What should a transgender person do when someone brings up the “autogynephilia” theory?

Trans people and friends of trans people who have interacted with transphobes online, know that it does not take long before one of the anti-trans activists bring up the “autogynephilia” or “AGP” theory. It is actively used to invalidate transgender identities and present transgender women as some kind of sexual perverts.

This is an old tactic, previously used against people of color, independent women and gay people. The science sounding sexualization is meant to trigger old fashioned prejudices and sexual hang-ups.

AGP vs. HSTS

According to the “autogynephilia” theory trans women who are attracted to women (i.e. lesbian trans women) are suffering from some kind of “erotic target location error” (being in love with themselves), while trans women who love men (insultingly called HSTS or “homosexual transsexuals”) are seen as extremely feminine gay men.

Needless to say, contemporary science sees gender incongruence as a real phenomena. It does not reduce the gender identities of trans women or men to a fetish or a sexual orientation.

How to handle AGP in discussions

So what should trans people or their supporters do when someone brings up this theory online, like in social media?

Unless I ignore the message, I normally address one or more of the following arguments:

1. I explain that, yes, erotic cross-gender fantasies is a “thing” among some trans people, male, female or nonbinary. It is hard for them not to imagine themselves as their real gender in their sexual fantasies, so the idea of becoming their target gender may in itself be thrilling. (Cis women may also get aroused by imagining themselves as sexy or attractive.)

2. I dismiss the “autogynephilia” theory’s explanation for this phenomenon with a few relevant links to articles or posts that explains why the theory has no sound scientific basis. It has been falsified, over and over again.

3. I explain how bigots, throughout history, have tried to sexualize all kinds of marginalized groups, in order to make others hate them. So black men have been presented as hypersexual and violent, independent women as seductive witches or nymphomaniacs, while gay and lesbian people have been accused of “grooming” children to become like themselves.

What I never do, is to engage in a detailed discussion about the basis of the theory, because that would force me to discuss transgender identities within the limits of a model that leaves trans people no reality, no dignity and no justice. if you accept the premise of the theory (an extreme debunked 19th century kind of sexual binary), you are caught in their trap.

Blocking transphobes

Given the transphobic nature of the AGP approach, you may also decide to block the person using it.

Typewriter Monke AKA @tpwrtrmnky explains her approach over at twitter (translated from Norwegian by me):

I instantly block people who claim that “AGP" is a real problem with trans people.
The reason is that the use of the term "AGP” is a serious warning sign, telling us that those who use the term are much deeper embedded in transphobic communities than they pretend to be.
If you go behind the discussions about AGP/HSTS, it quickly becomes apparent that there are serious shortcomings to the work of the psychologist [Ray] Blanchard presented when he claimed he had discovered this alleged phenomenon.
Patients who did not easily fit into his categories were accused of lying.
Blanchard’s model cannot explain asexual trans women. It cannot explain trans women who felt their gender identity before puberty. It completely ignores trans men.
Still, his original model is better than contemporary usage of the term, because Blanchard argued that both “HSTS” and “AGP” [trans women] should be allowed to transition medically.
The current use of the “AGP” term, on the other hand, exclusively reduces trans women to fetishists.

Too kind to Ray Blanchard

I think Typewriter Monke is too kind to Blanchard here.

It is true that Blanchard has argued that trans women should have access to HRT and surgery, but given that he sees trans people as mentally ill, that will not lead to the respect and the social inclusion they need and deserve.

(By the way, he also thinks gay and lesbian people should be classified as mentally ill, which makes it weird to see “gender critical” lesbians embrace him in the way they do.)

Moreover, he is currently actively helping white supremacists and transphobic “gender critical feminists” in their attacks against trans people, so his actions are clearly aimed at ruining the lives of trans people.

You do not stumble upon the AGP theory by chance

Typewriter Monke continues:

Contemporary “AGP” proponents use the bad research Blanchard did in the 80’s as an attempt to legitimize several of the standard myths about trans women. That we are “really” men who want to appear as women for sexual reasons.
What makes the concept n such a big red flag is that this narrative is not something you just stumble over and start to believe in easily. It’s an obscure theory from the 80s made by a guy who thinks Japanese cartoons turn people trans. [Our link]
So when someone says that “I am not transphobic. I am just a little concerned about AGPs in women’s wardrobes,”… that is a clear sign that they have accepted the whole conspiracy.
My point is that if someone initially believes that AGP is real, it’s because they’ve intentionally bought into ideas that allow them to delegitimize trans people.
How do I know?
Because I know many trans people who have used the same mindset to suppress the fact that they are trans.

Typewriter Monke admits that it could be – potentially – that she is actually interacting with someone who just happens to behave in a way typical of the transphobic communities. Yet: If they use a word like “autogynephilia” the chances are that they are far down into transphobic rabbit hole. It is better to be on the safe side.

More about the transphobic “autogynehilia” theory here.

Illustration: Mikhail Seleznev

New research: Transgender youth do NOT identify as transgender because they are influenced by factors like social media or peers

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics debunks one of the most persistent myths in the transphobic sphere, namely that the increase in the number of young trans boys and men proves that them coming out as transgender is caused by some sort of “social contagion”.

Such arguments are often based on the debunked and pseudo-scientific “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” theory.

This is not the case, Jack L. Turban, Brett Dolotina, Dana King and Alex S. Keuroghlian writes.

They used data from US Youth Risk Behavior Survey, including 91 937 adolescents in 2017 and 105 437 adolescents in 2019 comparing those that were assigned female at birth with those who were assigned male.

In 2019, 1640 (1.6%) participants identified as transgender or gender diverse (TGD), with an assigned male:assigned female ratio of 1.2:1.

Their conclusion:

The sex assigned at birth ratio of TGD adolescents in the United States does not appear to favor AFAB adolescents and should not be used to argue against the provision of gender-affirming medical care for TGD adolescents.

A decrease in the number of trans youth

It is interesting to note that the researchers found that the total percentage of trans and gender diverse adolescents from 2.4% in 2017 to 1.6% in 2019.

I would argue that if there is a “social contagion” going on here, this is that transphobic bullying is causing fewer trans people to come out of the closet.

Indeed, the researchers found that transgender and gender diverse youth are more likely to be victims of bullying and to have attempted suicide compared with cisgender youth, which is consistent with previous studies.

“Sadly, work in this area has become highly politicized,” lead author Jack Turban, an incoming assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco, told Changing America.

“This is difficult to watch for those of us who have dedicated our careers to supporting the mental health of young people. We regularly see young trans patients who become more anxious and depressed as they watch politicians stigmatize them on large national platforms.”

So let’s be clear: The social and cultural problem here is not transgender kids, but the way anti-trans activists bully them.

Sex Assigned at Birth Ratio Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents in the United States

Illustration: Nadia Bormotova

“Gender critical” TERF joins right wing extremist Tucker Carlson in crusade against trans women

The Norwegian “gender critical radical feminist” Christina Ellingsen has been interviewed by Tucker Carlson on Fox. Yepp, TERFs are actively helping the extreme right in their anti-LGBTQA efforts now.

Carlson is one of the most aggressive propagandists of the American extreme right. He supports the ban on abortion, fetishizes guns, defends Trump’s attempted overthrow of American democracy, promotes racist arguments, is anti-LGBTQA etc. etc. He has a high score on the fascist scale, to put it mildly.

Trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) are now actively helping the reactionary men who want to control the lives and bodies of all women everywhere.

To hear Ellingsen complain about being called a fascists on the TV show of a a man who serves the interests for right wing extremists and fascists everywhere is cringe-worthy, to say the least.

Ellingsen is member of WDI, a transphobic “gender critical” organization that is collaborating with extreme right wing organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and Family Research Council.

Read the rest of this story over at Medium.

The anti-transgender gender critical movement has the science all wrong

One might argue that science is irrelevant to whether people should respect trans people and their gender identity. This is a moral, and therefore a cultural phenomenon. That’s correct, but since “gender critical” transphobes argues that science says that there are only two genders and that they can be reduced to biological sex, trans people have to look at the science as well.

The fact is that contemporary science is crystal clear: Gender cannot be reduced to biological sex. Biological sex is not binary and immutable. And most biologists who have studied the topic argue that the development of transgender identities has biological components.

Emma Thorne, transgender activist and YouTube vlogger, has made an excellent video that looks at the science of sex, gender and transgender identities.

She says:

Biologically, there is no simple dichotomy between female and male. Genitals, hormone levels, and chromosomes are not reliable determinants of sex, because, for example, there are people with X-Y chromosomeswho have female characteristics. There are people with ambiguous genitalia. There are women with testosterone outside the typical female range.
Numerous studies have found that the differences between adult men and women are overhyped and largely influenced by the dynamics of biology and culture.
This is a simple conclusion from this article that I really like.
“The data driven bottom line is that man/woman and masculine/feminine are neither biological termsnor rooted exclusively in biology. The lack of an explicit binary is especially evident in humans,given the complex neurobiologies, life histories, and morphological dynamics in our species.There are many successfully biologically diverse ways to be human, and millions of people embody this diversity.”
We know that your chromosomes alone do not dictate your biology. You can have X-X chromosomes and present with male genitalia, and vice versa.

Emma also looks at how science is used culturally and politically.

Watch the whole video here!

But of course you can use the word “woman” when referring to women!

“Nobody is trying to limit use of the word “woman” except TERFs & transmisogynists. They are the only ones arguing that people are not allowed to use the term “woman” to refer to themselves”

@BreeNewsome over at twitter.

I must admit I am also baffled by the claim that trans women want to ban the word “woman”. They are women, remember – and they want all to see them as such.

Cisgender lesbian: “I noticed she was transgender, and remember thinking she seemed sweet and shy”

The Guardian has published a sweet queer love story about a cis lesbian meeting a trans lesbian.

Raya, the cis one, had been invited to roller derby match in Melbourne, Australia, where she saw Kate.

Lizzie Kernik of the Guardian writes:

Raya was immediately smitten with Kate but her feelings confused her.
“I was attracted to women and women’s bodies. I had never really known any trans women before and I wondered if I was still a lesbian if I was romantically attracted to someone who had been assigned male at birth. I worried I could hurt her.”
She decided to follow her heart and keep an open mind. The following week, she went to another roller derby event to get to know Kate a little better. “I had no idea she liked me,” laughs Kate. “But I did wonder why she seemed so nervous.”
After they chatted, Raya sent Kate a Facebook friend request, followed by a message asking her out. “I’m shy, so I was nervous too, but I think we both felt we’d regret it if we didn’t give it a chance,” says Kate.

They waited until 2018 to move in together.

“Our children are all supportive of our relationship,” says Raya. “We bought a really big house so there’s room for everyone.”

According to Outings they hope to get married next year.

“We joke between us that Kate only agreed to get married so she can wear the white dress. But in all seriousness, it would be amazing for Kate to be able to do those things that she couldn’t do when she got married the first time,” says Raya to Outings.

Photo via Raya Darcy.

I am so much more than a chromosome

[Twitter discussion:

Jack Molay: The rigid biological notion that ‘a man is a man, a woman is a woman’, is central to how the far Right mobilises across Europe in order to enforce heterosexual norms.

Teri the TERF: So, trans ‘women’s’ rights are more important than a biological woman’s rights? A man is XY. A woman is XX. That is the reality. Anything else is make-believe. You are your DNA and no blocker or surgical procedure can change that.

Jack Molay: I am most certainly more than my DNA, which I have never seen. I am happiness and grief, calm and curiosity, poetry and prose. I have been shaped by history, my loving friends and those who have tried to hurt me. I am not a molecule. I am a whole world. And so are you.]

“The TERFminator:” Lesbian feminist defends trans people against “gender critical” transphobes

The lesbian feminist and LGBTQA-activist Brita Møystad Engseth feels no fear of going up against transphobic “gender critical” feminists.

In an interview published in the print edition of the magazine Blikk she is presented as “the TERFminator”, because of her relentless campaigning against Trans-exclusionary Radical Feminists.

The Dark Women and the Dark Men

She recently attacked the Norwegian TERF Tonje Jevjon and her fellow anti-trans activists in an article in Dagbladet.

She explains:

“My rage came as much from their open transphobia as the fact that they are using cancel culture as a shield. The transphobes say that we must defend the freedom of speech, but they have no freedom of speech problem. What they are really trying to do is to stop others from telling their story.”

In the Dagbladet article Brita described TERFs as “mørkekvinner” (dark women), referring to the previous generations of bigoted “dark men”. In Norway the term was often used to describe sexist and homophobic priests.

“I cannot remain silent when I see that we are starting all over again, 30 years after we fought against the dark men,” Brita says.

Do not be a “drittsekk”

“These lesbian TERFs are now using the same moral arrogance against trans and non-binary people and others who belong to the big queer family.
"It is good that you are fighting for the rights of women, but do you really need to hit someone else in the head at the same time? Can’t you just not be a ‘drittsekk’ [Norwegian slang for ‘a bag of sh*it’].”

She points out that for a long time the anti-gay rhetoric was about morals and values. If gay men and women were allowed to marry, the argument went, the traditional family would disappear. This time the argument is that the family must be protected against trans persons, nonbinary people and “the extreme gay”.

This is the exact same argument, but this time it is used by lesbian TERFs who should know enough about queer history to understand the evil nature of such tactics.

For the original article, with more quotes by Brita, go to “The TERFminator – Lesbian feminist LGBTQA-activist puts transphobic TERFs in their place.”

The quotes are from the interview "Det skeive patriarkatets barnevakt” (The Babysitter for the Queer Patriarchy) written by Caroline Ugelstad Elnæs and published in Blikk No. 5 2022. Our translation. Photo Reidar Engesbak and Blikk.

'Gender critical' author says she wants to 'reduce' number of trans people

Leading TERF says she wants to “reduce” number of trans people

For a long time transphobic «gender critical radical feminists» or TERFs have given us statements voicing «concern» for transgender kids and for the safety of cis women.

Cis women are, in fact, not threatened by trans women, and the main threat trans kids are facing now is anti-trans activism. But if what you say seems «reasonable» to some and those listening know nothing about trans people, you can get away with a lot of lies.

TERFs like JK Rowling have often pretended to «respect» and even support trans people, but there is always a «but» following such comments [insert transphobic trope here].

Well, the gloves are off.

Now one of JK’s personal friends and leading TERF, Helen Joyce, is arguing for what can only be described as a systematic erasure of transitioning trans people, as in “reducing or keeping down the number of people who transition”. They want to use the power of the state to achieve that goal.

Trans people are now seen as “a huge problem to the sane world”, implying, clearly, that trans people and their supporters are insane and a threat to society.

This is, of course, the exact same arguments as the one found in Fascist and extreme right wing transphobic propaganda. This is also the exact same type of hate speech that was (and is) used against gay and lesbian people.

Helen Joyce still pretends to care about trans people, but only in the sense they are seen as deluded cis people who are suffering from the effects of transgender propaganda. As such they have become a burden to cis society.

Feminist Judith Butler has drawn our attention to the relationship between “gender critical radical feminism” and Fascism. She was right. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep the two apart.

Read the Pink News’ presentation here.

Subtitled version of clip here.

The historic roots of the anti-LGBTQA “groomer” argument

Eli Erlick writes over at twitter:

‘Vocabulary time!

I want to introduce you to two Nazi terms, Jugendverführer and Jugendverderber: “seducer” and “corrupter” of youth (see: “groomer”). These stereotypes depicted a figure who lured young people into the “epidemic” of Weimer queer and trans communities.

‘Conflating queer/trans with pedophilia helped Nazis rally support for their genocidal policies. In 1935, they changed existing German anti-sodomy law to make it illegal to even “act” queer (whatever that’s supposed to mean). It was all in the name of protecting (Aryan) children.

‘After passing these new laws, Nazis revoked trans peoples’ gender recognition cards. They began arresting sex workers and drag queens. By 1936, they were rounding them up en masse for labor camps. Again, this terror campaign was in the name of stopping supposed “Jugendverderber.”

‘We still have time to combat these anti-queer policies and beliefs. Even if it seems unbearable, knowing they would love to end us, we must continue to fight back. Groomer discourse has a deadly historical grounding we must pay more attention to while speaking out against it.’

Full thread here.