Jess de Wahls is an East German-born artist and anti-transgender activist based in London.
Background
Jess De Wahls was born in 1983. She grew up in East Berlin and moved to the UK in 2004. Her medium is embroidery.
De Wahls’ father crossdresses: “My father doesn’t do labels other than sometimes jokingly calling himself a paradise bird.”
Anti-transgender activism
in 2019, de Wahls published a long statement accompanying an embroidered artwork. In it, she revealed herself to be deeply involved in anti-transgender activism.
In 2021 she became a cause célèbre for anti-transgender activists when the Royal Academy pulled her work from their gift shop after complaints about her transphobia. They later apologized.
She has gone on to write for anti-transgender publications, including UnHerd and The Spectator.
References
De Wahls, Jess (August 5, 2019). Somewhere over the Rainbow, something went terribly wrong… https://www.jessdewahls.com/blog/2019/8/5/somewhere-over-the-rainbow-something-went-terribly-wrong
Perry, Louise (29 June 2021). “The Jess De Wahls debacle shows you can only really be cancelled by your friends”. New Statesman. London. Archived
RA (23 June 2021). “Media Statement from the Royal Academy of Arts” (PDF). Royal Academy of Arts. Archived
Whitworth, Damian (22 June 2021). “Jess de Wahls: Death wishes and fear after the Royal Academy cancelled me”. The Times UK. Archived
de Walhls, Jess (December 31, 2021). The heretics will not be silenced. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/12/the-heretics-will-not-be-silenced/
de Walhls, Jess (June 15, 2022). How the RA uncancelled me. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/06/how-the-royal-academy-uncancelled-me/
Resources
Jess de Wahls (jessdewahls.com)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Twitter (twitter.com)