[1][2][3] A former senior scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto,[4][1] Cantor was editor-in-chief of the journal Sexual Abuse from 2010 to 2014.

[6] Cantor grew up on Long Island, New York, and attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI),[7] where he majored in computer science with minors in mathematics and physics.

[9][10] After completing his PhD, Cantor worked in a psychiatric hospital that contained a sexual-behavior clinic and "phallometric laboratory" to assess men for pedophilia.

The PAGDWG was active between 2018 and 2020 and was described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as helping "generate pseudoscientific support for denying gender-affirming care".

[3] The PinkNews article covering the events noted Cantor's support for LGB Alliance, often considered a transphobic or trans-exclusionary organization.

[11] According to Laura Kane, writing in the Toronto Star, Cantor's work has "greatly influenced the view among researchers that pedophilia has a biological basis".

[19][20][21] He found a significant decrease in the amount of white matter in their brains compared to control subjects, in addition to having lower IQ, and being shorter than average.

[23] The proposal was criticized by Richard Green and Karen Franklin, mainly on the grounds that it pathologizes reproductively valid behavior in order to uphold current social and legal standards.

Cantor's research suggests that sex addiction represents a variety of distinct problems, rather than a single unitary phenomenon.

He recommends that therapists use cognitive behavioral therapy and other techniques to reduce feelings of isolation and hopelessness so that pedophiles can lead "productive, offense-free lives".

"[7] He has rejected any linkage between homosexuality and pedophilia: "It's quite solidly shown in the scientific literature that there is absolutely no association between being a gay man and being a pedophile.

[42][43] In May 2022, the state of Alabama hired Cantor as an expert witness in defense of a law criminalizing gender-affirming care for minors with gender dysphoria.

[44] However, on cross-examination, the federal judge discovered that Cantor had no clinical experience diagnosing or treating minors with gender dysphoria, or in monitoring such patients for improvements.

[48] According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Cantor said that for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, the condition would usually desist and they would become cisgender gay or lesbian people.

[47] They further argued that Cantor lacked practical experience treating minors with gender dysphoria, and most of the studies he cited were published before 1988.

[47] In 2023, Cantor defended Florida governor Ron DeSantis' ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for adults.

Such cases have included politician Anthony Weiner,[51] entertainers Bill Cosby[52] and Mark Salling,[53] former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle,[2] and incel attacker Alek Minassian.