Queer History 892: Ben Barres - The Badass Brain Scientist Who Fucked Up Gender Bias Forever

In the testosterone-soaked world of academic neuroscience, where brilliant minds wrapped in fragile egos compete to unlock the secrets of the human brain, Ben Barres stood as a goddamn force of nature who revolutionized not just our understanding of neural circuits but the entire fucking structure of scientific academia itself. Born Barbara in 1954, Ben didn't just transition from female to male—he transformed from a marginalized outsider fighting for recognition to one of the most respected neuroscientists on the planet, all while wielding his unique perspective like a scalpel to dissect the sexist bullshit that infected his field.

Ben Barres wasn't just another transgender scientist who happened to make discoveries. He was a revolutionary who used his lived experience of gender bias to expose the systemic discrimination that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. His story reads like a masterclass in how authenticity and scientific rigor can combine to create change that extends…