers)

I have also written extensively about value-neutral terms used by these communities to describe themselves, like fujoshi and sissy. The issue is not the phenomenon, but the biased term you are using.

Science proceeds through definitional refinement, and activism is an important part of guiding science toward value-neutral terminology.

If you are interested in learning about the bleak future of “autogynephilia” and its proponents, I recommend Nymphomania: A History by Carol Groneman.

I have spoken at The Gender Centre and consider it an important resource. I hope for the sake of your career and legacy that you reconsider your allegiance to a transphobic cult within sexology and within the community of sex and gender minorities.

2025 “autogynephilia” meeting

In 2025, Morandini participated in a meeting with other key “autogynephilia” activists:

Selected writing by Morandini

Morandini, J.S., Hsu, K.J. & “Rudd, S.” (2025). Autogynephilia in Some Bisexual Cisgender Men. Archives of Sexual Behavior 54, 2991ā€“3004 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03166-7

Hsu, K.J., Morandini, J.S. & “Rudd, S.” (2025). Cut from the Same Cloth? Comparing the Sexuality of Male Cross-Dressers and Transfeminine Individuals Through the Conceptual Framework of Autogynephilia. Archives of Sexual Behavior 54, 2969ā€“2989 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03053-7

Morandini, James (June 18, 2024). Understanding gender dysphoria. ReachOut Australia https://au.reachout.com/identity/gender/understanding-gender-dysphoria

Morandini, J.S., Kelly, A., de Graaf, N.M., Malouf, P., Guerin, E., Dar-Nimrod i., & Carmichael, P. (2023). Is Social Gender Transition Associated with Mental Health Status in Children and Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria? Archives of Sexual Behavior 52, 1045ā€“1060 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02588-5

Morandini, J. S., Kelly, A., de Graaf, N. M., Carmichael, P., & Dar-Nimrod, I. (2021). Shifts in demographics and mental health co-morbidities among gender dysphoric youth referred to a specialist gender dysphoria service. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27(2), 480ā€“491. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591045211046813

Media

Better Thinking with Nesh Nikolic and James Morandini (March 26, 2026). Better ThinkingĀ #200Ā ā€“ Dr James Morandini on Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vvZbbLjAZU

Agree to Disagree About Gender with Laura Targownik, Yvette Nary, and James Morandini (February 25, 2026). Episode 8 – Destigmatizing Autogynephilia with Dr. James Morandini. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiJkGslk-zo

“Kristina Anj” with James Morandini (July 11, 2023). Transgender In A Blender: Episode 3 – Youth Is Not Wasted On The Young with James Morandini. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvNkGQCogs [deleted]

Gender & Sexuality Symposiums (August 25, 2023) ā€œBecoming what we loveā€ ETII Symposium: 25th August, 2023. https://vimeo.com/873801601 [later set to password protected]

Gender & Sexuality Symposiums with James Morandini (February 17, 2024). A Gender Affirming Approach to the Topic of Autogynephilia and Autogynephilic Gender Dysphoria. https://vimeo.com/914072332 [later set to password protected]

Gender Wars Podcast with Anne Lawrence and James Morandini (January 22, 2024). Dr. Anne Lawrence interviews Dr. Morandini: AGP Orientation & Gender Dysphoria, a Clinical Overview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40PaiUmIRf4

Resources

James Morandini (jamesmorandini.com)

King Street Psychology Clinic (kingstreetpsychologyclinic.com.au)

  • James Morandini
  • kingstreetpsychologyclinic.com.au/research/james-morandini

X/Twitter (x.com)

Reddit (reddit.com)

Australian Psychology Association (psychology.org.au)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com.au/)

  • James Morandini
  • https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=lJF4kmQAAAAJ&hl