Anti-trans psychotherapist Stella O’Malley has appeared in a documentary produced by a company linked to notorious antisemite and conspiracy theorist David Icke. As revealed by the Trans Safety Network, O’Malley was one of a number of anti-trans agitators who were interviewed for the documentary produced for Icke’s streaming service. This included current and former members of her “conversion therapy advocacy group” Genspect.
Talking Conspiracies
During the documentary O’Malley related to the camera about her own gender confusion as a child and how pro-trans campaigners are silencing critics. She claims that the reason she’s “still speaking about gender is because I have watched so many people being silenced”. O’Malley goes on to draw parallels between anti-trans campaigners and left-wing activists silenced by totalitarian regimes, saying:
Anybody who knows anything about history realises this has happened, many, many, many times over: That people have become silenced by a group and that group became more, and more, and more powerful and people became more, and more, and more frightened to speak out the truth.
Going on, she insisted that “The level of bullying in this debate is formidable and frightening”.
O’Malley has herself threatened legal action against a number of people, including People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry and LGBTQIA+ activist Izzy Kamikaze. Both have criticised O’Malley’s anti-trans stance in recent months, with Barry quoting in the Dáil leaked audio of O’Malley saying in relation to trans people that “I don’t think you should have any empathy, and I haven’t asked anybody to have any empathy and I don’t think you should have empathy or sympathy”. This resulted in solicitors for O’Malley accusing Barry of defamation. Kamikaze received similar correspondence for sharing a link to the leak of the audio.
In the closing minutes of the documentary O’Malley accuses the Tavistock gender clinic of having “very badly lost its way” and that it “fell into a groupthink”. She argues that the clinic’s psychologists knew “this isn’t going well” and were “biting their lip[s]”. And she asserts she’s met former psychologists at the clinic who allegedly told her “‘I transed hundreds of kids and I don’t think any of them should’ve been trans’”. This is at odds with figures which show that out of 19,000 children sent to the clinic over a period of ten years, only 1,000 “were referred for hormone treatment”.
Activists and groups have described O’Malley as being a conversion therapist. She denies the claims in spite of writing in favour of the practice. Her Genspect organisation has also told parents of trans children that “acceptance of the reality of their biological sex” is the “most appropriate first line treatment for young people with gender-related distress”.
Lizards and Antisemitism
Icke’s son Jaymie produced the anti-trans documentary for their streaming service under the auspices of Ickonic Media Group Limited, with Icke the younger being the company’s director. The latest accounts for Ickonic Media show it has assets to the value of £423,546. Icke senior is listed as a “person with significant control” of the media organisation via his own company, Phantom Self Limited. According to the UK Companies House this means Icke owns more than 50% of Ickonic Media’s shares but less than 75%, with the same figures applying to his control of voting rights. He also has the authority to “appoint and remove directors”. The streaming website hosts countless documentaries which rail against vaccines as well as anti-COVID-19 measures.
Icke senior is well known for his conspiracy theory that world leaders are actually shapeshifting lizards in disguise and eat human flesh. Icke has also promoted antisemitic conspiracies over his decades-long career as a promoter of disinformation. He said the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a 19th-century antisemitic forgery, was in actuality “The Illuminati Protocols”. In two of his recent books he also repeated the theory popular on the far right that “ultra-Zionists” were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. In 2019 Australian authorities revoked his visa in advance of a speaking tour he was due to start in the country, allegedly as a result of his comments about Jewish people.
More recently he was banned from Twitter because of comments he made attempting to link 5G technology to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interview livestreamed on the platform Icke said there “is a link between 5G and this health crisis” and that then upcoming COVID-19 vaccines would have microchips in them.
Featured image via Screenshot
