Meghan Daum is an American anti-transgender activist who got involved through the intellectual dark web.
Background
Daum was born February 13, 1970 in California. Daum earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and a master’s degree from Columbia University.
Daum founded The Unspeakeasy in 2022 and is host of The Unspeakable podcast. Guests have included:
- Stella O’Malley
- Bridget Phetasy and Jeren Montgomery
- Nina Paley and Corinna Cohn
- Maud Maron
- Michael Shermer
- Colin Wright
- Sarah Haider
- Jonathan Haidt
- Meghan Murphy
- “Austin” a member of the “ex-trans” movement
- Jonathan Kay
- Aaron Kimberly
2021
- Lisa Selin Davis
- Laura Edwards-Leeper
- Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein
- “Jolene” and “Marie,” anti-trans parents
- Lionel Shriver
- Libby Emmons
- Buck Angel
- Kathleen Stock
- Jesse Singal
- Bridget Phetasy
- Bret Stephens
- Katie Herzog
- Kat Rosenfield and Phoebe Maltz Bovy
2020
- Josh Szeps
- Helen Pluckrose
- Sasha Ayad
Daum co-hosts the podcast A Special Place In Hell with Sarah Haider.
Daum published the essay collections My Misspent Youth and The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion. Daum’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Vogue, GQ, and Harper’s.
Daum authored the book The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through The New Culture Wars.
Comments on Leelah Alcorn’s suicide
In 2018, Daum expressed what many felt was more sympathy for Leelah Alcorn’s unsupportive parents than for the dead teen.
“There’s no question that Leelah’s death and the circumstances leading to it are worthy of—and, in fact, demand— public rage. But along with that rage should come compassion, not just for the Alcorns but for anyone who’s ever been slow to reach acceptance, or whose circumscribed worldview has clouded their understanding of somebody else’s experience.”
References
Daum, Meghan (August 24, 2018) Nuance: A Love Story. GEN https://gen.medium.com/nuance-a-love-story-ae6a14991059
Daum, Meghan (2015-01-15). Op-Ed: Why blaming Leelah Alcorn’s parents only compounds the bigotry. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-daum-alcorn-transparent-suicide-20150115-story.html
Schares, Evan Mitchell (2019-02-01). The Suicide of Leelah Alcorn: Whiteness in the Cultural Wake of Dying Queers. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking. 6 (1): 1–25. doi:10.14321/qed.6.1.0001.
Daum, Meghan (January 5, 2023). Why Do I Talk So Much About Trans Stuff? Because I Have Nothing To Lose.
The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum https://meghandaum.substack.com/p/why-do-i-talk-so-much-about-trans
Resources
Substack (substack.com)
The Unspeakeasy (theunspeakeasy.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)