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Leighton Woodhouse is an American writer, filmmaker, and anti-transgender activist. Woodhouse is closely associated with anti-trans extremists Michael Shellenberger and Bari Weiss. Woodhouse is a co-founder of anti-trans Substack Public.

Background

Leighton Akio Woodhouse was born on February 3, 1975 and grew up in Berkeley, California. After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1993, Woodhouse earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 1997. Woodhouse earned a master’s degree from UC Berkeley in 2006.

As an adult, Woodhouse replaced the middle name Akio with Akira.

Woodhouse was a union organizer for SEIU United Healthcare Workers West. Woodhouse then worked at Brave New Films before becoming communications director for the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

Woodhouse led the voter mobilization group Driving Votes. Woodhouse has written for The Huffington Post and Calitics.

Woodhouse and spouse Carolina De La Paz Aparicio (born 1986) have one child (born 2020).

References

Woodhouse, Leighton (December 9, 2021). When the Crime Wave Hits Your Family. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/when-the-crime-wave-hits-your-family

Resources

Leighton Woodhouse (leightonwoodhouse.com)

  • 2015-2021 [archive]
  • since 2023 redirects to writemypaperhub.com

Dog Park Media (dogparkmedia.com) [archive]

Driving Votes (drivingvotes.org) [archive]

Substack (substack.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Tablet (tabletmag.com)

The Free Press (thefp.com)

The Intercept_ (theintercept.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Taylor Fogarty is an American anti-transgender extremist.

Fogarty was a scheduled participant in a 2017 panel that claimed transgender people are “a homophobic element introduced by the 1% to control homosexuality, reinstate male supremacy, and utilize gay children as fodder for scientific experimentation.”

Fogarty expressed anti-trans views in The Federalist, as well as on YouTube and Twitter (both of which have been deleted).

Background

Taylor Alanah Fogarty was born on October 14, 1993. Fogarty grew up in Richmond, Virginia and attended Virginia Commonwealth University and UnCollege.

Fogarty interned at Wonderland SF, Sarah Liller Design, TARA4BPD, and GoPop, and was an au pair for two months. Fogarty also worked at Zomato, Alice’s Arbor, and Randalls Barbecue.

Fogarty earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2023.

Sometime after deleting the virulently transphobic “loudlesbian” Twitter account, Fogarty reported being engaged to copywriter Tommy Preston. They had a child named Eloise Frances Preston in 2023.

Fogarty reports getting sober in 2019. Perhaps Fogarty will someday make amends for engaging in anti-trans extremism prior to sobriety.

Anti-trans activism

In 2017, left-wing conference Left Forum announced that Jane Wheeler (under the name Jane Chotard) would chair a June 4th panel titled “Misery for Profit: Who is Funding the Transgender Movement and the Impact on LGB.” The synopsis stated:

We will be showing that the immense funding funneled to the transgender movement is coming from giant pharmaceutical and biotechnology Industries and what their aim is. We will also be showing how the corporately controlled media is interfaced with these same Industries and are blocking any alternative to the pro-trans propaganda now being disseminated. We will be showing that the transgender movement is not in fact a civil rights issue, but a business arrangement and an advertising arm of these industries. We will cover the implications of this on the LGB community and show how transgender is a political coup, positioned as an ally alongside the LGB, but are actually a homophobic element introduced by the 1% to control homosexuality, reinstate male supremacy, and utilize gay children as fodder for scientific experimentation.

Left Forum, cited in Riedel (2017)

Participants and provided bios:

  • Jane Chotard: Chair and speaker
    • “Jane Chotard is an out lesbian for over 30 years, mother of two teenage boys, past healthcare attorney, currently works to provide better care services to patients and residents facing serious illnesses and end-of-life issues.”
  • Jennifer Bilek: Panel organizer and speaker
    • “Jennifer Bilek is a bisexual artist/activist/writer living in NYC for a lot longer than is probably healthy.”
  • Taylor Fogarty: Speaker
    • “Taylor Fogarty is a Brooklyn dwelling twenty-something year old who writes about feminism and politics.” Twitter: @theloudlesbian

The panel was canceled following protests. Fogarty complained about the cancellation in conservative publication The Federalist.

References

WRLN (August 3, 2017). Edition 16: The money behind the trans movement and impact on lesbians. Women’s Liberation Radio News https://womensliberationradionews.com/2017/08/03/edition-16-the-money-behind-the-trans-movement-and-impact-on-lesbians/

Fogarty, Taylor (October 11, 2017). What Two Former Trans Men Want You To Know About All The Lies. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/10/11/what-two-former-trans-men-want-you-to-know-about-all-the-lies/

Fogarty, Taylor (August 17, 2017). ‘Bad Feminist’ Author Tells Trans Advocate To ‘Slap’ Lesbian Woman. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/08/17/bad-feminist-author-tells-trans-advocate-slap-lesbian-woman/

Fogarty, Taylor (June 2, 2017). Left Forum Cancels Lesbian Panel Questioning Trans Advocacy Funding. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/06/02/left-forum-cancels-lesbian-panel-questioning-trans-advocacy-funding/

Fogarty, Taylor (May 2, 2017). Why Trans Activists Will Destroy Homosexual Rights. The Federalist https://thefederalist.com/2017/05/02/trans-activists-will-destroy-homosexual-rights/

Fogarty, Taylor (October 11, 2017). This Is The Journal Entry I Wrote When I Was Still In The Closet. Thought Catalog http://thoughtcatalog.com/taylor-fogarty/2015/08/this-is-the-journal-entry-i-wrote-when-i-was-still-in-the-closet/

Riedel, Sam (July 7, 2017). Why Trans Activists Can’t Trust The Left. The Establishment https://medium.com/the-establishment/why-trans-activists-cant-trust-the-left-3bfa22928ddd

Media

Magdalen Berns (Jun 27, 2017). A Chat About Dating ‘Preferences.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aedPEImJysw

Resources

Taylor Fogarty (taylorfogarty.com) [archive]

Taylor Fogarty (tayloredblog.com) [archive]

Twitter (twitter.com)

  • loudlesbian (deleted)

Tom Preston (tommypreston.com)

The Federalist (thefederalist.com)

Thought Catalog (thoughtcatalog.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Depop (depop.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

  • taylorfogarty (deleted)

Eva Kurilova is a Canadian anti-transgender activist. Kurilova identifies as a TERF and has been affiliated with anti-trans extremist groups Gays Against Groomers and LGB United. 

Background

Kurilova lives in Calgary, Alberta and earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Calgary in 2013.

Media

Benjamin Boyce (September 23, 2021). Honest to Goodness | with Eva Kurilova. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glbwLw-Y-1o

Resources

Eva Kurilova (evakurilova.com)

Substack (substack.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Arielle Scarcella is a conservative YouTuber and anti-transgender activist.

Scarcella is part of the trans-exclusionary lesbian movement and has been affiliated with anti-trans extremist group Gays Against Groomers. 

Background

Scarcella earned a bachelor’s degree from the Pratt Institute in 2008.

After graduating, Scarcella became a popular YouTuber. Around 2020, Scarcella began getting involved in anti-transgender activism.

Scarcella is just one voice in a growing movement defending homosexual rights. In the UK, coalitions like ‘Get the L Out‘ and Lesbian Alliance have been calling for lesbians to distance themselves from the monolithic, trans-centered LGBT movement. The LGB Alliance formed as a counter to the UK’s largest LGBT organization, Stonewall.

Macdonald (2020)

References

Stegmann, Elise (April 12, 2020). The Platform of a TERF: How Arielle Scarcella creates a trans exclusionary discourse on YouTube. diggit https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/platform-terf-how-arielle-scarcella-creates-trans-exclusionary-discourse-youtube

Macdonald, Jocelyn (February 28, 2020) Arielle Scarcella Has Left the Chat. After Ellen https://afterellen.com/arielle-scarcella-has-left-the-chat/

Resources

Project Toasty (projecttoasty.com) [archive]

YouTube (youtube.com)

Indiegogo (indiegogo.com)

  • indiegogo.com/projects/project-toasty–3#

Twitter (twitter.com)

Locals (locals.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Tumblr (tumblr.com)

  • projecttoasty.tumblr.com

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Jenny Poyer Ackerman is an American anti-transgender activist. Ackerman is the unsupportive parent of a gender diverse child and author at anti-trans Substack blogs TransMuted and Year Zero.

Background

Jennifer Carol “Jenny” Poyer was born on January 20, 1964 and is married to real estate and construction executive Randall R. “Randy” Ackerman (born 1962). They have three adult children.

Jenny Ackerman has an interior design business called Glad Pad Interiors and an accessories business called Alchemy Leather Goods. Both are based in Alamo, California.

Ackerman’s Etsy profile says: “I am an interior decorator working in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the course of my work, I have found myself with piles of leftover fabrics and leather hides which I began upcycling into one-of-a-kind handbags and pillows.”

Anti-transgender activism

Ackerman is a proponent of the disputed disease “rapid-onset gender dysphoria.”

Ackerman also contributed to a 2023 anti-transgender book by Women’s Declaration International.

References

Yang, Wesley; Ackerman, Jenny Poyer (October 7, 2023).What Did You Do During the Transgender Social Contagion? Year Zero https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/what-did-you-during-the-transgender

Staff report (February 28, 2001). Obituary: James B. Poyer. SFGate https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/James-B-Poyer-2947570.php

Ackerman, Jenny Poyer (2023). Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and Its Discontents. In Women’s Rights, Gender Wrongs: the global impact of gender-identity ideology, Cath Aiken and SallyWainwright, eds.

Resources

Substack (substack.com)

Etsy (etsy.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Gary L. Francione is an American animal rights activist and anti-transgender activist. Francione claims transgender people hold “metaphysical spiritual beliefs,” so “it is not ‘transphobic’ to refuse to embrace trans belief claims.”

Background

Gary Lawrence Francione was born in May 1954. Francione earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Rochester, followed by master’s and law degrees from University of Virginia.

After clerking for judge Albert Tate, Jr., and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Francione practiced at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

In 1984, Francione joined the faculty of University of Pennsylvania Law School, earning tenure in 1987. While there, Francione began teaching animal rights jurisprudence. In 1989, Francione took an appointment at Rutgers. In 1990, Francione co-founded the Rutgers Animal Rights Law Project with Anna Charlton, and it ran for about a decade. Francione developed the abolitionist theory of animal rights, which holds that the foundational right of animals is not to be property.

Anti-transgender activism

Francione is a sex segregationist who opposes restructuring social institutions to eliminate the remaining vestiges of sex segregation. Francione’s litany of anti-transgender complaints reveal a deep involvement in the anti-trans movement. Most of Francione’s complaints come down to “protection for women.”

In 2023, Francione posted an anti-trans manifesto on Medium, which promptly removed it it for being “content that may undermine the dignity and rights of transgender and/or non-binary individuals.” According to Francione, “I apparently violated the rules because I stated the fact that trans women are biological males.” Francione then reposted it on a personal blog.

Francione cites the work of other anti-trans activists, including Kathleen Stock, Holly Lawford-Smith, Helen Joyce, Colin Wright, Kenneth Zucker, Jo Bartosch, JK Rowling, Sonia Sodha, and Andrew Doyle. Francione also cites conservative trans people like Debbie Hayton.

Francione’s primary point is that the categories of “male” and “female” represent “biological reality.” Like many anti-trans people, Francione blames postmodernism for the current advances and refinements in thinking among biologists. Francione is especially anxious about advances in reproductive technology that threaten the sex segregationist worldview: “If you want to have offspring, you must find a member of the opposite sex.” Tell that to Dolly the Sheep. By the end of this century, the way people like Francione currently think about reproduction will be irrelevant.

Francione seems to be more annoyed and offended by transfeminine people than transmasculine people, attacking transgender athletes, transgender prisoners, “academic freedom,” and other anti-trans chestnuts. Francione finds the existence of same-gender loving trans people to be vexing and argues that refusing to date an entire group of people is not biased or prejudiced.

Francione is correct that single-occupancy toilets, changing rooms, and showering facilities for everyone are part of our movement’s goals.

References

Francione, Gary L. (August 2, 2023). The Trans Rights Issue: Equality Claims and Belief Claims. Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/the-trans-rights-issue-equality-claims-and-belief-claims/

  • Original banned post: https://gary-francione.medium.com/the-trans-rights-issue-equality-claims-and-belief-claims-6511da0c843c [archive]

Francione, Gary L. (August 2, 2023). The Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights. Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/about/the-six-principles-of-the-abolitionist-approach-to-animal-rights/

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Candice Horbacz is an American adult entertainer who performed as Eva Lovia. Horbacz frequently platforms conservative and anti-transgender guests.

Podcast

Horbacz has hosted Chatting with Candice since 2020. Conservative and anti-transgender guests include:

Resources

Eva Lovia (evasthings.com)

Chatting with Candice (chattingwithcandice.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

OnlyFans (onlyfans.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Laurence Fox is an English actor and conservative activist. Fox has made a number of provocative statements attacking sex and gender minorities.

Background

Laurence Paul Fox was born May 26, 1978.

Fox graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Fox appeared in several film and television roles, including The Hole, Gosford Park, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Lewis, and W.E.

Fox was married to Billie Piper from 2007 to 2016. They have two children.

Activism

Fox has disparaged the Progress Pride flag, sharing an image of it distorted into a swastika. Fox also set one on fire.

Fox has appeared on many conservative and anti-trans platforms, including Debra Soh’s podcast.

Resources

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Jonathan Chait is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Chait defended the New York Times and their decades of anti-trans coverage. Chait frequently promotes and logrolls for other anti-trans activists, including Jamie Reed, Hannah Barnes, and Jesse Singal.

Background

Jonathan Benjamin “Jon” Chait was born on May 1, 1972 to Illene Seidman Chait and David Chait.

Chait is a writer for New York since 2011, including their newsletter titled “&c.”

Chait’s spouse Robin Joy Bouckris Chait (born 1972) is a “school choice” activist.

Anti-transgender activism

Chait credulously repeats the claims of anti-trans friends, most notably former coworker Jesse Singal.

After anti-trans activist Jamie Reed began the process of getting trans healthcare criminalized in Missouri, Chait approvingly cited fawning articles about Reed.

Reed’s article went viral on social media, and was cited by numerous conservatives and transphobes as conclusive proof that too many kids are getting transition care. A couple of prominent liberals joined in as well. Matthew Yglesias cited it as credible on Twitter and Substack. “The picture she paints of the clinic’s treatment of children is ghastly. The affidavit she signed is even worse,” wrote Jonathan Chait at New York magazine. (It’s of a piece with an ongoing trend in liberal and centrist publications of writing anxious articles raising questions about youth transition care.)

Cooper (2023)

In Splice, Noah Berlatsky noted:

Chait has embraced the idea that trans children are able to access health care too easily. In a recent New York article, he told his readers of reports that young people were coming into trans health care clinics claiming to be rocks or mushrooms, and immediately being given hormones.

This raises questions. What hormones would you give a rock? Why would you use your platform to spew unconfirmed and nonsensical rumors? Chait’s claims were quickly debunked by local reporting in St. Louis. At which point Chait wandered onto Twitter to say he was updating his “Bayesian priors” and whine because people were mocking him for being a credulous and bigoted fool. […]

Reactionary centrists like Chait want to have it both ways. They want to oppose fascism without having to stand with marginalized people, who make them uncomfortable, or just seem less respectable than middle-aged white male pundits with sinecures at major magazines. Why can’t you fight fascism and deny trans people health care? “Both sides!” Chait bellows, as he bashes out a column warning of the dangers of the powerful governor of Florida and then turns around and bashes out a column about the dangers of human rights for a despised, marginalized minority.

Berlasky (2023)

Hanna Phifer noted in The Nation:

Jonathan Chait of New York’s The Intelligencer published a piece saying that the suggestion that the Times, or any publication for that matter, has any systemic influence, is “unhinged” and that the blame “lies first with politicians and the party that pass them.” But as the open letter pointed out, that is demonstratively untrue “As recently as February 8th, 2023, attorney David Begley’s invited testimony to the Nebraska state legislature in support of a similar bill approvingly cited the Times’ reporting and relied on its reputation as the ‘paper of record’ to justify criminalizing gender-affirming care.”

Phifer (2023)

References

Phifer, Hanna (February 23, 2023). I Signed the New York Times Open Letter. I Have More to Say. The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/society/new-york-times-open-letter-more-to-say/

Berlatsky, Noah (March 3, 2023). Jonathan Chait Tries to Be Both Anti-DeSantis and Anti-Trans. Splice Today https://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/jonathan-chait-tries-to-be-both-anti-desantis-and-anti-trans

Cooper, Ryan (March 2, 2023). The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic. The American Prospect https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-02-right-wing-transphobia-panic/

Urquhart, Evan (February 17, 2023) Jonathan Chait, Tavistock, and the Truth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jonathan-chait-tavistock-and-the-truth

Chait, Jonathan (February 17, 2023). Fight the Anti-Trans Backlash With Accountability, Not Silence. Intelligencer https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/02/nytimes-letter-trans-gender-youth-accountability.html

Jonathan, Chait; Singal, Jesse (November 16, 2016). How Alarmed Should American Jews Be Right Now? Two Jews Kibitz. New York Magazine https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/11/is-there-a-new-american-antisemitism.html

Media

Chait, Jonathan (2007). The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics. ISBN 978-0618685400

Chait, Jonathan (2017). Audacity: How Barack Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy that Will Prevail. ISBN 978-0062426970

Resources

New York Magazine (nymag.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Facebook (facebook.com)

James Esses is a British anti-transgender activist who was expelled from a university course for creating an anti-trans petition.

Esses is a founder of anti-trans trande group Thoughtful Therapists.

Background

Esses was a criminal defence barrister, later moving to civil service focused on criminal justice.

Esses was in a master’s program at Metanoia Institute. In 2021, Esses published an anti-trans petition to the UK government titled “Safeguard evidence-based therapy for children struggling with gender dysphoria.” This was in response to UK proposals to ban conversion therapies, including anti-transgender therapies.

Esses sued Metanoia after being expelled. Esses was represented by barrister Akua Reindorf and solicitor Peter Daly. Daly also represented anti-trans activists Maya Forstater, Allison Bailey, Raquel Rosario Sanchez, and Katie Alcock.

Declaration for Biological Reality

Esses promotes the anti-trans manifesto “Declaration for Biological Reality.” It is supported by numerous anti-trans organizations, including:

  • Bad Law Project
  • Critical Therapy Antidote
  • Don’t Divide Us
  • Evidence-Based Social Work Alliance (EBSWA)
  • Fair Cop
  • Family Education Trust
  • Genspect
  • HART
  • LGB Christians
  • Male Allies Challenging Sexism
  • New Culture Forum
  • Object!
  • Our Duty
  • Psychreg
  • Reclaim Party
  • Reduxx
  • Reform UK
  • ScotPAG
  • Scottish Feminist Network
  • Scottish Union For Education
  • Social Democratic Party
  • Thoughtful Therapists
  • UsForThem
  • Women’s Rights Network
  • WomenWon’tWheesht

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

Declaration for Biological Reality (declarationforbiologicalreality.org)

Thoughtful Therapists (thoughtfultherapists.org)