Cathy “Bug” Brennan is an American lawyer and anti-transgender extremist. Brennan is a prominent and strident member of the movement’s gender critical faction.
In a 2011 letter to the United Nations, Brennan argued against certain legal protections based on gender identity and expression, claiming that “the proliferation of legislation designed to protect ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ undermines legal protections for females vis-Ă -vis sex segregated spaces.”
Brennan claims that eschewing the term lesbian for more inclusive alternatives is “catering” to trans people that will lead to “lesbian annihilation.”
Background
Catherine Margaret “Cathy” Brennan was born in The Bronx, New York on December 30, 1970 and lived there until 1976. Brennan graduated from Pine Bush High School in Pine Bush, New York in 1988. Brennan then earned a bachelor’s degree in 1992 from Fordham University, followed by a law degree from University at Buffalo in 1995. Brennan is admitted to practice law in Maryland (1996), New York (1996), Pennsylvania (2006), and Oregon (2017).
After briefly working as a reporter at Baltimore’s The Daily Record, Brennan then held advocacy and enforcement roles at Bar Association of Baltimore, The Women’s Law Center of Maryland, Advocates for Children and Youth, and the City of Baltimore. Since 2004 Brennan has worked at Hudson Cook LLP, becoming a partner in 2008.
Anti-transgender activism
In 2011, Brennan and Elizabeth Hungerford sent a letter to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women with their concerns about legal protections based on gender identity and expression, claiming such protections undermine legal protections based on sex.
Brennan became infamous in the mid-2010s for anti-trans trolling and verbal abuse on social media, particularly on Tumblr and Twitter. Brennan ran a site called Gender Identity Watch that documented trans people and their supporters, usually in disparaging terms. The anti-trans site was eventually suspended by WordPress for violations of their terms of use.
Brennan also allegedly contacted the Canadian caregivers of Emily Horsman (suspended user derpemily on Twitter) to complain about Horsman’s online activity.
The tone and tactics used, which included contacting people’s employers and doctors, made Brennan the most notorious trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) of the time:
The chief TERF figurehead is a Maryland attorney named Catherine Brennan who once served as a liaison on the American Bar Associationâs Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. In July of 2012, a petition circulated to have Brennan removed from that position because, to put it mildly, she flatly rejected the âGender Identityâ half of her job description.
Apart from a sordid internet history of harassing, misgendering, and mocking trans* people, Brennan co-authored a letter with Elizabeth Hungerford to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to argue against â yes, against â legal protections based on âgender identity or expression.â In so doing, Brennan has effectively allied herself with those on the Right who viciously deter trans* folksâ attempts to secure employment, housing and safe public spaces.
Since vacating the American Bar Association liaison position, Brennan has continued to spread her anti-trans* viewpoints at the annual Radfem conference.
Brennan was also involved in Radfem Hub, a group blog and forum with a substantial anti-trans focus. In 2011, a Radfem Hub contributor named “Agent Orange” was revealed to be a men’s rights activist named James Huff. Huff then released a data dump from their forum that had a significant impact on members.
Brennan was involved in organizing the annual Radfem Conference. As the group began to have a harder time operating, including last-minute cancellation of their 2013 conference venue, Brennan made a legal claim to the Radfem Hub site. The content was then archived at other domains.
As of 2018, Brennan was no longer interested in running the Gender Identity Watch website. Anti-trans group Womenâs Liberation Front then volunteered to maintain it. WordPress suspended Gender Identity Watch, GenderTrender, and a number of other virulently anti-trans sites in November 2018. Gender Identity Watch went offline in 2023.
References
Note: This site regrets previously misstating Brennan’s early childhood place of residence.
[Shanko, Linda] (January 29, 2015). Cathy Brennan files legal copyright claim over ownership of RadFem Hub. GenderTrender https://gendertrender.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/cathy-brennan-files-legal-copyright-claim-over-ownership-of-radfem-hub/ [archive]
Reilly, Peter J. (June 20, 2013). Cathy Brennan On Radfem 2013.Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2013/06/15/cathy-brennan-on-radfem-2013/
Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (October 21, 2013). Cathy Brennan Speaks on Trans Women.Bustle https://www.bustle.com/articles/7277-cathy-brennan-speaks-to-bustle-about-her-stance-on-transgender-people
Taylor, Dana Lane (February 25, 2014). Cathy Brennan Contacted My Doctor. http://danalanetaylor.com/2014/02/25/cathy-brennan-contacted-my-doctor
Taylor, Dana Lane (February 14, 2014). My âHarassmentâ of Cathy Brennan â The Real Truth. http://danalanetaylor.com/2014/02/14/my-harassment-of-cathy-brennan-the-real-truth/
Taylor, Dana Lane (October 19, 2013). Jancie Raymond [sic] and Cathy Brennan contacted my employer. http://dana.stopabuseonline.org/2013/10/19/jancie-raymond-and-cathy-brennan-contacted-my-employer/ [archive]
Sandeen, Autumn (May 24, 2012). The Bittersweet âChange Of Genderâ Court Ruling: It Came With Cyberbulling [sic]. Pam’s House Blend http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/05/24/the-bittersweet-change-of-gender-court-ruling-it-came-with-cyberbulling/ [archive]
Brennan, Cathy (June 2013). Ladybug’s Political Smackdown: Pride in the Name of Lesbians. Baltimore OUTloud https://www.baltimoreoutloud.com/thinking-outloud/equality/ladybugs-political-smackdown/item/1358-pride-in-the-name-of-lesbians [archive]
Ramseyer, Laurel (August 10, 2011). Cathy Brennan & Elizabeth Hungerford take their anti-trans activism to the UN. Pam’s House Blend http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2011/08/10/cathy-brennan-elizabeth-hungerford-take-their-anti-trans-activism-to-the-un/ [archive]
Allen, Mercedes (August 4, 2011). Less Than Woman, Less Than Human. The Billerico Project http://www.bilerico.com/2011/08/less_than_woman_less_than_human.php [archive]
Brennan, Cathy; Hungerford, Elizabeth (August 1, 2011). [Response to United Nations] via Sex Matters https://sexnotgender.com/gender-identity-legislation-and-the-erosion-of-sex-based-legal-protections-for-females/ PDF available at https://radicalhubarchives.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/communication_csw_un_brennanhungerford_08012011_.pdf
Gad Saad is a Lebanese-Canadian marketing professor and anti-transgender activist involved in the intellectual dark web, a gateway to the far right.
Background
Gad Saad was born October 13, 1964 in Lebanon. Saad’s Jewish family fled during the civil war in 1975 and moved to Montreal.
Saad attended McGill University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1988 and a master’s degree in 1990. Saad then attended Cornell University, earning another master’s degree in 1993 and a doctorate in 1994.
Saad teaches marketing at Concordia University and is known for promoting evolutionary psychology. Saad has authored several books and articles and writes a blog on Psychology Today. Saad’s YouTube channel and podcast are titled The Saad Truth.
Anti-transgender activism
When psychologist Jordan Peterson refused to use gender-neutral pronouns for transgender people, Saad invited Peterson on The Saad Truth. The episode was extremely popular and started Saad on an anti-trans crusade.
Saad has appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience many times, often discussing Saad’s trolling and provocations about gender identity and expression.
Laroche, Michel; Saad, Gad; Cleveland, Mark; Browne, Elizabeth (2000). “Gender Differences in Information Search Strategies for a Christmas Gift”. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 17 (6): 500â522. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760010349920.
Ky Schevers is an American writer and activist who left the transphobic “ex-trans” movement. Schevers states on the Reclaiming Trans website:
Ky Schevers played a significant role creating and promoting the radical feminist detrans womenâs community. Under the name CrashChaosCats, she wrote, made videos, presented workshops and gave media interviews in order to talk about her experiences detransitioning and promote anti-trans feminist ideology. Eventually she became disillusioned with the radical feminist movement and recognized her detransition as a harmful anti-trans conversion practice. She writes now to raise awareness of the harms of ideologically motivated detransition and the role transphobic detrans communities play in organized transphobia.
Background
Gender critical troll Katie Herzog featured Schevers prominently in a widely criticized 2017 article about “detransition” that appeared in The Stranger. Schevers is given the pseudonym “Cass” in Herzog’s piece. For seven years, neither Herzog nor The Stranger updated the original piece or covered the subsequent developments. In 2024, The Stranger republished Schevers’ 2021 update.
Schevers was also mentioned in the 2018 profile of ex-trans activist Carey Callahan in the documentary that accompanied the transphobic Atlantic piece on “detransition” by Jesse Singal. Schevers is called “CrashChaosCats” or “Crash” in that publication.
Herzog claimed that many people in the ex-trans movement “detransition” because they have a harder life from less social acceptance:
That may be true for some detrans peopleâespecially trans women, who generally have a harder time passing and who lose the benefits inherent with appearing male in societyâbut it wasn’t the case for Cass, a 31-year-old detrans lesbian in California. Cass was severely bullied as a gender nonconforming kid and says transitioning actually made life easier. She started taking testosterone at 20, and her community was largely supportive. She didn’t have a hard time finding work or people to date. “People were definitely nicer to me after I transitioned and they saw me as a man instead of a butch dyke,” Cass said.
Three months before Cass started taking testosterone, her mom committed suicide. “Transitioning was kind of a survival strategy,” Cass said. And that worked for a while, but over time, she started to sense that her dysphoria was rooted more in the trauma of her mother’s death and her own internalized misogyny than in gender identity. As an adolescent, she had been masculine, butch. “I got a lot of very harsh, negative messages about what it meant to be a woman,” Cass said. “It got to the point where I couldn’t see myself as a woman without feeling the horror other people felt toward me. Living as a man provided a kind of refuge until I was ready to dive into all that.”
When she was ready, Cass, like Jackie, looked online for advice, and she met a woman a few years older who had detransitioned. Her experiences were the sameâfrom childhood bullying and internalized misogyny to the sense that transitioning hadn’t really solved her dysphoria at all. They became friends, talking over the course of a few months, and then, after nine years living as a man, Cass came out as a woman.
It’s been four years since Cass detransitioned. She changed the gender marker on her driver’s license back to female and asked her friends and family to call her by her birth name, but she still passes as male, with a deep voice and a shade of hair on her cheeks.
“Psychologically, it was harder to detransition,” she said. She compares it to the process of working through her mom’s suicide. “It involved a lot more dealing with my trauma and facing the self-destructive parts of myself. It’s not fun, but it’s worth it.”
Cass still hasn’t told the health-care providers who helped her through her transition about the change. In some ways, she faults them for enabling her transition, even though it’s exactly what she wanted at the time. She writes about her experience online, and in one post, she says that a favored therapist “helped me hurt myself. That definitely wasn’t her intention but that’s still what happened. This contradiction is difficult to face and understand.”
In addition to her writing, Cass recently started posting videos to YouTube, where there are a growing number of detransitioning confessionals. In one video, which has been watched nearly 900,000 times, a young man reflects on his decision to detransition after living as a woman. He’s beautiful and androgynous, with long lashes framing bright-blue eyes. “I’m not like every other boy,” he said. “I can accept that now.”
There’s an offline community of detransitioners as well: In 2014 and 2015, Cass led a workshop on detransitioning at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. (Michfest, as it was known, had a contentious history with the trans community due to its long-held “women born women” policy. The festival closed after nearly 40 years in existence in 2015.) Last year, Cass and 15 other detransitioned women got together on the West Coast for a weekend of workshops, meditation, and shared experience. Cass thinks it was the first gathering of its kind.
As one of the detransitioned women (“Cass”) interviewed for this article, I want to say I’m happy with how it came out and am glad women like me are finally getting more representation. I think it’s a very balanced and well researched piece of writing and best of all gives a marginalized group of people a chance to be heard. I’m very excited that detransitioned people are getting more opportunities to speak about our own experiences rather than having other people talk about what they think we are and what we mean. This is one of few articles out there that actually represents my life as a detransitioned woman.
I’m dismayed but not surprised by how some people are reacting to the issues this piece has raised. My life is not transphobic and making lives like mine more visible is not transphobic either. Reading that experiences like mine should not be talked about in public is infuriating. I get to be open and honest about my life and I get to work to make my experience and community more visible. There are people out there who need to know that there’s resources and support for them if they end up detransitioning. They need to know they’re not the only ones. I made a video in response to the article and people’s reactions to it that can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuI5rBWDâŠ
I would encourage people to also watch videos other detrans women made in response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqN_9rM8⊠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN6N6F6AâŠ
Since leaving the ex-trans cult
Schevers later teamed up with Lee Leveille to form Health Liberation Now! It is “a free, trans-run resource analyzing the social and political forces acting in opposition to health liberation for transgender, detransitioned, retransitioned, and gender diverse people, as well as those questioning their gender. We pair these analyses with collections of proactive resistance strategies that community organizers can use in pursuit of trans health liberation.”
References
Schevers, Ky (June 24, 2024). The Reality Behind the Story I Told The Stranger.The Stranger https://www.thestranger.com/queer-issue-2024/2024/06/05/79545098/the-reality-behind-the-story-i-told-the-stranger
“Shape Shifter” is the stage name of July R. Carlan, an American accountant and ex-transgender activist who gets money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare.
Background
July Roxella Carlan was born on July 11, 1990. Carlan had a “consensual” sexual experience at age 11 and came out as gay to unaccepting parents at 16.
At age 22 in graduate school, Carlan learned about nonbinary identities and booked an appointment at Fenway Health in Boston on November 15, 2012. At the initial consultation, Carlan described a pattern of high-risk sexual behavior as well as incidents of anti-LGBT discrimination and assault. Carlan also expressed a desire to become pregnant.
Affter signing an informed consent form on December 27, 2012, Carlan began hormones via Fenway Health. In a follow-up appointment in March 2013, a therapist noted Carlan’s âinternalized transphobia,â because Carlan wanted to âbe seen as more than a trans woman.â
By mid-December 2013, Carlan reported inconsistent use of hormones in order to regain sexual function and engage in high-risk sexual behavior. In December 2014, Carlan reported
depression and anxiety
seeking validation through sex
struggles with sexual compulsivity and hopes that GRS will reduce sexual urges
did not want to take hormones in order to enjoy sex
could not find a job in finance and had âbegun a career in strip dancingâ
In the first half of 2015, Carlan had multiple therapy session and received clearance for bottom surgery.
After getting elective bottom surgery as an adult, Carlan “realized I was just a castrated man.” Carlan has sometimes identified as a “homosexual transsexual,” a term promoted by anti-transgender activists.
On or about May 10, 2022, at age 31, Carlan publicly announced plans to make additional gender changes. Carlan no longer identifies as a trans woman, “but as a gender-non-conforming man.” Carlan reportedly just liked feminine clothing and makeup.
Carlan is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts. Carlan is in a relationship with a “sugar daddy” who is nearly 50 years older. Howard Carlan (born December 6, 1941) goes by “Cat Man” in their videos.
Anti-transgender activism
Carlan has regret about taking some medical gender transition steps and has found an anti-trans audience who wants to amplify these rare cases of regret.
In 2022, Carlan testified against healthcare for trans youth before the Florida Board of Medicine.
In addition to numerous media appearances about regret, Carlan has also been critical of trans athletes and supports misinformation and conspiracy theories about trans healthcare.
On October 12, 2023, Carlan filed a lawsuit against Fenway Community Health Center.
Benjamin Boyce (June 4, 2022). When Transition Goes Wrong | with Shape Shifter-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MorvzXI2uw
Tomi Lahren – Outkick (November 21, 2022). Trans âShape Shifterâ doxxed by LGBTQ community, Michael Farren performs & Trumpâs return to Twitter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LGXnptuKYE
Blaire White (July 3, 2022). Detransitioner: “My Penis Is Gone Forever & I Regret it” | Emotional Interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRh80xSI8QQ
Jubilee (April 2, 2023). Should Minors Transition? Detransition vs Trans | Middle Ground https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0LZZFos-g
Arielle Scarcella (June 5, 2022). “I Miss My Penis” : Brave Detrans Men Speak Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrRLpJ1uIzw
“Chloe Cole” is the stage name of Chloe Brockman, an American ex-transgender activist. Similar to the ex-gay movement, ex-trans activists get money and attention by making it harder for others to get trans healthcare. Many claim to have been cured of being trans via “desistance” or “detransition.”
Background
Chloe Elise Brockman was born July 27, 2004.
Brockman’s mother is Jocelyn V. (Torrecampo) Brockman (born 1968), a perioperative nurse who has worked for Kaiser Permanente. Jocelyn Brockman married Jeffrey Allen “Jeff” Brockman (born 1971), an IT entrepreneur who was raised in a Mormon household.
Chloe Brockman has four adult siblings: Jacob, Chelsea, Maddie, and Calvin. At this time, it’s unclear if they are a blended family. It is possible some of the children were fostered or adopted. It appears that Jocelyn also has a family connection to Donald Lee Tre Davis (born 1970).
Chloe Brockman grew up in Manteca, California. As a child, Brockman had two cleft palate repair surgeries.
Brockman had an “emotionally troubled” childhood that included several assessments and diagnoses:
September 12, 2012 (age 8): “disruptive behavior disorder”
November 26, 2013 (age 9): “encounter for school problem”
October 9, 2015 (age 11): “attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (ADHD)
According to self-reports, Brockman came out as trans after exhibiting gender-diverse behavior starting about age 9, around the time puberty started. Brockman created an Instagram account at 11. In May 2017, at age 12, Brockman wrote a letter to both parents, asking to be referred to as a boy and by the names Ky or Chi.
On November 30, 2017, Brockman had a consultation with an endocrinologist who advised against beginning hormone therapy. The family sought a second opinion on Brockman’s insistence and gave legal consent for medical transition.
In early 2018, at age 13, Brockman began a medical transition under the care of endocrinologist Lisa Taylor, with puberty blockers followed by testosterone injections starting a month later.
At age 14, Brockman’s chest was groped at school by a bully. This traumatic event led to daily use of a chest binder. Brockman asked Taylor for a referral to plastic surgeon Hop Le. Brockman then had a psychological evaluation with Susanne Watson, who recommended honoring Brockman’s request for top surgery.
Amid the pressure of trying to help their troubled child, Brockman’s parents filed for divorce in 2019.
Brockman began using the given name Leo and was encouraged to attend classes with a family peer group of other transmasculine minors. Brockman’s surgery occurred following parental consent. On June 3, 2020, Brockman underwent top surgery a month before turning 16. During COVID quarantine in the summer of 2020, Brockman started to have “regrets” before discontinuing hormones in May 2021. According to the 2023 lawsuit, Brockman “became intensely suicidal for the first time and prone to emotional outbursts.” Elsewhere in the lawsuit, they claim Brockman was exhibiting “passive suicidal ideation” around the time Jeff and Jocelyn filed for divorce (which it appears they never finalized).
Brockman failed out of high school as a senior and had to get a California High School Proficiency Exam Certificate instead. As failure, isolation, and rejection took their toll, Brockman was radicalized by conservative edgelord online culture. Anti-transgender activism soon followed. This brought Brockman to the attention of Harmeet Dhillon and other conservative or fascist activists, who began showering Brockman with money and attention.
April 19:Do No Harm Foundation’s Stanley Goldfarb announces launch; later funds some of Brockman’s activism
May: Testifies against gender-affirming care in Ohio
June 28: Testifies against gender-affirming care in California (SB107)
July: Turns 18
July: Testifies against Medicaid coverage for trans healthcare in Florida
July 13: Registers imperfectlyme.org
July 15: Creates GoFundMe
July 24: Conservative IT entrepreneur Steven Corpus “Steve” Beddoe registers the corporation Trenderz LLC in California as part of the domain and GoFundMe marketing campaign. “Trender” is a slur in toxic online communities to describe people who allegedly make a gender transition because it’s trendy.
September: Supports “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” by Marjorie Taylor Greene
September: Testifies against California becoming a sanctuary state for children seeking gender-affirming care
September 28: Interview with David Freiheit of Viva Frei
January 6: Interview with Drea Humphrey of Rebel News
January 12: Profile on The Daily Signal
January 12: Interview with Kevin Roberts for The Heritage Foundation
January 24: Testifies in support of Utah ban on gender-affirming care for minors (House Bill 132)
January: Speaks at “Teens Against Gender Mutilation Rally” in Tennessee
January: Speaks at Parents on Patrol panel “Stolen Innocence: A Panel on the Insidious Ideology Infecting Your Children’s Education”
January 31: Testified in support of Tennessee House Bill and Senate Bill 1 banning gender affirming care for minors
February 6: Interview with Megyn Kelly
February 6: Profile on Independent Women’s Forum
February: Supports Idaho ban on gender-affirming care for minors (House Bill 71,); her appearance was financed by conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation
February: Testifies in favor of Kansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors (Senate Bill 233)
February 17: Testifies in favor of South Dakota HB 1080 banning gender-affirming care for minors
February 21: addressed the Florida House Health & Human Services Committee
March 3: Appears on a panel at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)
March 12: Appears with six ex-trans activists in Sacramento for “Detransition Awareness Day”
March 28: Interview with Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec
April 17: Appears at Dartmouth Republicans event in New Hampshire
April 20: Testifies in favor of New Hampshire Parental Rights Bill
May 2: Testifies in favor of Louisiana ban on gender-affirming care for minors (House Bill 463)
April 19: Testifies in favor of New Hampshire Bill SB272 banning gender-affirming care for minors
May 26: Testifies in favor of House Bill 454 banning gender-affirming care for minors
2023 lawsuit
On February 22, 2023 conservative lawyers filed suit in California, alleging Brockman was a victim of medical negligence.
Plaintiff
Chloe E. Brockman a/k/a Chloe Cole
Defendants
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Inc.
Permanente Medical Group, Inc.
Lisa Kristine Taylor, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist
Hop Nguyen Le, MD, a plastic surgeon
Susanne E. Watson, PhD, a clinical psychologist
Does 1 through 50
Brockman’s lawyers
Charles S. LiMandri
Paul M. Jonna
Robert E. Weisenburger
Harmeet K. Dhillon
John-Paul S. Deol
Jesse D. Franklin-Murdock
Mark E. Trammell
The lawyers claim Brockman has had these conditions:
pornography addiction
disruptive behavior disorder (diagnosed September 12, 2012)
encounter for school problem (diagnosed November 26, 2013)
ADHD (diagnosed October 9, 2015)
general anxiety
social anxiety
speech difficulties
depression
pubertal struggles associated with significantly increased negative emotions
body dysmorphia and serious self-image concerns
symptoms of an eating disorder
learning disabilities
autism spectrum symptoms
a cleft palate for which surgery had been performed
concerns about being sexually abused or raped, that eventually materialized into a sexual assault
exposure to only negative aspects about being female, without any discussion of the positive aspects of being female, including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, childbirth, male domination, and similar distorting ideas
difficulty at school
trouble with social interaction and learning
social troubles
severe distress
ongoing confusion regarding her gender
suicidal ideation
They put forth the “social contagion” model that claims Brockman was misled by LGBT activist groups and transgender social media influencers.
They also make the common ex-trans claim: “The fact that Plaintiff detransitioned after the so-called treatment establishes res ipsa loquitor that Plaintiff was not transgender.”
Suratos, Pete (February 23, 2023). Kaiser Permanente sued over hormone therapy.NBC Bay Area https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/kaiser-permanente-sued-over-hormone-therapy/3164935/
San Joaquin County Superior Courts (May 14, 2019). Jocelyn Brockman v. Jeffrey Brockman Stockton Family Law Courthouse, Judge Robin Appel presiding. https://unicourt.com/case/ca-sj-jocelyn-brockman-vs-jeffrey-brockman-565410
Masters, Hamilton Matthew (January 30, 2022). Proud Boys and LGBTQ rights supporters face off in Murfreesboro. Nashville Scene. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/proud-boys-and-lgbtq-rights-supporters-face-off-in-murfreesboro/article_4434885c-a0c7-11ed-9435-df49b232d251.html
Herner, Hannah (October 21, 2022). Anti-Trans rally led by Matt Walsh brings right-wing media stars to Nashville. Nashville Scene. https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/anti-trans-rally-led-by-matt-walsh-brings-right-wing-media-stars-to-nashville/article_62c08340-5160-11ed-81bb-53478d4387aa.html
Andrea Long Chu is an American writer and critic whose work frequently focuses on sex and gender.
Chu won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2023.
Background
Chu was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1992 and grew up in a Christian household in Asheville, North Carolina. Chu earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke University in 2014 and a master’s degree from New York University in 2016.
Chu has written numerous book reviews and interviewed many notable public figures.
Writing on sex and gender
Much of Chu’s work is deliberately provocative. In 2018, Chu presented two works on sissy subculture and wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times titled “My New Vagina Wonât Make Me Happy.”
The thesis for Chu’s 2019 book Females is that “everyone is female and everyone hates it.”
Whoâs Afraid of Gender? review (2024)
In 2024, Chu reviewed Whoâs Afraid of Gender? by Judith Butler in New York Magazine. Chu gives an excellent overview of the influence of Butler’s work on transgender rights. The piece is also notable for tracing the recent history of the anti-transgender movement. It lays part of the blame on those who embrace disease models of our community: “We must be able to defend this desire clearly, directly, and â crucially â without depending on the idea of gender.”
Chu notes the same tipping point in anti-trans activism that many trans people immediately noted:
In 2018, The Atlantic published a long cover story by the reporter Jesse Singal called âWhen Children Say Theyâre Trans,â focusing on the clinical disagreements over how to treat gender-questioning youth. The story provided a template for the coverage that would follow it. First, it took what was threatening to become a social issue, hence a question of rights, and turned it back into a medical issue, hence a question of evidence; it then quietly suggested that since the evidence was debatable, so were the rights.
Chu identifies three groups that compose the anti-trans bloc in America today:
the religious right
gender critical feminists (TERFs)
trans-agnostic reactionary liberals (TARLs)
Chu notes that the key outlet for the third group is the New York Times:
The Times is not alone; it is one of many respectable publications, including The Atlantic and TheEconomist, engaged in sanitizing the ideas promoted by TARLs in the more reactionary corners of the media landscape. Here one finds journalists like Singal, Matthew Yglesias, Matt Taibbi, Andrew Sullivan, Helen Lewis, Meghan Daum, and, of course, former Times staffer Bari Weiss. Many of these writers live in self-imposed exile on Substack, the newsletter platform, where they present themselves as brave survivors of cancellation by the woke elites. But they are not a marginal force.
We will never be able to defend the rights of transgender kids until we understand them purely on their own terms: as full members of society who would like to change their sex. It does not matter where this desire comes from. When the TARL insinuates again and again that the sudden increase of trans-identified youth is âunexplained,â he is trying to bait us into thinking trans rights lie just on the other side of a good explanation.
I am speaking here of a universal birthright: the freedom of sex. This freedom consists of two principal rights: the right to change oneâs biological sex without appealing to gender and the right to assume a gender that is not determined by oneâs sexual biology. One might exercise both of these rights toward a common goal â transition, for instance â but neither can be collapsed into the other.
Coleman, Madeleine Leung (March 15, 2024). Gender Identity Is Not Enough, [interview about Chu’s piece] The Critics / New York https://nymag.com/newsletter/2024/03/the-critics-march-15-2024.html
Chu AL (2019). The Impossibility of Feminism. differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 30, no. 1 (Spring 2019). https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-7481232
Chu AL (November 24, 2018). My New Vagina Wonât Make Me Happy.New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/opinion/sunday/vaginoplasty-transgender-medicine.html
Chu AL (November 5, 2018). No One Wants It.Affidavit https://www.affidavit.art/articles/no-one-wants-it
Chu AL (2018). On Liking Women.n+1 30 (Winter 2018): 47â62. https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-30/essays/on-liking-women/
Chu AL (2018). Did Sissy Porn Make Me Trans? Queer Disruptions 2 Columbia University, New York, NY March 1â2, 2018.
Chu AL (2018). Pornographic Spectatorship, or, Did Sissy Porn Make Me Trans? 2018 annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association UCLA, Los Angeles, CA March 29âApril 1, 2018.
Chu AL (2017). The Wrong Wrong Body: Notes on Trans Phenomenology. TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly 4, no. 1 (February 2017): 141â52. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-3711613
O’Brien, Michelle Esther (November 2, 2018). Interview with Andrea Long Chu. New York Public Library Community Oral History Project. http://oralhistory.nypl.org/interviews/andrea-long-chu-lpf5er
Candice Hellen Brown Elliott is a retired American engineer and âautogynephiliaâ activist. Elliott is a self-proclaimed âhomosexual transsexualâ and maintains two websites that promote the controversial sexualized taxonomy of transgender women created by Ray Blanchard:
On the Science of Changing Sex (sillyolme.wordpress.com)
Elliott’s pen names and online handles include:
Kay Brown
Cloudy
Sillyolme
Seaby
Glowing SunBear
DisplayGeek
Biography
Elliott was born June 6, 1957, grew up in California, and transitioned in the late 1970s at the Stanford gender clinic after coming out to friends in school.
I came out to my friends at school slowly, first to my girlfriend. She was very supportive at first, but later tried to convert me to Christianity and to make me âstop sinning.â
Elliott became involved in music and activism after meeting Sandy Stone at a gender clinic event:
She was tall, with long black hair, turning gray. I was attracted to her as my idealized image of a quietly self-confident, friendly, humorous, gentle, strong woman. I wanted and still want to be like her.
In 1976 Elliott met Christine Jorgensen at an event. In 1978 Elliott decided to move to Los Angeles, where Stone was working as a recording engineer. During the summer of 1979, Elliott said, “I met a transsexual who would become my best friend, point of stability, and sister, Joy Diane Shaffer.”
Historian Zagria Cowan’s profile of Shaffer includes an image of Elliott and Shaffer together. Elliott now claims Shaffer has “autogynephilia.”
Elliott was involved in several activist initiatives, including co-founding ACLU of Southern Californiaâs first Transsexual Rights Committee, led by Sister Mary Elizabeth, in 1980. Elliott worked with former Los Angeles police officer Carol Katz in an organization called The Group.
By 1986, Elliott had completed a bachelor’s degree and was working as an engineer in Silicon Valley. Elliott attended women’s music events and gatherings of Pagan and Wiccan adherents.
By the mid-1990s, Elliott was living in Portland, Oregon with trans lover Kier Salmon. The two hoped to adopt a child together.
Elliott also maintained a website on trans history from 1999 to around 2006.
In the 1990s, Elliott became a well-known figure in the field of electronic display screens, holding dozens of patents and winning the Otto Schade Prize in 2014. Elliott worked at several firms before founding Clairvoyante in 2000. That start-up created and developed PenTile technology and was acquired by Samsung in 2008. After the sale, Elliott began getting involved in trans activism again.
In March 2008, Elliott sent me a submission for this site with advice for young transitioners. Elliott also shared some thoughts at the time on Blanchardâs taxonomy and its two main promoters, J. Michael Bailey and Anne Lawrence (abbreviated BBL below):
So⊠according to Bailey, since Iâm an androphilic early transitioner who at age 18 passed more easily as a girl than a boy, even before HRT, I would make a natural prostitute? Iâve had this recurring daydream that past few weeks of meeting him at some conference and posing two life histories, one of a 23 year old trannie just getting surgery, who hopes to be a wife and mother someday, and one a 50 year old trannie who is CEO of a high tech Silicon Valley company⊠and hear him make a fool of himself explaining that the one is a flamboyant promiscuous, âhomosexualâ, and the other is a âparaphilicâ and likely to be hopelessly mannish⊠and have him get egg on his face when he learns that they are both the same person⊠ME!
My take on the whole BBL hypothesis, is that it does not rise to the level of theory. It has been poorly measured. My Goddess! Have you read Blanchardâs instrumentâs questions? It seems *designed* to give false signals. His interpretation of the raw data is stretched, in fact, he ignores what looks like a progression from gynophilia to androphilia in the data, rather than a clear cut clustering of responses between those he labeled androphilic vs. bi, asexual, and gynophilic. Further, it has never been corroborated by any other researcher, though Anne did create her own weakly designed instrument, which I personally answered, with notations to improve it, back in 1998.
Sometime later that year, Elliott reconsidered, eventually becoming one of the most prominent âautogynephiliaâ activists.
Elliott later claimed this letter to me is a “total fabrication,” so I have taken the unusual step of publishing our full 2008 correspondence.
âThe Invisible Transsexualâ
In late 2008, Elliott posted an essay under the pseudonym âCloudyâ on transkids.us. It supports a controversial two-type taxonomy of trans women that reduces their motivations to sexuality:
âHomosexual transsexual,â gay males who transition to indulge their fetish for sex with straight men.
âHon-homosexual transsexual,â straight males who transition to indulge their fetish for their feminized selves (caused by the disease âautogynephilia,â created in 1989).
Elliott often abbreviates these two types as âHSTSâ and âAGP.â
This taxonomy appeals to two small subgroups of transgender people:
People who used to be called ânon-transsexualâ or âpseudotranssexualâ but self-identify as transsexual.
People who would be considered ânon-homosexualâ by proponents of this term but self-identify as âhomosexual transsexual.â
Elliott is part of the second subgroup. In fact, every person involved in the site transkids.us where this essay first appeared has also turned out to be from the second subgroup when their true identities were confirmed.
Trans supporters of this taxonomy believe it improves their social standing, because these terms create a false hierarchy, from best to worst:
intersex
âhomosexual transsexualâ (formerly called âprimaryâ or âtrueâ transsexual)
ânon-homosexual transsexualâ
âpseudotranssexualâ
In this essay, Elliott accuses a number of notable trans women of being autogynephiles trying to take âcontrol of HSTS narratives and visibilityâ:
Lili Elbe
Christine Jorgensen
Roberta Cowell
Jan Morris
Canary Conn
Jennifer Boylan
Deirdre McCloskey
Julia Serano
Proponents of the term âhomosexual transsexualâ claim its hallmarks include âeffortless femininityâ and occupations like hairstylist, beautician, âfemale impersonator,â lingerie model, or prostitute. They claim hallmarks of a ânon-homosexual transsexualâ include: computer programmer, businessman, scientist, and engineer.
Perhaps Candice Brown Elliott will come to realize how these writings damage Elliott’s own credibility in addition to damaging the community by lending credence to this oppressive nonsense. These pathologizers actively seek out these attention-craving eccentrics and exploit them as long as possible.
A few days after this page went live in 2010, Elliott kicked out roommate Susan Alexandria. The two had been pals since Alexandria was 15.
Alexandria then decided to steal one of Candice Brown Elliottâs airplanes and fly it until running out of fuel in the dark, ditching it in a field in extreme northeast California. Alexandria then walked to a hotel and was arrested there the next morning.
van Diggelen, Alison R.G. (October 9, 2005). Bright light at Cupertinoâs Clairvoyante.Silicon Valley Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2005/10/10/smallb1.html
Callahan, Mary (March 12, 2010). Santa Rosa woman arrested in airplane theft.Santa Rosa Press Democrat. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2241061-181/santa-rosa-woman-arrested-in
Brown, Candice Hellen (Spring 1995). Heras. TransSisters: The Journal of Transsexual Feminism, Issue 8, pp. 49 ff. https://archive.org/details/transsistersjou1995unse_0/page/49/mode/1up
Debunking Kay Brown and Blanchardianism. A critical approach to âautogynephilia.â
Michelle Forcier is an American pediatrician who specializes in sexual health and gender identity for adolescents.
Background
Michelle Marie Forcier earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1987, followed by a medical degree from University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1992. In 1997 Forcier earned a master’s degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. Forcier did a pediatric residency at University of Utah, followed by fellowships at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Planned Parenthood Central North Carolina, and Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Forcier is or has been licensed in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Illinois, South Carolina, Alabama, and Utah. Forcier has taught at Duke University, University of North Carolina, and Northwestern University. Since 2009 Forcier has taught at Brown University.
Forcier married pediatrician Geoffrey Abbott “Geoff” Allen (born 1961). They have one child.
Forcier is known to many from an appearance in the 2022 anti-trans propaganda piece What Is a Woman? In it, Forcier earnestly explains why affirming models of care for minors are the American medical consensus. Many people who enjoy anti-trans extremist Matt Walsh’s bad-faith interview tactics found the exchange entertaining.
Forcier was named in lawsuits filed by ex-trans activists Layton Ulery and Isabelle Ayala.
Knox, Liam (September 25, 2022). Attack on Vanderbilt Clinic Has Ripple Effects.Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/09/26/trans-health-clinic-weathers-political-firestorm
Samuel E, Forcier M (2015). Acute medical care for the transgender patient. In Sex and Gender in Acute Care Medicine, Ed: McGregor AJ, Choo EK, Becker BM. NY Cambridge University Press, 2015: 216-229, ISBN 9781107668164
Lecture, Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Care, Web Seminar, Fenway Health Center, 2015. Taped lecture, pending pub on line at http://fenwayhealth.org/the-fenwayinstitute/education/transgender-health-conference/
Transgender is a Pediatric Opportunity: Pediatric Endocrine Nursing Society, Orlando FL 2012.
Services for Transgender Youth in Primary Care Settings. Society for Teachers in Family Medicine, US 2014.
Puberty Blockers for Use in Transgender Children, Medical Advisory Meeting, Chicago 2014.
Transgender Health Panel, Gender Spectrum East, Baltimore 2014
Sheila C. Kirk (April 5, 1930 â July 2019) is an American gynecologist and an important figure in the history of trans health services. Kirk authored several books on medical transition and served on many nonprofit boards.
Kirk was board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and was a member of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (now WPATH). Kirk earned a medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1957 and was licensed in Pennsylvania in 1963. Kirk’s internship and main residency were at the University Hospitals in Buffalo, New York.  Kirk completed her training in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then set up a private practice there.
In 1992 Kirk retired from active practice and as Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Pittsburgh to work with the International Foundation for Gender Education (IFGE) as a medical consultant to the trans and gender diverse community. Kirk was the first trans surgeon elected to the board of HBIGDA. Kirk also served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Transgender Health (then International Journal of Transgenderism) and was a member of TransPitt and the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA).
Kirk’s medical information books were important pre-internet resources. Following decades of service to the community, Kirk retired from activism and moved to South Carolina.
Hormonal Therapy for the Male-to-Female Transgendered Individual (1994)
Medical, Legal, and Workplace Issues for the Transsexual (1995) [with Martine Rothblatt]
Feminizing Hormonal Therapy for the Transgendered (1996)
Transgender and HIV: Risks, Prevention, and Care, with Walter O. Bockting (2001)
“The Whole Person: A Paradigm for Integrating the Mental and Physical Health of Trans Clients,” with Claudette Kulkarni, in The Handbook of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Public Health: A Practitioner’s Guide to Service Michael Shankle (2013)
Admiral Rachel L. Levine, MD is an American pediatrician and government health official. Levine is the first out transgender four-star officer in the US uniformed services. Levine was appointed as Assistant Secretary for Health by the US Senate in 2021.
Background
Levine was born October 28, 1957 and grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Both of Levine’s parents were lawyers. Levine has an older sibling.
After private school, Levine graduated from Harvard College, then Tulane University School of Medicine. Levine did a pediatrics residency and adolescent medicine postdoc at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, then took a position at Penn State College of Medicine as well as Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
Levine married Martha Peaslee Levine in 1988. They have two children. Levine transitioned in 2011, and they divorced in 2013.
Levine was appointed Pennsylvania Physician General in 2015 and Secretary of Health in 2017. In 2020 Levine was responsible for the commonwealth’s COVID response. In 2021, the Senate confirmed Levine as Assistant Secretary for Health following President Joe Biden’s nomination.
Among Levine’s first initiatives were addressing bullying, suicide, discriminatory policies, and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic as pressing issues among LGBTQ youth. Levine has criticized Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the push in some conservative states to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children.
Levine became a lightning rod for anti-transgender hatred from anti-trans lawmakers and media figures after taking office.
Support of gender affirming care for youth
Levine supports the position of the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding trans and gender diverse youth. The AAP states that the gender affirming model of care is the current medical consensus.
Levine discussed this in a 2023 keynote at Yale University:
Levine described gender-affirming care â which includes puberty blockers, gender-affirming hormones and surgical procedures, among other interventions â as âsafe,â âeffectiveâ and âmedically necessary.â
Levine described how transgender and nonbinary youth are disproportionately burdened by mental health challenges. She noted that gender-affirming interventions are associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Given this, Levine said, gender-affirming care has been life-saving for thousands of young LGBTQI+ people across the country.
Loveland, Barry (February 6, 2017). LGBT Oral History: Rachel Levine. (PDF). LGBT Center of Central PA History Project Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections. Carlisle, PA, USA. [archive] http://archives.dickinson.edu/sites/all/files/files_lgbt/LGBT-interview-transcription-Levine-Rachel-064.pdf
