Hadley Freeman is an American-British journalist best known for manipulating notable authors into making statements about trans issues that they later must disavow. Freeman’s interviews with Margaret Atwood and Judy Blume both required the authors to issue statements.
Freeman has written for several anti-trans publications, including UnHerd, New Statesman, The Guardian, The Times, and The Sunday Times.
Background
Hadley Clare Freeman was born May 15, 1978 in New York City. As an adolescent, Freeman was hospitalized several times for self-imposed food restrictions. Freeman read English literature at St Anne’s College, Oxford.
Freeman and sports writer Andy Bull have three children.
Anti-trans activism
Freeman wrote for The Guardian starting in 2000. Freeman and Suzanne Moore both left The Guardian around the same time in 2022 amid public pushback over their anti-trans views.
References
Reed, Erin (April 20, 2025). Anti-Trans Activist Hadley Freeman Thinks UK Court Win Means People Have To Be Her Friend. Erin In The Morning https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/anti-trans-activist-hadley-freeman
Mack, Daniel (April 17, 2023). Judy Blume Blasted An Article Linking Her To J.K. Rowling’s Anti-Trans Views As “Bullshit.” BuzzFeed News https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/judy-blume-transgender-jk-rowling-hadley-freeman
Tani, Max (April 3, 2023). Inside the Guardian’s civil war over trans coverage. Semafor https://www.semafor.com/article/04/02/2023/inside-the-guardians-civil-war-over-trans-coverage
Milton, Josh (February 19, 2022). ‘Gender critical’ journalist tries to grill Margaret Atwood on trans rights. It backfires, badly. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/02/19/margaret-atwood-hadley-freeman-trans-gender-critical/
Hansford, Amelia (20 January 2023). Journalist Hadley Freeman condemned for ‘dangerous’ comments about suicidal trans kids. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/10/hadley-freeman-suicidal-trans-youth/
Ewens, Hannah (16 June 2020). Inside the Great British TERF War. Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/889qe5/trans-rights-uk-debate-terfs
Valens, Ana (2 April 2018). There’s nothing feminist about attacking trans women. The Daily Dot https://www.dailydot.com/irl/attacking-trans-women-feminist/
Persio, Sofia Lotto (3 November 2018). Guardian US journalists denounce newspaper’s “transphobic” editorial. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/03/guardian-transphobic-editorial-concern/
Levin, Sam; Chalabi, Mona; Siddiqui, Sabrina (2 November 2018). Why we take issue with the Guardian‘s stance on trans rights in the UK. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/guardian-editorial-response-transgender-rights-uk
Anti-trans coverage
Moore, Suzanne (December 6, 2022). The Guardian is hiding the truth about trans. Both Hadley Freeman and I left the paper after not being allowed to write as we wished – including on subjects such as gender. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/12/06/guardian-hiding-truth-trans/
Singh, Anita (5 December 2022). Hadley Freeman: ‘Atmosphere of fear’ governs Guardian trans coverage. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/05/hadley-freeman-atmosphere-fear-governs-guardian-trans-coverage/
Kanter, Jake (February 21, 2022). Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman says left-wing media bows down to trans bullies. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/guardian-columnist-hadley-freeman-says-paper-bows-down-to-trans-bullies-79kk9d0d7
Selected writing by Freeman
Freeman, Hadley (November 23, 2025,). At Cambridge, three brave students are taking on the trans bullies. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/cambridge-students-trans-bullies-gc03ff6q3
Freeman, Hadley; Urwin, Rosamund; Yorke, Harry; Turvill, William; Hauschild, Dominic (April 20, 2025). Supreme Court victors getting death threats in gender ruling backlash. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/women-threatened-statues-defaced-supreme-court-trans-mwv6dvpz2
Freeman, Hadley (April 19, 2025). I lost friends and a job in the trans witch-hunt. Hordes of cowards caved in to the fantasy. A few brave women did not. The Times https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/trans-witch-hunt-supreme-court-women-xj7zlq0fv
Freeman, Hadley (August 6, 2023). My Sting interview farce shows how entrenched trans ideology has become. The Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/my-sting-interview-farce-shows-how-entrenched-trans-ideology-has-become-djwsftgph
Freeman, Hadley (December 20, 2022). Why I stopped being a good girl Women can no longer afford to sit out the gender wars. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/12/why-i-stopped-being-a-good-girl-2/
Freeman, Hadley (November 29, 2022). Mermaids’ useful idiots. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/11/mermaids-useful-idiots/
Freeman, Hadley (August 9, 2022). Why the Tavistock won’t talk to me. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/08/why-the-tavistock-wont-talk-to-me/
Freeman, Hadley (July 14, 2022). Why I’m suing Survivors’ Network: Rape victims need female-only spaces. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/07/why-im-suing-survivors-network/
Freeman, Hadley (June 13, 2022). The kids aren’t alright. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/06/are-the-kids-alright/
Freeman, Hadley (May 4, 2022). American feminism has turned its back on women. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/05/american-feminism-has-turned-its-back-on-abortion/
Freeman, Hadley (April 7, 2022). The week the trans spell was broken. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/04/the-week-the-trans-spell-was-broken/
Freeman, Hadley (February 19, 2022). Margaret Atwood on feminism, culture wars and speaking her mind: ‘I’m very willing to listen, but not to be scammed.’ The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2022/feb/19/margaret-atwood-on-feminism-culture-wars
Freeman, Hadley (June 26, 2021). People have told me I’m on the wrong side of history, but I still want to be their friend. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/26/people-have-told-me-i-am-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-but-i-still-want-to-be-their-friend
Freeman, Hadley (March 6, 2019). Sport can help to clarify the trans debate. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/06/sport-trans-martina-navratilova
Freeman, Hadley (July 5, 2018). An aversion to dolls and dresses is no proof you’re a man. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/05/dolls-dresses-no-proof-not-girl-pink-v-blue
Freeman, Hadley (March 31, 2018). Don’t you just love it when a man explains to you what it means to be a woman? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/31/man-explains-what-means-be-woman
Freeman, Hadley (March 18, 2017). Identity is the issue of our age: so why can’t we talk more honestly about trans women? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/18/identity-issue-our-age-talk-more-honestly-trans-women
Freeman, Hadley (March 19, 2016). Hadley Freeman: the trouble with Caitlyn Jenner. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/19/caitlyn-jenner-donald-trump-car-crash-hadley-freeman
Resources
Books
- The Meaning of Sunglasses: And a Guide to Almost All Things Fashionable (2008)
- Be Awesome: Modern Life for Modern Ladies (2013)
- Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Movies (and Why We Don’t Learn Them from Movies Anymore) (2016)
- House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family (2020)
- Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia (2023)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
The Guardian (theguardian.com)
New Statesman (newstatesman.com)
X/Twitter (x.com)
Journalisted (journalisted.com)
- Hadley Freeman [archive]
UnHerd (unherd.com)