Michael Shermer is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Shermer has devoted considerable space for anti-trans views in the publication Skeptic and on the podcast The Michael Shermer Show.
Background
Michael Brant Shermer was born September 8, 1954 in Los Angeles, California.
Shermer earned a bachelor’s degree form Pepperdine in 1976 and a master’s degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton in 1978. Shermer got involved in competitive cycling during this time.
Shermer earned a doctorate from Claremont Graduate University in 1991. Shermer helped found the Skeptics Society in 1991. Shermer has taught at Glendale Community College, Occidental College, and Chapman University.
For 18 years Shermer was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. Shermer has been dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct since 2013. Shermer has produced and appeared in a number of television shows about science and pseudoscience.
Anti-transgender activism
Shermer is especially angry about transgender athletes, trans and gender diverse youth, WPATH, and how Scientific American has gone “woke” due to their coverage of trans issues.
Shermer has also promoted and published anti-trans writings of other “gender critical” activists:
- Nellie Bowles
- Meghan Daum
- Lisa Selin Davis
- Richard Dawkins
- Harriett Hall
- Douglas Murray
- Steven Pinker
- Helen Pluckrose
- Abigail Shrier
- Carol Tavris
- Colin Wright
- Cathy Young
References
Shermer, Michael (November 14, 2024). Postmortem 2024. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/postmortem-2024
Shermer, Michael (March 14, 2024). Death by Theory. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/death-by-theory
Shermer, Michael (June 11, 2024). What’s It Like to Be Trans? [letter from a conservative transmedicalist] Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/whats-it-like-to-be-trans
Shermer, Michael (July 8, 2022). What is a Woman, Anyway? Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/what-is-a-woman-anyway
Shermer, Michael (March 7, 2024). Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Redux—WPATH Edition. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and
Shermer, Michael (December 9, 2021). Trans Athletes and Conflicting Rights. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/trans-athletes-and-conflicting-rights
Hall, Harriett (). A transgender controversy. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/transgender-controversy/
Tavris, Carol (2022). Behind the Rhetoric: The Untold Story of “Gender-Affirming” Clinics. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/behind-rhetoric-untold-story-of-gender-affirming-clinics/
Davis, Lisa Selin (2022). Trans Matters: An Overview of the Debate, Research, and Policies. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/trans-matters-overview-debate-research-policies/
Tavris, Carol (). Trans Reality: “I Didn’t Know There Was Another Side.” https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/transgender-reality-i-didnt-know-there-was-another-side/
McCaffree K, Saide A (March 7, 2023). Trans, Identity and Institutional Controversies. Research Report: PADS-002 https://www.skeptic.com/research-center/reports/Research-Report-PADS-002.pdf
Media
(). EPISODE # 160 Abigail Shrier — Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The Michael Shermer Show https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/abigail-shrier-irreversible-damage-transgender-craze-seducing-our-daughters/
(August 27, 2024). Are We Confused About Social Justice? (Helen Pluckrose). The Michael Shermer Show
(May 14). Nellie Bowles — Reporting From the Frontlines of the Culture Wars The Michael Shermer Show
(September 21). Colin Wright – Biology vs. Gender Ideology: The Science Behind the Debate. The Michael Shermer Show
(September 15). Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, and Michael Shermer Challenge Conventional Narratives. The Michael Shermer Show
(August 17). Bones, Bias, and Backlash: Elizabeth Weiss on the Politicization of Anthropology. The Michael Shermer Show https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/elizabeth-weiss-politicization-of-anthropology/
(August 6). Richard Dawkins on Genetic Insights Into the History of Life. The Michael Shermer Show
(). 461: Helen Pluckrose — Principled Strategies for Surviving and Defeating Critical Social Justice. https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/helen-pluckrose-principled-strategies-for-surviving-defeating-critical-social-justice/
(). Aella — From a Christian Upbringing to Sex Work
(). Bradley Campbell — How to Think About Social Justice
Katherine Brodsky — How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage
Michael Shellenberger Explains Government Censorship of Social Media
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Converted to Christianity
Yascha Mounk — Identity Politics and its Discontents
Greg Lukianoff & Rikki Schlott — Cancel Culture and What to Do About It
Gad Saad — The Saad Truth About Happiness
Christopher Rufo Decodes Cultural Shifts in America
Umut Özkirimli — How the Left Can Make Its Way Back From Woke
Bethany Mandel — How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence & Indoctrinating a Generation
Valerie Fridland — Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English
Gerald & Patricia Posner on Evil
Louise Perry — The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century
Meghan Daum — The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars
Andrew Doyle — How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World
Sabine Hossenfelder — Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions
Konstantin Kisin — An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West
Helen Joyce — Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality
Frans De Waal on Sex and Gender Across the Primate Spectrum
Douglas Murray on The War on the West: Race, Politics, and Culture
Cathy Young — The Russian Riddle Wrapped in a Ukrainian Mystery Inside an American Enigma
Jesse Singal on Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills
Dave Rubin — Left, Right, and Woke, based on his book Don’t Burn This Country: Surviving and Thriving in Our Woke Dystopia
Elizabeth Weiss on Woke Archaeology and Erasing the Past
Batya Ungar-Sargon — Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy
Sally Satel on Addiction, the Opioid Crisis, Deaths of Despair, and How Psychiatry Has Gone Woke
Steven Pinker on Rationality: What it is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why it Matters
Carole Hooven on T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us
Bari Weiss & Bion Bartning on Their New Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism
David Buss — When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault
Jordan Peterson & Michael Shermer on Science, Myth, Truth, and the Architecture of Archetypes
Niall Ferguson — Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
Abigail Shrier — Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters
Greg Lukianoff — How Free is Free Speech?
Debra Soh — The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society
Gad Saad — The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense
Scott Barry Kaufman — Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization
Dave Rubin — Don’t Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason
Douglas Murray — The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity
Geoffrey Miller — Virtue Signaling: Essays on Darwinian Politics and Free Speech
Peter Boghossian — How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide
Ben Shapiro — The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great
Dr. Gad Saad — Doing Gad’s Work
Amy Alkon — Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence
Dr. Jonathan Haidt — Coming Apart
Resources
Michael Shermer (michaelshermer.com)
Substack (https://substack.com/)
X/Twitter (x.com)
LinkedIn (linkedin.com)