Three prominent atheists resigned from FFRF's Honorary Board
- Eric Tannehill
- Jan 3
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 15
Jerry Coyne, Steven Pinker, and Richard Dawkins, all known for their anti-transgender views, have resigned as honorary board members of the Freedom from Religion Foundation
Prominent atheists Jerry Coyne, Steven Pinker, and Richard Dawkins, all known for their anti-transgender views, have resigned as honorary board members of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FRFF). They did so in protest of FRFF’s removal of an anti-transgender article written by Coyne from their website. Coyne’s opinion piece was in response to a November blog post by non-binary intern Kat Grant about how societal beliefs on gender are rooted in religious beliefs and theology.
Coyne’s rebuttal, titled “Biology is not Bigotry” was published on Thursday December 26th. It claimed that support of trans people is not rooted in science, that sex is binary, and uses the anti-trans talking point definition of woman as “adult human female”. He also claimed that “sex and gender have little to do with theism or the First Amendment,” which ignores the impact religion has had in setting gender roles, as well as gender expression being subject to First Amendment claims.
Coyne’s article also claimed that transgender women are more likely to be sexual predators, which is based on a flawed sample and has been debunked repeatedly. He also reiterated his position that transgender women and girls should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports at any age or under any conditions.
FRFF received immediate pushback for publishing Coyne’s article. It was taken down within 24 hours, and an apology was published in its stead.
“Publishing this post was an error of judgment, and we have decided to remove it as it does not reflect our values or principles. We regret any distress caused by this post and are committed to ensuring it doesn’t happen again.
Moving forward, we are reviewing our content guidelines and internal processes to ensure our public messaging consistently reflects our values. We are committed to learning from this experience.
We stand firmly with the LGBTQIA-plus community and their allies in advocating for equality, dignity and the freedom to live without fear of religiously motivated discrimination. Our mission to keep religion out of government is inextricably linked to preserving and advancing these fundamental rights.”
In a blog post on his own site, Coyne accused FRFF of labeling any “anti-woke” ideas as Christian Nationalism, and claimed that his article had been thoroughly reviewed by FRFF before it was published, including several rounds of editing. Coyne states that, “I am just a biologist defending my turf, and am not by any means bent on hurting LGBTAIA+ people.”
However, supporters of the transgender community online were quick to point out that falsely labelling them as sexual predators and preventing them from participating in public life is clearly and deliberately harmful. It is also worth noting that Coyne has a long history of using his own platform to promote anti-transgender right wing points of view.
Fellow honorary board member Steven Pinker also criticized FRFF in his resignation, stating “With this action, the Foundation is no longer a defender of freedom from religion but the imposer of a new religion, complete with dogma, blasphemy, and heretics.”
Richard Dawkins’ resignation struck a similar tone towards transgender people: “Publishing the silly and unscientific “What is a Woman” article by Kat Grant was a minor error of judgment, redeemed by the decision to publish a rebuttal by a distinguished scientist from the relevant field, namely Biology, Jerry Coyne. But alas, the sequel was an act of unseemly panic when you caved in to hysterical squeals from predictable quarters and retrospectively censored that excellent rebuttal.”
Pinker and Dawkins also have a long history of taking positions that are regarded as demeaning towards transgender people, while denying the validity of their identities. They demonize them with the purpose of preventing them from legally living as their identified gender. Pinker has long been a supporter of Ray Blanchard’s hypothesized (and discredited) typology of transgender women based on sexual orientation.
Pinker believes that all transgender women are either self-hating gay men, or people transitioning as a result of a paraphilia. Neither type allows for legitimately held identities. This theory has been widely used by both the religious right and self-described gender critical feminists to argue that transgender people should have no legal recognition and should instead be subjected to conversion therapy.
Richard Dawkins has a history of anti-transgender rhetoric as well. Dawkins compared transgender people to a woman who lied about her race. As a result, the American Humanist Association revoked his Humanist of the Year Award for 1996 in 2021. Dawkins frequently hosts anti-transgender individuals on his podcast, such as Helen Joyce. Joyce has called transgender people “damaged” and “a huge problem in a sane world.” Her book also promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jewish billionaires are behind a conspiracy to turn children transgender.
This dust-up continues to demonstrate a growing divide between the old atheist movement, which has taken an increasingly patriarchal right-wing turn, and a modern atheist movement which is increasingly younger, college-educated, female, and LGBTQ.
Guest writer Eric Tannehill is a student & trans activist living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
