American conservative trans activist Brianna Wu has been politically active since childhood. This is an overview of Wu’s political activism and aspirations.
Pre-transition political activity
Wu’s parents were active in conservative and Republican causes. In high school, Wu reportedly led a campaign to allow prayer in public school.
While attending University of Mississippi in 1996 and 1997, Wu was intensely interested in journalism and politics. At Millsaps College in Spring and Fall 1998 semesters, Wu was a contributor to the student newspaper The Purple & White in 1998, then again in 2000 after a hiatus to start the animation company Socially Unconscious Productions, which failed about a year later after burning through $170,000 in unpaid loans to Wuâs parents. Wu was especially interested in Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent fallout for the Clinton Administration.
After the failure of Socially Unconscious Productions, Wu returned to Millsaps for one semester in Fall 2000 and was listed on the Purple & White masthead as Senior Political Correspondent. Wu covered the Bush-Gore presidential debate and the political drama The West Wing for the paper. A revamped version of Wu’s Socially Unconscious comic focused on a a group of “boozy cutthroat socialites” at sororities and young women at the fictional student newspaper The Bishop Beacon. The strip was discontinued after three installments following negative response from readers.
Wu left Millsaps again after a semester and moved to Washington, DC to work in politics. Wu reportedly interned for Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi and Michael Steele of the Republican Leadership Council. Wu also worked for the Maryland Republican Party.
Wo continued writing content in the Socially Unconscious universe in the early 2000s. Wu continued developing characters from the comic, including a feminine self-insert named Brea Anamatata. One project with a political plot was titled Election Eve, which had its own website at electioneve.com. Voting records whow Wu was registered as a Democrat in 2003.
Post-transition political activity
After getting a vaginoplasty and marrying Frank Wu in 2008, Wu maintained an interest in politics, posting political opinions frequently on Twitter starting in 2008. The couple moved to Massachusetts, where Brianna Wu began working on developing a videogame called Revolution 60 under the auspices of Giant Spacekat.
Wu got involved in the Gamergate controversy in 2014. Wu’s involvement led to a significantly increased public profile and considerable sympathetic press coverage.
Congressional campaigns
Wu ran for Congress in 2018, appearing on the ballot for the Democratic primary for Massachusetts Congressional District 8. Wu’s campaign centered on the Gamergate controversy. Wu lost to incumbent Stephen Lynch in the Democratic primary held on September 4, 2018, having received approximately 23% of the vote (16,878 votes) to Lynch’s 71% (52,269 votes).
Wu ran for the same seat in 2020, but withdrew at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Rebellion PAC and Rebellion Policy Institute
On November 13, 2019. Cenk Uygur registered the principal campaign committee Cenk For Congress with the Federal Election Commission. Uygur was a candidate in the 2020 California 25th congressional district special election. Uygur earned 6.6%of the votes (10,699) and was eliminated after placing fourth in the first round.
Cenk For Congress was converted to a political action committee called Rebellion PAC, and Wu was named Executive Director in 2020.
Progressive Victory PAC and Progressive Victory Action
Progressive Victory PAC was founded in 2022 by Samuel S. “Sam” Dryzmala. Dryzmala also operates Clever Edge LLC, a private company founded in March 2016.
Its associated 501(c)(4) organization Progressive Victory Action was incorporated in Virginia in 2023. It is described by political strategist Andrew Londre as a “dark money operation”:
The reason why Progressive Victory PACâs financial disclosures donât add up is because most of âProgressive Victoryâsâ financial action â including payments to political influencers and Progressive Victory staff, as well as the undisclosed foundations bankrolling Progressive Victory â has gone through PVA (a dark money org) and not PVPAC (a comparatively super transparent political action committee).
On September 30, 2023, Keffals hosted a livestream panel at VidCon iin Baltimore presented by Progressive Victory. The panel was billed featuring Wu, Taylor Lorenz, Emma Vigeland, Vaush, and Destiny. Lorenz and Wu did not attend.
Wu was Senior Project Strategist for Progressive Victory. On December 20, 2023, Wu posted on X amid growing questions about Progressive Victory:
Q: Is Progressive Victory âBrianna Wuâs PAC?â
A. No. I am the equivalent of a vice president. I run a large team called Operations. Our lead is Sam Drzymala.Q. Is Progressive Victory a PAC that pays streamers to make content?
A. Hell no. I do not pay anyone to make anything, and I never would ask. We look for people doing good work and we give them support. We do work with streamers, but that is through our LLC and nonprofit, not our PAC.Q. Does PV get involved in interstreamer drama?
A. No, what people do outside my team doesnât concern me. Canât say I donât watch though!
If youâre curious about something maybe find out. Donât just make shit up.
In early 2024, Wu left Progressive Victory. On June 10, 2024, Wu posted “I have not worked with them for a long time, and do not support their efforts to save [Jamaal] Bowman.” In 2024, Bowman ran for reelection as a Democrat for New York Congressional District 16 but lost to Westchester County executive George Latimer in the district’s Democratic primary. Progressive Victory PAC contributed $48,000 to Bowman’s campaign. Bowman was a prominent critic of Israel, which Bowman said was committing a genocide against Palestinians.
Pivot to Zionism and transmedicalism
In 2023, Oliver Bateman wrote:
“The internet is a volatile space where individuals can suddenly find themselves under siege by those who are ostensibly on the same side of the ideological spectrum. […] The recent controversy surrounding Brianna Wu â a public figure previously assumed by some not-very-careful readers to be trans but who is actually cisgender â offers a case study in how likeness rather than difference often fuels the most visceral forms of conflict.”
In 2024, Wu began catering to anti-trans audiences.
In 2024 Wu publicly acknowledged being transgender in a since-deleted post:
Part of why Iâm coming out publicly as trans is we need a smarter, more honest conversation. âIs there a social contagion to being trans today?â
OBVIOUSLY.
Activists are putting out reckless messages, talking about transitioning as though itâs innocuous and it will solve all your problems.
It wonât. You should not transition unless you really, really, really, really have to. Because the downsides are immense. Itâs especially unsettling to see online activists advocating transition to people who have none of the classical symptoms of gender dysphoria.
Thereâs a lot of live left after your 20s and 30s. If your primary interest in being a woman is sexual, I hope you have a plan for your 40s and onwards.
References
Londre, Andrew (June 21, 2024). Exposed: Progressive Victory PACâs Dark Secret. Medium https://andrewlondre.medium.com/exposed-progressive-victory-pacs-dark-secret-572d9e6d65e1
Londre, Andrew (June 27, 2024). Itâs Past Time for Progressive Victory To Address Fair Criticisms. Medium https://andrewlondre.medium.com/progressive-victory-cant-avoid-fair-criticisms-65aa44357e48
Londre, Andrew (November 7, 2024). FEC Complaint – Re: Progressive Victory. POLSINT https://polsint.substack.com/p/fec-complaint-re-progressive-victory
Londre, Andrew (July 4, 2024). “NO COMMENT” – The Questions I Asked Brianna Wu and She Refused to Answer. Medium https://andrewlondre.medium.com/for-a-long-time-now-i-have-considered-brianna-wu-to-be-a-friend-and-admirable-political-f9b7ea5d7ad4
Wu, Brianna (September 5, 2024). https://x.com/BriannaWu/status/1831661768193589566 [archive]
Wu, Brianna (August 10, 2020). Introducing Rebellion PAC. https://rebellionpac.com/press-releases/introducing-rebellion-pac
Schofield, Austin J, (December 5, 2019). Brianna Wu challenges Lynch in primary. Whitman-Hanson Express https://whitmanhansonexpress.com/brianna-wu-challenges-lynch-in-primary/
Wu, Brianna (January 15, 2016). Does anyone have any contacts at Blogspot? Iâm trying to report a doxing. -https://web.archive.org/web/20160126232142/https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/688139264907849730 [archive]
Wu, Brianna (January 14, 2016). I’ve been trying to work with @Facebook all night. My dox and threats are still up, and are being shared. No one will do anything. https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/687845245481009152 [archive]
Bateman, Oliver (September 28, 2023). The Work of Canceling Brianna Wu. Oliver Bateman Does the Work https://oliverbatemandoesthework.substack.com/p/the-work-of-canceling-brianna-wu
Wu, Brianna (February 1, 2015). Brianna Wu: Why I don’t respond when Gamergate accuses me of being transgender. reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/GamerGhazi/comments/2ug4jt/brianna_wu_why_i_dont_respond_when_gamergate/
Resources
Brianna Wu for Congress (briannawuforcongress.com) [2017â20 – archive]
Brianna Wu 2020 (briannawu2020.com) [not archived]
RebellionPAC (rebellionpac.com)
- cenkforcongress.com [parked 2018]
- cenkforamerica.com [created 2023]
Federal Election Commission (fec.gov)
- Rebellion PAC ID: C00727008
- fec.gov/data/committee/C00727008
Ballotpedia (ballotpedia.org)
Instagram (instagram.com)
X/Twitter (twitter.com)
YouTube (youtube.com)
- cenkforcongress8454 [active 2020]
- therebellion7238
Facebook (facebook.com)
Open Secrets (opensecrets.org)
- RebellionPAC
- opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/rebellion-pac/C00727008/summary/2024
- Cenk for Congress
- opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/cenk-for-congress/C00727008/summary/2020