Two conservative commentators raised questions about the Rolling Stone reporters involved in an upcoming story about “right-wing influencers pivoting to posting transphobic content in the past year.”
Matt Walsh and Allie Beth Stuckey both shared screenshots of emails they received from reporters from the publication notifying them they will be cited as examples and asking them to comment.
In response, both Walsh and Stucky pushed back by challenging them to reveal or account for their personal ideologies regarding sex and gender.
Rolling Stone’s politics reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez requested comment from Walsh, writing that The Daily Wire contributor “has centered much of his content around transgender individuals in the past several years.
“Would he like to provide a comment regarding why he has made this topic an area of focus, and what initially drew his attention to it?” wrote McCann Ramirez.
“Nikki, I will provide a comment for your hit piece if you can define the word ‘woman.’ Send me your definition and I’ll send my comment. Deal?” said Walsh on Twitter, noting the reporters used to work for the left-leaning media watchdog organization Media Matters.
Walsh’s documentary What is a Woman? surpassed 180 million views on Twitter as of June 7. The film, which was initially restricted on the platform after being flagged for “hate speech,” debuted on June 1, 2022.
“Not only have I been talking about gender ideology for years but I’ve been arguing that it is one of the central issues of our time,” Walsh wrote in a separate Twitter thread on June 7. “It was a very lonely fight in 2015. I know because I was there. Our country was going insane and it felt like only a few of us even noticed or cared. Now there are a lot more than a few of us and I’m grateful for that.”
Rolling Stone also contacted Stuckey, a Christian conservative known for YouTube content and her book You’re Not Enough which challenges the modern concept of self-love.
“Thanks for your email. Happy to be included in your Rolling Stones piece,” wrote Stuckey on Twitter, tagging EJ Dickson, a senior reporter for Rolling Stone. “Quick question: Do you still believe pedophilia is a ‘sexual orientation’ that can be satisfied by child sex dolls? Please let me know by EOD tomorrow.
In addition to a screenshot of Dickson’s email, Stuckey shared screenshots of an article Dickson wrote in July of 2014 titled “Could Child Sex Robots ‘Cure’ Pedophilia?”
In the article, Dickson wrote that pedophilia “as a sexual orientation” is “potentially far more common than most of us would like to accept.”
“I’ve become convinced that we need to stop getting caught up in our knee-jerk reaction to adults having sex with children – however despicable we might find it, however legitimate our horror at the idea may be—and start focusing on rational solutions,” Dickson wrote.
Dickson, who identified herself as a sex writer, posited:
Something like child sex robots might be a functional way to keep pedophiles from acting on their impulses, thus keeping an untold number of children safe.
When we talk about pedophilia, which is defined as a predominant attraction to prepubescent children, we need to get two things straight: 1) Not all pedophiles are child molesters, and some successfully control their impulses over the course of their lifetimes; 2) pedophilia is not a psychological aberration that can easily be tweaked with a little medication and cognitive therapy.
“Considered writing a thoughtful response but decided it’s not worth it. Their ‘transphobia is a right-wing grift that pays’ angle is obvious, and they’d never let go of it, no matter how sincere and convincing my rebuttal was,” Stuckey tweeted.
She added that she began writing about gender ideology in 2018 and that as the “movement has picked up momentum and entered into the mainstream” there has been increasing “reason to discuss, analyze, and refute it.”
“I know [Dickson is] aware that conservatives discussing transgenderism is a reaction to its increasing prominence in the mainstream, thanks to the relentless activism of the left, and not the other way around,” Stuckey added. “This may be difficult for her to digest (or admit), but I actually, sincerely believe the things I say. I really do believe maiming people’s bodies based on the lie that they can switch genders is barbaric and evil. I really do believe confusing kids about their gender is destructive.”
Oli London, a British social media influencer who gained international attention after publicly revealing his decision to detransition, also shared an image of an email he received from McCann Ramirez.
Neither reporter publicly replied to Walsh or Stuckey’s questions on Twitter.
