Jesse Singal

Jesse Singal Zach Schonfeld (March 20, 2018). "The Oldest Millennials Were Born in 1981. Are They Even Really Millennials?". Newsweek. is an American journalist, podcaster, and Substack blogger who specializes in needling progressives on controversial social issues. Singal has a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University.About Me Jesse Singal (archived from August 8, 2017). He became known for his works on Gamergate and later on transgender people (with brief crossover). His works on gender identity attempted, among other things, to define conversion therapy contrary to the findings of the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or major medical organizations at the time.
Fellow transphobic cosplay liberal Katie Herzog, who wrote controversial articles for The Stranger about detransitioners before leaving the paper as a result of public controversy,Evan Urquhart (February 1, 2021). "An 'Ex-Detransitioner' Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark". Slate. co-hosts the podcast Blocked and Reported with Singal. The pair will sometimes needle both sides, such as when they argued that child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was technically not a pedophile.Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). "Katie Herzog is right about the Jeffrey Epstein (not) pedophilia thing, and it's very circa-2019 journalism for her to get shellacked online, by people who have not a clue what they are talking about, for expressing a mainstream scientific opinion". Twitter (archived from February 20, 2021). In the media world, this kind of pedantry earns one the label "heterodox".Megyn Kelly (April 25, 2024). "Are We Past the Worst of the Cancelations in Our Culture? With Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal" The Megyn Kelly Show (YouTube). Quote: "People who are more heterodox, as I know you guys are on certain issues, and have faced so-called cancellation…".
In the past, he edited a social science blog for New York magazine, where he published riveting articles about Gamergate,Jesse Singal (October 16, 2014). "Gamergate’s Silver Lining". The Cut (New York magazine).Jesse Singal (October 20, 2014). "Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Journalists — and Itself". The Cut (New York magazine). straight men having "bud sex" with each other,Jesse Singal (December 18, 2016). "The Phenomenon of ‘Bud Sex’ Between Straight Rural Men". Science of Us (New York magazine).Jesse Singal (August 5, 2015). "Why Straight Men Have Sex With Each Other". The Cut (New York magazine).Jesse Singal (February 14, 2017). "How Straight Men Who Have Sex With Men Explain Their Encounters". The Cut (New York magazine). attraction to middle-aged people being "a sexual orientation",Jesse Singal (August 23, 2016). "Being Into Middle-Aged People Is Probably a Sexual Orientation". Science of Us (New York magazine). and in fact some less strange topics than those. Singal's spats with alt-right bozos like Baked Alaska,Alex Griswold (December 27, 2016). "Alt-Right in Civil War After Prominent Leader Disinvited From Pro-Trump ‘DeploraBall’". Mediaite. Candace Owens, and Mike CernovichMike Cernovich (April 25, 2016). "I'm 100% sure @jessesingal is a sexual predator. He has all the telltale signs of a date rapist." Twitter, via archive.today. probably ended up being a point in his favor by reverse-association.
In addition to mainstream publications, Singal writes for the libertarian ReasonReason Magazine: Jesse Singal Reason (retrieved December 25, 2024) and Bari Weiss' The Free Press.The Free Press: Jesse Singal Free Press (retrieved December 25, 2024) Singal attended the Free Press' 2024 presidential election party along with Quillette authors Coleman Hughes and Michael Shellenberger.Overheard at The Free Press’s Election Party Suzy Weiss, Madeleine Kearns, and Frannie Block (November 6, 2024) Reason (Retrieved December 25, 2024)
==Gamergate==
Singal used to write video game reviews for the Boston Globe, so naturally Gamergate would have caught his attention. Beginning in 2014, he wrote articles critical of Gamergate as a "supernova of dysfunctional male angst", harassment, and strange conspiracy theories.Jesse Singal (September 20, 2014). "Gaming’s summer of rage". Boston Globe.Aidan McLaughlin (February 4, 2023). "Reporter Posts Private Email From Candace Owens Threatening Him With Sexual Innuendo Over Negative Story". Mediaite.Jesse Singal (November 4, 2014). "Explaining the Roots of Gamer Rage". The Cut (New York magazine). One of his top-read articles from this period was probably Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Journalists — and Itself, in which he said: 
Despite this, he soon started complaining about "Tumblr Twitter" following backlash to his article on Zucker. Comparing "Tumblr Twitter" to Gamergate, he stated: "Guys GamerGate is just doing their smug bullshit. Tumblr twitter was 100000 times worse and more abusive tonight. No comparison."Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). "Guys GamerGate is just doing their smug bullshit. Tumblr twitter was 100000 times worse and more abusive tonight. No comparison." Twitter, via archive.today. (Original link). This was after Singal used the hashtag "#GamerGate" in response to a negative post about his article that had nothing to do with GamerGate.Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). "Absolutely 100% identical to #GamerGate tactics. Screengrab and send to employer. Classy stuff." Twitter, via the Wayback Machine. In response to accusations this was a method to bring harassment against the person being quote-tweeted, he said: "I didn't intentionally get anyone harassed. A lot of these people are not stable, at least the ones here tonight".Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). "I didn't intentionally get anyone harassed. A lot of these people are not stable, at least the ones here tonight". Twitter, via the Wayback Machine. According to Julia Serano, he (among other things) later again added the #GamerGate hashtag to a Medium blogpost criticizing someone, before removing the tag.Julia Serano (December 5, 2017). "my Jesse Singal story". Whipping Girl.
Singal later also began distinguishing between "video-game culture warriors, or VGCWs" and Gamergaters.Jesse Singal (September 30, 2016). "Why the Video-Game Culture Wars Won’t Die". Intelligencer (New York magazine). In 2024, Singal and Herzog released a podcast episode on GamerGate and they rip on Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest as well as her ex-boyfriend and their "totally broken relationship". Singal states GamerGate was partly about gamers feeling slighted by Jezebel-reading "feminist Mean Girl types who did seem to enjoy some mainstream cache and acceptance, they were the cool kids." He adds the anti-GamerGate feminists were angry at gamers for being "entitled white males", and that it's "not going to go over well to tell them they're privileged, because of how they felt". He then compares it to "wandering around in an opioid-ravaged town in West Virginia lecturing about white privilege".(March 27, 2024). "Premium: #GamerGate Revisited". Blocked and Reported.
==Transgender people==
===2015 Galileo gambit===
In December 2015, Singal wrote an article for New York magazine titled "Why Some of the Worst Attacks on Social Science Have Come From Liberals". This was about book and the topics it dealt with, such as the controversies surrounding J. Michael Bailey including his endorsement of Ray Blanchard's typology of transgender women.Jesse Singal (December 30, 2015). "Why Some of the Worst Attacks on Social Science Have Come From Liberals". The Cut (New York magazine). According to Singal years later, this "review-essay" for Dreger's book was his "introduction to these controversies" regarding trans issues.Jesse Singal (June 26, 2018). "Haven't read piece but yes, I wrote review-essay about GMF and that was my introduction to these controversies". Twitter, via the Wayback Machine.
Singal and Dreger correctly point out that some critics of Bailey had escalated beyond reasonable discourse. However via some Galileo gambit-like posturing (perhaps expected given Dreger's book title), Singal asserts that this amounted to an attack on "legitimate science", despite Bailey and Blanchard's theories being very dubious at best on any thorough examination.Madeline H. Wyndzen. "Autogynephilia & Ray Blanchard's Mis-Directed Sex-Drive Model of Transsexuality", index. GenderPsychology.Ray Blanchard (February 28, 2017). "I was recently asked if I think bisexual MTF trans exist. I think quasi- or pseudobisexual MTF trans exist." Twitter, via the Wayback Machine. However, it could have been that Singal didn't quite grasp how strong their claims were, as demonstrated by this passage:
Their theories didn't posit "sexuality could be a factor" so much as they asserted it was a central motivating factor behind transgender identity in all cases, even when the person in question was asexual. Singal attempted to compare the opposition to this wildly unsupported theory (along with a sprawling labyrinth of other strange claims), which he either did not fully grasp or still accepted as "legitimate science" despite understanding its claims, with "conservative lawmakers and organizations who have refused to acknowledge anthropogenic climate change". Even if this is quite wrong, it may not necessarily say very much about Singal himself, individually, since he is a science journalist and not himself an expert on these topics (nor trying to be one).(June 25, 2014). "We are Jesse Singal and Melissa Dahl from New York Magazine's Science of Us. We write about the science of human behavior, from health to productivity to politics. Ask us anything!". Reddit. 
===CAMH youth gender clinic===
Singal's 2016 articles about another clinician, Ken Zucker, present another picture of an expert besieged by "activists". Zucker was accused of conversion therapy practices for at least some of his young patients.Alex Barasch (June 20, 2018). "Sacred Bodies". Slate. Zucker was ultimately fired from his institution, the Child Youth and Family Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) at the (CAMH), some months after CAMH's home of Ontario, Canada banned conversion therapy practices against LGBT minors. Singal was contacted (according to the two in question) by biologist Julia Serano, and one of Zucker's disgruntled former patients (Erika Muse);(2020) "14th meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Bill C-6, Number 014, 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session". Parliament of Canada. Cristan Williams. "#DiscoSexology Part V: An Interview With Zucker’s Patient". TransAdvocate. Serano wanted to speak on "the history behind these kinds of clinics". Neither of them were quoted in Singal's articles on Zucker.Melissa Gira Grant (February 16, 2016). "After the Transgender Tipping Point". The Pacific Standard. Muse alleges that Singal "never even responded".Erika Muse (February 11, 2016). "As a survivor of Zucker's clinic I gave Singal the benefit of the doubt but he has repeatedly justified ruining lives." Twitter, via archive.today. (Original link).Erika Muse (August 22, 2020). "Fun story: when Singal came out swinging defending Kenneth Zucker, he said he’d never heard any responses from any of Zucker’s actual patients criticizing him. I sent Singal my experiences as Zucker’s patient and he never even responded." Twitter, via the Wayback Machine.
Bioethicist who holds that the practices at the clinic under Zucker were conversion therapy, wrote that said practices differed from some earlier forms of conversion therapy, such as the practices of (of NARTH) and (who themselves in turn cited earlier work by Richard Green and John Money on the subject). For a brief article summarizing this, see here. For a freely readable PDF of the journal article that was uploaded by its author, see here. To quote in part:
Singal relays a number of talking points from people who worked at the clinic, such as a comparison between restraining gender-nonconforming behavior in children and preventing children from watching too much television. He also presents an argument from some people at the clinic that their critics were simply conflating sexual orientation and gender identity, and were somehow confused about this. Singal also appears to find this meaningful because by his retelling of the CAMH-GIC clinicians perspective, sexual orientation "can't be changed" but gender identity is different and "isn't some hardwired thing". (Incidentally, Singal also wrote an article in 2014 highly skeptical of how hardwired sexual orientation is — framed in terms of a scientist versus "gay rights activists", familiarly.Jesse Singal (June 16, 2014). "What If Gay-Rights Advocates’ 'Born This Way' Argument Is Wrong?". The Cut (New York magazine).)
Singal says the children under Zucker's treatment would "have an increased likelihood of eventually identifying as gay or bisexual". Coming into play, then, is Ashley's above-quoted argument that clinical approaches which attempt to stamp out gender-nonconforming behavior in gay people are arguably homophobic, regardless of whether these approaches attempt to change a person's sexual orientation. When Singal published his articles on Zucker, the US (SAMHSA) defined conversion therapy as, based on consensus statements from a number of relevant expert groups: "efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression".(October 2015). "Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth". Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (PDF.) Publication ID: SMA15-4928. 
Zucker's clinic previously diagnosed patients with "gender identity disorder in children" (GIDC), a now-antiquated diagnosisKelly Winters. "The New York Magazine lies to parents about trans children". TransAdvocate. that had long been criticized for "undermin[ing], rather than support[ing], [a] child's well-being", with one critique from 2004 noting that it pathologized gender non-conformity; the 2004 paper also notes, "According to Zucker and Bradley (1995), the treatment of children diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder is usually undertaken to reduce their experience of social ostracism and its psychopathological sequelae, or to prevent their becoming either homosexual or transsexual adults." An article in the November 1997 issue of The Advocate contains allegations (corroborated by the government of San Francisco a year earlier"Resolution condemning use of gender identity disorder diagnosis against children and youth", September 11, 1996 resolution and September 12, 1996 resolution. Human Rights Commission, City and County of San Francisco.) the pathologization of homosexuality continued in some cases under the guise of GID diagnoses. The article also quotes Zucker, who said: "[Joseph] Nicolosi may want to pathologize homosexuality, but most of us want to make a child feel better about being a boy or a girl. If parents want their kids to be straight, it's because they want them to have an easier life."Robert L. Pela (November 11, 1997). "Boys in the dollhouse, girls with toy trucks". The Advocate, issue 746.
Thus, this overly-broad version of the diagnosis was used in many cases to clump together gender-nonconforming, gay, and/or trans people alike. Zucker and colleagues argued as late as 2012 that "prevention of transsexualism" could be a desirable treatment goal under some circumstances. Zucker himself helped to reform the GIDC diagnosis in 2013, which included its reconstitution as "gender dysphoria"; his appointment to the committee dedicated to this reorganization was met with some controversy.Brian Alexander (May 22, 2008). "What's ‘normal’ sex? Shrinks seek definition". NBC News.(May 28, 2008). "Task Force questions critical appointments to APA’s Committee on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders". National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.Cynthya BrianKate (March 30, 2010). "The Feminine Boy Project Still Threatens Gender Expression". Stony Brook Press.
In 1990, Zucker and Bradley wrote that boys with high vocal pitch and flamboyant wrist posture have indicators for possible GIDC that could cause "social ostracism" (citing They add that "high tolerance for the continuation of the cross-gender behaviour" could result in "risk for post-pubertal gender dysphoria" unless there is "intervention or limit-setting". In another 1990 paper, Zucker writes of "rationale for the treatment of cross-gender identification in children [for] the prevention of transsexualism in adulthood",Ken Zucker (January 1990). "Treatment of gender identity disorders in children". ResearchGate. (Also found in the book: Clinical Management of Gender Identity Disorders in Children and Adults, pp.27-45. American Psychiatric Press. Editors: R Blanchard, BW Steiner). and adds: "My own clinical experience suggests that treatment is most effective before puberty and that the desire to change sex becomes much more difficult to shift in adolescence (Zucker et al. 1986)."
Accounts appeared in news profiles of Zucker's patients, such as this one on NPR:
Or this in The Atlantic:
By the way, Singal is confident enough to say: "Zucker didn't do conversion therapy".Jesse Singal (May 7, 2017). "Can you point me to where I support conversion therapy? Zucker didn't do conversion therapy". Twitter, via archive.today. (Second archive). (Original tweet).
It has been suggested that the accusations Zucker practiced conversion therapy were discredited, partly because CAMH paid a settlement and formally apologized to him due to the sloppiness of an external review commissioned by the institution, stating: "CAMH apologizes without reservation to Dr. Zucker for the flaws in the process that led to errors in the report not being discovered". The youth clinic remained closed.(October 7, 2018). "CAMH reaches settlement with former head of gender identity clinic". CBC News (The Canadian Press). One inaccuracy present in said review included a false claim that Zucker referred to a young patient as a "hairy little vermin"; Singal expressed skepticism towards this claim in his 2016 articles and himself helped to uncover that it was likely false.Jesse Singal (January 27, 2016). "A False Accusation Helped Bring Down Kenneth Zucker, a Controversial Sex Researcher". Science of Us (The Cut at New York magazine). However, suspicions that Zucker practiced conversion therapy never needed to hinge on whether he openly insulted his patients, or whether this particular review was especially accurate.Singal and the Noise, M.K. Anderson, Protean, April 22, 2022 Singal calls the "hairy little vermin" claim the "most spectacular" and "most serious allegation" in the review.Jesse Singal (February 7, 2016). "How the Fight Over Transgender Kids Got a Leading Sex Researcher Fired". Science of Us (The Cut at New York magazine). It could well have been merely the most spectacular one — but it doesn't have much to do with the serious allegations of conversion therapy practices that could have caused more lasting psychological harm than an insult.
===2018 Atlantic cover story===
Perhaps most notoriously, his 2018 article in The Atlantic appeared as a cover story for the magazine's print edition with the title "Your Child Says She's Trans. She Wants Hormones And Surgery. She's 13." The New Republic reported in 2019 that this was the only 21st century cover feature about any transgender topics that The Atlantic had heretofore published.Melissa Gira Grant (November 6, 2019). "Fixating on 'Cancel Culture' in an Age of Transphobia". The New Republic. The magazine's cover matter was controversial by itself, as it also included a photo of a transgender model who did not go by she/her pronouns, next to that same title. According to the Poynter Institute, who interviewed the model in question, he "had no idea he was even being considered for the cover." He stated: "It pretty much outed me and it was such a weird time." Poynter also reported that strangers in New York City began to recognize him due to the magazine cover.Sydney Bauer (September 4, 2020). "The Atlantic tried to artistically show gender dysphoria on its cover. Instead it damaged the trust of transgender readers." Poynter Institute. The article's title was later changed to "When Children Say They're Trans" in the magazine's online edition.
The article itself portrays a lack of oversight for gender-affirming care, such as hormones and surgery, as a significant problem for transgender children in the United States, saying that these children too often receive such care only to change their minds. The article was roundly criticized by many trans people and advocates for the trans community, some of whom noted that even at the time, Singal had a history of transphobic and/or misleading articles taking a similar position.We warned The Atlantic about Jesse Singal, but they ignored us, Dawn Ennis, Medium, June 19, 2018 A number of publications critiqued Singal's article, including Slate, The New Republic, Wired,Eleanor Cummins (March 24, 2022). "When Doctors Cite 'Regret' to Deny Care, Who Is Really Protected?". Wired. Logo, Advocate,Amanda Kerri (June 25, 2018). "Why the Trans Community Hates The Atlantic's Cover Story". Advocate. TransAdvocate,Cristan Williams. "Singal’s Florida: You’re very wrong about trans kids". TransAdvocate. and This.Alex V. Green (September-October 2018). "Why reporters need to be more responsible in their coverage of trans communities". This magazine.
In the ThinkProgress critique, they argued among other things that Singal was too light on direct citations. The critique also stated that although Singal never directly mentions the unproven "rapid-onset gender dysphoria" (ROGD) hypothesis in his article, he interviewed a psychiatrist to whom he posed "questions about ROGD and transition regret."Zack Ford (June 20, 2018). "Atlantic cover story is a loud dog whistle for anti-transgender parents". ThinkProgress. Singal did directly write about "social contagion", which was a key speculative proposal in the first paper published about ROGD; in the Atlantic piece, Singal wrote that "some anecdotal evidence suggests that social forces can play a role in a young person's gender questioning." He then proceeds to cite third-hand accounts — clinicians who heard from young transgender patients who in turn claimed other people their age were merely pretending to be transgender "for attention".Jesse Singal (July/August 2018). "When Children Say They’re Trans". The Atlantic. Although it occurs to Singal that peer pressure can lead young people to be more impressionable in some ways, it somehow doesn't occur to him that it can also lead them to be overly judgemental of each other.
The ThinkProgress critique also mentions that in at least one instance, a parent interviewed for the Atlantic article was from an anti-trans website called 4thWaveNow — which is not disclosed in the article — incidentally, this was one of the very same websites whose members were in the first place surveyed to cobble together the ROGD hypothesis as part of the Littman 2018 ROGD study.(December 12, 2023). "Foundations of the Contemporary Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network". Southern Poverty Law Center. Julia Serano also wrote a rough, lengthy timeline of "ROGD" and "social contagion" hypotheses — 4thWaveNow figures heavily into said timeline.Julia Serano (February 20, 2019). "Origins of 'Social Contagion' and 'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria'". Whipping Girl (Blogger).
The Atlantic themselves published a series of much shorter articles responding to Singal's,"When Children Say They're Trans, Continued". The Atlantic. though the original article doesn't link to these responses in any apparent way. One response written by sociologist Tey Meadow especially focused on the first "desister" mentioned in his article,Tey Meadow (July 10, 2018). "The Loaded Language Shaping the Trans Conversation". The Atlantic. who was not actually diagnosed formally with gender dysphoria. Meadow criticizes Singal's framing and "loaded language": 
Sam Seder criticized Singal's Atlantic cover story not so much on its technical merits but, essentially, on how he perceived its ultimate effects on the national conversation about transgender topics that could have negative effects beyond what Singal may agree with; he compared the dynamics of this to Sam Harris's 2005 The Huffington Post article called "In Defense of Torture", published amidst a national conversation about the use of torture (though Seder acknowledges the "extreme" nature of this analogy).(September 5, 2023). "MR Fun | 9/5/23". The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder (YouTube). URL is timestamped to when Jesse Singal calls in. Singal's article in The Atlantic was ultimately cited in at least one "federal lawsuit seeking to roll back the rights of transgender individuals." Seder was not alone in observing this impact. The article also worried one of Singal's own sources, Carey Callahan, a detransitioner interviewed for the Atlantic feature.
After the article was published, some internal communications were leaked between Singal and other journalists. In which, Singal compares trans people disagreeing with him about desistance to Jews who believed in "Israel's righteousness" after the Holocaust, arguing they both have "groupthink" from being "insular communities forged by marginalization". Also bringing up Julia Serano, who has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics, he insinuated she isn't "more qualified to write about about the tricky science stuff going on here than I am", despite Singal not actually being a scientist.Harron Walker (June 27, 2018). "Private Messages Reveal the Cis Journalist Groupthink Behind Trans Media Narratives". Jezebel, via the Wayback Machine.(2018). "Looping Effects and the Science of the Trans Experience". Lady Science, via the Wayback Machine.
Since the Atlantic article was published, Singal has positioned himself as, in the words of M.K. Anderson (writing four years later in 2022), "a cisgender, self-appointed expert on all things trans".
===Jamie Reed===
In 2023, Jamie Reed, an ex-employee for Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital, leaked purported patient information and claimed poor practices took place at the clinic. This ultimately led to formal complaints concerning alleged violations.Steve Alder (December 7, 2023). "Lawsuit Seeks Clarification on Legality of Missouri AG Request for Medical Records of Transgender Patients". The HIPAA Journal.Alexis Kayser (December 8, 2023). "Missouri AG accused of violating HIPAA in transgender care probe: Lawsuit". Becker's Hospital Review.Colleen Schrappen (March 20, 2023). "Parents of patients at St. Louis transgender center fear privacy breaches, file complaints". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Many families served by the clinic disputed Reed's key claims.Annelise Hanshaw (March 1, 2023). "Families dispute whistleblower's allegations against St. Louis transgender center". Missouri Independent.Chas Danner (March 2, 2023). "Whistleblower’s Claims About a St. Louis Transgender Center Are Under Fire". Intelligencer (New York magazine).Evan Urquhart (March 8, 2023). "There Are Two Sides to the Debate on Health Care for Trans Kids. Here’s What You’re Missing About One of Them." Slate. An internal review by Washington University also failed to verify her claims.Annelise Hanshaw (April 21, 2023). "Washington University inquiry found allegations against Transgender Center 'unsubstantiated'". Missouri Independent.Jo Yucarba (April 27, 2023). "Raising a trans kid in Missouri has become a 'dystopian nightmare' for families". NBC News.Christopher Wiggins (April 27, 2023). "St. Louis Children’s Hospital Gender-Affirming Care Department Passes Internal Review". Advocate. Despite this, Bari Weiss's The Free Press,Ryan Cooper (March 2, 2023). "The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic". The American Prospect.Christopher Wiggins (April 5, 2023). "Mom's Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds". Advocate. Jesse Singal, and even The New York TimesLexi Koren (August 30, 2023). "NYT Publishes 'Greatest Hits' of Bad Trans Healthcare Coverage". Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting.Evan Urquhart (August 23, 2023). "NYT Treats Key Source’s False Allegations as an Aside in Latest Anti-Trans Smear". Assigned Media. lent some credence to Reed's claims.
According to Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), Reed is affiliated with Genspect (designated a hate group by the SPLC in 2024(2024). "Anti-LGBTQ". Southern Poverty Law Center.), and made "incredibly bizarre claims, suggesting a lack of knowledge about gender-affirming treatments" such as that the treatments should be tested in animals. Reed also claimed that puberty blockers caused liver damage in one patient, which was directly disputed by the family of said patient, who said it was instead caused by a COVID-19 medication.Erin Reed (October 13, 2023). "Family Of Missouri Trans Kid: Jamie Reed Lied About Liver Damage, Caused By COVID Drug And Not HRT". Erin In The Morning. Per Them, Reed claimed "that puberty blockers cause menopause, that TikTok turns kids trans, that trans identity spreads through social contagion, and that a child literally identified as an attack helicopter."(March 17, 2023). "Everything That Happened in Anti-Trans Legislation This Week: March 12-19". Them.(2023) "Affidavit of Jamie Reed". Reed further claimed other children at the clinic identified as a "mushroom", or a "rock". Drawing from her exchanges with Jesse Singal, some commentators saw contradictions between her own statements. Even Singal seemed to see contradictions.Vesper Henry, Alyssa Tirrell, and Mia Gingerich (April 13, 2023). "Timeline: The unfolding saga between The Free Press and a Missouri gender clinic". Media Matters for America.Evan Urquhart (March 11, 2024). "Jamie Reed’s Misinformation Exposed by Jesse Singal". Assigned Media.
Concerning Reed's claim that a teenager who was a patient at the clinic identified as a "communist attack helicopter",Aidan McLaughlin (March 17, 2023). "Jesse Singal Says He Didn’t Delete Twitter Account Over Trans Coverage Uproar — He’s Just on a Break". Mediaite. Singal stated: "It could certainly be the case that Reed is not telling the truth, but she provided me with full blow-by-blow details of the incident that sparked the helicopter-child reference in her affidavit. And it lines up with what has happened elsewhere. … When I asked Erica Anderson if she found Reed's claim credible, she said one of her own patients recently said they identified as a raccoon. So, yes."Jesse Singal (March 10, 2023). "New from me: Gender-Clinic Whistleblower Jamie Reed Has Provided A Detailed Account Of Her Most Controversial Claim, Including The Names Of Those Involved". Twitter, via the Wayback Machine. Three years prior, Singal wrote a blog post where the first sentence was: "'I sexually identify as an attack helicopter' is a meme used to make fun of trans people."Jesse Singal (January 17, 2020). "The Deeply Depressing Unpublishing Of I 'Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter'". Singal-Minded (Substack).
===2024 Summer Olympics===
In 2024, Singal insulted the work of some mainstream journalists — skeptical reporting towards highly dubiousLes Carpenter (August 1, 2024). "Olympic woman boxer who faced gender-eligibility claim wins, igniting outcry". The Washington Post. Quote: "The IOC, which is overseeing the boxing competition in Paris, does not test for gender, and there never has been evidence that either Khelif or Lin had XY chromosomes or elevated levels of testosterone. They have competed for years, including at the Tokyo Olympics and several world championships."Karolos Grohmann (August 5, 2024). "IBA gender tests on two boxers were flawed and illegitimate, says IOC". Reuters.Greg Beacham (August 3, 2024). "Banned governing body that’s fueling outcry on Olympic boxers has Russian ties and troubled history". The Associated Press. accusations that Olympian athlete (a cisgender woman, mind you) was transgender or intersex; Singal called reporting by Axios "absolutely bankrupt, pathetic journalism"Jesse Singal (August 4, 2024). "1/ Absolutely bankrupt, pathetic journalism that seeks to confuse people rather than lend clarity." Twitter, via archive.today. and suggested people read an article by Quillette instead of one by The Associated Press.Jesse Singal (August 4, 2024). "Read this, not the AP". Twitter, via archive.today. (Quillette often hosts racist and eugenicist writers,Sarah Jones (January 2, 2020). "Will the 2020s Be the Decade of Eugenics?". Intelligencer (New York magazine). and there were suspicions that the controversy around Khelif's sex was fueled by racial prejudice.Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin (August 5, 2024). "We Must Defend Imane Khelif". The Nation."'Pure bigotry': Social media users defend Algerian boxer Imane Khelif against online abuse". Middle East Eye.)
The original (and denied) accusations that Khelif is intersex stemmed, under strange circumstances, from the International Boxing Association (IBA), a discredited Russian-run sports body known among other things for its ties to Russian organized crime, drug trafficking, and the Russian state-run gas company Gazprom. The IBA began claiming that Khelif was intersex after she defeated an until-then undefeated Russian competitor. The International Olympic Committee expelled the IBA, and accused it of fueling a "disinformation campaign against the Olympic movement." The IBA has contradicted its own claims about Khelif, once stating she did not fail a testosterone test, and another time claiming that she did.Sean Gregory (August 5, 2024). "The IBA Held a Press Conference About Boxing’s Gender Controversy. It Was a Chaotic Mess". TIME. Separate unverified reports of a "leak" appeared in French media claiming Khelif is intersex, though if true this would regardless make her an intersex woman rather than either a trans woman or a man.Alex Kasprak (November 20, 2024). "Unverified Leak of Imane Khelif's Alleged Medical Records Misrepresented by Viral Headlines". Snopes.
==Kiwi Farms==
===Bluesky controversy===
When Singal joined the social media service he was protested by many transgender people and allies, eventually becoming the most blocked user on the site:
Liz Fong-Jones, "one of Kiwi Farms’s fiercest adversaries"The endless battle to banish the world’s most notorious stalker website" Nitasha Tiku Washington Post (archived November 7, 2024) " wrote:
There's nothing wrong with pointing out how crazy Kiwi Farms can get... Jesse Singal (September 3, 2023) Twitter /X (retrieved December 23, 2024) Singal did opt to defend Fong-Jones from a "trumped-up false claim" Kiwi Farms had latched onto.Jesse Singal (December 12, 2024). "This was a ridiculous thing involving Fong-Jones' partner being exposed to, like, dog hair (if memory serves) during the encounter and having a phobia of it. It was the most trumped-up false claim ever. You'd think Liz would have learned about spreading nonsense about other people." Bluesky, via archive.today.
====Kiwi Farms tech support====
Singal has expressed concern when he believes the notoriously toxic, transphobic Kiwi Farms has been negatively misrepresented. During the controversy, Singal posted on Bluesky that a "kiwi farmer" had offered him technical support for an issue Singal was having on Bluesky. The screen cap that Singal shared was from a Kiwi Farms thread called "Bluesky - 'Decentralized' Twitter Alternative. Leftist Tranny Hugbox. 'Answer' to Elon Musk's 'Fascist' Takeover of 𝕏 (Formerly Twitter).""Bluesky - "Decentralized" Twitter Alternative. Leftist Tranny Hugbox. "Answer" to Elon Musk's "Fascist" Takeover of 𝕏 (Formerly Twitter)" "Kiwi Farms" (archived December 14, 2024)
It appeared that Singal was not concerned about demonstrating his friendly connection to posters on Kiwi Farms. And Kiwi Farms is generally positive about Singal. The site includes a "megathread" titled "Jesse Singal Derangement Syndrome - jsingal69 vs TroonWorld.""Jesse Singal Derangement Syndrome - jsingal69 vs TroonWorld" Kiwi Farms website (archived December 14, 2024) ("Troon" is a favorite slur against transgender people on Kiwi Farms.)
=== Heterodorx podcast ===
Singal and Herzog appeared on episode 98 of the rabidly pro-Kiwi Farms podcast HeterodorxEpidode 98: The Heterodorx get Blocked and Reported with Katie Herzog and Jessie Singal Heterodorx (archived December 25, 2024). Kiwi Farms site administrator Joshua Moon was a guest in episode 107.Episode 107: How the Internet Lost its Backbone, with Joshua Moon Heterodorx (archived December 25, 2024)
Heterodorx host Nina Paley included Singal as one of her anti-trans heroes in her "Gender Wars" playing cards, along with Matt Walsh, J. K. Rowling and Kiwi Farms.
=== Kiwi Farms "moral panic" ===
On his "Blocked and Reported" podcast, Singal characterized concerns about the harm Kiwi Farms has caused as "a little bit of a moral panic" and he and co-host Katie Herzog agreed that the problem with Kiwi Farms was not so much the vicious attacks on individuals, promoted by the site, but rather that the attacks were not aimed at people across the political spectrum. Singal compared RationalWiki unfavorably to Kiwi Farms.
==Apologetics for pedophiles==
In Singal's coverage of the topic for New York magazine, where he wrote a story about a British charity hotline for pedophiles whom he claims "endlessly shaming, ostracizing, and punishing pedophiles may do more harm than good"https://www.thecut.com/2016/09/britain-has-a-hotline-for-pedophiles.html as well as an article criticizing the progressive internet tabloid Salon for removing the essay "I'm a pedophile, but not a monster" by Todd Nickerson from its website in the wake of public outrage over Milo Yiannopoulos's pro-pedophilia comments,https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/21/516473521/after-comments-on-pedophilia-breitbart-editor-milo-yiannopoulos-resigns saying the essay was in no way promoting sexual abuse of children and arguing that we as a society should listen to voices like Nickerson's in order to be understand issues like pedophilia better and learn how to combat it.https://www.thecut.com/2017/02/salon-shouldnt-have-unpublished-its-pedophilia-article.html
In these examples, Singal often gives pedophiles the benefit of the doubt, while glossing over the possibility of these individuals lying about their behavior and intentions in order to appear more harmless than they actually are, which sexual predators are often known to do.https://inews.co.uk/news/experts-reveal-lies-sexual-predators-how-spot-2545257 Compare this to other journalists investigating self-proclaimed "virtuous pedophiles": some of whom have warned that it is almost impossible to corroborate any of their stories, with Alexander McBride noting in his Vice News piece on one such online group that "many of these claims [of not offending] cannot be verified. Perhaps some are using VirPed as a cover-up; perhaps some, who were even more daring, saw my photo story as a way to prove they had nothing to hide. I cannot guarantee that this is not the case and I can understand why many would be suspicious."https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-spent-a-year-with-non-offending-paedophiles/
Singal justifies these stances by portraying pedophilia less as an irredeemable crime and more as a tragic condition misunderstood by the public, while claiming this framework is validated by scientific research and helps keep children safe from abusers.
In their Blocked and Reported podcast, Singal and Herzog dedicated much of episode 80 to discussing "gold-star pedophiles" (apparently Dan Savage's term),Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog (September 3, 2021). "Episode 80: Because God Hates Us Or Is Dead, Here's A Whole Episode About Noah Berlatsky And Pedophilia". Blocked and Reported (Substack). (Archived audio). pedophiles who endeavor not to molest children. Singal comments that much of their coverage of the subject is informed by Cantor is a crank psychologist/sexologist who infamously has advocated integrating pedophiles with the LGBT movement,James Cantor (December 8, 2018). "Speaking as a gay men, I believe we SHOULD include the P. To do otherwise is to betray the principles that give us our rights." Twitter. This was in response to a post by the group "Virtuous Pedophiles".Lee Leveille (April 2, 2022). "Leaked audio confirms Genspect director as anti-trans conversion therapist targeting youth". Health Liberation Now!.Vesper Henry (October 28, 2022). "'Expert' formerly slated to testify in favor of Florida ban on trans health care once called to include a 'P' for pedophiles in LGBTQ". Media Matters for America. worked for conservative Christian Alliance Defending Freedom in the past as an expert witness,(July 15, 2022). "Researchers blast Florida’s transgender treatment plan as 'incorrect and scientifically unfounded'". Orlando Sentinel.Molly Redden (September 15, 2023). "Inside The Cottage Industry Of 'Experts' Paid To Defend Anti-Trans Laws". HuffPost.Dara Kam (January 24, 2023). "Florida runs up a $1.3 million tab in the Medicaid transgender case". Health News Florida. and endorsed Ray Blanchard's widely debunked "autogynephilia" theory.Julia Serano (July 13, 2015). "The real 'autogynephilia deniers'". Whipping Girl (Blogspot). Post cites a tweet by Cantor on the subject. Herzog refers to Cantor as "one of the foremost researchers on pedophilia".
In the episode, it is argued that pedophilia is essentially a sexual orientation, and that stigmatizing pedophilia has potentially caused more harm than good. Herzog, arguing against an article by Anna Slatz about the pro-pedophile organization Prostasia, says fictional pedophilic erotica should be legal for "free speech" reasons, also contrasting it with "actual kiddie porn" and citing conversations she had with pedophiles who claim this and other forms of fictional depictions of sex with children are "helpful" to prevent child molestation. She says that a rapist was charged for publishing written/drawn pedophilic erotica, and calls this "fuckin' thoughtcrime".
Singal and Herzog discuss Prostasia's advocacy for the legality of child-like sex dolls, and a Discord chatroom "safe space" with hundreds of members that it "fiscally sponsored" that had both thirteen-year-olds and adult pedophiles in it. Herzog also mentions that the chatroom archives, then deletes, the chat history periodically after some months. The podcast defends the Prostasia organization, and said chatroom since there were reportedly "a ton of rules" including to prevent child grooming. "A fifteen-year-old in the group" told Herzog that he had never been groomed there but that he was suicidal; however Herzog acknowledges there was "at least one incident" of that kind.
Herzog argued that thirteen-year-olds were in the chatroom because "pedophilia typically emerges around the age of twelve or thirteen", so Singal later concludes "thirteen-year-old pedophiles should have a place to talk about how to manage their condition or orientation or whatever you want to call it." He adds that a problem with the subject is that people conflate destigmatizing discussions about one's attraction to children with destigmatizing the act of having sex with children, and he attributes this to "some leftist communities", an example he cites being "some actual pedophiles in like LGBT groups and stuff" though he acknowledges most LGBT people are against that.
They also discuss use of the term "minor-attracted person" ("MAP") as an alternative to the term "pedophile", and Herzog mentions her email exchange with an "actual pedophile" who explained that it was "pure hysteria" to believe the euphemism was coined to destigmatize pedophilia because it was "coined by mental health professionals and it's simply an umbrella term for pedophilia, hebephilia, et cetera." Herzog and Singal cite their own past work about pedophiles in The Stranger and New York magazine respectively as further reading on the topic, such as Singal's 2016 article "How Should Society Handle Pedophiles Who Haven't Hurt Anyone?" (which also heavily cites Cantor).Jesse Singal (April 13, 2016). "How Should Society Handle Pedophiles Who Haven’t Hurt Anyone?". The Cut (New York magazine). After Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 arrest, Singal and Herzog argued it was not technically correct to call Epstein a pedophile;Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). "On Jeffrey Epstein And Pedophilia And Journalism And Online Outrage". Singal-Minded (Substack).Katie Herzog (July 15, 2019). "Jeffrey Epstein Is a Horrifying Person, But That Doesn't Mean He's a Pedophile". The Stranger. Singal also called this semantic distinction a "mainstream scientific opinion".Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). "Katie Herzog is right about the Jeffrey Epstein (not) pedophilia thing, and it's very circa-2019 journalism for her to get shellacked online, by people who have not a clue what they are talking about, for expressing a mainstream scientific opinion". Twitter, via archive.today. It isn't clear how young Epstein's youngest victims were, but at least one accuser claims that he sought girls "as young as I could find them".Erica Schwiegershausen (July 19, 2019). "Will We Ever Know How Many Girls Jeffrey Epstein Abused?". The Cut (New York magazine). One 2020 lawsuit alleges that he abused victims as young as eleven years old.Clark Mindock (January 15, 2020). "Jeffrey Epstein abused girls as young as 11 on secluded private island, lawsuit says". The Independent.
==See also==
*Jonah Goldberg
*Kiwi Farms § Jesse Singal
*Matt Taibbi
*Pamela Paul
==External links==
*GLAAD profile — or maybe that's just "scuttlebutt""Backlash from GLAAD’s new accountability project is proof it’s working, says LGBTQ+ watchdog". Changing America (The Hill).
*"The XX Factor: E7 - Jesse Singal and Kenneth Zucker"
*Posts tagged "Jesse Singal", at Science-Based Medicine
*"Jesse Singal Still Got More Wrong Than He Thinks", Emily Gorcenski
*"Jesse Singal Misrepresented a Trans Girl’s Medical History and She Called Him Out", Assigned Media
*"A critical commentary on follow-up studies and 'desistance' theories about transgender and gender-nonconforming children", also published in the International Journal of Transgender Health (2018)
*Trans Data Library on Jesse Singal
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Authors
Category:Bloggers
Category:Gamergate
Category:Jews
Category:Journalists
Category:Living people
Category:Paedophilia
Category:Pissed at us
Category:Podcasts
Category:Pseudoscience promoters
Category:Transphobes
Category:Trolls