Jesse Singal

[[File:Jesse Singal on Rebel Wisdom.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Singal in 2021.]]{{media}}{{bronze}}
'''Jesse Singal''' {{lived|1983}}<ref>Zach Schonfeld (March 20, 2018). [https://www.newsweek.com/2018/03/30/what-millennial-born-1981-generation-x-pew-853416.html "The Oldest Millennials Were Born in 1981. Are They Even Really Millennials?"]. ''Newsweek''.</ref> is an [[United States|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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170808192026/https://www.jessesingal.com/about-me/ About Me] ''Jesse Singal'' (archived from August 8, 2017).</ref> He became known for his works on [[Gamergate]] and later on [[transgender]] people (with [[#Gamergate|brief crossover]]). [[#Transgender people|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.<ref name="NotCTherapy"/><ref name="SAMHSA"/>{{rp|64}}<ref name="TMWWBQ"/>{{rp|31}}

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,<ref>Evan Urquhart (February 1, 2021). [https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/02/detransition-movement-star-ex-gay-explained.html "An 'Ex-Detransitioner' Disavows the Anti-Trans Movement She Helped Spark"]. ''Slate''. {{quotebox|[Schevers] was interviewed for two major articles on detransition … [including one by] Katie Herzog for the Stranger in 2017. Both pieces tell the story of Schevers identifying as male when she entered college, starting testosterone therapy soon after her mother's death by [[suicide]], and going off testosterone while still identifying as [[genderqueer]]. They end with her giving up her genderqueer identity and embracing the idea that not only her [[gender dysphoria]] but ''all'' gender dysphoria was false and caused by internalized [[sexism]] combined with trauma&nbsp;— an idea that she then did much to advance and proliferate online. Today, however, Schevers has recanted this view. According to her, like the [[ex-gay]]s of the 1990s and 2000s&nbsp;— many of whom claimed they 'overcame' their [[sexuality]] after religious conversion, only to reaffirm it later&nbsp;— some detransitioned people still struggle in private against feelings of gender dysphoria that they can never fully suppress.}}</ref> co-hosts the podcast ''Blocked and Reported'' with Singal. The pair will sometimes [[Balance fallacy|needle both sides]],<ref name="BothSides"/> such as when they argued that child sex trafficker [[Jeffrey Epstein]] was technically not a pedophile.<ref name="JesseEp2">Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210220020208/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1152209300271566848 "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).</ref><ref name="EpsteinSingal"/><ref name="HerzogEpstein"/> In the media world, this kind of pedantry earns one the label "[[heterodox]]".<ref>Megyn Kelly (April 25, 2024). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jDJcyzmQp4 "Are We Past the Worst of the Cancelations in Our Culture? With Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal"]{{sic}} ''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 [[cancel culture|cancellation]]…".</ref>{{rp|4:25}}

In the past, he edited a [[social science]] blog for ''New York'' magazine, where he published riveting articles about [[Gamergate]],<ref name="GGSilver">Jesse Singal (October 16, 2014). [https://www.thecut.com/2014/10/gamergates-silver-lining.html "Gamergate’s Silver Lining"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref><ref name="GGSelf">Jesse Singal (October 20, 2014). [https://www.thecut.com/2014/10/gamergate-should-stop-lying-to-itself.html "Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Journalists — and Itself"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> straight men having "bud sex" with each other,<ref>Jesse Singal (December 18, 2016). [https://archive.is/MXS4p "The Phenomenon of ‘Bud Sex’ Between Straight Rural Men"]. ''Science of Us'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref><ref>Jesse Singal (August 5, 2015). [https://www.thecut.com/2015/08/why-straight-men-have-sex-with-each-other.html "Why Straight Men Have Sex With Each Other"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref><ref>Jesse Singal (February 14, 2017). [https://www.thecut.com/2017/02/how-straight-men-explain-their-same-sex-encounters.html "How Straight Men Who Have Sex With Men Explain Their Encounters"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> attraction to middle-aged people being "a [[sexual orientation]]",<ref>Jesse Singal (August 23, 2016). [https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/liking-middle-aged-people-is-probably-a-sexual-orientation.html "Being Into Middle-Aged People Is Probably a Sexual Orientation"]. ''Science of Us'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref>{{efn|He cites Michael C. Seto for this, a former {{wpl|Centre for Addiction and Mental Health}} (CAMH) researcher. Incidentally, many of the researchers he cited while editing ''Science of Us'' were linked to CAMH in some way or another.}} and in fact some less strange topics than those. Singal's spats with [[alt-right]] bozos like [[Baked Alaska]],<ref>Alex Griswold (December 27, 2016). [https://www.mediaite.com/online/alt-right-in-civil-war-after-prominent-leader-disinvited-from-pro-trump-deploraball/ "Alt-Right in Civil War After Prominent Leader Disinvited From Pro-Trump ‘DeploraBall’"]. ''Mediaite''.</ref> [[Candace Owens]],<ref name="McLaughlinCandace"/> and [[Mike Cernovich]]<ref>Mike Cernovich (April 25, 2016). [https://archive.is/ktgO1 "I'm 100% sure @jessesingal is a sexual predator. He has all the telltale signs of a date rapist."] ''Twitter'', via archive.today.</ref> probably ended up being a point in his favor by reverse-association.

In addition to mainstream publications, Singal writes for the libertarian [[Reason (magazine)|''Reason'']]<ref>[https://archive.ph/k7kyQ Reason Magazine: Jesse Singal] ''Reason'' (retrieved December 25, 2024)</ref> and Bari Weiss' ''The Free Press''.<ref>[https://archive.ph/AX1u3 The Free Press: Jesse Singal] ''Free Press'' (retrieved December 25, 2024)</ref> Singal attended the Free Press' 2024 presidential election party along with [redacted] authors Coleman Hughes and Michael Shellenberger.<ref>[https://archive.ph/MggX0 Overheard at The Free Press’s Election Party] Suzy Weiss, Madeleine Kearns, and Frannie Block  (November 6, 2024) ''Reason'' (Retrieved December 25, 2024)</ref>

==Gamergate==
{{see also|Timeline of 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]].<ref>Jesse Singal (September 20, 2014). [https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2014/09/20/gaming-summer-rage/VNMeHYTc5ZKoBixYHzi1JL/story.html "Gaming’s summer of rage"]. ''Boston Globe''.</ref><ref name="GGSilver"/><ref name="McLaughlinCandace">Aidan McLaughlin (February 4, 2023). [https://www.mediaite.com/news/reporter-posts-private-email-from-candace-owens-threatening-him-with-sexual-innuendo-over-negative-story/ "Reporter Posts Private Email From Candace Owens Threatening Him With Sexual Innuendo Over Negative Story"]. ''Mediaite''.</ref><ref>Jesse Singal (November 4, 2014). [https://www.thecut.com/2014/11/explaining-the-roots-of-gamer-rage.html "Explaining the Roots of Gamer Rage"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> One of his top-read articles from this period was probably ''Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Journalists — and Itself'', in which he said: 
{{cquote|I think Gamergate is primarily about anger at progressive people who care about [[feminism]] and [[LGBT rights|transgender rights]] and mental health and whatever else is getting involved in gaming, and by what gamergaters see as overly solicitous coverage of said individuals and their games. And here's the thing: That's fine! It’s an opinion I happen to disagree with, but it's a coherent, concrete viewpoint. Say what you will about the tenets of anti-progressivism, dude, but at least it's an ethos.|||Jesse Singal<ref name="GGSelf"/>}}

Despite this, he soon started complaining about "[[Social justice warrior#Tumblr|Tumblr]] [[Twitter]]" following backlash to [[#CAMH youth gender clinic|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."<ref>Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). [https://archive.ph/46tnG "Guys GamerGate is just doing their smug bullshit. Tumblr twitter was 100000 times worse and more abusive tonight. No comparison."] ''Twitter'', via archive.today. [https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/697311052694974465 (Original link)].</ref> This was after Singal used the hashtag "#GamerGate" in response to a negative post about his article that had nothing to do with GamerGate.<ref>Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160210040319/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/697259408003375105 "Absolutely 100% identical to #GamerGate tactics. Screengrab and send to employer. Classy stuff."] ''Twitter'', via the Wayback Machine.</ref> 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".<ref>Jesse Singal (February 9, 2016). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210220103740/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/697316126422863872 "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.</ref> According to Julia Serano, he (among other things) later again added the #GamerGate hashtag to a ''Medium'' blogpost criticizing someone, before removing the tag.<ref name="SeranoStory">Julia Serano (December 5, 2017). [https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-jesse-singal-story_11.html "my Jesse Singal story"]. ''Whipping Girl''.</ref>

Singal later also began distinguishing between "video-game culture warriors, or VGCWs" and Gamergaters.<ref>Jesse Singal (September 30, 2016). [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/09/why-the-video-game-culture-wars-wont-die-two-years-later.html "Why the Video-Game Culture Wars Won’t Die"]. ''Intelligencer'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> 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".<ref name="GGBar"/>{{rp|1:30}} 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]]".<ref name="GGBar">(March 27, 2024). [https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/premium-gamergate-revisited "Premium: #GamerGate Revisited"]. ''Blocked and Reported''.</ref>{{rp|12:19}}

==Transgender people==
===2015 Galileo gambit===
{{main|J. Michael Bailey}}
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 {{wpl|Alice Dreger||'s}} book ''{{wpl|Galileo's Middle Finger||'',}} and the topics it dealt with, such as the controversies surrounding [[J. Michael Bailey]] including his endorsement of [[Ray Blanchard]]'s [[Autogynephilia|typology of transgender women]].<ref name="DregerSocialScience">Jesse Singal (December 30, 2015). [https://www.thecut.com/2015/12/when-liberals-attack-social-science.html "Why Some of the Worst Attacks on Social Science Have Come From Liberals"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> According to Singal years later, this "review-essay" for Dreger's book was his "introduction to these controversies" regarding trans issues.<ref>Jesse Singal (June 26, 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20210220034909/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1011600047211995141 "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.</ref>

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]]",<ref name="DregerSocialScience"/> despite Bailey and Blanchard's theories being very dubious at best on any thorough examination.<ref name="MoserGroupofNine">{{Cite journal |last=Moser |first=Charles |date=2010-06-30 |title=Blanchard's Autogynephilia Theory: A Critique |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00918369.2010.486241 |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |language=en |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=790–809 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2010.486241 |issn=0091-8369}}</ref><ref>Madeline H. Wyndzen. [http://www.genderpsychology.org/autogynephilia/ray_blanchard/ "Autogynephilia & Ray Blanchard's Mis-Directed Sex-Drive Model of Transsexuality"], index. ''GenderPsychology''.</ref><ref>Ray Blanchard (February 28, 2017). [https://web.archive.org/web/20180930055623/https://twitter.com/blanchardphd/status/836625219607478273 "I was recently asked if I think bisexual MTF trans exist.  I think quasi- or pseudobisexual MTF trans exist."] ''Twitter'', via the Wayback Machine.</ref> However, it could have been that Singal didn't quite grasp how strong their claims were, as demonstrated by this passage:
{{blockquote|The notion that there might be a cultural component to the decision to transition, or that sexuality, rather than a hardwired [[gender identity]], could be a factor, complicates this gender-identity-only narrative. It also brings sexuality back into a conversation that some trans activists have been trying to make solely ''about'' gender identity&nbsp;— roughly parallel to the way some [[LGBT rights|gay-rights]] activists sweep conversations about actual [[gay]] sexuality under the rug, preferring to focus on idealized, unthreatening-to-[[heterosexual]]s portrayals of committed gay relationships between clean-cut, taxpaying adults.}}
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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blanchard |first=Ray |date=2005-08-01 |title=Early History of the Concept of Autogynephilia |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-005-4343-8 |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |language=en |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=439–446 |doi=10.1007/s10508-005-4343-8 |issn=1573-2800 |quote=This had suggested that heterosexual, asexual, and bisexual transsexuals are more similar to each other—and to transvestites—than any of them is to the homosexual type, and that the common feature in transvestites and the three types of non-homosexual transsexuals is a history of erotic arousal in association with the thought or image of themselves as women. … To fill this terminological and conceptual gap, the writer introduced the term autogynephilia (love of oneself as a woman).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Serano |first=Julia |date=2020 |title=Autogynephilia: A scientific review, feminist analysis, and alternative ‘embodiment fantasies’ model |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038026120934690 |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=763–778 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934690 |issn=0038-0261}}</ref> 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 [[Climate change|anthropogenic climate change]]".<ref name="DregerSocialScience"/> 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).<ref>(June 25, 2014). [https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/292u46/comment/cigztnk/ "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''. {{quotebox|We're not trying to be scientists. We're trying to take the work they produce and distill/communicate it to the public when it's good, and push back skeptically when it ain't, as well as put certain findings into context when appropriate.}}</ref>{{efn|Most science journalists do however have one or more university degrees in science.<ref>[https://www.purdue.edu/science/careers/what_can_i_do_with_a_major/Career%20Pages/science_writer.html Science Writer] ''Purdue University''.</ref>}}

===CAMH youth gender clinic===
{{cquote|Zucker didn't do conversion therapy|||Jesse Singal<ref name="NotCTherapy"/>}}
{{cquote|Conversion therapy: Efforts to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression through behavioral health or medical interventions.|||The US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration<ref name="SAMHSA"/>{{rp|64}}}}
{{cquote|Zucker believes that toleration and encouragement of feminine play and dress prevents the child from accepting his maleness. … Inconsistent parenting like this is ineffective in stamping out any kind of unwanted behavior.|||[[J. Michael Bailey]],<ref name="TMWWBQ">{{Cite book |last=Bailey |first=J. Michael |url=http://archive.org/details/manwhowouldbeque00bail |title=The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism |date=2003 |publisher=Joseph Henry Press |isbn=978-0-309-08418-5}} {{quotebox|Zucker believes that toleration and encouragement of feminine play and dress prevents the child from accepting his maleness. … Inconsistent parenting like this is ineffective in stamping out any kind of unwanted behavior.}}</ref>{{rp|31}}<ref>(April 7, 2022). [https://medium.com/@TransEssays/conversion-therapy-on-transgender-children-fdf23e4a4340 "Conversion Therapy on Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children"]. ''TransEssays'' (Medium). [https://archive.ph/D5Q0t (Archived)].</ref> Zucker's "close colleague and friend"<ref>Kristina Fiore (May 24, 2023). [https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/104685 "Sexual Behavior Journal Under Fire Over Gender Dysphoria Paper"]. ''MedPage Today''. Quote: "Though editor Zucker is a close colleague and friend, Bailey said…"</ref>}}
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 [[children|young]] patients.<ref name="SlateBarasch">Alex Barasch (June 20, 2018). [https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/desistance-and-detransitioning-stories-value-cis-anxiety-over-trans-lives.html "Sacred Bodies"]. ''Slate''.</ref>{{efn|Zucker worked at the same facility as [[Ray Blanchard]]; the latter's clinical interfacing was focused on adult transgender people.}} Zucker was ultimately fired from his institution, the Child Youth and Family Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) at the {{wpl|Centre for Addiction and Mental Health}} (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);<ref>(2020) [https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/JUST/meeting-14/evidence "14th meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Bill C-6, Number 014, 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session"]. ''Parliament of Canada''. {{quotebox|My name is Erika Muse and I am a survivor of trans conversion therapy. I underwent conversion therapy at the now-closed youth gender clinic at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, CAMH, in Toronto, with Kenneth Zucker. … Dr. Zucker saw me as a patient for seven years, from the ages of 16 to 23, and denied me trans-affirming health care in the form of both hormones and surgery until I was 22. Dr. Zucker instead put me through what he has termed “desistance treatment” for trans youth. He interrogated me in talk therapy for hours at a time, inquisitorially attacking, damaging and attempting to destroy my identity and my self-esteem, and to make me ashamed and hateful of myself.}}</ref><ref>Cristan Williams. [https://www.transadvocate.com/part-v-interview-with-zuckers-patient-the-rise-and-fall-of-discosexology-dr-zucker-camh-conversion-therapy_n_19727.htm "#DiscoSexology Part V: An Interview With Zucker’s Patient"]. ''TransAdvocate''.</ref> Serano wanted to speak on "the history behind these kinds of clinics". Neither of them were quoted in Singal's articles on Zucker.<ref>Melissa Gira Grant (February 16, 2016). [https://psmag.com/news/after-the-transgender-tipping-point "After the Transgender Tipping Point"]. ''The Pacific Standard''.</ref> Muse alleges that Singal "never even responded".<ref>Erika Muse (February 11, 2016). [https://archive.ph/xirXO "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. [https://twitter.com/icequeenerika/status/697809724041990145 (Original link)].</ref><ref>Erika Muse (August 22, 2020). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200823021302/https://twitter.com/icequeenerika/status/1297356036366635008 "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.</ref>

Bioethicist {{wpl|Florence Ashley||,}} 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 {{wpl|George Rekers}} (of [[NARTH]]) and {{wpl|Ole Ivar Lovaas}} (who themselves in turn cited earlier work by [[Helen_Joyce#Legitimising "prehomosexuality"|Richard Green]] and [[John Money]] on the subject).<ref name="Ashley1">{{Cite journal |last=Ashley |first=Florence |date=2020-10-01 |title=Homophobia, conversion therapy, and care models for trans youth: defending the gender-affirmative approach |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19361653.2019.1665610 |journal=Journal of LGBT Youth |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1080/19361653.2019.1665610 |issn=1936-1653}} For a brief article summarizing this, [https://www.growkudos.com/publications/10.1080%252F19361653.2019.1665610/reader see here]. For a freely readable PDF of the journal article that was uploaded by its author, [https://www.florenceashley.com/uploads/1/2/4/4/124439164/ashley_homophobia_conversion_therapy_and_care_models_for_trans_youth_-_defending_the_gender_affirmative_approach.pdf see here].</ref>{{rp|11–12}} To quote in part:
{{blockquote|Their [Kenneth Zucker and Susan Bradley's] proposed approach involves extensive testing and play psychotherapy and directs parents to discourage gender non-conforming behavior, to encourage participation in gender-conforming activities, and to encourage socializing with children of the same [[Sex assignment at birth|gender assigned at birth]] (Zucker et al., 2012). With regards to the treatment protocol, one substantial departure from the approach proposed by Rekers and Lovaas is their critique of behavioral therapy and reinforcement techniques. Their critique, however, does not lie in the radical or unethical nature of Rekers and Lovaas’ approach to gender non-conforming behavior but rather in its limitations. According to Zucker and Bradley, “[i]t is likely that the procedures used by behavior therapists do not fully alter internal gender schemas, and that as a result the children revert to their cross-gender behavioral preferences in the absence of external cues or incentives” (Zucker & Bradley, 1995, p. 273). As a result, they remove some behavioral interventions (they do not suggest a token system, for instance) and add other interventions intending to alter internal gender schemas. The underlying theory remains the same: marked gender non-conformity in children is disordered and must be corrected (Zucker, 2006, pp. 543–544).

Another departure from Rekers and Lovaas is their view of [[homosexuality]]. Unlike Rekers and Lovaas, they do not defend avoiding homosexuality as a legitimate clinical goal. Zucker and Bradley’s views on sexual orientation have evolved over the years and noticeably become more progressive. In their 1995 book, they were partly critical of seeking to discourage adult homosexuality they also demonstrated clear ambivalence towards it (p. 269): "Given that most parents, not surprisingly, prefer that their children not develop a homosexual orientation, the contemporary clinician must carefully think through the [[ethics]] of instituting treatment for this reason and the [[empirical]] [[evidence]] that treatment can have this effect." In 2012, they explained that “that the goal of treatment is not to prevent the child from developing a future homosexual sexual orientation”, though it may remain the goal of parents (Zucker et al., 2012, p. 390). It is unclear what is the ethical significance of no longer seeking to avoid later homosexuality if it continues to view childhood gender non-conformity as inherently problematic and adopts interventions similar to those of Rekers and Lovaas. Discouraging children who will grow up to be gay men from being effeminate is arguably a form of [[homophobia]]. Indeed, targeting gender non-conformity is one of the primary ways in which homophobia operates. Whether or not the ultimate goal of discouraging homosexuality is present, the proximate approach of discouraging and altering gender non-conformity remains.

The strict separation between preventing LGBQ outcomes and preventing trans outcomes used to distinguish Rekers and Lovaas’ conversion therapy and approaches that oppose gender affirmation, such as Zucker and Bradley’s corrective approach to children, is illusory. When it comes to youth, conversion therapy has historically targeted gender non-conformity, not gender identity or sexual orientation ''per se''.<ref name="Ashley1"/>{{rp|12–13}}}}

Singal relays a number of [[talking point]]s 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.<ref name="ZuckerHow"/><ref name="ZuckerFalse"/> 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".<ref name="ZuckerHow"/> (Incidentally, Singal also wrote an article in 2014 highly skeptical of how hardwired sexual orientation is&nbsp;— framed in terms of a scientist versus "gay rights activists", familiarly.<ref>Jesse Singal (June 16, 2014). [https://archive.ph/gcVrm "What If Gay-Rights Advocates’ 'Born This Way' Argument Is Wrong?"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref>)

Singal says the children under Zucker's treatment would "have an increased likelihood of eventually identifying as gay or bisexual".<ref name="ZuckerHow"/> 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.<ref name="Ashley1"/>{{rp|12–13}} When Singal published his articles on Zucker, the US {{wpl|Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration}} (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".<ref name="SAMHSA">(October 2015). [https://web.archive.org/web/20241203222039/https://store.samhsa.gov/product/ending-conversion-therapy-supporting-and-affirming-lgbtq-youth/sma15-4928 "Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth"]. ''Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration'' (SAMHSA). [https://web.archive.org/web/20241228010440/https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sma15-4928.pdf (PDF.)] Publication ID: SMA15-4928. {{quotebox|The conclusions in this report are based on professional consensus statements arrived at by experts in the field. Specifically, conversion therapy—efforts to change an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression—is a practice that is not supported by credible evidence and has been disavowed by behavioral health experts and associations. … Interventions aimed at a fixed outcome, such as gender conformity or heterosexual orientation, including those aimed at changing gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation are coercive, can be harmful, and should not be part of behavioral health treatment. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013b; American Psychological Association, 2010; National Association of Social Workers, 2008).}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

Zucker's clinic previously diagnosed patients with "gender identity disorder in children" (GIDC), a now-antiquated diagnosis<ref>Kelly Winters. [https://www.transadvocate.com/the-new-york-magazine-lies-to-parents-about-trans-children_n_18875.htm "The New York Magazine lies to parents about trans children"]. ''TransAdvocate''.</ref> that had long been criticized for "undermin[ing], rather than support[ing], [a] child's well-being",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hegarty |first=Peter |date=2009 |title=Toward an LGBT-informed paradigm for children who break gender norms: Comment on Drummond et al. (2008) and Rieger et al. (2008). |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26655558_Toward_an_LGBT-Informed_Paradigm_for_Children_Who_Break_Gender_Norms_Comment_on_Drummond_et_al_2008_and_Rieger_et_al_2008 |journal=Developmental Psychology |language=en |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=895–900 |doi=10.1037/a0016163 |issn=1939-0599}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Langer |first=Susan J. |last2=Martin |first2=James I. |date=2004-02-01 |title=How Dresses Can Make You Mentally Ill: Examining Gender Identity Disorder in Children |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:CASW.0000012346.80025.f7 |journal=Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=5–23 |doi=10.1023/B:CASW.0000012346.80025.f7 |issn=1573-2797}}</ref> An article in the November 1997 issue of ''The Advocate'' contains allegations (corroborated by the government of [[San Francisco]] a year earlier<ref>"Resolution condemning use of gender identity disorder diagnosis against children and youth", [https://archive.org/details/minutesofmeeting1996huma/page/n265/mode/2up September 11, 1996 resolution] and [https://archive.org/details/minutesofmeeting1996huma/page/n283/mode/2up September 12, 1996 resolution]. ''Human Rights Commission'', City and County of San Francisco.</ref>) the pathologization of homosexuality continued in some cases under the guise of GID diagnoses. The article also quotes Zucker, who said: "[[NARTH|[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."<ref>Robert L. Pela (November 11, 1997). [https://books.google.com/books?id=rmMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT62#v=onepage&q&f=false "Boys in the dollhouse, girls with toy trucks"]. ''The Advocate'', issue 746.</ref>{{rp|55–59}}

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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zucker |first=Kenneth J. |last2=Wood |first2=Hayley |last3=Singh |first3=Devita |last4=Bradley |first4=Susan J. |date=2012 |title=A developmental, biopsychosocial model for the treatment of children with gender identity disorder |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223135175_A_Developmental_Biopsychosocial_Model_for_the_Treatment_of_Children_with_Gender_Identity_Disorder|journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=369–397 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2012.653309 |issn=1540-3602 |pmid=22455326}}</ref>{{rp|391–392}} Zucker himself helped to reform the GIDC diagnosis in 2013, which included its reconstitution as "gender dysphoria";<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davy |first=Zowie |last2=Toze |first2=Michael |date=2018 |title=What Is Gender Dysphoria? A Critical Systematic Narrative Review |url=https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/trgh.2018.0014 |journal=Transgender Health |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=159–169 |doi=10.1089/trgh.2018.0014 |issn=2380-193X |pmid=30426079}}</ref> his appointment to the committee dedicated to this reorganization was met with some controversy.<ref>Brian Alexander (May 22, 2008). [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24664654 "What's ‘normal’ sex? Shrinks seek definition"]. ''NBC News''.</ref><ref>(May 28, 2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120725181844/http://www.thetaskforce.org/press/releases/PR_052808 "Task Force questions critical appointments to APA’s Committee on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders"]. ''National Gay and Lesbian Task Force''.</ref><ref>Cynthya BrianKate (March 30, 2010). [http://sbpress.com/2010/03/feminine-boy-project/ "The Feminine Boy Project Still Threatens Gender Expression"]. ''Stony Brook Press''.</ref>

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 {{wpl|George Rekers||).}} 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".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bradley |first=Susan J. |last2=Zucker |first2=Kenneth J. |date=1990 |title=Gender Identity Disorder and Psychosexual Problems in Children and Adolescents |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/20948042_Gender_Identity_Disorder_and_Psychosexual_Problems_in_Children_and_Adolescents|journal=The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry |volume=35 |issue=6 |pages=477–486 |doi=10.1177/070674379003500603 |issn=0706-7437}}</ref> In another 1990 paper, Zucker writes of "rationale for the treatment of cross-gender identification in children [for] the prevention of transsexualism in adulthood",<ref name="KZJ90">Ken Zucker (January 1990). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296484556_Treatment_of_gender_identity_disorders_in_children "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).</ref>{{rp|30}} 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)."<ref name="KZJ90"/>{{rp|40}}

Accounts appeared in news profiles of Zucker's patients, such as this one on [[NPR]]:
{{quotebox|Whenever Zucker encounters a child younger than 10 with gender identity disorder, he tries to make the child comfortable with the sex he or she was born with. So, to treat Bradley, Zucker explained to Carol that she and her husband would have to radically change their parenting. Bradley would no longer be allowed to spend time with girls. He would no longer be allowed to play with girlish toys or pretend that he was a female character. Zucker said that all of these activities were dangerous to a kid with gender identity disorder. He explained that unless Carol and her husband helped the child to change his behavior, as Bradley grew older, he likely would be rejected by both peer groups. Boys would find his feminine interests unappealing. Girls would want more boyish boys. Bradley would be an outcast.<ref>Alix Spiegel (May 7, 2008). [https://www.npr.org/2008/05/07/90247842/two-families-grapple-with-sons-gender-preferences "Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Identity"]. ''NPR''.</ref><ref>Marti Abernathey. [https://www.transadvocate.com/reparative-therapy-for-trans-youth-kenneth-zucker-is-different-from-george-rekers-how_n_3329.htm "Reparative Therapy for Trans Youth: Kenneth Zucker is Different from George Rekers How?"]. ''TransAdvocate''.</ref>}}

Or this in ''The Atlantic'':
{{quotebox|When he was 4, the boy, John, had tested at the top of the gender-dysphoria scale. … His parents, well-educated urbanites, let John grow his hair long and play with whatever toys he preferred. But then a close friend led them to Zucker, and soon they began to see themselves as “in denial,” recalls his mother, Caroline. … When they reversed course, they dedicated themselves to the project with a thoroughness most parents would find exhausting and off-putting. They boxed up all of John’s girl-toys and videos and replaced them with neutral ones. Whenever John cried for his girl-toys, they would ask him, “Do you think playing with those would make you feel better about being a boy?” and then would distract him … They turned their house into a 1950s kitchen-sink drama, intended to inculcate respect for [[patriarchy]], in the crudest and simplest terms: “Boys don’t wear pink, they wear blue,” they would tell him, or “Daddy is smarter than Mommy&nbsp;— ask him.” If John called for Mommy in the middle of the night, Daddy went, every time. … Recently, John was in the basement watching the Grammys. When Caroline walked downstairs to say good night, she found him draped in a blanket, vamping. He looked up at her, mortified.<ref>Hanna Rosin (November 2008). [https://web.archive.org/web/20211201104413/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/11/a-boys-life/307059/ "A Boy's Life"]. ''The Atlantic''.</ref><ref>Tracy Clark-Flory (October 16, 2008). [https://www.salon.com/2008/10/16/transgender_kids/ "Too young to change genders?"]. ''Salon''.</ref>}}

By the way, Singal is confident enough to say: "Zucker didn't do conversion therapy".<ref name="NotCTherapy">Jesse Singal (May 7, 2017). [https://archive.ph/vwDee "Can you point me to where I support conversion therapy? Zucker didn't do conversion therapy"]. ''Twitter'', via archive.today. [https://ghostarchive.org/archive/qdmlM (Second archive)]. [https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/861066010102837253 (Original tweet)].</ref>

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.<ref>(October 7, 2018). [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/camh-settlement-former-head-gender-identity-clinic-1.4854015 "CAMH reaches settlement with former head of gender identity clinic"]. ''CBC News'' (The Canadian Press).</ref> 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.<ref name="ZuckerFalse">Jesse Singal (January 27, 2016). [https://www.thecut.com/2016/01/false-charge-helped-bring-down-kenneth-zucker.html "A False Accusation Helped Bring Down Kenneth Zucker, a Controversial Sex Researcher"]. ''Science of Us'' (''The Cut'' at ''New York'' magazine).</ref> 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.<ref name="ProteanNoise">[https://proteanmag.com/2022/04/22/singal-and-the-noise/ Singal and the Noise], M.K. Anderson, ''Protean'', April 22, 2022</ref> Singal calls the "hairy little vermin" claim the "most spectacular" and "most serious allegation" in the review.<ref name="ZuckerHow">Jesse Singal (February 7, 2016). [https://www.thecut.com/2016/02/fight-over-trans-kids-got-a-researcher-fired.html "How the Fight Over Transgender Kids Got a Leading Sex Researcher Fired"]. ''Science of Us'' (''The Cut'' at ''New York'' magazine).</ref> It could well have been merely the most ''spectacular'' one&nbsp;— 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===
{{cquote|The voices Singal leads with and chooses to center … create an unbalanced and woefully incomplete depiction of the trans community.|||<ref name="LogoTVSam">Sam Manzella (June 19, 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240213121814/https://www.logotv.com/news/jtorij/the-atlantic-when-children-say-theyre-trans "'The Atlantic' Tried to Explore Trans Issues—and Totally Missed the Mark"]. ''Logo TV''.</ref>}}
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 21<sup>st</sup> century cover feature about any transgender topics that ''The Atlantic'' had heretofore published.{{efn|A similar "cover tease" article appeared in 2008 with the title "Should children have sex changes?". This was not a cover "feature", however.}}<ref name="TNRatlantic">Melissa Gira Grant (November 6, 2019). [https://newrepublic.com/article/155606/fixating-cancel-culture-age-transphobia "Fixating on 'Cancel Culture' in an Age of Transphobia"]. ''The New Republic''.</ref> 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.<ref name="PoynterBrewer"/> 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 [[LGBTQ orientation glossary#Outing|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.<ref name="PoynterBrewer">Sydney Bauer (September 4, 2020). [https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2020/the-atlantic-tried-artistically-show-gender-dysphoria-cover-instead-damaged-trust-transgender-readers/ "The Atlantic tried to artistically show gender dysphoria on its cover. Instead it damaged the trust of transgender readers."] ''Poynter Institute''.</ref> 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 transition|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,<ref name="PoynterBrewer"/> some of whom noted that even at the time, Singal had a history of [[transphobic]] and/or misleading articles taking a similar position.<ref>[https://lifeafterdawn.medium.com/we-warned-the-atlantic-about-jesse-singal-but-they-ignored-us-beaee469d3f8 We warned The Atlantic about Jesse Singal, but they ignored us], Dawn Ennis, ''Medium'', June 19, 2018</ref> A number of publications critiqued Singal's article, including ''Slate'',<ref name="SlateBarasch"/> ''The New Republic'',<ref name="TNRatlantic"/> ''Wired'',<ref>Eleanor Cummins (March 24, 2022). [https://www.wired.com/story/regret-medicine-decisions-healthcare/ "When Doctors Cite 'Regret' to Deny Care, Who Is Really Protected?"]. ''Wired''.</ref> ''Logo'',<ref name="LogoTVSam"/> ''Advocate'',<ref>Amanda Kerri (June 25, 2018). [https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2018/6/25/why-trans-community-hates-atlantics-cover-story "Why the Trans Community Hates The Atlantic's Cover Story"]. ''Advocate''.</ref> ''TransAdvocate'',<ref>Cristan Williams. [https://www.transadvocate.com/youre-very-wrong-about-trans-kids_n_21938.htm "Singal’s Florida: You’re very wrong about trans kids"]. ''TransAdvocate''.</ref> and ''This''.<ref>Alex V. Green (September-October 2018). [https://this.org/2018/09/13/why-reporters-need-to-be-more-responsible-in-their-coverage-of-trans-communities/ "Why reporters need to be more responsible in their coverage of trans communities"]. ''This'' magazine.</ref>

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."<ref name="FordA">Zack Ford (June 20, 2018). [https://archive.thinkprogress.org/atlantic-jesse-singal-transgender-kids-54123639b640/ "Atlantic cover story is a loud dog whistle for anti-transgender parents"]. ''ThinkProgress''.</ref> 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&nbsp;— clinicians who heard from young transgender patients who in turn claimed other people their age were merely pretending to be transgender "for attention".<ref name="WCSTT">Jesse Singal (July/August 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240503174310/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/ "When Children Say They’re Trans"]. ''The Atlantic''.</ref> 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 [[Other|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''&nbsp;— which is not disclosed in the article&nbsp;— 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]].<ref name="FordA"/><ref>(December 12, 2023). [https://www.splcenter.org/captain/foundations "Foundations of the Contemporary Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network"]. ''[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]''. {{quotebox|In addition to posting original blogs and undertaking political activism in conjunction with [[conversion therapy|conversion therapists]], both 4thWaveNow and {{wpl|Transgender Trend|TransgenderTrend}} cite several articles as authoritative sources for information on transgender identity including the work of other old guard scholars like McHugh and his [[ACPeds]] colleague Paul Hruz.}} {{quotebox|Littman's paper was widely rejected by the scientific community for methodological and conceptual flaws, including recruiting anonymously from 4thWaveNow, TransgenderTrend and YTCP[.]}}</ref><ref name="CallahanWaPo"/> Julia Serano also wrote a rough, lengthy timeline of "ROGD" and "social contagion" hypotheses — 4thWaveNow figures heavily into said timeline.<ref>Julia Serano (February 20, 2019). [https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2019/02/origins-of-social-contagion-and-rapid.html "Origins of 'Social Contagion' and 'Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria'"]. ''Whipping Girl'' (Blogger).</ref>

''The Atlantic'' themselves published a series of much shorter articles responding to Singal's,<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/category/when-children-say-theyre-trans-continued/ "When Children Say They're Trans, Continued"]. ''The Atlantic''.</ref> 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,<ref name="MeadowA2018">Tey Meadow (July 10, 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240114165920/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/07/desistance/564560/ "The Loaded Language Shaping the Trans Conversation"]. ''The Atlantic''.</ref> who was not actually diagnosed formally with [[gender dysphoria]].<ref name="WCSTT"/> Meadow criticizes Singal's framing and "[[loaded language]]": 
{{blockquote|To position Claire as a 'desister' in the way Singal did is to participate in an inherently stigmatizing discourse with a very particular and damaging social history. The [[Framing|frames]] journalists use to discuss these controversial issues are themselves political and moral decisions, and ones of great consequence. … It's worth interrogating the origins and development of the idea of 'desistence.' This is not a value-neutral term. As the trans writer Julia Serano has noted, citing academic research, in criminological contexts, 'desistence' is used to denote the cessation of offensive or [[Antisocial personality disorder|antisocial behavior]]. … It comes from an outmoded psychology organized around the assumption that there are only two forms of gender: normal and disordered. A person was once pathological or disordered, but now they are back on 'normal' ground. The idea that some children desist functions to support efforts to socialize children out of gender deviance, and to interpret those who do desist or re-transition as victims of abuse or false consciousness. (They were 'pushed too quickly into transition' or 'too young to really understand who or what they were.') But now, there are increasing numbers of clinicians who reject all of these premises, who don't think that trans identities are any less desirable than [[cisgender]] identities.<ref name="MeadowA2018"/>}}

[[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).<ref name="Seder2023">(September 5, 2023). [https://www.youtube.com/live/ZSiDvY0QHvA&t=6628 "MR Fun | 9/5/23"]. ''The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder'' (YouTube). URL is timestamped to when Jesse Singal calls in.</ref>{{rp|1:54:36}} Singal's article in ''The Atlantic'' was ultimately cited in at least one "federal lawsuit seeking to roll back the rights of transgender individuals."<ref name="PoynterBrewer"/><ref name="CallahanWaPo"/> 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.<ref name="CallahanWaPo">{{Cite news|last=Parks|first=Casey|date=December 27, 2023|title=Her story fueled anti-trans bills. Now, she’s fighting them.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/27/ohio-transgender-carey-callahan-detransitioner/|work=The Washington Post|quote=Between 2018 and 2019, Callahan criticized pediatric transition care in public talks and in a column on the anti-trans-medicalization website 4thWaveNow. She helped create a nonprofit to reform both trans and detransition health care. And she was featured in the Atlantic article “When Children Say They’re Transgender,” a lengthy portrait of children and adults who had once thought they were trans but decided they were wrong. … Callahan began to worry her words were leading to actions she didn’t support. Parents replied to her 4thWaveNow column insisting that their children had fallen victim to 'a social contagion.' The editor of a book Callahan contributed to said trans children 'don’t exist.' And a group of attorneys general cited the Atlantic article in a 2019 memo seeking to roll back trans medical rights.}}</ref>

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".{{efn|Singal is himself a [[Jew]] who has written about [[antisemitism]].<ref>[https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/11/is-there-a-new-american-antisemitism.html How Alarmed Should American Jews Be Right Now? Two Jews Kibitz] by Jesse Singal & Jonathan Chait (Nov. 17, 2016) ''New York Magazine''.</ref>}} 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{{sic}} the tricky science stuff going on here than I am", despite Singal not actually being a scientist.<ref>Harron Walker (June 27, 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20180627191434/https://www.jezebel.com/private-messages-reveal-the-cis-journalist-groupthink-b-1827041764 "Private Messages Reveal the Cis Journalist Groupthink Behind Trans Media Narratives"]. ''Jezebel'', via the Wayback Machine.</ref><ref name="SeranoStory"/><ref>(2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20190216133727/https://www.ladyscience.com/blog/looping-effects-and-the-science-of-the-trans-experience "Looping Effects and the Science of the Trans Experience"]. ''Lady Science'', via the Wayback Machine.</ref>

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".<ref name="ProteanNoise"/>

===Jamie Reed===
{{cquote|'''Emma Vigeland:''' Has Jamie Reed been discredited, or no? …<br>
'''Jesse Singal:''' She has not been discredited.|||''The Majority Report with Sam Seder'', September 2023<ref name="Seder2023"/>{{rp|2:09:50}}}}
{{cquote|Contrary to Reed's claim that the center prescribed hormones sometimes after just one visit, parents and patients said it took multiple appointments over a period of months or longer to reach that point in treatment, describing a deliberate and methodical process. … Also speaking out is Jess Jones, a transgender former co-worker of Reed's, whom the ''Post-Dispatch'' reported “bristled at the way they said Reed sometimes spoke about patients.” They said that Reed had wanted patients to take an [[IQ test]] before being given access to puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones in order to confirm their ability to consent.|||''Intelligencer'', March 2023<ref name="Danner1"/>}}
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 {{w|HIPAA}} violations.<ref>Steve Alder (December 7, 2023). [https://www.hipaajournal.com/lawsuit-clarification-legality-missouri-ag-request-records-transgender-patients/ "Lawsuit Seeks Clarification on Legality of Missouri AG Request for Medical Records of Transgender Patients"]. ''The HIPAA Journal''.</ref><ref>Alexis Kayser (December 8, 2023). [https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/missouri-ag-accused-of-violating-hipaa-in-transgender-care-probe-lawsuit.html "Missouri AG accused of violating HIPAA in transgender care probe: Lawsuit"]. ''Becker's Hospital Review''.</ref><ref>Colleen Schrappen (March 20, 2023). [https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/parents-of-patients-at-st-louis-transgender-center-fear-privacy-breaches-file-complaints/article_6b623743-e441-5119-92a4-27c19547e4b2.html "Parents of patients at St. Louis transgender center fear privacy breaches, file complaints"]. ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''.</ref> Many families served by the clinic disputed Reed's key claims.<ref>Annelise Hanshaw (March 1, 2023). [https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/01/transgender-st-louis-whistleblower/ "Families dispute whistleblower's allegations against St. Louis transgender center"]. ''Missouri Independent''.</ref><ref name="Danner1">Chas Danner (March 2, 2023). [https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/03/jamie-reeds-claims-about-transgender-care-are-under-fire.html "Whistleblower’s Claims About a St. Louis Transgender Center Are Under Fire"]. ''Intelligencer'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref><ref>Evan Urquhart (March 8, 2023). [https://slate.com/technology/2023/03/trans-youth-health-care-debate-affirmative-new-york-times-jamie-reed.html "There Are Two Sides to the Debate on Health Care for Trans Kids. Here’s What You’re Missing About One of Them."] ''Slate''.</ref> An internal review by Washington University also failed to verify her claims.<ref>Annelise Hanshaw (April 21, 2023). [https://missouriindependent.com/2023/04/21/washington-university-says-allegations-against-transgender-center-are-unsubstantiated/ "Washington University inquiry found allegations against Transgender Center 'unsubstantiated'"]. ''Missouri Independent''.</ref><ref>Jo Yucarba (April 27, 2023). [https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/raising-trans-kid-missouri-become-dystopian-nightmare-families-rcna75768 "Raising a trans kid in Missouri has become a 'dystopian nightmare' for families"]. ''NBC News''.</ref><ref name="AdvocateReview">Christopher Wiggins (April 27, 2023). [https://www.advocate.com/health-care/st-louis-childrens-hospital-cleared "St. Louis Children’s Hospital Gender-Affirming Care Department Passes Internal Review"]. ''Advocate''.</ref> Despite this, Bari Weiss's ''The Free Press'',<ref name="AmProspectReed">Ryan Cooper (March 2, 2023). [https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-02-right-wing-transphobia-panic/ "The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic"]. ''The American Prospect''.</ref><ref name="AdvocateReview"/><ref>Christopher Wiggins (April 5, 2023). [https://www.advocate.com/media/transgender-teen-mother-interview "Mom's Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds"]. ''Advocate''.</ref> Jesse Singal,<ref name="Seder2023"/>{{rp|2:09:50}} and even ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="FAIRreed">Lexi Koren (August 30, 2023). [https://fair.org/home/nyt-publishes-greatest-hits-of-bad-trans-healthcare-coverage/ "NYT Publishes 'Greatest Hits' of Bad Trans Healthcare Coverage"]. ''Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting''.</ref><ref name="AmProspectReed"/><ref>Evan Urquhart (August 23, 2023). [https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/nyt-treats-key-sources-many-lies-as-an-aside-in-latest-anti-trans-smear "NYT Treats Key Source’s False Allegations as an Aside in Latest Anti-Trans Smear"]. ''Assigned Media''.</ref> 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<ref>(2024). [https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/anti-lgbtq "Anti-LGBTQ"]. ''Southern Poverty Law Center''.</ref>), and made "incredibly bizarre claims, suggesting a lack of knowledge about gender-affirming treatments" such as that the treatments should be [[Animal testing|tested in animals]].<ref name="FAIRreed"/> 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.<ref name="FAIRreed"/><ref>Erin Reed (October 13, 2023). [https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/family-of-missouri-trans-kid-jamie "Family Of Missouri Trans Kid: Jamie Reed Lied About Liver Damage, Caused By COVID Drug And Not HRT"]. ''Erin In The Morning''.</ref> Per ''Them'', Reed claimed "that puberty blockers cause menopause, that [[TikTok]] turns kids trans, that trans identity spreads through [[Littman 2018 ROGD study|social contagion]], and that a child literally [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-sexually-identify-as-an-attack-helicopter identified as an attack helicopter]."<ref>(March 17, 2023). [https://www.them.us/story/anti-trans-legislation-march-17 "Everything That Happened in Anti-Trans Legislation This Week: March 12-19"]. ''Them''.</ref><ref>(2023) [https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/2-07-2023-reed-affidavit---signed.pdf?sfvrsn=6a64d339_2 "Affidavit of Jamie Reed"].</ref> 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.<ref>Vesper Henry, Alyssa Tirrell, and Mia Gingerich (April 13, 2023). [https://www.mediamatters.org/bari-weiss/timeline-unfolding-saga-between-free-press-and-missouri-gender-clinic "Timeline: The unfolding saga between The Free Press and a Missouri gender clinic"]. ''Media Matters for America''.</ref><ref>Evan Urquhart (March 11, 2024). [https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jamie-reeds-misinfo-exposed-by-jesse-singal "Jamie Reed’s Misinformation Exposed by Jesse Singal"]. ''Assigned Media''.</ref>

Concerning Reed's claim that a teenager who was a patient at the clinic identified as a "communist attack helicopter",<ref>Aidan McLaughlin (March 17, 2023). [https://www.mediaite.com/online/jesse-singal-says-he-didnt-delete-twitter-account-over-trans-coverage-uproar-hes-just-on-a-break/ "Jesse Singal Says He Didn’t Delete Twitter Account Over Trans Coverage Uproar — He’s Just on a Break"]. ''Mediaite''.</ref> 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."<ref>Jesse Singal (March 10, 2023). [https://web.archive.org/web/20230311030710/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1634324874834345986 "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.</ref> 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."<ref>Jesse Singal (January 17, 2020). [https://archive.ph/h1wkk "The Deeply Depressing Unpublishing Of I 'Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter'"]. ''Singal-Minded'' (Substack).</ref>

==Kiwi Farms==
===Bluesky controversy===

[[File:SIngal-Winter.png|thumb|right|465px|Actor {{wpl|Alex Winter||}} expresses his disapproval of Jesse Singal <ref name="Alex">[https://archive.ph/oCb21 (archived December 8, 2024)</ref>]]When Singal joined the social media service {{wpl|Bluesky||,}} he was protested by many transgender people and allies, eventually becoming the most blocked user on the site before [[JD Vance]] joined the site and surpassed him:

{{blockquote|Last week, the platform faced its most significant controversy yet: user backlash against journalist and media personality Jesse Singal joining the platform. Singal, who has reported on people who reversed their gender transitions among other topics pertaining to trans people, hosts a podcast that critiques perceived left-wing biases in media. LGBTQ nonprofit GLAAD included Singal in its Accountability Project documenting “anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and discriminatory actions” by public figures.

Singal’s presence on Bluesky, considered a hub for trans social media users, sparked a petition signed by over 25,000 people calling for his removal under the platform’s moderation policies. Singal is now the most blocked person on Bluesky. Bluesky didn’t address Singal explicitly in its response to the petition, but posted that it does not take down accounts based on activity off the platform. Bluesky didn’t respond to an NBC News question about the controversy around Singal, who has reported receiving death threats he says the platform has not adequately addressed.<ref name="nbc">Kevin Collier (December 22, 2024) [https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/bluesky-growing-pains-rcna181029 "Bluesky's growing pains"] ''NBC News'' </ref>}}
[[File:Singal-kiwi.png|thumb|right|365px|Singal receives tech support from Kiwi Farms<ref name=techsupport />]]Liz Fong-Jones, "one of Kiwi Farms’s fiercest adversaries<ref>[https://archive.ph/v86QX#selection-645.214-645.254 "The endless battle to banish the world’s most notorious stalker website"] Nitasha Tiku ''Washington Post'' (archived November 7, 2024) </ref>" wrote:

{{blockquote|Strangely enough, Platform T&S saw no problems with immediately yeeting Libs of Tiktok and Kiwi Farms / Joshua Moon off the platform. The only reason I can think of that Singal has an exemption is because he wears the cloak of journalism while stabbing with transphobic harassment.<ref>[https://www.linkedin.com/posts/efong_sign-the-petition-activity-7273106105323401220-7gbW?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop "For the better part of a week, Bluesky has been engulfed in a crisis..."] Liz Fong-Jones ''Linked In'' (retrieved December 23, 2024)</ref>}}
Singal did opt to defend Fong-Jones from a "trumped-up false claim" Kiwi Farms had latched onto.<ref>[https://archive.ph/3xUsF There's nothing wrong with pointing out how crazy Kiwi Farms can get...] Jesse Singal (September 3, 2023) ''Twitter /X '' (retrieved December 23, 2024)</ref><ref>Jesse Singal (December 12, 2024). [https://archive.ph/GrASC "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.</ref>

====Kiwi Farms tech support====
{{main|Kiwi Farms}}
[[File:Singalcard.png|thumb|right|165px|Singal was portrayed by Kiwi Farms fan {{wpl|Nina Paley||}} as an anti-trans hero in her "Gender Wars" card set.]]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)."''<ref name="techsupport">[https://archive.ph/x17yP "Bluesky - "Decentralized" Twitter Alternative. Leftist Tranny Hugbox. "Answer" to Elon Musk's "Fascist" Takeover of 𝕏 (Formerly Twitter)"] "Kiwi Farms" (archived December 14, 2024)</ref>

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."''<ref name=megathread>[https://archive.ph/SLdwV "Jesse Singal Derangement Syndrome - jsingal69 vs TroonWorld"] ''Kiwi Farms'' website (archived December 14, 2024)</ref> ("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 Heterodorx.<ref>[https://archive.ph/ENtUF Epidode 98: The Heterodorx get Blocked and Reported with Katie Herzog and Jessie Singal] ''Heterodorx'' (archived December 25, 2024)</ref> Kiwi Farms site administrator [[Joshua Moon]] was a guest in episode 107.<ref>[https://archive.ph/FWiqw Episode 107: How the Internet Lost its Backbone, with Joshua Moon] ''Heterodorx'' (archived December 25, 2024)</ref>

Heterodorx host [[Kiwi_Farms#Heterodorx|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.{{efn|This is not, strictly, true. Even if less common, there have been threads on Kiwi Farms targeting right-wing personalities, e.g. [[Baked Alaska]] or [[Ethan Ralph]].}} Singal compared RationalWiki unfavorably to Kiwi Farms.

{{quoteblock|
Jesse: So people sometimes say that Kiwi Farms only fixates on sort of left of center targets. And some other people say they like particularly fixate on trans targets. I think there's something to that. Now, there are some right wing people they get in beefs with. I will say, if you're going to fixate this much on Internet targets, there's definitely more worthy ones than the ones they pick. I think part of their ethos in some cases is like, oh, you want to be famous on the Internet? Here you go. And it can be very unpleasant. 

0:23:12 
 
Katie: Yeah. Okay, well, like, I just searched. I went to the site. I put it into my browser. I did all of the letters. 

Jesse: Katie Herzog, confirmed Kiwi Farms user. 

Katie: I searched for Chaya Raichik. She is the exact sort of person I would expect to have a thread on Kiwi Farms. Nothing. 

0:23:45 
 
Jesse: Well, I think Kiwi Farms probably agrees with her about, like, wokeness and blue-haired elementary school teachers. That doesn't surprise me. 

Katie: But that's my point. Like...
Katie: Can we not get a Kiwi Farms that is a little broader? Oh, wait, actually. Okay, so there's Libs of TikTok Derangement Syndrome.  
 
Jesse: That's the opposite. That's like a thread in favor of her.

Katie: But that's what I want. I want a more egalitarian, a more democratic. 

Jesse: Why can't we get a liberal Joe Rogan? That's what you're saying. 

0:24:22 
 
Katie: Why can't we get... Trade it in a lab under DNC headquarters. I don't want to have to go to RationalWiki to find out. 

Jesse: Oh, God. RationalWiki makes Kiwi Farms look like... I don't know what. But they would never dock. 

Katie: Anyway, so I just wish they could be a little broader in scope. That's all I'm asking for, farmers. Come on. 

Jesse: Right.<ref>[https://archive.ph/S7ZNr Transcript of Blocked and Reported episode " Premium: Liz Fong-Jones And Kiwi Farms Keep Fighting (The Parable Of Mailfrawd)"](January 1, 2025) ''Blocked and Reported'' podcast transcript (Retrieved January 6, 2025)</ref>}}

==Apologetics for pedophiles==
{{main|Pedophilia}}
{{cquote|The area of sex research where both left and right are both most committed to [[motivated reasoning|motivated-reasoning]]-fueled wrongness is pedophilia|||Jesse Singal<ref name="BothSides">Jesse Singal (July 16, 2017)[https://web.archive.org/web/20210220060743/https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/886779365446516737 "The area of sex research where both left and right are both most committed to motivated-reasoning-fueled wrongness is pedophilia"]. ''Twitter'' (archived from Febuary 20, 2021).</ref>}}

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"<ref>https://www.thecut.com/2016/09/britain-has-a-hotline-for-pedophiles.html</ref> 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,<ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/21/516473521/after-comments-on-pedophilia-breitbart-editor-milo-yiannopoulos-resigns</ref> 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.<ref>https://www.thecut.com/2017/02/salon-shouldnt-have-unpublished-its-pedophilia-article.html</ref>

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.<ref>https://inews.co.uk/news/experts-reveal-lies-sexual-predators-how-spot-2545257</ref> 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."<ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-spent-a-year-with-non-offending-paedophiles/</ref>

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),<ref name="BAR80">Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog (September 3, 2021). [https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/because-god-hates-us-or-is-dead-heres-90c "Episode 80: Because God Hates Us Or Is Dead, Here's A Whole Episode About Noah Berlatsky And Pedophilia"]. ''Blocked and Reported'' (Substack). [https://web.archive.org/web/20240430053832/https://substackcdn.com/public/audio/8cb45960-99ec-4039-b712-8c715762fa95.mpga?post_id=42022615&download=true (Archived audio)].</ref>{{rp|0:37:00}} {{IdEst}} pedophiles who endeavor not to molest children.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:38:00}} Singal comments that much of their coverage of the subject is informed by {{wpl|James Cantor||.}}<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:38:59}} Cantor is a crank psychologist/sexologist who infamously has advocated integrating pedophiles with the LGBT movement,<ref>James Cantor (December 8, 2018). [https://web.archive.org/web/20190107193748/https://twitter.com/JamesCantorPhD/status/1071499969910198274 "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".</ref><ref>Lee Leveille (April 2, 2022). [https://healthliberationnow.com/2022/04/02/leaked-audio-confirms-genspect-director-as-anti-trans-conversion-therapist-targeting-youth/ "Leaked audio confirms Genspect director as anti-trans conversion therapist targeting youth"]. ''Health Liberation Now!''.</ref><ref>Vesper Henry (October 28, 2022). [https://www.mediamatters.org/gays-against-groomers/florida-expert-formerly-slated-testify-favor-trans-health-care-ban-once "'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''.</ref> worked for [[conservative Christian]] [[Alliance Defending Freedom]] in the past as an [[expert witness]],<ref>(July 15, 2022). [https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2022/07/15/researchers-blast-floridas-transgender-treatment-plan-as-incorrect-and-scientifically-unfounded/ "Researchers blast Florida’s transgender treatment plan as 'incorrect and scientifically unfounded'"]. ''Orlando Sentinel''.</ref><ref name="HuffPoCantor">Molly Redden (September 15, 2023). [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paid-experts-defending-anti-trans-law_n_65021a7ee4b01df7c3b6d513 "Inside The Cottage Industry Of 'Experts' Paid To Defend Anti-Trans Laws"]. ''HuffPost''.</ref><ref>Dara Kam (January 24, 2023). [https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2023-01-24/florida-runs-up-a-1-3-million-tab-in-the-medicaid-transgender-case "Florida runs up a $1.3 million tab in the Medicaid transgender case"]. ''Health News Florida''.</ref> and endorsed [[Ray Blanchard]]'s widely debunked "[[autogynephilia]]" theory.<ref name="HuffPoCantor"/><ref>Julia Serano (July 13, 2015). [https://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-real-autogynephilia-deniers.html "The real 'autogynephilia deniers'"]. ''Whipping Girl'' (Blogspot). Post cites a tweet by Cantor on the subject.</ref>{{efn|Cantor was previously Blanchard's intern at CAMH, which may be how he adopted the theory.}} Herzog refers to Cantor as "one of the foremost researchers on pedophilia".<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|1:07:50}}

In the episode, it is argued that pedophilia is essentially a [[sexual orientation]],<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:37:00 & 0:43:00 & 0:58:00}} and that stigmatizing pedophilia has potentially caused more harm than good.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:39:00 & 0:48:20}} Herzog, arguing against an article by [[Anna Slatz]] about the pro-pedophile organization Prostasia,<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:53:40}} says fictional pedophilic erotica should be legal for "[[free speech]]" reasons,<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:56:20}} 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.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:56:50}} She says that a [[rapist]] was charged for publishing written/drawn pedophilic erotica, and calls this "fuckin' [[thoughtcrime]]".<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:55:20}}

Singal and Herzog discuss Prostasia's advocacy for the legality of child-like sex dolls,<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:56:50 & 1:06:05}} and a Discord chatroom "[[safe space]]"<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:43:30}} with hundreds of members<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:48:50}} that it "fiscally sponsored" that had both thirteen-year-olds and adult pedophiles in it.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:43:30}} Herzog also mentions that the chatroom archives, then deletes, the chat history periodically after some months.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:51:45}} The podcast defends the Prostasia organization,<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|1:06:05 & 0:39:00}} and said chatroom since there were reportedly "a ton of rules" including to prevent child grooming.{{efn|Assuming members were not required to install a literal keylogger of some kind, anyone who has used Discord for as much as a week may be able to tell you how naïve this is.}}<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:45:00}} "A fifteen-year-old in the group" told Herzog that he had never been groomed there but that he was [[Suicide|suicidal]];<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:48:00}} however Herzog acknowledges there was "at least one incident" of that kind.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:45:00}}

Herzog argued that thirteen-year-olds were in the chatroom because "pedophilia typically emerges around the age of twelve or thirteen",<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:45:45}} 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."<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|1:13:48}} 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.<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:49:40}}

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."<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:34:00}} Herzog and Singal cite their own past work about pedophiles in ''The Stranger'' and ''New York'' magazine respectively as further reading on the topic,<ref name="BAR80"/>{{rp|0:35:45}} such as Singal's 2016 article "How Should Society Handle Pedophiles Who Haven't Hurt Anyone?" (which also heavily cites Cantor).<ref>Jesse Singal (April 13, 2016). [https://www.thecut.com/2016/04/how-should-society-handle-pedophiles-who-haven-t-hurt-anyone.html "How Should Society Handle Pedophiles Who Haven’t Hurt Anyone?"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> After [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s 2019 arrest, Singal and Herzog argued it was not technically correct to call Epstein a pedophile;<ref name="JesseEp2"/><ref name="EpsteinSingal">Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). [https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/on-jeffrey-epstein-and-pedophilia "On Jeffrey Epstein And Pedophilia And Journalism And Online Outrage"]. ''Singal-Minded'' (Substack).</ref><ref name="HerzogEpstein">Katie Herzog (July 15, 2019). [https://www.thestranger.com/crime/2019/07/15/40768104/jeffrey-epstein-is-a-horrifying-person-but-that-doesnt-mean-hes-a-pedophile "Jeffrey Epstein Is a Horrifying Person, But That Doesn't Mean He's a Pedophile"]. ''The Stranger''.</ref> Singal also called this semantic distinction a "mainstream scientific opinion".<ref>Jesse Singal (July 19, 2019). [https://archive.ph/sSPaT "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.</ref> 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".<ref>Erica Schwiegershausen (July 19, 2019). [https://www.thecut.com/2019/07/how-many-jeffrey-epstein-victims-are-there.html "Will We Ever Know How Many Girls Jeffrey Epstein Abused?"]. ''The Cut'' (''New York'' magazine).</ref> One 2020 lawsuit alleges that he abused victims as young as eleven years old.<ref>Clark Mindock (January 15, 2020). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-victims-girls-virgin-islands-lawsuit-trafficking-a9285536.html "Jeffrey Epstein abused girls as young as 11 on secluded private island, lawsuit says"]. ''The Independent''.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Jonah Goldberg]]
*[[Matt Taibbi]]
*[[Pamela Paul]]

==External links==
*[https://glaad.org/gap/jesse-singal/ GLAAD profile] — or maybe that's just "scuttlebutt"<ref>[https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/546518-backlash-from-glaads-new-accountability-project-is-proof/ "Backlash from GLAAD’s new accountability project is proof it’s working, says LGBTQ+ watchdog"]. ''Changing America'' (''The Hill'').</ref>
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alVt73AJGUE "The XX Factor: E7 - Jesse Singal and Kenneth Zucker"]
*[https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/tag/jesse-singal/ Posts tagged "Jesse Singal"], at ''[[Science-Based Medicine]]''
*[https://emilygorcenski.com/post/jesse-singal-still-got-more-wrong-than-he-thinks/ "Jesse Singal Still Got More Wrong Than He Thinks",] Emily Gorcenski
*[https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/jesse-singal-misrepresented-a-trans-girls-medical-history-and-she-called-him-out "Jesse Singal Misrepresented a Trans Girl’s Medical History and She Called Him Out",] ''Assigned Media''
*[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324808865_A_Critical_Commentary_on_Follow-Up_Studies_and_Desistance_Theories_about_Transgender_and_Gender-Nonconforming_Children "A critical commentary on follow-up studies and 'desistance' theories about transgender and gender-nonconforming children"], also [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15532739.2018.1456390 published in the ''International Journal of Transgender Health'' (2018)]
*[https://transdatalibrary.org/person/jesse-singal/ Trans Data Library on Jesse Singal]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singal, Jesse}}
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Categories: Authors, Bloggers, Gamergate, Jews, Journalists, Living people, Paedophilia, Pissed at us, Podcasts, Pseudoscience promoters, Transphobes, Trolls