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Jennifer Finney Boylan and transgender people

Jennifer Finney Boylan is an American author, professor, and activist. Boylan has written several memoirs and novels and has frequently appeared in the media to discuss trans issues.

Notable work involving gender and media includes:

  • The memoir She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003)
  • Writing a New York Times opinion column (2007–2022)
  • The memoir Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
  • Serving on the GLAAD Board (2013)
  • Collaborating with transbians Parker Molloy and Christina Kahrl on pushing GLAAD to adopt their prescriptivist views on slang and slurs (2014)
  • Unsuccessfully lobbying behind the scenes to boycott/cancel RuPaul’s Drag Race (2014)
  • Mentoring and promoting writer Parker Molloy during and after abuse allegations against Molloy
  • Being a consultant for Jeffrey Tambor on the dramedy Transparent (2014) during and after abuse allegations against Tambor
  • Appearing as Caitlyn Jenner’s friend on I Am Cait (2015)
  • Giving the thumbs up to an anti-trans article by Lisa Selin Davis (2017)
  • Signing the Harper’s letter with J.K. Rowling and dozens of other anti-trans activists, later withdrawn (2020)

Background

Boylan was born June 22, 1958.

Boylan graduated from Wesleyan University in 1980, then completed graduate work at Johns Hopkins University. Boylan was a professor at Colby College from 1988 to 2014, then took an appointment at Barnard. Several of Boylan’s early books were published prior to beginning transition in 2000. Boylan wrote an opinion column for the New York Times from 2007 to 2022 among other writing.

In 1988 Boylan married Deirdre Finney Boylan (born 1960). They have two children, Sean (born 1996), and Zaira (born 1994) who is also trans.

Boylan served on the board of GLAAD and has held other roles at organizations benefiting sex and gender minorities. Boylan has appeared on Oprah and the Caitlyn Jenner reality show I Am Cait.

Anti-drag factionalism

Boylan was a key figure with Christina Kahrl in the 2014 transbian attacks led by Parker Molloy that were critical of drag artists and the offensive language some of them use. This strain of respectability politics reached a boiling point when the three of them combined their ongoing anti-drag and anti-slur crusades to extract an apology from RuPaul and RuPaul’s Drag Race for a transphobic segment that was ultimately pulled. They bragged about taking over GLAAD, an organization built by the entire community that had previously helped settle intra-community disputes out of the public eye. In a mutually beneficial piece of logrolling, Boylan told Molloy:

“This is, to coin a phrase, not your father’s GLAAD, and this is not the work that was being done a decade ago. One reason why I think we’ve been able to make a little progress is that GLAAD is now largely run by trans people. We occupy positions from staff to volunteers to the board of directors, including its national co-chair, which is me. These are our lives we are talking about; the people demeaned by incidents like this one are the men and women who work here. And other cis staff members have been working for trans rights for years and years now. I am proud of the board and staff for their passion.”

Even after being presented with extensive evidence of Parker Molloy’s abuse and slurs toward other trans people, Boylan remained one of Molloy’s staunchest supporters. In exchange, Molloy would write publicity pieces for Boylan and launder them through Advocate.com until being suspended and ultimately resigning.

2020 Harper’s Letter

Boylan was a signatory on the 2020 “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” in Harper’s Magazine. That open letter was criticized for the high percentage of “gender critical” people in the media, most notably anti-trans extremist J.K. Rowling. Boylan had been in awe of Rowling to the point that in 2010 Boylan created a children’s fantasy series called Falcon Quinn that shared remarkable similarities with Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise.

Boylan asked to be taken off the Harper’s Letter, claiming ignorance of the other signatories, while trans economist Deirdre McCloskey remained a signatory.

Books

  • Remind Me to Murder You Later (1988)
  • The Planets (1991)
  • The Constellations: A Novel (1994)
  • Getting In (1998)
  • She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders (2003)
  • I’m Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir (2008)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror (2010)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor (2011)
  • Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders (2013)
  • Foreword fo Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community (2014)
  • You Are You (2015)
  • Falcon Quinn and the Bullies of Greenblud (2016)
  • Long Black Veil (2017)
  • Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs (2020)
  • Mad Honey: A Novel (2022) [with Jodi Picoult]

References

Nolan, Emma (July 8, 2020). Trans Author Jennifer Finney Boylan Recants ‘Cancel Culture’ Letter Signed by J.K. Rowling. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/author-jennifer-finney-boylan-recants-cancel-cultureletter-jk-rowling-1516235

Crane, Emily (July 8, 2020). Trans writer Jennifer Finney Boylan distances herself from free speech letter she signed calling out cancel culture after realizing JK Rowling had also endorsed it – but is immediately called out by the Harry Potter author. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8503571/Trans-writer-Jennifer-Finney-Boylan-distances-free-speech-letter.html

Molloy, Parker Marie (May 2, 2014). Trans Bodies, Trans Selves Aims to Educate the Trans Masses. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/05/02/trans-bodies-trans-selves-aims-educate-trans-masses

Molloy, Parker Marie (May 1, 2014). GLAAD Cochair Jennifer Finney Boylan Joins Barnard College. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/05/01/glaad-cochair-jennifer-finney-boylan-joins-barnard-college

James, Andrea (July 24, 2014). The GLAAD Board’s “Tranny” Trouble: How Its Trans Takeover Is Reshaping LGBT Politics. Queerty https://www.queerty.com/the-glaad-boards-tranny-trouble-how-its-trans-takeover-is-reshaping-lgbt-politics-20140724 [archive]

Molloy, Parker Marie (March 29, 2014). Logo, RuPaul’s Drag Race Respond to Antitrans Slurs. Advocate.com https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/03/29/logo-rupauls-drag-race-respond-antitrans-slurs

Davis, Brendan (November 8, 2013). Meet GLAAD’s new board co-chairs! https://glaad.org/blog/meet-glaads-new-board-co-chairs [archive]

Resources

Jennifer Finney Boylan (jenniferboylan.net)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Harvard University, Hollis Archives (hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Bluesky (bsky.app)