Identity Rape: Psych exposed women without their consent

Two transsexual woman featured in Northwestern psychology Prof. J. Michael Bailey's latest book about sexuality have filed complaints with NU, alleging that Bailey did not ask for their consent before using their stories. They have sent a complaint to NU's Vice President for Research C. Bradley Moore asking for a formal investigation of Bailey's research methods. Another woman featured in the book filed a claim July 14 supporting Kieltyka's letter, but an addendum to the claim keeps her name confidential.

Anjelica Kieltyka, who is mentioned in Bailey's "The Man Who Would Be Queen" under the pseudonym "Cher," said she met Bailey while working as a transsexual women's advocate. Between 1994 and 1998, Bailey agreed to interview the women and write letters they needed to qualify for sex reassignment surgery, which Kieltyka had in 1991. Kieltyka said Bailey did not tell the women they would be featured in his book or ask them to sign consent forms. "We didn't even know we were guinea pigs," Kieltyka said.

The issue has received some publicity through the Web site of Lynn Conway, a professor emerita of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan who transitioned to being female in 1968. In a June 23 letter, Conway advised NU officials to begin investigating Bailey's research methods.

What we seem to have here in these reports is a fundamental disregard by this psychiatrist for the rights and privacy of these human beings, exploiting them for his own profit. In a way it could be considered a form of identity rape.