Untitled Document



What you can do to help:
[For news of an example recent success, click here]




1. Carefully read and stay tuned to the breaking news and follow-up on items of interest:
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook.html#anchor69193

Based on what you are reading in the stream of breaking news, you may sense things that you can do to (i) provide information to us on current aspects of the investigation, (ii) contact various people and institutions to let them know about that news and (iii) publish things and post things on the web to further propagate the information, and (iv) generally spread the latest news about the BBL controversy out into the LGBT community.




2. Alert college and university LBGT groups to be on the lookout for uses of the book in courses at their schools:

NEW: One of our major worries is that some university psychology departments will put Bailey's book in their undergraduate psychology course reading lists as the "latest science on transsexualism", and that Baileyism will become institutionalized in some university psychology circles this way.

Please help us watch for this and to lobby against it . It would be especially useful if the network of college and university LGBT groups became aware that this "psych book" is actually homophobic/transphobic. Then those groups all around the country could help watch for its use in college courses. They could then help put a stop to a main goal of BBL, namely the infection of young college students minds with this nonsense.

If you are at all connected with any network(s) of campus LGBT groups, maybe you could think of ways to spread the word out into that diffuse community to be "on the lookout for Baileyism in psych depts". If the word could be spread that way, it would be like spreading an "anti-virus" vaccine against Baileyism for the long-term - and would help kill sales of that book in one of its key target markets.

If you have any ideas on how to help with that, please let us know. If you can personally take some initiative along those lines, you could have a major impact in this situation right now, just as school is starting everywhere.




3. Help keep the pressure up on Northwestern University and the National Academies:

As you see new items in the breaking news that open new opportunities for critiquing Baileyism, please share your thought via letter and e-mails to the leaders at Northwestern University and the National Academies. Insist that they properly investigate all the charges being filed at Northewestern against Bailey regarding research misconduct and fabrication of research results.

And insist that the Academies investigate why the book was NOT properly vetted for scientific quality by the Academies, and why the Academies did NOT respond with respect and with any sense of urgency to the many cries for help from the transgender community regarding the damage this book is doing to trans people worldwide. Here are the e-mail addresses you can use:

THE LEADERS AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY:

" Henry S. Bienen, President" <nu-president@northwestern.edu>, " Thomas G. Cline, V.P. and General Counsel" <t-cline@northwestern.edu>, "Lawrence B. Dumas, Provost" <nu-provost@northwestern.edu>, "C. Bradley Moore, V.P. for Research" <moorecb@northwestern.edu>, "Alan K. Cubbage, V.P. for University Relations" <a-cubbage@northwestern.edu>
THE PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES:

"Bruce Alberts, Pres NAS" <BAlberts@nas.edu>, "Bill Wulf, Pres NAE" <wwulf@nae.edu>, "Harvey Fineberg, Pres IOM" <fineberg@nas.edu>



4. Go to Amazon.com and write a review of Bailey's book.

We've making excellent progress on this effort, but do keep it up. One thing we're noticing is that most of the recent reviews are very negative ones, with the rare positive ones showing up now being close supporters of Bailey.

As of June 13, 2003 there were 27 1-star(lowest) ratings, and 11 5-star (highest) ratings, with only 5 in-between.
As of Sept. 1, 2003, there were 36 1-star, and 16 5-star ratings, with only 7 in-between. Interestingly, some of the earlier 1-star reviews had been removed (including mine!), but none of the early 5 star ones had been removed. It seems that Amazon.com is juggling these things somehow.
Please do keep on sending in your reviews, and these Amazon.com reviews do alert potential readers to the fact that the book is transphobic.

NEW: Also, please consider writing reviews for other influential web-sales outlets too. If you've done one for Amazon, send it along to the others sites listing Bailey's book, such as Barnes and Noble, which maintains an independent set of reviews.


However, please note the following advice:

From: Ben A. Barres Subject: Amazon censoring negative reviews!
I spent over a month of fighting with amazon to get them to post my review. Amazon is systematically censoring negative reviews. you have to follow their rules precisely to get things posted and even then people may have to fight. I advise anyone trying to post a review to followup with an e-mail if it is not posted within a week. And then if it is not posted, it is key to ask for the supervisor in charge of book reviews and demand that it be posted (lest they be acused of censoring, which they are definitely definitely doing).



5. Include links from your website to the following group of pages:

As more and more people do this, it will move these pages up in the google rankings,
and inextricably associate them with Bailey's page in those listings.

http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/bailey-blanchard-lawrence.html
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook.html
http://www.psych.nwu.edu/psych/people/faculty/bailey/index.htm





Other important things you can do to help:


Many people have been e-mailing asking how they can help. I'd like to thank everyone for their interest, their passion and their concern.

I advise everyone to think of this not as a crisis, but as a great opportunity.

We can count on Bailey being his own worst enemy. All we have to do is let him talk and record what he says (video would be great). If you get a chance, ask the hard questions and record his answers to them. We can thus seize the opportunity to show Baileyism for what it is, and at the same time educate people about who we really are.

However, if you are in a place in life or transition where you're under a lot of stress, please don't feel that you must participate directly. And don't become preoccupied with the awful words in Bailey's book. He cannot tell you who you are, or what is in your mind. Nor can he place a label on you.

When you talk with others, please try to remain calm too. Many transpeople live in fear of being outed or publicly shamed. Many are already very fearful about what nons think of them, and this book can only add to those fears. We don't want to do anything that would hurt our less advantaged sisters and brothers any more than our society has already hurt them, and failed them. Be careful not to overalarm people. Be ever so sensitive about those who are hurting for other reasons now, and in some cases avoid even raising this to their attention.

If you yourself are in a place where these events are starting to work bad things on your mind, just set this stuff down. Turn the channel off for a while. Remember, what counts most is that we all live as happy and successful lives as we possible can, in spite of the Bailey's out there.

But don't flee the field either. Send your financial support to NTAC, PFC and other trans advocacy organizations. Let them represent you. There are plenty of us in those organizations who are steeled to this sort of thing. Support us, and we will go at it.

However, if you are feeling strong and confident these days, and are pretty sure that you can remain calm and effective even in the face of serious fire, then do join in with us. If you would like to get personally involved, here are some specific things you can do right now (and stay tuned to this channel for more):


Get the word out.

Spread the word that this investigation and educational effort is going on. Inform transpeople everywhere that what happens in the fields of science that purport to "study us" has a dramatic impact upon our lives. Once transpeople learn what Bailey and others are saying about us they will immediately see the danger. If our universities and colleges begin to use Bailey's book as the "first and only impression" of transgender people, then the daily stigmatization and dehumanization of gender variant people will escalate way beyond anything we've seen so far. And if Baileyism were to become dogma, none of us would ever after be able to defend ourselves against it. For to do so would mean being publicly declared "Type-1" or "Type-2". We must raise the alert that this is a very dangerous situation.

Work your electronic networks. Bring this danger to people's attention. And not only within the TG community, but also among our friends and allies in the gay community. They are being smeared by this book too.

Point people to the major Bailey investigation and BBL Clearinghouse websites, and to the major breaking NEWS stories on the Bailey investigation page such as Joan Roughgarden's early letter to the Academies, the NTAC Press release, the filing of formal complaints against Bailey at Northwestern, etc.

And to lighten things up a bit, be sure to also point folks to Anjelica Kietyka's prophetic illustrated essay, "The Sinking of the Queen"!



Support Andrea James, NTAC and PFC.
If you really want to help us all, at this extremely critical stage, then please Support Andrea James. Andrea's website has long been the TS community's bible for MtF transition. Her webpage has helped thousands of transwomen in their gender transitions. Andrea is now taking a very leading role in this crisis. She is now networking widely all across the community to gathering information about B-B-L and report on what she is finding. And she is doing all this at a time when she is in production of other wonderfully creative media works that will benefit our entire community. Please support Andrea in her important work.

PFC, NTAC and other transgender advocacy organizations can help alert the wider trans and GLBT community response to the publication of this book and it's misuse in academe. Support your local advocacy organizations with your funding and your volunteerism. Respond in an organized, coherent, respectful and thoughtful way - so as to be taken seriously. We must respond to this dangerous situation not out of anger, but out of determination to be heard and to be given a fair hearing in the court of public opinion. Join with your advocacy groups, and inform them about this controversy, so that we can move across a unified, well-coordinated front.



Educate people about transgenderism.

The most effective way to counter Baileyism is to teach people about who we really are. Put a human face on us. Show everyone you can the successes page, especially within academe. Whenever educating people, do it in a calm and non-confrontational manner. Use any and all existing materials available, such as the many gender 101 sites, my TS info and TS successes pages, and the excellent webpages of other transwomen and trasmen. At the very least, show the success pages as widely as possible:

http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/TSsuccesses.html
http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/TransMen.html

Do not make the centerpiece of your presentation an attack on Bailey. Instead say that transsexual women want the public to know as much as possible about us such women before taking Bailey's work as gospel. We simply want a fair hearing. People should be informed about us before reading what the scientists are saying about us. That way it might occur to more people to question the science instead of automatically dismiss us as deviants.

We can only benefit by pushing education. The more educated people are about transgenderism, the more easily they will see Bailey's work for what it is. And please do remember, we are challenging Bailey's ideas and not him personally (although not just his results, but also his methods are suspect, and are under further investigation).


Keep the discussion and educational efforts "ABOVE THE BELT":

Bailey's world is "below the belt". He thinks about and gives lectures on SEX and not much of anything else. That's why his attacks are so harmful to us. Please try to keep your educational efforts above the belt. Tell people about our lives, our transitions, our loves, and about what happens to us afterwards. Show them those TS successes pages. Show them those TS info pages so they can see what we have to go through in order to have a chance at success.

Get them to stop looking below the belt when they look at us. Otherwise they won't "see us", but will remain preoccupied with "why do they want to do THAT (i.e., SRS), and miss the entire concept of gender identity and at what a profound impact our identities have on our lives..

People need to be assured that we are human beings living full and complex lives. If only people would look at us above the belt they would see that. You can play a critical role in this effort by educating others about that reality.


Ask the hard questions:

When you are educating people and when you talk to scientists and academics, be sure to ask at least some of the hard questions that are raised in this investigative report (we will be listing them in a separate appendix soon).

Instead of asserting that Bailey is "wrong", assert that we have counter-evidence to his theory and use those questions as tools to get others investigating Bailey's work. The very best way to get someone to approach a new situation with an open and questioning mind is not to "tell them the answers", but to "ask good questions". You'll find some good hard questions already scattered throughout this report. And if you can think of a new hard question for us to ask, please send it to me.

You'll especially get many ideas from the "breaking news" pages - for example all the questions about Bailey's research misconduct, fabrication of research results, narrowness and limited sample of research subjects, unwillingness to communicate with people who presented evidence that countered his theory, etc., etc.


Help us with the detailed investigation:

Background:

This investigation is about a lot more than just one book. It's about a clique within a subfield of science - sexology - and what that clique has been doing to transwomen for many years now. The publication of J. Michael Bailey's book simply out brings into the public eye something that many trangender women have faced for years.

See Andrea James' page about the Bailey - Blanchard - Lawrence clique of sexologists, for more about how these people seized so much power over how the medical system treats us and how the public thinks of us, and the damage they've done to so many in the process.


What you will learn is that a small group of sexologists (Blanchard, Bailey, Lawrence, Zucker, Cantor, Bradley, etc.) purport to "understand and have a theory of transsexualism", defining the word to phenomena that fit under their theory. They have been reporting upon and propagating this theory for a number of years now within the small community of sexologists, within HBIGDA, and among the few others who follow that sexological research.

Many women and men in the transgender community have read details of this theory, and believe it to be incredibly flawed. In fact, we know very few if any among us who don't see the many fatal flaws in this work. Those of us who are scientists see them right away. Those who are not scientists just "somehow know" that this theory doesn't fit the ground-truth out on the streets. It doesn't fit the people we know.

And it isn't that we are lying because we are ashamed of our behavior. No, that cannot be the case. Go read our websites and see for yourself how open many of us are about our lives. We do that, and do it openly, because we want to help and need help from our trans sisters and brothers out there. Many of us openly reveal behavior that we know many people will not understand. What we do not feel comfortable with is having scientists impute motives and feeling and identities on us that we know we do not have - and having them say that we do not have motives and feelings and identities that we do have. It is this dismissal of our very identities that is so terrorizing to us. And these are identities that arise in every culture, all around the world, and all down through history - arise in young kids and teens - including long before there was any such thing as "sex changes".

Many of us have, each at their own independent initiative, have tried to contact Blanchard, Bailey and/or Lawrence, and pleaded with them to talk with us with an open mind and listen to our scientific counter-evidence and listen to our stories that conflict with their work.

In each and every case that we've learned about so far, the transpeople who did this were dismissed with utter disdain. Stories in conflict with Baileyism were met with charges of fabrication. The defense of theory always took the form of "shoot the messenger of counter-evidence". Many of us know transwomen who have been reduced to tears after confrontations with each of these people about their "science" and how it paints us all as sex maniacs (which we are not).

From our point of view, Baileyism has quite literally terrorized transwomen for many years now. Each of us individually, having no power to raise the warning flag to the scientific community, had to pull back into stealth and not make any waves. The defenses were that strong: Any charge that Baileyism is flawed meant being called a liar - and furthermore suffering public classification under their theory as a type-1 or a type-2. Since very few of us had actually ever been gay male drag queens, the usual charge was that we were "autogynephiles". This was a sure-fire way to avoid public criticism of their theory: To criticize it meant to be publicly declared by science to be a "man", instead of a woman.


We need your help in building a file of evidence of scientific misconduct:

We need your help in this investigation on some very focused tasks: We need to gather and document evidence of the many deliberate deflections and suppressions of sincere offers of counter-evidence to Baileyan theory.

(i) If you ever contacted Blanchard, Bailey or Lawrence and tried to present counter-evidence to their theory and were dismissed, especially if you were treated disrespectfully in those encounters, please send me a concise e-mail summarizing your interactions and attaching the e-mail interaction trail. BE SURE to make clear whether you are in stealth or not, so that I know which files can be shared openly and which ones must be "sanitized" first. Trust me to be very careful in this. I have lived in stealth and know the dangers you face, and will protect your identity. State your case very clearly. Do not make personal attacks on your abusers, but do tell us about your perceptions of the suffering you endured.


(ii) We are also opening an investigation into the conduct of research on transsexual women at The Clarke Institute in Toronto, Canada (as it was known until recently) where the theory of autogynephilia arose and was "tested". If you were ever subjected to pressures to make your case history fit Blanchard's theory in order to obtain approval for SRS, or if you were ever called a liar for telling what you know in your heart was the truth, or if you were ever called disrespectfully or called insulting names at The Clarke, whether by Blanchard or others there, please let me know.

We are also interested in documenting cases that were rejected for treatment at The Clarke because they did not fit "Clarkian theories" of transsexualism, especially cases where the women have since transitioned successfully under guidance elsewhere. From evidence justs now emerging, we are beginning to suspect that the theory of autogynephilia may have arisen in an environment that pushed away from treatment any transsexual women who did not appear to fit that theory. Everyone out there PLEASE get the word out that we need to hear from these cases. STEALTH WILL BE PROTECTED. What we need are case summaries that are as thorough as possible, but we do not need your name. All we need is a way to get back to you by e-mail in order to do any necessary follow-ups.


We are also interested in better documenting the effects of The Clarke's insistence on draconian things like insisting on one year of RLE, including having to dress in a femme manner, before being allowed to go on hormones - a requirement that most see as a sure-fire way to be driven mad as one encounters massive ridicule for being a "man in a dress". We want to hear from people who've actually gone through such Clarkian ordeals, and document the effects of protocols so far more conservative than normal HBIGDA protocols. Again, do not make personal attacks on your abusers, but please do document your perceptions of the suffering you endured.




Important Note:


Be prepared to be the "defendant" and know how to handle it.
And be able to explain the conundrum of disbelief we face.


Bailey's book hits us and talks about us "below the belt", in its preoccupation with our sex lives and with ways to make our natural sexuality into something prurient-seeming.

Therefore, those of us who publicly try to defend against Baileyism, will be put in the position of automatically being considered "deviants" under existing social views. Bailey has the high ground of "science" to stand on. "Who are you to question science" the other scientists will say. How can "you people" no anything about science?

In a curious twist, public understanding of science is now so low that most folks don't know that "established science" is what should always be suspect. All so-called scientific theories must always stand ready to defend against counter-evidence no matter what quarter it comes from. That is how science advances. By always being fully open to revision as new evidence appears.

However, if a theory manages to gain the status of dogma in the scientific community, it can stand for years or decades. It can simply become entrenched, unquestioned, especially if there is no way for outsiders to present counter-evidence.

Holding existing paradigms of thought about "transsexuals", the vast majority of other scientists will find it very difficult to be objective if have read Bailey first. You can only imagine how they will think about us, with lurid images of sexual deviancy in their heads anytime this issue is raised. They will already begin to classify each of us as "type-1 or type-2". It will be very difficult to get any of them to suspend disbelief and try to view the situation through our eyes, and thus be able to see the fatal flaws in Baileyism.

Therefore, you need to raise the issue that they need to suspend disbelief and more openly listen to us right at the start when dealing with scientists.

You need to alert them that we, in our efforts at simply presenting counter-evidence to Baileyism, are automatically being spotlighted as "deviant suspects" and being considered "liars and fabricators" under the very theory that we are questioning. We are being made into defendants in the courtroom of public opinion by our very efforts to bring evidence forward that the "accusations against us by Baileyism are false.

Already Bailey is saying that he "is afraid of us", and trying to paint himself as the victim here. Thinking of us as vengeful drag queens, instead of as the women he himself has been terrorizing for many years, he probably is afraid - seeing the world only through his own strange model. He doesn't have a clue that there are thousands of us out there who have cringed every time we heard his theories being discussed. We thousands of transwomen are the victims here - victims of Baileyism even before this book was published. And tens of thousands more will suffer angst when they finally hear what "scientists are saying about us".

Not having any clue about the extent of suffering his work has caused, he cannot build a mental model of why so much wrath is coming his way. He has no clue that it is thousands out there he has hurt. Instead he thinks that it is just me and Andrea and Becky who are upset with him. He has no clue that for years it's been women like us who've had to calm distress of ever so many girls and women who e-mailed us and who were feeling crushed that the scientists were treating them this way - scientists who showed them no empathy - no concern for their feelings - no concern for the pain they were suffering in addition to all the rest of the challenges of their transitions. Is it any surprise that once we've given a public voice to all these women that their would be an outcry?

Don't let let yourselves fall into the trap of being called "crazy vengeful drag queens" in addition to the trap of always being called "liars" by these scientists. Let people know that we are not victimizing Bailey. Let them know that we are just trying with all our hearts to show folks how Bailey is victimizing us - and it's not just five or ten of us folks, it is tens of thousands of us that are being victimized!

Furthermore, scientists often have the moxie to believe that their theories are "more advanced than common public knowledge". As we try to produce counter-evidence against Bailey, we will be accused of being backward in our thinking and not able to see his new "new paradigm". Who are we, many scientists will say, to question the sexologists who are so much more expert in knowledge about "sex". That is your opening to "ask the hard questions" about whether Bailey even knows many transsexual women, etc.

It is very important that you raise these issues that, as victims of Baileyism, our ability to be taken seriously in this public debate is being infringed. Do this right at the beginning of any conversation with scientists or academics. Otherwise, you will be immediately seen as "suspect" under the Baileyan paradigm, and will even be suspected of lying in order to avoid "classification under Bailey's new scientific type-system".

This is a remarkable conundrum that we face. If this "research subject = lying pervert" portrayal of us were an intentionally-designed theory-defense construct, I'd have to give credit to Blanchard, Bailey and Lawrence for cleverness in design. Such a theory that is bound to succeed because it cannot be attacked. Its victims cannot attack it, because they are not to be believed under the theory. And outsiders are extremely unlikely to attack it, because of the ooze of lurid sexuality surrounding it, an ooze they don't want to be stained by. It is most likely that this infection was accidentally launched, as a kind of virus-like structure, under misguided research that could not see any counter-evidence because the researchers were infected by the virus itself: They just never could take transsexual women's reports at face value - because the theory itself tells everyone that transwomen always lie in order to avoid classification under the theory. Besides, "what can 'those transsexuals' know?"

Keep these thoughts in mind when you try to explain this complex situation to others. If you can help people visualize this conundrum of "scientific accusations = dismissals of our defenses", then they may grasp what Bailey is doing to us. Keep the focus on our lives, our loves and our successes. It is those things that will defeat Baileyism in the end.






Done!
CANCELLED BY POPULAR DEMAND

thanks to Beth Flanagan and Christine Johnson!

From: "Christine Johnson" <chjohnson@speakeasy.net>
To: "Lynn Conway"
Subject: Action underway against upcoming Anne Lawrence speaking engagement
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003

Dear Lynn,

Regarding the J. Michael Bailey fiasco, apparently Anne Lawrence is planning
to speak at Toys in Babeland, a national women-owned, queer and sex positive
sex toy store. She's speaking on August 3rd at the Seattle store on the
topic of sexuality of male-to-female transsexuals, and there is now a letter
writing campaign underway to alert Toys in Babeland of Anne's transphobia
and history of sexually inappropriate behavior. The object of the campaign
is to encourage Toys in Babeland to cancel the speaking engagement, as it is
generally felt that Anne's views on transsexualism are not reflective of the
diverse experience of transsexuals.

The speaking announcement is located at:
http://www.babeland.com/carnal/in_store.html#sea_aug3

The following is one link asking for support of this campaign, and we expect
a good amount of support from members of the board. For the sake of complete
disclosure, the campaign is being pursued by my partner.
http://pub118.ezboard.com/fpseudochainsawfrm11.showMessage?topicID=13259.topic

Here are several email addresses where people can get in touch with the
folks at Toys in Babeland.
Seattle workshop information: cara@babeland.com
TIB owners: rachel@babeland.com and claire@babeland.com

If you could make mention of the campaign on your website, it would be
greatly appreciated, since we feel that a transwoman who supports Bailey's
views is ultimately harmful to the TS community, especially in such a public
venue.

Best Regards,
Christine Johnson

Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003
To: Lynn Conway
Subject: Toy's in Babeland Cancels Anne Lawrence.
From: Beth Flanagan <eflanagan@hushmail.com>
CC: Christine Johnson

Lynn,

This is Beth Flanagan, Christine Johnson's partner. I checked the TIB
site and Anne Lawrence's site yesterday and sure enough, Anne's date
has been removed.

BTW, Thank you for all the hard work you've been doing. Activism is always
thankless work, especially transactivism. The folks at strap-on.org are
behind you on this. If you ever need our help again (we're especially good
at email campaigns and going to do "educational outreaches" aka protesting
transphobic jerkfaces) let us know.

- -Beth