Galileo's Middle Finger

by Alice Dreger

  UCLA surgeon: See Dreger, One of Us, 62.

  more impairment and shorter life spans: See Dreger, One of Us. See also Alice Domurat Dreger, “The Limits of Individuality: Ritual and Sacrifice in the Lives and Medical Treatment of Conjoined Twins,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 29c, no. 1 (Mar. 1998): 1–29. See also Alice D. Dreger and Geoffrey Miller, “Conjoined Twins” in Pediatric Bioethics, ed. Geoffrey Miller (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010): 203–18.

  Ladan and Laleh Bijani: see Dreger, One of Us, 41–43 and 66–67.

  “achieve their dream of separation”: Keith Goh quoted in Anonymous, “Nation in Shock over Death of Iranian Twins,” Belfast News Letter (Northern Ireland), July 9, 2003, 14.

  political consciousness about LGBT: See Chase, “Hermaphrodites with Attitude.”

  discrimination against a sexual minority: On this point, see Alice D. Dreger and April M. Herndon, “Progress and Politics in the Intersex Rights Movement: Feminist Theory in Action,” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 15, no. 2 (2009): 199–224.

  penetrated by men: For a review of the evidence of homophobia in the medical literature on intersex, see Dreger, “‘Ambiguous Sex’”; Kessler, Lessons from the Intersexed; Fausto-Sterling, Sexing the Body.

  “I’m not a doctor”: I wrote about this technique of relationship-building in Alice Dreger, “Sleeping with the Enmity,” Atrium, no. 3 (2006): 12.

  Oprah: See “Growing Up Intersex,” The Oprah Winfrey Show, July 19, 2008, www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Growing-Up-Intersex.

  Richard Rink: The press release I wrote for ISNA on this was published as Alice Dreger, “Urologists: Agonize over Whether to Cut, Then Cut the Way I’m Telling You,” Intersex Society of North America, Oct. 14, 2004, www.isna.org/articles/aap_urology_2004.

  San Francisco Human Rights Commission: For the report that emerged, see Marcus de María Arana, ed., A Human Rights Investigation into the Medical “Normalization” of Intersex People, a Report of a Public Hearing by the Human Rights Commission (City and County of San Francisco, 2005).

  wrote something like this: See Weil, “What If . . .”

  simply to be treated as human: See Alice Dreger, “Intersex and Human Rights: The Long View,” Ethics and Intersex, ed. Sharon E. Sytsma (Doetinchem, Netherlands: Springer, 2006), 73–86.

  CHAPTER 2: RABBIT HOLES

  two handbooks: These were compiled in their first form by Sallie Foley and Christine Feick, and ultimately published in 2006 as Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Disorders of Sex Development in Childhood and Handbook for Parents (now available through Accord Alliance, www.accordalliance.org/dsd-guidelines/).

  list of talking points: I wrote about this strategy in Alice Dreger, “Footnote to a Footnote: On Roving Medicine,” in Bioethics Forum, Oct. 9, 2008, www.thehastingscenter.org/Bioethicsforum/Post.aspx?id=2484.

  international medical consensus: See Peter A. Lee et al., “Consensus Statement on Management of Intersex Disorders” (also known as the Chicago Consensus), Pediatrics 118 (2006): e488–e500

  real problem in intersex care: See for example, Richard S. Hurwitz, “Long-Term Outcomes in Male Patients with Sex Development Disorders—How Are We Doing and How Can We Improve?,” Journal of Urology 184, no. 3 (2010): 821–32.

  study of “fag hags”: Nancy H. Bartlett, H. M. Patterson, Douglas P. VanderLaan, and Paul L. Vasey, “The Relation Between Women’s Body Esteem and Friendships with Gay Men,” Body Image 6, no. 3 (2009): 235–41.

  Bailey transsexualism controversy: Alice Dreger, “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 27, no. 3 (2008): 366–421, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10508-007-9301-1.

  popular, comforting narrative: For an example of this kind of narrative of transgender, see Randi Ettner, Confessions of a Gender Defender: A Psychologist’s Reflections on Life Among the Transgendered (Chicago: Spectrum Press, 1996).

  quest for the true self: Carl Elliott discussed the connection between the standard story of transsexualism and American narratives of authenticity in Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream (New York: Norton, 2003).

  This rankled Bailey: Bailey told me that it was Ettner’s book, Confessions of a Gender Defender, that made him determined to write the “true” story in a book of his own; J. Michael Bailey interview with Alice Dreger, Aug. 8, 2006, revised transcript received Aug. 8, 2006, and e-mail from Bailey to Dreger, Aug. 22, 2006. This is also discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 371.

  The Man Who Would Be Queen: J. Michael Bailey, The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism (Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2003).

  advice of colleagues: Ray Blanchard, interview with Alice Dreger, Aug. 2, 2006, revised transcript received Aug. 3, 2006; also discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 377.

  “becoming a girl”: Bailey, Man Who Would Be Queen, 50.

  Blanchard concluded: See Ray Blanchard, “The Concept of Autogynephilia and the Typology of Male Gender Dysphoria,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 177 (1989): 616–23.

  “well suited to prostitution”: Bailey, Man Who Would Be Queen, 185.

  Blanchard coined a new term: See Blanchard, “Concept of Autogynephilia.”

  fa’afafine: Paul L. Vasey and Nancy H. Bartlett, “What Can the Samoan ‘Fa’afafine’ Teach Us About the Western Concept of Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood?” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 50, no. 4 (Autumn 2007): 481–90.

  Richard/Alice Novic: See Richard J. Novic, Alice in Genderland: A Crossdresser Comes of Age (iUniverse, 2009).

  well-screened trans women: See, for example: Ray Blanchard, “Gender Dysphoria and Gender Reorientation,” in B. W. Steiner, ed., Gender Dysphoria: Development, Research, Management (New York: Plenum Press, 1985): 365–92; Ray Blanchard, “The Case for Publicly Funded Transsexual Surgery,” Psychiatry Rounds 4, no. 2 (Apr. 2000): 4–6. See also Dreger, “Controversy,” 415.

  sex reassignment in Canada: Alice D. Dreger, “Response to the Commentaries on Dreger (2008),” Archives of Sexual Behavior 37 (2008): 503–10; see 504.

  “become the women they love”: Bailey, Man Who Would Be Queen, p. xii.

  paraphilic: Ibid., 171–72.

  gatekeepers for sex reassignment: See Joanne Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004).

  In 1969, one clinician: See Howard J. Baker, “Transsexualism: Problems in Treatment,” American Journal of Psychiatry 125 (1969): 1412–18.

  Paul McHugh: See Paul McHugh, “Transgender Surgery Isn’t the Solution,” Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2014, http://online.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution-1402615120.

  Bailey actually criticizes in his book: Bailey, Man Who Would Be Queen, 207.

  liposuction on anorexics: See Paul R. McHugh, “Psychiatric Misadventures,” www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/mchugh.htm (accessed July 26, 2014).

  “appropriating this body for themselves”: Janice G. Raymond, The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979), 104. A new book by feminist Sheila Jeffreys has revised this debate over the relationship of feminism to transgender; see Michelle Goldberg, “What Is a Woman?” The New Yorker, August 4, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2.

  violations of their rights: For an overview of the ongoing history of the violations of the rights of transgender persons, see the Web site of the National Center for Transgender Equality, http://transequality.org.

  refers to her “clitoris”: See Novic, Alice in Genderland, 188, 229.

  “weird characterizations of us all”: Lynn Conway to Andrea James, Apr. 10, 2003, reproduced in Lynn Conway,
“The Bailey Investigation: How It All Began with a Series of E-Mail Alerts,” http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Investigation%20start-up/Investigation%20start-up.htm (accessed July 26, 2014) and quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 384.

  man was quite femme: See Bailey, Man Who Would Be Queen, preface.

  not particularly good-looking: Ibid., 180.

  well suited for sex work: Ibid., 185.

  “Kim still possessed a penis”: Ibid., 182.

  tone-dumb: I learned the concept of literal tone dumbness from Stephen Fry, Moab Is My Washpot (New York: Random House, 1997).

  twin studies: See, for example, Richard C. Pillard and J. Michael Bailey, “Human Sexual Orientation Has a Heritable Component,” Human Biology 70, no. 2 (1998): 347–65.

  “[and those] who have not”: Andrea James, “Invective Against J. Michael Bailey’s ‘The Man Who Would Be Queen.’” Originally published as a page at www.tsroadmap.com in May 2003 and subsequently removed; complete copy obtained from files of J. Michael Bailey and discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 368–69.

  to the Northwestern Rainbow Alliance: E-mail from Alice Dreger to the Northwestern Rainbow Alliance, May 11, 2006; also discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  “The Blog I Write in Fear”: Alice D. Dreger, “The Blog I Write in Fear,” May 13, 2006, www.alicedreger.com/in_fear.html (accessed July 26, 2014); discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  writing to Andrea James: Alice Dreger to Andrea James, e-mail May 16, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  “precious womb turd”: Andrea James to Alice Dreger, e-mail June 1, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  “We’ll chat in person soon”: Andrea James to Alice Dreger, e-mail May 27, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  university police: See Dreger, “Controversy,” 369.

  “Photos of Lynn”: Lynn Conway, “Photos of Lynn,” http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/Photos/Lynn-TN/LC-photos.html (accessed July 26, 2014).

  had been nominated: This is discussed in the next chapter.

  formal charges made against Bailey: Deirdre McCloskey to Alice Dreger, Jan. 22, 2007, as discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 389.

  “He wanted what he wanted”: Deirdre N. McCloskey, Crossing: A Memoir (University of Chicago Press, 1999), 18–19.

  as it does on a natal woman: In Crossing: A Memoir, McCloskey writes on p. 41, “Men do not get water in their eyes from a shower because the browridge makes it drip beyond their eyelashes. (Deirdre was delighted after her facial operations that she could no longer keep her eyes open under a shower.)”

  “While I readily admit to my own autogynephilia”: Andrea James to Anne Lawrence, e-mail Nov. 9, 1998, emphasis added; quoted and discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 387–88.

  CHAPTER 3: TANGLED WEBS

  formal complaints as posted: I review in more detail the charges made against Bailey and analyze their merit in Alice D. Dreger, “The Controversy Surrounding The Man Who Would Be Queen: A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 37 (2008): 366–421.

  Kieltyka had sought out Bailey: Interview with Charlotte Anjelica Kieltyka, Aug. 16, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372.

  she had played a woman: Interview with Charlotte Anjelica Kieltyka, Aug. 17, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006; interview with Charlotte Anjelica Kieltyka, Aug. 21, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 27, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372.

  shared the video: Kieltyka also provided me a copy of this tape: Charlotte Anjelica Kieltyka, “Becoming Real: Chuck to Anjelica” (self-produced, 1999).

  rituals: Interviews with Kieltyka, Aug. 21 and 22, 2006, revised transcripts received Sept. 27, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372–74.

  “dress rehearsals”: Interview with Kieltyka, Aug. 17, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006.

  feminine foundation of herself: Interview with Kieltyka, Aug. 21, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 27, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 374.

  in his Human Sexuality class: Interviews with Kieltyka, Aug. 16 and 17, 2006, revised transcripts received Sept. 22, 2006, and interview with J. Michael Bailey, Aug. 8, 2006, revised transcript received Aug. 8, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 373.

  even in the nude: Interview with Kieltyka, Aug. 16, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 407.

  including on local television: Interview with Kieltyka, Aug. 16, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006, and J. Michael Bailey to Alice Dreger, e-mail interview, Jan. 17, 2007; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 407, 410. Kieltyka recorded and broadcast a presentation about her life on a local cable access channel, including a segment in which she is sitting in a television studio surrounded by recording equipment, wearing a white bikini, and drinking a cocktail, explaining to the camera that she’s a transgender woman. For that broadcast, she had also chosen to share video of herself pretransition as a man; see Kieltyka, “Becoming Real.”

  requests for sex reassignment surgery: Interview with Kieltyka, Aug. 16, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372.

  Bailey thought: Interview with J. Michael Bailey, Aug. 8, 2006, revised transcript received Aug. 8, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372–73.

  Bailey’s letters: J. Michael Bailey to Alice Dreger, e-mail interviews, Oct. 2 and 3, 2006; as discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 372–73.

  the newspaper article: Maegan Gibson, “True Selves,” Focus, Daily Northwestern, Feb. 24, 1999, 1, 5.

  human sexuality educational videos: Human Sexuality Videoworkshop, 14 modules on CD-ROM, (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2004).

  Kieltyka did keep trying: Interviews with Kieltyka, Aug. 21 and 22, 2006, revised transcripts received Sept. 27, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 376.

  pseudonym for the book: Bailey to Dreger, Jan. 17, 2007; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 410.

  “Cher is a star”: J. Michael Bailey, The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism (Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2003), 212.

  “a sexual fantasy, she says”: Robin Wilson, “‘Dr. Sex’: A Human-Sexuality Expert Creates Controversy with a New Book on Gay Men and Transsexuals,” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 20, 2003, 8.

  “doesn’t want her last name used”: Ibid.

  “hanged by them”: Interview with Charlotte Anjelica Kieltyka, Sept. 19, 2006, revised transcript received Sept. 22, 2006; also quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 388.

  “Anjelica, aka Cher”: Anjelica Kieltyka to J. Michael Bailey, May 16, 2003, as quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 388.

  “field trips” to Chicago: Lynn Conway, “An Investigative Report into the Publication of J. Michael Bailey’s Book on Transsexualism by the National Academies,” http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/LynnsReviewOfBaileysBook2.html (accessed July 27, 2014); discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 389.

  “interviewing Bailey’s research subjects”: Lynn Conway, “Timeline of the Unfolding Events in the Bailey Investigation,” Jan. 6, 2010, http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Timeline/Timeline%20spreadsheet.htm (accessed July 27, 2014); version of Dec. 31, 2006, retrieved Jan. 22, 2007, discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 389.

  Jim Marks: Jim Marks to Alice Dreger, e-mail interview, July 22, 2006, as quoted in Dreger, “Controversy, 396.

  McCloskey told Marks: Deirdre McCloskey to Jim Marks, personal communication, Feb. 3, 2004; reproduced at Lynn Conway, “The Gay and Lesbian ‘Lambda Literary Foundation’ Disses All Transsexual Women by Nominating Bailey’s Book for a GLB‘T’ Lite
rary Award!” http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/Bailey/Lambda%20Literary%20Foundation.html (accessed July 27, 2014), as quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 411.

  Marks wasn’t sure what to make of all this: Marks to Dreger, July 22, 2006; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 396.

  Marks found: Marks to Dreger, July 22, 2006; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 396–97.

  “future publication on this site”: Conway, “Gay and Lesbian ‘Lambda Literary Foundation’”; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 397.

  According to Marks: Marks to Dreger, July 22, 2006; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 397.

  Marks insisted was not true: Ibid.

  that Bailey was autogynephilic: Dreger, “Controversy,” 398.

  Lawrence had been fully cleared: Interview with Anne A. Lawrence, Aug. 8, 2006, revised transcript received Aug. 17, 2006; discussed in Dreger, “Controversy,” 395.

  “makes a real human connection”: Andrea James to the faculty of the Northwestern University Psychology Department, Sept. 15, 2003; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 398.

  “consider moving”: Joan Linsenmeier to Alice Dreger, Aug. 17, 2006; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 397–98.

  lawyer told him to shut up: See Dreger, “Controversy,” 393, 404.

  Wilson had personally witnessed: See Wilson, “‘Dr. Sex.’”

  three terribly sober dispatches: See Robin Wilson, “Transsexual ‘Subjects’ Complain About Professors’ Research Methods,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 25, 2003, 10; Robin Wilson, “Northwestern U. Psychologist Accused of Having Sex with Research Subject,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 19, 2003, 17; and Robin Wilson, “Northwestern U. Will Not Reveal Results of Investigation into Sex Researcher,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 10, 2004, 10.

  Wilson’s editor sent me back boilerplate: Bill Horne to Alice Dreger, Aug. 15, 2006; quoted in Dreger, “Controversy,” 394.

  Conway refused, as did Juanita: My attempts to get Conway and Juanita to speak on the record are documented in Dreger, “Controversy.”