Belgium's VIP knickerhon can't stop faking things

In this podcast episode I interviewed Flemish lecturer and scientist Suzy Eeckelaerts, a very polite feminist who chatted with me about a recent scandal concerning her country’s most high-profile transvestite, and the AI hallucination scandal that has engulfed him. We also talked about the Belgian public’s reaction to it, and what it says about how different cultures deal with trans madness. You get half the episode; upgrade to premium to hear the rest! Before I get 15 emails asking me what “knickerhon” means, I guess I should show my work to the class: “knickers” is the Irish word for pants/panties/underwear, and in this context, it refers to the tendency of crossdressing men to start their gender careers stealing the knickers of their female family members. “Hon”, sometimes referred to as a “gorillahon”, is a brick. A brick, of course, is the opposite of a doll. Bear with me. A doll is the name given to a passing(ish) femme gay male (think Elon Musk’s attention-desperate son), while a brick is his less graceful heterosexual analogue, meaning an autogynephilic straight male crossdresser. Both sub-types of “trans woman” pretend to be women, for different reasons.While a doll will often closely resemble a lasciviously pornified woman (albeit a woman with a torso shaped like an iPhone), bricks are more likely to be very unfeminine clunkers who, in middle age, uncannily resemble a slutty grapefruit that has been violently thrown against a wall. I hope I haven’t lost you.Belgium is home to a high-profile political knickerhon called Petra de Sutter, a well-known public figure who makes everyone pretend he’s a woman. He wears a wig, you see. That’s how you know he’s a woman. Not by his chromosomes, not by his gametes, not by his male-pattern everything. Not his apparent paraphilic “interest” that only occurs in males. Wig. My mate Suzy came on the podcast to tell me about the recent snafu that has ensnared De Sutter, and it’s a story that demonstrates the narcissistic fantasyland that hons like him create for themselves (and force us all to live in), as well as the weird cultural quirks that cause Belgians to go along with his b******t. De Sutter gets a steady flow of validation for his fraudulent identity in the Belgian press, and even takes roles reserved for women with no pushback because, again, he wears a wig. Nobody really says anything about it except me and my harpy and shrill clique of internet friends, though the occasional trashy normie will leave devastating comments on Facebook posts that mention him. Media and political figures all play along with it. Again, like most countries, social class play a big part in whether or not one acquiesces. But generally, Belgians seems to be shockingly blasé about it all. That might be because it is proud of its reputation as the most socially progressive country in the world. Most countries — you brutish bigots — would never put a knickerman in such a prestigious, internationally-oriented role. But Belgium’s brand is progressive overreach, a kind of social libertarianism that gave the word assisted suicide for 9-year-olds. Round here, wigman is woman because progress.This weird psychotic feature of the culture came into sharp relief recently when De Sutter got caught being dishonest about something completely unrelated to his woman larp, and it produced reams and reams of opinions and Content. Yet everyone continued to tip-toe around the big lie. Here’s what happened: De Sutter, who is a gynacologist by trade and a transhumanist by nature, has held big political roles (deputy PM, member of the European Parliament, Green party committee chair) and last year he was elected on a woman’s ticket as Dean of the University of Ghent (home of the infamous gender butchers). So far, so goed.In September, he stepped up to the lectern to give his inaugural speech, but sleuths later found it to be full of faked quotes: it was peppered with AI hallucinations copied wholesale from the mouths of bots. The most circulated fake-quote was one attributed to Albert Einstein, the wordsoupy ResistanceLibby “Dogma is the enemy of progress”. But the other two quotes give a glimpse not just into his politics, but his shitlib social constructionist worldview: “Knowledge describes and controls reality,” De Sutter said, attributing that quote to a Belgian psychoanalyst called Paul Verhaeghe, who apparently never said that.The third fake quote is even worse: “The imperative of responsibility demands that scientific progress be guided by ethical considerations.” De Sutter claimed that these were the words of Hans Jonas, spoken during his “rectoral address” at the University of Munich in 1979. But not only did Jonas not say those words, there was no such speech. Hans Jonas was never even appointed rector. It was all an AI hallucination. And the quote itself: yeesh. Whatever AI chatbot De Sutter was using, it obviously invented quotes that it knew its master would vibe with. The head of a university tying the truth to ethics might sound nice on the surface, I guess, but it seems to suggest that science has a duty to be #BeKind. It’s a dodgy position for a university head to hold, and the Belgian chatterati knew it. He has form: another incident last year saw him make comments about Gaza that threw academic-freedom fans into a tizzy. He essentially said researchers at the university cannot question the genocide framing of the conflict. Which, regardless of your position on the Gaza issue, is a fucked thing for a university dean to say. And despite all this, he is still in the job. Nobody linked this academic fakery to the other glaring fakery that he imposes on everyone around him, every day. If I am being charitable, I might speculate that critics of his ideological biases and fraudulent practices didn’t want their sternly-worded condemnations tainted by accusations of transphobia. Suzy and I get into the details of it all in the episode. Enjoy! (By the way Paul, if you’re reading this and thinking about dragging me to court for hate speech, I look forward to “knickerhon” entering the public discourse.)Show notes: Topics: * Belgium’s 2007 and 2017 gender recognition laws* Legal sex versus biological sex in policy and institutions* Cultural norms of “live and let live” in Flemish society* Why public opposition looks different in Belgium than in Ireland or the UK* Women’s sport, single-sex spaces, and institutional obligations* Academic freedom and governance at Ghent University* The AI-generated speech controversy involving Petra De Sutter* Media framing, avoidance, and limits of public debateAbout the GuestSuzy Eeckelaerts is a Belgian lecturer with a focus on biology, reproduction, and scientific reasoning. In addition to her teaching and research work, she has contributed to public debate in Belgium on sex-based rights, women’s sport, and the relationship between biology and public policy. She has written opinion responses in the Belgian press and has collaborated with contributors associated with Athena Forum, a European network focused on evidence-based policy and sex-based rights.Suzy speaks in a personal capacity in this episode and distinguishes her own views from those of the host where they differ.Historical and legal context: Gender law in BelgiumThe episode references two major legal developments: the 2007 Transsexual Law and the 2017 Gender Recognition Reform, which removed medical requirements and introduced legal sex change by declaration.🔗 Overview (historical context):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBTQ_rights_in_Belgium🔗 Administrative explanation (Flanders):https://www.vlaanderen.be/en/change-in-gender-registration🔗 Legal overview:https://tgeu.org/belgium-legal-gender-recognition-law-2017/Key References🔗 Petra De Sutter — Public Profilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra_De_Sutter🔗 Ghent University official response to incorrect AI quotes Statement by UGent about the incorrect quotations in the speech.➡️ https://www.ugent.be/en/news-events/incorrect-quotes-reaction-petra-de-sutter.htm🔗 Brussels Times — AI Quote Controversyhttps://www.brusselstimes.com/1909581/ugent-chancellor-petra-de-sutter-caught-using-ai-in-opening-speech🔗 Apache (Investigative Journalism, Dutch)https://apache.be/2026/01/08/rector-petra-sutter-gebruikte-door-ai-gehallucineerde-citaten-openingsspeech/🔗 VRT News (Public Broadcaster, Dutch)https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2026/01/08/petra-de-sutter-ai-toespraak/Dutch language video reporting that the Rector used AI-generated quotes.Guest Resources & Links🔗 X (Twitter): @SEeckelaertshttps://x.com/SEeckelaertsWebinar on women in sports 🔗 Athena Forumhttps://athena-forum.eu/🔗 X (Twitter)https://x.com/RoisinMichaux🔗 Apple Podcasts — PeakedListen & Subscribe🎧 Peaked is available via Substack and all major podcast platforms.If you value careful, independent analysis of European policy, free speech, and institutional power, consider subscribing. 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