As bad as the homosexualist agitators can be, they are kittens compared to
the transsexualists. (NB: Transsexuals are people who wish to be not the
sex that nature made their bodies, but the other one. The word is used
regardless of whether or not “reassignment” surgery has taken place.)
I have mentioned before on The Corner the case of researcher Michael Bailey
at Northwestern U. Last year Bailey published a book, The Man Who Would Be
Queen, about effeminate men. (I reviewed the book for National Review –
see here.) Bailey adheres to the theories of another researcher in this field, Ray
Blanchard; in particular, to the theory that a certain subset of male
transsexuals are “autogynephilic” — basically, they are men who are
erotically attracted to the idea of themselves as women. This very curious
and paradoxical state of affairs is nicely caught by the title of the
chapter on it in Bailey’s book: “Men Trapped in Men’s Bodies.”
This theory infuriates the transsexuals in question, and a small group of
them has launched a ferocious and determined campaign to destroy Bailey.
What makes them so mad is the implication, contained in the Blanchard/Bailey
theory, that they are really just very eccentric men. WE ARE NOT MEN, WE
ARE ***W**O**M**E**N***!!! they scream. Bailey’s book, by the way, is full
of sympathy and humanity towards people who are sexually odd. This, of
course, counts for nothing with the people hounding him. These transsexuals are not the least bit interested in
compassion or tolerance. They want total roaring approval of their
self-constructed self-images, and of the theories they have concocted to
support them. If you do not offer that, you are a vile bigot, and must be
destroyed.
The wrath of these transsexualists extends to anyone who has worked with
Bailey, supported him, or given a friendly review to his book. It probably,
I don’t know for sure, extends to anyone who ever sold Bailey a pizza. This
is major-league wrath. Because I gave Bailey’s book a friendly review, and
have the same publisher, I myself feature in their propaganda, which is all
over the Internet. Here is a specimen. Note
that their “facts” about me are wildly inaccurate. I have never written a
book about sailing, “instructed young men in PE,” or (until I read this)
heard of B. Devereux Barker IV. These idiots seem to have just Googled
“Derbyshire” — a rather common surname in parts of England — and thrown
together everything they found. These are the people criticizing the
accuracy and integrity of Bailey’s research! I note, by the way, that their
error-laden and vituperative account of me is posted under a “umich.edu”
URL. Does the University of Michigan know what kind of material is being
posted under its web addresses, at the university’s expense?
Anyway, the latest installment in this sorry saga can be read here. The transsexualists are pushing a bill of goods about Michael Bailey
having violated proper procedures in gathering the data for his book. This
is all humbug; they wouldn’t give a fig about his procedures if he hadn’t
wounded their precious self-esteem. In any case, to judge from their
U-Mich-hosted attacks on me, concern for procedural regularity in the
gathering of facts is not a thing that features very high on their agenda.
Make no mistake, this is not a scholarly disagreement over abstract
theoretical principles. It is a determined attempt by a gang of
pseudo-academic fascists to destroy a working scientist who bruised their
egos. If they get away with it, it will be a triumph for the forces of
obscurantism and PC totalitarianism. Support Michael Bailey!