Editor note 6.4.2022: A previous version of this report stated in the Methodology section that the threshold for identifying notable figures was four or more connections. The correct threshold is five or more, as noted throughout the rest of the report. This error has since been corrected.
Over the past six years, a new cottage industry has emerged promoting what’s now being called “gender exploratory therapy” as the first line of care for trans and gender diverse people. This push stems from a central web of anti-trans groups whose leadership bases, citations, and collaborations interconnect. As the spread of targeted anti-trans conversion practices continues, Health Liberation Now! (HLN) investigated the relationships between fifteen prominent anti-trans groups or projects that have significant interest in “exploratory therapy” and international influence. The following report serves as a pair to our Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence, detailing our findings of the data behind the network map and what it means for trans and gender diverse people around the world.
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Table of Contents
Content Notes and Definitions
This report contains detailed discussion of anti-LGBTQ+ conversion practices of secular and faith-based varieties, with a particular focus on anti-trans conversion practices. There is also brief reference to childhood sexual abuse (including child sexual abuse material), grooming, and pornography. Some quotes or citations may be upsetting for survivors.
This piece is published by trans survivor advocates in the name of public interest. It should not be construed as legal advice. If you’re from the United States and need supports related to conversion practices, you can find information at Born Perfect. Additional supports for trans and gender diverse people who are distressed or in crisis can be found at the Trevor Project (youth and young adults up to age 24, (866) 488-7386 (US)) or Trans LifeLine (adults, available in English and español, (877) 565-8860 (US) or (877) 330-6366 (CA)).
Definitions
Anti-trans: A descriptor for actions or organizing philosophy that opposes itself to the welfare of trans and gender diverse people. This may present itself as either a social or political push-back against “gender ideology” or, in the context of clinical practice, rejection of the gender affirmative or informed consent models.
Conversion therapy or conversion practices: “an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which are premised on the belief that a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity, including gender expression, can and should be changed or suppressed when they do not fall under what other actors in a given setting and time perceive as the desirable norm, in particular when the person is lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse.”[1(p. 4)]
For specific conversion therapy or practices targeted at trans and gender diverse people to change or suppress gender identity and/or expression, this report uses anti-trans conversion therapy / practices.
Desistance: A descriptor for gender diverse youth who, under the APA’s Diagnostic Statistical Manual Version IV, had previously met the criteria for Gender Identity Disorder and, over time, no longer met the criteria. Originating from the work of Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Gender and Identity Clinic. There is debate about the clinical relevance of this descriptor within the context of adolescent development, evolving understandings of the experiences of trans and gender diverse youth and young adults, and their needs when exploring gender-affirming care.[2]
Detransition: Often broadly defined as stopping or reversing transition-related processes. While many trans and gender diverse people also stop or change course in transition, some of whom identify as detransitioned or retransitioned and others who do not, the groups and individuals noted in this report universally connect the process to regret and, subsequently, a change in identity as evidence of demand for their brands of GICE.
“Gender exploratory therapy”: New label for forms of conversion psychotherapy advertised to trans and gender diverse adolescents and young adults, as well as detransitioned individuals. Additional terms interchangeably used by GICE actors are “exploratory therapy,” “exploratory psychotherapy,” or “exploratory talk therapy”, which can be differentiated from affirming models of exploratory therapy via the context of a group or clinician’s beliefs surrounding gender identity and affiliations they hold.
SOGICE: Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts, another common term for conversion therapy/practices.[3] Efforts specifically aimed at altering or suppressing sexual orientation are also referred to as SOCE, and efforts aimed at altering or suppressing gender identity in trans and gender diverse people are also referred to as GICE.
While not commonly included in the acronym, for the sake of this report we include attempts to suppress gender expression under the umbrella of sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts.
Executive Summary
Background
Over the past six years, a new cottage industry has emerged promoting what’s now being called “gender exploratory therapy” as the first line of care for trans and gender diverse people. This push stems from a central web of anti-trans groups whose leadership bases, citations, and collaborations interconnect. This industry developed within the long-standing history of sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE), institutional barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, and early collaborations or sympathies between actors. In addition, there is a close historical relationship between an isolated community of detransitioned individuals, established SOGICE actors, and the key actors fueling the push for “gender exploratory therapy.” The seeds leading to this market were planted early on and then expanded upon to bring us to where we are today.
There is overwhelming evidence that SOGICE targeting sexuality, gender identity and gender expression are harmful,[4,5] with condemnations from the United Nations[1] and major medical and therapeutic associations around the world.[6–10] Despite claims of using a “neutral, exploratory approach”, the industry of “gender exploratory therapy” sits well within the larger threat of SOGICE. Understanding this industry is crucial for the full liberation of trans and gender diverse people around the world.
The Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence
As the spread of targeted anti-trans conversion practices continues, Health Liberation Now! (HLN) investigated the relationships between fifteen prominent anti-trans groups or projects that have significant interest in “exploratory therapy” and international influence.
This project, comprised of two parts, aims to support journalists, researchers, and trans or gender diverse community organizers in understanding the international spread of “gender exploratory therapy” as a form of conversion practices targeting transgender, detransitioned, and gender diverse individuals.
- Part one, our Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence, illustrates relationships between emerging leaders in the development of clinical anti-trans conversion therapy, as well as their scope of influence expanding into different regions of the world.
- Part two, the report A New Era: Key Actors Behind Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy, lays out key findings identified by HLN during the construction and analysis of the Map of Influence.
Key Findings
Analysis of the groups and individuals of note, their connections, and the context in which those connections are happening within revealed four key findings:
- Finding 1: There were six core groups holding the most connections with significant international reach: Genspect, Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA), Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group (PAGDWG), Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), and Gender: A Wider Lens (Podcast).
- Finding 2: Citations of the work of Kenneth Zucker, Susan Bradley, and Lisa Littman serve as a bridge between “gender exploratory therapy” worlds and established SOGICE actors or advocates.
- Finding 3: There are direct, clearly identifiable connections between the group Genspect, its leadership, and religious-based conversion therapy groups.
- Finding 4: At the center of the organized push for “gender exploratory therapy” sits a core trio of individuals, who have been involved in nearly two thirds (60%) of the 15 identified groups and projects together.
Introduction
Over the past six years, a new cottage industry has emerged promoting what’s now being called “gender exploratory therapy” as the first line of care for trans and gender diverse people. This push stems from a central web of anti-trans groups whose leadership bases, citations, and collaborations interconnect. As the spread of targeted anti-trans conversion practices continues, Health Liberation Now! (HLN) investigated the relationships between fifteen prominent anti-trans groups or projects that have significant interest in “exploratory therapy” and international influence. The following report serves as a pair to our Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence, detailing our findings of the data behind the network map and what it means for trans and gender diverse people around the world.
Background
Statements from the American Psychological Association (APA) have advised that SOGICE targeting sexuality or gender identity are harmful and not supported by high-quality evidence, and that lobbying groups seek to take advantage of it at queer and trans people’s expense. Their 2021 Resolution on Gender Identity Change Efforts[6] (GICE) emphasized how there is no evidence to support that therapeutic interventions work to change gender identity, that GICE put trans and gender diverse people at significant risk of harm, and thus their firm opposition to the “dissemination of inaccurate information about gender identity, gender expression, and the efficacy of GIC, including the claim that gender identity can be changed through treatment”.[6(p. 4)]
The APA 2021 Resolution on Gender Identity Change Efforts comes after years of intentional, often behind-the-scenes networking between anti-trans activists and proponents of conversion practices. While attempts to change or suppress gender identity have been enmeshed in transgender health care systems since its inception,[11,12] and individual actors or groups have defended[13] or enacted GICE throughout the years,[14] a new dedicated market has emerged with a focus on trans and gender diverse youth and young adults.[15] Calling its model “gender exploratory therapy,”[16] previously known as “gender critical therapy”,[17] groups and individual actors have come together in force to build its foundation. First, to craft the pseudoscience that provide the justification for said practices, and later to build deceptive “therapeutic alliances” or consulting projects designed to advertise their services.
This project, comprised of two parts, aims to support journalists, researchers, and trans or gender diverse community organizers in understanding the international spread of “gender exploratory therapy” as a form of conversion practices targeting transgender, detransitioned, and gender diverse individuals. Our Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence illustrates relationships between emerging leaders in the development of clinical anti-trans conversion therapy, as well as their scope of influence expanding into different regions of the world. The following report lays out key findings identified by HLN during the construction and analysis of the Map of Influence.
Methodology
This report is comprised of a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches built from open source information.
- Actor identification: HLN collected data on the networks of 15 major international groups or projects that were clinician-led, active in anti-trans organizing, and held a focus on conversion practices between 2016 and 2021. Groups and projects were chosen based on their overlapping networks and broad reach into different regions. 2016 was chosen as a starting point due to observed early shifts in actor networking that led to later publications and, subsequently, increases in publicly recorded activity. See section The Rise of “Gender Exploratory Therapy” in Historical Context for more details.
- Information sourcing and categorization: Information was sourced from public records: the group’s websites, both current and archived; incorporation and WhoIs database records; social media; and academic papers or position statements of note. Through data collection HLN identified 97 actors as of June 1st 2022, comprised of 15 groups and 81 individuals. Connections between actors were then categorized by membership type, collaborations between actors, promotions, and citations (Table 1).
Table 1: Connection categorization
| Membership | Founding, executive, board, advisory, or general team |
| Collaborations | Partnerships or co-authorship of key documents |
| Promotions | Interviews, sharing on resource pages or documents, social media promotions |
| Citations | References used within published papers or position documents |
An additional connection type, sponsorship, was reserved for groups connected to the Gender: A Wider Lens Podcast.
- Data visualization and analysis: HLN constructed a network map using Gephi and SigmaJS with weighted nodes based on the number of connections as well as a timeline of their formation or involvement. Weighted nodes were then ranked to assess each actor’s degree of influence within the data set. For networks within the identified groups, notable figures were calculated with a threshold of five or more connections. Citations within the data set were then assessed for key connections of note, how actors related to or worked with each other, and what the networking means within the broader social context of targeted GICE. The interactive version of the network map has been released to the public here and is continuing development.
Therapy Map of Influence, v. 1.2
Actors Involved
The following groups or projects were identified as having notable international influence, whether due to the locations of their leadership members or of their connected groups. Some groups, such as the American College of Pediatricians and International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice, were initially identified based on overlapping citations or collaborations with members of other identified groups, with additional connections emerging over time. The majority of identified groups or projects included anti-trans politics (typically presented as a push-back against “gender ideology”) since their founding, whereas others were founded with a different focus and incorporated anti-trans politics into their operations at later dates.
Table 2: Groups Included
| Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI) | ||
| Center for Bioethics and Culture Network (CBCN) | ||
| American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) | ||
| Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group (PAGDWG) | ||
| International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) | ||
| Rethink Identity Medicine Ethics (ReIME) | ||
| Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) | ||
| International Association of Therapists for Desisters and Detransitioners (IATDD) | ||
| Gender: A Wider Lens (Podcast) | ||
| The Institute for Comprehensive Gender Dysphoria Research (ICGDR) | ||
| Gender Dysphoria Alliance (GDA) | ||
| Thoughtful Therapists | ||
| Wider Lens Consulting | ||
| Genspect | ||
| Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA) |
** When they first began organizing at the Seminal Conference in Frankfurt, as noted in their 2018 launch event.
*** Began organizing in 2019, incorporated and launched in 2020.
Calculated Rankings
Groups and notable figures have varying degrees of influence, whether due to the size of their membership, the degree to which it is referenced by other groups or members, or both. We ranked these degrees based on the number of connections between actors and groups, as well as noting the specific connection types (below). All groups and projects are listed, whereas notable figures refer to any individual with five or more connections.
Following is a ranked listing of the groups and projects analyzed, their number of connections, and the connection types.
Table 3: Group Connections
| Genspect | Citations, promotions, sponsorship, membership (founding, advisory, general) | |
| GETA | Membership (founding, general) | |
| PAGDWG | Citations, collaborations, membership (general) | |
| SEGM | Promotions, collaborations, membership (founding, board, advisory) | |
| ATCSI | Promotions, membership (executive, board, advisory) | |
| Gender: A Wider Lens Podcast | Promotions (interviews), collaborations, sponsorship | |
| ACPeds | Citations, promotions, collaborations, membership (executive, board, general) | |
| IFTCC | Citations, promotions, membership (board, general) | |
| ICGDR | Membership (founding, board, advisory) | |
| Thoughtful Therapists | Membership (founding, general) | |
| IATDD | Promotion, membership (founding, general) | |
| ReIME | Collaborations, sponsorship, membership (founding, advisory) | |
| CBCN | Promotions (interviews), membership (founding) | |
| GDA | Promotions, membership (founding, advisory) | |
| Wider Lens Consulting | Membership (founding) |
To read brief descriptions of these groups, identify their current status, and to explore their connections, see the Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence.
Additional calculations were done for notable figures (Table 4). Notable figures were identified based on having five or more connections, in order to assess the degree of their influence in the network. Similar to groups and projects, notable figures were also ranked.
Table 4: Notable Figure Connections
| Lisa Littman | Citations, promotions (interviews, general), membership (founding, advisory) | |
| Kenneth Zucker | Citations, promotions (interviews), collaborations, membership (advisory, general) | |
| Michael K Laidlaw | Citations, promotions (interviews, general), collaborations, membership (general) | |
| Susan Bradley | Citations, collaborations, membership (advisory, general) | |
| Lisa Marchiano | Citations, collaborations, membership (founding, advisory, general) | |
| Stella O'Malley | Collaborations, membership (founding, advisory, general) | |
| William Malone | Citations, promotions (general), collaborations, membership (founding, advisory, general) | |
| Paul Hruz | Citations, promotions (general), collaborations, membership (general) | |
| Sasha Ayad | Collaborations, membership (founding, board, advisory, general) | |
| Quentin Van Meter | Citations, promotions (interviews, general), collaborations, membership (executive, board) | |
| Roberto D'Angelo | Citations, collaborations, membership (founding, board, general) | |
| Andre van Mol | Citations, promotions (interviews, general), collaborations, membership (general) | |
| J Michael Bailey | Citations, promotions (interviews), collaborations, membership (board, general) | |
| Anastassis Spiliadis | Citations, collaborations, membership (founding, board, general) | |
| Michelle Cretella | Citation, collaboration, membership (executive) | |
| Stephen Levine | Citations, promotions, membership (advisory) | |
| Laura Haynes | Collaborations, membership (board, advisory) | |
| Anna Hutchinson | Citation, collaboration, membership (board, general) | |
| Philip Sutton | Citation, promotions (general), membership (advisory) | |
| Julia Mason | Collaboration, membership (board, general) | |
| Marcus Evans | Promotions (interviews), collaborations, membership (founding, board, advisory) | |
| Ray Blanchard | Citations, promotions (interviews), membership (advisory, general) | |
| James Cantor | Citations, membership (general) |
For individual actors, ranking of figures revealed a steady uptick in networking among 30 out of 81 individuals (Figure 2). 23 out of 81 individuals had at least five connections within the network (28.39%), with the strongest collection of connections coming from 10 individuals. Over 20 connections each pointed to just two figures (7.69%): Lisa Littman, due to her publications about so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria”[18] and detransition,[19] and Kenneth Zucker, due to his publications about so-called “desistance” based on his time at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Family Gender Identity Clinic.[20–22]
Key Findings
Analysis of the groups and individuals of note, their connections, and the context in which those connections are happening within revealed four key findings:
- Finding 1: There were six core groups holding the most connections with significant international reach. Some groups have previously been profiled in reports by other researchers.[23] This report expands on such research by focusing on a dedicated market of anti-trans conversion practices.
- Finding 2: Citations of the work of Kenneth Zucker, Susan Bradley, and Lisa Littman serve as a bridge between “gender exploratory therapy” worlds and established SOGICE actors or advocates.
- Finding 3: There are direct, clearly identifiable connections between the group Genspect, its leadership, and religious-based conversion therapy groups.
- Finding 4: At the center of the organized push for “gender exploratory therapy” sits a core trio of individuals, who have been involved in nearly two thirds (60%) of the 15 identified groups and projects together.
1. Six core groups held the most connections across multiple regions, signaling their broad international reach
Detailed analysis on group connections demonstrated the following:
1.1. GETA, a new therapy association built specifically to promote “gender exploratory therapy”, demonstrated exponential growth within the first few months of operation. The organization was announced on December 5th 2021 with only two known affiliates: Sasha Ayad[24] and Stella O’Malley.[25] In just three months they gained additional team members, as well as an ever-expanding directory that includes several individuals involved in other named groups. This explosion of growth demonstrates the expansion of a new market of targeted conversion practices. At the same time, their official accounts have promoted events by other identified members who campaigned against the Government Equalities Office’s consultation on banning conversion in the United Kingdom.[26,27] In doing so, this puts trans, detrans, and gender diverse people (the group’s established clientele) of all ages at risk of conversion practices for gender identity and expression, though there is a particular danger to youth and young adults up to age 25 as a result of the group’s targeted advertising.[28]
1.2. PAGDWG was one of the first groups dedicated to medical disinformation on gender-affirming care to develop with a lengthy, pre-established membership list. Developed shortly after the publication of Lisa Littman’s paper on so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria”,[18] its purpose was to continue building theory purporting that gender identity in trans and gender diverse youth is a social contagion. It was also used as a recruitment source for Littman’s second detransition study,[29] which is still pending as of June 1st 2022. While presently inactive, PAGDWG is still periodically cited as a foundational group due to its theorycrafting, and several of its members have gone on to become involved in other listed groups. Its influence here is notable, but the current calculation in this report may underestimate its true impact on the proliferation of anti-trans politics as additional historical influences are still being identified.
1.3. SEGM similarly started with a sizable membership list and are repeatedly cited in various publications by other groups or individuals. Unlike the preliminary work of PAGDWG, SEGM has made its way into academic journals,[30] legal briefs,[31] clinical guidance,[32] and international position declarations.[33] Most troubling is how readily it’s relied on as a source across multiple regions and languages. References to SEGM have been located in the citations of guidance documents in Sweden,[32] as well as the Polish social networking site Wykop.
A platform based on Digg with over 200 million monthly visits, Wykop has faced several controversies since its development in 2005. One such controversy is the repeated circulation of child sexual abuse materials via click-bait links since 2018, with users reporting having being banned or ignored when they try to report it.[34,35] Another is pockets of clear anti-trans rhetoric using material from SEGM and others as justification. An example of this is a Wykop thread posted by user @thority which links to a conversation between Paul McHugh and Matthew J. Franck of Witherspoon Institute titled “This transgender ‘folly’ is going to collapse, just as eugenics did”. In the thread, @thority translates into Polish a quote from McHugh about a supposed wave of trans teens who upon reaching age 25 will reinterpret their transition as a process of “various mutilations”, leading them to detransition and seek legal action.[36] Another commenter (@tenex) then posted a link to SEGM’s write-up of the detransition study by Elie Vandenbussche[37] as corroborating evidence (Figure 3). Follow-up comments throughout the thread followed a clear pattern: comments that supported the anti-trans framing of the OP were upvoted, and comments defending trans people were downvoted. Another user also translated the article by McHugh and Franck into Korean, furthering its international spread.
As evidenced in Poland, where LGBTQ+ activists grapple with government attempts to implement “LGBT-free zones”[38] and trans human rights defenders are forced to work outside of the public eye to shield themselves from attacks,[39] material from SEGM and affiliated actors are translated and then adapted to local politics by regional extremists to justify their escalating abuse towards trans and gender diverse people. As of June 1st 2022, there may be more connections associated with SEGM that we have not identified yet due to manual searches and language barriers.
1.4. Genspect also started with a sizable overlapping membership list. Genspect started with 12 overlapping members with other identified groups, growing to 14 as members of GETA also joined Genspect’s advisory team. However, this calculation is a conservative starting point that does not reflect the full scope of their influence. Beyond its clinical membership and overlapping networking with other identified groups, Genspect claims to represent “19 different organizations in 17 different countries”.[40] As this report is only focusing on people with clinical or research backgrounds that have shaped the playing field of anti-trans conversion therapy, numbers may not reflect the degree of influence that other members or partnership organizations have in different regions. Additional research is necessary to expand on the degree of the group’s reach and how it manifests in their represented regions.
1.5. ATCSI was revealed to have the earliest notable interest, with connection cross-over occurring as early as 2005.[41] A reprint of an article from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, who would become a signatory of collaborative documents with other identified groups and notable figures,[42] the author places particular emphasis on how “[m]uch more work needs to be done in this field”, with a clear indication that both clinicians and faith leaders should pursue GICE for anyone pursuing medical transition. In addition, individual officers could be found in dual roles as far back as 2004, with one officer holding high ranking positions in both Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) and the International Center for Gender Affirming Processes (CGAP).[43] Said records predate the formation of other identified groups targeting their marketing to trans and gender diverse people, as well as their name shift from the more well-known brand National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) in 2014.[44]
In doing so, groups like ATCSI/NARTH set the tone for the development of targeted markets like the newly developing GICE market that this report analyzes. As the pseudoscientific goliath of SOGICE in the United States, their early interest in targeted anti-trans conversion practices is significant. However, as this group has a more complex organizational structure[45] and functions in a more secretive way than others identified, their ranking in terms of connections is likely an under-representation of their overall influence. Additional research will be necessary to understand the full scope of ATCSI’s interest in anti-trans conversion practices and any developing cross-over with the market for “gender exploratory therapy”.
1.6. Gender: A Wider Lens (Podcast) only has two hosts (Stella O’Malley and Sasha Ayad) and two sponsored groups (ReIME and Genspect), but has done a number of promotional interviews of interconnected individuals of influence. With over 70 episodes as of June 1st 2022 on major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, Gender: A Wider Lens has embedded themselves into a multi-billion dollar market with millions of potential listeners.[46]
Said market has an ongoing issue with podcasts spreading medical disinformation and anti-trans rhetoric, as evidenced by the controversy surrounding Spotify giving Joe Rogan a $100 million contract despite a lengthy history of false claims and anti-trans hate speech.[47] Such podcasts are able to build their base and spread pseudoscience by translating it into easy-to-consume chunks on platforms where content is rarely moderated,[48] a model that Gender: A Wider Lens falls neatly into.
Ease of discovery plays another key role, as a simple search for “gender” can bring it up as the top result in Spotify with no prior listening history (Figure 4). The podcast thus serves as a primary source of filtering the views and work of these individuals into the public sphere, making it digestible to their audience and creating demand for their work.
Of particular note is the fact that known clinical connections to these groups span across at least 10 different countries, not including all of the regions represented by Genspect, IFTCC, or those represented by unknown members. This allows individual actors, many of whom already have an established history in GICE organizing, to spread their respective group[s]’ message into their region. This expands the reach of the groups in question and, for multi-lingual members, opens the door for transmission of GICE concepts originally in English into other languages. In turn, said multi-lingual members are then able to develop unofficial English translations of policy statements or guidance from their region that are then used to further bolster the efforts of the group[s].[49]
2. Zucker, Bradley, and Littman act as a bridge between “gender exploratory therapy” and established SOGICE actors
Three groups known for their approval of or active engagement in SOGICE, both from a secular and faith-based perspective, have been leveraging the research of Kenneth Zucker, Susan Bradley, and Lisa Littman as part of their justifications. Members of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), and the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) routinely cite the trio’s research as well as leveraging associated groups. Zucker and Bradley are generally cited for statistics on so-called “desistance”, and Littman for her theories on so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria”. In some instances, members of the groups directly collaborate with the researchers for position documents. In doing so, they utilize a strategy described by trans researcher and conversion practice expert Florence Ashley as “a deliberate attempt to weaponize scientific-sounding language to dismiss mounting empirical evidence of the benefits of transition for youth.”[15]
International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC)
Founded by Michael Davidson in 2015, the IFTCC is a fringe therapy association designed to defend and provide cover for international conversion practices.[23] Membership routinely overlaps with the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI),[45,50] previously known as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), as well as ACPeds.[50–52] The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism notes how despite their attempts to appear based in scientific approaches, IFTCC regularly uses language “attacking the ‘aggressive secular culture’ against those ‘who do not want to embrace homosexuality, or transsexual ideology’ [which] demonstrates the religious nature of the group”.[23(p. 21)]
In early February of 2022, the IFTCC released their International Declaration detailing their opposition to legislation or policies prohibiting conversion practices.[33] To justify their stances favoring GICE, they cite Zucker and Bradley’s work surrounding desistance as proof that gender identity is not innate and therefore changeable via their practices. This should come as no surprise, given Quentin Van Meter of ACPeds on their general board and Christopher Rosik of ATCSI on their Science and Research Council.[50] Nor should it be assumed that Zucker and Bradley would disapprove of its use; after all, in their joint publication Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents, they have asserted that “[w]hen an adolescent experiences undesired homoerotic attractions and wishes to function as a heterosexual, the clinician may work with the individual using the approach outlined by Masters and Johnson (1979) or Nicolosi (1991).”[22] A condensed version of this book was published as an article in Journal of Homosexuality,[21] which had quietly excluded the references to Nicolosi’s reparative therapy model. The article version has since been cited by both Paul Hruz[53] and Lisa Littman[19] as evidence that gender identity is changeable and, therefore, justifies the practice of “exploratory psychotherapy” instead of gender-affirming care.
The IFTCC has also cited Lisa Littman’s paper on so-called “rapid onset gender dysphoria” as evidence that gender identity and distress related to dysphoria is due to mental illness, particularly in their international campaigns against conversion therapy ban legislation. Their Science and Research Council drafted a central resource in January of 2020, within which they lay the groundwork for challenging conversion therapy bans in different countries.[54] Claiming to represent the will of clients who seek “help to change sexual or gender behavior”, IFTCC use a wealth of disinformation surrounding SOGICE and LGBTQ+ health to conceal conversion practices behind the veil of science. They place a particular emphasis on gender identity, leveraging detransition (which they refer to as “trans regretters”) and statistics surrounding mental health and suicidal thoughts or behaviors as evidence that therapy should be prioritized over transition. Such narratives serve as a powerful confirmation of bias: by emphasizing individual narratives of regret regardless of prevalence or diversity of experience, clinicians opposed to gender-affirming care can use them as justification to try to prevent possible regret either by limiting care[55] or as justification for GICE.[4,56]
IFTCC Chairman Mike Davidson and Vice-Chairman Christl R. Vonholdt used the resource guide to petition the German Bundestag opposing their legislation proposal protecting against conversion practices.[57] A similar push was then issued in October 2021 to oppose a conversion practices prohibition bill proposed in Norway; citing Littman, they argue that “[i]nternational research and professional organizations say psychiatric disorders and suicidality usually EXIST BEFORE onset of gender incongruence and may cause it[.]”[58(p. 3)]
Later they leverage position letters from several other pro-conversion therapy groups, including:
- American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
- American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds)
- Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA)
- Catholic Medical Association
- Society of Catholic Social Scientists
- Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity
- American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC)
Within these documents, the IFTCC has also directly cited PAGDWG as an example of “an increasing number and medical organizations” opposed to gender-affirming care and thus warranting psychotherapy instead,[54(pp. 9; 18)] despite the fact that they had no established legitimacy as a “medical organization”. In the same footnote they also reference Youth Trans Critical Professionals, one of the recruitment pools for Littman’s ROGD study criticized for its severe anti-trans slant and thus high likelihood for sampling bias.[18(p. 9),59,60]
Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI)
Originally founded in 1992 as the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) by Joseph Nicolosi Sr., Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides.[23] Historically NARTH has had close relationships with ex-gay organization Exodus, even after the closure of Exodus International in 2013 as international affiliates of NARTH and Exodus Global Alliance hosted conferences together throughout Latin America.[61]
Several individual members continue to hold global reach through their overlapping membership in other identified groups:
- Michael Davidson, as ATCSI board member[45] and IFTCC Chairman[50]
- Michelle Cretella, as a member of ATCSI’s Medical Division Committee[62] and Executive Director of ACPeds[63]
- Laura Haynes, as a member of ATCSI’s Research Division Committee[64] and US Representative, Science and Research Council member, and general board member of IFTCC[50]
- Christopher Rosik, as ATCSI board member,[45] ATCSI Research Division Committee Chair[64] and IFTCC Science and Research Council member[50]
Presently ATCSI serves as one of the leading proponents of SAFE-T, a rebrand of Nicolosi’s reparative therapy model in attempts to shield clinicians from accusations of practicing conversion therapy.[65] They are the publisher of the Journal of Human Sexuality, a pseudoscience journal that pollutes the scientific pool of knowledge with pro-SOGICE book reviews, articles, interviews, and research studies proposing to “prove” the efficacy of conversion practices.[66] A goliath in the world of SOGICE advocacy, ATCSI’s operations are comprised of six divisions split between public advocacy and professional committees (Figure 7). In doing so they are able to utilize a broad, diverse strategy in opposing LGBTQ+ rights across multiple domains.
Link to full image description pending.
ATCSI, as NARTH, has been an active opponent to bans against LGBTQ+ conversion therapy, where their president Nicolosi leveraged his model of reparative therapy alongside Christopher Rosik, David Pickup, and Liberty Counsel in the case Pickup v Brown in 2012.[67,68] They were also an early adopter of targeted, anti-trans conversion practices compared to other actors profiled. In the article “The Desire For A Sex Change” by Richard P. Fitzgibbons, reprinted by NARTH from the National Catholic Bioethics Center, NARTH incorporated the writings of ACPeds member Paul McHugh and research on so-called “desistance” by Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley to argue that gender dysphoria is treatable via psychotherapy.[41]
Fitzgibbons further used this to assert that “[s]elf-knowledge, forgiveness, skilled psychotherapy and good spiritual direction can all play a part in the healing process”,[41(para. 21)] a still commonly repeated claim despite the fact that exposure to secular or faith-based GICE is associated with increases in severe psychological distress, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.[4] Similar to with IFTCC, it can’t be assumed that Zucker and Bradley would disapprove of ATCSI using their material given their past citations of Nicolosi’s reparative therapy model for sexual orientation[22] and the closure of the Toronto CAMH following controversy surrounding his practices while there.[69,70]
ATCSI’s interest in anti-trans conversion practices has been escalating in recent years. During their 2021 annual conference in September, they featured a number of speakers focusing on what they call the “transgender phenomenon”.[71] Andre Van Mol, ACPeds member and presenter at IFTCC,[52] used Zucker and Bradley’s research on so-called “desistance” to argue that puberty blockers are a “gateway drug”. Sheri Golden, ATCSI board member, presented case studies from her practice with transgender minors and promoted two books as resources: Gender Dysphoria by SEGM member Marcus Evans[72] and Genspect advisor Susan Evans,[73] and Desist, Detrans and Detox by Maria Keffler of Advocates Protecting Children. Erin Brewer, also of Advocates Protecting Children, also presented as an “ex-trans” person who was “cured” by psychotherapy. ATCSI’s website also contains resource pages for “Transgender Information” featuring: the 2021 conference video from Erin Brewer, a video of Quentin Van Meter speaking to the Texas Medical Board, and several articles from Zucker, Michelle Cretella, Lisa Marchiano, Michael Laidlaw, and Lisa Littman.[74]
ATCSI’s early interest in GICE and how it folds into their SOCE advocacy, both past and present, serves as a demonstration of how the new targeted market of “gender exploratory therapy” was able to take hold and the inevitability of its merger with the broader sphere of LGBTQ+ conversion practices.
American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds)
ACPeds is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group that
“opposes adoption by LGBTQ couples, links homosexuality to pedophilia, endorses so-called reparative or sexual orientation conversion therapy for homosexual youth, believes transgender people have a mental illness and has called transgender health care for youth child abuse.”[63] The group was founded in 2002 when fringe conservative members of the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) broke away from the AAP to oppose its new endorsement of gay adoption.
Presently it is run by Michelle Cretella as its executive director, with Quentin Van Meter acting as board President. Cretella and Van Meter, alongside ACPeds member Paul McHugh, made their position on trans issues known in 2016 in the ACPeds official position statement “Gender Ideology Harms Children.”[75] It has since been a major player in opposing LGBTQ+ rights throughout the United States and has multiple shared members with IFTCC and ATCSI, including Cretella, Van Meter, and Laura Haynes.
Members of ACPeds have regularly cited Zucker, Bradley, and Littman for justification of their positions, either independently or as part of officially endorsed documents (Figure 8). This includes in: “Gender Ideology Harms Children”;[75] their 2018 position statement “Gender Dysphoria in Children”;[76] a joint amicus brief by ACPeds president Van Meter alongside Andre van Mol (listed as Co-Chair of ACPed’s Committee on Adolescent Sexuality), Paul Hruz, and Michael Laidlaw (listed as a PAGDWG member);[77] and a collaborative Letter to the Editor by Van Meter, Laidlaw, Hruz, van Mol, and SEGM co-founder William Malone.[78] As with the citations from IFTCC, the pattern is clear: Zucker and Bradley are routinely used for statistics and evidence of desistance, and Littman for her “rapid onset gender dysphoria” hypothesis.
Link to full image description with citation table.
There have also been direct collaborations between members or the organization as a whole and the researchers. In a united front applauding the Trump Administration’s redefinition of Title IX protections to exclude gender identity, Susan Bradley joined forces with Cretella, McHugh, Laidlaw, Hruz, and Bailey in an official statement addressed to the U.S. Departments of Justice (DoJ), Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Education (DoE).[42] As with the joint amicus brief, Laidlaw is credentialed as a member of PAGDWG. The effort was spearheaded by ACPeds, bringing in a hefty coalition signatories from predominantly Christian conservative associations and established conversion therapy groups (Table 5).
Table 5: Notable Group Signatories of the Joint Statement to the U.S. Departments of Justice (DoJ), Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Education (DoE)
| Signatory | Associated Group |
|---|---|
| Michelle Cretella | American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) |
| Donna Harrison | American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists |
| David Stevens | Christian Medical and Dental Associations |
| Peter Morrow | Catholic Medical Association (CMA) |
| Stephen M. Krason | Society of Catholic Social Sciences |
| Michael K. Laidlaw | Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Dysphoria Working Group (PAGDWG) |
| Marie T. Hilliard | National Catholic Bioethics Center |
| Christopher Doyle | National Task Force for Therapy Equality (NTFTE) |
| David Pickup (of Pickup v Brown) | National Task Force for Therapy Equality (NTFTE) |
| Laura Haynes | International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) |
| Michael Farris | Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) |
| Mathew D. Staver | Liberty Counsel |
| Tony Perkins | Family Research Council (FRC) |
| Frank Cannon | American Principles Project |
| Matthew J. Franck | Witherspoon Institute |
| Sharon Slater | Family Watch International (FWI) |
| Austin Ruse | Center for Family and Human Rights |
| Jennifer Roback Morse | The Ruth Institute |
Two of these signatories, Christian Medical & Dental Associations and the Catholic Medical Association, also signed a joint letter with ACPeds and the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons.[79] Said letter was among the references used by the IFTCC in their submission to the Norwegian Parliament as evidence of their unified pro-conversion therapy stances.[58(p. 17)]
Another three – Michael Farris, Tony Perkins, and Mathew D. Staver – are members of the Council for National Policy, known as a secretive organization that “networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.”[80] For more information about the Council for National Policy, its connections to conversion practices, and the international anti-gender movement, see our 2021 report When Ex-Trans Worlds Collide.
Direct connections between Genspect, its leaders, and religious conversion groups
Early links between Genspect and members of IFTCC and ACPeds were identified by Trans Safety Network, where researchers unveiled public promotions by Genspect of the documentary Trans Mission that featured Andre van Mol, Quentin Van Meter, and Paul Hruz.[52] Further investigation reveals direct, ongoing collaborations between Genspect founder and director Stella O’Malley with faith-based SOGICE lobby groups through two groups: Family Education Trust (FET) and Family First New Zealand.
Speaking on “gender issues” alongside James Esses of Thoughtful Therapists, on May 21st, 2022 O’Malley appeared as a workshop speaker at the FET Annual Conference in the UK.[81] An evangelical Christian group, FET has repeatedly lobbied against women’s, children’s and LGBTQ+ welfare, as well as having connections to the anti-gender movement through their appearance at the May 2017 World Congress of Families in Budapest, Hungary.[82] The 2017 World Congress of Families has been described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “who’s who on the anti-LGBT and anti-choice Christian Right”[83] encompassing a mixture of legislators and religious activists, with several prominent members playing key roles in funding the push against reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights in Europe.[84]
Among the 2017 World Congress of Families summit speakers included Sharon Slater, the president of Family Watch International (FWI), in a moderated panel alongside Nigerian parliament member Toby Okechukwu and UN Representative of World Congress of Families Doug Clark.[85] While based in the United States, FWI primarily focuses their activities in Africa and the UN.[86] A particular emphasis has been on regions such as Uganda and Nigeria, where they utilized a familiar strategy cloaked in “compassion”: opposing repeals of sodomy laws in favor of conversion practices (versus incarceration or capitol punishment).[87] Just two months prior to the 2017 World Congress of Families, Slater had presented about Comprehensive Sexuality Education at their African Regional Event in Lagos, Nigeria alongside SOGICE proponent Philip Njemanze.[88] FWI has previously produced documentaries promoting SOCE and featuring Joseph Nicolosi of NARTH,[89] a relationship that has long been mutual. Slater presented her speech “The United Nations and an International Overview” at the NARTH Training Institute in 2011,[90] and again in 2017 about “radical gender and sexual ideologies”.[89(para. 5)]
In addition, the sponsors of the summit included Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), one of the signatories of the official statement coordinated by ACPeds on the Trump administration’s Title IX changes alongside Slater, Susan Bradley, Michelle Cretella, Paul McHugh, Michael Laidlaw, Paul Hruz, and J Michael Bailey.[42] The ADF serves as a leading US-based funder of the anti-gender movement in Europe through ADF International[84] and a major legal proponent of SOGICE in the US alongside Liberty Counsel.[67]
FET’s trustees include Julie Maxwell, who was also previously part of SEGM alongside O’Malley during its early inception.[72] Maxwell has a lengthy track record of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion activism as part of her work with Christian charity LoveWise,[52] plus being featured in an anti-trans DVD produced by UK Christian Creationist group Truth in Science.[91] FET, meanwhile, has previously lobbied against proposed conversion therapy bans in the UK[92(pp. 1–2)] with religious freedom as a heavy focus point. This demonstrates that high ranking members of Genspect’s team are going beyond public promotion of material from SOCIGE advocacy leaders by having a working relationship with them.
O’Malley’s workshop at the FET Annual Conference is not the first of such collaborations, nor will it be the last. On November 21st, 2021, the day after Genspect’s ROGD Conference, O’Malley appeared with Bob McCoskrie of Family First NZ.[93] Another Christian-led lobby group with significant international connections pushing conversion practices under the guise of “therapeutic choice”, Family First NZ was also represented at the World Congress of Families in 2017.[85] The 2021 panel of O’Malley and McCoskrie was promoted onto Genspect’s Twitter, tying her collaborations with them into Genspect’s formal operations.[94] Yet this was not the first time she had worked with them. Previously she joined Family First NZ’s push against Aotearoa’s pending conversion therapy ban under the banner of their ex-LGBTQ+ project Free to Live NZ (Figure 10).[95] Alongside her stood the forces of Laura Haynes, representing the IFTCC;[96] Erin Brewer, then representing Partners for Ethical Care (PEC) “on behalf of New Zealand children, primarily, who are suffering from gender dysphoria”;[97] and Family First NZ’s own testimony.[98] Collectively these were among over 100,000 public submissions were sent to the New Zealand parliament in response to their proposed conversion therapy ban.[99,100]
Their efforts opposed local queer, trans, and nonbinary survivors, including Fijian nonbinary and trans advocate Shaneel Lal. Lal, the founder of End Conversion Therapy NZ, went through conversion therapy when they were 14 and living in Fiji. “That [experience] has undoubtedly left scars on me,” Lal described in an interview in Vogue. “It’s something that I have to personally deal with for the rest of my life.”[101] Contrasted to the deceptive claims about conversion therapy from groups like Genspect, IFTCC, or Family First NZ, Lal is clear that it “isn’t about ‘praying the gay away’ or ‘fixing the trans’, it is about psychologically and physically torturing the most vulnerable people.”[102]
In the end, the New Zealand parliament agreed with survivors like Lal and passed the bill this February. Family First NZ lamented, claiming that it “will criminalise certain expressions of parental love, prayer, personal choice and preaching” and calling upon supporters to “keep going”[103] Conversely, supporters of Genspect have had mixed responses. Some claim that O’Malley’s involvement helped open a back door within the legislation for “exploratory therapy” and religious expression,[104] whereas ones based in New Zealand assert that Genspect’s interference was unsuccessful.[105] Whichever the case, just as with the IFTCC and FET, the clear partnership between Genspect and New Zealand-based religious conversion therapy proponents cannot be denied.
In addition to their direct collaborations, Genspect has promoted or directed their members to parent resources from anti-trans conversion practice advocacy groups, of both secular and conservative Christian varieties. Archive records show that both PEC and Advocates Protecting Children (APC), a project spin-off also co-founded by Erin Brewer, have been listed on Genspect’s resource list as “helpful groups”,[106] though APC has since been removed from the list. Erin Brewer also has ties to Van Meter, having interviewed him for her YouTube channel back in 2020.[107]
Maria Keffler, another co-founder of both PEC and APC and the author of the conversion practices manual “Desist, Detrans, & Detox” marketed to parents of trans youth, was recently given a luxurious, all-paid trip to Hungary by Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) after they purchased the rights to translate her book into Hungarian in time for Hungary’s April 2022 election.[108] Last year MCC received over $1.7 billion in government funding from far right Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban as part of his campaign to “intertwine conservative politics with culture and academia.”[109] On their official Twitter, Genspect can also be found promoting material by APC, including letters designed to harass school staff for supporting trans youth (Figure 11).
In their “helpful groups” list Genspect also promotes Child & Parental Rights Campaign (CPR-C), a conservative Christian firm whose co-founding member Mary E. McAlister has worked as part of evangelical group Liberty Counsel to target conversion therapy bans on behalf of Christian conversion therapists Joseph Nicolosi, David Pickup, and Christopher Rosik.[67] Representing CPR-C, McAlister has also been featured in the supposedly-investigative Christian documentary “The Mind Polluters”, which posits that powerful LGBTQ+ organizations are infiltrating school systems to groom children with pornography.[110] CPR-C cites Quentin Van Meter in their 2020 School Resource Guide as part of a rather hefty citation nest of other notable figures, including but not limited to Lisa Littman, Kenneth Zucker, Susan Bradley, Paul Hruz, Michael Laidlaw, and Michelle Cretella.[111]
O’Malley, Genspect’s director, has been quite careful to present herself as one of the “reasonable” ones willing to recognize trans people who are aligned with her values. This is partially done by having “gender critical” trans clinicians from Gender Dysphoria Alliance (GDA) on Genspect’s advisory board.[73] Yet her supposed tolerance is quickly betrayed by her collaborations, whether under the Genspect header or independently. Meanwhile, the Parents with Inconvenient Truth about Trans (PITT) Substack, a project of Genspect, has published articles on their strategy.[112] Within they describe the use of “gender critical” trans people as tokens to shield their activism from criticism.
This strategy played out when leaked recordings of O’Malley revealed her direct practice of GICE on transgender teens, which she confessed when defending her feature of “gender critical” trans woman Debbie Hayton on the Gender: A Wider Lens podcast.[113] Upon sharp criticism by trans and trans-inclusive Irish community and parliament members, O’Malley presented her podcast episodes with Hayton and Buck Angel[114] (a “gender critical” trans man and former leadership member of GDA)[115] as her aforementioned shield. This same strategy is one that FET has utilized with their feature of Hayton’s column “Transition is not the solution: A personal testimony” in their Summer 2021 bulletin, the very bulletin where they lobby against the UK’s proposed ban on conversion therapy.[92(p. 4)]
In the end, it’s clear where Genspect’s primary motivations, allegiances, and therefore strategies lie: in lockstep with the larger network of anti-trans conversion practices.
4. Once the theorizing of a “gender exploratory model” took hold, a core trio astroturfed to push for its international spread
Connection analysis revealed that three individuals were involved in an unusually high number of organizing boards together compared to other individuals: Stella O’Malley, Sasha Ayad, and Lisa Marchiano. Together they were founders or were on advisory boards of seven different groups, both non-profit and for-profit (Table 6). In addition, they were linked through ReIME and Gender: A Wider Lens Podcast; while the Gender: A Wider Lens podcast only has two hosts (O’Malley and Ayad), Marchiano is one of the founders of ReIME, which sponsors it alongside Genspect. In total, the trio was involved in nine out of fifteen profiled groups or projects together. What is claimed by anti-trans supporters to be an organically grown, international “grassroots” movement comprised of concerned parents, doctors and therapists is, in actuality, largely an inorganic creation of a very small handful of people peddling their product.
Table 6: Shared Groups or Projects
| PAGDWG | |||
| SEGM | |||
| IATDD | |||
| ICGDR | |||
| Genspect | |||
| GETA | |||
| Wider Lens Consulting | |||
| ReIME | |||
| Gender: A Wider Lens |
All of these groups share a common thread: the production or leveraging of medical disinformation surrounding gender fluidity in trans or gender diverse youth, particularly in the context of “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” Six of the nine of these groups or projects (PAGDWG, SEGM, IATDD, ICGDR, GETA, and Gender: A Wider Lens podcast) hold a clinical focus, using medical disinformation as justification for gender identity change efforts targeting trans and gender diverse youth and young adults. Genspect, ReIME, and Wider Lens Consulting push this disinformation into schools, public policy, or for-profit webinars and luxury retreats for transphobic parents.
Despite substantial evidence that gender identity change efforts cause harm,[4] its denouncement from the United Nations[1] and medical[6] associations[7] around[8] the world,[9] and researchers finding no evidence of “rapid onset gender dysphoria” in clinical populations,[116] this trio have spent countless years creating new group after new group to build their brand of “gender exploratory therapy” that they can now personally profit from. Just like with sexual orientation change efforts, they poisoned the well and are using it to sell their own personal antidote.[67]
The Rise of “Gender Exploratory Therapy” in Historical Context
While the targeted market of “gender exploratory therapy” is new, it developed within the long-standing history of SOGICE, institutional barriers to accessing gender-affirming care, and early collaborations or sympathies between actors. The seeds leading to this market were planted early on and then expanded upon to bring us to where we are today.
Early bridges between notable figures and SOGICE actors could be found with the publications from Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley, such as their 1995 book Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents where they recommend Joseph Nicolosi’s “reparative therapy” model for SOCE.[22] The National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), now known as the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), has similarly built off of this bridge through their republishing of the article “The Desire for a Sex Change” by Richard P. Fitzgibbons.[41] Within, Fitzgibbons recounted Paul McHugh’s path to shutting down the Johns Hopkins University Gender Identity Clinic during his tenure as their chair of psychiatry. Arguing that “the Church is on the side of science when it proclaims that it is not possible to change a person’s sex”,[41(para. 12)] Fitzgibbons tied in threads of case studies, Catholicism, and references to Gender Identity and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adults to make the case for GICE in the form of psychotherapy.
However, a significant shift can be identified in 2013 with the development of a new community comprised of predominantly radical feminist detransitioned women.[117] Producing support groups and in-person gatherings, blogs, YouTube videos, and zines, members of the new community would describe their personal and collective path to “reconciling with being female”.[118] As this community developed, radical feminist detransitioned women would start publishing guides on “alternative treatments for gender dysphoria” as advice for friends[119] and parents of trans teens.[120]
It was during this time that pressure would intensify about Zucker’s treatment protocols at It was during this time that pressure would intensify about Zucker’s treatment protocols at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Gender and Identity Clinic (GIC). With Ontario becoming the first province in Canada to ban conversion therapy in June 2015,[121] an outside review commissioned by the CAMH prompted them to shut down the GIC.[69]
Former patient and parent testimony gives clear insight as to why. One interview with a parent described how after her child started therapy with Zucker, he would start hoarding the toys Zucker instructed them to confiscate.[14] Erika Muse, a trans woman who had been seeing Zucker for nearly a decade, described in a testimony hearing how he “practises conversion therapy on trans people to this day, on people of all ages, and he sees trans lives and trans existence as something to be hated and stopped”.[122] Helen Collins, a UK-based accredited therapist who was interviewed by Trans Safety Network, called Zucker’s practice at CAMH “structured cruelty.”[70]
Ky Schevers, a founding member of the detransitioned women’s community who has forsaken it upon coming to terms with being trans, began to feel similar while detransitioned. During an interview for Slate[123] she described how she would try to suppress her sense of self:
“I tried to explain it in a radical feminist framework, and find the root causes, and do everything to make these feelings go away, and that didn’t really work. The only thing that did work to make them go away was accepting them. I had to make a move to accept them.”
– Ky Schevers, “An “Ex-Detransitioner” Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark“
As the detransitioned women’s community grew, so did clinical interest from both secular and faith-based backgrounds. Formal collaborations soon followed. An early start was with the anonymous collective Youth Trans Critical Professionals (YTCP); launching in March 2016, YTCP held that “vulnerable young people are being actively recruited and coached” by “the cult-like tactics of […] online trans activists” and that efforts to explore this were being erroneously labeled as conversion therapy.[124] To justify this stance they featured material from members of the detransitioned women’s community, including open letters to therapists describing what kind of therapy they thought would’ve helped them instead of gender-affirming care.[125,126] In short order American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) began releasing drafts of their position statement “Gender Ideology Harms Children”.[75]
Lisa Marchiano, a Jungian analyst who would later become a notable figure in the world of anti-trans conversion practices, also began to take notice. Come August, she would publish “Divorcing Ourselves from the Feminine” on her blog The Jung Soul, where she adapted narratives of members from Schevers’ old community into her Jungian analysis.[127] From there collaborations would become more explicit, with Marchiano consulting with detransitioners for a contribution to the anti-trans parent site 4thWaveNow.[128] The framing was clear: transgender adolescents rejecting their sense of being trans was the goal, and therapy was the “cure”.
By fall of 2016, another form of collaboration would emerge, this time with religious proponents of conversion practices and radical feminists. Ruth Barrett, a priestess and co-founder of the Temple of Diana, published the anti-trans anthology Female Erasure.[129] The anthology contained a mixture of writings from feminists, clinicians, academics, parents, lawyers, and detransitioned women. It also included, in Chapter 12, a collection of the drafts of ACPeds’ statement “Gender Ideology Harms Children”, a press release by ACPeds Executive Director Michelle Cretella, and their publication “Gender Dysphoria in Children”. Cretella would later release an endorsement of the book in late March of 2017, where she described how Barrett solicited her to republish the statements and publications by ACPeds. Cretella described how it was through publications in this book, particularly from detransitioned women, that “opened [her] eyes”[130(para. 2)] to the existence of detransitioned women and their belief that their gender dysphoria was a result of internalized homophobia.
Curiously, another publication appeared just earlier that month. LifeSite News released an opinion column by Laurie Higgins, originally published through Illinois Family Institute, using videos from the detransitioned women’s community to depict gender-affirming care as “extreme measures “trans”-cultists take in their disordered quest to mask their objective, immutable sex”. [131] Another appeared in October of 2017, this time published by Peter LaBarbera, the founder of the Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH ).[132] AFATH had previously been designated as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its use of pseudoscience to justify their anti-LGBTQ+ stances.[133] LaBarbera had heard of controversy surrounding the proposed detransition research of James Caspian and, drawing positive parallels to “ex-gays” being rejected by their former communities, offered ex-gay Christian ministry Restored Hope Network as a counter-narrative.[132] Restored Hope Network had risen from the ashes of Exodus International, which had closed in 2013 when Exodus’ president Alan Chambers recognized the harms of SOCE.[134]
From that point on, publications pushing for a “therapeutic approach” would become increasingly common, whether written by anti-trans clinicians or religious groups or media. Said publications quickly spread via media outlets, blogs, and academic journals.[117] And with those publications came the opportunity for their authors to network in force for the common goal of targeted anti-trans conversion practices. Understanding the nature of this market of “gender exploratory therapy” and how it connects to the broader history of SOGICE and gender-affirming care is essential for the full liberation of trans and gender diverse people.
The Impact
Groups such as ACPeds, ATCSI and IFTCC are brazen in their belief that being LGBTQ+ is a sin, mental illness, or both. No matter how much secular groups or individual members try to posit that they’re accepting of some trans or gender diverse people or that they’re only focused on quality therapy and assessment, ACPeds, IFTCC, ATCSI and their affiliates will recognize it for what it is: anti-trans, often Christian-centric pseudoscience that they selectively use to justify attempted conversion of all trans and gender diverse people. At the same time, they will fold these new tools or collaborations into their SOCE advocacy, broadening the scope of conversion practices targeting LGBTQ+ people as a whole. This is further strengthened via official or endorsed collaborations between these groups and other noted anti-trans actors, which suggests their proclaimed opposition to conversion therapy is not as hard of a line as they claim it to be. Even if members of other groups listed do not collaborate on work pertaining to SOCE, their collaborations show a clear willingness to ignore the issue at the expense of queer and trans people across the board.
All in all, this strengthening allegiance between secular and religious anti-trans groups, particularly those promoting “gender exploratory therapy” or its variations, is a clear danger to trans and gender diverse people on a global scale. As collaborations and mutual citations increase, Health Liberation Now! expects this allegiance to grow in years to come. Trans and gender diverse people, our supporters, and organizations led by or providing supports to trans people should be on guard for continuing escalation in targeted conversion practices that could threaten our very right to exist.
Limitations
The report is based on data compiled into version 1.2 of the Anti-Trans Conversion Therapy Map of Influence. There are some key limitations to note when interpreting this report.
This is a rapidly evolving field with new connections continuously emerging, and thus the compiled network map may not reveal all connections between groups or actors involved. Connections between SOGICE actors are often intentionally hidden, reducing the amount of public data available. As the search was done manually, predominantly in English, and is based on current public records, there may be more connections that have not been identified yet.
Similarly, network mapping data is dependent on what is presently available, as some websites may go down and not have been sufficiently archived or their leadership base may have changed between archive efforts.
Finally, boards and overall group membership may change as they evolve, individual actors move to other groups, or are no longer active in anti-trans organizing. Additional research is needed to continue mapping out the scope of influence of this market, its growth over time, and any additional areas of community networking not covered by this report.
Acknowledgments
This report would not be possible without the constant, valuable insight and support from international activists and researchers, who upon their request will remain anonymous. We are truly blessed to be working alongside you all.
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