Ben Appel is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Appel is a regular contributor to Queer Majority and other anti-trans publications.
Background
Bennjamin John “Ben” Appel was born in February 1983 to Nancy Sue (Lipman) Gunzelman (born 1954) and Randy Appel (1949-2019). Appel grew up in Catonsville and Ellicott City, Maryland in a Catholic household with three siblings: Erin, Jessica, and Bret.
In 2015 Appel married attorney Andrew Charles “Drew” Leaser (born 1976). They live in New York.
Appel worked as a hairdresser in Maryland for ten years before earning a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.
Anti-transgender activism
Appel’s forthcoming memoir from Post Hill Press is titled Cis White Gay. The book was pitched as:
about growing up in a Christian fundamentalist cult before becoming a gay rights activist while a student at Columbia University, only to encounter there a cultural landscape ruled by gender ideology and a puritanical cult of social justice resembling The Handmaid’s Tale dystopia of his childhood
In 2023, Appel was announced as a participant in an anti-trans conference by Genspect.
References
Appel, Ben (May 14, 2023). Homophobia in drag: Transgender ideology has breathed new life into a dark, old prejudice. Spiked https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/05/14/the-new-homophobia/
Appel, Ben (April 21, 2022 ). The New Homophobia | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/new-homophobia-opinion-1698969
Appel, Ben (January 13, 2022). The stifling conformity of campus sexual politics. Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-stifling-conformity-of-campus-sexual-politics
Appel, Ben (September 2, 2022). Victimhood is one helluva drug. [alternate title: “Chase Strangio, you can have ‘fa**ot’ if you want it.”] Queer Majority https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/victimhood-is-one-helluva-drug
Iacia, Samantha (January 14, 2015). Wedded: Ben Appel and Drew Leaser. Baltimore Sun https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bs-lt-wedded-0118-20150114-story.html
Adler, Dahlia (February 25, 2022). February 2022 deal announcements. LGBTQ Reads https://lgbtqreads.com/2022/02/25/february-2022-deal-announcements/
Resources
Ben Appel (benappelwrites.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)
- benappel [deleted]
Instagram (instagram.com)
Substack (substack.com)
- Ben Appel’s Newsletter
- benappel.substack.com
Queer Majority (queermajority.com)
- Ben Appel
- https://www.queermajority.com/contributors-1/ben-appel