James Cantor — Discredited Expert Witness on Gender-Affirming Care
Status: 🔴 Discredited expert witness whose testimony has been repeatedly rejected by courts in challenges to gender-affirming care bans
Overview
Dr. James M. Cantor is a Canadian-American clinical psychologist and sexologist who has built a career testifying for states defending bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, despite having no clinical experience treating transgender minors and having never diagnosed a minor with gender dysphoria. He is best known for his academic work on pedophilia and his involvement with the Prostasia Foundation, a controversial group that works to destigmatize pedophilia.
Anti-Trans Activity
Cantor has served as an expert witness in multiple state challenges to gender-affirming care bans, including:
- Kansas (2026): Judge Carl Folsom III gave Cantor’s testimony “little weight,” finding he “has not conducted any original scientific research on the efficacy or safety of gender dysphoria treatments,” is not licensed to treat anyone under 16, has never diagnosed a minor with gender dysphoria, and “makes several statements which have no scientific support” — including claiming gender dysphoria might be a misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
- North Dakota (2025): Testified in favor of the state’s ban, arguing testimony of doctors who treat transgender adolescents “is not reliable.”
- Florida: Originally slated to testify in favor of Florida’s trans health care ban, but was quietly dropped from a Florida Board of Medicine hearing after it emerged he had served on the advisory council of the Prostasia Foundation.
Credibility Issues
- Called for adding a “P” for pedophiles to the LGBTQ acronym
- Stated that “peer-review is the line between acceptable and not” but himself relied on non-peer-reviewed sources
- Cited systematic reviews while ignoring that the authors stated their work “should not be used to prevent the provision of gender-affirming medical care”
- Claims gender dysphoria might be a misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder — a position the court found “has no scientific support”
Associated Organizations
- Prostasia Foundation — Advisory council member; group that works to destigmatize pedophilia
- SEGM (Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine) — Listed as a member
- Genspect — Listed as a member
- Alliance Defending Freedom — Anti-trans litigation group behind many care ban defenses
See Also
Sources
- Erin in the Morning — Kansas Judge Eviscerates Anti-Trans “Experts”
- Media Matters — Florida expert dropped from hearing
- North Dakota Monitor — Cantor testimony
- Wikipedia — James Cantor
- Trans Data Library — James Cantor
- SB 63 Preliminary Injunction (PDF)
Related Pages