Kathleen Anne Becker is an American veterinarian and “autogynephilia” activist.
Background
Becker was born in September 1953. Becker earned a master’s degree from the University of Louisville and worked at Louisville Gas & Electric while pursuing a veterinary degree at Auburn. Becker was deeply involved in local equestrian communities and was interested in treating horses.
On June 25, 1979, Becker was arrested and charged in the murders of parents Helen E. (Berg) Becker and Howard I. Becker Jr., as well as nine-year-old nibling Erika Elizabeth Higgins, who had also been raped. Although detectives testified that they got a confession from Becker that night, the trial ended in acquittal on all charges. Becker’s three siblings all supported their accused sibling and used the inheritance of their dead parents to mount the defense.
In 1990, Becker married horse trainer Leesa Brotzge, but they later divorced. In 2004, Becker got a legal name and gender change.
Becker worked as an on-call horse veterinarian in Indiana and Kentucky for many years before moving to Virginia and living with Faith King. Becker’s company HĂ€st manufactures large animal rescue equipment for fire departments and zoos.
Bailey’s work is gritty, controversial, and sure to create a fire storm in the transsexual community. Many will see themselves reflected in the pages, but only after a gut wrenching bout of deep and honest introspection. However, caution must be taken, as with any reference working on the forefront of developing understanding, it cannot be taken as the final word, but rather an opening salvo for further discussion, debate, and research that will either reinforce or refute the evidence. Ultimately, as difficult as it might have been to read, Bailey’s work has been a beacon of light to this conflicted soul.
I corresponded with Becker in June 2003.
You are one of four people of whom I am currently aware who are willing to be out about having a paraphilic reason for seeking transition and genital modification. As such, I would like to get more information on your experiences and philosophy regarding transition.
In a long reply, Becker mentions belonging to another “type” based on psychological profiling (Myers-Briggs “INTJ”). Some trans and gender diverse people want to be classified based on what they feel is a scientific system, as if this explains or legitimizes their feelings and actions.
Hi Andrea!
With regard to the review of Michael Bailey’s book, I must first state that it may not be possible to adequately state precisely my feelings within the limits of the written word and this E-mail. And secondly, there are areas where I disagree with Bailey and other areas where I do not feel he has gone far enough. Thus, the center of my review suggesting caution in reading the book, and perhaps not taking everything as rote.Â
I have known all my life that I have been just not “quite right”. Cross dressing, imagining myself as female and placing myself in mental roles, and the classic having difficultly trying to relate with women . . . as a man (although I have always done great as a friend, and in groups have found myself gravitating to the women where I felt more at ease.) And even having an interest in SRS and not understanding why. I had always heard that transsexuals were young, gay, and effeminate, and always knew they were female. I did not fit that standard mold.
In September of 2001, I was browsing through Anne Lawrences site when I happened upon some of the excerpts from Baileys book. To make a long story short, I read my biography from those pages. I was relieved that I finally learned that others have been down the same road. It gave me some validation and direction. And for that, I HAVE to give Bailey credit.
One of the things I have been trying very hard to do is to remember my past as it was, and not reshape it into something more pleasing as I see other persons often do. Doing that has allowed me to realize that this has always been with me, under the surface. And I also feel that being of the temperament type that I am (Myers-Briggs “INTJ”) kept me from being able to enunciate my feelings for so many years.
Here is where I deviate from Bailey. Yes, it does hurt me to think that what I have might simply be a paraphilia. However, with the same level of introspection that I have used before, I have taken a lot of time thinking on this issue. Have I had feelings in the past that were consistent with autogynephilia? The answer to that is “yes”. BUT, having been on hormones for about a year, with testosterone now quite low and manageable, many of those specific feelings have indeed waned. (And I think that Lawrence has reported that persons post SRS have reported similar changes.) I feel very strongly that autogynephilia is driven by testosterone. What has remained is still the feeling of rightness within a female body. And what I definitely have, and have always have had, are many other mental characteristics that are more predominately considered female, such as deep compassion, caring, and understanding the female point of view. So I feel that autogynephilia is just ONE of MANY components of the total transsexual experience, expressed in a variable amount in each individual, and it is driven by testosterone (thus, the reason that female-to-male transsexuals do not have a similar experience).
One of the other reviewers mentioned the “various shades of grey”. I strongly feel that before one can know “grey”, they must first know “black” and know “white”. Therefore, even though Bailey’s book does spell things out in a black and white context, I feel the shades of grey will be filled in eventually.
Andrea, I hope that this is helpful. I know your position is different, and I do respect that. But I do speak from the heart with total honesty. This whole thing has been a tough pill for me to swallow. And for this to be happening while I am making large advances in disaster preparedness on a national task force and taking a very high profile position on these matters seems to have put everything on a collision course. Yet, I know I can no longer live the life of a man, and would take a bullet before being handed that sentence. But some days I just wonder if I can make it.
Again, this E-mail can do little justice to my total thoughts, which have been intense for years. Ultimately, we are all struggling with a condition that none of us asked for. And yet, if asked if I would choose to be “normal” and take on male characteristics and thinking, I would rather be transsexual for all of the rich experience it has offered me, despite the high social price tag. I feel blessed to be allowed to know things most other persons can never know.
I would love to get to meet you someday!
With deepest respects, Kathleen
Kathleen sent the following postscript later that day:
Of COURSE E-mail is not adequate! I keep thinking of more to say!I can state that at one time, when autogynephilia seemed to be at the centerpiece for me, at least with what I saw in myself, SRS WAS a central, primary goal. Now that testosterone is gone, and autogynephilia has waned, my goal for transition is just living full time and being accepted as female. I may never afford SRS, but that is no longer a priority anyway. This would align with my thinking (and with most others) that a person is transsexual first, that happening before birth as suggested by the brain studies. But I feel that the autogynephilic tendencies are added as a result of testosterone. But for some of us, who cannot understand WHY we were the way we were, the autogynephilia is all we saw at the time.
I could discuss this all day, but I HAVE to get to work!!
Again, thank you for taking an interest in what I have to say. I do not totally support Bailey, yet I feel what he has to say is important. I’m hoping someday there may be clarification on the origins and all the variations of gender identity. But where I am today, it doesn’t really matter, as I know deep in my heart that I MUST transition to stay alive.
Kathleen
Above: Becker at work at the emergency veterinary service.
Hontas Freeman Farmer (born 1980) is an American educator and “autogynephilia” activist. Farmer has an extensive online presence and has identified as a Muslim, Republican, physicist, âhomosexual transsexual,â and sex worker. Below is a summary of published information by and about Farmer.
Hontas Farmer appearing on Fox News in a burqa in 2008.
Background
Farmer has stated the given name Hontas is an abbreviation of Pocahontas. It is also a given name previously used in Farmer’s family. As with many African Americans, Farmer has claimed Native American ancestry. Farmer grew up in the Chicago area and attended Proviso West High School in Hillside. In 1998, Farmer was arrested and given a psychiatric evaluation for allegedly threatening to shoot up the high school after being turned down by a girl for the prom. Local police also confiscated two firearms from Farmer’s family home. Farmer was allegedly bullied in high school with the nickname “the unabomber.”
Farmer graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and from DePaul University in 2013 with a Master of Science in Physics. Farmer has subsequently worked as a tutor and taught in adjunct positions in the Chicago City Colleges system as well as at College of DuPage and Elmhurst University. Farmer has also been involved in union organizing, serving as an officer representing other part-time educators via the City Colleges Contingent Labor Organizing Committee (CCCLOC), part of Region 67 of the Illinois Education Association (IEANEA), the state-level union of the National Education Association.
In 2019, Farmer filed a lawsuit against Randall Miller. Miller shares a name with a colleague of Farmer’s.
Online activity
Farmer has been a major forum contributor on the transkids.us hoax site, the Hung Angels forum, Wikipedia, and the Science 2.0 blogging platform. Farmer has used a number of usernames, including:
BrendaQG
Hfarmer
Hontasfx
Lucasain
Smartgirl62
Gravitygirl62
Zahara_TS
Aisha_a_ts
“Autogynephilia” activism
Farmer became heavily involved in Wikipedia editing of “autogynephilia” and related concepts in 2006.
In 2008, Farmer gained access to the apartment of economist Deirdre McCloskey through McCloskey’s assistant Beth while McCloskey was out of town. McCloskey is a prominent critic of “autogynephilia.” Via Farmer’s blog:
Dr. McCloskey on the other hand. I have an impression of her based on seeing her home and hearing people around UIC talk about her and compare her to me (when they thought I couldn’t hear them). According to Beth her RA who is watching her house Dr. McCloskey was in south Africa. There are those at UIC who call her Dierdre McKrazy and say she is pushy and mannish. Having seen her house that surprises me a bit. A persons home says allot about them. Dr McCloskey’s Condo in downtown Chicago is quite nice, quite large and very comfortable looking. On the inside the furnishings are of good classic taste which would be expected of a lady of her age and means. Walking in I felt like Gill Chesterton seeing Frasier’s condo for the first time, very impressed. It is actually two condo’s joined by stairs. A large part of one is devoted to her personal library which is quite extensive. My friend Beth, a PhD. Student in philosophy’s job for the summer is to put that large library in order. A notable and surprising thing to me was that Dr. McCloskey has a copy of “The man Who Would Be Queen”.
Farmer (2008)
At the 2009 Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil in Chicago, Farmer approached “Juanita,” one of the trans women featured in the transphobic book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey. Farmer was wearing a burqa and asked several questions that prompted “Juanita” to alert the community about Farmer’s questioning.
Caitlyn Lance Antrim (August 30, 1949âJuly 28, 2018) was an American engineer who joined the transgender community in protesting the book The Man Who Would Be Queen by J. Michael Bailey.
Background
Antrim was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Her parents were Admiral Richard Nott Antrim and Mary Jean (Packard) Antrim.
She earned her SBME from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy in 1971. On returning to civilian life, she returned to MIT to earn the professional degree of Environmental Engineer in 1977, specializing in ocean mineral development, international law and public policy.
A noted expert on the Law of the Sea, she was Executive Director of the Rule of Law Committee for the Ocean. She died while attending the International Seabed Authority Conference in Kingston, Jamaica.
In the course of some work on the internet I came across your post to âCurrents of Justiceâ in Atlanta. You were promoting the idea of having Professor Michael Bailey appear on the show to promote his recent book.
I believe in social justice. I have worked to promote justice at the national and international levels in the US government, for NGOs and at the United Nations â I have even worked at the National Academy of Sciences. Because of this connection, particularly my involvement with the Academies and friendships with many of the staff, I feel competent to write to you on this subject.
Years ago a feminist author published a book called âThe Transsexual Empire.â This book, which put forth the idea that men were trying to take over the womenâs movement by becoming ersatz women and supplanting ârealâ women, was a hurtful, biased book. In spite of its lack of substantive research or analysis, it continued to arise year after year, denying that transsexuals could ever be real women, causing hurt to many and relegating them to a lesser role, or denying them a role at all, in the womenâs movement. I hope that you will understand that the lesson of âThe Transsexual Empireâ has been that such publications, based on bias and pre-conceived opinions, cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. If you wish to understand the current relevance of this lesson, you may search the internet where you will find that Baileyâs book receives strong support in very conservative web sites where it is used to degrade both gays and transsexuals.
Professor Bailey has proven to be intolerant of disagreement with his book, his ideas and his methods. He has declared that the many people who have transitioned across genders who claim they do not fit into his two categories are lying about their experience. I am insulted by his arrogance, and I am disappointed by the glowing recommendations that the Academy Press has provided, particularly now that Professor Bailey has stated that he did not base his book on original research and that he even fabricated the ending of at least one story to support his personal position.
Most hurtful of all â I find that when I attend meetings in the Academy building and stop in the first floor bookstore, I am met by the cover of âThe Man Who Would Be Queenâ. At that moment, as I stand in the doorway, I feel that it is the Academy itself that is insulting me by promoting this book that not only presents a view of transsexuals that does not apply to me, but denies that I have the self-understanding or the right to exclude myself from its categorization. It is only when I remember my friends and colleagues throughout the Academy who have supported me in my own transition that I regain my balance.
Ms. Pinnel, if you truly value social justice, I hope you will consider the injustice that Michael Baileyâs presentation does to the many, many transsexuals he never considered in all his study, indeed, that he refused to consider â those of us who work throughout society, who teach at universities, who lead major businesses, who practice compassionate medicine, who work to improve the lot of the oppressed, and who work at the Academy, participate in its committees and are even elected to its membership. We are the people who Michael Bailey never considered; we are those he refused to meet even before the Joseph Henry Press ever heard of his book. We simply seek our deserved recognition as women (and as men for those who transitioned from female to male). Justice cries out for us to be heard! Are you listening? Are you willing to?
In closing, I ask you to try to consider what it would be like for a prominent institution, one that you respect most highly, to publish a book that denied to you recognition of something of great personal importance â your religion, perhaps, or your ethnic heritage â how would you feel? How would you feel toward the people who, perhaps in ignorance, promoted that book and further denied you the understanding that you deserved?
On that question, I will close and ask you to ponder your response. If you would like more understanding, I would welcome your questions and would even be willing to discuss the matter with you and your colleagues to develop ways to redeem the injustice.
Rya Jones (born June 24, 1974) is a former American publishing executive and “autogynephilia” activist. Jones has identified as a “gender critical” transgender person and has posted many videos expressing conservative or religious views about gender.
Background
Jones graduated from Iola – Scandinavia High in 1992, then University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1996 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication. Jones served as CEO of Jones Publishing, Inc. It was founded by Jones’ parents in 1986 and has produced a number of specialty periodicals:
Religious (via Crosslife LLC): Today’s Christian Living, Today’s Pastor
Arts and crafts: Sunshine Artist, Dolls, Doll Costuming, Doll Crafter, Dollmaking, Popular Ceramics, Ceramics Arts and Craft, Teddy Bear Review
Jones transitioned in around 2015. Jones’ time as CEO ended in 2016. In 2017, JP Media LLC purchased Jones Publishing, Inc. in a planned transfer of the company from Joe and Maggie Jones to Diana Jones, their daughter-in-law. Jones and her former spouse Diana have seven children who have been home-schooled. Jones has served as an ordained pastor in Cornerstone Churches in Wisconsin and studied part-time for a Master’s in Divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jones now identifies as a “former pastor.” Jones has been involved with Madison Community Cooperative and has been licensed as a health insurance agent with Humana.
Online activity
Jones uses several online handles, including:
Rya N.T. Jones
HeyThisIsRya
Jones published a number of videos on YouTube about various gender-critical topics including a possible “detransition” before removing all of the videos. Collaboration videos with other gender-critical people like Miranda Yardley are still online:
Kyle Scanlon was a Canadian author and activist for the transgender and gender diverse communities.
Background
Scanlon was born September 5, 1971 and moved from hometown Hamilton to Toronto in 1997.
Scanlon was active in Toronto’s lesbian community. After transition Scanlon was hired by the Lesbian Gay Bi Youth Line. Scanlon became the first openly trans man to be the Executive Director of an agency in Canada.
Later Scanlon was hired by the City of Toronto as the 519 Meal Trans Program Coordinator. At that time, Meal Trans was one of the only services available for trans people. During ten years of work for the City, Scanlon expanded the work of the 519. Scanlon became the Coordinator of the now diverse Trans Programming at the 519. Scanlon’s work expanded to include finding emergency housing and engaging homeless shelters to implement trans-positive policies, and often simply providing a supportive ear and a safe space for distressed clients.
In 2001 Scanlon was recognized for extensive community involvement with the Grassroots Trans Community Activist of the Year award from the Serving Our Youth (SOY) program.
While presenting at CAMH trying to address the many problems with their models of care in 2003, Scanlon was interrupted during his presentation by CAMH employee and anti-trans activist James Cantor. In 2008, Scanlon described the incident:
Cantor was made to apologize to me in a letter, but there he was also clever to apologize for my feeling harassed and did not in any way acknowledge he harassed me. Like I said, semantics. I definitely was told this would stay on his file for 7 years.
Scanlon’s work at The 519 led to becoming the Education, Training and Research Coordinator. Thanks in part to Scanlon, the 519 now offers a wide range of internationally renowned Trans Programs and Services.
Scanlon died on July 3, 2012. Scanlon did not live to see the day that a career serving the community would help lead to the closure of the worst parts of CAMH’s gender clinic.
The Canada section of this site is dedicated to Scanlon. Rest in power, Kyle.
Scanlon, Kyle (2008). James Cantor harasses trans speaker. [Complaint to CAMH]. https://www.transgendermap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/02/kyle-scanlon-james-cantor-incident.pdf
This clearinghouse explores varying viewpoints about The Man Who Would Be Queen and the ideology that informs the work of J. Michael Bailey, Ray Blanchard, and Anne Lawrence.
This clearinghouse was created in April 2003 to document materials in this controversy as they became available. Though much of it remains in an unsynthesized format, pages about key people and concepts have been updated in some cases. Due to renewed interest in the topic following attacks on Bailey’s critics by his coworker Alice Dreger, links and descriptions are being updated throughout.
For a chronological overview of this matter, please see the timeline of events compiled by Professor Lynn Conway.
The earlier version of this page is available on Internet Archive at this URL:
Bailey’s book is based on an obscure and outdated model of gender variance created by Ray Blanchard of Toronto’s notorious Clarke Institute. Bailey’s and Blanchard’s models contradict cutting-edge research by renowned experts on causes and motivations of those who express gender variance.
Initial positive spin created by Joseph Henry Press publicist Robin Pinnel and a handful of Bailey supporters (primarily sexologist Anne Lawrence and members of a conservative-run eugenics thinktank) quickly gave way to a deluge of negative responses by a wide range of concerned communities, starting with academics, notably those responding to Bailey’s lectures exploiting gender-variant children. For a sense of the size and global scope of the protest, a petition against the book garnered over 1,300 signatures from 35 countries in just its first few days. Given our percentage of the population, this would be equivalent to obtaining millions of signatures in a few days from the general population.
Also speaking out were those of us working to stop defamation of trans people in the media, and even the research subjects portrayed in Baileyâs book. These voices were later joined by those from the gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities. In early 2004, hate group monitor Southern Poverty Law Center featured Bailey’s and Blanchard’s ties to neo-eugenicists and right-wing journalists.
In the wake of this, book sales tanked, Bailey has vacated his position as an officer of the International Academy of Sex Research and was subject of a full investigation by Northwestern University for failure to get informed consent. In November 2003, Bailey’s mentor Ray Blanchard finally resigned from HBIGDA after their officers wrote to Northwestern expressing concerns, suggesting that Blanchard will go down in history as what George Rekers is to homosexuality: the old-school holdout who outlived his time.
Executive Editor Stephen Mautner claimed in a 24 June 2003 letter that the book was subjected to âscientific reviewâ and âwas reviewed as a well-crafted and responsible work.â Mautner refers to Bailey as a âscientistâ who follows âa legitimate avenue of scholarship and research.â In the wake of a full investigation into the systemic failures at the National Academies, they continue to remain silent about their culpability.
Bailey’s lurid and unscientific portrayal is easily disproven by successful trans women and men around the world leading joyous and productive lives after transition.
Introduction
Discrediting Bailey was the easy part. Framing the theoretical issues involved is the profoundly difficult part of this controversy. The Bailey-Blanchard-Lawrence model of gender variance raises several issues regarding reproduction, assimilation, biological determinism, and what it means for trans people and society at large.
Please note that many of the concepts and terms discussed in the following articles are controversial and/or inconclusive. They give a sense of the issues at hand, and are not definitive statements on any particular subject.
Dr. Mildred Brown has observed in her clinical practice that some people seeking feminization do so for reasons other than the traditional motivation, and questions whether these reasons are “transsexual” in the clinical definition.
Homosexuality and gender variance represent an “evolutionary mistake” and “developmental error,” according to Bailey’s ideology. This disease model of these traits has led him to “gay gene” and “gay germ” hypotheses about causation. This section explores Bailey’s links to the eugenics movement. It includes extensive quotations from his work and includes a chart of “usual suspects” who are part of this movement.
The investigation
This site is designed to complement the concurrent Investigative Report by Lynn Conway. Our research into how this book got published and promoted focuses on the following six entities.
J. Michael Bailey’s employer. Northwestern faculty, administration, and students have had a range of responses to Bailey’s work and the charges leveled against him. This section documents these reactions.
This Toronto mental institution is home base for most of Bailey’s collaborators and is heavily involved in the North American eugenics movement. It is widely considered by gender-variant people and experts who work with them as out of touch and regressive.
This conservative-run eugenics think tank hopes to usher in “The Age of Galton.” Francis Galton coined the term “eugenics,” and this group represents a revival of the eugenics movement.
In March 2004, Amazon removed 35 customer reviews of Bailey’s book, all but one of which gave it the worst review possible. This had a net effect of raising his average rating a full point and giving the wrong impression that opposition to the book was evenly divided. Since that time, one or two anonymous trolls continue to add shill reviews, which are pretty easy to spot.
This group nominated Bailey for an award in February 2004, which led to immediate protests. The nomination was revoked in March 2004, the Director was ousted in 2005, and the site is currently offline.
Anne Lawrence is the chief apologist and collaborator with Bailey and Blanchard. Lawrence very strongly identifies as having a sex-fueled mental illness invented by Ray Blanchard. Lawrence’s career and life are now spent promoting this diagnosis.
In 2006, Bailey’s coworker Alice Dreger at Northwestern University began an ongoing backlash against the populist response to Bailey’s book, culminating in a one-sided hatchet job on key critics of Bailey.
Gender identity and expression take on different meanings within different systems of thought. Because medical technologies are available to assist in the somatic expression of these identities, several medicalized disease models of the phenomena have developed. This article examines three disease models as typically applied to those who seek feminization:
The GID model is currently considered legitimate within psychological literature and is a required diagnosis to receive access to trans health services in many places. The author reviews several problems with mental illness models, including âchildhood gender nonconformityâ and âtransvestic fetishism,â two other âmental disordersâ currently considered legitimate diagnoses. The author makes several analogies, asking readers to consider whether âracial nonconformityâ or âreligious identity disorderâ seem legitimate as well.
Pathology (âbirth defectâ model)
This third metaphor of impairment describes a physical disorder rather than a mental one. The âorderâ implied by positioning these traits and behaviors as diseases reinforces heteronormative hierarchies. These models use scientific-sounding terminology to reinforce the social belief that the âpurposeâ or âfunctionâ of sex and sexuality is procreation. This leads to an examination of historic problems with anatomical thresholds for determining sex, and parallels with other bioethical debates about technologies that disrupt the ânaturalâ order of procreative sexuality. The author suggests this is a phenomenon that is stigmatized in many cultures, and makes some suggestions for ways to consider it independently from models of sin or disease.
Some funny parodies, cartoons, and essays about this matter. I’m sure you need it by now.
Be Scofield is a transgender American activist critical of new religious movements. Scofield has characterized the progressive wing of the transgender rights movement as a âcult.â
Background
Scofield was born on October 29, 1980 and grew up in Naples, Florida. As a young adult, Scofield produced three albums of dance music under the name MC2000: Spiritual Awakening (1999), Musical Evolutions (2000), and Pyscho [sic, also sometimes styled correctly] (2000).
Scofield graduated from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in psychology/philosophy in 2006, then briefly attended the California Institute of Integral Studies before dropping out.
Scofield then worked at a yoga studio and ran a weekly âecstatic danceâ event called Metta Dance. After founding the education project Mettaversity and marketing project mettawebdesign, Scofield did marketing for sites GreenMedInfo.com and GreenMedTV.com while running a number of sites, including decolonizingyoga.com.
In 2011, Scofield came out as “trapped in the wrong body” and raised $1,640 in a crowdfunding campaign to cover gender transition costs. In 2013 Scofield earned a master’s degree in divinity at Starr King School.
Around 2018, Scofield began writing articles about alleged manipulative or abusive practices in new religious movements.
Scofield was banned from the platform Medium in July 2018 for violations including âmultiple instances of unverified and uncorroborated claims against individuals.â
Criticism of trans activism
In 2021, Scofield got involved in criticizing the transgender rights movement. Scofield specifically decries the âtactics used to silence Jesse Singal,â a writer known for laundering anti-transgender extremism into mainstream media outlets. Singal has parlayed attacks on transgender people into a lucrative career netting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Singal has been âsilencedâ into dozens of subsequent media appearances as an expert on transgender people, usually in the place of actual medical and legal experts.
In a comparison using the ACLUâs 1978 defense of a march by Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, Scofield frames criticism of Jesse Singal as a First Amendment issue: âWhen the totalist left decrees something ideologically wrong or hateful, that should be the impetus for the speech to be protected, not censored.â If a privately-owned platform or publication decides not to publish someoneâs writing, that is not a First Amendment issue. If activists warn the public about biased people negatively influencing trans rights, that is not censorship.
In a remarkable analogy, Scofield likens Jesse Singal to Martin Luther King, and media watchdogs like GLAAD to the FBI. Scofield condemns Singal’s critics as working âto silence, ruin and derail people and ideas deemed dangerous, or ideologically wrong.â This is exactly why Singal is a once-in-a-generation problem. Singal’s masterful use of the Dregerian narrative has brainwashed followers like Scofield into believing progressive leaders of the transgender rights movement are akin to J. Edgar Hooverâs FBI, and Jesse Singal is akin to the persecuted thought leader of a civil rights movement.
Staff report (March 6, 2003). Students protest Iraq War. Fort Myers News-Press
Scofield, Be (October 28, 2011). Living Out Loud: Iâm Transgender.Tikkun http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2011/10/28/living-out-loud-im-transgender
Briedis et al. v. Scofield, Washington State 19-2-05077-28 https://dockets.justia.com/docket/washington/wawdce/2:2019cv01494/277812
Baxter, J (May 30, 2019). The Misdeeds of Be Scofield and the Mysterious Orcas Island Death of Carla Shaffer. https://baxtersjournal.com/index.php/2019/05/30/the-misdeeds-of-be-scofield-and-the-mysterious-orcas-island-death-of-carla-shaffer/ [archive]
Cheryl Chase is the pseudonym of Bo Laurent an American activist associated with internet troll Denise Magner and historian Alice Dreger. All three were involved with Intersex Society of North America prior to its 2008 dissolution.
Cheryl Chase, the intersex activist, told me that transsexuals frequently join intersex groups because they are convinced that they are also intersexual. In most cases, they are not.
Background
Chase’s self-reported personal and medical history is murky and often contradictory. She claims she had multiple names starting at birth:
McCormick was born on March 23, 1982. According to information McCormick published online, she grew up in Wales, Wisconsin, and has the following education:
Kettle Moraine High School (2000)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (B.A. 2004)
Chicago-Kent School of Law (J.D. 2007)
Illinois Bar (2007)
Wisconsin Bar (2008)
Northern District of Illinois (2008)
Milwaukee Bar Association (2017)
Work experience includes:
Waukesha County Chief Judge Kathryn W. Foster
Michael D. Robbins & Associates
Schoen, Mangan & Smith
Patton & Ryan LLC
O’Connell, Tivin, Miller & Burns, LLC
Weiss Law Office, S.C. in Mequon, Wisconsin
Wilson Elser
Griffin Purnell
Involvement
On J. Michael Baileyâs 51st birthday in 2008, Megan McCormick sent me the following unsolicited letter:
Ms. James,
I have a strange request: My friend idolizes you. Although I am not terribly familiar with your work, I know that he has frequently mentioned that your activism helped him while he was transitioning.
I am wondering if you ever distribute autographed photographs to fans. I know it seems kind of campy, but I think he would be really thrilled by the gesture (I would give it to him as a birthday gift).
Thanks for any response you are able to provide, and thank you for your activism.
Megan McCormick
Up until that point, I had always sent along an autographed headshot or other item to any fan who asked, at no charge. A number of things in the letter made me 99% sure McCormick was engaging in fraud, but on the 1% chance it was a legitimate request, I waited a few days, then offered to send something that did not have my photo but would still be appreciated by a fan:
Thanks for the sweet note! I don’t have any autograph-worthy pictures right now, but if you wish, I could send an autographed DVD of Casting Pearls. Just tell me the name and address to send it to.
Take care, Andrea
Rather than feeling guilty about her deception and reconsidering, McCormick got back to me within 20 minutes:
Andrea, Thank you so much for your consideration. I think he will love this. If you could please send the DVD to me (as I will be wrapping it as part of his birthday gift).
I gave her one last chance to reconsider her behavior:
Great! To whom should I autograph it?
But being not too sharp, she pressed forward with her
fraudulent request:
He goes by Mike.
At that point, I was almost certain that Megan McCormick was
planning to give this to Mike Bailey. I signed it something like âTo Mike, best
of luck with your transition! Andrea.â In the past, Bailey has threatened to
appear in drag in public, but he has yet to make any announcements about his
very personal relationship to transgender women. In fact, heâs announced,
âEverything that Iâm willing to say about my personal life Iâve already saidâŠâ
I sent this note to McCormick:
Mailed today. Please tell him I am really pleased that my work has been a source of hope and help! Take care, Andrea
Ms. McCormick disingenuously replied:
Thank you again–for everything.
While I wondered if McCormick might be in a sexual relationship with Bailey’s son or even Bailey himself (who has a taste for mannish younger women like McCormick who looked like he did in high school), I didnât look into the matter.
About a year later, an undeniable connection between McCormick and Bailey emerged, at which point I spoke with her boss by phone. After I explained that she had represented herself fraudulently to me, her boss suggested I send a note requesting no further contact. I did just that on May 27, 2009, writing, “I do plan to post our correspondence below so there’s a record of your behavior.”
McCormick became a mother in 2016 and got married in 2019,
so letâs hope she no longer engages in this sort of troubling behavior.
References
McCormick, Megan B (July 2, 2008). Autograph request [unsolicited email to Andrea James].
Staff report (2017). Welcome New MBA Members! Milwaukee Bar Association Messenger, Winter, page 4 (lists Megan B. McCormick, Weiss Law Office) https://milwbar.org/images/downloads/mba_msgr_dec2017_9_hr.pdf
Staff report (November 2008). State Bar welcomes 122 new lawyers. Wisconsin Lawyer, Vol. 81, No. 11. https://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/WisconsinLawyer/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=81&Issue=11&ArticleID=1608
Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (2015). https://issuu.com/cvlsf/docs/cvls_ar_2015
Megan Beth McCormick via Lawyers.com. https://www.lawyers.com/mequon/wisconsin/megan-beth-mccormick-157132304-a/
Megan Beth McCormick via Martindale. https://www.martindale.com/milwaukee/wisconsin/megan-beth-mccormick-300185516-a/
http://archive.is/wZ0uT
https://archive.ph/DY1kK
JoAnn Roberts (March 18, 1948âJune 7, 2013) was an American publisher and activist whose important work bridges the transition from print to digital transgender resources.
Background
Roberts founded Creative Design Services (CDS) in 1985. Print magazines included:
Ladylike
International TransScript
Books included:
Art & Illusion: A Guide to Crossdressing
Vol. 1: Face & Hair
Vol. 2: Fashion & Style
The Transsexual’s Survival Guide to Transition & Beyond
Volume 2: for Family, Friends, & Employers
Coping with Crossdressing: Tools & Strategies for Partners
Roberts also produced instructional videos as well as social events like Paradise in the Poconos and Beauty And The Beach.
Roberts co-founded the Renaissance Education Association, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, the Congress of Transgender Organizations, the Transgender Alliance for Community, and GenderPac, and served an important role in the second International Congress on Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender.
In 1991, Roberts authored the Gender Bill of Rights.
In 1995 Roberts began developing several websites, first via CDS. then via 3-D Communications, Inc. with Jamie Faye Fenton and Angela Gardner from 1996 to 2006. Roberts absorbed all of the assets back into CDS in 2006.
cdspub.com
3dcom.com
transgender.org
tgforum.com
Roberts died of lung cancer in 2013 and was posthumously honored with a Virginia Prince Award that year.
References
Roberts, JoAnn (1990). A Bill of Gender Rights. [archive]
