Informed Dissent

In this episode, Jamie Reed and Cori Cohn sit down with Mia Hughes to discuss REPATH, Genspect’s new campaign to restore a psychological approach to gender distress. The REPATH campaign can be found here. In 2022, WPATH’s Standards of Care 8 finished a long shift in how gender distress is understood. It used to be treated as a psychological symptom to explore. Now it’s treated as an identity to affirm. Mia explains what “re-psychopathologization” means and what it doesn’t mean. REPATH isn’t about gender nonconforming people, who are not disordered. It’s about the drive toward hormonal and surgical body modification, and whether that drive should be assessed with real care, differential diagnosis, and psychological safeguards.Mia Hughes is a researcher and writer focusing on the history and ethics of gender medicine, psychiatric trends, and the phenomenon of social contagion. She is Director of Policy and Research, the lead on Genspect’s Repath campaign, and Director of Genspect Canada. Mia has contributed extensively to public debate on gender-related healthcare practices and the wider cultural moment in the era of modern trans activism. She is also the author of The WPATH Files, an investigative report based on leaked internal communications from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which examines decision-making processes and standards of care within the field. In addition to her research, Mia engages in advocacy and public education, contributing articles and commentary across a range of media platforms. Her work has positioned her as a prominent voice in ongoing discussions about gender medicine, safeguarding, and clinical responsibility.Find Mia : Mia Hughes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Killed by the In-Laws, Meta’s Body Dysmorphia Reckoning, The Last Ditch This week Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri take on two stories that you want more details on. Segment 1: The killing of Jonathan McKinseyJonathan McKinsey, 40, director of engineering for New York Times Games, was shot dead on September 26 in a Dublin, California, park parking lot. Her in-laws, both 77, are charged with murder with a lying-in-wait special circumstance. Behind it was a bitter custody fight, with dueling restraining orders and abuse allegations on both sides. We also dig into McKinsey’s backstory: a female transition in 2010, before the youth gender boom, and a 2011 Texas marriage. Segment 2: Meta’s settlement and the body dysmorphia verdictMeta settled with a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from nearly every state. The deal is $17.1 billion, about $18 billion counting Texas’s separate agreement. It comes with new defaults for teens: a two-hour daily cap, a nighttime block, and a ban on cosmetic-surgery filters. We walk through the California jury verdict that found Instagram and YouTube contributed to a young woman’s body dysmorphia. We explain why parents’ Facebook feeds are full of law firm ads, and what families of trans-identified teens with co-occurring depression, eating disorders, or self-harm should know before calling one. And we ask the obvious question: if platforms can drive teen distress about the body, why is distress about sex characteristics off-limits?Thanks for listening to Informed Dissent! This post is public so feel free to share it.SourcesMcKinsey case* New York Times, “California Couple Charged With Murder in Shooting of Son-in-Law” (Karlamangla and Qin, Sept. 30, 2026) Meta settlement* New York Attorney General: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-secures-171-billion-and-groundbreaking-reforms-meta* Connecticut Attorney General: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2026-press-releases/settlement-with-meta* Colorado Attorney General: https://coag.gov/press-releases/weiser-announces-historic-settlement-with-meta/Further reading* SF Chronicle on the case and the 2011 Texas marriage: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/man-shot-killed-dublin-in-laws-suspects-22451686.php* KTVU on the divorce and restraining orders: https://www.ktvu.com/news/dublin-shooting-nyt-engineer-jonathan-mckinsey-divorce-battle* ABC7 on the charges: https://abc7news.com/story/new-york-times-engineer-jonathan-mckinsey-california-couple-accused-killing-son-law-public-park-charged-murder/19892829/* CBS News on the K.G.M. verdict: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meta-youtube-social-media-addiction-lawsuit-verdict/* Missouri Lawyers Media on Meta pulling plaintiff-recruiting ads: https://molawyersmedia.com/2026/04/10/meta-pulls-ads-recruiting-plaintiffs-social-media-addiction-lawsuits/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Simon LeVay is a British-born neuroscientist who has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He achieved international fame with a 1991 Science paper that reported on a difference in the structure of the hypothalamus between gay and straight men, a study that helped trigger an avalanche of new biological research into sexual orientation. Since retiring from laboratory science, LeVay has authored or co-authored 12 books, including Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why, the textbook Discovering Human Sexuality, and the historical novel The Donation of Constantine. His earlier books include The Sexual Brain and Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research Into Homosexuality (MIT Press, 1996). He has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. April 13 Provost’s Lecture with Simon LeVay - SBU News +3Referenced in this episode* Simon LeVay, Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation (2011)* Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain (1993)* “Gay scientist draws criticism over remarks on trans kids,” Bay Area Reporter (2016): https://www.ebar.com/story/246901/redirect This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Jamie, Lauren, and Cori talk with evolutionary biologist and Manhattan Institute fellow Colin Wright about a new HHS-commissioned study he co-authored, “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?” The survey of 1,208 U.S. adults found that agreement with mainstream “gender-affirming” clinical guidance (APA, WPATH, AAP) correlates strongly with left-wing authoritarianism — and independently predicts justification of political violence, even controlling for political identity. We’re still waiting on NPR’s story on the report.Our opponents are well-funded. We aren’t. Everything we do depends on the support of people just like you. If this work has value to you, please become a paid subscriber or make a donation today. Your support keeps this movement alive.Visit our website⁠ to help fund the reporting, advocacy, legislative testimony, educational outreach, and community-building efforts that make the LGB Courage Coalition a leading national voice for evidence-based care and homosexual rights. Paid subscriptions and donations are what make all of this possible.To support our work or submit a tip, visit the LGB Courage Coalition website. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Jamie Reed sits down with two leaders from Themis Resource Fund to discuss the organization’s work connecting detransitioners with attorneys willing to take their cases, the funding and logistical challenges of building litigation against gender-medicine providers, and what it takes to pursue accountability through the courts. Named after the Greek goddess of justice, Themis has become a central piece of infrastructure for detransitioners seeking legal recourse — this conversation covers how the organization operates, the obstacles it runs into working within the legal system, and what’s ahead for the growing wave of detransitioner litigation.Guests:Kathleen Dooley — Kathleen is a recovering attorney with more than 30 years of experience practicing civil litigation primarily in the defense arena. She is currently serving as Board Member and Secretary of Themis Resource Fund. Her interest in the subject of trans-identifying youth and the ideological capture behind it came as a result of her observation of her children’s friends declaring a trans identity. As an attorney, she recognized the potential for lawsuits against the medical and therapeutic professions and the need for funding to give the lawsuits liftoff. Finally, Kathleen has been a lifelong Democrat, albeit a disillusioned and disenfranchised one at the moment, so don’t even try to paint her as a rightwing nut job.Lynn Chadwick first experiences of parent advocacy were during her years working as a neonatal intensive care nurse. After her two oldest adult children announced trans identities and medicalized, she started a parent group which today consists of about 500 parents. She founded Themis Resource Fund in 2023.If you find this podcast important, please like, subscribe, and share it. This content is free because our mission is to educate the public — and that means making it accessible to anyone who’s curious or needs to hear it. That access depends on your support.If you’re able to donate or become a paid subscriber, we’d be grateful. If you can’t, leaving a review, subscribing for free, and sharing the show all help just as much. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe