Susan Bradley is a Canadian psychiatrist and anti-transgender activist. Bradley is best known for creating the disease “gender identity disorder in children” and working with Kenneth Zucker to develop a form of reparative therapy to prevent gender diverse youth from becoming transgender adults. Gender Shock author Phyllis Burke characterized Bradley and Zucker’s practices as “child abuse.”
Background
Susan Jane Bradley was born in 1940 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Bradley earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto in 1962, then worked for a year in India before earning a medical degree from University of Toronto in 1966. Bradley earned specialty licenses in psychiatry and child psychiatry in 1972.
Bradley served the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV Subcommittee on Gender Identity Disorders.
Psychologist Daryl Hill was lead author on a paper outlining Bradley’s dangerous beliefs:
Zucker and Bradley believe that reparative treatments (encouraging the child to accept their natal sex and associated gender) can be therapeutic for several reasons. They believe that treatment can reduce social ostracism by helping gender non-conforming children mix more readily with same sex peers and prevent long-term psychopathological development (1.e., it is easier to change a child than a society intolerant of gender diversity). Reparative therapy is believed to reduce the chances of adult GID (i.e., transsexualism) which Zucker and Bradley characterize as undesirable.
Hill (2006)
A 2007 celebration honoring Bradley’s career was disrupted by transgender protesters. Bradley’s former clinic was shut down in 2015, and Bradley’s abusive practices were outlawed in Canada.
Anti-transgender activism
Since retiring, Bradley has become a favored source among anti-trans extremists for presenting conservative criticism about gender diverse youth and their healthcare.
Despite being Canadian, Bradley signed a 2018 letter from hate group American College of Pediatricians to the Trump Administration. Bradley demanded “upholding the scientific definition of sex in law and policy,” adding “an individual who identifies as transgender remains either a biological male or female.”
References
Carrey, Normand (2010). Interview with Dr. Susan Bradley. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Feb;19(1):51-3. PMID: 20119569; PMCID: PMC2809448. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2809448/
Burke, Phyllis (1996). Gender Shock. Anchor. ISBN 978-0-385-47718-5
Hill DB, Rozanski C, Carfagnini J, Willoughby B (2006). Gender Identity Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: A Critical Inquiry. pp. 7-34. In Karasic D, Drescher J (Eds.) Sexual and Gender Diagnoses of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM): A Reevaluation. Haworth Press ISBN 0-7890-3214-7
Duggan, Laurel (March 11, 2023). ‘We Were Wrong’: Pioneer In Child Gender Dysphoria Treatment Says Trans Medical Industry Is Harming Kids. Daily Caller https://dailycaller.com/2023/03/11/pioneer-in-child-gender-dysphoria-treatment-says-trans-medical-industry-is-harming-kids/
Gagnon, Audrey (April 12, 2007). Boys will be girls: Gender identity clinic event disrupted by trans activists. Xtra! https://xtramagazine.com/power/boys-will-be-girls-19276 original: http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=2873&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=1
Wente, Margaret (May 8, 2015) The raging battle over transgender kids. The Globe and Mail. [archive] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-raging-battle-over-transgender-kids/article24333224/
Media
Candice Jackson (November 7, 2022). Susan Bradley: Autism and the Gender-questioning student. Genspect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMH8T8FxLYg
Debra Soh (May 16, 2022). Dr. Susan Bradley on Why Teenage Boys Are Coming Out as Transgender. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ivkAXfO04
Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad (March 3, 2022). EPISODE 65 – Pioneers Series – Gender: The Big Picture w Susan Bradley. Gender: A Wider Lens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln7GOYNiDdY
Jon Kay and Debra Soh (December 20, 2018) #8 – Gender Dysphoria 101 with Dr. Susan Bradley. Wrongspeak / Quillette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZJorJ_W1QA
Meghan Murphy (November 13, 2020) #GIDYVR: The ignored repercussions of Bill C-6 [also with Lisa Bildy] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcbSzoyVkMU
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
SickKids (sickkids.ca)
- Susan Bradley [archive]
- sickkids.ca/AboutSickKids/Directory/People/B/Susan-Bradley-Staff-Profile.html