EXCLUSIVE: Expert witness in trial of BC nurse claims Ontario teacher who wears giant prosthetic breasts to school is fully, legally female

On day 8 of the disciplinary hearing of a BC nurse on trial for allegedly transphobic off-duty activity, an expert witness testified that if the male teacher who wears enormous prosthetic breasts to school identifies as a woman, then that person is a woman and should be permitted to access female-only spaces.

Dr. Greta Bauer, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, made the comment during the second day of her cross-examination by Lisa Bildy, legal counsel for Amy Hamm. Hamm faces losing her nursing license for expressing beliefs on social media such as there are only two sexes, women are female, and males don’t belong in female-only spaces.

Bildy put it to Bauer that there are two types of trans-identified male: the homosexual type who are typically very effeminate males who present with gender dysphoria from early childhood; and the autogynephilic type, who are heterosexual males who are often very masculine and tend to transition later in life, often after fathering children.

The term autogynephilia was coined in the 1980s by sexologist Ray Blanchard to describe the heterosexual males who are aroused by the idea of themselves as women. The term literally means “love of oneself as a woman.” He has said in the past that the majority of males who seek medical transition fall into this category.

Bauer called the term a “controversial hypothesis” and said that it “doesn’t resonate with a lot of trans women.” She suggested that the categories of homosexual transsexuals (HSTS) and autogynephiles (AGP) were “outdated language.”

Instead, Bauer stated that there are “trans women who are lesbians who are attracted to women,” and that the problem with the theory of autogynephilia is that it says that “all trans lesbians are sexual fetishists and that’s absolutely not true.”

But when Blanchard first came up with his theory of autogynephilia, it was widely accepted in the field of gender medicine that an erotic desire was the driving force behind the transition of a significant number of males. This knowledge only became taboo with the dawn of the modern trans rights movement. 

Most autogynephiles will deny that they are autogynephilic, and nothing provokes the anger of trans activists more than when someone brings up the issue. Blanchard recently said in an interview with Helen Joyce for her book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality that he believes it’s because autogynephilia complicates the task of “selling” transsexualism.

“If a guy decides he’s coming into work as a woman from now on, it’s one thing for him to say: ‘I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’ve always been a woman inside,’ and quite another to say: ‘I’ve moved on from just masturbating in women’s clothes to wearing them all the time’,” Blanchard explained.

Bildy then brought up the teacher in Oakville, Ontario who began identifying as a woman last year and showing up to work wearing a blond wig and obscenely large prosthetic breasts. Barbara Findlay, counsel for the BCCNM objected at this point claiming not to know about this situation, so Bildy shared a photograph of the individual in the classroom wearing the fetish gear.

“So somebody who is dressed in that fashion, and describes themselves as a woman, in your opinion, Dr Bauer, is that a woman?” Bildy asked.

“If she identifies as a woman, then her gender identity is a woman,” replied Bauer.

“With full access to female spaces if that’s in fact what they identify as,” continued Bildy.

“As per the law,” Bauer replied. On that note, Bildy concluded her cross-examination.