Penn professor claims ‘cisness’ is unnatural, ‘sex isn’t real’ in new book
Posted on August 3, 2026
By Katherine Pugh
The College Fix
‘Renderings of stable, biological, binary sex don’t make sense under close scrutiny,’ professor writes
University of Pennsylvania Professor Beans Velocci published a book this year claiming “sex isn’t real” and the gender “binary” is “incoherent.”
Velocci is an assistant professor in history and the sociology of science who claims to be nonbinary and transgender. This identification has shaped the professor’s questions and conclusions because “that is how knowledge works,” Velocci wrote in the book titled “Sex Isn’t Real: The Invention of an Incoherent Binary.”
In an interview with Duke University Press, which published the book, Velocci expressed joy that “any right wing or TERF detractor who wants to s***-talk the book is going to have to say or write the phrase ‘Sex Isn’t Real’ in the process.” ...
“Science continues to be an anti-trans ally,” the professor wrote, adding that sex has little to do with bodies, but is instead about categories and who controls them.
The professor also wrote that “current efforts to annihilate transness are couched in references to biology and science.” ...
Beans Velocci, Assistant Professor of History and Sociology of Science; Penn Arts & SciencesUPenn is a private Ivy League university located in Philadelphia. For the 2026–2027 school year, the Board of Trustees approved a total billed cost of $94,582. If you account for unbilled personal expenses like books and travel, the estimated total cost of attendance is roughly
$99,082. What a waste.
