Genspect
This content was last updated Nov. 9, 2023, 7:53 p.m. UTC
Genspect is a gender critical organization known for promoting anti-trans causes in many different countries’ legislative processes, and for spearheading or supporting many anti-trans projects across the globe. Founded in 2021 by Stella O’Malley, their reach has grown exponentially in the short time they’ve been active.
In leaked recordings, O’Malley described her mission as stopping children from medically transitioning. She also referenced the fringe theory of autogynephilia as being one of her primary motivations for wanting to stand in the way of transfeminine youth.
Genspect engages in legal advocacy, documentary creation, and the establishment of various websites in an attempt to become a central hub for those pursuing a negative perspective on transgender rights.
Transgenderism is a hollow ideology designed to obscure an unpalatable truth about male sexuality. Its survival depends upon putting down roots, or else co-opting those of another movement. From transing the dead to doctoring placards, it must rewrite the past in the preferred image of the future.
Founding
Genspect was launched on June 18, 2021 and promoted in The Telegraph later that month, in an article highlighting opponents of affirming transgender youth. It registered in Ireland, the native country of founder Stella O’Malley, on August 30, 2021, under the name of Genspect Teoranta.
In June of 2023, the business under Genspect Teoranta appears to have listed itself as “Strike Off Limited,” which means that it is to be taken off the public company registrar in Ireland, and is essentially a means of beginning the closing process for a business.
A separate business under a similar name, “Genspect Alliance Cuideachta Faoi Theorainn Rathaiochta,” was established on September 26, 2022, headed by a Mr. Ring (most likely Avi Ring, who worked with Genspect prior to his death on September 25, 2023).
Of its purpose, Genspect says “Genspect is an international, non-partisan, interdisciplinary professional and educational organisation devoted to advancing a healthy approach to sex and gender. Our team and members strive to promote high-quality, evidence-based care for gender-nonconforming individuals all around the world.”
Finances
Genspect was initially founded as a private company limited by shares, however its current parent company, Genspect Alliance Cuideachta Faoi Theorainn Rathaiochta, is a company limited by guarantee, which is a separate designation for non-profits. Both were based in Offaly, Ireland.
Due to Irish law not necessitating the availability of business finances to be publicly available for free, precise information on Genspect’s finances since its conception is not available. What is known is that it appears to take a majority of its funding from donations.
A GoFundMe for Genspect lists €57,360 raised since 2021. It lists this money as being spent on things like lobbying, writing, interviews, and publishing of materials related to the site.
Core Activism
Genspect’s has engaged in anti-trans legal advocacy in places like Wales and New Zealand, pressuring schools to stop using preferred pronouns for childrens and advocating for conversion therapy in legal bills.
According to the Them, Genspect has campaigned against California’s SB 107 bill, which would make the state a refuge for trans individuals in light of growing anti-trans legislation across the United States.
Genspect also opposes drag queen story hour events, writing objecting that such events attempt to “queer the sex binary.” They consider drag queens a form of sexism, and argue that attempts to normalize drag queens in family friendly spaces are comparable to pedophiles attempting to infiltrate the gay rights movement years prior.
Genspect founded Detrans Awareness Day on March 12, a few weeks before the Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. This was interpreted as an attempt to co-opt the timeframe from trans folk.
Genspect hosts a podcast called Genspect Unheard that platforms parents of trans children who are unsupportive of their children transitioning. The podcasts consist of episodes between 2 and 5 minutes, with each episode being a different parent discussing how they do not support their children in transition, often attributing the cause of their children’s being trans to social contagion.
There are two other websites that directly advertise themselves as affiliated with Genspect. The first of which is Stats for Gender, which aims to provide statistics on transgender issues from the perspective of those who are gender critical. Information featured on the site often contradicts established medical research. The second, Beyond Trans, is devoted to detransitioners. It provides a perspective on transitioning as one that will inevitably lead to regret and dissatisfaction, and appears to seek to influence trans people to detransition.
Genspect Bigger Picture Conference 2023
Between April 27 and April 29, 2023 in Killarney, Ireland, Genspect hosted its first ever annual conference. The event was intended as a counter to EPATH’s annual conference which was held in Killarney from April 26 to 28th. Genspect’s event featured many notable figures in the anti-trans movement, including Helen Joyce, Miranda Yardley, Maya Forstater, Michael Biggs, and Kenneth Zucker.