Rod Fleming (1956 - ) writer, photographer, lover of trans women

Rod Fleming, raised in Scotland, cis, attended Edinburgh School of Art in the 1980s – where he first met some trans women – and became a journalist and photographer. He married a woman; they had four children. He also wrote fiction and non-fiction.

Fleming’s mother died in 2005 and he and his wife separated in 2009. He took a year off, did a masters degree at Dundee University, and lived in Paris.

In 2012, he went to the Philippines on a standard 3-week visa in response to Crissy, a trans woman whom he had met online. “She surprised me. She was tall, not lightly built, not really graceful, but quite beautiful in her face. She had been taking hormones for years and this had softened her skin and smoothed her features; but she did not really look like a girl. She was striking rather than pretty.” (see Palawan; Transsexualism: A position statement)

He encountered the Canadian K Burkowski, on the Facebook site for the World Pantheist Movement where they were both liking the same comments. They never met in person but collaborated in a book on religion which was published as Why Men Made God, 2015, in which among other aspects they consider trans priestesses and two-spirit cultures, drawing in particular on the writings of Amara Das Wilhelm, author of Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex.

Also in 2015 Fleming published a novel The Warm Pink Jelly Express Train which is about a divorced journalist in Paris who becomes involved with a Brazilian trans prostitute, leading to a scandal that almost brings down the French government. Fleming noted: 

“My ideas about gender in particular were formed by the research and writing of The Warm Pink Jelly Express Train. Although it is a breathlessly-paced romantic adventure, it required me to dig deep into the natures of gender and sexuality, something I had never done before.” 

His major influence at this time was Kulick’s book, Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. Also, using a Portuguese translator, he did telephone interviews with Brazilian trans women, both in France and in Brazil.

Becoming more and more conscious that some trans women were somewhat different from how he imagined them, that is as “small, lightly built, cute, pretty, incredibly feminine and extremely retiring”, Fleming discovered Michael Bailey’s The Man Who Would be Queen. 

“The first time I read it I was discouraged. I could respond to much of the book but there was something about it that pushed me away and at the time I could not really figure out what that might be”. (see “Transsexualism: A Position Statement”)

He blogged against Bailey. As Kay Brown put it: “Flemming started out his blogging career dissing Blanchard until I (yes me) convinced him of the reality of the Two Type Taxonomy. He later called me ‘friend’ when someone else mentioned me. He also invited me to write for his blog on the topic. I declined.”

He continued to meet Filipino trans women, and had a revelation. 

“The penny dropped. Western observers, and even Dr Winter, had failed to see it: there were two types of transsexualism in SE Asia. There was one type that was clearly defined and who, within their group, were all remarkably similar, and another type that was totally disparate in every way. They were tall, they were short, they were somewhat feminine, they were very masculine; many did not seem to date men at all whereas others did; some even had girlfriends. Most surprising was the latter’s attitude towards sex. Remember, none of the girls I met were active prostitutes. They were just being themselves. The small pretty ones were forward in their desire to get into bed with me; the others…well, they wanted to date me, but they were cool about sex. It just didn’t seem to be very important to them. … In SE Asia, non-homosexual transsexuals, or AGPs, tend to transition in their teens after puberty, whereas HSTS will have been displaying Gender Non-Conformity (GNC) before puberty. Thus the groups conform to the APA’s fudged and misleading classification of ‘early’ and ‘late’ onset. This is valid in the case of HSTS but many people, wrongly, assume that ‘late’ means middle age, as was typical of Blanchard’s AGP sample. But the APA is clear: ‘late’, here, means ‘at puberty or later’ while ‘early’ means ‘before puberty’.” (Most of the above taken from Fleming’s Transsexualism: A Position Statement).

In October 2015 Fleming responded on Quora to the question 'Is transgenderism natural?' by giving the usual citations of the worldwide occurrences of trans women. He then continued:

“The other type of MtF transgender, Blanchard's autogynephile, is much more problematic. It does not occur in many parts of the world at all. ('Zero percent' in Singapore, for example and similarly in a large study done in Thailand by Sam Winter; it is, as far as I can see, unknown in the Philippines to the point that transwomen there have difficulty grasping the concept.) AGP appears to be concentrated in the West, particularly the Anglo-Saxon West and especially the UK and the USA. Although there is evidence of AGP in persons of colour in these areas, it is predominantly experienced by white, middle-class individuals. Given these factors, it seems likely that AGP is not an innate part of human variation but instead a culturally-induced condition.”

This has since been removed from Quora.

As Fleming put it: 

“I looked at Bailey’s major source, Blanchard, and there found reasoned and well- constructed scientific papers that dealt with the matter in very detached terms, relying on statistics.” Aware of the controversial nature of this position, he endorsed it. He dismissed Andrea James and Lynn Conway as ‘histrionic agitators’. (Transsexualism: A Position Statement”)

In May 2016 he gave a positive review of Bailey’s book on his blog, and he and Kay Brown exchanged compliments.

Over the next two years Fleming posted several accounts of his position, and repeated that the second type trans women in the Philippines are different from Western Autogynephiles, but still referred to them using that term.

In October 2017, Key Brown commented – that is to say corrected – on “Transgender, transsexual and transvestite”. Fleming responded: 

“What you are actually doing is saying that you don’t like my findings because they challenge your own, and instead of going to Asia and finding out for yourself how things are, you’d rather I just shut up. I have no intention of so doing. You are patronising and demeaning towards me in an attempt to suggest that you — a person who has done precisely no field research in Asia– are more qualified than I am to discuss that which I have been studying. I don’t think so.”

Also that month Fleming published “Not Men: bekis in the Philippines” explaining Filipino gender roles using the concept “not-men” taken from Kulick’s studies in Brazil: 

“Traditional Filipino society is divided into two social groups: men, and everyone else. Borrowing from Kulick, I call the latter ‘not men’. This group is formed of women, children, female and gender non-conforming adolescents, and older ‘not men’ including gay males and transsexuals. Kulick goes as far as to define gender in Brazil as ‘men’ and ‘not men’ and, again, I agree with him. Gender conforming adolescent males form a ‘proto-men’ group, where they learn the social skills needed to join the ‘men’ group. Typically these include playing basketball, football and similar sports (but not volleyball); learning how to chase girls; learning how to talk about girls as sexual objects; often, learning to smoke and crucially, learning to drink. As they grow into adulthood, boys like this will be accepted into the ‘men’ group. So the ‘proto-men’ group is an extension of the ‘men’ group, not distinct from it. Any gender non-conforming (GNC) boy, teenage or adult male is automatically placed in the ‘not men’ group. The reasons for this are complex but devolve to showing ‘unmasculine’ character traits. These include things like being somewhat nervous; being a pretty boy; having crushes on men and boys, liking to dance; liking flowers; liking to wear feminine clothes; the desire to be a woman and feeling ‘like a woman inside’.”

Later that month when Fleming published “Autogynephilia: Sex as a woman”, Brown commented: 

“I have met a few Asian AGPs… and they are EXACTLY the same as Western AGPs… and while there are fewer of them as a percentage, as has been shown in study after study, it is NOT correlated with tolerance, as the data clearly shows that the cultural property that is key is that of individuality vs. collectivism (at the family level), as shown by two separate studies (and thus we have replication, the hallmark of good science. This essay is disturbing and wrong… in that it fails to note that at least 50% of HSTS make strong statements of experiencing extreme gender dysphoria at BEFORE puberty. And Yes, like gay men, they were extremely feminine BEFORE puberty, but remained so after age 10 or so, the age when gay men start to defemininize. Thus, their gender issues are not directly mediated by a desire to have sex with men… which is a secondary issue related to their core issue that gender and sexual orientation are indeed correlated.”

Fleming quoted some Asian AGPs that he had met, and replied: 

“Can you explain to these statements, both from Asian transwomen, in terms other than those I have outlined? In fact, the rewards discussed in Blanchard, leaving aside cross-dressed masturbation, are very much alike for both types of MtF TS/TG, as I detailed. The fact is that the Asian model is current throughout most of the world, with only certain parts of the West, notably the Anglo-Saxon and particularly USican ones, being different. Do I detect a sense of white cultural entitlement? That would be disappointing. … AS to ‘defeminisation’ of gay men, I am interested to see how you explain this in a social milieu where young TS/TG of both types are taking hormones from the age of 13 or 14. This is replicated in Latin America, where, as in Asia, contraceptive pills are available, over the counter, very cheaply, without prescription. The fact is that if an MtF trans person wishes to feminise, or not to masculinise, in any of these territories, they can, and do, achieve this very cheaply using birth control pills. … This supports the suggestion that AGPs in the West are remaining hidden for far longer. What do you think could cause that, other than social intolerance? And further, how do you account for the fact that, as social intolerance reduces, we are seeing a rapid increase in young TS/TG? Are you saying they are ALL HSTS? If you are, you just torpedoed your argument about gay men ‘defeminising’.”

Fleming then added an extra comment: 

“When I first responded to this comment by Kay Brown, I assumed that Brown was HSTS. This is an impression that Brown has spared no effort to cultivate. But it is not supported by observation. This is Brown’s self-penned bio page. It is quite clear from the pictures contained in it that Brown is most unlikely to be HSTS. It is common for AGPs to try to colonise HSTS identity, but this example shocks me, I must admit. This likely explains Brown’s clear rage response.”

In 2016 Fleming had met transpinay Samantha Villasencio, “one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever met” and they became lovers. He stayed with her after she was diagnosed as HIV+, and until her death in October 2023.

In February 2022, Fleming revived his speculation re his former mentor and posted “Kay Brown: an example of appropriation?”. He cited her activist record as a Blanchardian, and her self-identification as HSTS. The latter he rejects: 

“However even cursory examination of her body morphology and career indicates that this diagnosis would be unlikely”. 

Brown of course rejected this, but on the grounds

“but I really was 'early onset' as my mother confirmed to Dr. Norman Fisk at Stanford in early '75, when at 17”.

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My reading here is that Fleming is approaching an important question, but I suspect that many of you, as I am, are put off by the Blanchardian language. Let us rephrase it. If gender identity and sexual orientation are both biologically determined, then the proportion of trans women who are androphilic or gynephilic should be roughly equal in quite different cultures. However this is not the case. The majority of trans women in northern Euro-America are gynephilic and late transitioners, while in South East Asia 95%+ are assumed to be androphilic, and almost all have transitioned by the mid 20s. So why this difference? Fleming’s answer is that a second type of trans women is indeed there, but was not noticed by Winter et al. So the question becomes why did Winter not see them? It would be very useful if either Filipino or Western academics or both specifically addressed the question.

Brown was of course missing the point. Fleming had identified ‘early onset’ AGPs as common in the Philippines, but not recognised in North America/Europe. Brown says that she had transitioned by age 17, and therefore could not be compared to Fleming’s second type even though they generally transitioned as teenagers, that is at the same age or younger than she did.

In my article, “What is Autogynephilia?”, I criticized Blanchardism for conflating independent variables. An AGP is taken to be: 1) A late transitioner 2) Gynephilic, usually a husband and father 3) Well employed. The stereotype is to work with computers. This is opposed to HSTS which is a conflation of 1) An early transitioner 2) Androphilic 3) Living on the margins of society without a regular job. Many are assumed to be prostitutes, performers or working in gay bars. Kay Brown, tech entrepreneur, engineer and patent holder, would be by her own account HSTS 1 and 2, but AGP 3. Not that this is in any way a criticism of any person; it is a criticism of the Blanchard Binary. See also Andrea James’ profile of Candice Brown Elliot aka Kay Brown.

Fleming is adding body morphology to the three independent variables. He more than once uses the phrase “small, lightly built, cute, pretty, incredibly feminine and extremely retiring”. This is a set of criteria that only a few cis women attain. Why should trans women be measured by this any more than cis woman are? Likewise Fleming claims that Brown is obviously autoandrophilic in that she does not meet his specifications in appearance. Does he regard most cis woman as also failing to meet these criteria? There are plenty of cis woman, like Brown in their 60’s, who look kind of similar to her.

If body morphology is taken as a criterion, we open the door to the concepts of HSTS trapped in the body of an AGP, and AGP trapped in the body of an HSTS.

Actually, where is the ‘autogynephilia’? Blanchard’s definition is: “a man's paraphilic tendency to be sexually aroused by the thought or image of himself as a woman". Fleming does not even discuss such paraphilic arousal in his second type who generally transition after puberty, but as teenagers. The paraphilic tendency that is supposed to be a defining aspect of Autogynephilia is presumably a result of not having transitioned earlier. The gynephilic early transitioners who are becoming more common in North America and Europe as more loving parents are accepting seem not to be autogynephilic either. Anne Vitale, for her G3 type patient – the equivalent of autogynephilic – regards the pathology as Gender Deprivation Anxiety Disorder (GEDAD): that it is this deprivation, not a person’s gender identity, that she seeks to treat. And she regards G3 patients as mature, probably middle-aged or older. Like other trans persons, they did have female yearnings from childhood, but did not transition earlier. Fleming’s second type do transition earlier.

“The fact is that the Asian model is current throughout most of the world, with only certain parts of the West, notably the Anglo-Saxon and particularly USican ones, being different. Do I detect a sense of white cultural entitlement?” I am with Fleming on this point. It was inadvisable for Brown to pontificate on the situation in the Philippines to someone actually living there. It is a problem that gay and trans history is Euro/US centric. It would be good to have a world history that takes the east and south Asian (and the American two-spirit) tradition as the norm, and explain why Europe was different. Between the 4^th century and the appearance of the mollies in the early 18^th century you can almost count known trans persons in Europe on your fingers. Christian oppression was a major factor, although it is the case that Filipino transpinay and Brazilian travestis are living in strongly Catholic societies.

One of the objections to the term ‘autogynephilia” is that it has become a simple insult term, particularly as used by TERFs etc who are delighted to have a semi-academic term that implies that trans women have a mental illness. It is therefore ironic that when Fleming was irritated by Brown, ‘autogynephiliac’ was the term that he flung at her. This is further ironic in that Brown who shared an apartment with Joy Shaffer whom she described as “ best friend, point of stability, and sister”, later described her as ‘autogynephilic”.

Andrea James reads Fleming thus: “Some trans-attracted people who engage in “autogynephilia” activism wish to distance their own attractions from trans women they consider “autogynephiles.” In some cases, it is because they see “AGP” trans women as a threat to their “heterosexual” identity. They often brag about how “heterosexual” they are and how the “homosexual transsexual” people they desire are extremely feminine and only interested in masculine “heterosexual” partners like them. Trans-attracted people who use the terms “homosexual transsexual” or “HSTS” are among the most obsessed with “autogynephilia” and creator Ray Blanchard’s taxonomy of “HSTS” and “AGP,” because it’s so important to their own sexual identities.” This is of course armchair psycho-analysis, but it is a hypothesis that needs more work.

Comparing lovers of seropositive trans women: Rod Fleming did stay and comfort his Samantha to the end, unlike Lou Reed who broke off with his Rachel and left her to die in poverty and loneliness.

By Rod Fleming:

• “Palawan, Philippines, 2012”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2013-06-28. Online.

• The Warm Pink Jelly Express Train. Rare Rose Press, 2015.

• with K. Burkowski. Why Men Made God: Redefining the Sacred. Redefining the Sacred, PlashMill Press, 2015.

• “Explaining transsexualism”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2016-7-14. Online.

• “The Man Who Would be Queen”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2016-5-17. Online. (positive review)

• “Transgender, transsexual and transvestite”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2017-1-10. Online.

• “Autogynephilic and HomoSexual MtF in Asia”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2017-10-16. Online.

• “Not Men: bekis in the Philippines”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2017-10-22. Online.

• “Transsexualism: A Position Statement”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2017-10-29. Online.

• “Autogynephilia: Sex as a woman”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2018-9-19. Online.

• “The Warm Pink Jelly Express Train transsexual lives”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2018-9-26. Online.

• “Kay Brown: an example of appropriation?”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2022-2-14. Online.

• “Sam and Rod: How it all began”. Rod Fleming’s World, 2023-10-21. Online.

WordPress     Rod Fleming’s World      Amazon Author Page

By Others:

• Don Kulick. Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. The University of Chicago Press, 1998.

• Don Kulick. The Gender of Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes. American Anthropologist, 99, 3, Sep 1997.

• Sam Winter. “Thai transgenders in focus: demographics, transitions and identities”. International Journal of Transgenderism, 9, 1, 2006: 15-27.

• Sam Winter, Sass Rogando & Mark King. “Transgendered Women of the Philippines”. International Journal of Transgenderism, 10, 2, 2007: 79-90.

• Zagria. “What is Autogynephilia?”. GVWW, 22 March 2011. Online.

• Zagria. “Joy Shaffer (1955-) doctor”. GVWW, 19 January 2016. Online.

• Zagria. “Anne Vitale (1938 - ) gender therapist”. GVWW, 12 May 2016. Online.

• Siobhan O’leary. “A misogynist by any other name would smell just as putrid”. Medium, Nov 15, 2017. Online.

• Andrea James. “Rod Fleming vs. transgender people” Transgender Map, Online.

• Andrea James. “Candice Brown Elliott / ‘sillyolme’ and transgender people”. Transgender Map, Online.