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)