Maintenance Phase podcast on "Social Contagion" and "ROGD"

One of my favorite podcasts, Maintenance Phase, just released an episode entitled "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" (available on all major podcast platforms). In it, they draw upon my Origins of "Social Contagion" and "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" timeline, originally posted here in February 2019.

While a lot of work went into constructing the timeline, what I did was basically simple: I searched for the earliest instances of "transgender social contagion" and "ROGD" on the internet. I discovered that these ideas originated in 2016 on three websites run by, and catering to, reluctant parents of trans youth who were looking for justifications to deny them gender-affirming care (this has since grown into a full-fledged anti-trans parent movement). My timeline also shows how these ideas were quickly taken up by conservative outlets, gender-disaffirming doctors, and other groups who now form the backbone of the current anti-trans moral panic.

Any journalist could have easily carried out the same investigation and uncovered what I had, but none did. Whether this was due to a lack of curiosity or intentional bias on their parts, I cannot say. While other people have cited this work, Maintenance Phase is the first to share the full narrative with the general public, so I'm excited that it will finally reach a larger audience!

Since Michael and Aubrey were kind enough to link to "Origins" post and my Patreon in their show notes, some of you may be new here – welcome! I mostly write about gender, sexuality, science, and social justice, with an emphasis on trans, LGBTQIA+, and feminist issues. Lately, much of this work has been focused on countering anti-trans science-denial and disinformation (since there's so much of it lately). If you enjoyed this Maintenance Phase episode, here are a few recent related essays you may also appreciate:

• Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth Is Neither New nor Experimental: A Timeline and Compilation of Studies
• All the Evidence Against Transgender Social Contagion (Plus Thoughts on Why People Continue to Embrace This Zombie Theory)
• Spotting Anti-Trans Media Bias on Detransition
• Why Are “Gender Critical” Activists So Fond of Gametes? (plus my new video “Trans People and Biological Sex: What the Science Says”)

No-paywall links to many many more essays can be found on my writings webpage. If you like what you read, please consider supporting me on Patreon for as little as $1 per month!

Whipping Girl 3rd Edition to Be Released in March!

I'm happy to announce that a 3rd edition of my first book Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity will be coming out this March — you can pre-order it here!

I just published an announcement post for the book, which you can read on either Medium or Substack). It's only a 5 minute read, but here's a brief synopsis: It's basically the same book as before, but with a new Afterword on trans youth and moral panics (aka, responding to the current anti-trans backlash). It also has a new cover (as you can see to the right) — I describe the thinking process behind the cover in the announcement post as well. 

In addition to the book's release in March, I have a series of essays and videos related to Whipping Girl planned for the coming months, including a transmisogyny explainer video and spoken word performances of some of the chapters. So be sure to follow me on YouTube, Medium, and/or Substack if you’re interested in those.

As always, I will be spreading the word on social media — that link provides a comprehensive list of all that platforms I am currently on if you wish to follow me there too...

My Best Writings of 2023

I thought I’d begin the new year with a quick recap of my writings from 2023. All these essays are on Medium and have been demonetized. If you appreciate them, please consider supporting my work on Patreon!

Several of the essays were my definitive responses to major anti-trans talking points: They are thoroughly researched (citing sources all along the way), comprehensive, and well-argued—so if you only read one or a few, I encourage you to make it these:

• Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth Is Neither New nor Experimental: A Timeline and Compilation of Studies
• Understanding the Anti-Trans Parent Movement
• All the Evidence Against Transgender Social Contagion
• Explaining Assigned Sex Ratio Shifts in Trans Children
• Spotting Anti-Trans Media Bias on Detransition

Here are the other essays I’ve written this year. I am proud of these too, but they were less intensive research-wise (and are often shorter as a result):

• What Is a Woman? (a response)
• On “Male Socialization” and the “Trans Masc Versus Trans Fem” Discourse
• Did Lisa Marchiano Invent “Transgender Social Contagion” and “No Transition Before Age 25”?
• Masculinity, Femininity, and Meanings
• KOSA: A Nationwide Anti-Trans/LGBTQ+ Bill in All but Name (And What You Can Do to Stop It)
• History of the Word “Transgenderism” (and why “eradicating transgenderism” = eradicating transgender people)
• Anti-Trans Op-Ed & News Story Bingo

Finally, since years are an admittedly arbitrary time-frame, I will end with two essays that I wrote at the very end of 2022. Both distill some of the main take-home points of my recent book Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back and apply them to our current anti-trans moral panic and what drives transphobia and biphobia within queer and feminist circles:

• Penises, Privilege, and Feminist & LGBTQ+ Purity Politics
• Anti-Trans “Grooming” and “Social Contagion” Claims

I have lots of essays in the works for 2024, so stay tuned—they will all be cross-posted on both Medium and Substack, with alerts and links sent to my Patreon supporters. I am also working on a talk-length video entitled “Transgender People and Biological Sex: What the Science Says,” so subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to be notified as soon as it comes out...