Katya Delaney / “Katherine Dee” vs. transgender people

Katya Delaney (aka Katherine Delaney) is an American writer who uses the pseudonym “Katherine Dee” and the handles “katyadee” and “Default Friend.” Delaney has appeared on numerous right-wing and anti-transgender platforms, most notably interviews with anti-trans activists Tucker Carlson and Jesse Singal.

Background

Delaney identifies as Jewish and has a sibling. Delaney reportedly dropped out in junior year of high school after being bullied due to being “weird and unlikeable.” The final straw was after a classmate reportedly threw a drink at Delaney.

Delaney believes bullying is a “social corrective” for weird kids, but that bullies who take things too far sometimes receive their own social corrective. Delaney believes that for many “weird and unlikeable” people, “you become addicted to being disliked.” This astute observation helps explain why Delaney is drawn to low-empathy trolls like Jesse Singal, Adam Lanza, and Katie Herzog. Delaney’s favorite podcast is Singal and Herzog’s anti-trans show Blocked and Reported.

Delaney reportedly attended New York University and developed an interest in film and writing there.

Delaney has been involved in marketing and promotion at agencies that support the tech industry, with a focus on relational database management systems.

Delaney was the community manager for repl.it (now replit.com) and was banned from Wikipedia in 2019 for spamming on behalf of the company.
Delaney was editorial lead on the growth & content team at On Deck / nZero Labs, Inc. (now branded as ODF).
Delaney was a copywriter at PrayTell agency, authoring a series called “Desserts,” a “semi-frequent installment of all things internet (and a few things internet-adjacent).”
Delaney was also a blogger for Arctype.

When not working in marketing, Delaney has done poetry readings and other creative pursuits. Delaney co-hosted the Art Bell tribute show Post 2 Post AM with Jahkub and Meegsie and has a longstanding interest in making a film about Bell. In 2024, Delaney and Taylor McMahon released a tribute to Bell.

In 2021, Delaney co-hosted 13 episodes of the podcast After the Orgy with “Personality Girl” aka Ann Manov.

Delaney was a compulsive Tumblr user and has put forth the hypothesis that Tumblr has profoundly shaped nearly every aspect of 2020s culture.

In 2015, Delaney got married in Florida and later got divorced. In 2022 Delaney was engaged again and living in Chicago. Delaney has previously lived in Florida, Texas, and California.

Delaney has an interest in the “true crime” genre, which Delaney believes became popular because of a confluence of cultural and technological forces that have changed people’s relationship to the self. Delaney has a particular interest in the digital footprints of socially isolated violent criminals like school shooter Adam Lanza.

Delaney was involved in arrangedmarriages.co, an online project created by Justin Murphy that sought to facilitate arranged marriages between people in Delaney’s peer groups.

Sex tourism horror film

Starting around 2015, Delaney worked on a project that evolved into a short film about an American sex tourist. The script for “White Knight” was submitted to several festivals in 2018. In 2019 Delaney crowdfunded on Indiegogo:

White Knight is a 10 minute horror short about sex tourism in Pattaya, Thailand.

I’m Katya, the writer/director/producer of White Knight. This short has been a labor of love since 2015. The script started as a monster movie that took place in Manila and Subic Bay, in the Philippines. As I honed the story, it evolved, taking on a life of its own. It’s no longer a monster movie, but it’s still a horror movie, now set in Pattaya, Thailand. It’s about how being well meaning doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing.

Delaney raised $3,000 on an $11,000 goal.

Anti-trans activism

In 2022 Delaney began fixating on “sissy hypno,” discussing with anti-trans activist Benjamin Boyce. Later that year, Delaney went on Blocked and Reported with anti-trans activist Jesse Singal.

Delaney has stated, “I don’t think anyone should be engaging with pornography. That’s my one extremist view. Porn is never helpful, even when it seems like it’s helpful.”

Substack

Delaney’s Substack has several contributors, including:

References

Kuhn, Daniel (June 11, 2022). Who You Really Are: A Conversation About Pseudonymity With Default Friend at Consensus. CoinDesk https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2022/06/11/who-you-really-are-a-conversation-about-pseudonymity-with-default-friend-at-consensus

Michelle Goldberg (March 21, 2022). A Manifesto Against Sex Positivity. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/21/opinion/manifesto-against-sex-positivity.html “Almost exactly a year ago, the writer Katherine Dee, who blogs about internet culture and trend forecasting, predicted what she called a ‘coming wave of sex negativity.'”

Staff report (September 14, 2018). Announcing the 2018 ScreenCraft Short Screenplay Contest Quarterfinalists. https://screencraft.org/blog/announcing-2018-screencraft-short-screenplay-contest-quarterfinalists-shorts/

Austin Film Festival (2018). Austin Film Festival Announces 2018 Script Competition Semifinalists & Second Rounders! https://austinfilmfestival.com/submit/screenplay-and-teleplay-submissions-2/2018-script-competition-semifinalists-second-rounders/

Beast Crawl Oakland (July 16, 2016). E.M. Wolfman Books, 410 13th Street https://www.poetryflash.org/calendar/?r=norcal&y=2016&m=07&d=01

Beachsloth (December 31, 2015). The Fifth Annual Beachies. https://www.tumblr.com/beachsloth/136290156765/the-fifth-annual-beachies

Best Wedding: Katya Delaney – One day someone messaged me on Facebook asking if they could invite me to their wedding and what my address would be. I never met them before. So of course I said yes. Several weeks later I received an invitation in the mail. To avoid awkwardness, I met them a few times in NYC before I actually went to their wedding in Florida. I promised to blog about their Florida wedding. I did, quite obsessively. I strongly encourage more people to invite me to their weddings. I dress well and am cordial in real life. Additionally Katya also wrote a play that was quite excellent and I hope to visit her at her new, undisclosed location.

[Delaney later divorced.]

Selected work by Delaney

“Katherine Dee” (October 11, 2024). Interview with a Sissy: case study #0A, male, 2010s. https://default.blog/p/interview-with-a-sissy-1

“Ketherine Dee” and Taylor McMahon (October 8, 2024). Adam Lanza Fan Art. https://default.blog/p/adam-lanza-fan-art

“Katherine Dee” (October 21, 2024). Our Very Online Politics Is Just Around the Corner. The Dispatch https://thedispatch.com/article/our-very-online-politics-is-just-around-the-corner/

“Ketherine Dee” and Taylor McMahon (September 18, 2024). First Time Caller: An Art Bell Tribute. https://default.blog/p/first-time-caller-an-art-bell-tribute

“Katherine Dee” (August 6, 2024). Interview with a Female Sissy: case study #4, female, 2013-2021, (recorded in 2022). Default Friend https://default.blog/p/interview-with-a-female-sissy [archive]

“Katherine Dee” (July 31, 2024). Gore Videos and Camaraderie Among Young Men: case study #3, 2009-2021. Default Friend https://default.blog/p/gore-videos-camaraderie-among-young

“Katherine Dee” (July 22, 2024). The Computer as a Private Part of the Body: case study #2, male, 2003-2021. Default Friend https://default.blog/p/the-computer-as-a-private-part-of

“Katherine Dee” (August 11, 2022). Reaping the Strange Fruits of Kiwi Farms. The Scroll https://thedailyscroll.substack.com/p/reaping-the-strange-fruits-of-kiwi

“Katherine Dee” (June 10, 2022). Mass Shootings and the World Liberalism Made. Contra https://www.readcontra.com/p/mass-shootings-and-the-world-liberalism

“Katherine Dee” and “BlitheringGenius of Wayward Axolotl” (May 12, 2022). The Ghost of Adam Lanza, Pt. 1. Default Friend https://default.blog/p/-the-ghost-of-adam-lanza-pt-1 see also: The Ghost of Adam Lanza https://thewaywardaxolotl.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-ghost-of-adam-lanza.html

“Katherine Dee” (August 11, 2021). Tumblr Transformed American Politics. The American Conservative https://theamericanconservative.com/tumblr-transformed-american-politics/

“Katherine Dee” (March 14, 2021). The Coming Wave of Sex Negativity https://default.blog/p/72-the-coming-wave-of-sex-negativity/

Katya Delaney (2021). Andrew McLuhan Teaches Understanding Media Intensive: Part One. https://grayarea.org/course/andrew-mcluhan-teaches-understanding-media-intensive-part-one/

“Katherine Dee” (September 26, 2024) Adam Lanza Fan Art. Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/feature/adam-lanza-fan-art

Katya Delaney and Kat Huang (Jul 1, 2019). To be great, make useless things: An Interview with Chad Fowler. Replit https://medium.com/@replit/developer-spotlight-almost-everyone-in-the-world-is-bad-at-their-job-5d0ccdd3e003

“katyadee” (April 30, 2019). So… who exactly won the #ReplitGameJam? https://dev.to/katyadee/so-who-exactly-won-the-replitgamejam-26jl

Katya Delaney (November 30, 2018). Chanthropology: The Japanese Origins of Imageboard Culture. Praytell Agency https://medium.com/praytellagency/chanthropology-the-japanese-origins-of-imageboard-culture-60ffb3f5ff15

Katya Delaney (October 31, 2018). Where are the female incels? Praytell Agency https://medium.com/praytellagency/dessert-where-are-the-female-incels-3f32d6839298

Katya Delaney (October 24, 2018). Pretty Intense デザート: Japan Edition—Part One, BIG IN JAPAN. Praytell Agency https://medium.com/praytellagency/pretty-intense-%E3%83%87%E3%82%B6%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88-japan-edition-part-one-big-in-japan-c49eb4acabcf

Katya Delaney (September 18, 2018). Welcome to the Dollz House. Praytell Agency https://medium.com/praytellagency/dessert-welcome-to-the-dollz-house-b09ccf37a931

Katya Delaney (July 2016) Poem Elements. Tabloid https://tabloidpublications.bigcartel.com/product/poem-elements

Media

Erik Torenberg and Noah Smith (December 18, 2024). Relationships, Gender Wars, and Online Culture with Katherine Dee (Default Friend). Econ 102 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhGhZqxs5FA

“Katherine Dee” (July 16, 2024). Forum Roleplaying and Mediated Relationships: case study #1, female, 2003-2011. Default Friend https://default.blog/p/forum-roleplaying-and-mediated-relationships

Chris Williamson (March 25, 2023). The Rise And Fall Of The Girlboss Meme – Katherine Dee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivWlCz_QFpc

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry (Mar 5, 2023). The Coming Wave of Sex Negativity – Katherine Dee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llCpyQC7Dx8

Jesse Singal (November 19, 2022). Episode 140: Katherine Dee (@Default_Friend) Explains The Internet To Jesse. Blocked and Reported https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/episode-140-katherine-dee-default_friend

Tucker Carlson (September 26, 2022). Mass Shooting Mayhem. Tucker Carlson Today https://watch.plex.tv/show/tucker-carlson-today-1/season/2/episode/95

Benjamin Boyce (September 19, 2022). A Normie’s Guide to Life Online | with Katherine Dee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdNCXrF2GyQ

Aryeh Cohen-Wade (May 17, 2021). After the Orgy, with Default Friend. Culturally Determined https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMXs2axm0x8

Resources

notes:

This partial profile focuses on information relevant to Delaney’s anti-trans activism.

Delaney has attempted a “DELETE FUCKING EVERYTHING” of an extensive digital footprint dating back to middle school.

Another NYU attendee with the same name is also involved in filmmaking as a location manager.

A NYC-based company founded in 2009 called Brooklyn White Knight LLC dba THE LLC (DOS ID 3878466) appears to be connected to Delaney.

Substack (substack.com)