Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) announced on March 14th, 2021 that they had submitted a report to the United Nations Independent Expert for the Human Rights Council, in which they “[call] for an end to the international implementation of “gender theory,” specifically in reference to gender identity ideology.”1 They claim to have been joined by “over 40 organizations” in support of this call. There’s just one problem: several of them are operated by the same people.
Organization signatories of note:
- Compassion Coalition, represented by Maria Keffler (USA)
- Hands Across The Aisle, represented by Miriam Ben-Shalom (USA)
- Partners for Ethical Care, represented by Erin Brewer (USA)
- דיב די םישנ‘ “Nashim, Yad B’yad” Women hand in hand, represented by Aleandra Aharon (Israel)
All four of these groups were founded by and continue to operate in collaboration with the aforementioned individuals, a strategy known as astroturfing.
About Hands Across the Aisle Coalition:
Founded February 6, 20172 by Miriam Ben-Shalom, Kaeley Triller Haver, Kami Mueller, Mary Lou Singleton, and Emily Zinos3. Self-described as “radical feminists, lesbians, Christians and conservatives that are tabling [their] ideological differences to stand in solidarity against gender identity legislation […] [They] are committed to working together, rising above our differences, and leveraging our collective resources to oppose the transgender agenda.” Has been largely inactive in the public sphere since December 2019, except for on Facebook to promote the work of others (including Brewer and Aharon) or when another figurehead is needed at the table.
About Compassion Coalition:
Founded March 2, 2020 by Maria Keffler, Miriam Ben-Shalom, Erin Brewer, Lynn Meagher, and Becky Gerritson. They describe themselves as “[a]n international group for those fighting to ban invasive, harmful, unproven medical interventions for gender confused children. […] [Their] goal is to support efforts around the nation and around the world to stop the medical abuse of children who identify as transgender.”4 Of note, this group was founded less than a month after Eagle Council 2020, where Brewer, Meagher, and Gerritson all presented.5
About Partners for Ethical Care:
Founded November 30, 20206 by Maria Keffler, Erin Brewer, and Aleandra (“Alix”) Aharon. Miriam Ben-Shalom frequently posts as a guest writer. Self-described as aiming to “raise awareness and support efforts to stop the unethical treatment of children by schools, hospitals, and mental and medical healthcare providers under the duplicitous banner of gender identity affirmation.”7 Best known for highly inflammatory “awareness” campaigns including social media, billboards8, and pickets targeting health clinics for trans youth9.
Honorable mention: Aleandra (“Alix”) Aharon
Little is currently known about Nashim, Yad B’yad, the organization that Aharon’s signature represents. However, she has been active in a number of international projects. In addition to being a co-founder of Partners for Ethical Care, she founded Transgender Abuse and is operator of the “Gender Offenders” map.10 The “Gender Offenders” map has been featured on a number of far right channels, most notably Newsmax11. Google has since taken the public map down after Ky Schevers announced its existence to Twitter12, sparking collective direct action and a DMCA filing by Erin, a trans woman whose map to inform trans people of where they can get HRT via informed consent was plagiarized by Aharon13. Aharon continues to work on the Gender Offenders map in collaboration with Lynn Meagher and international volunteers14.
An additional signatory of note is Lierre Keith, representing Deep Green Resistance. As Keith is the founder and a current board member of WoLF15, she is already represented under WoLF’s filing of this input.
Similar tactics have been used nationally by WoLF Chair Natasha Chart in 201916. In a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chart opposed the Equality Act seeking to expand civil rights to include gender identity alongside several signatories of the submission to the UN. Crossover signatures include Penny Nance, representing Concerned Women for America; Michelle Cretella, representing American College of Pediatricians; and both Hands Across the Aisle Coalition for Women and Independent Women’s Voice, which were represented under differing names.
While anti-trans groups have independently submitted input to the UN Human Rights Council before17, this latest filing represents a notable shift in political organizing strategies. It demonstrates branching out of national organizing attempts onto an international platform with considerably more influence. Astroturfing, as demonstrated by the aforementioned groups, is a tactic commonly used within organized transphobia to create an appearance of legitimacy by making it appear as if there are more supporters than there actually are. All who seek to challenge organized transphobia and its global influences should take note of this strategy and pay close attention to founders of key groups and their past or present connections.
1. Women’s Liberation Front (2021, March 14). “WoLF Joined by Over 40 Organizations in Calling for UN to Abandon Regressive “Gender Theory” Framework”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/fYium
2. Hands Across the Aisle (2017, February 6). “Who We Are”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/goj7o
3. The Heritage Foundation (2017, February 16). [Panel]. “Biology Isn’t Bigotry: Why Sex Matters in the Age of Gender Identity”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/KlxqZ
4. Compassion Coalition Facebook group, with description and creation date. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/507342576879277/
5. Eagle Forum (2020, January 30). “Eagle Council 2020 Action Items”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/nBEMX
6. Partners for Ethical Care (2020, November 30). “Press Release: Partners for Ethical Care Launches”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/EH1UN
7. Partners for Ethical Care (n.d.). “About”. Retrieved from https://archive.vn/XPnTn
8. Partners for Ethical Care (2020, December 18). “Billboard Companies Have Available Spaces, But No Available Spines”. Retrieved from https://archive.vn/Lt5tY
9. @ethical_care (2021, March 14). [Tweet]. ““Gender clinics” need to STOP treating physically healthy children like bodies ripe for their medical experiments. You cannot get informed consent from parents and young people who coerced into believing it’s THIS or suicide. #StopCoercingConsent #WakeUpAmerica #CanIGetAWitness”. Quote tweet of protester with image of sign, showing a headless transmasc person’s post-op top surgery picture and misgendering them. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/MdHdt
10. Mary Jackson (2021, February 26). WORLD. “Companies cash in on transgender trend”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/ukWJ3
11. Newsmax (2021, March 16). [Broadcast]. Alix Aharon being interviewed during the National Report, noted as Founder, The Gender Mapper Project. Screenshot.
12. @reclaimingtrans (2021, February 13). [Tweet]. “This is troubling. This account was started yesterday, though this mapping project has been going on fo longer than that.” Retrieved from https://twitter.com/reclaimingtrans/status/1360588754214408192
13. @ErinInTheMorn (2013, February 13). [Tweet]. “Everyone, I need your help. Someone has taken my HRT map, and didn’t bother changing my notes, and has renamed it to target trans clinics with anti-abortion tactics. PLEASE click and click the menu on the left, and report for harassment or hate speech.” Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1360722404729831427
14. (2021, March 15) Replies on Alix Aharon’s Facebook post about the Gender Map project. Screenshot with transcript.
15. Women’s Liberation Front (2020, December 16). “Announcing New WoLF Board Members and Staff”. Retrieved from https://archive.vn/JPYkz
16. Hands Across the Aisle Coalition (2019, May 17). “Women Unite in Opposition to the Equality Act”. Retrieved from https://archive.ph/tTq0c
17. Victor Madrigal-Borloz (2020, May). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Report on conversion therapy”. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SexualOrientationGender/Pages/ReportOnConversiontherapy.aspx