City Journal
City Journal is an American magazine about urban policy and culture, founded in 1990 and published by the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. It is published quarterly and also publishes online. Its original topics were education, housing, policing, and urban governance.
What it covers
In recent years, the magazine has also regularly written about gender-affirming care for minors. Authors such as Leor Sapir, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discuss guidelines, lawsuits, and research, including issues surrounding the professional association WPATH. The guideline most often discussed is WPATH Standards of Care version 8. These articles tie in with the discussion described elsewhere on this site under science and debate.
Background
City Journal is an opinion magazine with an outspoken conservative orientation, not a scientific journal. Its articles on gender-affirming care are critical of the gender-affirming model. The leaked WPATH Files themselves were not published by City Journal, but by the organization Environmental Progress.
History and editorial staff
The first issue appeared in the fall of 1990. Its founder was Richard Vigilante, then editor-in-chief of the Manhattan Institute. He was succeeded by Fred Siegel, followed by Myron Magnet, who led the magazine from 1994 to 2006. Brian C. Anderson has been editor-in-chief since late 2006. Regular contributors include Heather Mac Donald, Steven Malanga, Kay Hymowitz, economist Edward Glaeser, Theodore Dalrymple, Coleman Hughes, and Christopher Rufo. The magazine calls itself the leading American source for policy analysis, cultural criticism, and investigative reporting. It has a podcast, City Journal Audio, and a section called City Journal Investigations.
Role in the debate
Rufo writes in City Journal, among other topics, about critical race theory and gender ideology. According to the Manhattan Institute, his research and activism led to a presidential executive order and legislation in fifteen states. The focus on gender-affirming care is part of this shift from urban policy to cultural politics. Abigail Shrier is also affiliated with the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow. The publisher is therefore a think tank that participates in this debate in several ways.
How to assess this source
The articles are arguments presented by authors with a particular viewpoint. They often refer to studies, court rulings, and guidelines, and those references can be checked. Do so: read the cited materials yourself and compare them with the systematic reviews on gender-affirming care. The documents referred to in the title of this entry can be found at Environmental Progress.