A new article about the Genspect debate and a review of Illy’s book:
https://www.thedistancemag.com/p/sympathy-for-the-devil-with-the-blue
This article’s tone feels all over the place - making some good points, some trite points, some that feel like trolling.
To be honest Illy sounds worse the more I hear about him and this paragraph in the article does NOT describe what I would think upon seeing him at a conference:
'When I saw Phil Illy in the hotel lobby at the Genspect conference on Friday, 3 November, he stood out because of that dress. It was a signal: Come here maybe. I am interesting to talk to. Come here maybe. I am interesting to talk to. Come here maybe. I am interesting to talk to.'
Some more quotes from the article:
'Every manner of boundary that feminists have defended from AGP men in recent years has a history in the literature, it turns out. Men really do fetishize pregnancy to the point of womb envy, ladies, and they always really have, to the point of autogynephilia. Lactation fetish too: Illy describes the phenomenon a little, but without mentioning any health concerns for a baby suckling on elevated levels of male nipple discharge. “Validation” and the resulting euphoria are paramount. Like Tate, boobs are at the center of the AGP equation. “Autogynephillic people are more likely to want female breasts than any other body part.” You don’t say!'
'Some people don’t want Genspect to succeed. They would rather not slay the pediatric transition dragon. They would rather milk the dragon forever, earning clicks and likes and superchats with outrage. It is what they do. Phil Illy understands them perfectly. He was counting on them, and they delivered, granting him days of ‘earned media.’ They want to build his legend even now. Watch them try.'
'Phil Illy does not want the ‘gender critical movement’ (whatever that is) to cohere long enough to have significant impact. “When it does,” he predicts, “gender-critical feminists (aka ‘trans-exclusionary radical feminists’ or ‘TERFs’) and socially regressive political groups [read: Republicans] will disparage autoheterosexuality and push the narrative that suits their ideological goals. They already do.” Actual genocide, in other words. He has to stop us, otherwise he can never get to build his heaven on earth.'