Ben Appel is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Appel is a regular contributor to Queer Majority, UnHerd, Quillette, and other anti-trans publications.
Background
Benjamin 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 “fundamentalist” Catholic household with three siblings: Erin, Jessica, and Bret.
Appel had many “feminine” interests as a child (particularly My Pretty Pony) and has concerns that children like him are now encouraged to make a gender transition:
“I, like a lot of other LGB (and some trans) people, believe that many children and some adolescents presenting at gender clinics today would likely desist and grow up to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual if they were given proper emotional support. In other words, in many cases, the medicalization of “trans kids” might actually be the medicalization of homosexuality.”
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 in 2020.
Appel has written about getting sober and has criticized Alcoholics Anonymous for working toward inclusivity:
“I was finishing my last year of study at Columbia University. Having entered the university in 2017 as a self-described radical progressive planning a career in LGBT activism, I was graduating an exile. I had become disillusioned with, and spoken out against, my fellow progressives’ tactics: suppressing free speech, purity policing and reducing every individual to his or her skin colour, gender and sexual orientation. During my last semester, which was moved online due to the pandemic, I’d sign on to virtual AA meetings after class, and immediately be struck by how similar the two spaces had become. Pronouns lit up the screen. Whereas opening readings once consisted of the AA preamble, the 12 Steps and 12 traditions, and details about the meeting, now some groups chose to add a thinly veiled threat: ‘We will not tolerate racist, homophobic, sexist or transphobic rhetoric in this space.’”
Appel was also upset that AA revised its language to be more gender-inclusive.
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 SPLC-designated hate group Genspect.
Appel is an “autogynephilia” activist and frequently criticizes “gender ideology.”
Appel co-hosts the Informed Dissent podcast with Corinna Cohn, Lisa Selin Davis, “Eliza Mondegreen,” and Jamie Reed. The podcast debuted in December 2024.
References
Appel, Ben (March 2, 2025). ‘Conclave’ Isn’t The Pro-Trans Film People Think It Is. Rather, it illustrates the insanity of the trans/queer movement. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/conclave-isnt-the-pro-trans-film
Appel, Ben (February 2, 2025). Enough With Their Lies: LGBT organizations and mainstream news outlets do more to contribute to the youth mental health crisis than the Trump Administration ever could. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/enough-with-their-lies
Appel, Ben (January 19, 2025). It’s Time for This Madness to End. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/perhaps-its-time-we-went-scorched
Appel, Ben (December 14, 2024). That Which Must Not Be Named. Ben Appel’s Newsletter https://benappel.substack.com/p/that-which-must-not-be-named
Appel, Ben (December 26, 2023). The Re-deminzation of the Gay Male. Queer Majority https://www.queermajority.com/essays-all/the-re-demonization-of-the-gay-male
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 (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
Apprl, Ben (May 12, 2023). How Alcoholics Anonymous lost its way Addicts with the ‘wrong opinions’ no longer fit in. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/05/how-alcoholics-anonymous-lost-its-way/
Appel, Ben (April 21, 2022). The New Homophobia | Opinion. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/new-homophobia-opinion-1698969
Adler, Dahlia (February 25, 2022). February 2022 deal announcements. LGBTQ Reads https://lgbtqreads.com/2022/02/25/february-2022-deal-announcements/
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 (July 8, 2021). As a Gay Child in a Christian Cult, I Was Taught to Hate Myself. Then I Joined the Church of Social Justice—and Nothing Changed, Quillette https://quillette.com/2021/07/08/as-a-gay-child-in-a-christian-cult-i-was-taught-to-hate-myself-then-i-joined-the-church-of-social-justice-and-nothing-changed/
Appel, Ben (January 17, 2018). How to Be Cisgender. Quarto https://quartomagazine.com/nonfiction/how-to-be-cisgender
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
Resources
Ben Appel (benappelwrites.com)
X/Twitter (x.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
- queermajority.com/contributors-1/ben-appel