NU PROFESSOR FACES SEXUAL ALLEGATIONS
By Gary Barlow
Staff writer
Transgenders called on Northwestern University to step up an investigation
of NU professor J. Michael Bailey Dec. 11 amid allegations of
deception and improper sexual contact by Bailey with research
subjects.
"J. Michael Bailey's unethical behavior is staggering,"
said Lynn Conway, a transsexual woman and professor at the University
of Michigan.
The controversy revolves around Bailey's book, "The Man Who
Would Be Queen," published in March. In it Bailey, chair
of NU's psychology department, alleged that prostitution is "the
single most common occupation" among transgenders.
That conclusion, and the book in general, was almost immediately
attacked.
"There is very little science in this book," CFP editor
Kim McNabb wrote in a review. "It's not science calling up
a two decades-old research study and declaring it the truth for
all time. It's not science without documentation-there are no
footnotes, no references listed and no bibliography."
Conway, University of Illinois-Chicago professor Deirdre McCloskey
and Anjelica Kieltyka, a subject in Bailey's book, alleged in
their Dec. 11 press statement that Bailey's research "was
conducted mainly by cruising Chicago bars frequented by sex workers."
"He then exploited young transsexuals who came to his office
to get letters of approval for sex-reassignment surgery, socializing
with them and at the same time using them as research subjects
without their knowledge," the statement said. "One research
subject/patient featured in the book says Bailey had sex with
her prior to the publication of the book."
Kieltyka said she felt betrayed after Bailey befriended her and
urged her to introduce him to other transgenders, including the
person who alleges Bailey gave her a ride home from a Chicago
nightclub March 22, 1998, then had sex with her.
"This is all unbelievable, yet it will all prove to be undeniable,"
Kieltyka said.
A NU committee looking into the allegations against Bailey told
Kieltyka, in a Nov. 12 letter, that it was proceeding with a "full
investigation of the allegation that professor Bailey did not
obtain the informed consent of research subjects."
"I concur, and have directed that an investigation committee
be established," NU vice president for research C. Bradley
Moore stated.
But the committee decided not to pursue the allegations involving
sex, a decision Conway criticized.
"As a scientist and as a transsexual woman, I find Mr. Bailey's
behavior beyond all bounds of decency," she said. "It
appears he was writing these therapist letters for young trans
women, all the while being sexually obsessed with them. He exploited
them further by featuring information shared during therapy in
his book. He then concludes in his 'research' that young transsexual
women 'are especially well suited to prostitution.'"
In a letter to Moore Dec. 10, Conway, Kieltyka and McCloskey urged
the NU investigators to let them testify before the committee.
"We worry that without hearing from the complainants the
committee will be left with an incomplete and inaccurate picture
of professor Bailey's behavior," the letter stated. "It
would be strange to decide the case without a hearing-or a hearing
only of professor Bailey's account."
A spokesman for the Evanston-based school acknowledged the investigation
but refused to comment, citing NU personnel policies mandating
confidentiality. Bailey did not return a phone call seeking comment.