A History of Opposition: The Silencing of Groundbreaking Sexual Science

Northwestern University researcher Michael Bailey discusses his retracted study on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and reveals groundbreaking findings about sexual orientation, paraphilias, and the political pressures facing sexology research.

Key Takeaways

• Bailey's ROGD study was retracted by Springer Nature not for scientific misconduct but due to political pressure from transgender activists
• Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria primarily affects adolescent girls who show no prior signs of gender issues but develop them after peer influence
• The retracted study of 1,655 parents found that youth got worse after social transition, contradicting activist narratives
• Autogynephilia - sexual arousal by imagining oneself as a woman - affects many male-to-female transgender individuals but remains heavily censored
• Male sexuality appears significantly more fixed and less malleable than female sexuality across multiple dimensions
• Most paraphilias follow a pattern where individuals are both attracted to others with certain traits and fantasize about having those traits themselves
• Male bisexuality genuinely exists but is less common than claimed, with many gay men using bisexual identity as a transitional phase
• Gaydar accuracy stems from recognizable speech patterns, movement, and presentation differences between gay and straight individuals
• Environmental factors may influence female sexual orientation more than male orientation, which appears largely biological and immutable

Timeline Overview

• 00:00–15:00 — Discussion of article retraction by Springer Nature, reasons given versus actual political motivations, and the Streisand effect increasing article downloads
• 15:00–35:00 — Detailed explanation of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria theory, study methodology surveying 1,655 parents, and key findings about mental health deterioration post-transition
• 35:00–55:00 — Historical patterns of transgender sexual orientation, autogynephilia theory, controversy surrounding "The Man Who Would Be Queen," and censorship by activists
• 55:00–75:00 — Discussion of various paraphilias including attraction to amputees and animals, the inward/outward pattern of sexual interests, and biological basis of unusual orientations
• 75:00–95:00 — Male bisexuality research evolution, differences between male and female sexual fluidity, environmental influences on orientation, and cultural factors affecting sexuality
• 95:00–115:00 — Gaydar research findings, gay accent identification, speech pattern differences, mate value malleability theories, and future research directions

The Political Retraction of Scientific Research

• Bailey's study on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria was retracted by Springer Nature's Archives of Sexual Behavior not due to fraud, plagiarism, or methodological errors, but because transgender activists pressured the publisher over ideologically threatening findings.
• The retraction represents academic censorship at its worst, where political considerations override scientific inquiry, with the publisher either agreeing with activist pressure, succumbing to business concerns, or simply lacking courage to defend legitimate research.
• The retraction backfired spectacularly, creating a Streisand effect where the "forbidden" study gained nearly 100,000 downloads and extensive media coverage, ranking 40th out of 400,000 similar articles in news attention - far exceeding what it would have received normally.
• Springer's retraction process simply stamped "retracted article" on every page while leaving the content fully accessible, making the censorship attempt both ineffective and highlighting the political nature of the decision rather than addressing any scientific concerns.
• The supposed ethical violation cited - lack of formal informed consent - was revealed as pretextual since the co-author clearly explained the study purpose, participants consented by completing the survey, and were explicitly told results would be published online.
• This case exemplifies the broader pattern of ideological capture in academic publishing, where journals prioritize political orthodoxy over scientific truth, particularly on sensitive topics related to gender identity and sexual orientation research.

Understanding Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria

• ROGD explains the dramatic surge in gender dysphoria cases over the past decade, particularly among adolescent girls who never showed childhood signs of gender issues but suddenly declared transgender identity during teenage years after peer influence and ideological exposure.
• The syndrome primarily affects girls (about 75%) who had pre-existing mental health problems including anxiety and depression that preceded any gender concerns by an average of four years, suggesting underlying psychological vulnerabilities rather than innate gender identity.
• These adolescents typically associated with unconventional, progressive peer groups that promoted transgender ideology as an explanation for their various life difficulties, providing a seemingly simple solution to complex psychological and social problems.
• Bailey's survey of 1,655 parents revealed that youth most likely to socially transition were those with the most severe pre-existing problems, contradicting claims that gender affirmation improves mental health outcomes in these populations.
• Parents reported that their children became less happy, more distant from family, and showed general psychological deterioration after social transition, challenging the fundamental assumptions underlying affirmative care approaches.
• The strongest predictor of transition was receiving referrals to gender specialists, with parents reporting feeling pressured by these professionals to affirm their child's transgender identity regardless of underlying mental health issues or sudden onset of gender concerns.

The Censored Science of Autogynephilia

• Autogynephilia - sexual arousal from imagining oneself as a woman - represents a significant but heavily suppressed explanation for many male-to-female transgender cases, particularly those without childhood gender dysphoria who transition in adulthood.
• This pattern typically begins in adolescence with males secretly wearing female clothing and masturbating while viewing themselves in mirrors, often progressing to fantasies about having female body parts and sometimes culminating in surgical transition to actualize these desires.
• Transgender activists have systematically suppressed research and discussion of autogynephilia because it contradicts their preferred narrative of innate gender identity, instead suggesting that some transgender identification stems from a specific male sexual orientation or paraphilia.
• Bailey's 2003 book "The Man Who Would Be Queen" sparked massive activist backlash and attempts to destroy his career simply for documenting this well-established phenomenon, demonstrating the political stakes involved in sex research that challenges orthodox narratives.
• Many autogynephilic individuals privately appreciate honest discussion of their experiences but cannot speak openly due to activist censorship, creating a situation where scientific understanding is actively hindered by political considerations rather than empirical evidence.
• The suppression of autogynephilia research has prevented critical studies on optimal life paths for these individuals, leaving important questions about transition outcomes and alternative approaches completely unexplored due to ideological constraints on research.

The Biological Foundations of Sexual Orientation

• Male sexuality demonstrates significantly greater fixity and biological determination compared to female sexuality, with men's orientations appearing largely immutable regardless of environmental pressures or cultural changes throughout life.
• Female sexual orientation shows considerably more fluidity and responsiveness to environmental factors, with women more likely than men to change orientations over time and demonstrate attraction patterns influenced by social and cultural contexts.
• Most paraphilias - unusual sexual interests like attraction to amputees, animals, or morbidly obese individuals - follow a consistent pattern where affected individuals experience both outward attraction to others with specific traits and inward fantasies about possessing those traits themselves.
• The biological basis of unusual sexual interests like autogynephilia becomes apparent when considering that adolescent males spontaneously develop these attractions without any external teaching or exposure, suggesting hardwired neurological predispositions rather than learned behaviors.
• Bailey's research demonstrates that male bisexuality genuinely exists as a distinct orientation, though it's less common than often claimed, with laboratory measurements showing genuine arousal to both male and female stimuli among a subset of bisexual-identified men.
• Environmental factors appear capable of influencing female sexuality in ways that don't apply to males, potentially explaining phenomena like the Korean "Four B" movement and broader cultural trends affecting women's romantic and sexual choices.

The Hidden Complexity of Human Sexuality

• Gaydar operates with significantly better than chance accuracy because gay men and lesbians exhibit recognizable differences in speech patterns, movement, and presentation that straight individuals unconsciously detect and respond to in social situations.
• Gay men tend to articulate more clearly and expressively than straight men, possibly due to unconscious modeling of female speech patterns or neurological feminization affecting communication styles, while lesbians show the opposite pattern with less expressive speech.
• The phenomenon of gynandromorphophilia - attraction to transgender women who retain male genitalia - represents a distinct sexual orientation that appears closer to heterosexuality than homosexuality, challenging simple categories of sexual attraction and identity.
• Laboratory studies reveal that heterosexual women show "genital indifference" to erotic stimuli, becoming equally aroused by male-male and female-female pornography, contrasting sharply with the specific arousal patterns demonstrated by both heterosexual and homosexual men.
• Research on various paraphilias reveals the extraordinary diversity of human sexual interests while demonstrating consistent patterns in how these orientations develop and manifest, providing insights into the biological versus environmental origins of sexual behavior.
• The malleability of mate value differs significantly between sexes, with males having more degrees of freedom to improve their attractiveness over longer time periods through achievement and status, while female mate value follows different trajectories tied to different evolutionary pressures.

Conclusion and Implications for Science and Society

Michael Bailey's experience reveals the dangerous precedent of political activism overriding scientific inquiry in academic publishing, where inconvenient research findings are suppressed not through peer review but through ideological pressure campaigns. His work on Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria provides crucial evidence that challenges the "affirm immediately" approach to adolescent gender issues, suggesting that social contagion and underlying mental health problems may drive many cases rather than innate transgender identity. The systematic censorship of research on autogynephilia and other aspects of human sexuality demonstrates how activist movements can create knowledge gaps that ultimately harm the very populations they claim to protect by preventing evidence-based understanding of complex phenomena.

How This Research Should Inform Policy and Practice:

• Support comprehensive mental health evaluation before any gender transition interventions, especially for adolescents with rapid-onset gender dysphoria
• Recognize that social transition may not improve and could worsen mental health outcomes for some youth, contrary to activist claims
• Acknowledge the legitimate scientific debate around multiple pathways to transgender identification, including autogynephilia as a documented phenomenon
• Resist political pressure to suppress research findings that contradict preferred narratives about gender identity and sexual orientation
• Understand that male and female sexuality differ fundamentally in their fixity and responsiveness to environmental influences
• Appreciate the biological basis of most sexual orientations and paraphilias while recognizing the complexity of human sexual expression
• Support researchers studying controversial topics by defending academic freedom and scientific integrity against activist censorship campaigns
• Develop nuanced approaches to gender dysphoria that account for different underlying causes rather than applying one-size-fits-all affirmative treatments
• Encourage longitudinal studies tracking outcomes for different intervention approaches rather than suppressing research that challenges orthodox approaches
• Maintain scientific skepticism and empirical standards in sexology research despite political pressure from advocacy groups

Academic censorship in sex research represents a dangerous trend where political activism overrides scientific inquiry, preventing the accumulation of knowledge necessary to understand human sexuality and develop evidence-based approaches to gender dysphoria and related phenomena. Bailey's experience demonstrates both the challenges facing researchers who document inconvenient truths and the importance of maintaining scientific integrity despite institutional pressure.